It’s just an assignment for a class, a minor subject in fact.

But Lia tries hard, as if her life depended on it. The sight of her biting her own lips as she carefully executes every can attest to it. Lia really tries hard and hopes it’ll turn out nice as she’s only drawing it from her memory.

She’s taking the assignment which was to draw your favorite memory quite literally.

Lia has a lot of favorite memories that she even argued with herself all week long since the assignment was given, about which memory she should draw about. But the weekend came and she didn’t come to her hometown again, she’s in her apartment sitting by her study table, staring at the blank paper and the drawing materials she brought out hours ago after keeping them hidden for so long and there was only one memory she could think of and maybe she could blame it on the sight of the flower on her wall.

She grabs a pencil and draws, even if it’s been years since she last drew seriously. She still draws even if she’s testing the waters again, she decides she can redo it anyway if she doesn’t like how this first drawing is gonna come out. She draws a picture that’s embedded in the deepest of her mind and it’s an image of her long time crush, Shin Ryujin, handing her a flower.

Lia’s had a crush on the younger for four years now but she’s also her bestfriend of two and a half years now. Lia first met Ryujin about four years ago when Ryujin transferred to her school and became a big deal right from the start, that even in her first week at school, a lot of her schoolmates would already swoon over her and would crowd around her when she’s seen walking around the campus. Lia didn’t get the hype at first but as Ryujin was practically everywhere, from dance performances on the stage when the school had an event, to the soccer field where Ryujin was an ace player, Lia’s interest grew as she watched the younger. And that was all she did at first, just watch and support, maybe a little too aggressively during matches but those were nothing compared to Ryujin’s diehard fans.

Lia was convinced she’d stay admiring Ryujin from afar until Ryujin’s first Valentine’s Day at school came. 

For Lia, it was just another day, except it’ll be filled with a lot of red colored stuff, heart balloons, roses, and even the packaging for chocolates. Valentine’s Day was just another day for Lia as she didn’t really stand out and the only valentine’s day gift she usually receives are from her friends, who she also gives some chocolates to. She thought about giving some to Ryujin as well, as a fan of hers, but she guessed days like these would be bothersome for the younger as she’d probably get drowned with gifts and that it’ll be hard to stand out from the pool of Ryujin’s fans around the school, so she decided not get her anything. Not like it would’ve made a difference anyway, because to Ryujin, Lia was probably just another fan.

But then dismissal time came and Lia was just minding her business walking by herself around the campus waiting for her parents to pick her up for their yearly Valentine’s Day dinner out when someone came running to her and she was surprised to see that it was actually the very person she least expected. Her crush, Shin Ryujin.

Ryujin stood in front of her for a few seconds, catching her breath before smiling at her and asking, “Hi unni. Mind if I walk with you?”

Lia blinked and looked around her. No one but the two of them were around and the only other students were on the other side of campus. She pointed to herself. “Me? You’re talking to me?”

Ryujin chuckled and nodded.

Lia found it odd and couldn’t think of a reason why Ryujin would even want to walk with her, especially on a day like this. But she also knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so she shrugged it off and continued walking. “...I guess so?” The younger just grinned and walked beside her.

They walked in silence for a while. Lia was debating in her mind about the possibilities as to why the younger was here in the first place and didn’t realize that they’ve just been walking and not talking, until Ryujin broke the ice. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” She said but didn’t look at Lia, while Lia stopped at her tracks and looked at the younger in confusion.

Only after a few steps did Ryujin realize the older wasn’t walking beside her so she looked back. “Unni...why?”

Lia snapped out of it. “Nothing really. I just never get greeted by anyone other than my friends and family. Also, do you even know who I am?”

Ryujin tilted her head and nodded. “Yes, you’re Choi Jisu but you go around using Lia from Julia because you used to study abroad and had an English name.” She answered as if it was the most obvious answer.

“And how do you know that?”

Ryujin shyly smiled. “We actually live near each other and I recognized you watching my performances and games so I asked around. Ahh, wait. I have something for you.” She fished something out of her bag and handed it over to Lia. It was a fake rose but it wasn’t red.

