Going shopping on the weekend was actually Sera’s idea, said she would only forgive Dabin for not telling her about the seafood allergy if the latter went shopping with her. It had been days since the incident in the restaurant occurred and days since the female had crossed path with Jaemin. She did not see him again, to her relief.

Anyway, before Dabin knew it, she was with a bunch of rich teenage girls (there were about six of them including her), trying to shop in an expensive mall. It turned out that one of Sera’s friends, whose name may or may not have been Koeun, was the daughter of the director of a huge VIP mall. Thus, they ended up shopping in the VIP spot which was basically just all branded luxurious items. Dabin’s family was not exactly poor; they had several expensive clothes and other stuff, they had been to many malls and shopped there. But Dabin never dreamed of entering a VIP mall unlike the other people with her who acted like they had been there countless of times (three other people admitted that it was their first time though, it was only Koeun and Hina who had been there).

“I’ve always wanted that dress, I didn’t know there was anything like this in Korea,” one of the girls exclaimed the moment her eyes laid on one of the mannequins.

“The other dress was launched in London last night, didn’t know they already have it here. I must buy that,” another said, pointing at another dress.

“Dabin,” Sera squeaked, excitedly nudging her best friend. “You should look around for clothes of your choice. You’ll absolutely like the clothes around here. I mean, it’s the VIP store! Better grab this opportunity to shop for clothes.”

“N-no,” Dabin stuttered out her reply, looking hesitant and doubtful. That feeling was mainly because she knew that the clothes inside the store were too expensive. It was not that she could not afford—she could probably afford one or two clothes if she would use all her savings. Rather, it was because it was not very practical to buy clothes when she still had enough of them laying inside her closet. “I’m good.”

“You say that all the time but you actually mean otherwise.” Sera dragged her towards the array of the new arrivals, looking excited. “Look at the pink dress. That would suit you, I swear. Don’t you like pink? I mean, remember when we were young? We said that we’re little pink princess. We like pink so much!”

Dabin didn’t. Nevertheless, she nodded her head and smiled, watching as Sera took the clothes from the display and admire it. It was pretty, yes, yet the girl could already imagine how heavy it was for her pocket—plus, she would not be able to wear such dress every day. “That will look good on you,” she told her friend.

“Really? I should try it on, right?” Sera grinned, holding out the dress to further inspect it.

Enthusiastically, Dabin nodded her head to encourage her friend. She was smiling as she did so.

“Sera? Dabin?” Hina appeared, a saleslady was following closely while carrying some clothes. “Oh, you’re gonna fit your clothes, Sera? Let’s go together!”

“Sure,” Sera replied with a grin on her face before turning to Dabin. “Will you just stay outside the fitting room to wait for us?”

“I’ll wait right here,” Dabin replied with a small smile playing on her lips.

“Are you sure?” Hina asked. “You can look around first if you like.”

“I don’t really have anything to buy.” Dabin shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll stay here.”

“If that’s what you want,” Sera mumbled. “We’ll be out as quick as possible.”

Dabin nodded her head, deciding to stay outside the fitting room. To be honest, she wanted to just leave and to go home. The smell of money once again entered her nose, making her feel suffocated and feel so out of place. It was musty, so musty that she had to bow her head down. Unlike the other girls who sported more expensive dresses, she was wearing a gray turtle neck cotton shirt paired with a pair of black skinny jeans and topped with a black long coat. That made her seemed out of place (even if the coat was that of an expensive brand her mom bought so that she would feel like she belonged).

“Dabin!” The said female whisked her head around to face Koeun who called her attention. “You’re a scholarship student, right? Sera told us. That’s pretty amazing.”

Hearing Koeun babble, Dabin felt a bit embarrassed so she shook her head. She could feel the tip of her ears turn red because the other female was showering her with compliments she did not desire. “N-no, not that amazing at all. I’m just an average student.”

