"Im Nayeon." Mr. Yoo called and Nayeon hesitantly walked towards his table to get her graded paper.

She was going to expect a grade a little higher than D but Mr. Yoo sighed and shook his head and Nayeon lost that tiny hope. She took a peek at the paper once it was handed to her and went back to her seat, shoulders slumped.

Mina knew then that Nayeon got a low grade again. "Did you even study?"

Nayeon pivoted. "I did! It's Tzuyu's fault. She--"

"I don't want to know why it's her fault. Look, if you're serious about wanting to pass every class this year, then the first thing you should is to stop putting the blame on someone else."

"But--"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because Mina has gestured for her to face the front. She did but she saw the disappointment in Mina's eyes before she did.

The class that came after the lunch break had another quiz and the papers were checked and returned to them before the period ended. Nayeon got another C-. It was getting her more and more frustrated.

When school ended, Nayeon was so out of focus that she was already out of the door when she remembered Mina. "Let's go home."

Mina had something rude to say in the tip of her tongue but she wasn't about to kick Nayeon when she's down and out so she quietly stood up and walked side by side with Nayeon. Jungyeon and Jihyo were waiting for them at the gate.

Jihyo was the first to notice the sullen look on Nayeon's face. "What's wrong with you?"

Nayeon looked up and tighten the grip on the strap of her bag. "Nothing. Let's walk her home first."

The next day, there was another pop quiz. It's like their teachers have all connived to make their senior lives a living hell. Unlike yesterday, Nayeon was pretty confident that she could answer the questions this time. Yesterday, she had left a couple of items blank.

She was one of the few who finished the exam last. She handed it to the teacher to get it checked and graded and she stood there waiting to get it back. Once it was handed to her, she was disappointed yet again.

At that point, she didn't know what she was doing wrong anymore. She went back to her seat and saw Mina staring at her, expecting her to sho her the mark that she's gotten but that was when she remembered the disappointed look on Mina's eyes yesterday.

Nayeon looked at her paper before crumpling it and sitting back down. She had her arms crossed on the table and her head propped on her forearm for the rest of class.

Come lunch time, Nayeon hurriedly exited the room, leaving a baffled Mina. When she went to the cafeteria and saw Jungyeon and Jihyo without Nayeon, she asked them where their friend was.

"You're in the same class with her, shouldn't you know?" Jungyeon asked her back, before shoving a huge lettuce wrap in .

Mina creased her eyebrows. "Where does she go when she's upset?"

"Nayeon doesn't get upset."

"Jihyo," Mina said with a warning voice.

"Okay, okay. You know this place at school that looks like a lot of girls have been dragged in there and brutally murdered?" Mina shook her head and doubted that a place even existed. "Well, walk past that and you'll see a pretty garden."

As soon as she heard the word 'garden' she immediately knew which place Jihyo was talking about. "Do you know where it is?"

Mina denied knowing the existence of that garden. She never thought that after all these years, that garden would still be there. "This is where you've been studying since you were little, right? Shouldn't you know about it more than we do?"

"Uhm... I don't...I don't really wander off to places that look like someone has been brutally murdered."

"Once you walk past that, you'll see that pretty garden. It's like eating jokbal and getting to that reallllyyyy sweet spot that you could ."

She walked out of there before Jihyo started getting smarter analogies. As she travelled the path towards the garden that she hasn't seen in years, it forced her to travel down the memory lane that she has successfully pushed back in the very deepest of her unconscious.

Mina tried to shake them away and was about to turn back when she saw the familiar figure sitting cross-legged in front of rows of violet flowers, eating them.

"I don't think that's going to get you full," Mina said, standing next to Nayeon, forcing her to look up.

Nayeon sighed. "I don't understand. I study. I memorize and I try to understand the lectures but when it's quiz time, I get low grades. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"Can I see your paper?"

Nayeon reached into her pocket and handed Mina, who has now taken a seat next to her, a crumpled sheet of paper.

She examined Nayeon's paper and wondered if Nayeon really didn't know what she's been doing wrong all this time.

"Do you own a dictionary?"

