Have you looked deeply into an object, and start to wonder "Is this considered stealing?"

That's just how Xiaoting thinks, as she deeply stared at the pencil resting on her lower shelf.

She sighed to herself — standing up from her seat, and reaching her hand out to grab it.

Xiaoting began to twist and turn the pencil, scrutinizing it. She has kept it with her since middle school, and until now, the pencil is in perfect condition.

She had one objective, and that is to return the pencil to its rightful owner. It's just silly how she was willing to do anything just to return an old pencil, right when she can't remember who used to possessed it.

"Maybe this isn't stealing after all," she thought, placing the object down on the table.

Xiaoting continues to think, as she went downstairs to ease her dry throat, which was begging for some water.

She looked around, trying to make sure that she doesn't wake anyone in the house up, or else she would be screwed. She promised her family that she will sleep early tonight, and breaking that promise might get her into major trouble.

What else could she do? She got distracted over the art she was trying to finish that she forgot the time to head off to dreamland. Now she just has to face one of the worst challenges of her life, and the creaking floor in the kitchen won't help her.

Xiaoting tiptoed her way to the kitchen, hoping that she won't step on the creaking part by accident.

She sighed in relief as soon as she reached the refrigerator, quickly grabbing a water bottle and swiftly drank it.

Until Xiaoting hears a door click, it made her run back to her room in haste. She even left the water bottle on the counter in pure panic. How unfortunate of her.

Other than that, Xiaoting didn't forget to lock the door, hoping that it was somehow believable that she was inside of her room if ever she were to be questioned. Don't forget the fact that she flopped down on her bed, hiding under the blankets despite having to lock the door seconds ago.

Later on, she found herself in deep thoughts, making it ten times worse for her to head off to sleep and prepare herself for another day. At this point, Xiaoting would be welcoming the night owls with her, it may also seem like they'll have a study session with how lively her mind was at the moment.

Sighing to herself, Xiaoting lifted herself from the bed, approaching her study table to pick up the pencil. She closes her eyes as tight as possible, as if she was trying to use some kid of magic with it, when in fact, she was trying to remember who used to own it. Well, that was five years ago. Besides, who would even care about a five-year missing pencil when they can just buy another one?

No.

Xiaoting was desperate.

Plus, that person used to be so kind to her, even a lot than the kindest person in the world if she were to state that.

Xiaoting scrunches her nose, putting the pencil back on her lower shelf, as she lets her body flop down her chair. She leaned her head on the table, closing her eyes in the process, hoping that her body would finally put itself to sleep and drag her along towards the train to dreamland.

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"Why don't you just throw that pencil away?"

Xiaoting turns her head towards Youngeun as soon as the younger finished her sentence. She raised an eyebrow at her, as her eyes traveled back to the pencil that she's been staring at for minutes. It was a miracle that she haven't bump into a post yet, or else that would've been so embarrassing.

Imagine walking around with a red forehead, as if someone tried to fry you alive. Such an unfortunate event it is.

To give the younger a response, Xiaoting shook her head, "I cant. I feel like I have something else to do with this." her grip on it tightens.

"Does it have a name or any clues written on it?" Youngeun asks, as if she didn't suggest Xiaoting to throw away the pencil a minute ago. The older woman shook her head — showing Youngeun the pencil for her to scrutinize, "Aww, that's a shame." she adds.

"That's why I'm intrigued to find out who owns it," Xiaoting says, pulling back the pencil towards her, before some pops up into Youngeun's mind that could cause a total chaos between the two of them.

"It's been five years! Five years! No one would even look for that after five years of its disappearance."

Xiaoting wants to disagree. Who knows? Maybe that pencil was somehow special to that certain someone. It's possible, even the weirdest thing you own at the moment can be as precious as anyone else's treasure.

Xiaoting was about to put the object inside her pocket to secure it, until she bumps into someone, causing the pencil to drop on the floor due to the impact.

"I'm sorry!" both of them apologized in unison, as they both bent down to grab the pencil on the ground, but the stranger was millisecond faster than her. The said stranger reach her hand out, planning to give the object back to the woman.

"I believe this is yours." that's odd. The voice was familiar to her.

With her thoughts being set aside, Xiaoting bowed at the stranger, "Thank you."

The stranger mirrored her action, and walked away right after. Maybe she had some things to attend to.

Xiaoting eyed the pencil, as she successfully slipped it inside her pocket, no more accidents, everything was fine.

At this point, she totally forgot that Youngeun was with her, as the latter looked at her mockingly.

"Maybe that's a sign that you should throw it away."

"Seo Youngeun," Xiaoting calls her name sternly, causing the younger to stop, but was still giggling at her.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just funny at how desperate you are to find the owner when there could be thousands of possible ones out there," Youngeun says, as she grips on her backpack — slowly looking like Dora for a second there.

