“Come in,”

It was the middle of 3^rd period when Soonyoung’s Algebra 2 class was interrupted; not like he was bothered or anything. He was actually bored. The door opened and he say Choyoung’s head pop inside. She asked if she could talk to Mr. Bae outside and he stepped out for a while. Soonyoung wanted to wave hello to her but he figured that his classmates might sense something was going on between them and he knew Choyoung wouldn’t be happy with that. After a few minutes, Mr. Bae walked back inside and motioned Soonyoung to come over to his desk. In a low voice he whispered, “Ms. Kwan needs you right away,”

Soonyoung nodded and swiftly exited the room, worried about what was wrong. If she had left her own class to ask for his help, there was definitely something going on. She wouldn’t just up her pride without any valid reason. He closed the door behind him and immediately, Choyoung grabbed his hand and dragged him outside to the courtyard. When they got out, he didn’t hesitate to start his interrogation session.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I – I…It’s just,“ Choyoung didn’t know how to break the news out to him in the least awkward way possible, “Can you…?”

“Can I what?” Soonyoung was growing more worried by the second as she bounced up in down in place, waving her hands.

“It’s a thing,” Choyoung began pacing back and forth, “Like my thing. You know the thing!”

“What thing?!”

Choyoung sighed and took a moment to herself to calm down. Her heart was beating loudly and was caught right between her chest and . Motioning him to bend over, Choyoung stood up on the tip of her toes and whispered into his ear, “The girl thing!”

Soonyoung knew exactly what she was talking about. He pulled away and saw the desperate look on her face for someone to help her. None of Choyoung’s friends had extra pads on them and when she had gone to Nurse Lee, she only supplied tampons. Even the dispenser in the girl’s bathroom was empty! Choyoung had nothing else to do but go to Soonyoung for help but in this case, he had no idea what to do. No one had ever asked him to do anything for them on their period before. He was just as knowledgeable about this as any other single guy on campus.

“Oh that thing,”

“Yeah that thing,” Choyoung said, “Now help me!”

“I really want to help but what do you want me to do about it?”

“Directress Song told me that if I can find someone who can drive me to a pharmacy store of something, then she’ll let me go,” Choyoung said, holding up two passes, “And I told her that you can drive me. She’s letting us use the student driver car,”

He wasn’t sure about this. Soonyoung had only passed his driver’s test and gotten his permit two months ago but even so, he didn’t even drive himself to school. His parents were the ones that drove him around places; not the other way around.  Unsure, he took one of the passes and checked it for validity. That was definitely the directress’ signature. He sighed, and took the keys from around her wrist, “Alright fine, but do you have your junior credit pass with you?”

“Yeah, it’s right here,” Choyoung reassured him, holding up the card holder attached to her ID lanyard, “Now can we please go before I bleed all over the pavement?”

They quickly made their way to the student parking lot and climbed into the front seats. Choyoung took off her uniform blazer to prevent the car’s seat from getting stained if she bled all over it and sat down. Soonyoung gripped the steering wheel and adjusted the chair height; it had been a while since he actually sat behind that wheel. In a few minutes, they were on the local road to the nearest E-Mart; one of the largest retail stores in Korea.

“Why didn’t you pack extra pads with you?” Soonyoung asked, curious as to why she didn’t prepare for it. He always saw his mom’s purse with at least one or two of those light pink packages stuffed in the little pocket inside.

Choyoung leaned her head against the car window, “This is my first time,”

“Your first time?” Soonyoung teased, “Ah, so you’re one of those late bloomers!”

“Shut up and drive!” Choyoung snapped.

“Well someone’s a little hormonal,” he joked, hoping that a Ed joke would lighten up her mood. Apparently, it only made her more irritated. Guess his Health teacher really wasn’t lying about girls being moody on their periods.

“That was a terrible joke,”

“I know, I’m judging myself right now,”

“You better be,”

Choyoung pulled a granola bar from out of her pocket and stared at it longingly. Soonyoung peeked at her but quickly brought his attention back to the road, “If you’re hungry, then eat it,”

“But I’ll get fat,” Choyoung whined, knowing that when you’re on your period, you get bloated. But at the same time, you’re craving food. She just didn’t know what to do.

“You’re not fat,”

“You’re just saying that,”

“No really, I’m not!”

“You’re going to make fun of me when I get fat!”

“You’re not fat!” Soonyoung argued, “If anything, your body is actually really nice!”

