Seulgi lightly tapped her pencil on her notepad repeatedly, careful not to make too much noise. Mr. Kim was teaching an oh-so-boring lesson that seemed to have no aim or purpose. While Seulgi, she was zoned out and the teacher's voice seemed to have been muddled and steped on, eventually turning into a never-ending track of 'blah, blah, blah'. She stared at the back of Wendy's head attentively, it seemed as though she was trying to find a way to drill into the poor girl's head just to get a glimpse of what was running through the younger's mind. 

          "Remember, to know someone's mind, you have to know all factors that affect the behavior of their mind as well; not just the person." Mr. Kim now pointed to a diagram on the board with his wooden stick. "This part of the mind controls emotions." Seulgi found herself paying attention for second, when it seemed that he was actually going to give the instructions to hack a person's mind (more specifically Wendy's) though she quickly found herself falling at a gaze again. 

          "Pick a partner, sit down with that partner, be quiet with that partner." Mr. Kim instructed the class. Every began shuffling around and Seulgi shook out of her sleep, inferencing the situation based on her fellow classmate's movements. Joy dashed toward Irene lovingly and Seulgi observed everyone sit beside one of their friends. She somehow ended up alone, the most popular girl in school ended up alone. Probably because every person in the class assumed she would pair with Joy, but she didn't. 

          Seulgi took a look at everybody, and as if she shone a light with her eyes, everyone looked back at her. "Ms. Kang, you may pair with this girl in the front. What was your name again?" He raised an eyebrow, almost as like he had never seen her before. "Her name is Wendy, Sir." Seulgi brought herself to the front and took the chair beside Wendy. She slightly glared at Mr. Kim for not knowing Wendy's name, for acting like Wendy never existed before this moment, for turning the whole class' attention toward the girl. With attention came snickers and whispering which Kang Seulgi did not like whatsoever. 

          "Don't listen to them Wendy, they're just wasting their own time." Seulgi said a whisper of her own, a positive one toward her now project partner. Wendy ignored Seulgi, along with the rest of the class. She didn't even acknowledge them, what Seulgi thought Wendy hated, Wendy was used to all of it. Seulgi sighed heavily, it wasn't easy failing at every single attempt to be friends with Son Seunghwan. 

          "Quiet down, quiet down!" Mr. Kim shouted out to the class, slowly but surely, the chatter faded. He thoroughly explained the premises of the project. "This does count for your final mark!" He smirked, rubbing his large hands together. 

          Wendy bit her lip hard, she did not want Kang Seulgi pestering her even more than she already did. She wasn't comfortable with the project and mentally cursed at Mr. Kim for making it mandatory. The bell rang and Mr. Kim dismissed the class as usual. "Students! One week, remember!" 

          "Seungwan~" Seulgi cooed for the millionth time that week, Wendy's eyerolls became increasingly empathetic to anyone who was aware of this situation. Ever since Seulgi's found out Wendy's Korean name (by a procedure only Heaven would know), she's been a broken record about it. It was lunch and Wendy went to the rooftop, as usual, and Seulgi followed her as usual.  

          Joy has since given up on trying to persuade Seulgi to eat with her during lunch, she instead spent her time with her oh-so-lovely girlfriend. "Are Seulgi and that freak dating?" Joy gave a slight shake of the head to Irene, beginning to talk about some other, more 'personal', conversations that were only to be discussed between Joyrene. Irene happily ignored her girlfriend to continue her pursuit.

          "Sooyoung-ah, is Seulgi becoming a loser like that girl she stalks?" Joy puffed out her cheeks and emitted a sigh, understanding that Irene would not shut up about it until she gave her a clear answer. "Sure. No. Probably.. Not. I don't know. Seulgi and I haven't had a proper conversation in a while and I'd appreciate if we stopped talking about her and her 'stalkee'." Joy was angry, which was extrememly rare. She was losing her bestfriend to somebody else and she didn't have a clue why. All she desired and deserved to know was why.

          Back at the rooftop, Wendy pulled out a book from her bag and started reading, she hasn't been talking to Seulgi since they entered the cold (getting colder) rooftop. The dry, crisp scent of winter was nearing; it caused Seulgi to wonder where she would follow Wendy to when the roof was filled with snow and icicles. "Didn't you already read that book? Great Expectations, Dickens?" Wendy merely nodded her head at Seulgi, and Seulgi was satisfied with that since she hasn't been getting any reaction or answers from the girl at all. 

          "Why are you reading it again?" Seulgi kneeled in front of Wendy who was sitting on a block of elevated cement. Seulgi resembled a hamster, sticking her head into Wendy's personal space while smiling like a cute baby cub. "You can still flip pages with a glove on, look how red your fingertips are... Poor thing..." Seulgi whispered the last words to herself subconciously, all her actions were out of care and love for Wendy. Yes, love. Seulgi wasn't aware that she, deep down, had some kind out of the many kinds of love (friend love, family love, love out of respect, etc.) for Wendy.

