Today is Monday, which means Jongin has a dollar. Because his dad gives him a dollar on Mondays to buy himself a pack of chewing gum. Last week he got grape, so this week he'll have to decide between sour apple or orange. Or maybe he'll get one of the packs that comes with the action figure stickers. Sadly, those don't last a full week. 

He's right outside the mini mart, so he starts running, his dollar clenched firmly in hand.But before he makes it to the mart entrance, there’s this odd, sticky feeling under his foot. Jongin stops, tries to peel his right foot off the ground again.

Aw shucks. He’s stepped on somebody’s gum! 

It’s the big, pink kind, the kind that makes your jaws really hurt if you keep chewing it for too long. And it looks real fresh, a bit of saliva still clinging to the pink edges where it’s stuck real good at the bottom of his black sneakers. Rotten luck to start off a week. His dad never allows him to spit his gum out anywhere besides the trash. Whoever did this better be glad their parents aren’t around to catch em. 

There’s a faint, but recognizable “pop” noise that catches Jongin’s attention. He knows that sound. Someone’s bubble gum popping. 

With his right foot still propped on his left knee, he looks around. There! Inside the mini mart, watching him from behind the ice cream cooler! 

“Hey you! I know you did this! Come out here right now!” 

A large pair of eyes widen bigger in surprise, before trying to duck down behind the cooler. 

“You’d better come out while I’m asking nicely!” 

He starts hopping on his left foot toward the mini mart, demanding that the culprit show herself. He enters the mart, grabbing the doorway for balance, then hops along to where she’s still sort of crouched behind the ice cream bars. 

“Hey, you!”

She looks up, starts, then looks away. Still chomping on that chewing gum he saw her blowing into a bubble just a minute ago. Who knew the culprit would be so nearby? 

She avoids him, pretending to crane her neck to check if the cashier lady is nearby, but Jongin grabs the ice cream cooler and hops forward, pushing her into a corner. 

Awkwardly, she meets his eyes. “You don’t even have proof that I did it…” 

Jongin is about to argue, but gets distracted by the weirdest thought. She’s too pretty to get mad at, shucks. 

“Just… admit it. I know it was you. I don’t need proof to tell. It’s the same pink gum you have in your mouth right now, anyway,” he says, calmer. 

“You know, you should’ve been watching where you were going, to begin with?” 

“What? You’re the one littering! Isn’t that like, illegal?” 

She points her chin at him with a noisy “tsk”, crossing her arms defiantly. For a pretty girl, she’s got attitude. 

“That’s just weird, you know that? Spitting gum out in the middle of the road and watching to see if someone steps in it or not,” Jongin mutters as he examines the gum stuck to his shoe again. 

“Here, use this,” she says, and pushes something in front of his face. It’s an empty gum wrapper. 

“This is probably the wrapper this gum came from!” Jongin exclaims, frowning. 

“Do you want it to get off or not?” 

It’s Jongin’s turn to raise his chin up angrily, but he takes the wrapper anyway. He hops back outside, prying the gum off of his shoe with the wrapper and tossing it in the trash. 

When he opens the mart’s door again, she’s standing there. 

“You better watch where you’re going next time,” she says, and she walks past him, all chin and pride, not looking back once in her pretty pleated skirt and clean, white sneakers. 

Jongin shrugs, heads into the mini mart with his dollar, and buys a pack of pink bubble gum. 

-

The pink bubble gum is tough to chew on, but Jongin does admit, it blows nice bubbles. Big, pink, strong ones. 

He’s getting ready to blow another big one, he can tell, working his jaws wildly on the way home from school. 

“Hey, stop! Watch it!” 

Jongin stops. His feet and his jaw. That voice sounds familiar… 

“I told you to watch where you’re going from now on!” 

It’s the pretty girl with pink bubble gum. She must have been inside the mini mart again, because she’s coming toward him from that direction. 

“Are you dumb? You’re gonna ruin my piece of gum if you don’t watch where you’re going!” 

Jaw moving again, Jongin eyes the street ahead of him. Sure enough, there’s a piece of pink gum just three or four steps in front of him.

“You did it again?!” 

She does the annoying crossing arms and rolling eyes combo, then glares at him. 

“None of your business. Just go around it so I can get someone really good this time.” 

“So… you do that for fun?” 

Chin up as high as it probably goes, she nods once. 

“Weirdo.” 

Jongin circles around the pink gum wide, looking back at it and back at her a few times. Once she’s checked that he’s clear of her gum, she goes back inside the mini mart. 

-

His jaw is starting to hurt a little, from chewing the pink bubble gum too long. But he got away with chewing gum in class right before school got out, so it’s still a win. 

He’s about to blow a big one, until he realizes he’s reached the mini mart. He recoils a few feet, scanning the street frantically. He rubs the bottoms of his shoes on the pavement, and thankfully, he’s safe. But there’s a piece of pink gum over there, slightly past the mini mart. 

When he glances toward the mart, she’s there, watching him with a medium sized bubble in . She’s glaring at him, again. 

Scratching his head, Jongin decides to head inside. 

“You at it again?”

She doesn’t react, chewing on her gum with all that attitude. Blowing bubbles and popping them so loud the cashier lady can probably hear her from all the way in the front. 

“I bought the same gum as you on Monday. You wanna see who can blow bigger bubbles?” 

She turns, raising an eyebrow. “Me. Isn’t it obvious?” She blows a bubble in his face, but it’s nothing impressive before it pops. 

“You sure about that?” 

Jongin starts pushing the gum in his mouth behind his teeth. 

“There’s someone coming!” She blurts, rolling on her feet. 

Jongin watches from behind the ice cream cooler with her. There’s a guy wearing the high school uniform, listening to music on headphones. He’s bobbing his head, taking wide strides along the street. Too wide, he completely dodges the pink gum on the ground. 

“Aww…” 

Jongin’s shoulders bounce from laughter. “Is this really that fun?” 

She nods, starting another bubble. 

Jongin gets his ready again, blowing slowly. It’s not bad. He taps her with a hand, turning toward her slowly as not to pop it accidentally. ‘Look!’ he wants to say, but its just noise in his throat. 

She hums something in response, another bubble bloating from too. Jongin thinks his is a little bigger, and can’t help the smile tickling his cheeks. 

She frowns, struggling to get hers bigger. Jongin thinks he can add a little more volume, so he blows a little more, but stops, because his bubble is touching hers now. 

“Mmm!” She hums angrily, before both their bubbles pop, pink, stretchy stuff clinging to their chins. 

Jongin blinks, staring at her and her pink chewing gum stuck to her chin. Shucks, she’s pretty. Before he can stop himself, his ears are burning. 

And then she’s her chewing gum up back in . Jongin does the same. 

“Mine could have been bigger if yours hadn’t run into it!” she says, chinning him with a grunt. 

It’s Jongin’s turn to cross his arms. “Oh, sorry, mine got too big to control,” he says triumphantly. 

She narrows her eyes, chomping on her gum like she’s trying to put a hole in her jaw. 

“Whatever. I’m going home.” 

She bumps past him, darting out the door, but Jongin is right behind her. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” He catches up and starts walking alongside her. 

She glances at him up and down before answering. “Jung Soojung.” 

“I’m Km Jongin. I go to Lucky elementary school. 2nd grade, class 4.” 

She stops, and out of alarm, Jongin glances around him for gum on the street or stuck to his feet. 

“You’re in 2nd grade?” Soojung asks, looking a little defeated. 

A grin creeps up Jongin’s lips. “Why, what grade are you in?” 

There’s that proud chin of hers again. “1st.”