This week had passed with nothing interesting to put it mildly; I went to school, then my extra classes, before attending social events my mother would force me to join in the evenings. I had been expected to behave to the most sophisticated person I could be, and it meant speaking as politely and gracefully as I could.

The only thing that got me through this week was my afternoon classes with Victoria. They usually happened during days when my mother thought I was studying on languages or something similar, and I lied by saying that I decided to extend my classes to learn more.

One would thought she would be proud of me for doing something like that, even if I didn’t, but she just expected that I would do that.

I had spoken more with Kai as well, although not too much. Sometimes we’d meet in the halls by accident, and he’d offer to walk me to my next class. It was something I found incredibly sweet, although I insisted he did not need to, but he claimed it would be just fine.

On Thursday, I ran into Ara on my way to cheerleading practice, as she was heading there too. Of course it was to wait for Kai to finish practice, and it made me wonder how close they really were for a moment as you rarely saw one without the other.

That day she only spoke of Kai as well, telling me about funny stories and things he had achieved in both soccer and dance. To learn about his achievements was indeed interesting, as well as other small things about him, which made my interest for him, grow slightly.

However, I wasn’t sure what that interest was, or how far it went. At the same time, during that short conversation I had frequently wondered why I wanted to rather ask about what Ara had done and how she was like.

But I didn’t, I just listened and replied when appropriate before I had to run over to start practice again.

Now that Sunday had rolled in, I had just arrived at the automobile shop to Ara’s uncle when I saw her motorcycle parked by the gates. Her back was facing me, so she could not see me arriving, although the car just drove off so she should be able to notice my presence soon enough.

When I had just gotten to stand beside the red and black vehicle she drove all the way here, I could see her slightly surprised expression before lightly smiling towards me.

“See, I came just in time!” Ara said, smiling as in triumph, before placing her helmet down and grabbing her bag as she quickly shut down the loud grumbling of her motorcycle. I could only slightly nod in acknowledgement, wondering why she was so happy, but I didn’t mention it.

“Mr. Lee will pick me up a quarter before twelve o’clock,” I informed her as she got off the motorcycle and nodded in reply, her short stance in front of me now. She wasn’t incredibly short, but it was enough for me to have to look a bit down to meet her eyes. I found it funny, because I wasn’t particularly tall either, but that was another story.

“That leaves us with a tight schedule,” Ara said before turning around to walk inside, me easily catching up beside her. She seemed to be looking for the keys as she spoke. “So what are you going to do?” she asked with her eyes still looking inside her bag, as I could only adjust the grip on my own, black bag as I stood there.

“I have an appointment at the hairdressers,” I replied curtly, not really understanding why it was so important for her to know, but I told her anyway.

“Oh, what do you plan on doing?” she asked as she looked over at me again, but her lips closed themselves as she was blankly studying my appearance.

I didn’t know why, but it made me feel a bit uncomfortable as she was just looking at me like that, her expression void of any thought or emotion as she just scanned me over. Then finally, after what felt like a hundred years, I opted to speak.

“I’m just going to request for a simple trim on the split ends of my hair,” I replied, and Ara gave me another look and I could only give her a slightly confused one back, but she didn’t seem to notice it.

“That’s it?” she asked surprised. “How much is that? A hundred dollars?” she oddly enough asked instead of anything else, sarcasm in her voice, and I could only shrug before thinking about the price.

“Actually, I think it’s about a hundred and fifty,” I said as a matter of fact, but she only gave me another look of what seemed to be disbelief before she shook her head. Then, out of nowhere, she placed the keys she just found in her purse and a warm touch surrounded my wrist as she dragged me the opposite direction.

“I cannot believe you are dumb enough to pay so much for something as simple as that,” Ara sounded as if she was scolding me, before she dug around in the compartment of her motorcycle until she handed a helmet over to me.

“What is wrong with that?” I wanted to ask, but I was quickly interrupted by her simply placing the helmet on my head when I didn’t do anything. For your information, I had never been on a motorcycle before and I thought I was simply holding the helmet for her.

It was a bit stuffy and hot for my face to be surrounded in this heavy headwear, as a layer of protective glass was in front of me. It took a moment or two before a small hand pulled the glass up for me to see Ara clearly, wearing a similar helmet.

