Sana liked hanging out in the art classroom after school. She was often alone there, and it helped her lower her stress level whenever it was too high. Sometimes, there were other students, and she enjoyed making small talk with them. She wished her parents had let her join the art class, but they refused, and made her take extra maths classes instead. 

She wasn’t that good at painting or drawing, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy it. 

So here she was, after pretty exhausting day : she had to yell at her incompetent lab partner to focus instead of flirting with the girls behind them, she didn’t eat anything at lunch since she managed to trip on her own foot and spilled everything on the floor, and she got a bad grade in history. What a day. 

She hurried to the classroom and hoped that no one would be there. She needed some alone time in her favorite place. She slid the door and smiled when she saw that she was going to be, indeed, alone. She let her backpack slide from her shoulder to the floor and stretched. She opened the window to let some fresh air fill the room before starting to gather what she needed to paint. 

She opened the cupboard, and totally did not expect to see another pair of eyes staring back at her. She took a step back, startled. 

« What the fu- »

« Ssh ! I’m hiding ! » the girl in the cupboard quickly closed it, and Sana just stood there, dumbfounded. Why was there a girl in the cupboard ? More importantly, how did she get in there ? She was going to open the cupboard again to ask her when someone violently opened the door of the classroom. She turned her head in the direction of the intruder. 

« Hey, you ! » the guy standing in the doorframe barked at her. « Did you see a short girl, short hair too, by any chance ? »

« No, I’m sorry. Did you try the other rooms around here ? I think I heard some footsteps earlier… » Sana didn’t know why, but she felt like something bad was going to happen if she told him she knew exactly where the girl was. She decided to help her.

« Ah, that brat. She found a good hiding spot this time, uh. » he angrily punched the wall and left the room, making sure the door slammed behind him. After seeing this, Sana knew she made the best decision. She waited a few seconds before opening the cupboard again. The girl inside bumped her head and whined when she tried to get out of it. Sana was going to offer her help when the strange girl managed to get out. 

« Thank you ! You saved me, stranger. » 

Short is the first word that came to Sana’s mind, and it was a good explanation to how the girl managed to hide in the cupboard. Her hair was cut above her shoulder, a little under her jaw, and she was wearing a sweater way too big for her, hiding her arms and hands and almost reaching her knees. She had worn out grey Converses with a few doodles on them as shoes, her backpack hanging from her left shoulder. 

«I have to go, maybe we’ll bump into each other in the future ? thanks again ! » 

« W-wait ! » but the girl was already gone. 

Sana tried to paint, she really did, but she couldn’t focus. she was too busy thinking about that cute girl and her mole under her lips. She checked the time, and decided to go home instead of not doing anything here. 

On her way to the school exit, she found an ID card on the floor. She immediately recognized the owner’s face and was glad that she could put a name on it. Son Chaeyoung. 

—— 

For the first time since the beginning of the school year, Sana was happy to go to school. She was going to see the weird girl again, and she had a good reason to talk to her this time. She went to the administration first : she needed to know in which class Chaeyoung was. From the ID card, she only had the information that the girl was a year younger than her, possibly one of the main reason why she had never seen her before. 

They told her in which class Chaeyoung was, and so she made her way to the 11th graders hallway. She had 10 minutes before the bell rang, and she hoped that the shorter girl would be here already. When she reached the classroom, she peaked inside, but didn’t see her. She asked some of the students inside, but no one had seen her either. Too bad, she was going to try again later. 

The bell rang, and she quickened her pace. While going up the stairs, she noticed someone in a hurry outside the window. She stopped after recognizing who it was. Chaeyoung was furiously pedaling to the bike stationary station of the school, panic on her face.  Sana was going to open the window to call her, but the look on the younger girl face reminded her that if she did, she was going to be late too. 

She ran to her classroom, apologized to her teacher and quickly reached her seat. Someone tapped her shoulder, and she slightly turned around, showing that she was listening to the person who did it.

« What happened to you ? » whispered Momo, Sana’s best friend and partner in crime during any group projects. « Did you- »

« Miss Hirai ! » the teacher voice scared the two of them. « Minatozaki was late, and I don’t think she needs someone to distract her now. Pay attention, please. »

They both lowered their head and didn’t say a thing until the end of class. 

Sana kept checking the clock on the wall. She really wanted to see Chaeyoung again ; Their first meeting picked Sana’s interest, and she had a few questions she needed answers to. So when the bell finally rang again, she got up from her seat so fast she hit her knee and almost tripped on her chair. Momo scolded her for not being careful enough, but Sana didn’t listen, already making her way to the younger girl classroom. She was excited, but it died down when someone stopped right in front of her in the middle of the staircase. The audacity. 