“Nonsense,” Koeun snorted. “Here.” She handed Dabin four dresses which the later accepted with so much hesitation. “Don’t tell Sera I told you this but she wants you to get along with all the kids so this hangout happened. And, as a sign that we liked you, we all decided to buy you clothes.”

Buy clothes for what? Dabin was pitiful. “Y-you don’t have to.”

“But we want to.” Koeun winked.

Dabin felt like a charity case. They did not have to do what they were doing. They did not realize that they were stomping all over her and her pride. She did not ask for it, did not ask for charity. That only made her feel like a loser. That was why she disliked being around people. She knew they did not mean it, they did not mean harm but what they were doing were hurting her pride.

However, what more could she say? What more could she do? She did not want to offend any of them since they probably thought that they were doing her good. Either way, she smiled as if she was pleased. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

 “Those are a lot of clothes you’ve got there.” Daye sounded pleasantly surprised when Dabin entered their dormitory with several shopping bags in hand. The three older females were dressed like they would be heading to a party—Yuna was clad in a black Chanel blouse and a pair of skinny jeans that was topped with a beige Burberry coat, she partnered it with a Walter Steiger gold high heels; Sojung was wearing a Dolce and Gabanna printed velvet dress and a pair of Brian Atwood boots; Daye appeared to be simple but she was wearing a black Dolce and Gabanna jacquard dress and paired it with a high heeled shoe as well. It was already seven in the evening so it was safe to assume the three were really heading to a party.

“You went shopping in a VIP section?!” Yuna sounded more excited than anyone in the room as she rushed over to peek at Dabin’s new clothes over the gold and silver shopping bags, appearing to be completely different from how a person with designer’s clothes would usually act. “That’s totally cool! My butler is still processing my parents’ VIP access so I haven’t been there. How was it? Thrilling?” Even as she bubbled, she assisted Dabin in bringing her things inside.

“Yuna acts like that all the time but even I got to admit that it’s quite fascinating,” Sojung chimed in, walking over to Dabin as well.

Daye approached her sister too, standing up from her usual seat—which was in front of the study table and her laptop. “Did you buy all of those?”

The youngest shook her head. “Sera and her friends got them for me,” she replied, carefully arranging the bags on the floor because she felt like her arms were about to fall off soon. “I did not spend anything at all,” she added, referring to the fact that even her lunch and dinner were paid by the girls—a scholarship student and their new friend deserves a treat, they insisted.

“Awesome,” Yuna breathed. “They must have really like you as a friend. And,” she trailed off, clasping her hands together with a naughty grin slowly creeping on her lips.

“No,” Daye spoke with finality before Yuna could even continue. “Do not invite my sister to one of your drinking sessions or as you would like to call it, ‘get together’. The wolves there are wolves indeed.”

“Hey! It’s your department’s party! We’re all leaving, I do not want Dabin to be left alone here,” Yuna defended herself. “Will she be all right being here alone the whole night?”

Daye nodded her head, answering for Dabin. “Letting her stay here alone all night is a much better option than to let her meet the wolves in my department.” She then turned to Dabin. “The curfew on weekends are before 12 in the morning but we would not be back until tomorrow morning since we’re sleeping over at Sojung’s. Make sure to lock your door.”

Although still confused at what was happening, Dabin simply nodded her head with a faint smile on her lips. “Yes, I’ll just stay here.” To be honest, she was quiet relieved that she did not have to deal with more people. She had enough social interaction for the day and she wanted to rest.

“Well, if you do change your mind about parties, there is one coming soon for the other departments,” Yuna decided to be ‘helpful’ by saying. “Let’s go there together next time, okay?”

The youngest, albeit reluctantly, agreed with Yuna’s suggestion just to appease the latter.

“We’ll go now,” Daye informed her. Just right after bidding their goodbyes, they left Dabin alone inside the dormitory.

The female let out a sigh and then another as she stared helplessly at the shopping bags. Those were expensive dresses that she had no plans on wearing often because it would not be very practical nor comfortable. She lazily kicked the shopping bags so that they would not block the way. She would need to find a way to keep all of those inside her closet. She did not have plenty of clothes but her closet was already half full, what more if she were to add several new clothes.

