“Snap out of it, Cha Eun Sang,” she chastised herself as she was making her way towards the locker area. “It shouldn’t bother you. It was no big deal,” she added as soon as she reached her locker.

She hadn’t looked in the mirror, but, she was pretty sure she looked haggard. She hated that Choi Young Do hugging her last night bothered her more than she thought it would.

She sighed then proceeded to open her locker.

She was organizing her things in her locker when her phone chimed. She smiled upon reading her mom’s text message.

“I’ll text you back later, mom,” she thought as she closed her locker door.

“Did you sleep well?”

She jumped and whipped around at the voice.

“Choi Young Do,” she thought and rolled her eyes.

She hadn't even looked in the mirror this morning. Embarrassed, she did her best to appear anything but.

She didn’t answer him; instead she just looked at him and frowned, feigning irritation to mask the nervousness she felt. What she was nervous about, she didn’t know.  

“Don’t you really know?” a voice inside her head asked. She shook her head and snubbed Choi Young Do squarely. She turned the other way and walked away from him as fast as she could.  

It pissed her off that it bothered her that it didn’t seem to bother him. You know, that hug from last night. Ugh! Why was she making a big deal out of it?

“Snap out of it, Cha Eun Sang,” she thought and walked even faster.

“Hey, Cha Eun Sang!” She heard him call out behind her, but, she ignored him and continued walking away from him.

“Hey!” He grabbed her wrist once he caught up to her.

She rolled her eyes then turned around to look at him. “What?”

He frowned. “What what?”

She frowned back and frowned even deeper when he smiled. “What? What’s so funny?”

He shrugged, “you.” He added, “are you bothered by that moment we shared last night?”

She rolled her eyes. Okay. He was teasing her. And he was enjoying it. He was openly laughing at her discomfort now, and her irritation towards him is growing at a ridiculously rapid rate.

She scowled at him then she looked down at his hand around her wrist. Choi Young Do let go of her wrist and his hand went into his bag. “Here,” he paused as he handed her something. “You forgot this in the car.”

She frowned and she caught her breath when she saw what it was.  She grabbed it from him, “My journal!” She grabbed it from him then looked at him through narrowed eyes.

As if reading her thoughts, Choi Young Do shook his head. “No, I didn’t read it,”

She was still looking at him when she opened her journal. She flipped through the pages gently, then violently when she couldn’t find the dried leaves inserted in her journal notebook.

"Where the hell are the dried leaves inserted in this journal, Choi Young Do?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t even open tha—”

“What did you do with them?” she asked him calmly, trying to hide the storm of emotions she was feeling.

“I told you, I didn’t even open that journal!”

She shook her head, feeling frustrated. “If you didn’t open my notebook, then why aren’t they here?”

Choi Young Do scoffed, “Come on, Cha Eun Sang. What’s the big deal? They’re just dried leaves, for christ’s sake!”

She scoffed and shook her head. “Well, for the information of your royal douchebaggery it is a big deal because they’re mine to begin with!”

Choi Young Do’s mouth dropped a little and some anger seeped into his expression.

“Wow! Did you just become angry? Thanks! That’s so considerate of you to be angry on my behalf!” she said sarcastically.

Holding the strap of his bag a little tighter, Choi Young Do replied, "I tossed it."

Her jaw dropped and when she fully realized what he just said, she shoved his shoulder as hard as she possibly could. "You what? Those weren’t yours to get rid of, !"

Face heated, Choi Young Do took a step forward. "You left it in my car.”

“Not on purpose,” she half-whispered, half-screamed; Desperate not to draw attention from other students, but, frustrated enough to want to bawl his eyes out.

“If you lost it somewhere in the park, no one would return it to you.”

She drew in a breath and slowly exhaled. She shook her head and sneered, “You think you’re really entitled.”

“I am entitled,” he retorted. “And it's not my problem that you left it in my car,” he shrugged.  "My car isn't your personal storage unit,” he added then walked away.

“Wow. I couldn’t believe that just last night, I thought this was sad or going through some difficulty,” she thought.

She was left there standing, mouth agape. “What the eff did just happen? No, you can’t just walk out on me.”

She ran after him, “Hey Choi Young Do!”

Before he could even react, her fist landed on his left cheek. Even she was surprised that she hit him hard, judging by how the bones in her hand hurt and started to numb.

“What the—”

She covered and feigned surprise. “Oh, my! I didn’t know what I was doing.” He was shooting her dagger looks, but she ignored him. “I must have been possessed by the tree spirits, avenging the kidnap of their kind. My bad,” she added then started walking away.”

“Hey!”

She ignored him and she kept walking, a small smile played on her lips.

“Hey, Cha Eun Sang!”

She kept walking and—

“Are you deaf?” he asked as soon as he caught up to her.

She smirked. “It’s my default setting to be hard of hearing when you talk to me.”

“How many lunch meals do you still owe me?”

“I don’t know. Three? Two? Somewhere between that.”

He laughed exasperatedly. “You’re cheating, Cha Eun Sang. I’m sure it’s still around five or seven meals.”

“You’ve been absent, remember?”

“Yes, but, just for a few days!”

“So?”

“So, you still owe me around five or seven meals!”

“But it’s not my fault that you went on an absenteeism spree, is it?”

Choi Young Do drew in a breath and slowly exhaled. “Okay, here’s the deal. You wouldn’t owe me any more meals and—”

“Really? That’s amazing! I mean, I’ve be—”

“I’m not done yet,” he cut her off. “Manners, Cha Eun Sang.”

She shrugged. “Okay, go on.”

“You wouldn’t owe me any more lunch meals as long as you have dinner with me. Tonight,” Choi Young Do said.

“Just like that? Just one dinner?” she asked suspiciously.

“Yes, just like that.”

“He’s fidgeting. Is he fidgeting?” she thought.

She eyed him suspiciously. “Since I don’t take orders from you,” she raised her left eyebrow, “I’m gonna need a better reason.”

“If I tell you, you have no choice but to have dinner with me tonight.”

“What?”

“That’s the deal.”

“Alright,” she said. She thought, whatever the reason was, she could handle it. If it meant the lunch meals are gonna be over, then she’s up for it.

Choi Young Do looked at her and she could see different emotions playing in his eyes. She was starting to feel uncomfortable now that he hasn’t said anything yet. He was just looking at her and she hated that she is bothered by his stare.

“I like you,” was all he said before he walked towards the gym.

“Said the person who walked out on her twice in a row today,” she thought sarcastically.

But in spite of herself, Cha Eun Sang had to pick her jawbone off the floor.