I was fumbling for the key, at the same time juggling numerous files and trying to fix my hair into a decent enough ponytail.

Of all days, my door had to have its moods on this day. Scratch that, the piece of scrap has its ‘moods’ on all days. “. Why won’t you just open?!” I groaned in frustration. I shook the lock some more and click was heard. I grinned at my short-lived success. “Finally.”

I turned to shut my apartment door, my eyes only set on the lock. Locking it is just as troublesome as unlocking it. Another click and I stuffed my keys into my pocket, sparing a glance at my watch.

“I’m thirty minutes early? Maybe I’ll actually arrive to school on time – AGH!”

I took a step back and accidentally tripped over something metallic. A loud clang resounded and I fell to my . Files flew, scattered and what seemed like milk pooled all around me, seeping through my school uniform.

A yellow post-it was taped to the side of the other, unharmed bucket written in messy, boyish handwriting. Hope you liked my gift, Haerin-ah, just a little souvenir from my trip – your next-door neighbour.

“JO KWANGMIN!”

That was 10 minutes ago. I had long since changed out of my wet clothes but I still donned my sopping skirt. I’m forced to. I had no other school skirts. Yesterday was laundry day so I had sent all – yes, ALL – of my clothes down to the cleaners. I won’t be having my clothes back by late in the evening in the least and the number of teenage girls in this building is seriously disappointing.

I opted to stick my skirt under the fan for a while but I have so little time left and I also had to pay Kwangmin a visit regarding his little ‘gift.’

“ARE YOU ING TING WITH ME HERE?” I screamed, randomly waving a wooden spoon I had found on his kitchen table. It had the word ‘cockroach repellent’ etched on its side, but I paid little to no heed to that.

Kwangmin was hiding behind his bright blue sofa, the tops of his hair visible. I heard a silent (slightly sobbed) “I’m sorry” from behind the furniture.  

“My skirt’s sopped, Kwangmin, just dripping – how the hell do you suppose I get to school today?”

He didn’t answer.

“I said; how the ing hell do you suppose I get to school today?!” I literally screeched.

I sounded like a proper witch. But I was livid. You can’t blame me for being livid. I was experiencing a semi-decent morning for a usual morning (as in the whole universe didn’t seem too against me), then I had my little accident and it all went downhill from there.

“Uh…” his small voice drifted from behind the sofa.

“FACE ME LIKE A MAN.”

He shot up from his place, clutching a pikachu plush toy to his chest. “You can always, er, skip… school?” he nervously said. From my expression, he knew I didn’t take it well. “Please don’t kill me; I’m too beautiful to die! And I had good intentions, anyways!”

I glared at him. “What can possibly two buckets of milk have good intentions?!”

“Well, technically, lots, there’s the calcium, strong bones, strong durability is what I always say–”

“YOUR INTENTIONS!” I roared.

“You said you were out of milk!” he squeaked, finding cover behind a lamp.

It is thoroughly impossible to see through this guy. I rubbed my temples, deciding to not freak him out more, it’ll probably result in me finding some other meddlesome… thing in my loft as an ‘apology gift.’

“Kwangmin,” I began calmly, “that was a week ago.”

“Well, I was in New Zealand and they said I could bring back whatever I want and I thought of you and your absence of milk so I brought milk specially shipped from the big Z for you,” he said it all in one breath.

I didn’t bother questioning who ‘they’ was. I’ll leave that to a later date – when I felt more sane. “Okay, Kwangmin, first of all, no one calls New Zealand ‘the big Z’,” I stated, “and secondly, that was a whole seven days ago!”

He shrugged non-committedly as if he still deemed his point rational. “You had no milk,” he repeated, slower than the first time as if I was child being told that Father Christmas didn’t exist.

I slapped my forehead. “Well, that is flipping generous of you, Kwangmin,” I said sarcastically, “why didn’t you just up and brought me back some sheep, huh?”

He whipped out his iPhone. “I know a guy,” he said seriously, eyes glinting.

“No, no,” I said, waving the spoon again for emphasis. “I will not come back to school today – or any other day – and find myself staring at some wooly mammal doing his or her business on my carpet. No.”

At my statement, he crossed his arms and pouted. “Ladies, I tell you,” he said, “such confusing beings. I give them what they want, and they yell at you, threatening me with cockroach repellent. And then I offer something of their desire and you manipulative beings shoot me down. Never will the day come when we men understand you.”

“Well, Google it or something, why don’t you. Every single thing is on the internet nowadays,” I said to him.

Just as he was about to retort, my phone blared the chorus of Eminem’s Berzerk. I checked the screen. It was Amber. I held one finger up to Kwangmin and answered my call. “E‘llo.”

“Don’t start going all French on me – where the hell are you?” Amber asked me, her voice barely heard above the hubbub behind her.

“I’m at my apartment, duh,” I answered. “Where are you?”

I was met with silence on her end.

“Can you hear me?” I said a little louder this time, thinking she can’t hear me or something.

“I’m outside your building, smartass!”

“Oh – ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“Yes, ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhhh,’ the award goes to the idiot talking to me right now.”

“At least I wasn’t nominated for having the tiest everything in the You Ceremonies,” I retorted. I can see Kwangmin chuckling at my convo with Amber in the corner of my eye.