Xiaoting hummed as a response, and took out the pencil once again, twisting around the object and finally found a possible clue. She opened to speak, only to be interrupted by Youngeun, who started to yelp for some reason when she had spotted her group of friends.

Xiaoting just ignored the circle, as she sped up her pace and passed by them. Youngeun didn't even seem to notice that the older wasn't behind her anymore. Anyway, Xiaoting thinks she wouldn't care and would just send her a text message, telling her to pick her up in her school after dismissal, as if she were Xiaoting's child.

No, she won't lie to herself when she tells someone that she deeply cares for the younger, even if she has a chaotic mind at some point.

She smiled to herself, looking like she achieved something big in her life, when in fact she was happy at how her life seems to flow recently.

It sure understood the assignment, as it started to smoothly flow onto the river of life with no obstacles in front.

Or maybe this mission of her to find the owner would be the obstacle.

Who knows what could it be?

She just hoped that it won't be too bad.

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It was a chilly day.

A series of snowflakes were showing themselves as they fall off the seemingly infinite sky.

Ah, it was so fun to watch. It was relaxing when you just had a stressful day.

It's also been months seen Xiaoting became determined to seek for that classmate of hers, even if it seems to be impossible, she doesn't have the intention to give up sooner or later.

Her feet had dragged her towards the paint shop — her hand taking a hold of the cold doorknob. She twisted it, as the bright place welcomes her rightfully.

The store owner welcomed her, as she shot him a smile and looked around the shop. Her eyes were carefully scanning each of the paintings, slowly noting to herself that she wanted.

A couple of days ago, Youngeun had turned up in her house, as well as a classmate of the younger that she could recognize. If she wasn't wrong, that girl goes by the name of Kang Yeseo.

They both told Xiaoting about that special event in their school coming up after Christmas break. It had something to do with paintings, but no one in their group knew how to do it right.

With no second thoughts whatsoever, Xiaoting agreed to the favor, wanting to help the two on whatever that event was.

They didn't forget to tell her to just paint anything she wants, or whatever pops up in her mind, as long as she doesn't feel pressured about that one single favor.

On her way back, Xiaoting couldn't help but think what she would paint for them. Does it have to be something meaningful? Or just something messy and colorful? She had no idea where to turn her head to.

She only sighed to herself, her mind wasn't helping her think at all. Instead, it went pure blank, except for the thought about that pencil.

There were numerous times when Xiaoting would attempt to let go of it, since she wasn't really making any progress whatsoever.

She didn't know what happened at all, her mind would usually be clouded by ideas every time she decides to draw or paint something.

"God, Xiaoting just think," she thought to herself, quickly raising her hand to her temple to hopefully help her focus.

Xiaoting lets out a groan, her mind was blocked with something. Yes, it was blocking her ideas, and she despises it. She had to do this for the two and the rest of their group, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for them if ever she won't be able to do it.

She did agree to the favor after all. Thus, that makes up her major problem.

As soon as she arrived home, she started to think harder, but nothing seems to be working. She had to focus, that's the only thing she needs for now.

Xiaoting stole a glance on her blue binder, which contained a lot of pieces of artwork inside, whether they were drafts or finished products, she would always keep them in there. She walked up to it, as she slowly took the binders in her hands and sat down on the bed to open it.

The woman started to flip through the pages, finding a lot of them with a bunch or erasures or just some words Xiaoting had to write in there to make her feel motivated. Once again, it didn't really seem to help.

And so she stood up, wanting to place the binder back into its original position, when a piece of paper fell off, catching the woman off guard. Xiaoting stared at it — a little dazed at how it landed perpectly in front of her, revealing one of her unfinished art in its fine quality paper.

Xiaoting knelt down to pick it up, with her mind shouting at her to examine the art. With her current thoughts being put into placed, she started to remember a little bit about its background.

It was her art from middle school. How could she forget about a memorable piece of art? What have she been up to lately?

She forced herself to stand up, as she started to approach the canvas. Her eyes were glancing back and forth towards it and into the paper.

She told herself that she should give it a try and possibly improve the art. After all, she could paint whatever she wanted, according to Youngeun and Yeseo. 

Xiaoting smiled, setting down the paper on her table saying, "Thank you."

She knows that she should at least give a sign of gratitude towards that person who encouraged her to never give up on a single piece of art, and now she's here to redo it again. But this time, with a wider space where she could express her thoughts.

If only she remembers that person — or even just her name, she would've at least made it up to her. Too bad her memories were occupied by a lot of things that she even forgot who that person is.

"When will I see you again?"

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"It's done!" Xiaoting proudly says, as she presented the painting in front of the group. The next thing she heard is a series of gasps and clapping all around the living room.

"Wait, unnie... You finished that in three days?" Yeseo questioned.

Xiaoting nodded as a response, and of course she didn't fail to notice how the younger's eyes widened as she said, "It would've took me an eternity to finish such a masterpiece!" 

