Kai weaved through the hallways on his new skateboard looking for his new best friend. He arrived at her locker and picked up his skateboard with one hand; casually leaning against the metal. He glanced at his sports watch and counted down. 

"3,2,1..."

"Yah!" Kai looked up to see Minji frowning at him. "Move over."  

Kai lazily shifted his to the neighbouring locker as Minji pulled him away by the collar. 

"You know I'm getting used to having no good mornings from you. You're mean." Kai turned his body so that he could peek at Minji.

"And you're," she halted as she shut her locker. "annoying." Kai smirked in amusement and fell into step next to her.

"Admit it, you like it."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"DO NOT!"

"DO TOO!!"

"You ."

"See? you do like it." Kai stepped on his skateboard and cruised next to Minji.

"Are you stupid! Get down, or you're gonna get in trouble."

"Oh please, I'm Kai. I don't get in trouble, I am trouble." Minji rolled her eyes as she and Kai continued to walk to their classes. Somehow, this was becoming like a daily routine for her. Mornings with Kai never failed to amuse her. He was like a leech that latched onto your skin and refused to let go even when you pour a whole bag of salt over it. 

"Yah, brat. Wanna try my new skateboard?" Minji glared at the new nickname he gave her and shook her head.

"I can't skateboard. Rollerblading, sure. Dirt bikes, great. Motorcrossing, even better! but skateboarding? is really just a big bunch of no." 

"Aw come on don't be such a party pooper. I'll teach you after school, okay." he grinned boyishly at her and for a split second, Minji thought that he had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. The second lasted too short when Kai stuck out his tongue and hopped off the skateboard causing Minji to trip over it and almost land face-flat on the floor if Kai hadn't held onto her arm.

"Aye, no falling for my charm now, Song Minji." he winked and scooped his skateboard up with one hand and walked into the class first. Minji scoffed at his back.

"Jerk." she muttered as she entered the classroom as well. 

Minji looked over to the seat where her bestfriend usually sat and it wasn't a surprise that she found it empty, but what surprised her was that Luhan's seat was empty as well. 

*Huh? Luhan isn't the type to be late* She shrugged off the matter and slid onto the bench next to Kai.

 

"Aish stupid bus. If only you come faster I wouldn't be late all the time." She muttered under her breath as she was practically pushed out the vehicle. She watched as more working people tried to squueze into the already packed bus.

The bus was so crowded that she could barely grasp onto anything when the bus jerked causing her to fall onto the floor, earning bruises on her skin. And now, she had scraped her palms and knees.

"Ah ah-" she winced as she rubbed the bruises forming on her elbows.

"Lee ah!" Her ears perked up at the gentle voice which called her. She looked up and noticed Luhan running to her. He crouched down to her level and rummaged his bag for some tissues. He took out a few pieces and wiped of the blood on her knees. Lee Ah tried to push him away but he stood rooted to his spot.

"Lu-Luhan? What are you-" 

"You're hurt. Let me help you." He helped her up and brought her to a bench outside the interchange. He took out a bottle of water and looked up at her.

"This is gonna hurt." He poured the water over her raw skin and she let out a soundless scream as she clutched onto his school blazer. Luhan took her hands and washed the blood off them as well.

She heard him mutter something about people being so heartless as to push a girl and she let out a small smile at the way he was treating her wounds. Her smile disappeared when she thought about her best friend's feelings towards him and she sighed. 

"Wait here. There's a convenience store right there, I'll go get some bandages and antiseptic."

"Luhan it's fine, I-"

"Stay here. I'll be right back." Her eyes followed his figure as he jogged across the road to the convenience store. He came back out a few minutes and ran back to patch up her wounds.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Luhan, we're going to be late for school."

"Not like you've never been late before." he joked as he looked up and Lee Ah and smiled.

"I'm not worried about myself though." she whispered; looking down at her scarred palms.

"Don't worry. School's not important right now." he said as he concentated on fixing the bandages. Lee Ah felt a tug on her heartstrings and groaned in realisation.

*Oh no. Why must he be so nice to me!* she thought as she closed her eyes and looked towards the sky. A sudden thought came to her mind and she threw her attention back to Luhan.

"Hey, why are you even here at the interchange anyway? You live blocks away from me."

"Err....I was just....okay, you caught me haha. I was waiting for you. I thought maybe I could accompany you to school, I mean we're friends now. Right?"

Right. They were just friends.

"Yeah..." Lee Ah replied, looking away from his eyes. "We should get going." She  stood up and was about to leave when Luhan pulled her arm back.

"Wait," he began as he nervously shifted his feet. "I-I was wondering if you were free this afternoon. Maybe we could have lunch together or something? I-I mean-I mean if you want to. You don't...really.... have to." 

Lee Ah peered at his anxious expression and sighed. 

"Okay. Just lunch right?"

"Yeah! I mean.... yeah, just lunch." he brightened at her answer. 

"Okay. Let's get to school first then." 

*I'm so sorry Minji, it's just that he's really cute and I can't say no to him* she thought in her mind as Luhan guided her by her arm, towards the interchange.

 

Luhan and Lee Ah entered class half an hour late but were let off the hook when Luhan explained to the teacher what had happened to her. Lee Ah turned around only to meet Minji's questioning gaze as she watched Luhan hold Lee Ah by her arm. She smiled apologetically before turning her attention back to the teacher. 

Lee Ah avoided Minji throughout the day and stayed in the patio behind the school during lunch. Lee Ah was conflicted. She always had her eyes on Luhan since the day she met him and she felt the connection everytime they talked. But they were just friends...weren't they? 

She stared blankly at the bandages on her hands and smiled softly.

"Lee Ah!" she jumped at the sudden call of her name. Luhan jogged over to where she was sitting and offered a smile.

