"Thanks." Sojin squeezed my hand in response, not withdrawing apart.

I didn't know where my sudden confidence was coming from but my thoughts of Sojin finally reciprocating my affections were solidifying. Perhaps because she had always been mindful of me despite her thick walls of indifference, or because, as I had witnessed and validated tonight, she had never really rejected my confession. She had doubted it, yes, and she most certainly didn't welcome the idea, but she never told me to back off. She never told me she couldn't look at me that way. She never told me to let her go. And all these might be solely grounded upon conceit but they're grounds nonetheless; always better than nothing.

"But I wasn't joking when I asked you to forget about this," she muttered, sighing heavily and dropping her forehead against my left shoulder. Electrifying would be an understatement of the accompanying feeling. And this - this! - was exactly why my hopes were always ablaze.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just tired."

"Tired of what?"

She heaved another deep breath and it was then that I remembered my present - my outrageously lame present, I wasn't sure why I had even thought of it.

It was a cool Wednesday night then and I was snuggling in bed in the hopes of claiming my well-deserved sleep when the idea slipped my mind. I had acted on impulse, to say simply, or perhaps my subconscious had always been latched on to the idea so that when the opportunity finally presented itself, my response was already automatic.

Sojin tugged on my hand. "Can we sit?"

I did a quick scan around. No chairs nor benches nor sofa.

"On the carpet, I mean," she added when she noticed my hesitation. She slackened her grip and slid down, brought her knees to her chest, hugged them and buried her face in between. The flowy edges of her dress circled around her like conjoined petals of a golden flower.

"Or you can go home," she said, her tone suddenly dismissive.

I smiled; the girl was so easy to sulk. I made sure to add that to my mental list of her attributes.

I settled beside her and leaned back against my palms. The carpet was warm and soft, and the more I pondered about tonight, the more answers I was bound to discover - if I could just muster the right amount of nerve to insist upon my questions.

I decided to start with the basics. "Is this your house?"

"No, it's my Aunt's," she supplied. "We don't fancy ostentatious living."

"You are obviously well-off, though." Again, my thoughts reeled back to two Christmases ago. Those gifts..

And it was astonishing how Sojin was able to pick up on my thoughts as she said, "You know, if you're still overwhelmed by my choice of presents, you should probably just give me an equally extravagant one. It'd be offsetting."

"It's not that, Sojin," I argued, flustered by my own transparency. "It's.. I don't know -"

"The thought that counts but even thoughtfulness could only do so much?" She raised her head finally, smiling sideways at me. "I know. But for the record, I didn't actually realize I spent that much until after I got my credit card bill the following month. And that was on top of Oppa and Eomma's additional bills that I'd swiped on. Appa totally believed I was moving out because he thought I used all the money to buy my own unit or something, it was hilarious."

So it was that much, huh. Not that I minded. Even I hadn't really been wary of my own expenses.

"To be honest, Luhan, I don't get it why you're so bothered when all your friends actually see you as their financer or something. Either you're too naive to realize that or you just can't believe of my so-called thoughtfulness. Tell me," she frowned, "which one is which?"

Both, actually. And - me as my friends' financer? Since when? They weren't referring to my occasional treats.. right? And Sojin's level of thoughtfulness, though very apparent, was still too surreal to accept. I answered with a grin.

For the next few minutes of comfortable silence, Sojin contented herself with what the tiny window could offer of the heavenly view up ahead while I mulled over my next questions.

About her origin? Her childhood? Her family? Her aspirations? Her preferences?

But then I thought, wouldn't they sound too scripted and unnatural?

Giving up on boring, routinary ones, I opted to just go for the kill. "Who's Hyukshin?"

"Another marriage prospect," she answered instantly. "A persistent one, I'll admit."

This spiked my interest in a not so pleasant way. "Persistent since when?"

"Er, nearly a year now, I think? I don't pay him much attention but he's one of the reasons why I transferred schools earlier this school year."

She what? "Why would you do that? For him?"

Sojin laughed. "I didn't do it for him - gosh, no. He was planning to transfer to our school so he could be with me -"

"So it was you who transferred instead? So you could be with him?" I couldn't stop myself.

"Why am I even explaining this to you? You're not my boyfriend for heaven's sake. I didn't even get interrogated by my parents when I decided these." She laughed even more; I would've been offended had it not been for her genuine and cute manner of laughing. "I transferred in a school for geniuses - when I say geniuses, I don't mean it in the literal sense but regardless, you'd have to be way above average - and apparently, he's not a genius so he can't chase after me. But that was really just the smaller of the two birds I was trying to hit with a single stone."

I considered the circumstances in my head as I slowly nodded. All those times of hysterical wondering of her whereabouts and the answer was finally here - well, half of it at least. No wonder she wouldn't spill before.