The eldest laughed it off, she usually doesn't get a lot of compliments, and it somehow made her feel better, or more confident about her artworks now.

"What can we do to make it up to you, unnie?" Youngeun asks, as if she was trying to volunteer over the good act, which she normally doesn't do. She would usually oppose to that, and it was surprising to see a new side of the younger.

Xiaoting hums, trying to think of the best way the group could make up to her. She saw them all lean towards her, anticipating the upcoming answer. Her face lit up once she was able to think of a proper one, "After the event, you guys have to treat me dinner."

They all let out a groan, as a visible sign that all of them disagree to the eldest's favor.

"I agreed to your favor, you all have to be fair," Xiaoting says, wanting to defend her side. She saw the group sulk, it makes her want to laugh even more at how adorable they can get, "You guys just have to watch me paint then, you all good with that?" she changed the favor, hoping that everyone would finally agree to it, as the members locked eyes with each other and finally nodded at her.

There is less than four hours before the event starts, and she was excited to see all of the many different artworks in there. She did gain permission after all, so this makes it her chance to roam around their school to be a part of their event. After all, she was the one who painted for them.

The group finally left the facility, alongside Xiaoting who was trailing behind the girls, carrying the painting with her while watching them as they laughed at each others jokes. She was in that exact same position five years ago. It was truly nostalgic to not care about.

As soon as they arrived at the event, everyone could be seen preparing. Some of the stalls even have a fancy decoration, wanting all of the attention to be driven towards them. Xiaoting, on the other hand, doesn't really seem to care. It's a strong strategy anyway, anyone can have that.

She also worries her is that she doesn't really know what the event is all about. The only thing Youngeun and Yeseo had told her is to paint something for the sake of their group. Still, whatever the event was all about, she found it very interesting.

Xiaoting's eyes scanned throughout the school, noticing how well it was decorated, she salutes to the staff for that detail.

It didn't take long before the girls had signaled her where to place the painting. She looks around the place, there were already a few ones placed in that area, and all of them looked like the students had put so much effort into finishing the artwork, she was glad to know that fact.

Xiaoting carefully placed the painting on the wall, making sure that it was perfect and was pleasing to see. She stepped backwards, leaning away to check if she did it right, and luckily she didn't have any problems with that matter. She dusted off her hands after her hard work, and let her eyes travel on the sky. It was getting dark, meaning that the event might start soon.

She heard Youngeun excuse herself, telling her group mates that she has to visit a friend on the other side of their location. Xiaoting turned her head towards the younger who fled out of the area and thought, "It was probably Jia."

It's not the first time that Xiaoting hears Jia's name, due to the fact that Youngeun would always mention her. She concluded that the two were that close, and since then, she started to embed Jia's name on her mind, noting to herself that she was Youngeun's closest friend. Once again, how nostalgic it was to think about it.

After an hour, the event had finally started. Many people — even students from different schools had also attended. Maybe the day would flow smoothly for them, and all they had to do was to enjoy the event, that's all. If only her university had held something like this, she would've enjoyed in that place.

Xiaoting let her feet drag her around the school, and sometimes she would stumble upon some familiar faces, with most of them that she couldn't remember the name of.

She shook her thoughts off and went back to the location of the painting, wanting to check the condition of the art. She can't risk getting any damages on it, for it was too memorable for her. With that thought in mind, she started brisk walking, as she let herself squeeze through the crowd — politely excusing herself for her to pass.

Of course, Xiaoting was more than relieved when she was able to arrive at the location in no time. She also noticed the group of people gathered up in front of the painting — whether it was from her or the ones next to it.

The woman stayed in there, watching as people come and go the place. It was just too lucky that there was a bench nearby where she could sit on. That's when a person caught her attention, and she didn't know exactly how she ended up leaning forward, trying to catch a good glimpse of the woman's face.

She was too busy trying to examine her features, to the point that her eyebrows were almost there to meet each other.

In the end, Xiaoting shook her head instead. She looked like a stalker instead, and it made her creep herself out just by thinking about that fact.

 She forced herself to stand up and walk away from the place and find something more entertaining to do, rather than just watching her painting for hours when she was sure that it was secured in there.

But it didn't take long before she heard a sudden outrage behind her. Because of her curiosity, she turned her head around to check the events happening behind her.

It turns out that the exact same woman she was watching just seconds ago had accidentally knocked down a decoration down on the next stall — mostly the important ones as far as Xiaoting could see from where she was standing.

"What was she thinking?" Xiaoting started talking to herself as she walked up to the scene.

She courageously entered the scene, standing in front of the frozen woman and used herself to apologize for the stranger, as if she knows her by any means. Xiaoting bowed at the people working in there, "We're so sorry for causing you trouble."

After she blurted that out, Xiaoting pulled the stranger away from that area. 

Suddenly, the pencil inside her pocket had fallen on the ground, which didn't go unnoticed by the woman behind her.

