Morning again. I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I switched on the bathroom lights. When I went to put on my contacts, I found that there were none left. "Aw, I forgot to restock," I muttered to myself, tossing the empty cardstock box into the trash bin. I continued to blink at my hazy reflection in the mirror in front of me. Curse my legally blind eyes. "I guess I'll have to wear glasses to school today," I said while beginning to wash my face. "Haven't done that in months."

Post-breakfast, I assisted my mom with the dishes. She always makes me do this because she throws a hissy-fit when I leave her alone to do it. Something about it being unresponsible and unfeminine like. Though, she doesn't like listening to me retaliate when I say that thinking household chores is a woman's duty is incredibly ist. But nonetheless, regardless of my jokes and sarcasm, I like helping my mother out around the house.

It actually takes a lot of energy to keep a household steady. I used to watch her clean the floors thinking that it was nothing, but when I tried it for the first time myself, my back was in excruciating pain. It amazed me to see how she handled her own physical health, and how well she was masking it when she was doing chores. I didn't realize how unappreciative I was being.

In the midst of cleaning my dishes, my glasses began to slip from the bridge of my nose. On instinct, I brought up a swift hand to my face to push them back. Instead I sent a splash of water that blocked my vision. I grunted, deciding to finish the dishes without them on. "Mom, I ran out of contacts today. Can you get some more?" I asked. 

She grew quiet. I had just then remembered how expensive contacts were. The last time I had a restock was long ago, but nowadays paying for needs were getting more and more rough since the debts and bills from the lawyers were piling up. "Honey... can you wait some time before I get them? You know how it is, with the divorce and all," my mother sighed, wiping her hands on her apron. Suddenly realizing the weight of my request, my heart dropped in guilt. "Yeah, yeah I'm sorry. I still have my glasses, I don't need my contacts. It's fine."

"Kimmy!" Mikyong called out. I turned my head too fast, nearly causing my frames to fly right off my face. I held them in place before they could soar and in my line of vision was a very excited, and a very petite, Mikyong running towards me.

I was tackled, causing me to hold on to my spectacles yet again while my other hand encircled around her shoulder. "Good morning!" she greeted, giving me a big squeeze prior to letting me go. Once I regained freedom, I laughed. "Hey, good morning to you too, you ball of sunshine." I ruffled her hair. We began walking once more.

"You have your glasses today?" she asked. It had been a while since I had worn them outside. "Yeah, I ran out of my contacts again," I explained. 

She shrugged. "Why don't you restock?"

I frowned. "Mikyong. You know it's not that simple."

"Oh," she replied slowly. Regret flashed on her face. "I forgot."

Sighing, I took her hand and began to swing our arms back and forth. "It's okay! Don't you think these make me look smarter?" I winked at her through the frames, feeling at ease when her smile grew back. "Oh, wait," Mikyong said. "Did you forget? We have P.E. today."

Ugh. P.E. "Oh snap, I forgot about that! What am I supposed to do now? If I take them off, I'll be as blind as a bat," I pouted.

"I think it'll be fun to see you run around blind while you get hit by balls," a smug voice teased from behind me. I turned around to meet a snickering Kai. His hair was tousled from the wind and the collar of his shirt was ed. His tie was loose and his shirt wasn't tucked in, allowing parts of his skin to peek out whenever the wind tossed around his shirt.

I felt my face grow hot again. Damn it, good-looking teenage boys will forever be the death of me. Curse manhood for all eternity.

"I'm not going to get hit by anything," I scoffed, scooting away from him and closer to Mikyong. She just laughed and linked arms with me.

"Oh really? I'll personally make it my mission to throw something at you today. It'll be cute to see you squirm and squeal at me abusing you," he cooed, winking to deal the final blow. 

My heart sped up as I opened my mouth to retaliate. "Wha-?! You... you sadist!!" I screamed as I launched a fury of fists in his direction. He merely laughed at me as he dodged my attacks. "For your information, I happen to look adorable with my glasses. Maybe I'll become so cute that you'll develop a glasses just for me," I teased, poking him in the ribcage. I knew it was one of his weak spots.

"Huh? What's with you? If anything, you look like a lowly nerd," he sassed.

"You know, you're being really irritating so early in the morning."

