Hi guys, my dear readers! I apologize for keeping you waiting. The past few days have been hectic for me so I only managed to finish this chapter now at 1.20AM. Wrote this in a rush so please feel free to let me know if I made any spelling mistakes/grammatical errors. Criticism is always welcome. And now, onto the chapter!

“Hey you.”

Krystal’s affection towards AJ had grown overnight it was evident, creating a buzz among the students as Kai was still under suspension. The morning after, instead of her holding hands with Kai, Krystal was clinging to AJ instead, talking animatedly beside the shaggy-haired one. Being her usual self, AJ let her be, only separated when they got to class and went to their respective seats.

James, who was already seated, cocked an eyebrow at that, his tone playful.

“Seems like a certain llama came to the princess’ rescue yesterday~ OUCH DUDE!!!!”

AJ *accidentally* dropped the heaviest book on onto his left foot before bending down to pick it up. “Oops, sorry.”

“You’re so not.” James huffed while rubbing the poor foot in annoyance.

[Break time]

As the bell signaled the end of the first block, James immediately turned towards AJ.

“Okay, spill.”

“Whatchu talking about?” James swore he didn’t understand how AJ could be the top student considering the amount of time she spent playing video games, practicing with the basketball club and sleeping at school. Just as the teacher left, AJ already had her PSP out, eyes glued on the LED screen while fumbling furiously with game console buttons.

“I have no idea. You tell me.” He deadpanned. “I know I told you to keep an eye on her but never expected you to step up your game that fast.” He nudged her elbow, only to receive a kick under the table, to the same poor left foot. “HEYYYY!!!!”

“Shut up. I’m at boss level.”

If there was one thing AJ hated about James, that would be his persistence. The guy kept bugging her the whole morning about the sudden closeness with Krystal, but AJ begged to differ. Only Krystal was clinging to her, she did not do anything out of the ordinary though.

“Dude, don’t make me question why we’re friends.”

“Oooh me is offended. Who’s gonna be your zombie buddy if it weren’t me then?” James cooed.

Rolling her eyes, AJ was ready to fire back but got stopped when Krystal came over and asked if they would like to have lunch together in the cafeteria.

James fidgeted a bit, for he never really hung out with anyone, let alone girls. Before AJ came, his circle of friends was outside of school, with him being the youngest actually. Despite being a lot more friendly than AJ appeared, James unfortunately suffered from chronic insomnia, causing him to constantly lose sleep at night and thus, not able to function normally during daytime. Not many people knew of this, but being insomniac occasionally, AJ could sympathize, thus the “zombie buddies” nickname. 

For the first time since they had been classmates, Krystal saw how chatty James could be once he got comfortable with someone. He was very knowledgeable to her surprise, and could get AJ to converse with him better than anyone had attempted to. At that very moment, the zombie buddies were bickering nonstop about whether pizza would taste better with tabasco or chili flakes, a topic though random but definitely worth arguing about. The class president never thought she would see AJ bicker with anybody, let alone regarding such petty topic. She chuckled a bit too loudly for her own good.

“Awww how adorable~”

Krystal mentally facepalmed, ‘That did not just come out of my mouth’, her hand coming up fast to cover the slip of tongue, her cheeks blushed hard. The subconscious action effectively froze the zombie buddies, causing them to also chuckle.

When school was finished, Krystal turned to AJ’s direction to ask if she would like to walk home together. To her dismay, the shaggy-haired had already taken off in lightning speed, leaving her zombie buddy behind who was shouting something about her forgetting things in her seat. Walking over to their table, Krystal saw James holding a tiny figurine of an animated basketball player which she recognized was from Slam Dunk, yet could not recall the name.

“Is that the guy from Slam Dunk?”

James was caught off guard as he did not expect the class president to be knowledgeable about manga. ‘Interesting girl, she actually knows.’ – he mentally chuckled, eyes still carefully examining the thumb-sized figurine.

“It actually looks like the owner with the shaggy hair and carefree attitude now that I’ve taken a closer look at it. AJ never let me touched it for once.”

Krystal thought otherwise. AJ was nowhere as emotionless as Rukawa Kaede. If anything, the shaggy-haired one was a lot warmer than she initially thought, the friendliness aspect was another story, but AJ was making progress, though slow but evident in her actions and even words, despite being not much of a speaker. She just did not want to be overly-friendly with other people, that Krystal could feel after spending time with AJ after school.