The stranger stopped in her tracks, which only made Xiaoting confused, as she turned around to raise an eyebrow at the woman who went and picked up the pencil from the ground. Xiaoting's eyes widened as soon as she had spotted the pencil on the woman's hands.

She cleared the lump on , reaching her hand out in the process, "That's mine."

"You often drop things, don't you?"

The question only made Xiaoting even more confused than ever. For real, what was happening? So many questions just kept coming, and she couldn't keep up anymore. Not to mention the familiarity of her voice, it feels like she has heard it before, but she couldn't trace where.

"You don't remember?"

"I don't?" Xiaoting answered in a questioning manner as the woman gave back the pencil to her. After all, she was still lost at this point and was trying to go back to the lines to register the topic in her brain.

"Two weeks ago, when you happen to drop your pencil the same as today."

So that's why the voice was quite familiar, even back in their first encounter. It feels like something was trying to register in her mind but it can't do anything due to how vague the information was. It was exactly like a feeling of trial and error.

"Oh, that happened?" Xiaoting didn't know where the pretending side of the conversation came on, but she just went with the flow. The awkward silence was starting to become unsettling, and so she followed with a chocked laugh, "Ah yes, I remember it now. So it was you?"

The stranger responded with a nod, enlightening the woman about her identity. Although her name was still unknown — it's the feeling of trust that suddenly enveloped Xiaoting. She had no idea why she suddenly felt this way, it was uncommon to trust a stranger you just met, especially when you have no background history about them. It's just creepy to think about, and very disturbing to be exact. 

"I never thought I'd see you again, especially at a time like this," Xiaoting starts, "This pencil is so meaningful to me, so I want to express my gratitude towards you."

The stranger smiled, as she followed it by bowing at her. Xiaoting thought she was different, usually strangers would give a disconcerting aura when you happen to talk to them. But this stranger in front of her was somehow new to her.

The woman glances on her wristwatch and lets out a sigh, "Looks like our time was cut short. I still have an appointment to attend to."

Xiaoting understood that very well, people can have different schedules that can lead to a stressful day, just like those days in high school that she had. It was a total nightmare that she doesn't even want to think about it.

The stranger bids her goodbye, but before she could drop out of sight, Xiaoting had managed to stop her.

"Wait!" Xiaoting calls out, "I didn't get your name though."

The stranger turns out, shooting the woman with the same warm smile she gave her earlier, one that made Xiaoting secured for some reason. The stranger rubbed her hands together, "I didn't get yours too."

Oh right... 

How stupid of her...

For the amount of time that the two individuals had been talking to each other, neither of them even had the courage to bring that topic up. If it weren't for Xiaoting's sudden urge to find out what her name was, they wouldn't have gotten into this part.

The stranger reach her hand out — to what Xiaoting guessed for a handshake. She gladly accepted it and introduced herself, "I'm Xiaoting."

It feels weird, but blissful at the same time. She was able to give her name so sudden without even thinking of the consequences.

Xiaoting peacefully waited for the woman's response, until she felt a tight grip on her hand, causing her to look down on it as the stranger starts, "Yurina."

She looks up, a little dazed as she noticed the visible smile on the stranger's face.

"Kawaguchi Yurina."

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Xiaoting wasn't in the right mind to think.

Just by thinking about the fact that she left Youngeun behind — who was starting to chase after her, was just absolutely ridiculous.

Xiaoting had woken up instantaneously from her train of thoughts when the younger had yanked her backpack, as she pulled the younger back to her.

"You do know that I ain't as fast as Usain Bolt to be able to chase you around like that, unnie. So tell me, are you planning to run a marathon?" Youngeun managed to ask, even if she was totally out of breath.

"It's not my fault that you are as slow as a sloth," The older answers sarcastically, and was on her way to leave the Youngeun once again, but not today.

Youngeun successfully catches up to her, as she held onto Xiaoting's backpack as if she was her kid and was afraid to lose her mother.

"Why are you in a hurry anyway? It's not like you're late for class or something." Youngeun continued to ask a question. What a curious kid she was.

"I swear it's nothing," Xiaoting immediately gave an answer to the question, as she reached out on her pocket to grab some spare cash, handing it to the confused Youngeun, "Do something useful with it. Buy a burrito or give it to someone who needs it the most. I have to go now."

The younger pouts — hesitating to take the money from the older's hand, "It's my responsibility to blame you if I get lost."

"You're literally in high school, Eun. You can carry yourself."

Youngeun rolls her eyes, taking the money from the older and started to grumble. She's indeed a child stuck in a high school student's body to be fair.

Xiaoting on the other hand, had finally left Youngeun behind. She fastens her pace just to reach the gate of the university, considering the fact that she wasn't late and she had like an hour and thirty minutes before class starts.

It was such a miracle that there were already numerous students inside the campus, which made her curious on what's going on.

Later on, she spots a familiar face in the corner of her eye. The person seems to be busy with setting up some kind of banner in front of the school's gate, alongside other students who were accompanying her. It was unusual to her eye, and she couldn't help but ask.

