I woke up to the sound of the alarm on my phone. How many times had I put it on snooze by now?

Without opening my eyes, I reached for the phone and, after several tries, managed to turn off the annoying noise. I forced by eyes open and slowly sat up in bed, feeling like a complete zombie. The screen on my phone lit up and I noticed the time. . I was going to be late for my first day of school.

I almost jumped out of bed. Usually I wasn’t this late, but for some reason the snooze button had seemed so much more appealing than usual. It must be because of all the medication which was making me unusually drowsy. Somehow I managed to put on clothing at least 5 times faster than normal. Maybe it was because I actually had a school uniform, so I didn’t have to think about what to wear. My uniform was pretty plain and had very plain colors, mostly grey, white and black. It consisted of a shirt, a skirt and a blazer with the school logo on it.

After putting on my uniform, I went to the bathroom and brushed my hair lightly. Compared to other people’s hair, my hair wasn’t that thick, which meant that not much styling could be done to it. I just let it hang loose. I decided to skip breakfast, though that was not something I would normally do, but I was in a hurry. Grabbing my bag with schoolbooks my dad had gotten me, I rushed out the door and into the elevator. If I hurried I might be able to make it to the subway and the next train which left in a few minutes.

 

I made it just a few minutes before class started, my face completely glossy because of sweat from running and my hair curling around my forehead. Well, if I wasn’t going to make a nice first impression.

I waited at the teachers’ office, since my homeroom teacher, Mr. Park, would follow me to my first class so I could be introduced. As we walked through the hallways I couldn’t help but look at the few students who were coming in late, rushing down the halls. Most of the classrooms had small windows in the doors and I peeked inside whenever I got the chance (Mr. Park was walking slowly, as if he didn’t have a class he had to teach, so I basically ended up looking into every classroom on our way to class). Suddenly a black-haired boy came running towards us, his hair in all directions, as if he had just woken up from bed.

“Aaah~…” As he ran past us, I could hear how he was quietly screaming to himself. He seemed familiar somehow. Wasn’t that the younger one of Taehyung and Namjoon’s friends? I turned around to see if I was right, but it was too late. He had already turned a corner, though I could still hear him running down another hallway. His name was Jungkook, if I were right. Honestly, I hadn’t really noticed his face too much the two times I had met him. I had been drunk the first time too. But at least I remembered his name… if that boy was even him.

 

Mr. Park stopped in front of a door. From inside the classroom you could hear the sound of students having too much fun while waiting for the teacher. Looking through the window in the door, I could see a couple of boys fooling around in front of the teacher’s desk, while some girls were sitting around a table in the middle of the room, obviously giggling at the boys. Ah, the real high school life… It was a long time since I had last experienced this. In fact, I think I only went to a normal co-ed school twice in the last couple of years and that wasn’t lot, considering the fact that I only went for three or four months at each school. Most of the time I was home-schooled and my mother would hire a private teacher. It had been like that the last place we had been, which was New York.

I was pulled back into reality when I heard the teacher turn the door knob.

“Everyone, please quiet down and go to your seats” Mr. Park said as he entered. Huh, that was effective. The noise quieted down almost immediately, and the boys, who had been fooling around just before, diligently went to their seats. It was easy to see that this teacher had their respect.

“Today I am going to introduce a new student to you. Because of an accident she’s starting in the middle of first semester.” As the teacher talked I could hear quiet whispers from my classmates. I had followed Mr. Park to the front of the whiteboard and taken a quick look at the others, but as I didn’t know where to look, I found myself staring at a small spot on the wall at the other end of the classroom.

“New student, please introduce yourself” Mr. Park smiled at me. I looked at him and then at my classmates again, trying to smile at everyone. 

“My name is Ahn Mali. Please take care of me” I said, as loudly as I dared. I could feel my cheeks turn a warm and hoped the blush wasn’t too obvious.

“You can sit by the window on the front row” Mr. Park said and pointed at an empty desk. I picked up my bag, which I had dropped on the floor earlier and went to my seat. When I had sat down, I once again took at quick look around the classroom to find my classmates staring at me. At least most of them looked friendly, so that was positive, I guess.

 

The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period. Lunchbreak and the end of school for today, at least for me. Because of my condition, my dad had asked the school to let me go home early the first week, because he wasn’t sure I would be able to handle it and he couldn’t convince me to stay at home any longer.

I had met some other teachers during the different periods and they had all given me even more books, despite the fact that my dad had bought what he thought were all the books I needed. This meant that my bag was now very heavy against my back.