"Hey I've been looking all over for you. You weren't in the cafeteria with Minji." he panted quietly; trying not to make it too obvious that he was scouring the whole compound for this one girl.

"I'm too sore to eat." she lied as she touched his messy hair. "Were you running?"

"Well I told you I've been looking all over for you." he grinned as he relished in the way Lee Ah's hands were fixing his hair. She hummed lightly as she distractedly played with his hair; not noticing the way he was staring at her.

Luhan's eyes were trained on her face.

He loved every part of her face. Lee Ah was a real beauty but what was most beautiful to Luhan was her personality. He found a complete match to his ideal type in Lee Ah and he felt that she needed to know.

"You know," he began. "You're dangerously close to my ideal type of girl."

"What do you mean by dangerously close?" she stopped fiddling with his hair and put down her hands.

"I mean, okay that was exaggerated but, you're just really close to it. Long hair, kind, understanding, generally quiet-"

"I think you know me well enough to know that I'm not quiet." she laughed and Luhan laughed with her.

"Okay then let's strike that one out." he smiled. Their eyes met and there was this sudden tension surrounding them. Luhan leaned forward and Lee Ah froze. He found himself leaning closer and closer before he stopped the moment their noses touched. Lee Ah immediately woke up from her daze when Luhan's name was called from the distance. She pressed a palm onto his chest and backed away.

"Luhan I-"

"Lee Ah, I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me I just-"

"Kai's looking for you." Her eyes flickered to the direction behind him before she let out a strangled smile. "I'll see you after school."

"Y-yeah. See you." He let out a breath as she stood up and walked away. Kai walked up to Luhan and nodded his head towards the direction Lee Ah had left. 

"What's up with you two?"

"H-huh? What's up? Nothing's up." 

"You're a really bad liar."

"Kai I have a huge problem."

"Let me take a wild guess. You like-"

"I like Lee Ah."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, hyung."

"Kai, what am I going to do! I don't think she feels the same way about me." Kai scoffed at Luhan and patted his knee.

"You must really be blind man." Kai shook his head and turned around to go find Minji.

**

"YAH SONG MINJI!" Kai's voice filled the hallways the moment he saw Minji walking out of class.

"Aish, can't you even shut up for one minute." she hissed as ran to him and threw a hand over his mouth. She bowed in apology as everyone gave her pointed looks. She shoved him in the arm and he winced in pain.

"Ah, stop doing that!" 

"Then stop annoying me!"

"I'm doing you a favour. I'm going to teach you how to skateboard. Now catch up, you slowpoke." he scowled as he stood on his skateboard and cruised down the hallway.

"YAH!" she huffed as ran after him.

**

They walked down the road where not many cars passed by and started their lesson.

"Okay let's start with putting one foot on the skateboard." Kai teased as he put the skateboard on the ground. Minji gave him a look and stomped one foot onto the board.

"YAH! careful. It's new!!"

"Whoops my bad." she said boredly. 

"Okay now let's see how well you balance." Kai held out his palms in front of her and smiled. Minji gave him a skeptical look before putting her hands in his.

"You better not let go." she said before she put both feet onto the board. She panicked when she started going backwards and Kai chuckled at her reaction.

"Yah, where are you going! Pabo, you're supposed to be going forward not backwards."

"I SWEAR WE ARE ON A SLOPE AREN'T WE!!"

"No. Now hold tight, I'm gonna pull you forward."

"Okay but don't- YAH YAH STOP I'M GONNA FALL KAI I SWEAR IF YOU LET GO I'M GONNA HIT YOU!!" she shouted as she felt the board move under her feet. Kai laughed out loud and shook his head at her madness.

He held onto her hands the first few tries until she was used to balancing on the board. 

"Okay, I'm not going to hold your hands anymore, instead i'm gonna push you from behind. Make sure you're balancing."

"KAI WAIT!" she screeched as he took his hands away from her. She stood rooted to the board until she felt his hand on her back.

"Ready?"

"NO!"

"Let's go!" He smiled as he pushed her from the back. Kai found it extremely amusing that she had her arms spread out like a bird as if it would help her balance herself. He shifted his hands to her waist to make sure she didn't fall.

A rock on the pavement made the skateboard shake and Minji clung onto Kai's shoulder for support. He casually let go of one hand and draped his arm over her waist.

"You at skateboarding."

"Tell me about it." she frowned.

"But hey, at least you learned the basics."

"Oh what would I do without you." She muttered sarcastically and rolled her eyes. They soon reached Kai's house and Minji looked down at him. 

"Yah, you brought me to your house?"

"My mum wanted you over for dinner." he sniffed.

"But my dad-"

"Just arrived. With your brother."

"My WHAT?!" she tightened her grip on Kai's neck in attempt to strangle him.

"And you didn't think it was necessary to tell me beforehand that our parents are having a reunion!?"

"I thought you knew! LET GO OF ME WOMAN."

At that moment, the door of the restaurant below opened revealing their families. Their heads turned to see Minji on a skateboard holding onto Kai's neck while the latter had his arm around her waist. Minji shoved Kai away only to lose balance. Kai put his arm below and caught her in his arms before she could hurt herself.

"Hi mom, hi dad, hi uncle Song." Kai smiled innocently as he helped Minji up.

Minji groaned from firsthand embarrassment as she let Kai help her up to her feet. She bowed 90 degrees and brushed the loose strands of hair away from her face. Kai bowed as well and ran a hand through his messy hair. 

Standing in the doorway of a restaurant in their school uniform with a faint blush on both their cheeks reminded the parents of the good old days. Minji's father and Kai's mother shared a knowing look towards their children's behaviour and nodded at each other. 

"Please, have a seat. Both of you." Mrs Kim smiled at the two teenagers.