*Dugeun dugeun = onomatopoeia for a heartbeat.

“So will you let me see her?” Joo asked Seokmin as they walked together. It’s been a few minutes since they met in front of Seokmin’s school.

Joo was a year older than him, and she attended an all-girls’ school a few minutes away from his school.

They all met back in their hometown, when Seokmin and Haneul had just entered 1st grade of primary school. Joo was in 2nd grade then.

However, Seokmin and Joo have met before. They were family friends, but they rarely met up until Joo recognised Seokmin wearing her school’s uniform.

She saw Haneul was a little lost once and helped her find Seokmin. They started hanging out since, but Joo never really got as close with them as Haneul and Seokmin did. She had friends of her own, ones that were in her year, so most of the time she’ll have to leave the two alone… Not that that was a bad thing. At the time, she wanted the two to be alone… a lot. 

It was a shame she had to move to Seoul with her family.

“I can’t really stop you from seeing her, you know,” Seokmin let out a laugh, “I’ll be damned if she lets you still be friends with her.”

“Don’t say that,” Joo told him in an upset tone, “But anyways, what was up with that?”

“I’m not even sure myself,” Seokmin looked down, “I asked her why but she never ended up answering.”

Joo sighed, “We’re gonna have a really big talk,” she looked at him with very serious eyes, “I might be a little straightforward with her, but you can’t stop me.”

“Okay, but at least try to go easy on her?” Seokmin requested, “Your straightforwardness can be a little harsh sometimes.”

“She knows that.”

They entered the café nearby, just a minute or two away from the school. They walked to the counter and were greeted by a girl in the café uniform who finished putting her hair up before greeting them, her name tag read ‘Lee Dayoung, “Hi, what would you l-” She paused, “Oh, hi!”

“Hey.”

“Sup.”

She looked at Seokmin, “You look a little down,” she commented, “You want your coffee with some extra shots?”

“I do,” Joo raised her hand, “I need to awaken my soul that died deep inside me,” she joked.

“Unnie, there’s clearly no reviving that soul anymore, we all know that,” Dayoung remarked.

Joo gave her a reaction of disbelief and surprise for the comeback, only receiving a laugh back from the younger girl.

“So how about you, Seok?” Dayoung turned to him, “Extra shot?”

Seokmin shook his head and grinned, “I’m not as dead as Eunjoo,” he replied, his grin became bigger.

“Well maybe my soul would be alive if everyone stopped roasting it,” Eunjoo countered. The three of them shared another laugh, Seokmin paid for both their drinks and then Dayoung went to make them.

Eunjoo ordered an iced drink while Seokmin ordered a hot one. They were complete opposites of each other, so many who knew them wondered how they got along. It was still a question left unanswered, even the two didn’t know the answer.

Dayoung called them to get their drinks. Their special requests included Eunjoo’s drink be with heaps and heaps of whipped cream — Dayoung always joked it was perhaps because she was bitter as hell — and Seokmin’s with cinnamon, not to mention his order wasn’t on the menu. It was an actual special request that Dayoung have gotten to know by heart due to him and his friends visiting often. It looked like something that would be from that café but it actually wasn’t; it was a shot of espresso, added with hot chocolate and foamed milk, and then topped with cinnamon. Much alike with mocha, only the milk is frothed, and a bit of cinnamon added.

Nobody else knew how it tasted, only Seokmin did. Or so they believed.

Seokmin got their drinks and smiled at Dayoung before she went back to work, and he went back to Eunjoo with their drinks.

They had a long chat before Seokmin walked Eunjoo home; it wasn’t very far either.  

Haneul dreaded for the next day to come, but unfortunately for her, days come and go; quickly especially if you want it to just stop.

It was terrible. She had hoped for a normal school life in Korea, and she thought she was going to get that experience, but it had all gone down the drain.

First, there was Seokmin, whom she must always keep things from in order to “protect” him. Secondly, there were his friends, who happened to hate her for what she did to him. She couldn’t blame them though, because she also hated herself for it.