« Sana, what a surprise to see you here ! »

« Move, Ye-Jun, I don’t have time to talk to you right now ! Plus we’re in the same school, how is it surprising ? » she glared at the tall guy standing in front of her. « I have better things to do than talking to you. » she tried to walk past him, but failed as other students were blocking her path. « oh, c’mon ! » she clenched on the ID card when she saw Chaeyoung in the flow of students. 

But the idiot in front of her wouldn’t stop talking, and there was too many people around her to shove him away, so she gave up when Chaeyoung disappeared from her sight. Was the universe against her, or something ? 

During lunch break, she finally got to talk to her. She was going to the cafeteria with her friends when she saw the shorter girl leaving the building. She asked her friends to not wait for her as she rushed to Chaeyoung. The younger girl heard her footsteps, and turned around. A wide smile appeared on her face when she saw Sana. 

« Hi stranger ! » she lightly bounced while reaching Sana. « How are you today ? Good, I hope. » 

Sana adjusted her glasses and handed Chaeyoung her ID card.

« Hey. I found this yesterday while leaving school. And I’m fine, thank you for asking. Hungry, though… » she looked down at the ground, not knowing what to do with herself. 

« Oh, thank you ! I didn’t even notice that it was gone. You’re saving my again. » Chaeyoung reached for her backpack and put her card back in its place. « you said you were hungry ? I’m not taking more of your time, then. You probably have friends waiting for you. I would have asked you to eat with me, you know, as a pay back, but I don’t think I have enough money for the two of us… »

« That’s - that’s fine. You can repay me later, don’t worry. »

« Ok. I’ll see you later, then. Bye ! » she waved as she left, running again. Was Chaeyoung a busy person, or something ? Sana’s mind wandered again, as she went back to her friends. Maybe one day she’ll be able to talk to the girl for more than 5 minutes. On her way, she saw the guy that was looking for the short girl the day before. This time, he was followed by 2 other boys and a girl. They were laughing, and the girl shot her a bad look when she noticed that Sana was staring at them. The Japanese girl lowered her head and walked faster, avoiding getting in trouble. 

Her afternoon classes flew by fast, mainly because her maths teacher was absent and she got to finish earlier. Momo offered to go and do some shopping, but Sana had other plans. She wanted to see if the art classroom was free at this hour. She left Momo, and happily walked over to said classroom. She was disappointed to see that it was busy, and that the art students still had one hour of class.

As her eyes scanned the room, she noticed a now familiar face. Chaeyoung was cautiously washing paintbrushes at the sink, and she stopped a second to take a photo of the colored water. At least, that’s what Sana assumed she was doing as she watched the younger girl put her phone back in her pocket, a smile on her face. But when the girl turned her head in Sana’s direction, she immediately hid, crouching on the floor. She didn’t want the other girl to think that she was a stalker. 

She stayed like that, sitting on the floor, waiting for the hour to pass. She got up when the bell rang, grabbed her bag and almost fell when she looked back up and was met with Chaeyoung’s face. 

« Oh, uh, hi, I was just — sorry ! Totally not spying on you ! » she touched her glasses, a bad habit when she was getting flustered. 

The girl in front of her laughed, clearly amused by the older girl reaction. 

« It’s alright. I know what you’re here for. You like to stay here after class, right ? » Sana looked at Chaeyoung with wide eyes. « oh, I wasn’t spying on you either ! I just saw you a few times when I passed by. I understand why you do it, it’s a nice room. » she looked back inside the classroom and hummed. « I wish I could stay here too. »

« Why don’t you ? » Sana asked curiously. Chaeyoung looked back at her, and she couldn’t read the expression on the girl face. 

« I… can’t. I have stuff to do at home. » 

Sana didn’t push, aware that Chaeyoung was not confortable talking about that yet. She can be clumsy, but very careful about what she lets out of . Think twice before talking, is what her mom always told her she was a kid. Words can be dangerous. 

« Well, then… I’ll be going. Bye, stranger ! » 

Chaeyoung walked past her, but this time, she wasn’t going to let her go. 

« Wait ! My name is Sana, stop calling me that, please. » she said, grabbing the straps of the younger girl’s bag. « And i’m leaving school with you, I don’t feel like staying here today anymore. Is that ok with you ? » she let go of the straps, and waited for Chaeyoung to react. 

The short girl looked at her, surprise in her eyes, but nodded and asked Sana to follow her. They made their way to Chaeyoung’s bike outside, and Sana stopped to snap a pic of a cat that ran past them. Chaeyoung made fun of her, but tried to call the cat so the older girl could take a better photo. She failed, and playfully hit Sana’s shoulder when she mocked her ; Sana thanked her afterwards. 