Lia found it odd because usually people would give others red roses as red was the official color of Valentine's Day and not sky blue. Lia stared intently at it. “I just wanted to thank you for support all those times and if it’s okay with you, can we start being friends? I thought today would be a nice day to ask you so ta-dah~.” Ryujin smiled, her right hand still offering Lia the rose she handmade the night before. “It’s for you, unni…” Ryujin said after realizing that Lia wasn’t going to grab it soon.

“Oh.” was all that Lia could say before accepting it. “I..I’m sorry, I didn’t get you anything…”

Ryujin smiled. “That’s okay, unni! Though, I must say. I was hoping for it so I could give that to you in return. But you didn’t show up in the morning so I worried if I should just give it to you in your classroom but I got shy thinking of entering an upperclassmen’s classroom.” She chuckled.

Lia nodded, still staring at the fake flower that is now in her hands. “Can I ask you something?” she began to walk again, with Ryujin keeping up with her pace beside her. Ryujin hummed as a go signal to Lia’s request.

“Why sky blue?”

Ryujin laughed. “I thought you were gonna ask why it’s not a real flower or why I want to be friends.”

Lia chuckled too. “Well, you’re probably going to say something cheesy and cliche and I don’t want to hear that right now. I’m still processing the fact that you actually know me and that you want to be friends with me. So, just answer why it’s sky blue?”

Ryujin nodded. “You always wear something of that color, no matter how small. So I thought it must be your favorite color. Am I right? Did I get that right, unni?”

Lia was impressed, Ryujin even observed that from her and she had no clue how. “Yes, you’re right.”

Ryujin shook her fist in the air. “Yes!”

Lia smiled at the sight and thought she’d tease the younger while she’s at it. “So. How many of your fans did you appreciate today?”

Ryujin looked at her, feeling all wronged. “What do you mean, unni?”

Lia raised a brow, studying the younger and the two of them just stared at each other for a while. “Do you mean to tell me, I’m the only one that received something from the Shin Ryujin on valentine’s day?”

Ryujin’s forehead was still curled as she’s honestly clueless as to why Lia would find that hard to believe. “Yes.”

And that was the start of the friendship, although Lia wouldn’t lie and say that her heart didn’t skip a beat when Ryujin pulled out that flower from her bag and offered it to her. She daydreamed that maybe Ryujin might’ve noticed her long ago and finally decided to confess that day but Ryujin asking her to be friends with her was good too. It’s more than enough for Lia because she can’t even bring herself to confess.

Lia has a lot of self taken pictures and non-self taken pictures with Ryujin all throughout the years but no matter how many and cute were those printed out, nothing could compare to the image of Ryujin handing her that flower. Lia stops drawing for a second and looks at the flower taped on the wall adjacent to her desk. She smiles just thinking of it and starts drawing again.

Not long after, her phone vibrates  against the desk. She eyes it, a message notification from Ryujin. ‘ hey college girl, i hope ur not too busy today coz imy and im otw to u’

Lia gulps. It’s been a month since she last met up with her as she’s now in college and is staying at an apartment near her university and Ryujin’s at their hometown, still in her last year of highschool. Lia is nervous. Sure, she misses the younger too but not now , when she’s literally drawing her.

Her phone lit up again. ‘actually no, im alrdy walking up ur apartment so….door please? :D’

Lia hisses. “.” She stands up and quickly covers her desk with a bunch of stuff and then heads for her apartment door and is just in time to hear Ryujin knocking. She opens the door. “Ryujin!!” She greets, a little too loudly and more in an unwelcoming-scolding tone, but Ryujin didn’t mind and just entered the flat and quickly put the things she was holding down. “Unni!!” She says, trapping the older in her arms.

Lia breaks free from the hug. “Why are you here!?” Her eyes wide open, as she can’t believe that Ryujin actually exerted effort just to see her after a month of probably waiting for Lia to visit. That and because it wasn’t exactly a time for Ryujin to be inside her apartment, not when her assignment that is lying on her desk had the younger’s face on it.

Ryujin pouts. “I missed you. You haven’t come home for a while and you seldom replied to my messages too so I had to see you.” Lia smiles at her apologetically. “Sorry. I’ve been busy.” She says, but Ryujin’s still pouting and she realized what Ryujin wanted to hear instead. She laughs first and nods. “Of course I missed you too, Ryu.” Ryujin finally smiles cheekily.

