Meeting in the café became more often. Before, Dabin would only visit the café whenever she had time to spare but as time passed, she would intentionally spare time just to visit it. The reason was not the strawberry milkshake that she loved so much nor was it because of the ambiance, not even because of the available comic books. The reason was obviously a certain person named Na Jaemin.

To be honest, she felt like a fool. Occasionally, she would find herself smiling for no reason. She would sometimes pinch herself just to get herself together. She was not used to such a feeling—to smiling alone while thinking about a certain person, to feeling complete just by seeing someone’s smile, or to feeling like she was floating whenever she thought about that person. It felt like a long, long dream in a wonderland. It was definitely new to her but she wouldn’t trade it even for all the strawberry milkshakes in the world.

“I’ll be going first,” she informed her roommate, the smile on her face was growing more and more.

Seeing how happy she was, even her roommate was confused. Dabin was barely a cheerful child although she did smile from time to time. Plus, she rarely smiled like she was floating. Her eyes were sparkling and her excitement was almost contagious. “Go carefully,” her roommate replied, briefly looking up from reading a magazine on the couch.

“Yes,” Dabin politely replied, almost running out of the house. Her smile never left her face even as she got on the bus. The breeze was slightly cold, it was spring after all. It made Dabin much happier. It had been over a year since she met Jaemin but it was not until a few weeks ago when she finally realized that she really did like him. At first, she felt awkward and she decided to avoid him but the moment her eyes met his, she knew she could not do anything about it. Maybe it was not something deep or something serious but it was enough to make her smile. She did not need him to like her back. She just needed him to exist and to be somewhere she could see. She hoped and wished for nothing more.

Still, a tiny part of her hoped that he would feel the same way as her.

She let out a sigh, her smile faltering for a second until she saw the familiar bus stop. She smiled once again, excitedly pressing the red button. She practically hopped off of the bus, grinning as she did so. She only stopped skipping when she was right in front of the café’s door. It would be embarrassing if anyone noticed how excited she was.

To be frank, there were days when she wondered if she should just confess because she felt like indeed, her feelings were deeper than she thought. Sometimes, she would think of giving him love letters to show him how she felt.

“You’ve arrived.” Jaemin gave Dabin a smile, waving over. He was on their usual seat, on the table was a cup of Americano and a cup of strawberry milkshake. It had become a habit to buy a drink for one another. Whoever got there first would buy the drink first. It would be a waste if the other would not show up but strangely, such an occurrence never happened. As if they had an unspoken promise, they would never fail to show up every other day.

At the sight of the boy, a bigger smile was carved on Dabin’s lips. She wondered why she kept on thinking of him—dang, she must have liked him so much. All of a sudden, the world was so colorful—even her cheeks had a slight tint of pink on them. It was really weird because even though her heart was so messed up, she was still feeling happy.

She felt her own heart pound as she approached him.

Honestly, she did not need to confess. She just wanted him to stay that way, to be with her that way. Dabin did not want to cross the line because she was afraid that it might not go the way she wanted it.

“How is your day?” Jaemin’s soft voice pulled the girl back to reality.

“It’s good,” Dabin said, her smile never fading (in fact, she was afraid that it might have turned into a huge grin). “Thank you,” she muttered as she sat down and reached for her milkshake. She thanked him for several reasons—for asking how she was doing, for buying her milkshake, for being with her, and for existing. He did not need to know that though. “How’s yours?”

“It was horrible earlier but now, it’s all better,” Jaemin replied, taking a sip from his cup of coffee.

“What happened?” Dabin asked, concern was evident on her face. Her smile was completely wiped off.

Jaemin shrugged before speaking again. “I had tons of stuff to finish. My groupmates just wouldn’t answer my calls. Fortunately, I managed to scare them by saying that I’d pass the project as my own. Great, huh?”

The female chuckled, her smile was back once again. She mirrored the male’s bright smile. She might really be in trouble. She was so excited on her own that it was scary.

However, as she glanced at the male, she realized something was strange. She was foolishly grinning. But Jaemin was being weird too. He kept on chuckling, kept on smiling as he kept on gazing at her.

It was strange. For a moment, they resembled each other with their expressions mirroring one another.