"No. Dictionary is for the weak. I am not--"

Mina surprised herself when she put her hand over Nayeon's mouth to stop her from talking. "I-- I don't want to hear that stupid reasoning ever again. It's so stupid!"

She then went on to explain to Nayeon what she did wrong. "You see here, the teacher put a slash to this because you weren't supposed to spell it that way."

Nayeon looked at her paper and most of the wrong items that she's gotten had that slash that Mina was talking about. "So I was only wrong because of my spelling? But...aren't they teachers? They should know how to spell things and consider the students' answers even if they aren't spelled correctly."

"How do you come up with that kind of reasoning?" Mina asked, genuinely curious. "Come on, stupid. Let's go get you a dictionary."

"Right now?"

"Yes. Right now."

"Are we skipping class? You're not allowed to do that anymore."

"Principal Song said I'm only allowed to skip class if I have a valid reason or if there's an emergency. This is an emergency. We need to save your brain."

"What about our things?"

"Mine is in my locker. Just text Jihyo and Jungyeon to get yours. Or do you not have a phone because phone is for the weak?"

Mina was totally mocking her but Nyeon simply found it amusing. "Let's go skip class then."

---

Nayeon couldn't remember the route that they took but in a matter of minutes, they were out of the school premises. On their way to the bookstore, she noticed Mina taking off her blazer and she didn't know if she was imagining things but Mina was taking it off in a way that was making her blush.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking my blazer off," Mina answered nonchalantly. "We are technically not skipping any class but if Principal Song hears about students from her school roaming around the streets during school time, we'll be in trouble."

"What do you mean technically we aren't skipping any class?"

"You know how my sister is part of the faculty, right? Well, she tells me when I have a teacher that hasn't clocked in for the day. So she might not be my teacher for any of our subject but there's still an advantage having her at school."

The two of them entered the bookstore and Nayeon insisted that they make it quick because she felt dizzy being surrounded by books. Mina thought she was just being a dramaqueen but while she was looking for a dictionary that would suit Nayeon, she saw the girl in the reading section with her head on the table, already dozing off.

When they got out of the bookstore, Mina kept her gaze at Nayeon who was totally fine then.

"What?"

Mina burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Do you really feel that way when you're in a bookstore?"

"Yes."

It was another round of laughter and Nayeon knew she should be insulted but she just stood there watching as Mina clutched her stomach from laughing too much. Mina had to hold Nayeon by the shoulder when she was done to regain her balance.

"I can't remember the last time I laughed that much." Mina wiped the tear that formed in the side of her eyes. "I have never met anyone like you." She immediately regretted it.

"I've never met anyone like you, too."

"That is not what I meant!"

"Like I'm going to let you take that back." Nayeon walked past her but stopped when she saw five familiar figures walking towards them.

Mina noticed the change in Nayeon's expression and directed her gaze at what she was looking at. "Do you know them?"

"Yeah. They're not exactly my best buddies. We should probably--"

"Hey! Aren't you that kid from Youngbae?"

"She's the one who called us heads and then escaped to her school with her two minions."

Mina nudged Nayeon and asked, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"They were really being mean to this ahjumma that was selling pancakes."

Mina found it hard to believe that Nayeon and her friends have gotten themselves in trouble for possibly defending an old woman. "How deep of a are we in?"

"How fast could you run?"

"On three?" Nayeon nodded and Mina counted but when she got to three, she was the only one who went running. "What the are you doing?!"

"I'll distract them. Hurry! Go run!"

"You are doing no such thing. Is your brain the size of your two front teeth?" Mina ran back to her and held her hand. Nayeon looked at their entwined hands and smiled. She then looked at Mina and showed her her -eating grin.

"If we die, I will personally rise from the dead to kill you a hundred times over."

Nayeon held Mina's hand tighter and the two started running for their lives. Mina started realizing how impractical it was to be running away holding each other's hands. She wanted to let go but Nayeon's grip was tight.

"Where are we headed?"

"To your house, of course."

"What? Why?"

"I can't be home this early."

"Honestly, I don't think they'd care."

"Right but your house is closer."

