The full impact of what had happened and how she had behaved punched Lia in the gut as she was trying to sleep, and she nearly ripped out her hair and cried from embarrassment. She had just been... pathetic.... clinging to him like that; even though he let her and even held her hand, he must have been taken aback and uncomfortable. She wouldn't blame him. She would be weirded out by some kid blubbering because they almost fell into a pond that wasn't even knee-deep. If she explained it... he would be even more weirded out, she was sure.

Anyway, how was she even supposed to explain it? It had happened so long ago she could not even remember it, and not everyone knew things that therapists did. Get over it. That's what nearly everyone said about it. But... she did owe him an explaination, after all... Lia nervously began to bite her fingernails, totally forgetting she had once again made a pact with herself to stop wrecking her nails – and to be honest, at that moment, she didn't care about the pact at all.

However, she did care about it the next morning when she inspected the damage – torn, ragged, and the cuticles raw and red. She cared very much, and chose a large hoodie with a deep pocket in the front she could hide her hands in.

As she was getting cereal for breakfast, her phone buzzed with a text. To her shock, and then embarrassment, it was from Namjoon, asking whether she was feeling better.

What the hell had gotten into her for him to so concerned he even texted her the next morning? Extremely irritated with herself, she poured the cereal from her bowl back into the packet and went to sulk on the couch until it was time to leave for class.

Just before reaching campus, she decided she better reply to his text, no need to give him more reasons to be annoyed by her. So she replied that yes, she was fine, and she was sorry for yesterday.








"Got bitten by the health bug again?" Lia asked, noticing that Dok Mi had a veggie sandwich.

"Let's bet how long this is gonna last!" Eun Jung said with a wicked grin. "I bet two days."

"Hey!" Dok Mi protested indignantly. "Seriously, two days?!"

"Hmmm ok, then I bet a week-" Lia's were cut off by Eun Jung cutting in, "Gosh, you have too much expectations."

"Shut up, you two!" Dok Mi ordered. "I swear, I'm gonna eat really clean – no sugar, no dairy, and no processed food."

"Yeah, yeah, we know, we've heard it before." Lia grinned. Dok Mi and her fits of wanting to eat clean! She had watched a documentary about the reality of the food industry and it had scarred her for life it seems – but sometimes she got seduced and just went "what the hell, I want it,"and later mourned the fact she fell into the food industry's trap again. Lia took out her phone to take a picture of Dok Mi and her sandwich, labelling it as Day One.

As she held it out to show them, her phone buzzed and the text notification flashed across the screen.

"Who's Joonie?" asked Eun Jung, her keen eyes having spotted the contact.

"Joonie?" Dok Mi grabbed Lia's phone.

"Hey, hands off!" Lia grabbed her phone and put it away in her pocket. "You nosy little-"

"Who's Joonie?" Eun Jung crossed her arms, looking stern. "A guy?"

"Um. Y-yeah.... he's a guy. But he's a friend," she added quickly. "You know, at the cafe. We see each other several times a week, and became friends."

"Pfff, they all say they're just friends!" Eun Jung exlclaimed.

"Chill," Dok Mi said. "Lia's not a kid, she doesn't need you to babysit her. If she says they're friends, they're friends. Just be careful, ok, Lia? We don't want you to give your heart to just anyone-"

"Look who's talking!" Lia exclaimed.

"Its because I have experience I can warn you! Trust me, be careful you give your heart to because some guys turn out to be nothing but a load of ."

Eun Jung scowled darkly, remembering Dok Mi's ex-boyfriend – a possessive, controlling and manipulative guy who had just wanted her to worship him and pay attention to him and no one else.

"I promise," Lia said. "Anyway, nothing could happen, ok? I don't like him that way and I'm sure he doesn't either."

"And why would he not like you?" Eun Jung demanded.

Because I'm a stupid kid, she wanted to say.

"Is he handsome?"

Lia couldn't help but smile. "Yeah."

"Is he nice?"

"Very."

"And you don't like him? Not even a tiny little bit?" Eun Jung slightly disappointed.

"He's a friend," Lia said firmly. "Now shut up and eat your salad."

Eun Jung made a face at them. "Ok, but I have news. I'm going on a date."

"Who?!!!" the other two girls demanded.

"Ok, remember the really cute veternarian assistant guy?"

"Oh, the one where your cat Meow Meow threw up on?" Lia asked.

"Yeah, him!" Eun Jung giggled. "Meow Meow's been kinda sick lately so in a way she acted as Cupid. He's really nice!"