The fact that she would be alone for the night finally dawned on her. She could probably use a can of beer or two, just to cheer herself up. With her cross body bag still slung over her left shoulder, she decided to leave the dorm too to go to the nearest convenience store.

The way to the convenience store was dim although there were few light posts illuminating under the dark sky. It was cold—she was glad that she did not remove her coat or she would have shivered. The convenience store was very near the campus, about five to ten minutes of walk, she would not even get tired. Upon entering the store, she immediately headed to the chips section and grabbed two large sized chips before heading to the alcohol section where she grabbed a can of beer—actually, she was about to grab three but the second and third were stolen by a certain pinkhead.

She almost let out a yelp when she saw him and very reluctantly, she spoke. “T-that’s mine,” she said in a small voice, partly because she wanted to speak to that person.

“I don’t think you can finish all three,” the pinkhead, Jaemin, commented, walking away with the two cans of beer in his hand. He walked in a slow pace as if waiting for the female to catch up—or really, it might have been the female’s imagination running wild again.

Without a word, the girl trailed behind the guy to go to the cashier. The boy paid for his drinks first and, to the girl’s disappointment, left the convenience store first. Swallowing both her sadness and disappointment, she also paid for her chips and her can of beer. She walked out of the convenience store, planning on finishing her drinks outside where some more seats were available. She did not know what to expect outside but her heart did leap when she saw Jaemin sitting on one of the seats.

Not knowing how to react (or if she was even supposed to react at all), she decided to just walk pass him as if she did not see him and decided to just look for another place where she could finish her can of beer (maybe in the park or something), only, the male did not plan that.

“It’s not allowed to drink in the dorms,” the male said, looking straight at the girl’s eyes. He was already sipping on his can of beer. “Sit down.”

Gulping, Dabin made her way towards the seat right across the male and sat there with so much hesitation. She really did not want anything to do with the male anymore. It was an inconvenience, her feelings was. She opened her own can of beer too before drinking from it. The taste of the cold alcohol filled with bitterness—as if mirroring one’s feelings, she almost laughed.

“I didn’t know you drink,” Jaemin commented. “Did you start drinking when you turned legal? When the new year started?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled in reply, resting her can on the table before opening one of the bags of chips (she did so too with the other one). “You?”

“I’ve drank before I turned legal,” the boy replied, taking another sip from his beer. “Secretly and sneakily.”

Why? The female wanted to ask but she did not. Instead, she offered him the chips that she had bought—which he rejected. “I see…” she could only trail off as she played with her can of beer.

“Why didn’t you tell them that you’re allergic to seafood?” Jaemin immediately asked as if it had been bothering him for days. He seemed gentle even if he sounded so serious when he asked.

“Y-yeah? I didn’t think it was important,” Dabin replied, voice barely audible. She really didn’t. She thought everyone else was better off without knowing her weakness, anyway, there was nothing that they could do. It was not like someone could magically create a potion to take away her allergic reactions. To be honest, she did not know or even think that she was wrong—not for a second. Obviously, Jaemin thought otherwise because he did not look happy—Dabin had to turn away again because she was scared.

“You think of a lot of things as unimportant and insignificant, huh?” Somehow, bitterness coated Jaemin’s words. Dabin did not know why so she chose to keep quiet, trying to finish her beer. “I’m not in the place to tell you this but you should probably stop omitting details,” the male said. “What you think is inconvenient and of little importance may actually matter. Try to be more honest.”

“When have I been dishonest?” The female was almost frowning in confusion. Sure, she had almost never tell anybody anything but that was for their own sake, it should not be considered as a deed of dishonesty. Had he always thought of her as a liar? Was that why he broke up with her? If that was it, she would defend herself and maybe they could get back together again—no, what was she thinking?

