It was pity at first that prompted me to talk to him. He was all alone, sitting at the garden table, munching bread and at times scribbling furiously on a notebook, at times pausing to glance at butterflies. He was Lee Hoya. He was once part of our school’s Kingkas. They called themselves Infinite. They were the most mean and arrogant bunch in our school but nobody cared because they look good. The students, boys and girls alike, swooned over them and the teachers closed both eyes to their misdeeds. I always wondered why he was part of them. He always looked like he didn’t fit. He was quiet and aloof. He never bothered to spare a second glance to his admirers and even when his ‘friends’ talked to him, he would always reply with a nod or a one word answer.

Did you realize that I said he was once part of the Kingkas? What happened, you might ask. Well it so goes that the Kingkas dared him to hook up with the Queenka of the school- Yoon Eunji. Eunji was head over heels for the guy who doesn’t pay her any attention. So the Kingkas wanted to take the chance to mess with the Queeka and asked Hoya to be the bait. But it so turns out that Hoya refused to do it. The Kingkas were shocked. It was the first time Hoya actually spoke more than two sentences and it was to refuse them. Hoya told them right in the face, in front of everyone that they were a bunch of idiots who had nothing better to do than to mess with a girl’s heart and that he had more things better to do. He was about to leave when Sunggyu the leader called out.

“If you walk out right now, you will no longer be part of Infinite.”

And this was what Hoya replied, “To hell with Infinite.” And he walked out of school.

I swore everyone who was in the hallway gasped. I know because I was there and had witnessed the scene myself and was a bit surprised myself. At that time, I think I gained a little respect for him.

But then, news spread like wildfire and by the next day in school, everyone avoided him like the plague. He dropped from hero to zero. But he did not seem to mind it. In fact, he seemed relieved that nobody was paying attention to him. But he did not know that I was still paying attention to him. In the shadows.

Which explains why I joined him for lunch at the garden table.

“Hi.” I said, biting into an apple.

He looked up, startled that I was talking to me.

“Why are you talking to me? Isn’t everyone avoiding me like I contracted some contagious diseases?”

I chuckled before extending my hand, “I am Park Yoomi. Nice to meet you.”

He waved my hand away.

“I know who you are. You are in my English, Math and Homeroom class.”

I was surprised. “You remember me?”

He smiled lightly. “Of course I would. You are in most of my class and you are always fighting to answer the teachers’ question. Doesn’t take a genius to know you.”

He was right, I laughed to myself sheepishly.

Taking another bite into my apple, I noticed that he was staring at his paper. I snatched the paper away from him which earned a round of protests from him. He stood up from his seat, attempting to snatch back the paper which just had me running around the garden. I read out the words on his paper while trying to escape from him.

“Bucket list for this summer. 1) Catch the meteor shower 2) Write a message in the bottle 3) Spit out as many watermelon seeds as possible in one min 4) Tie dye my favorite shirt 5) Learn how to crochet”

I looked up and sniggered. “Crochet? Seriously?”

Hoya turned bright red. “Hey! I just wanted to learn okay! It’s called a bucket list for a reason. Nothing is too ridiculous.”

“Hmm 6) Donate my blood 7) Pierce my ears 8) Drop a water balloon from a tall building 9) Perform in front of a crowd 10) –”

Number 10 on the list was erased. I squinted, trying to read the marks left on the paper. Hoya took the chance to snatch back the paper but I saw what 10 was.

Number 10 was to fall in love.

‘Well, that was an interesting bucket list.” I commented.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. It had a whole lots of variation.”

“Crochet.” I muttered to myself, still in disbelief.

Hoya shuffled his feet.

“Then, Yoomi, would you like to accompany me as I complete the things on my bucket list?”

**

a/n: Hello everyone! So this will be basically the plot of my short fic- Yoomi accompanying Hoya as he finishes things on his bucket list. Hope you are enjoying it so far! Cheers!