"What will you wear?" Dok Mi asked.

"Umm... something classy! But we're just going for pizza, nothing too fancy," Eun Jung explained. "Hey, Lia, you should wear something classy too, to seduce your older guy friend - or else he might still see you as a kid and nothing really will happen."

"I thought you didn't even want me to date him?" Lia frowned.

"I was just kidding. Don't you dare actually seduce him, ok?"

"I will seduce Hoseok from the cafe to get free food." Lia grinned playfully.

Dok Mi sighed. "Do it, and make sure we get free food too."

"True... or else what's the point of seducing anyone if there's no food involved?"

"Anyway," Lia cut in. "Enjoy your date, and tell us how it goes."

"Sure! You too, enjoy your time with your friend, strictly doing friendly activities aka seducing him."

"Shut up!"

Seduce him, as if! If anything, she had weirded him out.

****

It wasn't Namjoon's usual day for visiting the cafe, which is why Lia nearly dropped her strawberry smoothie when she saw him come in - limping slightly. She was so not ready yet! She didn't know what to say, and she was wearing that bunny hoodie with the floppy ears! She had been planning to show him a very adult image to try to erase his memory of her clinging to him like some scared kid. And today he saw her in that hoodie, and with her fluffy pen and notebook covered in dragonfly stickers.

"Hi! Whoa, those are pretty!" His dimples appeared and he ran his finger on the notebook cover, which really did have too many stickers on. "Do you prefer dragonflies or butterflies?" he asked.

"Um, well first of all, hi," she said. "And both, I guess. Why?"

He shrugged. "Because why not, I guess."

"Ok so, why are you limping?"

"Um..." He ran his hand through his hair, shy. "I, um, may have hurt my ankle a little bit coming down the stairs at work..."

"Oh no! Did you see a doctor?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's not at all serious, I just need to rest."

"Then why are you here and not at home?" The second the words were out of , she got it, and his expression confirmed it. His reason for coming today hung in the air between them, both of them acknowledging it but saying nothing.

It was because he was worried about her. Truth be told, she wasn't too sure how she felt that not only did he come on a day he usually didn't, but also with a hurt ankle. She felt embarrassed for sure, but also... maybe touched, too? There was a warm fuzzy feeling along with the embarrassment that she couldn't really identify.

Namjoon just ordered a matcha green tea smoothie, and he looked at the fluffy blue pen peeking from between the pages of the closed notebook. "That's so cute! Can I see it?"

Lia passed him the pen, and felt fuzzy and warm again as he looked at it with actual fondness and touched the fluffy top.

"I used to be crazy over these!" he said. "But, you know, that was before middle school and high school where everyone acted too cool for stuff like this."

"They really did!" she agreed indignantly. "Like what's the harm of a fluffy pen?"

"I know, right! Teenagers." He rolled his eyes.

Lia felt even warmer. He liked fluffy pens too! And he thought the stickers were pretty. And he didn't act any differently. All her over-thinking now just seemed so pointless.

As they finished their smoothies, Lia felt so at ease that she found herself rambling to him about how annoying social media was because she didn't give a about what her old classmate ate for breakfast, but if you didn't use it people thought you were weird, and he nodded vigorously and added, "Sometimes I think I'm the only one who thinks that, I'm glad you do, too. I just follow accounts about nature, poetry and books - that's how I found The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

It started raining then and Lia looked outside, frowning slightly - the pavement would be wet and slippery now, and he could get hurt even more.

"Can I take you home?" she blurted out. "You know, since you're already hurt and you might slip since it's raining..."

Namjoon was slightly taken aback. "Thanks, Lia, it's really sweet of you to offer."

"Is it far?"

"No, just twenty minutes walking..."

"That's pretty far for someone with a hurt ankle."

"I guess you're right..."

"So I'm taking you home?"

"Yes, please."

"Ok! I have to go pay, be back in a sec!" Lia hurried to the front of the cafe with the money, grinning. She would make sure he didn't get more hurt, she was sure of that.

***

Namjoon chuckled softly, watching the adorable hoodie clad figure chatter to Hoseok at the cash register, the bunny ears on the hood swinging gently. She surprised him by wanting to take him home, but then, he shouldn't be surprised - he had known, from the second she had timidly offered to pay for him that first day they ever talked, that she was someone kind and helpful. So of course she would want to make sure he gets home without getting hurt again. He totally got it, because if their positions were swapped and she was the one with a hurt ankle, he would want to take her home