Another day of school and Lina was waiting for the school bus like she did every morning with her grandmother by her side, quietly holding her hand.

She was busying herself by using her cane to drabble on the dirt by her feet while the old lady was looking at her with a slight smile covering her lips. She knew that her granddaughter was having a hard time at school, which broke her heart, and what surprised her was the fact that Lina wouldn’t complain; every time they wanted to talk about her day at school, she would always mention what she had learned in class and that was if she was in a good mood.

Not once did she ever mention her social life on those grounds.

Mrs. Choi softly patted her granddaughter’s head, which caught her attention as she lifted her head up, noticing tears in the corner of her eyes. “Grandma, why are you crying?”

“Am I?” She chuckled as she quickly wiped away her tears before looking back at Lina. “I didn’t notice.”

“Are you sad?”

“What? Of course not, sweetie~” She leaned in over and pecked Lina’s head before pulling back while softly the young girl’s brown hair, pushed in a ponytail with a light blue ribbon as a decorative hair tie holding it up.

She was about to speak when they heard the motor of the bus coming closer; she turned her head and a heavy sigh escaped from Lina’s mouth as she clutched tightly onto her cane, giving herself some encouragement to boost herself up.

Once the bus stopped in front of her with the door sliding to the side, just like usual, Mrs. Choi would help Lina climb up the bus and would bid her goodbye before leaving as she would go and take her usual seat behind the driver.

At one of the stops, while looking out the window, she recognized Cheolyong as he had been waiting for the bus to pick him up; through the window, he noticed her and brightly smiled at her; she looked behind her seat and saw that nobody was around her, which left her to think that he was smiling at her, leaving her flustered and shocked at his gesture.

She quickly looked away and down on her lap while gripping on her skirt, her hands through the fabric, still feeling the blush on her cheeks. The next second, she glanced back at the window and saw that he wasn’t there; out of reflex, she turned her head towards the entrance and saw him climbing up.

Once again he smiled at her while waving his hand to greet her and as a response, she turned her head back to the window, praying that he would walk away; just right there, she heard his name being called and quietly sighed in relief while the boy slightly frowned at her before walking to the back of the bus, joining the rest of his friends.

To her relief, he hasn’t been approaching her since then, until lunchtime came.

As usual, she would stay in her seat and quietly eat her meal while either advancing in her homework from her morning classes or read a book, depending on her mood.

Just like Cheolyong wished, an opportunity has presented itself.

By the time he was making his way to the cafeteria, the hallways were empty and as he made his way there, passing in front of a classroom, something caught his eyes. He suddenly stopped and turned his head to see Lina sitting on her desk by the window. Though surprised that she was eating in class, he couldn’t help but be happy at the chance he got.

And even though he was happy, he was starting to hesitate on how to do this: should he just walk in or rush back to his classroom and get the book he wanted her to have?

As he dwelled on the situation while looking at her, it took him a moment to realize that she was staring right back with a blank expression on her face. Left completely startled, he quickly rushed out of the hallway and quickened his steps towards the cafeteria; as for Lina, she was left confused but quickly shook off the stare by going back to what she was doing, distracting herself the best she could.

For the next few minutes, she would sneakily glance her eyes towards the entrance of the classroom to see if he had come back; she was conflicted on whether hoping that he would reappear or just forgetting the moment and move on.

She still had that piece in her heart that was praying to have a friend but she still felt like she couldn’t trust anybody and it daunted her that she will never be able to create a friendship.

‘It’s not like I really had friends before either…’

Shaking the thought away, she focused back to what she was doing as she was finishing her meal before class was about to start in just a few minutes.

“Choi Lina?”

Turning her head to the side, she saw the secretary at the door of her classroom while the rest of the students were packing their bags after the end of the day. The woman walked straight to her while giving a small smile before crouching down as Lina was still sitting at her desk. “You’re grandmother called and unfortunately your grandfather can’t pick you up because his truck is at the garage -”

“I have to take the school bus back home, right?”

“I’m afraid so, sweetheart.”

“Okay… Thank you.”

A last smile at the young girl and the secretary was out of the class, letting the silence surround the area since all the students had already left.

As for Lina, she quickly packed up her bags and tried to go as fast as she could so she wouldn’t miss the bus like the first time and just as she was about to lift her bag up from her desk, all her materials fell down on the floor.

She stared down for a few seconds until the faint sound of the motor could be heard making her lift her head up to see, through the window, the bus leaving her behind once again. She then turned her head to look at the door before looking back down at her books.

A slight sniff from her nose, she tried to hold in her tears while trying to get down to pick up her stuff.

‘Stupid leg…’

Giving up, she sat down on her chair and simply did nothing but letting her tears fall down her cheeks with the sound of her cries slightly held inside.

