I growled, slamming my locker open irritably after fumbling with the stupid lock. “Dumb Mr. Lee,” I muttered, shoving my books and folders and happily pretending that there wasn’t any homework. “I hate maths.”

               Myungsoo sniggered, “Hey, I think you got the names mixed up. Shouldn’t it be Miss Seo instead?” I glared at him with my eyes narrowed.

               “Say that again and a certain Mr. Kim will be dumb,” I gritted my teeth, kicking the metal lockers with my foot to emphasise my point. Honestly, sometimes I’m half convinced that Myungsoo is just a weirdo or something with the way he does Maths. I mean, it’s practically impossible for normal people to understand so doesn’t that make him an anomaly? A freak? Well that’s one thing he’s crap at, at least. Being a normal human.

               He just laughed again, nudging Sungyeol playfully (more like attempted murder if you ask me) so that the lollipop almost slid right down the choding’s throat. “Yah!” he screamed, pushing a laughing Myungsoo across the hallway, “Do you want me to die or something?!”

               He slid over to me, throwing an arm around my shoulder with a grin. “If the Mr. Lee you mean is the one behind us, I can fully agree with you.” Sungyeol gaped at him for a moment, his brain faltering for a second before he put two and two together.

               “YAH! KIM MYUNGSOO!” he hollered, charging towards us. Oh god, not again. I sighed and rolled my eyes, stepping aside neatly to avoid the stampeding giraffe. Let’s just say that my 19^th birthday isn’t exactly what I envisioned it to be. My hair decided to frizz up and flatten itself on one side in the morning, I failed my maths test (no surprise, even birthday luck didn’t work), got told off for ‘not trying harder’ (bloody hell you have no idea how hard I’m trying to get out of your stupid class), then the lock just had to throw a tantrum and now I’m late for lunch which means no more cookies and cream ice cream for me.

               Snowflakes swirled outside the glass windows along the corridor as we walked to the cafeteria. I pulled my sweater tighter around me, digging my hands into the pockets as far as they would go. Winter can be a little sometimes, but when it throws fluffy confetti into the air you kind of forget exactly why you hated it in the first place.

              Kind of like a stereotypical girlfriend.

               I like winter. But I have my moods. On good days I find it refreshing, on others I become a morose poet and compare it to my heart. ("You're just messed up," Myungsoo informs me)

               “So what’s your birthday wish, Jae?” Sungyeol appeared next to me, slightly out of breath.

               “To never hear your voice ever again, Lee Sungyeol,” I answered in a monotone. “And your face.” I added when he pouted at me in a completely revolting imitation of Woohyun. He sighed dramatically, poking my cheek. “No, seriously. You’ve been in a crap mood since morning. Crappier than usual, I mean. God, I swear even Sunggyu’s face looked sweeter than yours.”

               “She’s just a bit upset that her wish isn’t fulfilled yet.” Myungsoo smiled knowingly as we walked through the glass doors. The wave of heat blew my hair back and like always, I wanted to go back to the icy chill of the hallways. I threw him a dirty look, knowing exactly what he meant. Too bad Sungyeol didn’t finish him off at the lockers. “Stuff him in a toilet bowl next time,” I told the choding seriously, seeing his eyes light up with excitement instantly. As he turned to the shorter man whose eyes widened with alarm, I hurriedly moved over to where my best friend and her boyfriend were sitting at our usual table. “Hey, guys.” I mumbled as I dumped my bag onto a seat.

               “Happy Birthday, retard.” Se Hyun smirked as she handed me a wrapped gift. Woohyun gave her a disapproving look which she returned with a ‘piss off’ sneer as he too, wished me happy birthday and passed me a gift. “Not in the mood to eat?” she asked, tilting her head when I slumped in my seat with my head in my arms.

               “Obviously not,” Woohyun snided with a haughty look, “Who’s the retard now?” As Se Hyun rounded on him with a scathing retort on her lips the Myungyeol couple decided to join us. Myungsoo was fixing his hair, running fingers through the ebony strands and shaking his head repeatedly. “Ugh, you look like a dog.” Sungyeol observed as he yanked open his bag and pulled out his homework. Se Hyun finally stuck her tongue out at Woohyun and moved to sit next to me.

               “Still nothing?” she whispered in the language that only best friends knew as she squeezed her into my seat. “Fatass,” I remarked as I shifted over to make room. At her raised eyebrow I shook my head silently, “Not that I care anyway,” I said offhandedly and flicked my hair away.

               As I moved my head I caught sight of his smile from the corner of my eye. Leaning my head onto my hand nonchalantly, I pretended that I was scanning the area boredly as I watched him and his friends. Sunggyu was probably telling Sungjong off for something with the way the younger boy was glaring at the table with an annoyed look creasing his forehead. Hoya simply chuckled as Dongwoo laughed at them and seized the opportunity to shove what looked like a tablespoon of (probably melted chocolate and cabbage from Sungjong’s kimbab or something) into his open mouth. Unknowingly a small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth when I watched him laugh soundlessly and push Dongwoo away.