We walked like that all the way to school; Kai running as I chased him from behind and Mikyong following suit.

Fifth period, it was finally lunch time. "Ah! High school is really tough, huh?" I complained, arching my back against my chair as I pulled out my lunch. Sunhi laughed, "You sound like an old geezer, Kim. Did your youth just fly out the window?" Mikyong snickered, seizing the moment to take a chip from my bag. "Hey!" I exclaimed, failing to reach for the stolen prize just as she popped it in . I whined, thumping my head against the table as I pinched Sunhi's cheek. "I'll have you know that I busted my of this morning helping my mother with chores before I went to school. My back is killing me," I replied. Mikyong laughed once more. "Yeah, yeah. Your life is so hard, let's all slow clap for your charity to the world," and as if on cue, they both began to slow clap for me. 

"Wow. How nice," I snorted. They both snickered again.

My back really was hurting though, and my legs were sore from standing up all day yesterday. Not only had I cleaned the entire first floor of our house, but I had made dinner for the family since my mom was working. I didn't sit down for hours, and suddenly I was regretting not stretching before doing such strenuous activities. "I should stretch next time," I muttered to myself.

Mikyong sprung up from her chair. "Sangchol!" she greeted, and quite happily at that. Sunhi and I raised our eyebrows as we glanced back and forth from each other before cooing. The flustered Mikyong shushed us before Sangchol got close. "Hello ladies," he greeted playfully, gliding into the seat that was adjacent from Mikyong and next to Sunhi. "How's your lunch going?" He then proceeded to steal a chip from my bag. 

"Seriously? Again?!" I sighed, exasperated.

"Wow. Great minds think alike," Sunhi said.

Sangchol raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?" he inquired, whilst munching on my chip. My beautiful, lost chip... 

Mikyong giggled. "Oh, nevermind them. What's up?" she asked. Sunhi nudged Sangchol in his side. "Yeah, did you come to talk to Mikyong?" she winked at him, while Mikyong began to grow red.

Sangchol laughed in reply. "Honestly, you guys are so weird. I actually came to return something to Kimmy." He began to reach for something in his bag.

Mikyong blinked. "To... Kim?"

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly. He pulled out a game disc from his bag. I recognized it as the game I lent him the other day. "Woah, you finished it already?" I asked, bewildered. It took me weeks to finish that. Sangchol smiled, sliding it across the desk to me. "Yep! It was really invigorating, just like you said. If you have any other suggestions, let me know. After that story, I'll trust your judgement," he said, shooting me a thumbs up.

I felt Mikyong's hot gaze on me. I chuckled nervously. I hope she didn't misunderstand anything. "Yeah... haha. I'll let you know." I tucked away the disc in my desk.

"Well now that that's done, I'm going to finish my lunch." He got up from his chair. "Oh! I almost forgot. I'm actually going to buy the next game from that series. I heard it comes with a two-player mode."

Oh boy. Please don't.

Sangchol smiled, oblivious to the damage he was inflicting here. "Whenever you get the chance, you should come over so we can play together. See ya!" As he left, Sunhi's mouth hung open in bewilderment. He actually went and said it, did he?

Mikyong slammed her hands against the table. "What the hell was that Kimmy?!" 

I winced, retreating my hands from the desk. "Look, I found out that we had the same hobby. It's no big deal, I won't go over to his house," I said slowly. 

She pouted. "This isn't part of your stupid plan is it? Your stupid jealously thing?" 

"What? Are you crazy? I don't even care about using Sang like that anymore."

"Oh. Sang. Sang is it?" she mocked, waving her hands to add to it. "Since when were you two so cuddly?" 

I held my head in my hands. "You're kidding me right? Seriously?" I groaned, while Sunhi just sat there staring at the two of us. Mikyong took a deep breath, her eyebrows furrowing. "Whatever. Do what you like." She began packing up her things.

"Look. Mikyong, I'm sorry," I called out. She wasn't listening to me. Instead, she was fastening her bag. "Mikyong, I said I'm sorry." No response. I frowned, and this time it was me who stood up from my chair. "Mikyong, look at me when I'm talking to you."

"If I look at you right now, I'll just get jealous and cry," she murmured, then turning around and storming out of the classroom.