That evening, Yeji stayed over for dinner.

Whenever Yeji stayed over for dinner, my brother would transform into a different person... and it was weird.

He smiled a lot more. He covered his face with his hands when he laughed. He chewed with his mouth closed. He washed the dishes. He let me join in on his and Yeji's conversations. Heck, he even included everybody in his conversations. Choi Soobin suddenly became the world's #1 gentleman.

When I walked past my mother after the meal, we exchanged a smirk.

Yeji had her arrm linked through mine while we waited for Soobin to finish cutting up some fruit to bring upstairs. Soobin's girlfriend was on a spiel about something he said to one of their classmates called Hyunjin about some kind of plan he had for the class... or something like that. I didn't have the heart to tell her she had actually already lost me a couple of minutes ago.

All I could notice was how nice Yeji smelt. She was one of those perfect seniors in my book. She had stellar grades, she was athletic and kind and popular. She didn't believe in senior superiority. She was best friends with some freshmen. Although she was hard to reach at times, she would treat you with such genuinity and respect that you just couldn't hate her, no matter how hard you tried.

I wanted to be someone like Yeji. Everyone did.

"... and can you believe what Yeonjun said to him?"

I snapped right out of my thoughts. "Hm?"

It only took her a second, but she could tell. She knew I was already gone.

"Ah, sorry. I was rambling again." The corners of Yeji's lips curved upward and she gave my arm a squeeze. "You must be tired from your first week of classes, aren't you?"

"It's been alright. I've just been trying to make friends and keep Kai and myself in check."

She squealed quietly. "You and Kai... are you sure you're not dating?"

The thought made me squirm. It wasn't the first time people had thought of Kai and I in that way, but it was something I would never get used to.

"Oooh." Yeji clutched my arm tighter. "Then tell me who you've a crush on. I won't tell your brother." She stole a glance at the kitchen, where Soobin was still wrestling with a pomelo.

"It's no one." I said lamely.

"You sure you don't like Yeonjun?"

Yeji was dead serious. Although she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, she wasn't just saying that.

Soobin chose that exact moment to emerge from the kitchen looking as proud as a smurf on harvest day. He carried a tray and cocked his head towards the stairs. Yeji and I followed behind him. She was already spewing away at a different topic, this time it was about one of her friends from choir, Jisu or something.

I followed Soobin to his room almost reluctantly, since Yeji's iron grip on my arm refused to let me go before she finished her story. I noticed that there were only two tea mugs on Soobin's tray. When I met his gaze, I knew he wanted me out.

"... but Jisu and I could've gotten away with it if she knew how to use those adorable puppy eyes of hers to her own benefit. Can you imagine tha-"

Adorable puppy eyes. Could it be...

"Wait, who's this Jisu again?"

"Oh, people think she's new because she doesn't really stand out much, sadly. She had been around for as long as Yeonjun, Soobin and I have."

"Do you have a picture of her?"

Yeji let go of me to fiddle with her phone. As she did, I became increasingly aware that Soobin was glaring at me from across the room. He really wanted me to leave, and gosh, dear brother, I really wanted to as well. But I think I may have found her. The mysterious pretty girl I saw from the bus. The one who I saw Yeonjun took a second glance at before he dashed after Soobin through the school gates.

“Here.”

Yeji held her phone out to me and I took it. It was a picture someone took for the two of them during the school's Christmas concert last year. I remember going with Yeonjun and Soobin to watch Yeji perform, but I didn't remember seeing Jisu at all. Yeji was right. She didn't stand out much.

I let my eyes linger on the photo for a moment longer. It was definitely her. She had a pretty smile. She had a beautiful resting face, but her smile was even more dazzling.

"She's so pretty."

"Yeah, she is. She's really nice too, I think you guys will like each other."

Yeji hummed as I handed her phone back. Soobin was standing up now and steering me toward his door.

“Why don't you go do your maths homework or something?”

“What about yourself, senior? Too busy dating that you’ve no time to, I don’t know… prepare for college entrance exams or something?”

Yeji let out a laugh. She stood on tiptoes and kissed my brother’s cheek before turning to give me a hug.

“It was so nice to hang out with you again, my baby. Let's catch up again sometime.”

“Bye bye.” Soobin said quickly before I could respond, shutting me out of his room.

But I didn't mind. I had a lead.

Jisu. Her name is Jisu.

It took me a few days and countless attempts to follow Yeonjun between classes without getting caught, to find out that Jisu was actually in his class.

Soobin and Yeji were in Class A, whereas Yeonjun just made it into Class B this year, where Jisu was.

It also took a few stealthy attempts to peek at the Class B homeroom teacher’s attendance sheets to find that Yeonjun was at the bottom of the class, and quite ironically, Jisu was at the top… with an average mark that would easily place her in Class A, yet she was in Class B.

Kai said it must’ve been because the senior Class A was already too full.

Even so, if some students had to be moved down to Class B, it wouldn't have been Jisu, since she ranked higher than half of Class A. Kai told me to stop prying and just accept things as they are, and quite frankly, I agreed with him. We were at an advantage already, since Yeonjun would naturally be able to spend more time with her since they were the same homeroom.

It was as if fate was already lending us a hand.