“Oh, I see your witty ways are just dandy. Again – and you – where the hell are you? I’ve been waiting for you for the past 30 minutes! I am freezing my non-existent balls off here.”

“, dude, sorry, I clean forgot.”

“Well, at least you apologized. Now get your down here.”

“My skirt’s still wet!”

“Oh my God – what the hell did you do?!”

“It’s not what you think it is, you dirty-minded ! It’s a long story.”

“I don’t wanna know – well, I do but we need to get our butts moving here.”

“But–”

“Five minutes, Haerin.”

And she hung up.

“Well, what am I supposed to do now?” I cried out, wringing my hands in frustration.

“You can always–”

“I’ll get so whipped, I tell you. Why did you have to bring me milk? Why do I even discuss my groceries with you in the first place? Why can’t just I keep my big fat mouth shut?!”

“Haerin, you could–”

“WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY–”

“HAERIN!” Kwangmin yelled, finally managing to grab my attention. “I can lend you my jacket – it’ll cover you up for the time being.”

“Oh,” I said, “nice idea. But you didn’t have to shout, geez.”

He just sort of shook his head at me and snagged a cotton jacket from behind his main door. It was a plain brown and seemed a bit worn out. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s probably a favourite jacket or something.

“Here,” he said, tossing it to me.

I caught it. “I would say my thanks but then again – it is your fault. So, totes to you for actually manning up in the end.”

“I’m sorry, I can only hear the word ‘totes’ in there,” he teased me.

I flipped him off and got myself bundled into the jacket. I hate to admit it – I hate to admit anything, really, but I felt kind of shy wearing his jacket. I then proceeded to shred the thought into a million indecipherable nothings.

There wasn’t much to the jacket. It was of good quality, I know that, but from a first glance, it really is just a simple hoodie. And when compared to Kwangmin’s other designer coats and Armani watches, it fares poorly. That and Kwangmin is really stingy.

“So, how is it?” he asked me.

How is it? Well, these are my thoughts, right? And your own thoughts are limited to yourself only, so I’ll come clean. I felt really… comfortable and relaxed being wrapped up in his jacket. Like it really is meant for me – which is saying something since the shoulders drooped and my fingers were barely visible. Did he steal it or something? Can’t be, Kwangmin isn’t a thief.

And the smell. It reeked of this indescribable scent. If I had to translate it into words, it’d probably just be very vague. There was also this weird, unfamiliar feeling at the pit of my stomach. Like a tickly feeling – am I getting down with a fever?

What is this… thing… I’m going through?

Kwangmin was waving his hand in front of my face. “Hellooooooo? Earth calling to astronaut Haerin.”

I snapped out of my daze, and the confusing mumble-jumble of feelings subsided. “Hm? Oh, yeah, it’s fine,” and so that it won’t seem weird, I added, “you’re huge.”

Kwangmin faked hurt. “I have been told that I am average size for a person my height,” he said, “you’re just tiny.”

I pushed those thoughts away and focused on the words coming out of his mouth. That pink, luscious lips of his – OHMYGOD, HAERIN. He is your friend, what the hell are you thinking? Focus, focus, he’s insulting you, isn’t he? So insult him back.

“Well, you smell funny.”

Ultimate face-palm. There is seriously something wrong with my head.

To my relief, he didn’t read into it much. “Okay, Hae,” he chuckled.

“Yep, I am hilarious, aren’t I? I’ll just be going then. See you later then – bye.”

Then I upped and ran – literally. I tripped over his shoe rack, shoes spilling everywhere and my big toe swelling up, but I just hiked up my skirt and high-tailed it out of there.

Way to act discreet, Hae.

I sprinted across the lobby, throwing my weight over the double glass doors for it to open. The cold wind bit at my skin.

“…fifty eight, fifty nine, fifty nine and a half, fifty nine and three quarters…”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” I blurted, interrupting her counting.

Amber seemed really ticked off. “There you ing are,” she said. “Finally had the decency to show up before I turn into a flipping popsicle.”

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. “Oh, lighten up. I had an ‘accident’, ok?”

She gave me a once over, finally noticing my attire. “And what is with the jacket? Since when have you even owned a baggy as hell jacket like that? And don't lie to me, I have ramsacked that closet of yours countless times and you don't own no jacket like that.”

I sighed exasperatingly. Good for her being so goddamn insightful on this particular morning. “It’s Kwangmin's, okay?”

“Oh, Kwangmin? He's back – waitasecond,” she said. “As in Kwangmin’s? Your hot next-door-neighbour – the one you call weird but who is still ridiculously good-looking – that Kwangmin? Well, damn, Hae, I won't be surprise if you told me you contracted his babies next morning."

"Put a lid on it, will you?" I snapped at her grumpily, remembering the event just minutes ago. “It’s a long story and I don’t really feel like talking about it now – I’ll tell you over lunch or something.”

She didn’t push me, and asked me a different question altogether. “Are you even allowed to wear jackets in school?”

“Dude, if you haven’t noticed, you’re wearing the boys’ school uniform,” I pointed out.

Amber shrugged. “Touche, mademoiselle, touche.”

“Now less talking more running. We’ll probably make it if we run like .”