Yeeun taps her pen against the side of her head, a deep frown etched on her features. It was the first lesson of the morning, and Yeeun hated whoever who placed Additional Mathematics in that spot. Did they not pity the students one bit? Having mathematics everyday is already a torture for her one braincell, but having it right smack in the morning? Yeeun shakes her head. They’re so rude. 

“Yeeun? Would you like to answer this question?” 

Yeeun’s frown dissipated, an alarmed look taking its place on her features. 

All Yeeun wanted to say was a Hell no. But she knew better than to be on Mrs Choi’s bad side, so she just sent her a sweet smile, walking towards the board. 

Seeing the mess on the board they call Mathematics, Yeeun squints in disgust, picking up the nearby blue marker and scribbling some equations down. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but it seemed right so damn why not. It was a question on partial fractions, and Yeeun did understand a bit of this topic on the last few days, so Yeeun hopes she could scrape by this question without too much problem. 

Hearing the clink of the marker being placed down on the whiteboard stand, Mrs Choi dismisses Yeeun to her seat, the student nimbly dodging the mess of bags scattered along the walkway, reaching her seat safely. 

“Anyone can tell me if this is right or wrong?” 

Yeeun groaned internally. It was wrong then. 

“It’s wrong.” Yeeun turns to look at the direction of the voice, the class’ smartest student coming into view. Of course Ms Son Seungwan would know how to do that question. 

“Yep that’s right.” Mrs Choi says with a smile on her face, and Yeeun simply rolls her eyes. Could she not be so blatantly obvious she was being biased to the smartest kid. Don’t get her wrong, Wendy was a great friend, she has nothing against her. It was the teachers she had something against. 

“Yeeun do you want to tell us what you think went wrong?” 

Yeeun almost, almost. Let out a scowl. 

How dumb was Mrs Choi to think that she could suddenly become smarter in the short span of a few minutes? 

“Bx plus c” 

“What?” Yeeun turns to her table partner in confusion. 

“Just say it.” 

“So? Yeeun? Do you know what’s wrong?” Mrs Choi looked at Yeeun with anticipation. 

“Bx plus c? I didn’t put Bx plus c, i put B instead. I should’ve put Bx plus c because the denominator is 

quadratic?” Yeeun trails off, getting increasingly worried at the silence she received from her teacher. 

“That’s… correct. Good job.” 

Yeeun sends her teacher an awkward smile, not knowing how to react to the compliment directed at her. 

Yeeun reaches out a clenched fist to Yujin, the other girl letting out a soft chuckle before returning the fist bump. 

“I owe you one.” 

//

Yeeun didn’t know that by “owing Yujin one” meant that Yujin had to crave a caramel macchiato right after school. So Yeeun tried her best to calm her thumping heart down, the excitement of seeing Elkie again causing her hand to shake in nervousness. Elkie has never seen her in her uniform, and Yeeun wouldn’t say she was the most confident in it either, so let’s just say it’s a bad combination. 

With the opening of the door, Yeeun’s nose crinkled at the smell and winced at the sudden loud chatter that erupted. 

Gosh, coming on a Sunday and a Monday sure is worlds apart.  

Yeeun miraculously finds a two seater counter seat, and she already loves it. Screw the pathetic leg space. All she needed was a perfect view of a certain jet black haired barista. Speaking about the barista, Yeeun sat up a little straighter, eyes scanning the area but to no avail. 

“I was pretty sure she said she’ll be here today…” Yeeun whispers to herself, the corners of her lips curving down in disappointment. 

Just as Yujin left the seat to enter the massive queue, Yeeun felt a soft hand swiping against the back of her neck, making her neck shrink closer to her body. 

“You’re early.” 

Yeeun turns around, coming face to face with the barista she was searching for. She seemed to have gotten prettier through the night. Instead of the black Starbucks uniform, Elkie was wearing a white blouse, stylishly tucked into her black skinny jeans. And instead of her hair tied up in a messy bun, she allowed it to flow effortlessly down her shoulders. But one thing stayed the same. 

The way Elkie looked at her. 

Her glaringly black orbs staring at Yeeun in such a way it made the girl’s stomach flip. It was a sensation she hated, but could get used to loving. It was so ironic. For Elkie to have such piercing eyes but to look at her with so much depth. When Elkie tore her eyes away from Yeeun and at her senior, Yeeun felt her heart drop. 

Maybe she was overthinking it. 

Maybe Elkie just stares at everyone like that. 

Maybe Yeeun was just seeing the reflection of the cafe’s light against the girl’s eyes. 

Yeah… sounds about right. 

Yeeun tries to ignore the bumbling sadness in her stomach. After all, who is Elkie to her anyway… Yeeun tries to ignore all the different words that flood into her mind. But when Yeeun asks herself who is she to Elkie, she realised that for the first time today, her mind was blank. 

//

Yujin took a large gulp of her raspberry lemonade, the girl letting out a satisfied hum before twirling her pen around her fingers skillfully. “What’s got you all fired up?” She asks, causing Yeeun’s eyes to soften quickly. 

“Oh, fired up? Nah i was just thinking about this question.” 

Yujin raised an eyebrow at that halfhearted reply, but decided that if Yeeun had something to hide, she should respect it and not ask. That was always one thing Yeeun loved about Yujin. The girl always knew when and what to ask, and she knows when to not do anything too. 

Yeeun sighed silently. It was true, she was fired up. But probably not for the reason laid in front of her in the form of a ten years series. It came in the form of crashing waves of emotions, occasionally it would be calm and soothing, other times it would be rythmic waves that you flow in, but this time it came in destructive waves, hurling Yeeun back to the shore, dragging Yeeun into the ocean before throwing her back out. 

Elkie did that to her. 

Yeeun bit the inner side of her cheek. How did she let herself be this occupied over a girl she barely met twenty four hours ago, over a girl who only knew her name because she had to write it on a cup. 

Yeeun shook her head, hoping her overwhelming thoughts about the girl would be shaken out too. 

//

A few hours and two mathematics papers later, Yujin decides she had to go back home for dinner, so she bid Yeeun goodbye with a hug and left Yeeun in the slightly more empty Starbuck