Choyoung looked up from the granola bar and this time, stared at Soonyoung who was mentally jumping off a cliff at what he had just said. He didn’t mean for it to slip out. He just didn’t want to keep calling herself something that she wasn’t. It was awkward. They were quiet for a while, only listening to the humming of the car driving along the smooth street. Choyoung finally ripped the thin plastic wrapper, mumbling to Soonyoung as she took a bite, “You’re not bad yourself,”

Soonyoung couldn’t wipe that grin on his face for the rest of the ride.

“Will you hurry up? We still have to get to class you know,”

“I don’t know what to choose! There are so many different types!”

Choyoung held two packages out of the twenty-something brands on sale: Maxi Pad with Wings and No Scent or Regular Pad without Wings and Scent. She made Soonyoung hold Regular U Pads by Kotex. Soonyoung had no idea what to suggest to her since he had never gone out buying anything of this sort. A few of the ladies there glanced at him every so often and he would bow his head. He didn’t want to be disrespectful or anything even in an uncomfortable situation.

“If you keep waiting around here, your blood will start to trail down your leg,” Soonyoung whispered, leaning over to her ear.

“Stop it, you’re scaring me!” She hissed in a hushed tone.

“Here, get this one, it has multi-colored wrappers,” Soonyoung held up the box he was holding, “It must be good,”

“You don’t chose because it’s the most colorful!” Choyoung rolled her eyes, “You choose according to your period!”

“So I suggest you pick the maxi pad,” Soonyoung stated in his matter-of-factly voice.

“But I don’t know if my period is heavy or not!”

“Just take the thicker one just in case!”

“Alright, alright! Jeez, you act like you’re the expert on pads or something,” Choyoung grumbled, putting the other pad brands back on the shelf, “By the way can we stop by the junior’s section? I need to change my…you know,”

“Make it quick,”

Soonyoung followed Choyoung into the junior’s lingerie section, still a bit hesitant on his part. His eyes scanned the racks filled with wildly printed bras and patterned underwear. He didn’t realize how extensive girl’s fashion was that it even extended to undergarments. For him, it was pretty much the basic colors: black, white, grey and navy. That was pretty much the color of most male undergarments. She walked over to a stand with black underwear, and lifted one up to see the cut. She read the label that said ‘Bikini’ and put it down.

“I thought all girls wear bikini cut?” Soonyoung wondered out loud, “That, or thongs,”

“Could you get any more ist?” Choyoung asked as she worked her way around the display looking for a hi-cut garment, “There’s bikini, thong, boy shorts, hi-cut, low-cut, brief and g-strings. There are a few other more exotic ones but let’s not go there,”

The most Soonyoung could contribute was, “Oh…do you have any exotic ones then?” which earned him a glare from his favorite junior.

Once she found the cut she was looking for, they headed over to the nearest counter with the shortest line and waited. Soonyoung checked his watch and realized that there would be traffic on the way back. They were going to have to call the school to tell them that they were going to take a while in coming back. They reached the cash register and the lady working the shift was a senior. They formally greeted her and when she realized that they were high school students and it was still school hours, a huge grin appeared on her face,

“I remember when I was your age! My husband, well my boyfriend at that time, and I would always sneak out of class to go out on dates together. Oh the good times!”

Choyoung looked up at Soonyoung who just shrugged. Soonyoung told the lady that they were just friends and that the school let them out because she needed to get something. Choyoung corrected him and said that they were just classmates and he was just doing her a favor. Soonyoung smiled, shaking his head. She still denied the most evident and obvious friendship. Once they paid and pulled out of the lane, they heard the lady call out to them, “They always start out as classmates! You’ll see!”

The two exchanged glances and scurried to the bathroom as fast as they could. Choyoung couldn’t help but laugh at what the lady had said to them, “It’s hilarious how many people think we’re dating,”

“I know right?” Soonyoung chuckled, “Really, I don’t think I’d ever see myself dating you,”

“I’m too amazing,”

“Actually, I don’t think you can handle all this perfection,”

Soonyoung waited outside the bathroom as Choyoung went inside to change and dispose of her soiled undergarment. There was no way she was bringing that back with her. It was better off in the trash than coming back to school with her. In the meantime, Soonyoung informed the school that they would be late especially since it was rush hour and there would be traffic out on the streets. He also called his parents that he was not in school because Choyoung had to make an emergency trip to the store. He didn’t really give specific details. He just didn’t want his parents worrying about him. Choyoung told him to hold her phone and he decided to call her parents as well. They didn’t seem to mind, and in fact, they thanked him for helping her out with whatever she needed. Soonyoung was a good kid.