"Yujin-unnie!" Xiaoting calls out, as she ran towards the older — getting more and more curious about this unusual preparation. The sudden intrusion of the quiet atmosphere caught the older's attention, which made her turn around to see who was calling out for her.

Yujin smiled at her, as she waved at the younger who was approaching their group, "Xiaoting! It's quite unexpected to see you this early. Have something caught off on your mind?"

Xiaoting lets out a chuckle, shaking her head to follow the action, "Just thought I had to. What's with the fancy decorations anyway?"

"Oh, about that matter, chosen students from another university will come here and pay us a visit!" Yujin says enthusiastically, as she proceeded to do tiny jumps that made her look like a kid.

Meanwhile, Xiaoting stared back at her, looking very bewildered and concerned, "That's a thing now?"

"Why? You're not excited about it?" Yujin returns the question.

"It's not like I don't, it just seems new to me."

"Of course it is. By the way, we're all tasked to do a study with the student assigned to us."

Xiaoting nodded her head, but her eyes suddenly once Yujin's sentence had finally processed in her mind, "Wait, what did you say?"

"We're going to do a study with the person assigned to us?" Yujin repeats.

"Why?" Xiaoting completely understands the older girl's point, but the point that she can't understand is the point of having a study project with an assigned student from another university. Was this really necessary?

Yujin gives the taller one a shrug, "I have no idea. That's what they told us earlier this morning."

That resulted Xiaoting to give out a snort, as she gave the older another nod. She fixes her posture and bowed to the group before entering the opened gate. 

Somehow, Xiaoting couldn't get that out of her mind. She started to repeat the words again and again, as if her whole well-being doesn't want to forget about such a thing. It wasn't even important to her... or was it? 

She shook her head and started to brisk walk, having the intention to go on a building's rooftop and rest there for a while before the first period starts. She has to clear all of these unnecessary thoughts in her mind.

Xiaoting lets out a sigh as soon as she reaches the desired rooftop, and grabs the soda can from her backpack pocket. One that she had bought alongside Youngeun earlier that morning. She proceeded to sit down on the edge, admiring the view from below as she glances at some students roaming around the campus with their closest friends.

Although most of the time she would be seen roaming around with her friends, like Ruiqi and the others. But this time she wanted to be alone. Since last night's event, the next ones had shifted into way crazier ones. It was too questionable for her part.

She started swinging her legs to make her feel relaxed, as well as taking a sipping from her soda can. The sun rise was helping her mind to cool down, to the point where she would like to pay a huge gratitude to the sun.

Her mind had started to catch random thoughts that she didn't notice that time was flying fast. Xiaoting's eyes flew over her wristwatch. She was already late for Pete's sake. If only she wasn't too distracted, this wouldn't have happened.

Panic had started to take over her, causing her to stumble forward when she was approaching the rooftop's ladder, and accidentally dropped the can on the floor. Her uniform was damped but screw her reputation, she has to show up there as soon as possible.

Xiaoting was more than relieved when she had entered the main building of the campus. Maybe The Flash should consider her a challenger from now on.

The crowd on the huge bulletin board caught her eye. Was it related to what Yujin told her earlier?

Due to her growing curiosity, she started approaching the crowd slowly. Xiaoting tiptoed a bit to see what's with the buzz, but nothing seems to contribute with her situation, due to the number of students standing in front of her.

It was hopeless, and so she just stood there like a lost kid.

"Damn, Xiao what happened to you?"

Xiaoting flinched at that, it was so sudden, and it happen amidst her thoughts when they're on the verge of piling up one again, no one is responsible to blame her. She turned her head towards the side, and saw Ruiqi standing beside her.

Once she was able to process the question, she looked down on her uniform and suddenly remembered the event from the rooftop, "Spilled the soda all over myself while running towards here." If only that happened elsewhere, her dignity would've been tampered by now, but she was lucky that her luck was on her side that day.

Xiaoting raises an eyebrow when she notices the other woman holding her laugh, "I thought you had a coke fight with someone," Ruiqi tries to say as she continues to hold her laughter.

Xiaoting playfully rolls her eyes and smiled. How playful of her best friend.

She turns her head towards the crowd and started to tiptoe once again, trying to get another greater view of the papers on the board.

And then again, she hears Ruiqi laughing at her, like can't she calm down for once? Xiaoting felt like the younger could burst any time soon if she continues doing so.

"Stop being a dimwit, and watch this." Ruiqi clears , "Attention, everyone! Su Ruiqi is here to command you all to give way for others, or else someone won't invite you to be their valentine!"

Xiaoting wanted to hide because of embarrassment. Dozens of pairs of eyes where looking at them. She wanted to disappear at that exact same moment.

But at the same time, she couldn't blame Ruiqi. Her antics seem to have worked, and so they were able to pass onto the crowd and get a spot near the board.

