“I like you, Kim Minji.”

The class was silent aside from her own breaths that she let out. Surprised, she was, but it made a lot of sense. Yoohyeon's past actions had shown that she favored her, but it had never crossed Minji's mind that it might not have been in a platonic way. Her lips trembled a little as she racked her brain for a response which wouldn't hurt Yoohyeon, but when her eyes met the other again, Minji thought that it might have been too late for that. Her body language gave it away.

"Sorry," her voice was faint, careful enough not to break Yoohyeon. At least, that was what she hoped. "I mean, I like you too, but... not in that way."

"That's okay," Yoohyeon sighed loudly and showed a small smile. "I'm not confessing so that we can be together or anything like that; I just wanted to let it all out so I can move on and focus completely on my studies."

Right, that's what school is about. The word "studies" didn't fail to make Minji sigh, either.

Minji had a slight doubt about her reasoning, but there was no point in trying to convince Yoohyeon that she was in denial. The best she could do right then was to take Yoohyeon at her word.

No goodbyes were exchanged at the end of the day, and they both left for home. On that particular night, Minji struggled to fall into the dream world, and Yoohyeon's words and expression played like a video tape in her mind.

“I like you, Kim Minji.”

She recalled her heart speeding up at the confession. Was it because it was the first time she had received a proper one? One that was direct instead of just chocolate and a bouquet of flower origami on Valentine's Day. Yoohyeon was a nice person that Minji knew, but she had never thought of her in a way that was more than just friends, so it would be unfair to accept her confession when her feelings were merely platonic.

She felt a little bad for Yoohyeon. When she said those words, her expression wasn't one of hope, but rather of knowing. She was nonchalant, and if Minji hadn't known better, she would have thought that Yoohyeon was playing a joke on her. It wasn't impossible; after all, it was Yoohyeon.

It reminded Minji of how carefree Yoohyeon was, and maybe still is. When Minji's friends used to mess with her, instead of expressing dislike or discomfort, Yoohyeon just smiled. Sometimes Minji wanted to tell her to be upset or even yell at them, because her friends would try to cross boundaries if she reacted that way, but at the same time, Minji envied how Yoohyeon could stay so calm. It was nothing like what you would see in a drama series, and Minji could hardly admit it, but Yoohyeon was a victim of her friends' antics- others would call it bullying. One she had never directly taken part in, but she was a bystander, which didn't make her any better of a person. So, Minji had decided to be nice to Yoohyeon in exchange for the horrors her friends had given her in the past. But the girl ended up being a fun companion and Minji grew to like her.

Yoohyeon knew when to joke around, and she was an angel to Minji. Her confidence and passion when she talked about her interests kept Minji listening in awe. Her friends had mentioned before how Yoohyeon could be a bit of a show-off, but Minji couldn't see a problem with sharing the knowledge you possess. In fact, it proved that Yoohyeon had the talent to be a great teacher if she wanted to. It wasn't as if she was displaying something she didn't have.

Minji could see the similarities. If Yoohyeon was showing off, weren't they, who danced in front of everyone in the school, also show-offs? But those thoughts could never be expressed.

Minji likes it when others like her. She doesn't mind doing small things, as long as they won't harm her, just to please others. Small things like paying attention to what they say, giving a reaction when needed, even if the reaction might be over the top. She's even fine with people laughing at her and her unfunny jokes, because she can always just laugh at herself.

But there was nothing she could do about Yoohyeon. Two months had passed since the confession, and Yoohyeon behaved as if she and Minji had never been friends. It made Minji laugh; Yoohyeon really did stay true to her word.

Kim Minji wondered if Kim Yoohyeon still liked her.

If she didn't like her anymore, wouldn't it be likely that she hates her now? Minji was scared to approach Yoohyeon to find out. They both purposefully, more on Minji's side, avoided each other. Whenever there was a need for something, Minji would just pass it to one of Yoohyeon's friends and hope they would hand it to her.

They no longer chat with each other, and Yoohyeon's contact was now buried among hundreds of other contacts in her phone. The name that was once one of the most frequently contacted was no longer there.

Whenever Minji went online, she had a tiny hope that Yoohyeon would join her, assuring her that she didn't hate her. But she was disappointed every single time she visited Yoohyeon's profile.

