When the first ray of sunlight penetrates through the curtains, hitting the wooden floors, Dahyun finds herself sitting in front of her wooden desk, still in her pyjamas, flipping her notebook open to the page where she left her pen last night.

From the outside, it is an A5 spiral notebook covered by a piece of burgundy leather, which is very smooth to the touch. There isn't any wordings on the cover page except her name carved on the bottom right corner, implying that it is a customized gift dedicated to her.

In fact, it was her birthday gift given to her by her mom many years ago. Ever since the girl developed a passion for writing, notebooks became a staple for her either it's jotting down lyrics or doodling, sometimes even mixed with her class notes and used as a to-do list when she's running out of post-it notes.

This notebook wasn't Dahyun's favorite during the time it was given to her. In her own words, it looked old-fashioned and could be more likeable if there was any young touches to it. But as she started to compile all her ideas into this notebook and keeping a neat log of them, it started to follow her around more than any other notebooks she has owned. It is a notebook dedicated to all her ideas, random thoughts popping up in the middle of the night, inspiration from books she read or songs she listened to, even quotes that she saw somewhere. Though these ideas may not sound absolutely helpful at that time, Dahyun believes in the contribution they would have in the future.

She stares at her handwriting on the last few pages while processing the lines in her brain, trying to recall when and how did she come up with those ideas. Was it through a line of a song she looped all day or was it through a quote she saw on Tumblr? There are times she finds the sources of inspiration important too because it shows a pattern of how her ideas are formed instead of just coming from nowhere.

 She adds a few more keywords to the draft and completes the thinking process of the idea on the latest written page, giving it a tick at the bottom referring to its completion. When her ideas are in-shape with details such as the main characters, the plot, and a few events in the story, she considers the idea mature enough where she can start writing whenever she is ready.

Now, she has a bunch of story ideas waiting to be put into words and paragraphs, the thought itself is exciting for the aspiring writer who is seeking a chance to express them out.

The amount of work in the morning drains her energy as she yawns, placing her pen at the same spot before stretching herself with her back against the chair. When she looks up at the clock on the wall, it is almost nine o'clock, about the time when Sana would be arriving at her house. She quickly heads to the bathroom to take a shower.

Sana is an exchange student from Osaka who has just come to Dahyun's school through an exchange program. With her class being 51 students, Dahyun was the so-called 'unlucky' one sitting alone in the last row. But she is happy as she gets the privacy of jotting down her ideas without worrying other people might see them. And now with Sana's arrival, Dahyun becomes more aware of her surroundings when she wants to note down a few things.

But aside from that, Sana actually makes a great companion. Despite her slight accent, Sana speaks fluent Korean like a native speaker, so Dahyun never really faces any difficulty in communicating with Sana. She explained that it was because of her interest in K-Pop that made her learn Korean by herself since her parents were not that supportive of her liking and rejected her request to join a Korean lesson.

Even so, Dahyun is impressed by her pronunciation and enunciation. If she didn't know previously Sana is Japanese, she would probably assume she is half Korean. Sana's bubbly personality and learning attitude are two other reasons why both of them hit off quickly and become friends. Sana is really attentive in class and sometimes even helps Dahyun with her homework. When she notices Dahyun is falling asleep, she would tell her funny stories to keep her awake. During recess time, she would also stay with Dahyun when the latter didn't want to go to the canteen and the two would talk and learn more about each other.

Sana is like the perfect friend one can get and it doesn't take long for Dahyun to find herself liking Sana a lot. She has all the wonderful qualities and Dahyun would love for her to stay longer if not for the exchange program. Although they could still contact each other through social media, Dahyun can already sense herself missing Sana when it comes to the end of the exchange program. Because of that, she wanted to write a story based on their experience to express her feelings to Sana.

The idea is the latest one added to her notebook. When she has finished taking her shower and dried her hair, she heard the doorbell ringing and heads to open the door.

"Dahyunnie, look what I got you!"

Before Dahyun could say anything after she opens the door, Sana raises her left hand, making Dahyun turn around to see what she is holding. It is a paper bag printed with a logo that Dahyun is most familiar with, one of the biggest stationery stores in Korea. Just as she was thinking about why she has brought her a gift, the older seems to read her mind and chuckles as she explains.

"This is your advanced birthday gift. Since I won't be here during your birthday, I thought I can get you something instead."

Dahyun nods at her explanation but still didn't expect the sudden gift. When she takes the paper bag from Sana, she can feel the weight that indicated the number of items in there. She murmurs a soft 'thank you', feeling her heart sink when Sana mentioned her upcoming departure. Being quick to catch that slight change, Sana tilts her head as she looks at Dahyun.

"Are you feeling alright Dahyun? You don't look that happy."

