She was born to be a beautiful and bright girl, Minju surely knows that. She’s a fast learner with a great memory capacity. But today is an exception, it made her wonder if she really was blessed with a great memory.

You see, it’s the beginning of spring and also her second day as a 1st grader. And maybe because of all the nervousness that she was feeling, she forgot their assignment where everyone is assigned to bring an object which describes them as a person.

As soon as the teacher entered the classroom, she made all of the kids sit in the middle of the room and started calling them one by one to go up the front and talk about the object they brought. Luckily, the boys were called first.

Anyone who’ll see Minju at that moment will instantly know that she was definitely nervous. Beads of sweat started to form on her pretty forehead while she restlessly fiddled with her fingers.

“Hey” Minju heard someone whisper but she doesn’t want to be assuming that she was the one being called so she stayed in her place and kept her head bowed down trying to avoid making eye contact with their teacher.

“Hey! Pretty girl with the pigtails!” Minju heard another whisper which was a bit louder than the first one, and now, she thinks that maybe the stranger was really calling her because when she scanned around the room, she’s the only one who’s wearing pigtails today. So she turned her head to the right trying to spot the person who’s calling her.

When she turned to her left, she locked eyes with another girl. The said girl had sparkling hazelnut eyes, a beautiful pointed nose, and cute little lips. She wore her shoulder-length hair down, letting it flow and be blown by the soft breeze going inside the room’s window. The girl nervously smiled at Minju before scooting closer to her.

“Are you nervous to talk in front of everybody?” The girl started, “Don’t worry it’s okay, just imagine everyone wearing their undies so you’ll be less nervous” The other girl continued while chuckling lightly.

“I’m not nervous to talk…” Minju answered.

“Well, you don’t look like it.” The girl, who’s now seating beside Minju, answered back.

“I’m not nervous to speak… It’s just that…” Minju hesitated at first but still continued, “I forgot to bring something to present.” She said while covering her face inside her little palms.

The girl stared at Minju for a while, taking in the information she has learned. She looked away slowly while nodding her head, trying to think of ways to help the girl beside her.

Meanwhile, the teacher then started to call the girls. At this point, Minju is becoming desperate for ideas on what to do.

“Maybe if I pretend to be sick, she’ll just let me go to the nurse’s office instead of presenting.” Minju thought.

Minju was busy thinking about the ways on how she can escape the class when she felt the girl beside her tap her shoulder.

“You can have these and use them for your presentation.” The girl said while handing white roses to Minju.

Minju was startled, because first, where did the girl get the flowers, and second, why would she even help her when they barely knew each other.

And as if the other girl was reading Minju’s mind, “I actually brought a flower vase with those flowers inside of it, but I thought that even without the flowers, I just present while only using this vase.” The girls started, “Besides, my mom told me before I went to school a while ago that white roses represent purity and innocence, and I think that those words totally represent you as well.” The girl continued when Minju a smile, a genuine one.

Minju blushed at how this 1st grader talked so smoothly and articulately. She was impressed at how the other girl can collect her thoughts well and put them into words.

Minju shyly took the flowers from the other girl, “Thank you, uhm… What’s your name?” Minju asked.

“Ahn Yujin.” The girl said while extending her hand for Minju to grab.

Minju accepted Yujin’s hand and shook it, “Kim Minju”.

“Well nice meeting you… Unnie?” Yujin asked, not quite sure if the girl she’s talking to was older than her or not.

Minju just shook her head, “That’s not important. I personally don’t care about honorifics, after all, we’re friends now.” She stated.

Yujin smiled at Minju one last time before standing up after she heard the teacher calling her name which means it was her turn to go to the front and present.

On that day, not only did spring start but also their friendship.

---

Days after their first encounter, the two have learned that they live inside the same village and in fact, their homes are just a few blocks away from each other. They found it ridiculously funny that they’ve never seen or known one another before even if they just live around the same area.

The pair then decided to walk to school together every day (of course not when one of them won’t go to school on that day). It became their official routine. Yujin’s house was closer to the village’s exit, so every single day, she’ll wait under the big oak tree in front of her house for Minju to arrive.

One day in their 3rd grade in school, Minju was already walking down the street and saw the younger girl waiting for her under the tree with her back faced to the older girl.

Minju planned on catching the younger girl off and maybe spooking her a bit, but when she was about to do it, Yujin turned around, making Minju’s plan a failure.

“Do you have a 6th sense or something?” Minju joked at the younger girl who’s now facing her.

“Yeah, I do. Actually, the X-Men has been contacting me recently and asking me to join them.” Yujin answered, chuckling softly.

Minju laughed at her friend’s joke before grabbing the younger girl’s backpack, “Come on, we’ll be late if don’t start walking by now.”

But Yujin didn’t move from her place which made Minju look at her questioningly. Even before Minju can even ask, Yujin gave her a white rose on which Minju doesn’t have an idea where the younger kept it because she doesn’t rememb