Minju was casually walking into school, eyes on her revision notebook when someone grabs onto her shoulder. She didn't get dragged but saw Yujin trying to hide behind her.

"What are you doing?" When the girl says nothing, Minju pulls her to stand properly. "You said you were fine. Just focus on the mock papers and not think about anything else. You already missed one."

"I'm fine, but the thought of seeing her anywhere scares me." Yujin doesn't know why she gets the jitters.

The whole night, she has been trying to sleep. Minju offered some melatonin gummies but she refused. Going through a breakup wasn't fun. She could only imagine the pain if they lasted longer just for Wonyoung to let her go.

"What do I even say if we bump into her?"

"We? What we? You'll figure things out yourself." Minju lightly snickers. "You didn't even do anything wrong." She now realises how soft Yujin's heart was despite her image.

Yujin acts normal, not thinking too much. "You're meeting me later, right?"

"What is it again?"

"I told you I needed to pass you something."

"Can you not just give it to me another day? What is it anyway?" Minju asks as they walked down the hallway.

Yujin stops. She wasn't going to go to her class because she'll see Wonyoung there. She needs some time to process everything.

"Just meet me at the station at 5." She leaves for her class.

—

Minju drags her feet towards the train station as if school wasn't tiring enough. She was ten minutes early. Totally unlike her, but she doesn't want her to wait.

She sat on the bench, waiting for Yujin as told. She hates that she's listening to her. Why was she compelled to wait for her or do as she says?

Ten minutes passes by like a breeze but she had no sight of Yujin. Thinking she might be running late, she decided to wait a while more before calling her.

Where is she? Does she not know my house is in the opposite direction from here? Did she do this on purpose? Why didn't I just wait outside her class?

Being impatient, Minju started calling the latter.

But she never picked up after five tries. So she tries Yena who picked up instantly.

"I'm going to you now."

"Wait, why are you—where's Yujin?"

"Oh, I thought—I'll just meet you at the station," Yena says, ending the call.

A few minutes of confusion later, Minju sees the said girl coming towards the station. She had a white box in her hand.

Yena goes to her. "I don't know where this head went, but she left this at her desk. Even had a note on it." She showed Minju the note she tore off in case it flew away.

Help me pass this to Minju. She'll be at the station at 5.

"Where is she?" Minju receives the box that was a little heavier than it looked.

Yena shrugs. "I just saw this and came. She may be a merciless dog, but I do my duties." She smiles. "If there's nothing else." She got ready to leave.

"Thank you," Minju says.

Yena turns around. "I should thank you for giving me your best friend." She winks playfully, skipping out of the station.

The brunette always wonders what she sees in Yuri. She looks at the box, wondering what it contains. But she kept herself from opening it till she was home.

—

Jaw on the floor and wide eyes, Minju stares at the opened box on her bed. She took a while to process everything when she sees those Copic markers she has been saving up for and new paint brushes that were staring at her.

There were pens too. Black, blue, those she uses for schoolwork.

"What's all this?" She frowns though she feels excitement. Sitting down, she takes the container of markers out. "This is a lot."

She notices a little envelope sitting at the bottom. She takes it, opening it to see a tiny card the size of a name card.

"Handwriting." She held back a laughter when she sees all those words squashed into a card.

I know I'm the most annoying person you've ever met and wished we didn't cross paths, but this is all for you. You know why?  I feel bad that you had to waste your pen ink on my homework. You're probably disappointed that there's nothing with frogs in here but I tried. Two girls are staring at me while I'm writing this, it's getting uncomfortable. I guess I'm just that pretty. So, use all these wisely and not waste them on someone like me. This is probably nothing to you, but I don't know how else to thank you for helping me. I hope you're happy with that . Don't let my efforts go to waste.

When Minju caught herself smiling, she flattens her lips. She shouldn't be smiling at a time like this. She wonders when Yujin did all this. Probably before the disaster happened.

If this was a surprise, it worked. Everything was a surprise when there was Yujin in it.

Minju being Minju, she snaps a picture and sends it to the girl. She included an emoji rolling its eyes as if she weren't grateful for sudden the gift.

—

Yuri fans herself with her hand, walking beside Minju.

"Run! Run! Not walk!"

She waves her hand at the gym teacher as if she were doing nothing wrong. "It's getting hotter these few days. Summer must be coming." Yuri sighs, not hearing a response. The brunette was just walking aimlessly, daydreaming as if it was her hobby.

She nudges her shoulder. "She's fine. Why are you so worried? It's not like she died or something."

Minju turns to her. "How would you know?"

Yujin has been missing for the past week. News of her spread through the school since she missed the last few papers. No one ever misses mock papers because if they fail the CSATs, they could at least use their mock papers as a backup.

Minju thought everything was fine. The gift, the way Yujin was talking. She seemed fine. Maybe there was a side to Yujin she doesn't know. Wonyoung also tried calling the latter.

No matter how much Yujin has been trying to forget about it, Minju thought she might be waiting for a call from the girl. Yujin's emotional status was all over the place lately.

"One second it's the end of the world for her, and the other she was being thankful. For me," Minju said. She knew it was strange. "And you know who does that? People who want to..." She didn't want to say it but Yuri understood.

"How do I not be worried when she's been out of reach for a whole week? She didn't even say anything. Even Yena had to pass me the thing she wanted to give me. Something's wrong." Minju was suspicious. Everything didn't quite make sense to her.

And no one knows what was going on.

Yuri finds it funny too. "You're thinking too much. Maybe she needed a real break and doesn't want us to know. I don't know the way she thinks." She shrugs but Minju was left frustrated without an answer.

Before they knew it, gym class has ended with their little brisk walk.

The two were on their way to the gym lockers when something made Minju stop. She backtracks a few steps, looking into the dean's office.

"I'll go change first." Yuri left her there, not questioning her sudden pause.

The last thing Minju wanted to see was Yujin standing right in front of the dean's table. She has been finding her for the past week just to see her there of all places.

Minju had no idea why the dean was passing Yujin a piece of paper. What she didn't expect was a small bow from Yujin to the dean she hates.

She walks out and the first thing Minju sees was her left arm in a cast, followed by several injuries all over the place. Many, actually.

Cheek, forehead, nose, chin, and arms. Everywhere visible to her eyes. As if she got into a really bad accident.

Yujin saw her standing there and avoided her gaze. Before she knew it, Minju was right in front of her. She quickly crushes the paper into a ball.

For the first few seconds, Minju was examining her, speechless. "Why..." She didn't get it. "Where have you been?"

"Why do you care?" Yujin was a completely different person. Both physically and verball