A single box of steaming hot sweet potatoes is sitting on Yoona’s table when she arrives in school today. Her best friend, ever the hungry giant, grabs the box and opens it, taking a huge whiff of the aroma.

“It smells very good. I’m hungry again.”

Yoona rolls her eyes at Sooyoung. “When are you not hungry?”

“After eating.”

“You just ate breakfast.”

“Well, immediately after eating,” Sooyoung adds with a grin. “It’s been an hour since I ate.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I know.”

Yoona shakes her head as she takes the box of sweet potatoes back. “I wonder who put it here. Do you think they did it by mistake?”

Sooyoung’s -eating grin makes an appearance. “This wouldn’t be the first time some dude has put gifts on your table.”

“But sweet potatoes? And they’re still hot.”

Sooyoung shrugs. “It’s a sweet gift,” he says with a laugh.

“Well, I’ll wait for a while to see if anyone comes back for it. They might have left it here by mistake.”

“If nobody comes for it, can I eat it?”

Yoona rolls her eyes. “Dude, nothing can stop you from eating it.”

Sooyoung holds his hands up. “I won’t eat it if it really belongs to someone. But if it’s a gift for you . . .”

“I’ll wait ten minutes.”

Sooyoung groans. “It’ll be cold by then.”

“Fine. Five minutes.”

“Deal.”

|\/\/|

Steph is waiting at the same spot where they climbed over yesterday. Taeng isn’t sure what to feel about seeing her again today but he smiles nonetheless.

“Hey, you.”

Taeng looks at Steph swinging her legs as she sits at the top of the wall. Suddenly, he wonders if Ha Min was right about Steph and her ex-boyfriend. He still doesn’t know what the misunderstanding was about. Was it really a misunderstanding?

“Hey, Steph.” He hands Prince Fluffy to her and that’s when he notices the little step at the bottom of the wall. So that’s how Steph made it up there by herself.

“Come on up.”

The steps raise Taeng high enough to haul himself up and he straddles the wall, facing Steph. “Good idea to bring this, but how do we get it back?”

Steph grins. “I’ll collect it after school.”

“Is it safe to leave it like this?”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be alright.”

|\/\/|

As it turns out, it isn’t alright. Not when Ha Min and the discipline master as well as their form teacher, Mr Lee, are waiting for them at the shed. There’s no place to run to. There’s no hole to hide in. Steph tries to stuff Prince Fluffy into her jacket but he barks in protest, giving the lost game away.

“Please explain yourselves,” says the discipline master and Taeng realizes that this must be what the end of the world looks like. “Kim Taehyuk, is that your dog?”

“It’s mine,” says Steph, almost snatching Prince Fluffy from Taeng’s arms. “It’s mine. He just happened to see me coming into school with it.”

Taeng stares blankly as the exchange goes on in front of him. The sight of Ha Min’s smug smile burns in his mind. How did she find out?

“Kim Taehyuk, did you know that it is against the school’s rules to keep a pet in here?”

Taeng opens his mouth to say yes but before he can utter his reply, Steph is saying no. No, no, no. He’s new. He wouldn’t know. She’s in charge of bringing him around and telling him the rules but she didn’t tell him about this. Taeng shuts his mouth, half-relieved to get out of more trouble which would upset Grandpa Kim further and half-guilty for letting Steph shoulder all the blame.

“Hwang Miyoung. This is not your first offence. While I understand your love for strays, you cannot flout school rules time and again without any consequences. You will report to me after school today. We will work out your punishment then.”

Steph hangs her head. “Yes, Mr Won.”

“As for the dog—”

“Please don’t make me throw him out, Mr Won,” Steph pleads.

Mr Won shakes his head. “I’m not that cruel. I will let him stay here in this shed till the end of the day. Then, you will have to bring him home and find som