Jongin impatiently glanced down at his Rolex watch.

He wanted to leave the restaurant. He didn’t even want to see his parents so how was he supposed to eat dinner with them peacefully?

“Jongin honey, it’ll be good if you studied abroad,” Mrs. Kim gave him a smile which he knew was fake. It didn’t reach her eyes. “You’ll gain some experience since you’re going to be taking over the Law Firm soon, don’t you agree darling?” She asked for her husband’s opinion rather than Jongin’s.

“Absolutely, you’ll learn so much son. You’ll be the perfect heir and I won’t regret leaving the Law Firm to you,” Mr. Kim lightly chuckled.

Jongin’s hands curled into fists. “Father, I’m only 18,” he sternly stood his ground.

“I was 16 when I took over the Law Firm from my father,” Mr. Kim protested. “You’re old enough!” He growled at his son’s childish protest.

“This has nothing got to do with you, this is about me!” Jongin raised his voice now.

Mrs. Kim glared at her son to keep quiet. “Jongin, people are looking. You’re embarrassing us,” she selfishly stated, angering him even more.

“This is me you’re talking about. It is my choice and my decision to whether if I want to study abroad or not, and my answer is no,” he calmly expressed, but this made Mr. Kim shake his head in disgust.

“You’re a coward son and I feel ashamed for you!” He slammed his hands on the table, earning a few glares from other customers. Mrs. Kim gently rubbed her husband’s back, trying to calm him down, but it didn’t work. “This is over, this discussion is over. We’re leaving!” He grabbed his wife’s hand and left the restaurant without glancing back at his son.

Some customers in the restaurant looked over at Jongin who was now sitting alone. Some were angry that Jongin and his family had caused a commotion, ruining their appetite. Some watched in curiosity, wanting to get some insight of the Kim family.

Jongin pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated that his parents had once again not listened to what he had wanted. They never understood him. They thought they were doing the best for him, but they weren’t. They were demanding Jongin what they wanted him to do for them. It was as if he was chasing his parents’ dreams. Clearly in anger but mostly in frustration, Jongin got up from his seat and decided to leave the restaurant as well. He didn’t care that other people were giving him weird looks, he even ignored their rude comments.

“Is there a problem Ma’am?” He heard someone ask.

For some reason, he couldn’t help but turn around to look at the person who had just spoke. He saw a waiter near the window, looking down at a girl who looked about his age. He took a step closer and gasped in surprised when he saw that the girl was none-other than Mira.

“Um…you see, I don’t have my purse with me right now,” she awkwardly touched her hair, not knowing how to deal with the situation.

“What do you mean?” The waiter asked, not understanding what she was trying to say. 

“I think I left my purse back at my apartment,” Mira said and her bottom lip which was a habit of hers.

The waiter looked beyond surprised. “Are you telling me that you came to eat at a restaurant without money?” He sounded angry now. He was getting tired of the polite act which he had to put on.

“Excuse me, I’m not that foolish. I don’t think any person would do something like this. I’m clearly trying to tell you that I have forgotten my purse back at my apartment, I didn’t realise until when I had to find my damn purse to pay the bill!” Mira’s voice got louder.

“Ma’am, this is your problem and you have to figure something out. All I need is the money, or else I would have to tell my manager on you,” he impatiently commented.

What the hell is this waiter thinking? She thought as her hands curled up into fists. “Are you accusing me that I purposely left my purse so that I wouldn’t have to pay for this meal?” Mira asked in disgust. 

He nodded almost as if it was a dumb question. “Who would walk into a restaurant not realising that they don't have their wallets with them?” He rhetorically asked. “You’re poor aren’t you? You don’t have enough money to pay for your meal right?” He stupidly assumed by the way Mira was dressed tonight.

Mira wasn't those girls who were interested and so caught up with fashion. She didn't even like to dress fancy. She just liked to be dressed into something comfortable, but here in the Capital it was nothing surprising. The upper class would always judge each other by the way they were dressed, this would often tell if they had more power than them or not. Everyone wanted to be better than each other. Even if they were rich, they desired more money and power so they could reach the top. 

Before she could curse at the waiter, she saw Jongin walking toward them. Mira blinked in surprise. What’s he doing here? That was the only thing she could think of right now.

Jongin wore a black tuxedo which had a midnight blue with a thin green windowpane pattern. It had an unusual detail, along with handmade buttonholes and functional cuff buttons which gave the garment away as bespoke. The shirt was white with lavender stripes running up it. The tie was deep purple, solid and sleek. His pocket square was colourful and vibrant, yet tasteful. Mira guessed that maybe he had just came back from an important event, or that maybe she had disturbed him like the rest while he was having his dinner at the restaurant. 

