Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I remember when I was about 7, it was somewhere around autumn time, when I was prancing around in the piles of fallen leaves, acting like “Godzilla”.

My father had taken me to the nearby park to play in, so I decided to play “Godzilla”, don’t ask me how I knew about a giant, prehistoric monster at the age of seven— my father had warned me not to watch his “big people” movies but I did anyways.

My father was watching me play from a far, he was sitting near a picnic table a few feet away, while I played my game, right now I was stomping through my imaginary city, roaring at the imaginary people around me.

A couple of girls, who looked around my age gave me weird looks but I didn’t mind them.

A few minutes went by with me jumping around when I spotted a boy running towards me, I just stared at him perplexed, was he going to tell me off for playing a “boy’s game?”.

He skidded to a stop in front of me a stuck out his hand.

I blinked at it, confused at his gesture.

‘Hi! I’m Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn, but you can just call me Nol!’ The red-headed boy exclaimed, grinning. I stared at him blankly still.

Nol pouted.‘What’s wrong?”

‘Uhh, nothing’s wrong.’ I mumbled.

I finally took his hand and shook it.

‘I’m Shin-ae Yoo, you can call me Shin-ae’

Nol smiled ‘Can I play with you, pretty please?’

‘Hmm.’ I put my index finger to my chin, in mock thought.

I stared into his puppy-dog eyes and finally replied ‘Fine, you can play “Godzilla” with me.’

‘“Godzilla?” What’s that?’ He asked.

I was glad he asked, so I answered proudly ‘He’s this giant monster who stomps around destroying cities and whole countries!’

Nol’s eyes got wide, not in fear but in excitement, ‘Oooh, could I be “Godzilla?”’

‘Alright, then I get to be “Mothra!”

After explaining to him who “Mothra” was, we started our game.

‘ROAR!’ Nolan yelled, as he jumped, head-first into a pile of colorful leaves, I giggled at him, ‘Haha!’ He had a leaf stuck in his red hair.

I reached down and stuck out my palm for him, ‘Here!’

He grabbed my hand and pulled himself up, ‘Hey! That wasn’t funny!’

‘Alright, It wasn’t funny…’ I muttered, trying not to burst out laughing.

‘It was actually hilarious!’ I said, failing to keep my laughter in.

‘Hmph, well-I’m not talking to you!’ Nol turned away from me sulking.

Then I felt bad for laughing at him, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you…’

He swiveled around to look at me, his green eyes filled with concern,

‘It’s OK, I was kidding just now’

‘Really? Then…you’re talking to me again?’ I asked him, my eyes wide. ‘Of course, let’s play again?’

‘Yea!’

We continued our little game.

***

Chapter Text

We played together at the park almost every single day.

One day we were playing hide and seek-

‘98, 99, 100, ready or not, here I come!’, I yelled blinking open my eyes.

I rushed around looking over every tree and bush there was, the air was cold and Papa had said it might snow tonight, so I was really excited—

I had probably searched the whole park to find Nolan, but to no avail.

So I did what any logical kid would do: Search for him outside the park, I mean where else could he be?

We hadn’t made up any rules saying that we couldn’t hide outside the park…So I sprinted out the park gate and skipped through the side walk.

All the time yelling Nolan’s name, but I knew for a fact that he wouldn’t respond.

Both of us were very- when I say very I mean it- we were VERY competitive at these little games.

I finally skidded to a stop at the very edge of a beach, from where I was standing I could see a tiny figure crouching near the shore of the sea.

I smiled triumphantly at it.

My tiny feet crunched against the white sand as I ran up to my friend, he had a yellow parka on and a red beanie with a little duck knitted on to it, I smirked once again.

I leaned forward and poked him on the shoulder, he turned around, startled. ‘Aw man, I didn’t think you’d come all the way over here…’

‘But I did, so do I win?’

‘Nu-uh you still hafta catch me!’ Nolan laughed mischievously, as he started running.

‘Hey! No fair I wasn’t ready yet!’ I yelled as I ran after him.

We chased each other all over the beach, ‘Wait up, Nolan!’ I said, gasping for air. I spotted him waving at me, he stood miles away from me.

I scowled at him, and then starting sprinting like I’ve never had before,

‘I gonna catch you now Nolan!’

‘We’ll see about that!’ I could see his smug smile from here.

The ocean waves were starting to get bigger and I could feel the salty water spray across my face as I ran after Nolan.

‘Aha! I’ve caught you, finally!’ I said as I fell on top of him.

‘Argh, Shin-ae, you’re squishing me!’