          She took one of her teddy bear mittens and fit it onto Wendy's small hand, she then proceeded to do the same to the black-haired girl's left hand. "I knitted those by myself." Seulgi smiled triumphantly, taking the book from Wendy's lap and placing it back in the younger's hands snuggly. Wendy looked at Seulgi warm smile for a second before returning her gaze to her copy of Great Expectations. Wendy pondered on how Seulgi always seemed so warm despite the weather being cold and others being cold towards her. It was just part of her personality, wasn't it?

          "So why are you reading it again?" Seulgi took a seat beside Wendy. She slipped her hands to the sides of her waist, to realize that her jacket didn't have any pockets. She sighed but quickly returned her attention back to Wendy. The truth was Wendy had read the book 9 times, 10 including this time. The reason why she read this book so many times was because she found it beautiful that Pip would love Estella after what seemed like an eternity even though Estella treated him like her was dog . She appreciated how Dickens conveyed love as something that, despite one not recieving, will give out endlessly. However, she was completely oblivious that that situation was her life currently. 

          It was Wendy as Estella, the cold girl who couldn't recognize what she had right under her nose; and Seulgi as Pip, the hopeless romantic chaser who was forever persistant and determined. Perhaps if Wendy could interpret her annoying stalker that would never leave her to be, as Estella and Pip, she would actually realize the greatness of what she had constantly chasing her tail. 

          Time passed slowly for both of them, Seulgi knew she wasn't going to get any more than a head nod or shrug from Wendy so she just sat quietly, absorbing all she could of her counterpart. After all, she didn't really need answers from Wendy, she just wanted them. Seulgi quietly rubbed her hands together, trying to build friction between them as they were freezing. She tried to be the least distracting to Wendy as possible. Nonetheless, Wendy noticed her actions. 

          "Take the mittens back.." Wendy said monotonously, she did not look away from her book, but her attention was definietely fixed on Seulgi as she wasn't reading any of the words in front of her. "No, no. You're cold." Seulgi smiled brightly and placed an arm around the other girl's shoulder, an action that did not go unnoticed by Wendy.

          "You're too." Wendy's eyes diverted from the book and went toward the hand draping over her left shoulder. Seulgi quicky nipped Wendy's porcelain cheek with her finger and it made Wendy push her slightly. However, it was a playful push, and Seulgi could've sworn that she saw a glimpse of a cute toothy smile. The movement of the push put about 15 centimeters between the two, Seulgi's arm was awkwardly uncomfortable. They looked at eachother for a moment before Seulgi moved back beside Wendy, being even closer than they were before. "You're hands are going to turn blue." Wendy retorted again, ready to take the cute teddy bear mittens off for Seulgi. 

          Seulgi then placed a hand on top of Wendy's to stop her from pulling the mitts off, "Don't, I made them for you." Wendy looked at her dumbfounded. "You used to have this stuffed bear in kindergarten, and you brought it everywhere. You had it until mid-first grade, then you stopped bringing it. So I made a replica, into something that you can use to warm yourself in the winter." Wendy couldn't help her smile from forming. "You remember that...?" She asked, as the conversation went on, she slowly leaned closer and closer into Seulgi. 

          "Of course I do. I could never forget how all of them treated you. I could never get why you were the one picked on." Wendy remembered the day that she stopped bringing in her stuffed teddy. It was because the bullies took it, and threw it in a muddy puddle, ripped out it's limbs, and left it to die. Before that, Wendy hugged it, sitting in the corner of the room; that stuffed animal somehow made everything alright. "Why'd you stop bringing teddy anyways? He always seemed to neutralize your sadness and pain." 

          Wendy was surprised with Seulgi's observation skills, she was surprised how observant Seulgi was of her, even when they were young. Wendy breifly explained to Seulgi the story of how teddy dissappeared. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you back then." By this time, Wendy's and Seugi's hands were entangles with each other, Wendy tried her best to warm Seulgi's freezing fingertips. "It's all behind me now, it's nothing but a memory in the dust." Their conversation died to a dry silence that the school bell interupted. 

          "Let's get to class." Seulgi dragged Wendy up by the hand and they exited the roof top, and entered class together.

TBC

Hi... Sorry I didn't update in 1 month+. School has been driving me crazy and I'm super busy nowadays. Following the news about Jessica and idk, all the stuff that has been going on... I just feel deflated, tired, and slightly unmotivated. I'm sure this phase will go away soon but for now I just feel kind of sad (for lack of a better word). 

I'll try to update asap, but I can't promise it's gonna be soon. I update when I'm inspired and motivated so just leave me a couple comments and feed my happiness :) I'll see you guys next update, bye~