“Don’t you just love the sunshine?” Youjung asked as she stretched out on her bed. No, it wasn’t her bed. It was actually Hyebin’s. She had asked for her best friend to move in, as Youjung now only lived with her older sister who was too busy with her own life as an adult, and Hyebin leapt at the chance for freedom. It was about time for her to grow up as an individual, and her mother seemed more than a little tired of seeing her daughter everyday. Her mother paid for any living expenses without a problem, and Youjung’s side was responsible for taking care of Hyebin. Overall, the new arrangements made seemed to work out more positively for both sides.

“I guess I do. It makes me happy to see it shine,” Hyebin reasoned. She was sitting in a beanbag chair, her legs dangling over the sides of the overstuffed chair. She looked almost as though she could sleep, but if you looked at her eyes you could see she was alert and wide awake. Youjung had a small smirk form on her face, bringing her eyes to shine slyly.

“Is it because of a certain tall, good looking boy?” Her words stretched “good looking” with a suggestive tone, and Hyebin leaned over, before beginning to smack her best friend’s upper arm viciously.

“It. Is. Not. Because. Of. Junhoe!” She shouted defensively, and Youjung rolled over, laughing so hard it sounded as though she would cry, and sat up as soon as she was out of her friend’s reach.

“I never said it had to be Junhoe, but thank you for your confession. I guess you do think he’s hot stuff,” Youjung chimed. It felt like a trap, and from never experiencing this before, Hyebin was unsure if she should have felt flustered or if she should feel violated. It almost reminded her of something more, something that had hurt her so much in her past.

“I don’t like him. I don’t think I ever want to either,” Hyebin said in stable tone. She meant  every syllable, and it stopped Youjung from her continuous giggles. The two girls stared at each other, Youjung in apologetic curiosity, and Hyebin in a guarded way, as though there were walls being built around her.

“Why?” If curiosity killed the cat, then there was an obvious reason why. Youjung was just dying to know what else her friend had went through. Even though they had just come back from their trip to Jeju with their whole grade, she still felt as if Hyebin were the type of girl who you could talk to endlessly, and not know anything about in the end.

“Something about my first love, but that’s nothing. Anyways, yeah, no Junhoe. Besides, it’s kind of night time right now. We have school tomorrow.” She said, though in the back of her mind, Hyebin couldn’t help but think about what had happened the previous day.

They had arrived back in the airport, and they had been waiting for the buses to pick them up and bring them back to their school, where arrangements for parents were made to pick up their children. Hyebin was with Youjung and Soorim, chatting about their adventures at the trip. It was mainly about how well the group had clicked, as well as the amount of friendship and sisterhood that had blossomed between the trio. Hyebin, who had never experienced such a thing, was in a daze the whole time out of the fact that she felt blessed with so many things in the past she didn’t have prior to high school. Youjung definitely kept her words; she was trying so hard to rebuild that past Hyebin didn’t have.

“Hey, what are you doing? Trying to get run over by a car?” That sneering tone could have only been from one person. Still, Hyebin looked up from where she had been squatting on the airport curb, where the school was waiting for vans to arrive to pick up them and the luggage. The other two girls were still talking avidly about their growing bonds, while Hyebin was dazing off in her own little world.

“Who would be able to get their drivers license if they’re about to drive onto curbs and sidewalks?” She replied hotly. She was squinting up; the sunlight was too bright, and it was glaring into her dark eyes. She covered her eyes with her hand, but she found herself getting another idea. “Hey, can you take a step over to the right?” Junhoe gave her a curious look, but obliged. She found instant relief as the sunlight hit Junhoe, and thanked him silently for his towering height.

“Yah! What do you think I am, an umbrella for your personal convenience?” He scowled deeply at her, looking displeased as he realized what was going on. Hyebin peered up at him, before sticking her tongue out childishly. Why not enjoy her youth a little more? He responded by bending over, grabbing her hand, and yanking her up. She flushed at the contact, before he moved her slightly to where he was previously standing, before he squatted in the position she had been in before.

“What are you, five?” She scoffed at him, peering down at him. He was grinning like a little boy in her shade, delighted in himself. She couldn’t even believe how immature he was, but she couldn’t find it in herself to even say anything- she found it oddly adorable. Yes, he was frustrating to talk to, especially when he seemed to think he was the most pleasing thing in the world, but he did have those tolerable moments.

“I’m surprised you’re even tall enough to block that sunlight for me. Seriously shorty, you should grow a little more. Try stretching,” he deadpanned. Hyebin took back her previous thoughts. He was tolerable in some moments, but those moments involved when he was too busy to talk. As soon as that mouth opened, she only felt the urge to shove him over. Still, she reminded herself to stay calm.

“I’m 165 centimeters. That’s not short, especially for a Korean girl. I’m still growing, thank you very much. And besides, I’m in the medical academy. I think I know how to take care of my health.” She stated as peacefully as possible, but when she heard him snicker, she could barely hold herself back from smacking him on head.

