No one in the world would have guessed in a million years that Go Minah and Park Chanyeol were friends. No one. They were on completely different sides of whatever spectrum you decided to put them on. Go Minah was an isolated, but well-respected, honor student while Park Chanyeol was the amiable, popular, outgoing jock that everyone hung around or stared at for an extra second in the halls.

 

Go Minah had a mysteriously hard shell. She didn’t really have any friends, but she really didn’t seem to care, which is why everyone respected her in a shallow world of high school cliques because it was still high school. And in high school, all you can do is prepare for your future, and that seemed to be the only thing Minah did. No one knew what she wanted to actually do when she went to college or got a job, but they suspected that it had something to do with numbers and economics because she was always at the top of her game in studying those subjects.

 

Park Chanyeol was everything you would predict about him and more. With his contagious laugh, people couldn’t help but open up to him. He loved having friends and connections and he didn’t hesitate to show it. When the guy had talent, he’d let the world know. And he wasn’t humble about it either. It was clear that he would probably be an extremely successful business manager someday, wherever he decided to work. It was just strange picturing the lean, but cute boy in suits and tuxedos one day. Not to mention that he had a total babe as a girlfriend.

 

It might sound like a clichéd high school love story about how the quiet nobody in the school fell for the big shot of the basketball team or the other way around, but it isn’t. Not really. Or at least it shouldn’t be. This is a story about friendship. A story about how a lovable guy managed to bring another friend to his side. And a story about how that friendship ended up.

 

 

 

Honestly, it’s hard to tell how the two suddenly even became regular acquaintances. They didn’t have any classes together, nor did they have any mutual friends or relatives. Their first meeting was a somewhat sad one. It’s a tragedy to say that first acknowledged each other at a cemetery.

 

Go Minah had been sitting down in front of the pair of tombstones that had her parents’ names labeled on them, with her arms wrapped around her knees. Never was anyone ever to see her in such a similar appearance to the fetal position. That was not the Go Minah that sat properly with her back straight and head high in the classroom. She was one of the few students who sat properly when writing instead of hunching over and lying her head down on her desk or arm as she did her work.

 

Of course it would have been a surprise to anyone if they saw her sitting like that, which is why no one was supposed to. Which is why Go Minah seldom visited the cemetery even though she missed her parents to the point where she would physically hurt. Which is why she only came to visit when the ache in her chest started to become a bit much and she needed to be in her parents’ presence again. Which is why she only came to visit on days when no one would be there. Anyone would have been surprised.

 

But out of all people, why would the eternally happy-faced Park Chanyeol be in such a brooding and depressive place to find Go Minah on the verge of tears? That would not do in Go Minah’s book because no one in the world was ever allowed to see her anywhere away from her position on top of everything, from her academics to her emotions.

 

However, Park Chanyeol didn’t do anything to degrade his previously inexistent name in Go Minah’s book. If anything, he just folded a fluttering page down when he offered her a crumpled, but clean tissue from his pocket. Technically, he didn’t offer it. It was more like Go Minah didn’t notice him for a little while or was ignoring him for too long so he just gently stuck the tissue into her hand before walking away quietly. No words exchanged, no harm done. Go Minah didn’t know where he went after he left her with the tissue, but she tried not to think any more about it.

 

The next few weeks went by as usual. Park Chanyeol didn’t acknowledge Go Minah, and she did the same with the extremely scarce instances they passed by each other in the same hallway. Neither of the students had even bothered to remember that moment. That is, until Park Chanyeol did.

 

Go Minah doesn’t know what brought Park Chanyeol to approach her out of nowhere in the empty classroom during lunch when he’s supposed to be out by the basketball courts with his large posse of friends, but he sat in the desk in front of her and asked, “Would you mind coming with me to the cemetery today?”