“What did the school say?” Choyoung asked as she was tucking her shirt in her skirt, “Are they okay with us being late?”

“Yeah, they said that they would inform the teachers and that we shouldn’t worry,” Soonyoung said, handing her phone back to her, “I called your parents too. They said to keep an eye out for you,”

Choyoung scoffed, “My parents are really something. They don’t trust my decision making,”

They headed back to the car and once they got settled, both their stomachs made noises similar to that of a dying whale. They had missed lunch and they were hungry. Choyoung groaned, “I knew I shouldn’t have eaten that granola bar,”

“Do you want to get something to eat?” Soonyoung asked, making sure that he kept Choyoung on her good side so he didn’t have to deal with her PMS moments, “We can stop by someplace to get something if you really want,”

“Okay, as long as you’re paying,” Which really meant that either way he was going to pay.

They stopped by a nearby fast food restaurant and decided that going by the drive thru was the best option for them time wise. There really wasn’t much of a selection other than chicken and burgers. They decided that fried chicken would be the easiest to eat on the way back to school but it wouldn’t be the best option for their braces. Choyoung, with a bit of coaxing on Soonyoung’s part, would have to rip off his share so he could eat it while driving. Hey, there’s no law against eating and driving.

After they paid, they were back on the road again. Well, moreso stuck. The traffic during rush hours were terrible in South Korea and having to navigate through them would take as long as Odysseus going back home to Ithaca. Choyoung pulled off a piece of the chicken and held it out to Soonyoung, copying what he did whenever he would feed her, “Ahh…open,”

Soonyoung happily ate his share and took a sip of water. Car horns were blasting from every direction. Choyoung shifted in her seat and brought her legs up so she was in a crisscross position on the chair. With her short legs, she could fit her tiny body on the seat. They continued with this pattern of Choyoung feeding him and then feeding herself. She stuffed the trash in the bag that it came with and threw it in the back to clear up leg space.

By the time they finished eating, they had fought through two fifths of the way back to school. There was no way they were going to make it to the end of the school day. Soonyoung instructed Choyoung to call the school and tell them that there was an accident blocking up the road and they wouldn’t make it back by the last period. The school said not to worry since they had heard about the accident. Apparently a pipe had burst and there was at least a one to two hour traffic block until police could find an alternative route to direct people to. Thankfully, their school was lenient when it came to emergencies. In the event of heavy rain, they would not allow their students to go to school as it was unsafe for students who drove to school. Their school was build halfway up a mountain so it only made sense.

“So why of all people did you choose me to go with you?” Soonyoung asked, curious as to why she just didn’t ask her parents to pick her up or something.

“Because,” Choyoung hesitated with her answer, “Because you were the only one who would understand,”

Soonyoung almost jumped out of his chair to scream for joy. This was the first time Choyoung ever admitted for having any human-like feelings for him. Most of the time, she just didn’t care or denied what he said. But now, she actually had come to him for help. It made him feel good. She saw Soonyoung smiling to himself and immediately followed with, “Don’t get ahead of yourself before I take it back,”

“Okay, sorry,” Soonyoung said, “I’m just really happy that I repaid you. Now I don’t feel guilty anymore!”

Choyoung felt her heart drop. Did that mean he would no longer bother her? Annoy the heck out of her? She didn’t know why she felt so bad, but she couldn’t shake away the feeling. Though she would never admit it out loud, because of Soonyoung she finally had a friend. Bee was her friend, yeah, but she didn’t think that Bee understood things like Soonyoung did. Soonyoung saw the frown on Choyoung’s face and smiled, “Hey, what’s with the frown? Don’t go PMS-y on me!”

She shook her head, “It’s nothing,”

“You’re terrible at lying you know,” Soonyoung knew that something was on her mind, “Do you think that just because I don’t feel guilty anymore, you won’t see me again?”

Choyoung nodded.

“Hey, do you like me or something?” Soonyoung teased, reaching over and ruffling her hair, “Don’t be like that. You know I won’t leave you alone to suffer with Bee,”

Choyoung swatted his hand away, “What is with you thinking that I like you?!”

“Oh stop, you know you do,”

“Argh, you’re so annoying!”

“Says the one that asked me to buy pads and underwear with her,”

“Fine, thank you. But that doesn’t mean that I like you!”

“Yeah, sure,”

author’s note: hello everyone! so i decided to write a more subtle chapter to kind of illustrate how far they’ve come in their friendship – especially when it comes to more personal problems. hopefully this wasn’t boring and that you enjoyed this chapter c: