“It’s pretty.” 

 

“Pretty?” Nana repeated almost dumbfounded by his comment. “Don’t you mean cute?” 

 

His laughter made her cheeks flush pink, a warm sensation burned her heart as it always had the past year, or ever since she’d come to know of his existence. Kris Wu, a transfer student during her freshman period had arrived at their school quietly, looking humble and tall. It wasn’t long until Nana found out about his clumsy nature and open personality. He wasn’t one who was afraid to talk to others or get to know anyone he didn’t know. In the midst of it all, they hadn’t become good friends but somewhere along the lines of mere acquaintances since their homes were located in the same direction from school. 

 

“What are you guys doing?” 

 

Nana turned to see best friend, Lizzy, running their way leaving behind the pack of girls she’d been with. Lizzy, the brightest girl in school could make you laugh whenever she talked. Nana found it impossible to dislike this innocent soul. Yet, Lizzy’s only downfall might be that she was too naïve. Currently, her best friend was crushing on their high school’s star, Nichkhun. 

 

“I thought you were going home,” Nana said. 

 

“Oh well, the girls wanted ice cream.” 

 

“Tsh…” Nana elbowed Lizzy before turning to look at Kris who’d shied away. 

 

It hadn’t been long since Nana had figured out the puzzle. Lizzy had been receiving love notes since their second quarter of the semester. She’d shared it with Nana everyday after school squirming and squealing about how it could be Nichkhun who was writing her. Perhaps this school jock had finally noticed her after she’d gone to every rehearsal match the school’s football team played every so often. Nana hadn’t agreed right away and had gone along with the flow until that one morning when traveling back to her locker to grab a forgotten book. Before arriving at her locker just three away from Lizzy’s, Nana saw Kris sliding one of those pink notes through the loophole. 

 

“I’m hungry, should we go eat?” Lizzy linked an arm through Nana’s. 

 

Nana glanced at Lizzy before stealing a glance at Kris who was suddenly so immersed in the rabbit on display at the pet shop. 

 

“You wanna come along?” Nana forced the words out kindly. 

 

He didn’t budge. 

 

“Kris?” 

 

“Uh…w…what?” he shyly turned a little. 

 

The burning sensation in Nana’s heart earlier died down just as fast as it had hit her when she saw the embarrassment in his eyes. This clumsy, outgoing student who was often talkative around his schoolmates had suddenly turned into jello in front of his crush. Nana had never seen it before. All that ran through her mind was how much he must like her. 

 

“Do you want to go with us and get something to eat?” Nana repeated. 

 

“N…no.” 

 

Lizzy wheeled Nana around oblivious to it, “I received another letter today…” 

 

As her voice trailed on while they walked away from the pet shop, Nana slightly turned her head back to look at Kris whose eyes sat on Lizzy only. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

“Lizzy!!” 

 

Turning away from her locker, Lizzy saw Wooyoung, one of Nichkhun’s buddies run toward her. Her eyes brightened up, her heart becoming electrified. 

 

“Hey,” he greeted when he stopped before her, “are you free this Saturday?” 

 

Her heart skipped a beat. 

 

“You wanna come downtown to the basketball court?” Wooyoung’s eyes sparkled. 

 

“W…what for?” Lizzy asked shyly almost craning her neck back. 

 

Wooyoung leaned forward with hand out and whispered behind it, “Nichkhun wants to see you.” 

 

“Really!?” Lizzy squeaked, her eyes full of hearts. 

 

Wooyoung nodded. “Be sure to come, alright? And don’t let anyone know.”  

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

“Hey, what are you doing out here alone?” 

 

Looking away from the waves of the Han River, Kris grabbed the soda can out of Tao’s hand as he took a seat beside him. 

 

“It looks like it’s going to rain,” Kris muttered glancing up at the darkening clouds. 

 

“It looks scary. Guess I better go home for the day, mom’s throwing a fit again.” Tao said. 

 

Kris popped his can open and took a long gulp before Tao abruptly turned to him slapping him on the shoulder. 

 

“Dude, what are you doing!? I almost spilled soda on myself!” 

 

“Oh!” 

 

“Oh, what!?” annoyed, Kris wiped at his shirt with his hand. 