“Where are we going?” I ended up asking, as she only gestured me to sit on that vehicle of hers. A bit nervous, I noticed I wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion as I was wearing very tight, skinny jeans that didn’t need a lot of movement before they could tear up.

“You’ll know when we get there,” Ara replied simply, and shut the glass on my helmet down again before we both got on the motorcycle and she started it, the loud engine echoing through my ears.

I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands in that moment, but before I could think too much she had managed to wrap my arms around her waist. To say I was surprised by the sudden gesture would be an understatement, something inside my stomach fluttering and the touch sending weird, but pleasant shivers down my spine.

I held on tight as the motorcycle started to move and the image of the run-down garage rapidly vanished from our sight.

The wind that hit us was cool on my bare hands, and the parts of my hair that weren’t covered by the helmet flew everywhere. At the same time the sun shone brightly that day, although it was mostly covered by tall buildings, and as the traffic was light we didn’t exactly stop.

And I didn’t know if my heart was beating so rapidly by the accelerating speed, the rush of zooning past the crowded streets with people going to work or other places or if it was the fact that I was doing something I really wasn’t supposed to do.

Sooner than what I thought, Ara slowed down as she drove into a corner which led to another row of different shops and other small businesses. She parked the motorcycle by the curb, before taking of her helmet, and me following shortly.

My eyes gazed around the neighborhood, an unfamiliar place I had not visited before. There weren’t too many people out as it seemed like a rather slow day. Well, it was a Sunday after all.

Ara placed the helmet I used in the compartment of her motorcycle, before taking her own underneath her arm and then gesturing me to follow her. Confused, I do as told as my eyes still scan the seemingly worn out, but oddly enough welcoming aura of the buildings and shops.

A bell chimed above our heads as Ara opened the door and entered the area, me following shortly. It took me a second to realize with the brown leather chairs, along with the mirrors and hair equipment that we were in a hair salon.

There were only about two customers there, a man in his forties getting a simple trim to his already short hair as a woman on the other end was instructing the hairdresser on what to do. A huge collection of pictures with people of different hairstyles and colors were everywhere, and the yellow light of the store maid it instantly friendlier and almost homely compared to the business I usually frequented.

“Soo come out you lazy eater!” Ara called out and the two hairdressers didn’t move an inch, almost as if they didn’t hear her loud voice calling out for someone.

A second later a tall and very slim figure exited from the door marked staff only, her hair tied up in a loose braid as she smiled through her baby face.

“Ara you little brat!” the woman greeted back, grabbing the said girl by the neck with her arm before messing up her hair greatly. I could only look at them surprised, wondering what they were doing although they seemed to be quite friendly with one another.

“Hey Krystal, meet Sooyoung,” Ara said whilst laughing, her hair frizzed up and all over the place as I still stood rooted on the same place by the entrance.

The said woman looked away from Ara, laughing as well before focusing on me. The smile on her face disappeared a little before she came closer. “Did you finally bring a friend with you?” Sooyoung probably asked Ara, although she was still going in my direction.

Then she stood in front of me, lightly studying my features with curious eyes, as if I was an extraterrestrial creature from another galaxy.

From this position I got a closer look on her slightly chubby cheeks, adding to her baby like face, and her wide eyes. It was a weird combination, as she was as tall and thin as a stick. Her dark shade of black t-shirt and pants did not help, as it made her seem even skinnier, something that I wasn’t sure of scared me or not.

However, she was very pretty I had to admit, almost as if she was a supermodel that had just arrived from the runway. I could easily imagine her walking down in exclusive dresses and outfits, showcasing the designer’s vision and clothes through her body.

A sudden smile crept through her features as she patted me on the shoulder. “I like her, Ara,” the woman, Sooyoung, said before leaning away from my face. Then she turned around towards Ara again, who almost seemed a bit nervous for some reason.

“Is she someone… special?” Sooyoung continued to ask, and I noticed her perfectly trimmed eyebrows quirk up with a look I couldn’t quite describe, as Ara only rolled her eyes before dismissing the thought… whatever that was.

“No, I believe Miss America wouldn’t be someone like that,” Ara said with sarcasm in her voice, and I wondered what they were talking about, but she was quick to change the subject.

