Jieun could still feel the cold chill running down her spine just by thinking of what was written inside her locker. Someone wants her to die and that’s just scary. She’s still not sure why that person trashed her locker. She’s not sure who made her locker like that. Chanyeol took the initiative to dry her books and she’s more than thankful for his kind gesture. Jongin was furious when he learned about what happened.

“Ah!” she yelped when the hot coffee which she was preparing got spilled. She quickly grabbed a towel from the counter and wiped the dripping coffee on the machine. Before she could react, Jongin was already covering her hand with a wet towel. She could feel her skin stinging.

“You okay?” Jongin asked, eyes on the towel that he’s holding. Jieun nodded right away, pulling her hand from his grasp. “You’ve been spacing out. Take a break. I can handle everything here.”

Without saying anything, she stepped out of the counter and went straight to the door. Since that day, her mind’s been full of thoughts. She’s heard a lot of things regarding her appearance from people before but never has she heard anyone cursing her to die. She pushed the door open and stepped out of the building. She took in a lungful of air as she looked up at the sky. Who would do such thing?

Her train of thoughts got cut off when her phone started ringing. She fished it quickly from her pocket. “Unnie? Why are you calling?”

“I just want to know how you’re all doing there. We’re having our break here. The scenery here is so great. Let’s come here again next time. By the way, did dad go for his check-up? He tends to forget it every year.”

Sooyoung’s in Japan for a company retreat. The company that she’s working for has been doing great so their boss treated all off them to a trip. Jieun smiled a bit, nodding. “Mom went to the hospital with him. He got an earful from mom this morning when he said he forgot that he has a schedule with Doctor Hong.” Jieun chuckled a bit, recalling how her parents fought that morning. Her father looked cute when he realized that he forgot about his appointment. He looked so blank and when her mother started scolding him, he just started acting cute in front of her.

“I see. So the three of you are the only ones there?”

Jieun looked inside the shop. Jongin was taking the order of a customer while Sehun’s busy arranging the pastries on a plate. “Yeah,” Jieun replied. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Sehun bumping into Jongin and the latter shot him a death glare. Sehun nonchalantly apologized. He’s such a clumsy orange.

“So tell me something about this orange head that mom and dad hired. I’ve never met him before. He’s your classmate, right?”

“Why are you suddenly asking me about him? You can just meet him when you get back here.”

“Just bear with me, little sis. I have no one to talk to here. All of them are so busy shopping. And besides, I’m asking your opinion about him. Is he a good guy? Is he okay to work with? I heard that he looks like a troublemaker.”

Jieun’s brows narrowed. “Who said that?”

“Jongin.”

Figures. They’re not really in good terms.  “Jongin’s just exaggerating things because he got punched by Sehun and-”

“Wait, what? Sehun punched Jongin?”

Oops. Jieun mentally slapped herself for spilling that. “That was just a misunderstanding. Sehun thought that Jongin was hurting me so he just punched Jongin. He’s quite a nice guy. It’s just that he got into the wrong footing with Jongin from the start so Jongin’s not really fond of him.” And because Sehun knows my secret, I’m just holding on to that belief that he really trustworthy.

“He sounds like a good kid.”

I hope.

“But I do understand where Jongin’s coming from. With what happened in the past, I can’t blame him for being anxious. I hope this Sehun guy is not one of those guys. If you see signs that he’s one of them, keep your distance from him. Do you get that?”

Signs…Wait…Back then…Was that a sign?

“Jieun, I have to go. My colleagues are calling for me. I’ll call you tonight to get an update about dad’s check-up, okay?”

Jieun nodded right away. “Okay. Bye.”

As the call ended, she sighed. “Signs…” she muttered, looking at Sehun’s direction where he was busy wiping the tables. He looked so concentrated on what he was doing. Honestly, he’s intimidating when he just stares at me without any facial expression. And sometimes, he looks pissed off when he’s just staring. Sehun swiftly carried the tray of plates and cups but when he was about to turn around, he bumped his knee on a chair which made him step back and trip on his own foot. Jieun shook her head. Sehun’s just a clumsy orange and nothing more so stop over thinking. 

“Ummm....excuse me.”

Jieun turned around and there she saw a girl with staring back at her. Cute – that was the first thing that came to Jieun’s mind. She was suddenly reminded of an anime character. The girl has a short, dark brown hair with her bangs cutely covering her eyebrows.

“Hello. I just want to ask for directions,” the girl muttered and Jieun could tell that she’s a bit shy. Jieun looked at the small post-it that the girl was holding. “I’m new in this neighborhood so I don’t know where to go. Where is…umm…the nearest bookstore here?”

“Bookstore? There’s one at that direction,” Jieun replied, pointing at the other side of the road. She started explaining how to get to the bookstore with full details. The girl listened attentively and even started drawing a map on the post-it.

“Thank you very much,” the girl chimed as she bowed in gratitude. “It’s been a while since I transferred to a school nearby so I need to buy some school supplies.”

“What school?”

“Choong Ang High School.”

“Really? I’m a student there,” Jieun stated with a smile. “What year are you?”

“I’m a senior. Class 3-3.”

“I’m also a senior and I’m in Class 3-2.”

“Really? Wah~ That’s awesome. Come to think of it, I think I saw you before. You were with this very tall guy,” the girl exclaimed and Jieun nodded right away.

“That must be Chanyeol. By the way, my name is Choi Jieun.”

“My name’s Kwon Ara,” she said with a very charming smile. She really is cute. Ara’s like a fresh fruit which would quench one’s thirst in a hot day. Her eye-smile is specifically very cute. Jieun couldn’t help but find herself smiling back at Ara. There’s just something about the cute girl that’s attracting her and maybe it’s because of her approachable aura. Jieun’s not really welcomed in the ‘girl society’ when she’s in school because she’s close with the flower boys. She never complained though. She’s contented with the persons who are hanging out with her.

“Can I ask your help when we’re in school? I don’t really know anyone there. It’s okay if you don’t want to. I don’t want to be a burden and-”

“Okay. I can help you with anything.”

Maybe this is the beginning of a friendship. Jieun’s actually excited. She’s never had a girl friend before.

Jieun could see how happy Ara is. They exchanged numbers right away and chatted a little more before Ara bid her goodbye so she could buy her school supplies. Even from the back, Jieun could see that fresh and bouncing rainbow aura from A