 

“Ah…I heard one of the guys speaking by the basketball court earlier.” 

 

Suddenly moody, Kris’ face became glum while staring at his new white shirt before Tao spilled the rest of the story. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

It was the first time Lizzy had spent such long hours on herself, she’d even had her make up done. Spinning around in her white dress, she watched the lower half of her dress twirl in a pretty circle along with her. Combing a hand through her soft delicate hair she smiled at herself before starting out the door. Pausing at the door she stared up at the darkening sky and wondered if she should bother bringing an umbrella. While looking around the front porch for one her eyes came across the time. She was going to be late. Biting her bottom lip worrying about whether she’d get wet or not she jogged up and down in her spot nervous. After a second she dashed out the door. 

 

When Lizzy arrived at the basketball court she paused when she saw Nichkhun with his usual high school gang bouncing a ball with one hand. Pressing her excited lips together she walked in, her flats softly tapping against the painted ground. All the 5 guys quieted and turned to her, the ball in Nichkhun’s hand stopped bobbling. Lizzy came to a step a few feet away from him, hands clasped tightly together in front of her. 

 

“Is that her?” Nichkhun asked Wooyoung who was beside him. 

 

Leaning coolly against the fence with arms crossed behind his head he nodded. 

 

Lizzy became slightly shyly agitated when Nichkhun’s eyes started moving over her body before he laughed with a smirk. 

 

“Is that all you’ve to offer?” he questioned. 

 

“What?” Lizzy asked caught off guard. 

 

“I said, is that all you have to offer,” Nichkhun repeated and it didn’t sound like a question. 

 

Her eyes remained on his pretty face and his large eyes before he started walking toward her, bouncing the basketball in his hand with every step. She started growing stiffly nervous when the others started whispering amongst themselves while Nichkhun began to circle her. 

 

“I thought you’d be a little, you know,” he emphasized with his forefinger and thumb an inch apart, “bigger.” 

 

His words made sent a chill through her as he eyes grew wide. Intimidated she scrunched up her shoulders as if it’d help her sink in her chest. She felt so in front of his taunting eyes. 

 

“So I’ve heard there’s this really cute girl at school who’s been crushing on me,” he started circling her again, the bouncing basketball in his hand reverberating throughout her entire body. 

 

Lizzy felt small, the earlier excitement quickly gone when she sensed that he wasn’t there to ask her out. Nichkhun came to a pause and everything became deathly silent. The pounding of her heart seemed so loud that she almost mistook it for the bouncing ball.   

 

“But you’re not cute enough in my dictionary,” he cocked his head so that his eyes angled with hers exactly. 

 

She pursed her lips together dryly. 

 

“And what’s with your body? It’s like a little girl’s, grow some s, will you?” Nichkhun laughed. 

 

Lizzy felt tears burn at the back of her eyes pained by the insult. She clutched the front of her dress, her other hand in a tight fist. She stiffened up some more when he ran his hand around her waist. 

 

“But I’ve been really hot these days, how about we have some first?” his face was that of no joker. Very slowly he turned to look at the rest of the guys with him, “And entertain the rest at that too?” 

 

The prince-like image she’d always carried of him shattered that instant and tears seeped out of her eyes. Flustered with a million emotions she didn’t know what to do. Whether to slap him or just run away. At last, a shrill scream deafened the air and pivoting her feet around she darted out of the court sobbing.

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

Nana had watched the sky turn from a sky blue to a dark gray in instants. She was bored after surfing the net all day. Her mind was occupied and she could only think of one person who possessed the whole of her mind without knowing. The intelligent smile on his face while staring at the rabbit on display appeared inside her head inviting a smile upon her face. Finally deciding on it she jumped off her bed and grabbed her umbrella. 

 

“Where are you going?” her mother questioned poking her head out of the kitchen as she ran by. 

 

“I’ll be back!” Nana screamed slipping her shoes on before bounding out the door. 