"What is this?" Xiaoting questions herself as her eyes flew on the paper's title. It turns out Yujin wasn't joking after all. The study project was real, and here they are trying to locate their partner's name. Her eyes started to scan around the board, desperately trying to search for her name, "Where is it?"

She clapped her hands together when she finally spots her name. How stupid of her to realize that the names were in alphabetical order. It took her like five minutes trying to scan her name in there, how embarrassing.

Xiaoting's eyes flew on her name's number and started to search it on the other bulletin board. It almost seems like she was desperate to find out her partner.

"245, 246, 247... ah there it is!" she continues to talk to herself, as her eyes traveled on the furthermost right of the bulletin board which had her partner's name written on it. Only a matter of seconds was left before she could unveil the name. Until her eyes suddenly comes to a stop, her whole being was frozen as she stares at the name.

This can't be happening. Not again, and not today.

"Kawaguchi Yurina? This must be a mistake," she mutters, as she lightly hits her temple, wanting to wake herself up if ever this was another one of those cheesy dreams she had before. But it only leads to the conclusion that this was in fact reality. What a coincidence it was.

Soon enough, everyone left the facility to proceed with their individual activities. Until there were only a few ones left in that place.

"Are you okay? It seems like you don't want to leave."

"Y-yeah, fine. I'm great!"

Ruiqi finds it weird for Xiaoting to have this kind of behavior. She had never seen her zoned out in a matter like this, "Anyways, I have to leave you here. I still have classes to attend to. Would you mind if I leave you here?

"That's fine."

Ruiqi nods and leaves the place, with her question still implanted in her mind. She shook it off and continued to walk to her first period's classroom.

Xiaoting — on the other hand, went back to the rooftop. She had no intentions to attend any of her classes today. If they catch her loitering, then she might just have to accept her fate.

She scrolled on her phone the whole day, trying to find some videos she could watch until dismissal so she could just go home already. But nothing seems to be interesting, and so she took out her sketch book and pencil to at least draw something to kill the time.

She drew quite a lot of those freehand sketches. She was most certain that it killed the time perfectly, as she glances on her wristwatch to double check.

Five minutes left before dismissal. It's too perfect for her liking.

Xiaoting stood up, gathering all of her things, including the soda can that she had dropped in there this morning. It was too embarrassing to remember, but she doesn't want to just leave it in there, she had to find a trash bin somewhere.

She started humming as she threw the can on the bin. Dusting off her hands to praise herself for such a simple task. Xiaoting looked at the crowd of students exiting the campus' gate, and had a mindset of blending in perfectly without anyone noticing so that she wouldn't get into trouble.

She totally loved that idea and walked towards the crowd, and tried to squeeze herself in there. It seems like it was working. The gate was three meters away from her.

Until she accidentally bumps into someone who seems like they were in a hurry. What a great way to get caught. She looked over that said person, and soon, her eyes widened in shock as she exclaims, "You're here?! You're you?! I mean, you're Yurina!"

"Why are you here?!" she exclaims once again as a follow-up question.

"Did you forget about the study?"

Xiaoting was about to burst once again, but she finally reflected on why, "Oh, right. That exists. But isn't it dismissal?"

"No, it's lunch."

Xiaoting's eyes widened once again. Guess this day had delivered her too much of mini heart attacks, "O-oh it is? I guess I was too excited to go home then."

Yurina nodded at that.

"Since when did you guys arrive?"

"The first period. Since you weren't there, the professors had told me to find a mean to contact you, but here you are," Yurina replies, in which Xiaoting gives a nod on. How stupid of her that she didn't even notice the time. Now she had some consequences to face after this.

"So, should we talk about it? We can go to a cafe somewhere."

There were no other alternatives at this point, and so Xiaoting just had to follow up with what was in front of her.

"Sounds good to me."

━━━━━ ━━━━━ ━━━━━

It's been half an hour since the two of them had bumped into each other, and decided to just stop by a cafe to talk about their project.

It was weird after all.

Just imagine the fact that they just met each other recently. The first one being the time before Christmas when they happened to also bump into each other, the second one being last night, and the third one is the present scenario.

Everything was awkward.

Xiaoting looked elsewhere but the woman, and cleared , "Do you still want to talk about it, or not?"

"Oh yes, I was just thinking about that!" Yurina claps her hands together, as if she had discovered something so valuable.

Xiaoting nodded at her, as she quickly dove into her backpack to grab a piece of paper to use, as well as the pencil she had kept for five years.

It feels so illegal to use it, but whatever. She had to write something at least, or else they would be left out by the others.

With slight hesitation, Xiaoting started to note their plans for the project. 

Until Yurina stopped talking midway, causing the other woman to perk her head up with a slight confused expression. Xiaoting looked around the cafe to check if there was anything vicious or an uncanny thing going on in that place. But she was only greeted by a peaceful atmosphere surrounding the compact place.