Ryujin finally moves and walks around. It’s not her first time to be in Lia’s apartment but it’s just a habit of hers to look around and snoop through Lia’s stuff. Lia just watches the girl, wary that she might go inside her room and see the drawing but she tries to remain calm and picks up the bag of food Ryujin brought and sets it on the kitchen table. “Are you busy today? Just tell me, I’ll let you be and won’t bug you as you do your thing. I just want to see you after so long.” Lia’s lips pursed as she hears Ryujin say that. She thinks it's a good idea to even continue her drawing but she might’ve spent more time thinking about it longer than she thought because Ryujin spoke again, the younger’s now in front of her. “So you are busy.”

Lia sheepishly smiles. “It’s okay, Ryujin-ah. I’ll just finish it tonight. I’ll spend time with you.”

Ryujin shakes her head almost immediately. “No. Go do it. I’ll just hang around here, don’t mind me please.”

Lia frowns at Ryujin, she knows Ryujin will not budge unless she does one thing. Lia pouts, and as if on cue Ryujin stands up properly in place, alert and waiting for what Lia’s about to say, her hands ready to either fight someone for her or envelop her in a hug. bingo “But you’re here, I don’t want to waste your time and effort coming here by neglecting you.” Lia says, sulking.

Ryujin gulps. “I hate it when you do that.” Lia laughs and gestures for Ryujin to sit. “Come, let’s eat. Did my parents ask you to bring these with you?” Ryujin just nods and sits.

After eating, the two of them were inside Lia’s room. And Lia managed to do some erasures on the drawing so that it wouldn’t look like Ryujin at least, while Ryujin washed the dishes before coming inside Lia’s room.

Ryujin just watches her until Lia grows conscious. “Can you stop staring…” she asks in a small voice and Ryujin just chuckles. “Unni.”

“Hm?”

“What’s the theme of your assignment by the way?”

“A favorite memory.” Lia nonchalantly answers and Ryujin nods. “Your favorite memory is someone giving you a lollipop? And why do you have a drawing of me?”

Lia freezes and looks at her work. “Huh?” It was in fact a lollipop instead of a flower. She faces Ryujin who was sitting on her bed. Ryujin has a blank expression on and points at somewhere on Lia’s desk, an open file folder. “That one, isn’t that me scoring a goal?” Lia’s eyes fell on the drawing Ryujin was pointing at as well. “Come to think of it, I think I’ve received a drawing quite like yours back then.” Lia gulps. Ohno

Ryujin fishes out her phone, “Here, look. I took a picture of it because it was so good. Were you the one who gave it??” She scrolls for a while on her phone and then gets closer to Lia when she finds the picture, she faces the screen towards Lia. “It’s your drawing, isn’t it?” Ryujin asks again. Lia recognizes it and it was indeed one of her own works, but she did that when they weren’t close and she slipped that in Ryujin’s locker. “It’s in the same style.”

“Um.” Lia blinks, she can’t think of a way to get out of this. “Yes.”

Ryujin smiles. “Really?? You have no idea how hard I was looking for the person who did this and now you’re telling me it’s you!!”

Lia shyly faces her. “But you never asked me about it, I didn’t even know you received it well.”

“I didn’t know you could draw!!” Ryujin rebuts and Lia slowly nods. “Right. Well, ta-dah?” She faces her desk again and continues to draw again, in hopes Ryujin wouldn’t press more questions but she was wrong.

“By the way unni.” Ryujin’s face was just beside hers, leaning down and looking at the drawing as well.

“Hm?” Lia tries not to mind it, as long as Ryujin wouldn’t notice.

“I thought you earlier said you just started drawing that.”

Lia nods. “I did. Why?”

“Why are there so many eraser shavings and some creases on that already?”

Lia gulps. “Uhh…”

“Come to think of it, it reminds me of something.” Ryujin says, now facing the older, still leaning down to level with her. “Huh?” Lia stays put, looking down on the paper instead of facing Ryuin.

“Is that not me giving you that flower on Valentine’s Day?” Ryujin asks, smiling.

Lia gulps. “Um. no?” Ryujin chuckles and Lia finally faces her, “What?”

Ryujin just shakes her head, stands back up and goes back to Lia’s bed. “That’s okay unni.” She says, still smiling but a bit more slyly this time. Lia just looks at her, confused.

“It’s my favorite memory too.”