(a very moody song i can't entirely grasp,but i think fits the chapter?)         "Isn't it funny that Winter is the only season you experience twice a year?"   I pretended to be reading the book in my hand, knowing he would turn around towards me, to seek for an answer to his question. A random history text book I brought along but never intended to read anyway. When I looked up from the book just after a few seconds, I was proven right.    "Twice a year?"   "Yeah, now it's Winter time in February, and when we reach the end of this year, it will still be Winter."   I wanted to explain to him about the facts of our seasons, but then realized that he was right.   "So? Do you hate it?"   "No. I just think I'm smart for figuring that out." He laughed sheepishly for a short while before turning serious again.   'You are.' I answered quietly to myself. He was still busy with his Poinsettia or something. Those red leafy flower. I wondered if it was the same one from every winter or new one. It always gets bigger and bushier everytime I see it even if confined in that small pot.    "Sometimes it just feels like time pass by too fast. Now, we're turning seventeen. It feels like soon enough, we'd already be..."   "Adults?"   He nodded and added after some hesitation. "It's scary." His voice, nearly a whisper. Still I could actually hear his voice shook a bit.    He was right, as always. When we're young like this, and had nothing to worry, there's nothing we couldn't do. Not even sky could be our limit. And yet, we chose to be rooted to the Earth, watching plants grow. But soon, everything would be different. We would be graduating, getting into bigger world, meeting new people, getting a job, getting married, raising little kids, and our remaining of lives will no longer revolve around ourselves.   Would that mean we would have no more time for each other, watching plants grow like now? Would that mean we would eventually forget each other as we fell apart and our busy adulthood normal routines washed away all the memories of what ever happened years ago, like today? My throat felt dry at the thought.   'It is, scary.' I answered to myself, but gave a different answer to Kwanghee that everything would be alright and we just need to take one step at a time and not worry too much because everything will eventually work out its way. Of course, saying is really so much easier than actually believing what comes out of your own mouth, so much easier than to actually going through it.   The truth is, I was beyond scared. Even more than he would probably ever be. For the entire of my growing up years as a teenager, I never had my parents, or the comfort of a close family nearby, except for my aunt and her husband who pretty much didn't really exist in my daily life, even if I now knew that they didn't hate me, they just weren't fond on showing it. I never had any classmates who would be with me through thick and thin, help me with homework and studying or chat with me when there's no teacher, or stand up for me when the bad kids came by to bully me or make fun of me when they're bored as they would do to all students who didn't have backups in the form of strong group of friends. Dongjun and Yoojin had become my friends sort of, but we only meet during practices and club activities, that type of friend. And I never had any girlfriend like Dongjun had Sunhwa to always stick by him, listen to him and entertain him with her cute antics whenever he's tired. Not that there's any girl that had captured my attention just yet. The only person I have, is Kwanghee. And when it's time for us to go our own ways in life, and maybe even forgetting each other and all the memories of our adolescence, like every other grown ups, I will have no one.   The thought alone, made me numb. Would it be selfish if I don't want to grow up and don't ever want to see him leave my side? Would it be evil that I began hating it whenever he spend time with his other friends, jealous that he had other friends and not just myself, and felt happy whenever he's left alone, with nobody to accompany him but his flowers, and myself? Sometimes those questions would hit on my conscience, but I would just brush them off. Even if I share those thoughts with anyone, I could only imagine their responses would be that I'm obsessed with Kwanghee or I'm sick. As in, mentally sick. So, I'd rather kept it all to myself. It's none of anyone else's business anyway. And they'd never understand how much I needed him more than anyone else.     "Hey, Kevin...next week is your birthday, right? What do you want as present? Or maybe we should go to a club, pretending to be adults and party." He giggled at his own crazy idea. Ever with his random thoughts, Kwanghee.   "Why did you ask? You want to give me a present?"   "Well, during my last birthday, you prepared a great picnic and I even got to meet Yooyoo again, so I should return the favour."   I didn't like it whenever he brought up her name. Especially since the petname suggested how close they're though strangely, I never saw them hanging out together again after the picnic, even though I'm thankful for that.   "Can...can I have that plant?" I pointed to the red bush. The plant that had received so much overflowing love from him.   "Wha...this?...no way, it's my baby!" He hugged the pot closer to himself, and I just laughed. At least I tried, right?   "Should I ask Yooyoo and Dongjun to celebrate together then?" I saw him talking to himself a short while later after I pretended to continue reading.    "No." I answered without being asked.   "Why not? They're your friends too. Then maybe we should call Junyoung to join. Haven't seen him for awhile. Or at least get your friends in your class?"   "There's no need. It'd be too noisy. I don't like noisy atmosphere." I wanted to say it'd be enough just having him with me, but I didn't want him to think of me as a clingy weirdo.   "Yah, Kevin, you're boring. I'm noisy too. So, you probably hated me too, huh?" He sneered, looking every bit annoyed.   "That...that's not what I mean. Just..."   "Forget it."   This may have been our seventh year of friendship, yet we still have little miscommunications like this, that would cause some tensions until one of us decided to say sorry or say hi, pretending nothing happened. Most time, that would be me. Maybe I just needed him more than he would ever need me.       "Hey, Yoojin...hi. Where's Dongjun?" Although I'd feel a little irritated everytime I see her now and the name Yooyoo spoken in Kwanghee's voice would float inside my head, I tried to maintain our kinship.   "Him? Oh....sulking or something I guess...his girlfriend dumped him and wanted to leave the school to somewhere else."   "Really? Wow...why? I thought he's a great guy."   "Yeah. Well, they probably had their own issues." She shrugged and continued her practice, still the same focused concentration and passion for the target board.   I knew first love doesn't always end up in marriage and happily ever after lives. In fact, it was a childish thought and probably only  a handful of the population would be lucky to marry their high school sweethearts, but Dong