She looked back at Yurina, "Is that all of it?"

Yurina didn't answer her. It only made Xiaoting's anxiety grow. She was confused on that very second, and was trying to look for others things to occupy her mind with.

"Do you always carry that pencil wherever you go?" Yurina asks, causing the younger to drive her attention back to her.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Don't you have any other pencils other than that?" she continued to question the other woman.

"I do, but I hate it when it's not sharpened," Xiaoting answered, as she traced tiny circle on the paper using that five-year-old pencil.

"Is it that special to you?" Yurina leans forward. It was obvious that she was engaged in this useless topic. But Xiaoting didn't mind that much. It was nothing too personal that she couldn't tell, or a creepy question that she could guarantee she wouldn't answer.

Xiaoting nodded to her as a response, and lets out a chuckle as she twisted the pencil around, "Of course. Someone special owns this."

Yurina nodded at that, as Xiaoting gives her a broad smile.

"We should get going, afternoon classes will start soon—"

"Wait!"

Xiaoting stopped her actions — her eyes averting towards the shorter woman.

"That painting last night," Yurina pauses, "Did you paint it?"

Xiaoting looks down on her lap and back to the woman, and nodded at her with wide eyes.

"It feels like I've seen it elsewhere. I can't tell where."

Xiaoting smiles, as she started to put back her things on her backpack, "Maybe you've seen something similar in an art museum."

"No, it doesn't feel like I've seen it there."

"Where then?"

"Middle school."

That resulted the other woman to look at her once again with wide eyes. Her life was turning upside-down, everything was so weird and unclear to her.

"I guess our middle school stories are interesting."

Xiaoting stood up, putting her backpack on, and was ready to leave the cafeteria.

"I'll be off now, see you after dismissal."

Yurina bowed at her, as a sign of gratitude for the limited time they had together. As she watches the taller woman leave, she couldn't help but process a lot of unanswered questions in her mind. Could she be near the answer?

━━━━━ ━━━━━ ━━━━━

"Woohoo! Congratulations on getting yourself into trouble for the first time, Xiao. I guess this is what they call friendship goals!" Ruiqi proudly announces, as soon as she spots Xiaoting leaving the principal's office. Being labeled as a troublemaker in their university wasn't new to her. But she should at least welcome the new member of the family.

Xiaoting lets out a snort and passes by her best friend, "Shut it."

Ruiqi giggled, and chased after her, "There's something off about you today. What seems to be the matter?"

Xiaoting stopped in her tracks, her hands gripped on her backpack, as she reminisces the events from the last two weeks, until the present time, "You see, my partner in this study project is what's bothering me. She claims to have seen my painting before. It's so weird, no. Everything is weird!"

"It's destiny!"

"Excuse me? What?"

"I said it's destiny. You know, maybe you two have seen each other before, and yet you don't remember. You're saying that she claims to have seen your painting before. Is it that painting that you sent me? The one that you told me you have redone," Ruiqi explains, and received a nod from Xiaoting.

"That means she might have seen it before. You told me back then  that you've drawn it back in middle school—"

Xiaoting cuts Ruiqi's sentence, as she held both of the taller girl's shoulder, and uttered, "Could it be?"

"Could it be who?"

Xiaoting's hand dove on her pocket, and brought out the pencil she would always carry everywhere. Which was surprising that she hand't lost yet.

"What's with that?"

"Five years ago, this seatmate of mine used to borrow me this pencil. It's just funny at how I forgot her face and name so easily when she was in fact someone special to me."

"What are you trying to point out here?"

"The point that Yurina and the owner of this pencil are the same person," Xiaoting enthusiastically says. She had finally solved the puzzle. Maybe she should give herself a pat on the shoulder for her hard work.

"I mean you're on the right track but what if it's not her?"

"I'm certain! It just feels like I'm correct. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find her," Xiaoting says and leaves her best friend dumbfounded.

She ran out the campus as fast as she can. Her eyes were looking around everywhere, trying to find that certain woman, "Where is she?"

"Xiaoting?"

The woman flinched at the sudden call out, and turned around, only to see the Japanese behind her.

Xiaoting sighed in relief, "Oh, there you are. I was looking everywhere for you. Do you want to continue talking about the project?"

Yurina nodded, as she started to follow the taller girl around. She was slightly confused when they were headed towards the nearest bus station. She couldn't help but raise a question in her mind, "Where are we going exactly?"

"You'll see," Xiaoting replies with a smile and entered the bus alongside Yurina.

As usual, the bus ride was awkward. If it weren't for those noisy high school boys at the back, the silence would've been unbearable.

From time-to-time, Xiaoting would steal glances at Yurina. Sometimes she would debate with herself if she should open a topic to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. She wasn't sure how she had the confidence back then, especially last night. Now all of her willpower was thrown out of the window as it is.

