Youngjae lets out a long and tired sigh, plopping himself down in his chair and setting his stuff onto his desk. It was Friday, thank god. Just one more day and he was home free for the weekend. He was absolutely exhausted, school work weighing heavily on his shoulders. It seemed as though all the teachers had been out to get their students, which was extremely unnecessary, especially at a time as crucial as their junior year where everyone was busy trying to scope out nice universities to apply for. Youngjae had his eye on a few, but made no move to do anything about it. He just wanted Saturday to roll in already so he could finally get some sleep.

                The boy’s fingers absently strummed the spirals of his chalky yellow notebook, the thin plastic softly vibrating beneath his fingertips. He was rather early to school today for the sake of catching up on more work before the actual day started. Although such a task could be done at home, he’d be either too distracted by breakfast or his brother’s constant singing as he runs on his treadmill in the early hours of the morning. The reason as to why he does that, Youngjae didn’t know, nor did he ever bother to question it. His brother was, well, his brother, and because he was younger than him Youngjae would just have to deal with it one way or another.

                After one last pluck at the spirals of his journal, the boy finally opened it up, fanning through the pages in search for the latest entry. In the midst of his flipping, an unknown item fell from between the leaves of his notebook, surprising the young boy as it fell quietly onto his desk. Youngjae peered curiously at the object settled before him: a crisply folded piece of paper with the single word open scrawled over it in a glittery, lemony gold type of color.

                With tentative fingers he held the small note, playing delicately with the corners as he took a cautious glance around the classroom. Just as he looked up, his classmate walked in, offering him a courteous smile as she made her way to her seat. Youngjae feebly returned it before staring back down at the foreign note. There weren’t any other kids in class besides him and that girl. He wondered how long that note had been hiding in his journal. When did it get there? How did it get there?

                Perhaps it was a mistake?

                Youngjae stole another careful glance at the girl across the classroom, checking to make sure she wouldn’t plan on turning around to talk to him as he read this letter. The girl soon took out her phone, and Youngjae took that as a go-ahead sign. His thumb smoothed over the golden word on the front before he carefully unfolded the note, observing the sharp creases of every fold. Once finished, he smoothed the paper down on his desk with firm hands, eyes skimming over the contents of the letter.

                Youngjae’s eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to make out the words written out in front of him. They were of the same lemony gold color as observed earlier, but more difficult to read under the classroom lighting. At certain angles the light would reflect over the golden letters and blend in with the white of the page, much to Youngjae’s frustration. The boy rubbed his eye as he held the paper closer, squinting to read it.

                you brighten my day better than dandelions or daisies

                and i find you cuter than a lil’ rubber ducky

                Youngjae blinked twice, his ears gradually turning red and travelling down his face, to his cheeks, to his neck, and to his entire body. The boy awkwardly placed the note back down onto his desk, biting the back of his hand as he suppressed the urge to laugh out loud. It was so bad – not only cheesy, but bad. He wasn’t sure if this note was meant for him or for someone else, but whoever it was for, Youngjae just felt incredibly embarrassed for the sender. And for the receiver too, but in return that would mean he felt bad for himself. Which he did, after reading that.

                Youngjae honestly didn’t know how to react.

                It probably was a mistake.

                With a deep breath, the boy fought to hold back a grin, folding the little note back together and stuffing it into his book bag behind him. Seconds passed as the classroom clock ticked by monotonously through the empty classroom, the only other sounds being the flipping of Youngjae’s journal and the girl’s nails tapping against the surface of her desk. Youngjae’s eyes traced the scribbles of his handwriting but his mind was unable to comprehend them.

                The clock’s hands moved.

                Youngjae couldn’t help himself as he exploded into fits of laughter, sounds of his glee echoing off the classroom walls. The girl who had been in there and a boy who had just walked in both stared at him in alarm, the laughing boy merely clapping a hand over his mouth to contain himself. Muffled giggles seeped past his lips and fingers as he hung his head down low, mind drifting back to the little note he had read only a minute ago. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

                It rang through his mind the entire day.

                (Later that afternoon he even ended up chilling in a tub with a cute little rubber ducky.)

-

                He still believed that it was some sort of mistak