“Last online 71 days ago”

Minji knew she could have deleted the game already because she knew Yoohyeon was consistent when it came to her games.

It was confusing. Yoohyeon had caught her looking at her one day, but her expression was blank and she just carried on with the conversation she was in with her friends as if her crush, who used to be, hadn't just looked at her. Perhaps even stared at her.

And Minji remembered something.

“What? If I hate someone I’m just going to ignore them, why waste your time and energy interacting?”

Minji agreed, but now she wishes Yoohyeon would just tell her she hates her and treat her badly so Minji can feel less guilty. That's what she was feeling; seeing Yoohyeon like that made her feel like an evil person for rejecting her.

Yoohyeon didn't hate her because she found her annoying, but rather because of something personal which couldn't be repaired.

That physical distance however, didn’t stay for long.

Fate loves playing with Kim Minji.

Despite everything, it was quick for both of them to adapt again to a life without each other. The awkwardness almost disappeared, but probably only because they didn't even breathe in each other's way. They didn't share any after-school activities together, so the only time they would cross paths was in their class that Yoohyeon barely spent her time in and only showed up when class was about to start.

Minji wondered what she had been doing, as she now had an almost entirely different routine. It was rather egotistical of her, but Minji wondered if she was the cause of such a change. And it seemed that the universe helped her find the answer to her questions by literally locking her and Yoohyeon up together for another task.

On that day, Yoohyeon volunteered to clean up the school's sports storeroom, which was incredibly messy. She happened to know exactly where the original spot of most of the equipment was. On the same day, Minji was punished to help her out, even though she was only partially at fault. Her friends had been causing havoc in the school's staircase, but the discipline master had caught Minji first, so they ditched her. Minji tried her hardest to earn some mercy, but it clearly didn't work.

When Minji found out that Yoohyeon was the one she was supposed to help out, her fear shifted away from the storeroom to the girl. She assumed that at any moment, Yoohyeon could take back her offer after knowing that she would be stuck with Minji. Then Minji would be left alone to clean all the mess by herself in that dusty and dark room. But to her surprise and relief, Yoohyeon seemed to not mind her presence at all.

Minji didn't know how she was so familiar with the sports room, because Yoohyeon wasn't known to be athletic; in fact, she was quite the opposite.

They started by placing all the equipment aside and dusting off the shelves and basket. Things seemed to go well despite the silence engulfing them until Minji accidentally stepped on something unknown and twisted her ankle as she fell. Yoohyeon, who was on the other side of the room, dropped everything and walked towards Minji upon hearing the loud scream she let out, a scream that broke the silence they had.

"Are you hurt?" Yoohyeon knelt beside Minji, who was now on the floor, both her hands on her right ankle. Minji kept her eyes on her ankle instead of initiating eye contact with the other.

"Well, my ankle hurts," she replied. The pain in her ankle was bad, but the embarrassment was worse, Minji thought. She couldn't believe Yoohyeon had to witness this.

“Is it sprained?”

“Maybe?”

Minji sensed that Yoohyeon was about to run out, so she gripped her shirt as the other collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide and staring at Minji. Quickly, Minji let go of her grip.

. She didn’t mean to be that aggressive.

“Can we not tell the teachers?” Minji requested but Yoohyeon sighed and stood up anyway, dusting of her pants then leaving.

After what felt like five minutes of Minji sitting alone in the dark in fear and pain, Yoohyeon returned with an elastic bandage and an ice pack in each hand. She handed Minji the ice pack and proceeded to wrap the bandage around her ankle before telling her to place the ice pack on it.

"Just sit down and don't try to do anything," Minji nodded in agreement.

Soon, Minji fell asleep.

She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but the storeroom looked clean and tidy by the time Yoohyeon had woken her up. She tried to stand and walk, but Yoohyeon stopped her and offered to carry her, eliciting an audible surprise from Minji. This caused Yoohyeon to explain all the side effects of walking with a sprained ankle, despite being able to, so Minji accepted her offer.

Thankfully, Minji never walks home, so all Yoohyeon had to do was carry her to the school gate, where her mother was waiting for her in her car. Her mother was, of course, surprised to see her daughter being carried outside, so she quickly got out of her car and opened the door to let Minji in before closing it.