I was a bit disoriented after the fall so I blurted out ‘Yay…I’ve…’

I poked his freckled cheek

‘-caught you…’

Nolan smiled, as he pushed me of himself ‘Alright, fine—you win’

I punched the air in joy ‘Yes! Finally… You always win every game we play, but not today!’ I waggled my index finger at him,

‘Yeah, Yeah now let’s go home, it’s so-o cold here’ he shivered. We stood up and patted the sand of our clothes,

‘Good idea…’ I muttered back to him.

***
We walked back to the park together, the sun was starting to set when we reached.

I ran up to my father and grabbed his hand, ‘Let’s go home, already!’ I pleaded him.

‘Alright-y kiddo, but where’s that friend of yours?’

I turned around, I spotted Nolan drag himself across the path towards us.

My father smiled at him ‘Hey there kid, you’re mom had asked me to drop you off at your place, how’d you like that?’

Nolan looked at him bleary-eyed, then yawned,

‘I think I’d like that Mr. Yoo…’

‘C’mon guys let’s head to the car!’ My father said as we walked.

I grinned at Nolan ‘We get to go home together, isn’t that cool?’

He looked at me and smiled back ‘Yeah, it is cool’

***

Chapter Text

I was really excited one cold, chilly, dark, freezing, snow-filled, icy, shivering—

—I’m running out of words to describe winter, well the reason I was this excited was because a certain someone had invited me over for a sleepover—that certain someone was Nolan.

It was snowing.

A lot.

So my father insisted I wear layers of warm clothes.

In the end I looked like a walking clothes pile.

I stuffed a sleeping bag into my tiny blue backpack, unfortunately it wouldn’t fit.

‘Papa, my sleeping bag doesn’t fit in my backpack!’ I whined to my father, ‘That’s alright Shin-ae I’ll just carry it over, hmm?’

‘Ok, good idea!’ I answered smiling at him.

We walked to the Lochlainn household since the ice on the road was slippery.

My feet sank into the deep snow, it reached up to my knees, ‘Help! I’m sinking!’ I giggled as my father lifted me out the snow.

He carried me all the way there.

‘We’re here!’ Announced my father.

I jumped down from my father’s arms and rushed over to the front door.

I knocked on it with my tiny fist, ‘Hello? No-o-ol?’ I called out to my friend.

‘Click’ A freckled face poked out from behind the blue door, in one hand he held a pair of red-rimmed glasses and in the other the door knob.
‘You’re here! C’mon inside’ He smirked at me and pulled me in.

‘Wait for me kiddos!’ Said my father, laughing.

I heard footsteps from behind a wall, ‘Oh, Nol, is Shin-ae here?’, called out a voice. I turned around to face a tall, pretty lady, with long red hair tied into a bun, who I recognized immediately—‘Mrs. Lochlainn, I’m here for the sleepover!’ I beamed up at her.

She bent down and put her hand on my shoulder, and smiled ‘That’s right Shin-ae, Nolan hasn’t stopped talking about all day.’ Nolan took my hand,

I looked at him, ‘Let’s go to my room’ He said, his green eyes wide with excitement.

He shoved the glasses onto his nose and pulled me up the stairs.
———
I sat on Nolan’s bed, my legs dangling from the side.

‘So, what should we do?’ I asked Nolan, who was turning around in his swivel chair.

‘Hmm?’ He looked up at me, as he stopped spinning, ‘Uh, I dunno-’ He shrugged at me.

I stared at him, scrunching my nose in thought.

‘What about—’ I said, as I walked up to him my hand hovered for a few seconds before I poked him on the shoulder, hard

‘Tag! You’re it!’ I yelled as I darted towards the door, pulled it open and ran outside.

The hardwood floor echoed as I ran around the living room, I could hear Nol yelling things like ‘No fair, I wasn’t ready!’ and ‘Ow, my shoulder hurts!’.

I smiled as I spotted him climb down the stairs, clutching his shoulder, dramatically and whining.

‘Oh come on, Nolan I didn’t even poke it that hard’ I grumbled, putting my hands to my hips. He pouted back at me—but it vanished when he started sprinting towards me.

I yanked the sliding door open and bolted outside on to the backyard—it was a small one, but not too small.

I quickly darted to the other side of the wall, I couldn’t hear Nolan’s tired protests anymore, and boy, was it cold.

‘Shin-ae, Mum’s calling us back in, it’s to cold outside’ I heard him call from inside the house.

I ran back inside, the sudden change of air felt better.

I spotted Nolan sitting on the blue couch a mug in his hands, he was peering at it through his glasses, as he blew at the mug, they steamed up.

I chuckled at him and then settled myself next to him ‘What’s that?’ I asked inquisitively, blinking at the mug.

‘Oh, it’s hot chocolate, want some?’ The red-head replied gesturing to his mug.

‘Yea, I’m so-o-o thirsty!’ I said, patting my stomach, grinning.