I made it to my locker in front of the main entrance of the school.

“Mali-noona” A familiar voice called from somewhere behind me. I turned around and saw a black-haired boy standing a few meters away from me, wearing a big grin on his lips. It was the same boy who had been running down the hallway earlier. Yup, definitely the younger one, Jungkook. The fact that he even remembered me and my name made me smile. I hadn’t expected to know anyone at this school.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as walked towards me.

“Attending school, I think” I laughed, slowly dropping my heavy bag onto the floor.

“Do you want ice cream?” Jungkook asked out of nowhere. Ice cream? Now?

“Wha-“ I didn’t finish what I was saying before Jungkook cut me off.

“I forgot my lunch, so I’m going to the convenience store to buy ice cream. Do you want some?” He once again asked. Somehow from the way he looked at me, I felt like what he actually meant was ‘I want ice cream and have no money. Buy it for me.’ I sighed.

“This was my last period for today, so I guess we can go get ice cream” I mumbled and sighed again. Honestly, after he had put that thought into my head I couldn’t let it go; I wanted to eat ice cream now.

Jungkook’s face lit up and he turned around and swiftly ran to a small group of boys who were probably his age. They had been looking at us the whole time and I had tried to ignore it. Jungkook said something to them and then ran back to me.

“Okay~ let’s go!” he said sounding way too excited.

 

“You know, I’m never late, today was just a bad day. I’m a model student” Jungkook said proudly.

I somehow had a hard time believing that, but ended up just nodding. I didn’t really know him after all, so I could be wrong.

He had been talking almost nonstop ever since we left school – mostly about the different ice creams and flavors, debating what kind he should get. I didn’t say much, but at least this was way better than the awkward silence that was usually the case when I talked to people I didn’t know well. The street we walked on was mostly empty, probably due to the fact that most people were at work or school at the moment. There were a few other students from our school though, sporting the same plain uniform as the two of us.

“Kookie!” Someone yelled. Jungkook and I both turned around at the same time, looking in the direction of where the shout had come from. Namjoon approached us, but stopped in his tracks as we had turned around. My guess was that he hadn’t exactly expected to see me with Jungkook. In a matter of a few seconds his expression went from surprised to confused to … happy?

“Mali~ Why are you here?” Namjoon asked, a big smile almost reaching his eyes. He was completely ignoring Jungkook, who was tripping impatiently next to me.

“Ah… I’m buying ice cream for the two of us since Jungkook forgot his lunch” I said and looked at Jungkook. He didn’t deny anything and nodded while still looking at Namjoon. I had been right in my assumption before, then…

“Ice cream? I could use some ice cream too” he said, staring out into nothing, as if he was thinking hard. Was he saying I should buy him ice cream too? These kids really liked ice cream, huh?

I sighed. How many times had I sighed today already?

“Let’s go, then” I said. I was already walking again, kinda expecting the two of them to just follow me. They did.

“Noona, it’s here” Jungkook said just a few seconds later. If he hadn’t said anything I would probably have walked past the convenience store. It was rather small, placed between a clothing shop and a bakery.

“Hyung what ice cream are you gonna get?” Jungkook said excited, while running to the refrigerator with ice cream.

“Dunno” Namjoon replied. He was walking next to me, not in a hurry like Jungkook.

“What are you gonna get?” he looked at me, still smiling, though his smile wasn’t as big as before. His dimples were still obvious though, and I caught myself staring at his face instead of answering him.

My expression must have been completely blank, because Namjoon ended up asking me if I was alright. I quickly nodded.

“I think… I think I’m gonna get that strawberry flavored one” I mumbled, but apparently I said it loud enough for Jungkook to hear, because he loudly said ‘got it!’ and came running towards us, before we had even reached the refrigerator. I guess he knew what Namjoon wanted.

I took my bag of my back and placed in on the floor in front of the counter, trying to find my wallet. Where had I put it? Probably underneath all the new heavy books. Great.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay” I looked up at Namjoon who had pulled out a wallet from somewhere. Within a few seconds he had paid and handed me my ice cream.

“Thanks” I mumbled while looking at the ice cream.

“Noona, you forgot your backpack” Jungkook said, as I began walking towards the exit.

Namjoon walked right past me and grabbed my bag.

“Wow, it’s heavy!” he exclaimed, looking surprised.

“New books” I mumbled and smiled at him while shrugging.

To my surprise, Namjoon swung my backpack over his shoulder.

“Oh... You don’t need to-“ I began, but Namjoon held up a hand in front of himself, as if saying that it was alright.