“I’m in medical too. I guess I found out who to get homework help from, right chingoo?” He said with a lazy smile. Of course. It was in his laid back nature to not want to even think about doing work well before school started. She rolled her eyes.

“How did you even get into medicine for this school? Academies of Seoul is one of the most competitive schools. Either you were hard working, or your previous school district was not smart at all,” she said in a disapproving tone. He shot her an annoyed look with his eyes, and his dark eyebrows seemed to only accent his mood.

“Yah, just be quiet and help me up. I guess my legs are just too long because I’m tall,” he stressed certain words, making it obvious that he wanted to pull a few more antics. Hyebin just sighed, before holding her two hands out, and she watched as he stretched out his own arms. As their hands grabbed, Hyebin considered if she should have just dropped him, and let him hit the ground again with his sorry behind. She decided wisely against it, knowing he would only launch into more rants about her.

“Omo! Such a pretty pose. Just stay like that for a little more while I get my camera ready!” The two froze like deer in headlights, before turning to face the voice. It was Soorim, being the playful girl she was, taking out her phone to use as a way to snapshot the moment. Junhoe lunged for the phone, trying to block the lens, but it was too late.

“Smile!” The phone chimed, and Hyebin winced internally, knowing that it would only be the next picture her two new best friends would torment her with in the future days to come. She heard Soorim’s ringing laughter, soon followed by Youjung’s softer ones. They were looking at the photo, pointing out the expressions of shock on her and Junhoe’s faces, as well as the awkward pose.

“Just like when those idols are caught in a dating scandal,” Youjung commented, before glancing up at Hyebin, who looked flabberghasted. Junhoe just sent a scowl at the two girls, who were still huddled over the phone, before sauntering away towards his own friends. He was obviously peeved at the picture.

“Gosh, you’d think he’d love paparazzi with that kind of an attitude. Hey, Hyebin, would you like to see who you’ll be meeting down the aisle in a decade or two?” Soorim asked, before showing the screen. Hyebin shot a glare at her friend, before letting her curiosity get the better of her. She looked at the screen, and couldn’t help but turn pink. One of their hands were still visibly entwined, and it just looked as though he were truly trying to stop people from knowing something. And failing miserably.

“Earth to Hyebin? Kim Hyebin? Yah!” She was brought back to present time as Youjung lightly slapped her cheeks. Hyebin must’ve been too absorbed in her memories. She just sent a small, apologetic smile to her friend, who rolled her eyes. She had already grown used to Hyebin’s aloofness at moments.

“Sorry, did something happen?” Hyebin asked, and Youjung nodded, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She held up Hyebin’s phone, which was new, and showed that there was an incoming message. Hyebin squinted her eyes, trying to read the tiny printed Hangul, before feeling her jaw drop open.

“Koo. Junhoe? What is that thing doing this time,” she muttered, although she was embarrassed that Youjung saw. She snatched her phone away quickly, before opening her lock, and reading the message. It could have been a simple hello, or any other equally amiable greeting, but no. It was a complaint about how bored he was.

“What did your lover boy say?” Youjung begged to know, and Hyebin turned to flick her forehead. Youjung pouted at it, wincing in the short moment of pain, before turning away indignantly. Hyebin chuckled, before turning back to her phone. She checked the time, before her eyes widened in excitement. 11:10 pm. Only one minute away before she could make her wish of the day. It became something of a tradition, something that she wanted to make be her own personal thing. To Hyebin, everyone had that one thing; Youjung always tucked her hair behind her ears, and Soorim always cracked her knuckles. Hyebin wanted something distinguishing like that as well.

‘You should make a wish. It’s 11:11 pm! -Hyeb’. Hyebin was almost jumping up and down in her spot of joy and she screwed her eyes shut, her lips moving in a silent list of what her hopes were, especially as her new school year was going to begin. She wanted to make a lot of friends. She wanted to be well liked by others. She wanted to be able to let go of her restricted past with her mother. She wanted to start fresh, a clean slate. She opened her eyes again, only this time to be greeted with a sleeping Youjung, who was curled up comfortably on her bed, and no reply back from that irritating Junhoe. Hyebin sighed, before rubbing her eyes, which were starting to droop from sleepiness. It was about time to sleep anyways- she wanted a fresh start tomorrow. As she reached over to wake Youjung to kick her out of the bed, her phone buzzed again. A new message.

‘And u asked if i was the 5 yr old. Btw, i missed it. its 11:14 now, so like 4 hrs past ur bedtime, shorty- koo junhoe’. Needless to say, Hyebin just threw her phone to the side, sighing in frustration. School with Junhoe was going to be tiring.

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AN: Hello my lovely readers!! Thank you guys so much for the comments, the subscriptions, and even an upvote! I felt so encouraged that I literally kept on writing and revising in my freetime. This update is a little boring, and I'm not completely aware of what to do with the plot. It's honestly a hodgepodge mix right now. Please keep encouraging me to write and I promise I'll try to update when I can find the time to! :) love you all and love Junhoe