From inside her mother's car, Minji could see Yoohyeon explaining the situation to her mother, who was patting her shoulder and saying what seemed like a thank you.

The way home wasn't as calming as she had hoped it would be. Since she had spent some time sleeping in the sports store room, Minji's mind was clearer than the evening sky. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Yoohyeon and the way she had treated her. Minji couldn't deny the feeling of excitement at having someone who seemed to care a lot about her. Minji felt special and cared for, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to give Yoohyeon what she deserved.

Kim Minji felt lost around Kim Yoohyeon.

It was quite a surprise that it took her long enough to be fully affected by the confession. At least, that was what Minji thought.

She was clearly affected by the confession from months ago, which became more obvious during that one chemistry class they had together. Usually, they would sit together, but that day Bora had something else to do, leaving Minji with an empty seat beside her in the lab.

None of her other friends were there either, so she sat alone for a while until Yoohyeon suddenly took a seat right beside her. Minji tried to look around in confusion, but she understood when she saw that the other table had at least four people and she was alone at hers, when it was supposed to be an experiment they were working on as a group. Minji took glances, but all she saw was an unbothered Yoohyeon who didn't even look at her.

Instead, she looked rather bored.

When they started their experiment, she didn't expect Yoohyeon to talk to her considering the lack of enthusiasm she had shown, but then again it made a lot of sense. Yoohyeon had always been professional and never put her emotions or personal bias on display during times like this. It was inconvenient and Yoohyeon hated inconvenience, which Minji was well aware of.

Minji was almost in awe when she saw how Yoohyeon knew exactly what to do with the materials and apparatuses prepared for them, while she herself was lost as to what she was supposed to do. Their teacher had explained earlier, but Minji had been a little out of it. She watched as Yoohyeon carefully poured some liquid, the name of which Minji had forgotten, into a conical flask that she had labelled as 'A' earlier.

Yoohyeon then stopped whatever she was doing and looked at Minji.

“Can you help me with the other one?”

Yoohyeon was too nice; she sighed.

Minji blushed in embarrassment, and whether it was obvious or not, Yoohyeon paid it no mind. It was supposed to be her task anyway, but she let herself be carried away by Yoohyeon, who was just doing as instructed.

When Minji went home that night, she sobbed into her pillow, remembering the embarrassing thing she had just done in front of someone who liked her.

She wondered if Yoohyeon might start to find her unflattering. At this point in time, Minji didn't know why.

Now that Yoohyeon had witnessed her in numerous shameful occasions, Minji felt conscious of the other whenever she was nearby. It made it almost impossible for her not to notice Yoohyeon. It made her look at Yoohyeon more than she ever had before, almost as if she had become the center of the universe. Quite a cringe-worthy comparison, but that was one of Minji's talents.

And by the time she figured it out, she was already beyond salvation.

She didn’t realized it at first. Like when she happened to pass by Yoohyeon and the latter seemed to be having fun with her friends, Minji’s smile would grow bigger as if she herself could feel the happiness Yoohyeon felt at that moment from afar. Or when the teacher scolded Yoohyeon a little too harshly for something so small, Minji would frown as she felt her anger boiling inside.

By the time Minji realized, she felt like a creep for observing Yoohyeon like a stalker, but she also felt happy.

Minji was pleased with the way Yoohyeon's eyes vanished when she smiled, and her inability to hold in her laugh. She noticed almost everything about Yoohyeon. When she takes pictures, she always closes her right eye and never her left. She was aware of Yoohyeon's habit of looking up at the school building in the morning, as if observing the upper floors before entering; and how she never touched the railings at the stairs. After all, they’re rather nasty. The way when Yoohyeon missed a step on the staircase, flailing around, trying to balance herself but still refuses to touch the railings, was entertaining to Minji. But she was perhaps a little too entertained.

Nevertheless, Minji found her endearing.

It's a shame she wasn't as brave as the other when it came to her emotions. Yoohyeon took steps to approach her and tell her what she really felt, but Minji couldn’t do the same. She couldn’t bring herself to take even the smallest step towards Kim Yoohyeon.

From the day she acknowledged her feelings to the day they received congratulations for graduating high school, not even for a second did Minji consider lifting her foot to take a step because she saw how happy Yoohyeon looked. Yoohyeon was happy without her.

And that was enough for Kim Minji.