               Se Hyun elbowed me roughly, toppling me back to my circle of idiotic friends, “Humans have a mouth for a reason, can’t you put down your pride for a moment?” I knew what she was trying to do but there simply wasn’t anything that can be done. Hoya and I have been friends for almost a year and somewhere along the lines we had this unspoken language that was unacknowledged but still there all the same. It was as obvious as Woohyun’s devotion to Se Hyun despite their bickering but…it just wasn’t meant to be spoken. I could tell from the look in his eyes when he spoke to me sometimes, from the way the brushing of our hands drew goosebumps along my arm. I just knew. But just like our personality and the mutual understanding that was both a curse and a blessing, it wasn’t something that I thought I could say aloud and put into words.

               Shrugging away the thought, I settled for ignoring Se Hyun who huffed and went back to sit next to Woohyun. Without a word he picked up his last and biggest piece of kimbab and fed it to her as though he did it every day. I watched them with a tinge of envy, cursing my 'inert inertia' as what Se Hyun calls my refusal to make a move. Maybe if I wasn't such a coward, I could have what she did. Someone who understands me right away just by glancing at me, who did ridiculous things and crack embarrassing jokes just to make me smile during my bad moods and just someone who loves me. Who would save me the last piece.  

             Annoyed with my mental whining, I turned and watched Sungyeol struggle with his overdue Maths homework. “Yah, how do you find the x values?” he all but shoved the paper into Myungsoo's face.

               The supposed Maths genius squinted at the paper blankly, looking semi-hot and semi-retarded.

               “Um...” he grabbed a pencil and scribbled over the paper, pointedly ignoring Sungyeol’s whines. He paused, flipped to check the answer and flipped back again. “What the hell, I’ve never seen this before.” he frowned as Woohyun leaned over to take a look.

               “Don’t you just take the minimum point and equate it to zero or something?” Woohyun said matter-of-factly as we all gaped at him as though he had grown an extra head. Sungyeol stared at his paper and back at Myungsoo. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at this?!” he shrieked.

               “Well excuse me for not seeing the values given!”

               “Are your eyes shoved up your hole or what?”

               “You weren’t specific in your question you retard!”

               “God, are you sure the teachers didn’t make a mistake? How did you even get the Maths scholarship with a brain like yours?”

               Myungsoo gave up, turning back to finish his stew and shove it aside a moment later. I watched the exchange with amusement, counting the number of seconds to their next fight. 1, 2, 3, 4… “What should I do now?” he enquired to the table.

               “Do something useful, maybe,” Sungyeol scoffed, “Like fall into a toilet bowl. You’ll just fit right in with all the poop, you face.”

               “I meant homework!”

               “Well, you weren’t specific in your question!”

               I rubbed my temples tiredly, feeling a headache build up. Getting up from the table, I made a beeline to the food, skipping straight to the dessert section. Hardly anyone eats ice cream in winter except for me, but my favourite flavour has been elusive so far. My logic was that if you kept aggravating something, sooner or later it will reach a point where it can't get any worse. That's how you cope. I peered into the fridge, holding the ice cream scoop like some hyperactive kid at an ice cream booth in a fun fair.

               Mint, ew.

              Coffee, yuck.

              Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry…jackpot! I mentally fist pumped as a grin split my face and I wrenched the poor fridge door open. There wasn’t much left, probably enough for a small bowl but it’s cookies and cream, enough said. The only genius in my world is the one who invented this miracle in my bowl. Greedily scraping off the stuff at the sides of the now-empty tub, I completely missed the sounds of approaching footsteps and a familiar scent infiltrate into my nostrils.

              “Do you realize how pitiful you look from this angle?”  his husky voice pulled me out of my ice cream induced daze.

              “Thanks and hello to you too, peasant.” I rolled my eyes at him and continued scraping the tub. I jumped slightly when something cold made contact with my skin. Turning around, I saw the second miracle of the day – blushing Hoya. “Oh my god, you’re blushing.” I said out loud unthinkingly. He blushed harder, the tips of his ears reddening as he held the plastic bag out to me. I took it from him, peering inside to see – oh my dear sweet lord it’s a jumbo tub of Oreo goodness.

              “Happy 19^th,” he smiled shyly, ducking his head to rub his neck sheepishly. “Sorry I couldn’t give it to you earlier, I figured that you ought to save it for lunch.” A -eating grin was creeping up my face as I stood there like an idiot clutching the cold bag to me while the snow fell around outside.

              I looked down at the tub, seeing a small note scribbled in purple marker at the side then up to the boy still biting his lips nervously in front of me. “A tub of ice cream?” I asked, feeling a bit amused by his choice of present.

              “Yeah,” he answered, looking a bit embarrassed himself. Aw. “Anyway,” he hurried on, “I thought we could go ice skating after school. My treat.” My heart threatened to explode in my chest as it thudded furiously. I knew what he meant perfectly. Our secret language was thrumming in the air between us, reverberating with his desire and unspoken gift.

              I could feel it, can feel the understanding spreading through my body like the melting ice cream in the tiny bowl encompassed in my hand. “Are you asking me out on a date, Lee Howon?” I gently. Yes I admit I just wanted him to say it out.

              “I don’t know, maybe I am.” His dark eyes met mine straight on, a hint of challenge in them.

              I looked right back, a knowing smile twisting my lips. “Hmm, well someone has to help me finish this,” I hefted the tub up, “I heard ice cream goes well with movies too.”