IX

Rina and Jong Suk sat side-by-side on her bed, wrestling each other with their feet.

"Do you remember what I wrote on my list of future goals back in Kindergarten?" Rina asked, kicking Jong Suk's ankle.

He laughed. "Of course I do! You said that you wanted to be a vegetable when you grew up because your mom said that the adult life is hard."

She laughed along with him. "I was a weird kid, wasn't I?"

"A weird kid who I was forced to hang out with," Jong Suk harshly added.

Rina glared at him. "Yah! Do you want to die?"

He made a face. "Oh, no thanks. Who's going to marry you once Shi Hoo breaks up with you?"

There was a pause.

"Right, I forgot about that fact. Who would?"

"Great, it turned depressing again. I wish it was like back then when the three of us would laugh at the stupidest things along with Granny Ji. Those were the good days; remember?"

Rina nodded. "Do you want to visit her after school tomorrow? I already saw her with Woohyun but I'm sure she'd be happy to see you again."

Jong Suk smirked upon hearing Woohyun's name. "That kid—you hang out with him a lot, don't you?"

"Well of course. He's the first friend I made here so why not?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head. "You know, you should go talk to hyung. I'm pretty sure you haven't talked to him for a few days, right?"

"Two, for your information."

"I know girls who can't even go half an hour without talking to their boyfriends but then here's you, not talking to yours for days on end." Jong Suk scoffed in disbelief.

"Looks like I'm still a weird kid," she shrugged. "Anyways, I'm sure Steven is having a swell time with Rie, am I right?" Even saying her name made Rina slightly cringe.

Jong Suk groaned, patting her head. "Get out of that mindset, Nana. He chose you, didn't he?"

"But he can always change his mind," she whispered.

"Aish! This is why I decided to be single!"

Rina got up from the bed. "Let's go. You're hungry, aren't you?" She exited the room, not even caring about the fact that the two people who she didn't want to see the most were downstairs. "Mum! I'm hungry!"

Jong Suk, who followed right behind her, was confused. Is she bipolar or PMSing? he thought to himself.

Everyone was at the kitchen table except Mr.Kim. "Are there mushrooms in that pasta? You know I don't eat mushrooms. Ah, I'm hungry! I haven't eaten since yesterday!" Rina sat down in between Shi Hoo and Ryan, taking a sip of Ryan's water. She swallowed it while making a face. "Flavored water,"

She turned to look at Shi Hoo, fully examining his face. She poked his cheek. "Hubby, you lost weight." she stated.

Ryan looked at Jong Suk. "Did you give her drugs by any chance?" He shook his head.

Rina's eyes rested upon Rie. "We need to talk."

Even after 17 years, I still can't understand her, Jong Suk thought.

Rie, who's face was full of shock, stood up at the same time as Rina did. The two followed each other outside and no one dared to follow them, not even Shi Hoo.

Jong Suk and Ryan smirked, exchanging knowing glances.

Outside, the two sisters sat down on the bench in front of the house in silence.

"Now that I think of it, I don't think we've had a proper conversation for the last 4 years," Rina stated. "I was so caught up in my hatred that I forgot about how you were an important factor in my life."

Rie smiled that angelic smile and laughed that chime-like laugh of hers. "In the past 4 years, you haven't spoken past more than a sentence to me!"

The younger girl thought about it, realizing that her sister was right. "I must have seemed like a , right? That wasn't really my intention."

"Just a little bit," Rie cachinnated.

Rina was slightly amused, trying to hide her tender expression. "Steven doesn't want me holding grudges and Jong Suk is just—neutral. Hating someone takes a lot of work and I'm pretty lazy so I guess I'll stop now. Living grudge-free is kind of nice also. Don't start acting like we love each other, though. I still need time!"

"But I'm sure if our Lion was here, he'd want us to have a good relationship again."

RIe seemed touch; a little too touched. She was about to throw her arms around Rina, but the latter stopped her from doing so.

"I'm hungry." Rina stated before ditching Rie on the bench. "Come inside! It's freezing!"

After dinner, Rina called Shi Hoo into her room. She patted an empty spot on her bed, telling him to sit down and so he did. She wrapped her arms around the nape of his neck from behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You must have been annoyed because of me," she whispered. "Sorry."

Shi Hoo turned his head to look at her. "How could I be annoyed by someone as cute as you?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow.

She soundlessly laughed, kissing him on the cheek. "Don't leave me like he did, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm not like him."

Don't lie to me, Shi Hoo.

It was the Monday after the weekend and everyone was out of it. The morning was dark and gloomy, not to mention foggy. The only people that didn't seem to be bothered at all by the weather happened to be desk neighbors.