“Let’s get going” he said, and gently pushed me towards the exit. Jungkook had already exited and was now standing outside the convenience store, eating his ice cream and looking worried at the same time.

“The break is almost over, I don’t want to be late twice in one day. Hurry up!” he said and took a bite of his ice cream. He had taken a weird, colorful one and I wondered what flavor it was. Fruity? Tropical?

I had to try another flavor next time. I had gotten a strawberry flavored one a couple of times in a row now. I ought to change it up a bit. Had Seulgi tasted it? She liked ice cream a lot after all. Should I buy it for her next time?

My thoughts were interrupted as a hand grabbed my arm, dragging me along.

“You’re really slow~” Namjoon laughed.

“Ah… sorry” I apologized. I could feel my face turn red. I don’t know whether it was because of Namjoon’s hand still holding onto me, his comment or both. I guess it was because of both.

 

We made it to the school just when the bell rang. Jungkook didn’t say anything but just ran towards the entrance. The ice cream was already gone, as he had eaten it in a hurry, afraid he was going to miss class.

“Aren’t you going too?” Namjoon asked me, looking confused.

I looked at him, not saying anything. I didn’t know what to say. Get your hands off me? But… I wasn’t exactly irritated or anything. Namjoon seemed to have read my thoughts, because his eyes moved to my arm and my wrist which he was still holding onto.

“Oh… right.” he said and immediately let go of my arm. For some reason it made me a bit sad.

“My last lesson ended just before break, so I’m actually not going back in. I’m just going home” I mumbled. If I had said that as soon as he had asked, would he have let go of me?

“Really? Then shouldn’t I walk you home?” he shifted my backpack a bit and now wore it properly.

“You don’t have to” I replied and reached out for my backpack. Namjoon moved out of the way just before I reached him, which resulted in me almost tripping. He didn’t seem to mind and just began walking.

“I’m still worried about you; you only got discharged from the hospital a week ago. You should be resting” he said, sounding serious. It was difficult taking him seriously, as he was walking in the completely wrong direction.

I couldn’t help but laugh, which made Namjoon turn around to look at me. He looked confused again.

“I’m taking the subway” I said between laughs and pointed in the other direction.

Namjoon didn’t say anything and just walked past me towards the nearest station. I could hear a muffled laugh though. I realized I was falling behind once more, and quickly ran up to him.

 

The subway station was packed with people, which was somewhat unusual considering the time of the day.

Since Namjoon didn’t have any lessons today he had decided by himself that he wasn’t going to just follow me to the subway station. No, he wanted to follow me all the way home. He said it was to make sure that I didn’t fall asleep on the subway and missed my stop. Apparently I looked tired and to be honest I felt quite exhausted as well. I had taken one of my daily doses of medicine just before the fourth lesson and it was starting to show its effects – and then there’s also the fact that I had been to school for the first time in months and my brain had desperately tried to keep up with the teachers’ teachings.

Namjoon hadn’t needed to worry though, because there weren’t any empty seats anywhere on the subway train, when it arrived, and I was not the kind of person to fall asleep while standing.

We found an empty spot to stand at and both of us held onto a handle when the train started to move.

A woman’s voice announced the next station coming up and as the doors opened, a sea of people swarmed in, shoving everyone else closer together. The doors closed again and the train slowly began moving.

Suddenly, a man pushed me from behind. My hand slipped from the plastic handle and I was falling over the woman in front of me. Just before I fell completely down on her, an arm grabbed me around my waist, pulling me up on my feet again.

“Sorry” I said to the woman who simply ignored me. Namjoon had let go of my waist after I had grabbed onto the handle again, but he had now placed himself behind me with his hand resting on my shoulder. Probably to make sure I didn’t fall again.

“When’s your stop?” I heard Namjoon ask from behind me after a while and I mumbled something, I couldn’t even understand myself. The warmth coming from behind me had taken all my focus. It was as if my whole body was ice cold except my back, which felt cozily hot. The spot where his hand lay was almost burning hot. How was I even able to handle it?

“Mali? When’s your stop?” he once again asked. My mind returned to reality.

“Oh. Let’s see” I said and tried to look outside the train window, making the lady, who was sitting in front of me, look at me weirdly. I guess I kinda understood her – my head was tilted way too much, almost horizontally. The struggle of tall people, who didn’t dare to bend over, because someone was standing directly behind them. Especially since that someone was Namjoon.

“I think… I think it’s the next stop” I said and tried to smile at Namjoon, though I wasn’t able to turn my head around that much.