 

For once, Go Minah shows hesitation. She hesitates in bringing her eyes up to meet Park Chanyeol’s, because she doesn’t know what she’ll find in his knowing eyes when she looks up. When she finally dares herself to, she notices that there are no wavering or insincere thoughts behind his question. It’s clear that both of the students remember the instance last time with the tissue from Park Chanyeol’s varsity basketball jacket, and there’s no point of denying any facts with such serious competition emanating from Go Minah’s eyes.

 

Park Chanyeol, however, doesn’t back down from the challenge. He just asks again, “Please?”

 

After glaring at Park Chanyeol for a few more seconds, she finally looks back down and continues finishing her statistics equations, “5 ‘o clock.” She states, not giving Park Chanyeol another thought or glance.

 

“Thanks.” Chanyeol says quietly with a small smile before getting up and leaving the room.

 

True to each other’s words, Go Minah met Park Chanyeol inside the cemetery close to where he had found her last time. Without speaking, Park Chanyeol just smiles gently and leads her down the pathways and hills until they stop at a small tombstone in the dried grass that seems like it’s been there longer than any other. It has Chinese characters on it that says ‘To Welcome’.

 

The two students just stare at the tombstone together before Park Chanyeol speaks first, “They say that this one tombstone is the home of the guardian of the cemetery. If you bring some sort of offering to please the spirit, he’ll watch over your late loved ones well.” With that, he pulls an orange out from his backpack and sets it in front of the granite tombstone, pulling out a flower and setting it in front of the orange as well.

 

When he stands back up, he bows and then turns back to look at Go Minah expectantly. Go Minah doesn’t know what Park Chanyeol expects for her to do, nor does she know why he brought her here and why he told her this in the first place. However, she somehow knows what she’s supposed to do when she opens up her own backpack and pulls out two tangerines that she had saved for an afterschool snack, placing them in front of the tombstone beside Park Chanyeol’s orange.

 

They stand there beside each other silently, just relishing the moment and wondering if the spirits will take care of each other well. Park Chanyeol later leads Go Minah back out of the cemetery and he lets her go off on her way when she just nods him a curt goodbye.

 

However, from that first meeting, Park Chanyeol learned something. He learned that it’s possible to approach the cold-hearted Go Minah. There was nothing to lose, as long as he knew when to draw the line and let her have her own space. From then on, Park Chanyeol never hesitated to go up to Go Minah for help with homework or trade some lunch or snacks with her. They were always subtle meetings, but Go Minah finally grew comfortable enough to accept Park Chanyeol’s casual acquaintance. He wouldn’t do anything to disrupt her studies, but he was nice company sometimes.

 

One day, Park Chanyeol invites Go Minah to study together in the library. Although she’s always gone to the library after school to finish homework and study before going home, she’s always taken to the private individual desks that let her study in peace. Never has she ever been invited to study with someone else, and honestly, she liked it that way. So why did she find herself giving in so easily to Park Chanyeol’s bright smile that came with his request?

 

Not long after, the two are sitting at a table across from each other, doing their own work. Occasionally, Chanyeol asks about a math problem or an English vocabulary word, but other than that, Go Minah’s study session goes uninterrupted. Not much is different besides the change of environment without the cubby covering her schoolwork. But a diligently studying Park Chanyeol beside her brings about a comforting feeling.

 

A couple hours later, when they leave the library together, Park Chanyeol brings Go Minah over to convenience store and buys drinks for the both of them. “Do you want to eat ramen?” Chanyeol asks as he picks a bowl of spicy seafood ramen from the shelf.

 

“I don’t eat between meals.” Go Minah shakes her head.

 

“Really? But eating is the best thing in the world!” Chanyeol says, “I love snacks as much as I love meals.”

 

“I don’t really feel the need to eat unless it’s necessary.” She shrugs.

 

“You study too much sometimes, you know?” Chanyeol says as he pays for his noodles and the cashier fills the bowl with boiling water. “You should find something you like to do besides math sometimes.”

 

“That is what I like to do.” She argues, “I have workbooks to practice with just because I find it mentally challenging.”