Rina gazed out the window, admiring how pretty the mist looked as it covered the scenery ahead. She found it peaceful.

She soon found out during break that Woohyun thought the same. The way it was able to cloud everything made even his brain want to imitate it.

Although it was so gloomy, there was no sign of rain whatsoever. Outside, the gentle breeze brushed past Rina's orange hair, tickled Woohyun's chocolate brown hair, and swept up the remaining dead leaves on the ground to far away places. They shared the same juice box, not minding the fact that they were sharing germs and indirect kisses. Being students of the top science school in Korea, they didn't really care.

"Do you want to know why I actually collapsed a few days ago?" Rina asked, drawing circles on the ground with her foot.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Oh, it's because—" The bell rang, making Rina halt whatever she was about to say. "—I'll tell you later!" She got up and ran inside, leaving slow Woohyun sitting on the bleachers behind the school.

The image of her retreating figure made his heart leap in an unfamiliar manner. It too cut off all of his airways.

"Wait! Hold up! Rina! Yah!" Woohyun started yelling after his brain analyzed the situation. "Yah!"

He could hear her carefree laugh as the wind carried it towards him. Oh, Rina, stop it.

By the time lunch came, half of his fingernails had been chewed off because of his curiosity. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop wondering what the girl meant.

She had seen him biting his nails during class but still felt like teasing some more. The second the lunch bell rang, she darted out of class. She ran down the hall and into 3C, trying to look for a certain someone. Then she saw him. "Hoya!"

The boy looked up from his dictionary, caught off-guard by her sudden arrival. "Oh, what is it?" he asks.

There was a smirk playing on her lips. She was going to have so much fun with this. "I don't usually ask favors but could you help me with something, Lee Howon?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

All eyes were on the orange-haired female as she walked into the classroom and stood in front of Hoya's desk. She leaned in until was right beside his ear, close enough for him to feel her hot breath down his neck. For others, this looked like a scandalous act. Rumors were about to start circulating the moment she started whispering the favor in his ear. Before it could, she straightened herself and glared at his classmates.

"Never speak of this," she firmly warned, "unless you want to experience complete humiliation." She knew how wimpy these kids could be and they had better things to deal with than getting bullied and so all stayed quiet.

When Hoya and Rina walked into the cafeteria together, it looked rather suspicious. They were exchanging whispers between each other while Rina was practically hanging onto his arm. The girls and just about the whole school population was in a state of confusion because not just anyone was able to touch the Lee Howon.

The two sat down at the usual lunch table, sharing the same smirks on their faces.

Myungsoo, being the observant one, sensed something weird in the air. "Why did you enter with the girl?" he asked Hoya, quiet enough for only him to hear.

"What are you implying? Just because that idiot is obviously smitten for the girl, I can't hang out with her?" he snapped, raising an eyebrow in question. He didn't mean to sound so arrogant but it just naturally came.

Rina could feel Myungsoo's eyes boring a hole into the side of her head but figured she should just ignore it. She initiated conversation with Woohyun, taking note of the look in his eyes. She tried to hide the smirk that was threatening to appear on her face at any moment. She reached over and grabbed his carton of milk, casually drinking out of it.

His friends were taken aback by how nonchalant the two were about the fact that they just had an indirect kiss and even shared germs.

Woohyun glared at her. "Yah, get your own milk."

She cheesily grinned at him. "I forgot my lunch at home and my wallet is in my bedroom."

He rolled his eyes, muttering incoherent words under his breath as he pushed his lunch tray towards her. What am I going to do with this girl?

The boys watched the both of them interact with interest. It seemed like they were off in their own world where it was only them that existed. Hoya knew better, though.

Rina snatched Woohyun's chopsticks away from him, using it to stuff her cheeks with his food.

"Are you serious?"

She shamelessly nodded before swallowing all of the food in . "I'm hungry," she stated, "and very hungry, too. My brain needs energy after all of that learning."

Sungyeol laughed, raising his hand for a high-five. When Rina wasn't such an uptight person, Dongwoo and himself could relate to her in so many ways.

Lunch ended and after that, the rest of the day flew by.

The boys and Rina walked out of the school, discussing what they should do together on Friday, although it was still four days away. Rina turned her head only to see Jong Suk waiting for her in front of the building. She knew something was up, knowing that it was rare for Jong Suk to personally pick her up.

She gave Hoya a look and he nodded at her. Their operation was to be put on hold for the moment.

Rina bid the boys farewell before jogging over to her best friend. "How come it's you who's picking me up today?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Jong Suk took her backpack from her, opening the passenger door. She got in and he did too on the other side.

"Hyung has an important meeting with some of the company's biggest sponsors."

"What else?"

He chuckled. "The girls are back."