The soft sobs were heard through the empty hallway, leading a confused Cheolyong towards where the sound was coming from until he stood in front of the entrance of Lina’s classroom.

He silently stood there with a sad gaze before walking inside, noticing that her stuff were discarded on the floor. He bent down and quietly fixed her bag as he placed everything inside; this got her to stop as she stared at the familiar boy with her eyes slightly wide open as she was left surprised by his kindness.

Once he was done, he got back up on his feet and placed her bag on her desk before looking back at her with a gentle smile on his face. “Here you go.”

“T-thank you…” Breaking eye contact with him, she held onto the edge of the desk to stand up before planning on taking her bag but found herself staring back at Cheolyong who grabbed onto it as he placed one strap on his shoulder with a grin appearing on her face. “I can help you walk home if you want?”

“I-I’m – No… It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

She hastily nodded her head while wiping the tears that were left away and hesitantly grabbed onto her backpack; with a sigh, he gave it back to her but didn’t move from his spot.

“I don’t mind-”

“I’m fine.”

She started walking away while the boy still stood in his spot as he watched her go. It didn’t stop him though. The moment she stepped out of the classroom, he started following her until they were both by the gate where she suddenly stopped as she heard other footsteps behind her. She turned around and spotted Cheolyong shyly smiling at her while waving his hand.

She turned around without giving him more attention and was about to walk away when she suddenly tripped and fell on the ground; crying out from the pain, he let out a surprised gasp as he ran over to her, helping her back up on her feet. Because of the lingering pain in her bad knee, she had leaned onto him as she bit her bottom lip to hold in her emotions; he placed her arm around his shoulders while holding onto her cane with his free hand as he glanced around to see if he could find a place where they could sit.

Not too far away, he spotted a rock big enough to be used as a resting place. He led her there as they took their time and made her sit on the pillar. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you? I really don’t mind…” Looking up at him, she noticed some kind of worry in his eyes after hearing that same concern in his voice. Looking away, she was debating on whether to accept his help or push him away again; she finally decided to accept even though a part of her was still reluctant since she didn’t fully trust him.

“D-do you know where the garage is? I n-need to get there…”

“Of course!” He had his grin back across his lips, finally relieved that he could break through even though it was still a small step.

Stepping back, he stretched out his hand leaving her to stare at it before shyly taking it as he helped her up; he took back her bag and strapped it on one side of his shoulder before linking her arm with his.

Down the road, he tried to come up with something to say but nothing was able to come out leaving them to walk in silence while for Lina, having his company was satisfying enough; he was kind enough to offer his hand and even insisted on it.

It was a first.

“We’re here.”

“Hmm?”

They were thirty minutes into their walk before she realized that they had arrived. Noticing her grandfather from afar, she smiled at her sight and turned back to look at Cheolyong as she shyly thanked him once again before softly taking back her bag from his shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay from here? We don’t have much left -”

“It’s okay, thank you.”

“O-oh, okay… I’ll see you at school then…”

He was about to turn his back when he suddenly remembered the book he wanted to give her.

“Lina? Before I forget… I-I wanted to give you something.”

Intrigued, she slightly tilted her head to the side as she saw him approach her while he fetched something out of his bag; she noticed that he was taking out a book and placed it in front of her as he was holding it with both of his hands. “I noticed the other day that you had a book in hand and hmm… well, it wasn’t a school book so I thought that if you like reading, you can borrow this.”

From the graphic novel, she lifted her gaze up to him, showing him her confusion at his sudden gentle manner. “Usually, I wouldn’t let anybody touch them since I’m pretty much attached to my collection but I thought that maybe… you’d like to read something hmm… different?”

He was suddenly turning shy and it left her to bite the inner part of her bottom lip as she tried stifling a smile. She took the book in her hands and stared at the cover before gazing back up at him and finally showing him that small smile.

“It’s kind of you… Thank you. I’ll take very good care of it.”

He nodded his head before greeting her goodbye as he started walking backwards and waving until he finally turned around, getting back on the street. She watched him until he was completely out of sight and quickly placed the book in her bag, careful as not to damage it.

She then turned around after placing her bag back and started walking until she was close enough to call out her grandfather; the old man looked up surprised before smiling as he rushed his steps to the young girl. “Did you walk all this way from school?”

“Mhmm. I missed the bus again.”

“Let’s take a seat then; this shouldn’t take any longer before we get back home, okay?”

“Sure.” Though he was glad to see Lina with him, he had to act surprised that she was able to come all this way; at the moment she had received that book from Cheolyong, Mr. Choi was able to recognize the young boy. He had held in his anger as he clenched his jaw and took steady breaths so he wouldn’t burst out towards the kids.

‘There’s no way I’ll let Lina near him. He’s the same as his father. Tsk.’