I tried to keep my focus on the voice announcing the next stop. Somehow I managed to hear it when the name of the next station was said – it was really difficult though, with my mind constantly reminding me of the fact that Namjoon’s hand still lay on my shoulder.

Why was mind suddenly this erted, only thinking about a guy’s random touch?

“Ah! It’s my stop” I exclaimed, when the woman’s voice announced that we had now arrived at the station. As pushed my way through the crowd of people I could feel Namjoon’s hand slip from my shoulder. I turned around to see Namjoon almost disappearing in the crowd, as if he was being swallowed by a great creature. His eyes showed a mild panic and his only free hand was reaching for mine. I grabbed it and pulled him out with all my might. For some reason I just hoped his arm wouldn’t fall off or something like that.

We made it out of the train just as the doors were closing. I was panting a bit, after having used up almost all of my strength – I hadn’t used my body much since the accident.

When the train had left, I began laughing, not really knowing the reason why. Maybe it was because of that comical moment when Namjoon had actually looked like he was about to be eaten by some enormous monster. Namjoon looked baffled at first, but soon his confused expression turned into a big smile, showing of his dimples. He probably didn’t know why I was laughing, but that didn’t really matter. I decided with myself that since I was the one who had grabbed Namjoon’s hand I was also the one who decided when to let go and at the moment I didn’t feel like letting go. His hand gave off a nice heat.

 

We made it to my apartment complex. I had let go off Namjoon’s hand, when we were halfway there, because I found myself overthinking it and then it just became awkward.

“I think you’ll be able to make it on your own from here” Namjoon said and looked at the tall building.

“Yeah…” I said, now looking at the building too for some reason. It wasn’t really that pretty, why were we even looking at it?

“Thank you… you know, for accompanying me” I added. Namjoon returned his attention to me and smiled that goofy smile of his. He took my backpack off his back and handed it to me.

“I’ll get going. Be careful!” he grinned and turned around.

“You be careful too!” I replied, not knowing why. Why did he have to be careful? Namjoon just laughed and waved at me.

 

I had only reached my front door when I began pondering what to use as an excuse to text Namjoon. For what reason, I didn’t know. I just wanted to text him. Just then a text message beeped in on my phone. It was a text from Seulgi.

I’m crying… Guess what happened… WHY?!

A picture was attached after the message. It showed a gloomy looking Seulgi with a short, curly bob instead of her usual long, wavy hair. What? I had to look at the picture twice to notice that it was in fact not an old photo, but one she had just taken. She looked exactly like her middle school self. Seulgi had hated that hairstyle and even though she didn’t say it, I knew she loved her long hair. There was no way she would cut it herself. What had happened? She seemed to think that I could guess it, but I really couldn’t. I decided to just ask her.

What???

A new text message popped up while I was entering the apartment.

Someone cut my hair while I was sleeping…

I didn’t know what to reply, I had never been good at comforting people. To be honest, I didn’t think that Seulgi needed someone to comfort her. It was more likely that she needed someone to help her find the culprit and then beat him or her up. That would be more like her.

My phone began ringing and I picked it up without looking at the caller, since it was probably Seulgi.

“Yah, do you know who it was?” I asked as soon as the phone was beside my ear. She had to know something about who it could have been. There must be someone at her university who had said something at some point which could be connected to this.

“Who what was?” A confused voice asked. It was a male voice, definitely not Seulgi. Namjoon?

“Oh.. it’s nothing. Seulgi just had her hair cut.” I replied, knowing that it probably didn’t make any sense with what I had said before.

“What? Okay…” Namjoon replied, sounding like my answer hadn’t made him less confused.

“I’m sorry. Why did you call?” I asked. What was I supposed to ask? I had not expected a call from him right now. I was still debating the subject of the text I was going to text him about. My head was a mess as I tried to figure out what to talk about, completely forgetting the fact that I had just asked him a question.

“I was just wondering if you made it up safely” Namjoon sounded like he was mumbling.

Had that really been the only reason he had called? That was… kind of cute, really. Of course I had made it up safely, I only had to ride the elevator. It wasn’t like I was going to get killed or anything on a simple elevator ride – though that seemed to happen often in movies. 

I nodded in reply to what Namjoon had said, and then it hit me that he couldn’t see I was nodding.

“I did. Thank you… and thank you for the ice cream.. and for carrying my bag… and for following me home” Oh my god Mali, stop babbling.

Namjoon began laughing on the other end of the line and I could feel my face become warm. At least he wasn’t there to see it.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you soon”

“Yeah, see you soon” I replied and hung up.

Wait? Soon? What?