 

With umbrella in hand she ran down the almost empty street, a few cars passing her by before she finally made it to the pet shop. Slowly trudging toward it she watched the bunny eat away at the hay sitting beside its bottle of water. She could imagine herself the rabbit’s soft fur, the warmth of its tiny body running through her hands. It was such a precious little creature. Staring at the cute creature reminded her of the handsome Kris inside her head. If only he were there with her…

 

Pounding footsteps…

 

His face entered her mind. 

 

Nearing footsteps…

 

A smile on his face. 

 

Footsteps echoing in midair…

 

Nana blinked wondering if she was hallucinating before she suddenly turned, almost gaping open when she saw Kris running her way. Stepping away from the window she stared at him. The sight of him running toward her took the breath out of . 

 

“Kris…” the name fell from her lips. 

 

He panted, “Lizzy…have you seen her?” 

 

Nana stared back, her heart sinking from hearing Lizzy’s name. 

 

“Why?” 

 

“We have to find her,” was all he concluded before continuing with his run. 

 

Nana turned to watch him go suddenly confused. A raindrop splashed on her face. The coldness of the tiny droplet sunk into her skin before another raindrop hit her forehead, another wetting the root of her hair. She tilted her head to look up at the sky suddenly nailed with a long curtain of glass drops. The beating of her heart slowly calmed and she blinked her eyes. It felt nice in the rain. 

 

Turning away from the sky she watched as Kris’ back became less and less visible. When he became a momentarily blur she opened her umbrella. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

What the jerks could have done to Lizzy, the thought of it made Kris’ heart run even faster. If they hurt her he’d show them they were messing with the wrong person. The more he ran, the less attention he paid to his heavy panting and the cold sinking into his body. All that mattered to him in that moment was that he find Lizzy. 

 

Kris slid to a halt when he reached the empty basketball court. The guys were gone and so was Lizzy. Suddenly overwhelmed with worry he spun around screaming, “Lizzy!” 

 

Running away from the basketball court he started into the street immediately stopping when a car honked at him. Breathing hard he looked both ways before crossing and continued jogging. Kris passed closed window shops, a few people running for cover from the rain, two yellow cars, and a stray cat before he saw a white silhouette a block away. 

 

Coming to a slow stop he stared at the white figure certain that it was Lizzy, and she was disappearing fast. It took him another long minute to figure out that she was running crazily. 

 

“Lizzy!” he screamed chasing after her. 

 

Dashing into the street clumsily without looking for cars he raced after her. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

A wailing cry fell from Lizzy’s lips, her heart howling. She didn’t know where she was going. Her legs were the ones moving without control and she hadn’t kept track of how far she’d gone. All she knew was that she wanted to disappear. As the rain penetrated her from above and her tear soaked eyes combined she was unable to make out anything surrounding her. Her chest was wrecked with sobs and she was cold. She wanted home, but she didn’t know which way was home. 

 

Without watching her step she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and felt her whole body lunge forward at such uncontrollable speed she thought she might die. Before she hit the curb someone grabbed her arms. Blinking wildly, eyes still blind from her crying she stared at the blurry face in front of her before recognizing him as the friend Nana hung out with. Desperate for comfort and some warmth she twisted around tossing her arms around his neck and continued bawling. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

It was deathly cold, he was merely shaking, but there was a crying girl in his arms. For once his heart wasn’t racing. Kris only knew one thing and that was that he was glad she was safe. The cold raindrops continued shattering against the sidewalk slowly flooding the newly constructed roads. His hair was damp and his shirt almost drenched. He had nothing to offer the sad girl in his arms anything to keep her from getting any colder. The sobs escaping through her body sounded so heartbreakingly sad. 

 

Out of the blue, the rain suddenly stopped. Kris became confused when he still heard the rain landing among something hollow with a thud. Or was it his imagination? Had the rain really stopped? 

 

Tilting his head up he saw Nana with arm outstretched, her umbrella protecting them from the cold rain. Through the small smile that came across her lips he would never know of the ache boiling inside her heart at the sight of Lizzy inside his strong arms. 

 

It had suddenly become a lot warmer. 

 

“I found her,” he said with a smile. 

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***No one is particularly with a happy ending. No confession from Nana nor Kris as both unseemingly missed their right timing. Andn Lizzy who rushes towards love does not get what she wants. It's not the best, sorry for the bad quality of the story :/ 

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