« Why do you use a bike to come to school ? »

« My parents work at the opposite direction of the school location, and I hate public transports. » 

Sana was going to ask Chaeyoung another question, when the shorter girl cursed and rushed to her bike. The back wheel was flat on the floor, and the bike was clearly unusable. Chaeyoung tried to remain calm, but Sana could see how she was clenching her fist. She thought about the weird looking guy earlier. 

« Chaeyoung, is it possible that someone did that ? On purpose ? »

« What ? No, no, no way. It’s fine. I rushed here this morning, maybe a rock did it, or something. It’s fine, I’ll walk. » 

« Are you sure you’ll be okay ? » Sana asked, her voice full of worry.

« Yes, Sana ! I’m not a kid ! » Chaeyoung snapped, looking angrily at Sana. « I don’t need you to worry about that. Please, go. I’ll take care of it. »

The older girl forgot about being nice to the other girl, and straightened. She did not deserve to be yelled at like that, over nothing. 

« Fine. Take care of yourself, then. Bye. » she said harshly, turning around and almost falling when she tripped on her own foot. She quickly gained her composure back, and left without looking back at Chaeyoung. 

— 

Sana felt bad the moment she stepped in her room. She hated having to speak in a rude tone to anyone, and usually managed to avoid any type of argument. Her dad told her multiple times that knowing how to defend yourself is important, that arguments can not be avoided forever. Sometimes, facing someone who’s against you can help you more than only sharing ideas with people who agree with you. Still. She hated it. 

However, it made her feel a little better. Maybe Chaeyoung would understand her reaction. 

She settled on her desk, opened her history textbook and started working to bring that bad grade up. 

---    

The next day, Momo joined her on her way to school. They took the subway and Momo offered Sana a piece of the bread she bought on her way. Sana accepted, well aware of her best friend’s amazing tastes when it came to food. Momo always surprised her with new interesting places to eat to when they had free time. Recently, she took her to an amazing smoothie place that opened a few months ago not too far from their school.  It was good, and not too expensive either. 

Sana noticed the weird guy talking to Chaeyoung at the school gates. She thought about saying hi, but hesitated when she saw the shorter girl laugh. Maybe that guy was her friend after all. Her gaze left Chaeyoung, and her attention was back on Momo. 

Her morning classes went by slowly, as she tried to focus, but she was too tired to do so. Maybe binge watching that serie after dinner and her homework yesterday was not a good idea. Momo was apparently bored too, as Sana heard her snore a little. She almost woke her friend up, but she knew how Momo could be if you interrupted her naps, so she let her sleep. 

When the bell for the morning break rang, she sighed loudly and took off her glasses to clean them. She had been playing with them too much these past few days ; her habit was getting worst. Maybe talking about it with her mom could help. She was going to wake up Momo when someone called her. 

« Sana ! Someone wants to talk to you. A 11th grader ! » 

Sana’s face lit up when she realized that Chaeyoung was looking at her from the door of their class. She shook Momo’s shoulders before getting up and walking over to the short girl. Sana thanked the girl who let her know about Chaeyoung before leaving with the short girl. 

« Hi Chaeng ! » the younger girl looked at her with a weird face. « do you not like the nickname ? I can call you by your name if you prefer. » Chaeyoung shook her head, avoiding Sana’s gaze. « Alright. Did you want to tell me something ? »

They stopped near a window, a full view of the school playground in front of them. You could hear the sounds of students talking and a basket ball bouncing. Sana slightly opened the window, not too much, or else she was afraid of not being able to hear what Chaeyoung had to say to her. She put her hand through the opening and played with the flowers that flew to the window’s edge. 

« You’re not mad ? About yesterday ? » 

Sana noticed how weak the voice of the girl next to her sounded, and turned her head towards her. Chaeyoung looked up at her, her arms crossed across her chest, her big yellow sweater covering her hands like the first time they met. 

« No, I’m not. You were angry, your reaction was… » Sana thought a little before choosing her next word. « justified. »

« It was not. » the short girl huffed. « you were just being nice, and I snapped at you like that. I’m sorry. » 

« Apologies accepted ! » Sana smiled wide, happy that the other was the one who made the first step. She ruffled Chaeyoung’s short hair, who jumped at the action. « Sorry ! » 

« Please don’t touch my hair without asking first… » Chaeyoung mumbled, patting her own head. 

« Sure. »

Sana was a touchy-feely person, but she knew how to keep boundaries when people asked her. She closed the window and the two girls parted ways, going back to their respective classrooms. As soon as Sana reached her seat, Momo appeared out of thin air and looked at her with pleading eyes. 