Dahyun is stunned by the question and quickly fakes a small smile, a bit embarrassed at Sana's sensitivity to notice that. It is another thing about Sana, always being observant and Dahyun finds that a bit uneasy sometimes. She was used to hiding her feelings and expressing everything on paper, but Dahyun finds it hard with Sana being so quick to catch every little change, and it is hard to lie into her face when Sana would look at her like the most innocent girl she is.

"I just...I would miss you when you are gone."

She doesn't know why it feels like a lie at that moment, as if there are more reasons why she would miss Sana. She has never been someone who could understand herself well until something has been going on for a long time, like how she noticed she has a crush on a classmate on the last day she moved out from the city. She has been used to concealing her feelings, which in some way aided her writing when it is the time that she allows them running free in her head.

"Awww- Dahyunnie!"

Seemed to be touched by her rare yet affectionate confession, Sana suddenly cups Dahyun's cheeks and nuzzles her nose against hers. Watching her cute face suddenly sticking so close to hers and the warm softness rubbing her nose, Dahyun's eyes grow wide, feeling her cheeks heating up. When she gently pushes Sana away, the latter looks at her in confusion before laughing after noticing her reaction.

"You look like a tomato, how cute." Sana grins widely and reaches out to poke gently, which only made the younger even more embarrassed, quickly leading the older into her house to end the topic.

Today Sana is here to have Dahyun help with her assignment. According to Sana, students who join the exchange program have to submit a report about their studying trip and share it with other students after they return. But as this is her first time, Sana has no idea how to start. Although Dahyun doesn't have relevant experience, they decide to work together and try to figure things out as they go.

As the two enter Dahyun's room, Sana goes into visitor mode as she stops at the entrance and scans around her room. Dahyun turns to her and before pulling another chair to the desk and simply put her notebook on the edge of the desk.

Sana walks to the desk after she's done looking around, smiling as she sits down on the chair she prepared for her.

"Your room is really cute and neat, Dahyunnie."

Dahyun turns around briefly to look at her room. This room has been with her ever since she can remember and although her comment did not seem to make this place any more special, it is indeed a space full of memories.

"Ah- thank you."

She thanks the Japanese girl and sits straight, waiting for Sana as she pulls out her laptop from her bag.

The two girls then start to work on Sana's report for the next few hours. In a blink of an eye, it is soon lunchtime and the girls can hear their stomachs growling.

"Dahyunnie, are you hungry?"

Sana stretches herself as she sits straight from her hunched position and looks at Dahyun.

"Yeah..."

Though Dahyun would love to work a bit more before eating, the hunger is draining every bit of her focus away.

"Do you have anything to eat at home?"

Sana purses her lips and asks, looking like a cute puppy with her full cheeks.

"Uh...no."

Dahyun scratches her head as she answers honestly, not expecting the report to be this difficult and long-winded so she didn't think about the possibility of having Sana stay for lunch. Usually if she's alone, she might just grab some snacks and chips but with Sana around, it is not a good idea to have her friend eating that for lunch.

"Should I go out and buy something for us?"

Dahyun gets up from her seat when her thought drifts to the convenience shop nearby.

"There is a convenience shop around this area, I can get some kimbap and ramyeon for us."

Sana's eyes widen and nods excitedly.

"That sounds great! Shall we go together?"

Sana is about to stand up, but Dahyun shakes her head as she gently pats her to make her sit.

"It's okay, I can go by myself. You can stay here and do the parts that we just discussed."

"Oh...okay then."

Sana blinks before smiling at Dahyun.

"Thank you Dahyunnie, stay safe while you go out alright?"

Saying that with her cute voice, Dahyun quickly escapes the room before her red ears get seen.

Dahyun closes the door behind her and takes a deep breath. What was that feeling? She could feel her face getting warm at Sana's cuteness and it is so unusual. She is just a friend! She pats her chest and grabs her keys, heading out to the convenience store before she could think about it further.

Sana sighs after Dahyun went out, staring blankly at her laptop and the flicking cursor. The report is really challenging and even though they have managed to complete a few sections, she is clueless once Dahyun is not around. And she doubts she could do it by herself when she is confused about the next section too. She was here to seek help and if she could not get most of it done by today, she might need to make a few more visits to get it done by the deadline.

But then...making more visits and spending alone time with Dahyun does not sound like a bad idea, Sana smiles to herself.

Dahyun is already in the convenience store and picked out a few things for herself. Then it's time to pick out stuff that Sana might want to eat. She remembered Sana hates eggplants and beans, so she immediately skipped the air-fried vegetable chips that contained both. As she scans the rack, she picks out a few items that she thinks Sana could eat and realized she has a whole basket filled when she goes to pay at the cashier. After paying for their overly-bought lunch, Dahyun carries two bags in her hands as she walks back home.

Sana is finally typing out one paragraph on her laptop. She sighs as she scans the line she just typed, feeling not as satisfied with the grammatical flow. Yet it is the only thing she could squeeze out after hunger has eaten up her ability to think. She can only console herself by thinking that she could do some editing afterwards.<