“We’re here because she originally had an appointment at some other fancy place, but I figured she’d be in safer hands here,” she said with a wink, and Sooyoung only rolled her eyes before giving her a shove; however she guided us to two seats by the end of the room.

“You’re just here because you want a free haircut,” she deadpanned, and the sweet smile on Ara’s face said it all as I could feel myself slightly chuckling on the inside. However, it wouldn’t escape my lips for some reason.

“Hey, Sunny my bunny, come here!” Sooyoung called out and yet again the other workers didn’t seem to flinch, although I had to slightly cover my ears by the sound.  Do they like screaming a lot here?

Another girl appeared in front of us, almost skipping as she stood there and wow, she was even shorter than Ara. The girl’s head was painted in all colors of the rainbow, although she seemed to favor pink as it was the most evident on her short locks. She was very cute although she somewhat looked like a kid that shouldn’t be working, but drawing or something.

“You take care of the brat,” Sooyoung said to Sunny and earned a hit from Ara, although she didn’t seem to care before looking over at me with a weird type of smile.

“Now, what does Lee Ara’s friend want today?” she added a huge emphasis on the word friend for some reason, but I didn’t have a lot of time to think of it as I sat down on the chair and looked at my reflection from the mirror.

“I would just like to cut the split ends of my hair, please,” I replied and slowly looked over to Sooyoung’s reflection, and she was now busy on placing a black coat over my clothes. She was still smiling, although she gave me an odd look.

“Are you sure that’s all you want?” she asked and I was about to nod, before the voice of someone interrupted me.

“Come on, you’re getting a free haircut and all you want is that?” Ara interrupted from beside me, Sunny already working on something in the background. I could only give her a quick glance as the hands of Sooyoung were already running through my hair.

“There isn’t really much else to do with my hair,” I replied and Ara didn’t seem too convinced by that. Then it felt quiet before I glanced over to look at Ara’s reflection from her mirror, her eyes suddenly lit up as if she had an idea.

“You know what,” she began with her eyes meeting mine through the mirror, a smile on her face. “If I dye my hair blue, will you do the same in red?” Ara asked and I had to check if she was serious, because that was an incredibly out of line idea. My mother would never accept such a hair color on me.

“Come on, you told me I’d look good in blue, or cerulean to be exact, and I know you’d rock scarlet red,” she tried to persuade me and I had no idea why it slowly seemed to work. My gaze drifted towards my reflection, looking at the dark locks of my hair that had been in the same color my entire life.

“You know, she’s right,” Sooyoung’s voice echoed through my ears. “With nice hair as yours and your features, red hair would look amazing on you,” she continued and I started to hesitate. What would my parents say when they saw me come home with such a color?

“I’ll do it if you dye your hair too,” I looked over to Ara, my voice serious and I wasn’t even sure why I agreed to this. This would make my parents flip, this was not what I intended to do today at all.

For some reason though, I suddenly didn’t care anymore.

“Of course,” she said after a while. “We’re going to look like those k-pop idols!” Ara said with a smile and although I knew she didn’t intend to, it came out as awfully… cute.

It was different than her previous ones that came out of reflex, as if she was doing it because he had to. This time it seemed more genuine because she felt as if she wanted to rather than something that people expected to do.

It also did weird things to my chest, as if I suddenly lost the beat of my heart before it returned. It was an odd feeling indeed.

In that moment I almost wanted to smile back, but I couldn’t get myself to, so I simply nodded before returning my gaze towards the mirror as Sooyoung started working on my hair, prepping it before it was to be dyed in a color so unusual.

Things went silent between us after that, the only noise being the music playing in the background along with the occasional chatter between Sunny and Sooyoung about hair related things I didn’t really understand.

For a moment I wondered how Ara knew these people, and why they seemed so close. They weren’t old, they couldn’t be much older than Jessica, but I wondered if they worked here fulltime or not.

“You know, Ara here is a very talented artist,” Sooyoung shared as she was working some formula into my hair, a sink placed behind me for my head to lean on. “She acts all shy about it, but really her talent is no joke,” she continued.

“I know, she once sketched the salon on a whim and it was amazing!” Sunny chirped in and from the small part I could see of her face, she was smiling. “I just wished she’d done portraits, because I have always wanted a painting of myself in my apartment.”