The male sighed but he dodged the question. “Go and finish your drink. Let’s return to the dorm afterwards. I cannot just let you walk alone after drinking.”

“I-it’s just a can of beer, I-I won’t get drunk.” Please leave. Don’t make me hope for more. She had those thoughts yet deep inside, she knew that her heart was leaping in joy. Jaemin stayed and waited, because he worried for her, because he had thought of her. That was enough to stop Dabin’s tears from falling—her emotions were in complete chaos. Just to stabilize herself, she drank from her beer, letting the bitterness to once again describe her feelings.

She had longed for him so, so much. Dabin had realized that before but the moment when she found herself walking behind him in the middle of the night was when she realized that she missed him more than she thought she did. He was about two steps ahead of her yet she was contented—although she was tempted to reach out to him. She tried it, tried reaching out to Jaemin only to stop herself before she could even touch his arm. She was already being a bother to Jaemin, she did not have to be more bothersome.

The way back to the University campus was quiet. No one dared to utter a word, appreciating the calming silence between them.

There were many things that Dabin wanted to ask. She had tons of questions piled up after their breakup but now, all of those seemed to disappear with the wind. Honestly, she still wanted to ask them yet her courage was only letting her do so much.

“Do you still visit the café?” Jaemin’s sudden and random question surprised Dabin. Of course the female knew what the male was talking about, he could only refer to one café—the place where they met each other, the place where they got closer to one another, the place that brought them together.

She hesitated. “I don’t,” she replied. It was true. After the break-up, she did not dare to step a foot on the café’s tiles. She was scared because it might remind her of him, because it might bring back memories she was trying to erase, and because it might pain her more. “You?”

“Me neither,” Jaemin breathed, his pace was slower than earlier.

Liar. Dabin wanted to cry out. Albeit not bothering to enter, she would always find herself wandering about the café. And she would see him, sitting on their usual seat while sipping from his cup of coffee as if nothing had happened. He would sometimes smile to people around him as if he was not hurt—maybe, he really wasn’t. Maybe, it was only Dabin who still thought about their relationship. After all, it was Jaemin who broke it off between them, right?

Because the café reminded her of him, because coffee reminded her of him, because even the air smelled like his scent, because even the sound of the falling rain sounded just like his voice, because everything resembled him, or was it really just her?

Apparently, he did not think of her or did he? At night when he was about to fall asleep, would she enter his mind even just occasionally? During rainy and cold days, did he ever wonder if she dressed up warmly? Well, she did. She would always think of him before she slept and she wondered if he was dressed warmly during the cold days. Hell, she would worry that he might have caught a cold. Then again, it was just her. She was the only one who failed to move on. Even if she had long accepted that, it was still hurting her. She had cried long enough for it so why were tears forming in her eyes once again as if she was not yet tired of it? Well, it had only be a year after all, she would not be able to forget in such a short time and the pinkhead Jaemin right in front of her made it more impossible for her to actually move on.

As her tears fall quietly, she continued to trail behind him, earnestly hoping that he would not turn around to face her. Yet he did. He abruptly turned around, his eyes widening at the sight of her tears.

“Why are you crying?” His voice sounded gentle when he asked.

Dabin realized that both of them had long stopped walking and were facing one another. Her hands were clammy. She wanted to say that it was because of the alcohol, not because of him (yet her mind was yelling that indeed, a year was such a short time to move on). But they were both young, she was not even sure if she simply liked him or the idea of him—if it was a childish admiration or if it was something serious. Then again, why would it hurt so much?

“N-no,” she wiped her tears, looking everywhere but Jaemin’s eyes. She did not want to see how those eyes were filled with concern—was he even sincere? Or was he just pitying her like he always did? She just wanted to disappear. Her eyes caught the dormitory building and she almost heaved a sigh of relief. “See you around.” After bowing her head to him, she immediately ran away as if someone was trying to chase her.

She did not bother to give Jaemin another glance as she kept on running because she was afraid, afraid to see that he did not even bother to chase her and wipe her tears.