“Do you want to hold on to it? Your house is closer so that’s more convenient.” James asked, his hand holding the figurine out for Krystal to take.

AJ bid goodbye to her cousins before heading home. Since her two cousins were studying abroad and only got to come home twice a year, she was glad she could spend a whole evening with them, playing at the arcade and catching up with each other. Those two were the closest to her age and with her parents traveling most of the time because of work, they were her closest friends as well. Having not seeing them for almost a year, AJ couldn’t contain her happiness when she received a text from them informing that they were home, the reason that she ran out as soon as school finished that afternoon.

She plopped down to an empty seat by the window at the back of the bus, hands coming up to hug the backpack on her lap. Out of habit, she ped the outer compartment and searched for her Rukawa figurine, a present she received from her older cousin when she started playing basketball. Feeling anxious as her fingers couldn’t find the familiar outline of the tiny object, she flipped the whole thing upside down but to her dismay, nothing was there. Her heart dropped a little, her brain racked itself to think of possible places she could have had misplaced it. “Guess I’ll have to go to school earlier tomorrow to look for it then.”

BRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG

She almost jolted out of her seat as her phone rang a bit too loudly in the quiet bus. Clumsily hitting the silence button to shut it off, she raised an eyebrow when the screen flashed an incoming text from an unknown number.

Xxx: Hey AJ, this is Soojung. I’ve got your Slam Dunk figurine with me. Are you home?

AJ had no idea how the class president found it, let alone knowing it belonged to her. She never showed or bragged about it to anyone as they might find her childish for possessing such toy, and childish was the last thing AJ would want to be deemed as. Nevertheless, she was elated to know she didn’t lose the precious object anywhere else, so she texted back.

AJ: Hi Krystal. Yes that sounds like mine. Would you mind holding onto it until tomorrow? I’ll get it when I see you at school. And thanks for letting me know.

The bus finally reached her stop. She didn’t even manage to put her phone back into her pocket when the device vibrated again. Another text from Krystal.

Xxx: Umm…Are you not home yet? I’m actually in front of your apartment right now.

Confused was an understatement of what AJ was feeling then. Shoving the device into her left pocket, she jogged faster than she normally did to her apartment complex and rode the elevator to the 9^th floor. In front of her apartment door was indeed the class president shuffling back and forth on her heels, dressed in casual clothes and hair tied up in a messy bun. It was a rare sight, for AJ only got to see her in school uniform, yet the former was pleasantly surprised. Krystal looked dazzlingly cute under the dim light of the empty hallway AJ almost had to smack herself back to normal.

“Hey you.”

The shorter girl whipped her head back immediately at the call, eyes curved into crescents when she saw AJ walking closer.

“Have you been waiting for long?” AJ asked while keying in the passcode, holding the door open for the both of them. “Come on in.”

Krystal took her slippers off before stepping inside the apartment. It was spacious, the design was minimalist but radiated a homey feel with the decorations and warm-colored wallpaper. Krystal was mesmerized by the huge postcard wall by the kitchen, her feet slowly moved towards the artsy display, mouth agape at the amount of postcards present.

AJ, who was pouring two glasses of water on the kitchen island, looked over and passed one glass to Krystal.

“Those are from my parents’ business trips.”

“Wow… they must have traveled a lot. I could count more than 20 countries already, and that’s just the first two rows!” Krystal exclaimed in awe.

“They really have.” AJ nodded in affirmation. Krystal couldn’t tell if she was upset or simply used to it when her voice sounded so monotone. Still entranced by the unique collection, Krystal snapped back to reality when AJ held out a hand, her palm facing up.

“So… can I please have my figurine back?”

“Ah yes yes! Of course!” Dropping the thumb-sized object carefully onto open palm, the shorter girl noticed the shaggy-haired girl’s lips curved up the tiniest smile. "Here you go, safe and sound".

“Where did you find him by the way?” Asked AJ.

“James found it on your seat after you ran out of class. He tried calling for you but you were too fast. Since I live nearby, he gave me your address and even your number. Um… I hope you don’t mind me coming here without asking first.” It was only then did the class president realize she might have invaded AJ’s privacy by coming there, but AJ only let out a soft smile.

“That sounds like James. Funny how he has never been here himself or even texted me.”

“It’s getting late, let me walk you back to your place.” AJ offered. Krystal nodded enthusiastically and clung onto her arms again, a habit she had grown to be accustomed to whenever they walked together. AJ let her be.

“Oh and thank you, for bringing him home. I really appreciate it…Soojung…”