They both thanked the driver as soon as they reached their bus stop. The place was quiet but familiar, and not to mention the perfect view of a sunset from afar. It was pleasing to the eyes. Although the smell of the place was a little nauseous, it was at least bearable.

The two had stopped in front of a closed basketball court, as Xiaoting reaches for the gate to open it. She didn't expect it to be that rusty, the place must've been abandoned over the years.

Soon, they entered the seemingly abandoned court, as their eyes were scanning the dimly lit place. Xiaoting was on a quest to locate the light switch that could somehow help illuminate the court.

The latter even used her phone's flashlight to find the switch, and was successful. She flipped the switch, only to be greeted by the continuous darkness. She wasn't sure if going there at a time like this was beneficial or not, since the sunset wasn't helping. Any time soon the moon would take over the sun's place to fill up that city of stars.

Xiaoting tried to open the lights once again, but it seems like it was useless at the moment, "The light's busted." she leaped out of the benches and started to shake her phone, "Anyway, we can use this."

"Are we going to tell some scary stories of some sort?" Yurina asks, as she takes a seat on the bench which was unraveling the beautiful 

"I mean if you want to. Then I'm glad to tell you some," Xiaoting replies, which resulted the other woman to giggle at her.

Xiaoting sat beside her, with one hand trying to open her backpack's zipper. Screw the lights for being so useless, and making everyone's life filled with difficulties. Of course Yurina wasn't stupid to not realize how much Xiaoting was struggling, as she was trying to rummage her backpack for the sheet they used earlier that day.

"Let me hold that for you," Yurina volunteers, reaching her hand out, praying to herself that Xiaoting would let her assist her. Xiaoting gladly gives in, handing the phone towards the older woman. Sometimes teamwork just pays something off doubled the price. Xiaoting was able to take out the crumpled paper, so much of a careless person she was. 

The two planned out the details for their project. The two had agreed to just stick with an artwork, since that's what they both agreed on. Although it was quite questionable why they have to be in a basketball court to be able to do it.

That's when Yurina accidentally scrolls down on the younger's phone, witnessing her home screen. It was really odd. She swore she had seen those drawings before.

Meanwhile, the younger — who was sketching the view of the sunset for their project, averted her head towards Yurina as soon as she noticed the sudden silence between the two of them.

"What's wrong?"

"Are these drawings yours?"

Xiaoting found the question quite off and obvious, she wouldn't put someone else's art as her home screen if she was being honest to herself, "Yeah? Who else's could it be?"

Silence followed, but this time, Xiaoting didn't mind. Her mind was too occupied with ideas for the project, that she couldn't even bother with the sudden silence of her surroundings.

"Wait," Yurina utters, as she took the pencil from Xiaoting's hand, scrutinizing it thoroughly. The younger was about to debate with her, but her mind suddenly flashes back to her and Ruiqi's conversation earlier. She stops herself and let the woman do whatever she wants, "This is it!"

"What is it?" Xiaoting acts clueless.

Yurina looks into Xiaoting's chestnut eyes, and gave her a warm smile that could possibly melt the younger. 

"I found you."

"No..." Xiaoting shook her head, "We found each other."

They both smiled at each other, as if they had some kind of plan that they want to pull off. Props to Xiaoting's hope for not giving up. It was really worth the time, even if it took them five years to meet each other again, it was really thrilling.

"So why do you consider me as someone special?"

"Remember back in middle school when I was being picked on? I almost quit the art club in that very moment," Xiaoting pauses, "But since you were there, I didn't feel alone. You told me to just draw my thoughts whenever they get piled up. The painting you saw last night... it was one of those."

Xiaoting lets out a deep breath, "I want to say thank you. If it weren't for you, I have no idea what road have I taken."

Yurina gives her a smile. She didn't know how someone could even put a label on her as a special person, but she guessed that everything had changed. It's a new beginning for the two of them.

"For always remembering."

Xiaoting lets out a chuckle, "Of course, I don't have amnesia of some sort."

"And if I push you off right now, don't even complain about your back pain."

"I'm sure you don't really intend to do such a thing."

They both shared their laughter under that sea of stars, as they shared stories together, and told jokes to each other. Maybe that same old bonding was still inside of them. Even the bus ride had turned out less awkward than what it was before. 

"Yurina!" Xiaoting calls out for the older, as she started to build up her courage. She just trusts it so much that she had no idea how it would turn out when she actually asks it herself, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, what is it about?"

Xiaoting debated with herself if she should continue or not, but she just did as it is. There was no turning point.

"You know, like go out with me some time?"

She started hiding her face in embarrassment. No way she did just ask that in front of Yurina out loud. But it was already guaranteed that she was going to acquire the reply she wanted to get.

Yurina suddenly held Xiaoting's hand, and followed her action by embracing the younger. If only they could stay like this forever, they would. But they're now inseparable, no more obstacles in front of them.

Yurina closes her eyes, as she breathes in the woman's scent, and she finally gave her answer...

"I'd love to."