“Here’s the damn money, now leave,” he literally shoved the bill into the waiter’s hand while giving him a cold glare. “And keep the change, I think you need it more than she does,” he added as he took Mira’s hand and led her out of the restaurant, not wasting any time.

It had gotten a bit colder outside now and Mira could feel that. Her hair got ruffled by the wind as she awkwardly followed Jongin to wherever he was taking her. That’s when she realised he was once again holding her hand. Ok, this is getting too familiar. She quickly let go of his hand and simply just stood there, not knowing what to do next. She could feel Jongin’s eyes on her and she felt uncomfortable once again. What was she supposed to say? Well, he just paid for my meal. Am I supposed to thank him? Mira was contemplating real hard on whether or not if she should speak up first. She also thought back to the time when he had defended her from Taejoon. Was she supposed to thank him for that too? 

She finally nodded her head in determination and decided to forget about her pride for a few minutes only. “T-thanks,” she said while looking down at the ground, not wanting to look right at Jongin’s face. “And thanks for the other day as well….” She awkwardly added and cleared her dry throat. She had forgotten how to thank someone as she hadn’t done it in a long time. She wasn’t comfortable with it either so her saying thanks was just frightening for her to do.

Jongin couldn’t help, but smile at the scene which was taking place in front of him. He found it awfully cute how Mira couldn’t make any eye contact with him. He guessed that she had never once thanked someone by the way she often cleared in between and by the way she played with her fingers, not knowing how to show her body language.

“I guess you have to buy me dinner next time for a compensation.” Jongin playfully remarked.

Mira finally looked up at him, slightly confused.

Jongin slightly smirked and left in amusement.

---

Mira had been staring at her ceiling for an hour straight.

What did Jongin mean by she had to buy him dinner next time?

They weren’t going to meet each other next time, were they?

She lightly slapped her cheeks. No, we have nothing got to do with each other. She decided that it was finally time to go to bed. It was already past midnight.

Hoping to get some sleep, she turned off her room light and got into her warm bed, but she couldn’t get any sleep at all.

Why did Jongin help her once again?

Why did he keep on appearing out of nowhere?

She persuaded herself that Jongin simply wanted to help out one of the students from his Academy.

He would do the same for someone else right? 

---

The next day when Mira woke up, she had a fluttering feeling in her stomach. She was actually nervous to go to school. No, she was actually scared to see Jongin again. Well, she wasn’t exactly scared, she just didn’t know how to act in front of him. She just hoped she wouldn’t bump into him at school. Mira didn’t even know who he was until that day when he defended her from Taejoon. She didn’t even know anyone at her school, well only Hyerim because she annoyed her nonstop. There was no way Mira could forget about her. Everyone else in the Academy was just a blur. They all looked the same in her eyes, snobs and arrogant adolescents. She didn’t even want to get to know any of them.

“Kang Mira,” someone called. Mira suddenly woke up from her thoughts and stood up from her chair, a bit frantically. “It’s your turn now,” Mrs. Shin narrowed her eyebrows. 

Mira guessed that her teacher had called her name a couple of times. She bit her lips as she bowed, embarrassed that she hadn’t been paying attention in class. Other students watched as Mira carefully took the violin out of the black case. Mrs. Shin had decided to judge Mira play another instrument since she was one of the best students. She wanted to expand more of Mira’s talent as she simply didn’t want it to go to waste.

Mira took a deep breath before playing the violin. She had to break away from her piano stage and get into the violin mode.

They were two completely different instruments.

Violin required precision and agility which sometimes was contrasted in a bowing motion. The finger movements had to be delicate, yet very decided. Without wasting any more time, Mira started playing the violin and soon the room was filled with a beautiful sound that no one could describe.

Suddenly, someone barged into the room.

The visitor being Jongin.

Mira panicked a bit when she saw him, but she tried to keep calm and reminded herself that she couldn’t be distracted at the moment.

Mrs. Shin placed her finger on her lips, motioning Jongin not to open his mouth. He nodded without even looking at her and watched Mira play the violin this time.

How many instruments can she play? Jongin was just so mesmerised by this scene.

It seemed so picture perfect.

There was grace and sense of refinement in her wrist angle of the hand. She held the violin firmly but in a relaxed way, steady but easy. She held it with enough conviction that it didn’t flop away and fell as she was gentle, not wanting to crush it.

The room was silent, it seemed like everyone else were just as mesmerised as him. 