I could hear Ara scoff from where she was seated. “I’m not expanding your ego even more, Soonkyu,” Ara said, using a name I was unfamiliar with until I realized that it might be Sunny she was addressing.

“I’m her model for her newest project, although I actually haven’t seen too much of her work,” I replied to what Sooyoung started with and suddenly I wasn’t too sure if I should have said that or not. The hairdressers both seemed to look at me for a long time, with unreadable expressions before they suddenly both smiled at the same time.

“Wow, Ara, are you sure you don’t paint people?” Sunny retorted to the said girl, and I quickly stole a glance at Ara to see her look a bit… flustered?

“It’s a part of the project, I needed someone to model for me…” she started slowly, although there was something so soft about her voice that it made her seem so small for a reason. It was something entirely different from the sarcastic nature she usually had.

“Well she’s very talented, I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually did open her own gallery someday,” Sunny said with a friendly smile as she continued to bleach Ara’s hair.

“Let’s hope that it will happen someday,” Ara said quietly, as if she didn’t want anyone to hear, but I did.

It actually took longer than I thought before we were done, but when Sooyoung was done with the finishing touches I sat with my back facing the mirror, wondering how the results would be.

Ara was actually very excited, although not overly so, but I could see it from the way she would try to sneak a peek on any mirror, despite Sunny blocking her chances from doing so. I could only give her a slight look because it was kind of funny, but those stubborn lips didn’t want to move, so nothing happened.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen!” Sunny announced although we were the only two customers left in the shop. “We introduce to you the sarcastic and bratty artist who likes lying to the best hairdresser she has ever known; The Blue Painter!”

I could see Ara roll her eyes in what looked like embarrassment before they spun her chair around for her to view her now blue locks. Her eyes were widened in surprise, but a pleasant one as she ran her small hands through the dyed color of her naturally wavy hair.

“And now to a new guest,” Sooyoung says with a voice that would but a boxing announcer to shame, her hands gripping the chair. “With a mysterious gaze and the potential of becoming the next president, we introduce you to The Lady in Red!”

Then faster than what I could comprehend, my eyes came face to face with a girl that looked exactly like me. However the dark hair she once had was replaced with a fiery red that would awake anyone’s attention.

I couldn’t stop the surprised expression that entered my face as well, my head moving left and right to get used to the new color as I found myself liking it the more and more I gazed at it. Whatever doubt and fear I had about the sudden change vanished little by little.

“Let me apologize for those two, they have big dreams of becoming announcers or something like that. Too bad they didn’t get accepted to that school because they were too loud,” Ara said with a small laugh, followed by playful hits from both of the hairdressers.

When we were done, I was about to pay, but Ara wasn’t joking when she said it was on them. Despite my protest, as I have always learned that one must not expect such gifts from others, they just shook it off with a smile and wished us luck on the project.

I wanted to say that Ara did most of the work anyway, but I couldn’t before we were ushered out, both of the women having mysterious smiles on their faces that I couldn’t comprehend.

Soon again we were standing by her motorcycle, and my gaze drifted towards my watch when I noticed that it was already thirty minutes past twelve.

Although I obviously didn’t need to go to the hairdresser I had planned to anymore, I still hadn’t canceled my appointment and I couldn’t do that because I didn’t have a phone nearby. Besides our driver would wonder where I was, and why I wasn’t there and this is a disaster.

“Is everything alright?” Ara asked as she looked at me, and I wanted to shake my head because it really wasn’t, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I had never missed an appointment my entire life, and if my mother were to find out I would be in for a huge scolding.

However, I was taught not to act helpless around people and I knew Ara wouldn’t want to know either, so I nodded slowly before we went towards her motorcycle.

“Are you still up for modeling, Lady in Red?” Ara said with a lot of humor in her voice, her eyes almost smiling if they could, and in a moment my worries decreased into nothing.

Besides, I didn’t feel like going home as I for once had nothing planned, and with a light nod I wait for her to hand me the helmet.

When we get on the motorcycle again, I still feel a bit cautious about holding around her waist, but I figured that I would have to for my own safety, despite the odd feelings inside.

I also had to ignore the fact that I felt my heartbeat accelerate, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the speed we were driving in, or something else.