"I don't understand the need of still checking the list when you know you're always on the top." Mina shushed her best friend, Jihyo, for her remark. "The list changes, you know. I feel like I didn't really do good in this semester." Mina said, her voice slightly fading out as she scans for her name on the list starting from the bottom. Jihyo rolled her eyes as she pointed out that Mina would take less time finding her name if she started at the top. Mina shushed her again and Jihyo just crossed her arms and leaned on the wall not far from them as she patiently wait for her friend.

Mina came to her after a few minutes, eyes smiling and spring on her heels. "Ji! You won't believe it. I'm top 1!" She took Jihyo's hands and started spinning them around. Jihyo couldn't believe how humble Mina can be. She was consistently top 1 since they started college and the news of her being the top student seems to be always new to Mina. "What do you say, we celebrate this tonight at Jimmy's." Jihyo offered when they both calmed down. Mina smiled. "Sounds good."

It was lunch time, Mina and Jihyo fell in with the queue in the school's cafeteria. The line was long so the two girls talked it out until they reached the counter. The pair received a bunch of greetings while they walked to their seats which they cheerfully returned each time. They sat on a table third from the windows. While they were eating, a boisterous pair burst in through the doors of the cafeteria. "I wonder why they call themselves 'the Kindreds' like they're some cult or something," Jihyo shook her head while looking down at her salad and playing her fork with it. The pair collected some innocent stares, and the rest, Mina was sure they were what Jihyo called 'heart eyes'. While Mina and Jihyo are known for being prim and proper, top students, members of the Kindreds are famous for troublemaking and their ethereal looks. Mina remembers having a little crush on Son Chaeyoung, the smaller girl with short black bob and a toothy grin who's arm is draped over Kim Dahyun's shoulder, a very pale girl who is now rocking her long blue hair.

Mina followed them with her eyes, respectfully, careful not to catch their attention as they walked past behind her, almost grazing her long blonde hair. She saw them heading straight to the lone girl at the table by the window adjacent to where they were sitting. "Ji, who's that?" Mina asked her bestfriend who lifts her head up to look at what Mina is looking at. "That's Yoo Jeongyeon, a transferee. I think she studies Chemical Engineering and is in her third year. A week in and she already collected a big fraction of this whole university's heart eyes." Mina hears a soft "hyung" from Chaeyoung as the pair sat down infront of the lone girl. Mina nods repeatedly as she took in this information from the Student Body President a.k.a. her bestfriend. She stared at the seated girl hunched over her spaghetti and studied her features some more. Her smooth-looking jet black hair, two inches shy from her shoulders, (Mina felt the instinct to run her hands in that hair for a split second) was tucked behind her ear and it gives Mina a full display of the sharpest jawline she has ever seen. Her eyes traced her jawline to her perfect chin, to her high cheekbones and- Yoo Jeongyeon's eyes were made of stars. The way Mina saw how they shined even when she's feet away. Those bright hazel pools she would undoubtedly and willingly dive into- Mina gasped as she looked away and stood up dizzying fast, startling her bestfriend. "What's wrong?" Jihyo asked as she followed a scurrying Mina out of the cafeteria.

Night outs at Jimmy's with Jihyo were always Mina's favorite. She loves how her and Jihyo could talk about a million things despite of seeing each other everyday. She checks her phone for the time, 10:07 p.m. Her and Jihyo parted 15 minutes ago, she wonders if Jihyo was already home so she texts her. Jihyo confirms that she got home safely and is getting ready for bed. Mina pocketed her phone as she breathes in fresh air. She decided to take the 10 minute walk from Jimmy's to her apartment. The way to her abode was along the river, which Mina enjoys so much. She thinks the best time to walk along the river were times like this, when it's peaceful and quiet, save for few young couples making out shamelessly alongside it.

Having no scheduled class for the day after, Mina decides to enjoy the walk home. When she reached the familiar alley near her home, she hears shuffling feet and sounds of glass bottles being she thinks are being strewn around. She stilled. Then the sound of feet dragging. She was about to run but when she looked back, a bloodied Yoo Jeongyeon, in the glory of her black hoodie and disheveled hair, came out of the said alley and passed out.

Mina didn't know if she should thank the fates or not. She wonders if her life would be more convenient now if she decided to take the bus home, if she took a rain check with Jihyo today, or if she didn't come first on the dean's list. Now she's thinking really hard about her life decisions as she drags Yoo Jeongyeon towards her bed. She couldn't help but dump the taller girl's body on the matress as she collapses on the floor by the foot of the bed. She was sweating due to the effort to half-carry a dead weight of a girl whose weight seems to exceed about thirty percent of her own. She decides to take a hot shower and think things through. As she entered the shower and turned the knob, she subtly banged her head on the tiled wall. What was she doing taking home a girl she barely know? But then she thought if she did otherwise. Mina collected her thoughts. She is a medical student and Jeongyeon was hurt. Something like this is bound to happen anyway. She sighed.

When Mina finished taking a bath and brushing her teeth, she went back to her room to see Yoo Jeongyeon still lights out. She switched her bedside lamp on. The soft yellow light radiated on Yoo Jeongyeon's face. Mina was awestruck, she even thinks its unfair to have a face as perfect as Yoo Jeongyeon's. Even her split lip, bruised cheekbone, and a small gash on her forehead seemed to contribute to her beauty. Mina mentally scolded herself for staring too long. She's hurt, goddamnit. She stood up and fetched her first-aid kit in her cabinet and tended to the slumbering girl.

After she made sure she had treated and dressed the passed-out girl's wounds, Mina settled on her century-old couch. She sighed as she looked over to the girl. Yoo Jeongyeon, a troublemaker; the kind eyes and soft gaze. The thought never occurred to Mina but then she remembers, she is a member of the Kindreds. She sighs for the upteenth time today and switched off her lamp.