Finally Mira finished, she simply bowed and got off the small built up stage in the room. Some students clapped while some were glaring at her, obviously jealous of her talent.

It took a while for Mrs. Shin to give Mira her score. She seemed like she was in deep thoughts, deciding what overall mark she should give Mira. “95.34,” she finally announced. A few murmurs could be heard from the students while Mira blinked in surprise. This was the lowest score she had ever gotten from all her other small performance exams and the other students in the club knew that as well. “I couldn’t help, but feel that you were distracted while you played the violin,” Mrs. Shin sternly told the reason why she had given Mira such a surprising score. Mira totally agreed with her and respected her decision. Mrs. Shin was right. Mira was distracted when she played the violin and it was Jongin to blame.

However, someone had an opposing opinion. “I thought it was great,” someone commented, making everyone’s head turn toward the boy who was once again standing in the middle of the room.

Mira mentally slapped her forehead in annoyance, she couldn’t even look at him.

Students started whispering things into each other’s ears while Mrs. Shin took off her glasses. “Jongin, you do realise that you’re late for class,” she stated as she crossed her arms, not impressed.  

Jongin lifted his hands in defence. “I just came here to tell you that I’m not going to be participating in this club anymore,” he simply told her his reason for being here so suddenly.

Mrs. Shin shook her head, displeased. “Jongin, you can’t just do whatever you pkeas-“

Before she could continue her sentence, Jongin walked over to Mira whose heart started pounding really quickly. She was afraid that the others around her might hear the sound of her heartbeat. She just hoped Jongin wouldn’t say anything stupid, she didn’t want to be the center of attention. Her breath got caught in when his face was just a few inches away from hers. “I fired him,” she heard him speak.

“Huh?” She stupidly asked, not understanding what Jongin was talking about. What does he want to talk about with me? Can't he wait, and talk to me in private or something? Mira didn’t like the way the girls in her class were looking at her. They were furious and curious at the same time as to why Jongin was even talking to Mira. 

“The waiter, I told the manager to fire him,” Jongin tried to refresh Mira’s memory and she finally realised what he was talking about, but still kept her usual blank expression. She was wondering why he was telling her this all of a sudden. She also wanted to yell at him as to why he had spoken to her in front of other schoolmates. This meant that now she had to deal with more people glaring at her, especially from the girls. “You know the waiter from the restaurant where we ate dinner last night,” Jongin added, thinking that Mira was confused with what he was referring to.

Mira nearly choked on her own saliva. Did he just? No he didn’t…right? She now really wanted to beat the out of him right on the spot. Why would he even say that? Out of all the things he could have said to make her understand more, he used this statement, but she couldn’t help feel happy.

Why did she suddenly feel happy?

Was it because the rude waiter got fired?

The thought of how Jongin had taken his time to call the manager of the restaurant just to fire the waiter who had rudely spoken to Mira made her feel happy. She was touched. 

Students gasped in shock, already assuming the worst. The boys chuckled while the girls were at the verge of nearly pulling their own hair out.

“They ate dinner, together?!”

“Oh, please don’t tell me they're official.”

Before the girls could stand up and walk toward Mira in anger, Mrs. Shin clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Kim Jongin, leave before you get a detention!” She shouted, angry at how he had disturbed her class.

He simply shrugged and walked toward the door, but halted. He turned around to look at Mira one last time. He couldn’t help, but slightly smile at her surprised look. She still looked like she was trying to process what had just happened earlier. “See ya.” He calmly called out to Mira, surprising her even further. He then finally left, leaving the room full of students with curiosity.

Mira didn’t even realise that she had just smiled. This suddenly freaked her out. She never smiled. She hadn’t smiled in ages. 

Why was this boy making her do things that she had never done in forever?

The students around her gasped when they saw her smile. They were the first few lucky people to get the front row seat to see the ‘Ice Princess’ smile. This made them assume more things between the two of them.

“Mira, are you dating Jongin?”

“You seduced him, didn’t you?!”

“I’m just so speechless.”

“Why her? Why?”

“I’m going to cry!”

Mrs. Shin clapped her hands once again, beyond angry now. She was furious. “Quiet down!” She shouted and everyone stopped at once. They had never once seen her this angry. Yes, she had raised her voice at them a couple of times, but not like this. This frightened them so they did as they were told. “Anh Jihoon, you’re next,” she called for the next student to judge. The boy quickly picked up his preferred instrument-a guitar and went up onto the stage.

Before the boy could start playing, Mrs. Shin looked at Mira. “Kang Mira, please do keep your love life private.” She sternly stated, but with a smile on her face.