« What do you want ? I don’t have f- »

« Who was that ? I knew you were popular with girls in our grade, but younger ones ? And she was cute. Did you say yes ? Please, so that random dudes stop hitting on you in the cafeteria… » 

« What ? Wait, there’s a misunderstanding. She didn’t come here to confess to me, god. » Sana put her head on her hands. She knew she was popular, but how could Momo assume something like that !

« Then what ? Did she owe you something ? » Momo tapped her head with her notebook. « I’m curious ! »

« She just wanted to apologize. I left school with her yesterday and she got mad when we reached her bike, one of the wheel had a hole. So she kind off snapped at me when I asked her if she was going to be ok… » Sana looked at Momo, her hands leaving her face. She almost touched her glasses, but stopped herself.

« Who is she, anyway ? » 

« I don’t really know, we met two days ago. She’s one year younger than us, she takes art classes. »

« Oh, okay. Isn’t she the girl who was hanging out with Jung-Hwa this morning ? » 

« Who ? » Sana grabbed Momo’s arm ; she needed to know more about that weird dude more than anything.

« I just know his name though. Ask Nayeon during lunch break. She’s the gossip queen, after all. » 

Sana nodded, but she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. Nayeon knew a lot, but never gave informations for free, always asking for a new gossip in exchange or food, money… the things she needed at the moment. Sana was already planning on buying her snacks from the food dispenser. It should be enough. 

However, it seemed that Nayeon was absent today. Sana asked the people she usually saw her with if something happened. Only a bad cold apparently. She asked them about Jung-Hwa, but no one gave her a satisfying answer. She went back to her friends, Momo yelping in joy at the sight of the treats Sana bought for Nayeon. 

She didn’t see Chaeyoung during the rest of the day, and couldn’t go to the art classroom at the end of the day : her mother requested help at home, and she really had to be there. 

——

Nayeon was not back the next day, so she decided to ask the other people she knew would have an answer : the student council. It wasn’t going to be easy either. She needed a good reason to ask them, or else they were going to get suspicious. 

Didn’t take her long to find the president. That girl, Jihyo, was always with her girlfriend Mina and their third wheeling best friend Jeongyeon, two other members of the council, under the bleachers when they didn’t have class (to tell you the truth, Sana was almost sure that the three of them were dating, but she never talked about it, afraid of spreading false rumors). 

« Hello Sana ! » joyfully greeted Jihyo. « still not ok with joining the student council ? I’m sure that you would do great work. »

The president had asked her to join for the first time last year, when she somehow handled the drama club disaster (a story for another time) and then again at the beginning of this year when she noticed how popular Sana was (« if you join, people might leave you alone a bit. Or better, they could help the council more ! » that earned a slap on her arm from Mina). 

« No, thank you for the offer again, though. »

« Do you need something from us, perhaps ? » Mina asked, seeing right through Sana. 

« Yes. »

« Is it about another student ? » the interrogation continued. 

« Y-yes. » Mina eyed Jihyo, put Jeongyeon was faster. 

« You look worried. We usually don’t tell things easily, but it looks important. Did something happen ? Did Nayeon come back and spread new rumors ? »

Sana bit her bottom lip and told the trio about her worries. They indeed knew Jung-Hwa, but nothing was signaled against him. She learnt that he was the captain of the baseball team, and one of the students that helped the council the most. Nothing to worry about. It didn’t stop Sana from being suspicious. She heard countless of stories of how that one guy who killed his wife was nice and charming with everyone, someone you wouldn’t think could kill. She saw how violent Jung-Hwa could be. 

She was worried about Chaeyoung.

She didn’t get a chance to see the girl before the weekend, as the 11th graders taking art classes went to see a new exhibit in town. At least she didn’t have to worry much about Jung-Hwa. She hoped that Nayeon would be back on Monday ; She really needed to talk to her. 

—

Sana spent her Saturday morning wondering about how she was going to get closer to Chaeyoung. Art was her first idea, obviously. If she wanted to know if the younger girl was suffering from stupid pranks like what happened to her bike, she needed her trust. Art supplies, maybe ? Too expensive. She really needed to find a job soon. Exhibitions ? Why not, but their town didn’t have that many art places to visit. And their school made sure that the students, like on Friday, had seen every new ones. So that was a no too. Asking Chaeyoung to teach her how to draw ? yes, but not on school grounds, to avoid Jung-Hwa. 

Not in her house either, or she was sure Chaeyoung would get suspicious. The park, maybe or a café. She nodded at her own thoughts and wrote down her ideas on her notebook. 

What else ? Movies ! She was pretty sure she saw a Black Panther pin on the younger girl bag. Superheroes movies, then. 

She realized she didn’t know much about Chaeyoung, since they didn’t get the time to talk during the end of the week. She called Momo after lun