One good thing about today was that she got to school and her classroom without bumping into Seokmin nor any of his friends, especially the beautiful but scary one.

Haneul sat on her desk, waiting for class to begin. Her fingers played on the necklace she was wearing, rubbing it slowly with her thumb as she fell deeply into her thoughts.

When she popped out of her bubble again, she looked at it. Well, more like stared.

It was silver, and the charm was the shape of a crescent moon. She wore that necklace everywhere, she couldn’t risk forgetting where she leaves it and losing it. Haneul valued that necklace more than anything. It was her biggest treasure after Seokmin.

Time quickly passed after classes started and without realising it, the bell had rung for lunch.

“Are you coming with me to meet my friends or do you want to go get some more fresh air?” Minah asked, “I can always introduce you to them any time.”

Haneul smiled at her, “I’m up for meeting your friends,” she replied, “Is it the same place? I just have to write down a few things before I forget and I’ll catch up to you. Is that okay?”

“That’s alright,” Minah answered, “You sure seem to know your way around this school quickly,” she continued. She kept being even more amazed at her every single time.

Haneul chuckled, “I have been described as a cat,” she stated, “You know? Knowing their way around everything and knowing how to get back and stuff?”

Minah only laughed, “That makes sense, you seem pretty quiet like a cat too.”

This time, the two of them shared a laugh before Minah bid her a little goodbye and that she’ll see her in a few, “And yeah, we’re at the same place.”

Haneul stayed on her seat, jotting down a few notes and ideas on her Science notebook.

'Venus is the second planet from the Sun, named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the moon.'

She was too focused on her notes that she was completely oblivious to her surroundings. She couldn’t even hear anything.

In the background, there was someone who spoke. It was faint so Haneul couldn’t hear it, or rather she wasn’t listening.

“Hey, Seokmin.”

It was Minah’s voice. She waved a little at the boy in the door frame of their classroom before walking passed him and into the hallways.

Seokmin had let her through, and then turned to look at Haneul on her desk. He put his hands in his pockets, leaned on the door frame, crossed his legs and stared at her.

‘I guess that’s one thing that’ll never change about her,’ he thought, a small grin creeping up the corner of his lips.

Seokmin knew never to bother Haneul when she’s jotting down notes. It always saddened her when she loses her train of thought.

After a while, Seokmin stood up properly and waited behind the wall. He leaned there waiting for Haneul to finish.

When he heard shuffling, he knew she was finished. Right on time, Haneul had just made it to the door when Seokmin popped out in front of her, startling her in the process, “Haneul.”

“S… Seok…”

Crack, goes his heart.

The way she had said his name like that… Like she didn’t want to see him… Well, he knew she didn’t, but what was he to do when he can’t accept that fact?

She was staring at his eyes at first, her eyes furrowed. But then she looked away, “What are you doing here?”

Seokmin blinked. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say. The words he wanted to let out were either caught at the tip of his tongue or were all jumbled in his mind. In other words… he was nervous.

When he finally calmed himself, he finally spoke, “I just have to show you some—”

“Seokmin,” she interrupted, her voice had a complaining tone, “You kno—”

“Once,” Seokmin interrupted too. What comes around goes back around. He had a finger up to go along with the word, “Just do this once and…” This time he knew what to say, but he wasn’t sure whether he was up for it, “… and… and I’ll try to do what you want.”

Haneul was silent for a few seconds, “Try?”

Cruel.

“Well,” Now he was just at a loss for words, “Haneul, you can’t possibly expect me to just be able to do what you’re asking of me just like that. But if you do this favour for me, just once… I’ll really try my best.”

Haneul closed her eyes, “Alright. What should I do?” She asked calmly.

“Do you know the café nearby?”

“Yeah… It’s on the way to my hotel,” she answered, avoiding any sort of eye contact with him.

“I’ll wait for you after school and let’s go there, yeah?” He was just about to walk off when she held onto his wrist. His lo