 

“Ah,” Chanyeol realizes, taking his now cooking noodles, “A girl who likes a challenge. But how are numbers a challenge? They always end up having one answer only, so you’re going to get it somehow. If you know all the tricks and processes of a problem, where’s the challenge in that?” he inquires.

 

“It’s the analytical process of it,” Minah explains, “If you’re given a real life scenario with a problem you need to fix, you’ll need to know right away which processes and formulas to use. Figuring out what to use and how to use it is half the fun.”

 

“Do you like working with computers?” Chanyeol asks, tapping his split wooden chopsticks on the bowl of ramen noodles, “Because that sounds like a perfect scenario for you to play around with analytical factors and processes. You could grow up to work with them.”

 

“Almost every job nowadays requires for you to work with a computer now anyways.” Go Minah shakes her head, popping open her can of sparkling juice and taking a sip.

 

“That’s true. But I, for one, don’t like the complications that come with computers. I’d rather work with my hands.” Chanyeol peels the top off of his bowl and mixes his noodles around. He takes a whiff of the spicy seafood scent of the noodles and offers Go Minah one last opportunity to eat some ramen by holding the bowl out to her, but of course she declines. Shrugging, Chanyeol figures she doesn’t know what she’s missing out on and digs in.

 

When the two students leave the convenience store, Chanyeol walks Minah to her bus stop. The two continue talking until the bus arrives. Chanyeol says his goodbye to Minah and his breath smells like spicy ramen, but she can’t say that she minds too much. Later when she walks home, she stops by the nearby convenience store and buys a bowl of spicy seafood ramen to bring home.

 

The next time Park Chanyeol asks Go Minah to study, they study until past dark. The two students don’t even realize it until Chanyeol’s stomach grumbles and they realize it’s past 7pm. This time, Go Minah can’t turn down eating with Park Chanyeol because it’s time for a meal. They walk through a street food market together, eating one of everything at each food stand they stop at until they’re stuffed. This time, Park Chanyeol gets a laugh out of her when he tries stuffing too many spicy rice cakes into his mouth at once. It’s the first time he’s made her laugh.

 

Soon enough, their study sessions become a weekly thing. They almost always go out to eat together afterwards, whether or not it’s time for dinner. One day, Chanyeol invites Go Minah over to his house. However, Go Minah declines, and they end up going to eat out again. The next time however, she ends up cooking spaghetti with Chanyeol at his house.

 

It’s a very cozy home, Minah admits. It’s nothing like hers, which is basically only a place to eat and sleep. Studying has always taken over her life, and she realizes that she doesn’t really know how to do much else when Park Chanyeol gives her a remote control to play a video game with her. After losing once, she declines the second game. But Chanyeol insists, and she ends up losing a second game. The third game takes a lot of convincing, but this time, she’s much closer to catching up to Park Chanyeol than she was the last couple of times.

 

The next time Go Minah comes to Park Chanyeol’s home, she beats him. The several times after that, they become competitive with each other. In between these visits, Park Chanyeol and Go Minah acknowledge each other in school, walking in the halls together every now and again to discuss school, somewhere new to eat, or a new game to play. No one would have guessed that Park Chanyeol and Go Minah were friends, so it definitely came as a surprise to others when they saw the two together.

 

No one would have associated the cold, studying machine Go Minah with the vivacious, fun athlete Park Chanyeol. But now, it became less and less rare to see the two walking to the vending machine together, or to see Park Chanyeol visit Go Minah’s homeroom to talk to her about something. Rumors were starting to go around that Park Chanyeol would dump his girlfriend for Go Minah, or that Go Minah was trying to steal him away from his girlfriend or the sports he played.

 

However, Park Chanyeol always made time to play basketball or hang out with his beautiful girlfriend whom he adored. It’s just that now, he had someone else to make room for in his life. Go Minah was still a lean, mean studying machine, and she rarely opened up to anyone when they attempted to invite her to eat lunch or study together. However, she always made an exception for one person now.