"Alright, I'll see you at the exam. I'll probably be there an hour early so find me, okay?" Mira said as they walked to the front door.

Mark stayed silent as he shoved his feet into his shoes and heaved his bag over his shoulder. Instead of leaving right away, he turned and stared at Mira, making her shift uncomfortably.

"Why are you being so weird?" She asked with a laugh. 

Mark just pursed his lips and reached out to wrap his arms around Mira, tucking her against his chest in a hug. Her eyes were wide and her entire body frozen when he tightened his grip. Mark wasn't one to get overly physical and he probably never hugged her in the 3 years she knew him.

Taken aback by his sudden gesture, Mira stayed immobile before slowly wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him back, "Are you really that worried about the exam? I thought you didn't care about grades." She teased awkwardly.

Mark laughed breathily into her neck, tickling her before closing his eyes and hugging her tightly. After a beat, he slowly unwound his arms and cupped the sides of her face before knocking their foreheads together before stepping back.

"What is up with you?" She asked light-heartedly, knocking her fist against his forehead.

He shook his head with a smile that at the time, she didn't see the sadness laced between his lips.

"I'll see you around, Daisy. Don't forget me."

-----

"Oh hey. What are you doing here?" Jackson said as he pulled his goggles off of his head and tossed them aside.

He rested his arms against the edge of the pool and looked up at Mark who was standing at the end of the lane, waiting for him. "Just thought I'd stop by before heading out. Wanted to wish you good luck, qualifiers are this week right?"

"Yeah!" Jackson said with a huge grin, "Feeling good about it, too."

Mark nodded and crouched down so that he was levelled with Jackson, "Are you going to keep practicing until you're the fastest man on earth?"

"That's the goal." Jackson joked, flicking water at Mark, making him scrunch his nose up.

"And what if you're not?"

Jackson made a face at him, "What do you mean?"

"What if you're not the fastest? What if you're not the best? Then what are you?" Mark asked softly.

Jackson's face fell as he stared back at his friend, "I don't know. Nothing I guess but hey, at least I'll still have you, right?"

Mark smiled and Jackson caught the heaviness behind it as Mark leaned back, "Yeah, you need her more than I do."

"Huh?" Jackson said while knitting his brows in confused. Mark just continued to smile before holding his fist out for Jackson to bump.

"I'll see you around, Poseidon. Don't forget me."

Jackson laughed and pushed his feet off the end of the pool so that he shot backwards. Mark started walking away when Jackson's loud, boisterous voice bounced off the walls, making him smile.

"No one ever forgets a person like you, Mark." 

-----

"Excuse me?"

Mira kept walking down the hallways, her earphones shoved in her ears, music blasting, oblivious to the soft, nervous voice calling out to her until she felt something tap her on the shoulder.

Pulling her earphones out, Mira turned with an annoyed frown to see a girl staring up at her with sweat beading at the sides of her forehead as she panted, "Sorry, uh, I was wondering if you knew where Philosophy 480 was being held."

"It's the second month of classes." Mira said, staring at the girl blankly.

She smiled sheepishly, "I know. I was on the waitlist and I talked to the prof and he said he'd add me if I was willing to catch up."

"Down the hall, to the left." Mira said before putting her earphones back in.

The girl's smile faltered but she just nodded and scurried off. Mira paused and watched the girl run down the hall before calling out to her.

"Hey."

The girl nearly tripped over her feet to turn and face her. "Y-Yeah?"

Mira's lips twitched up in amusement, "I'm actually heading to that class right now. Do you want to walk together?"

"R-Really?" She asked while rocking side to side.

Mira shrugged and walked towards her, "Yeah I mean, why not?"

"Thanks." The girl mumbled bashfully as they started to walk. It was awkward at first but Mira managed to choke out a question and the girl, Jihya, started talking brightly and for once, Mira wasn't annoyed by it. She actually enjoyed the excitement that bubbled in the girl, it felt genuine.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jihya worded out carefully.

Mira glanced at her from the side of her eye before facing forward, "Sure."

"You're Kang Mira, right? The Gol--the girl that's the top of her class?"

Mira felt her body stiffen before she relaxed, "Not anymore. I think I'm like 5th or 6th now."

"Oh really? Wow." Jihya said to herself, "Huh…"

Mira glanced at her again, "What?"

"Nothing." She said quickly before shrinking under Mira's gaze, "Um…you're not as mean as people made you out to be."

Mira blinked at her before smirking and looking away, "No, I'm actually just as mean as people make me out to me. I'm just not being mean to you."

"Why?" She asked in amazement.

She shrugged, "You haven't really given me a reason to."

"Oh." She said quietly before smiling softly to herself, "That's good."

Mira looked over at the girl before smiling and facing forward. They walked in silence until Jackson turned the corner while talking with a friend. Mira's heart skipped but her face stayed blank as he neared. He looked over at her and his eyes widened when he saw her with another girl. His lips parted it awe as glanced at Mira's face, who was playing it off as she got closer.

When she finally looked his way, he raised his brows with a small smile on his face. She rolled her eyes at his exaggerated excitement over her with someone new but smiled nonetheless when he winked at her as they passed by each other.

"This is the room." Mira said as they both stepped into the lecture hall.

Jihya nodded as she took it in, "It's so nice having a friend in a class this big."

Mira blinked at her blankly before realized that she was the friend Jihya was talking about. Mira tilted her head before looking away to hide the smile on her face.

"Yeah, it is."

-----

"I'm so excited for you."

Mira rolled her eyes when she opened her apartment door and found Jackson lounging on her couch, waiting for her. "Don't be so dramatic about it."

"You have a friend!" He cooed teasingly as she dumped her things on the counter.

She made her way over to the couch and crawled on top of him before laying flat down, her cheek pressed down on his chest. She sighed when he grabbed the blanket that was hanging off the couch and draped it over the both of them.

"Do you like her? Is she nice?" He asked while running his fingers through her hair.

Mira grunted and closed her eyes, far too snuggled up to be bothered with his questions until she felt his chest shake under her. Her brows furrowed before she opened her eyes to look up at him, "What?"

"You try so hard to look casual about it, like you couldn't care less but you're totally smitten, baby girl." He said with a laugh.

Mira snorted and slipped her hands under his shirt, making him jo