Mina looked around and they were really a block away from her house. She didn't know that shortcut existed. "What kind of stalking have you been doing?"

Nayeon chuckled. "When we walk you home, I tell Jihyo and Jungyeon to go home first and then I walk around your neighborhood to see if there are any shortcuts that I could use or which ones are the shortest routes."

"Why?"

"So I could be there right away when you need me."

Mina stared at Nayeon and all she wanted to see was the look that said she was just joking but it was the complete opposite that she was seeing. Mina went to defense mode and told herself that she shouldn't be deceived. "Why would I even need you?"

Nayeon shrugged and remembered how much she liked seeing Mina laughing earlier like she had no care in the world. "I guess if you need someone to laugh at, you could have me. Anything really. If you just need someone, I could be it."

Mina handed her the dictionary that they bought. "Read that. Save your own brain. What kind of high school senior can't spell?"

Mina entered their gate and walked towards their front door.

"Thank you for this, pretty Myoui."

Mina snarled. She could not believe Nayeon still called her that. She entered their house and almost jumped at the voice.

"How long will you be doing this? How long do you plan to continue being a disappointment to this family?"

She looked at her father and saw the same look he's been giving her all her life.

"You are my responsibility. You--"

"Right. I'm not anyone's daughter. I'm just a responsibility." She hurriedly went to her room and locked her door before finally letting her tears out. She wondered if this fell under Nayeon's 'anything' because she surely could use someone right now.

---

"You went skipping class with her yesterday. Are you still going to deny that you like her?" Jihyo was interrogating Nayeon in the school cafeteria after they found out that it was Mina that Nayeon was with,

"You're right."

"I knew it! You like--"

"I'm in love with her."

"Whoa."

"Love is a strong word," Jungyeon commented.

"Yeah and what I feel for her is strong that I don't think like would be appropriate. You should've seen her laughing yesterday. It would take you somewhere else. Somewhere brighter where dark and bad things don't exist." Nayeon looked at the hand held Mina's. "I didn't want to ever let go when she held my hand."

Jungyeon and Jihyo watched in amusement as their friend tried to put into words what she felt when she was with Mina.

"But then before she went inside I think I said something wrong because her expression changed. It became really hard."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I'm not sure but I don't like it. I don't like it when her smile disappears. It's like rainy day. i don't like rainy days."

---

"You shouldn't take what dad says to heart. He probably just doesn't know how to show how much he loves you. You're his only daughter."

"Mmhmm. Tell that to the hundreds of photoalbums-- oh wait photos are as rare as a blue moon before he married your mom. Also, tell that to my moving up self when I was the only one who didn't have her parents around."

Jessica sighed. She really hoped Mina's dad would at least try to make an effort with Mina. She didn't know why but even when Mina does something great, it wouldn't be enough for him. It wasn't only Mina she tries to convince when she tells her that her father cares for her a lot. Sometimes she doesn't even believe herself.

She then remembered something that she's been itching to ask. "So...what happened between you and Krystal?" Jessica knew the two of them avoided that topic like the plague.

"Oh look, let me just move somewhere else." She picked up her tray and moved it to the table where Nayeon and her friends were eating.

Jessica should've known she was going to do that. She watched from afar how Mina interacted with them. It's been years since she last saw her step sister like that. Usually it would only be because she had to for group orjects and other school activities.

She didn't know much about Nayeon and her friends but if she could see a glimpse of Mina's old smile back then she was in favor of them befriending her.

---

Mina looked at the trio weirdly for they looked like those "act cool" memes. "Why do you guys look so...unnatural?"

"It's Nayeon's fault. She told us to act cool."

"Yeah, because her crush was coming."

If Jungyeon's reflex wasn't fast enough, she would've caught the metal tray with her face.

"Just let me sit here 'til lunch break's over. My sister is being...a sister."

"Should we leave you two alone? Get you some candles, a good steak to share and a string quartet?"

Jihyo ducked behing Jungyeon when she saw Nayeon's glare. Jungyeon laughed and was going to expose Nayeon. "You see, our friend here is in love with--"

Nayeon went into panic mode. "I'm in love with your sister!"