Soon, I myself had a mug of hot chocolate, Nol’s mother sat with us— We we’re watching ‘Home Alone’ on the television, when she came in the living room.

‘Enjoying the movie guys?’ She asked.

‘Yeah!’ We replied in unison.

Chapter Text

His bedroom was decorated with all sorts of knick-knacks and action figures littered on top of his desk, with “Spider-Man” posters plastered on the white walls.

I stretched my blue sleeping bag across the carpeted floor, sitting cross legged on it.

My eyes glazed over to my red-haired friend, who was pulling out many a toys in an attempt to find a something which I had no idea about.

I gawked at Nolan still ‘What are you looking for?’ I asked, kind of miffed with his aimless searching.

Nolan muttered something incoherent under his breath.

‘Aha!’ The sudden noise made me topple over headfirst, ‘What was that for?’ I grumbled crossly steadying myself.

Nolan turned to face me. ‘Oh sorry ‘bout that Shin-ae but-’, He whipped out his hand, in it was a black tube of sort?

Nolan turned around and switched of the ceiling lights, leaving the room bathed in the moon’s faint glow.

I blinked trying to adjust to the sudden darkness, ‘What happened?’

I heard the sound of a feeble click, and then light appeared where Nolan was standing. That “black tube” he was holding earlier was actually a flashlight.

His face lit up with an eerie glow, a thin smile on his lips. I rolled my eyes at him, ‘Are you trying to be scary?’ I said unmoved by his antics.
Nolan’s smile melted ‘Is it not working?’

I crossed my hands on top of my chest and looked at him smugly, ‘Of course not!’

Nolan walked over to me, and sat down in front of me, still holding the flashlight.

‘Ah, well I tried.’ He said shrugging at me. I peered at him.

His green eyes seemed to change colors in the bright light, the freckles dotting his face looked like constellations of stars splashed across his face. He gave me his small lopsided grin, I smiled back, almost automatically.

‘How about we tell some spoo-o-o-ky stories?’ He asked cocking his head to one side.

‘Good idea.’ I said nodding my head. ‘Ok, I have a good one—’

***

‘Then the clown was never to be seen again…’ I finished, yawning.

Nolan was sprawled across my sleeping bag, he had tried to stay awake through my story, but ended up falling asleep, I didn’t mind that.
I leaned forward and placed a finger on his eyelid prying it open, I grinned ‘Wake up, sleepy-head.’ He sat up hurriedly, after apologizing for falling asleep in between my story he scrambled back to his own bed, and fell asleep-again.

My eyelids felt like lead, then my whole body felt like lead, my head thudded against the cushion.

Finally my eyes closed, I drifted of to a peaceful sleep.

Chapter Text

It was a murky sort of day.

The rain seemed to never end, I guess since it was the middle of May. I was sitting near the windowsill, on a armchair, my legs dangling out the edge.

The rain was teeming outside, it splashed on the wet pavement and ran down the water pipes, the sky was grey, filled with dark thunder-filled clouds. My eyes scanned the road outside, I spotted two figures, one tall, another shorter.

My face lit up instantly.

I skidded to a stop in front of the door, and yanked it open.

The rain sprayed on my face just as I pulled the door open.
The people I saw earlier were just approaching the front door step. I waved my arm frantically at them,

‘Mrs.Lochlainn! Over here!’

The tall figure, Mrs.Lochlainn, looked up at me, ‘Oh my, Shin-ae that was quick, I didn’t even get to knock on the door!’ She said, laughing.

‘Yeah…’ My eyes fell on Nolan, he was huddled inside a yellow raincoat.

The conners of my lips perked up even more. ‘Nolan! You came!’

He looked up at me.

He shot me a small smile.

***

‘It’s raining a lot, huh?’ I asked Nolan.

We were sitting near the window, we sat on the same armchair together. His eyes were only on the pouring rain.

He looked a bit sad, his mouth drooped downwards and he looked like he didn’t want to play anything.

‘Are you alright, Nol?’ I questioned, worried.

He flinched when I said “Nol”, which was—weird.

‘Is something wrong?’ I inquired again.

His mouth stretched into a thin, forced smile. I furrowed my brows at him. ‘I- I’m fine, no need to worry about me.’ Nolan replied, standing up and walking towards the pile of colorful wooden blocks.

I followed him to the carpeted floor, he sat down hard on it, I did the same. Nolan picked up a red block and stared at it, for a while. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.

I sighed angrily, ‘Fine! Don’t tell me.’ I marched out of the room.

***
After what felt like forever, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I pursed my lips, ‘Who is it?’ I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea on who it was.

‘It’s me, Nolan.’

Said the voice from the other side.

‘I’ll tell you why I was acting that.’

My angry demeanor melted.

‘Alright, you may come in…’ I mumbled.

The door squeaked open, Nolan walked his head bent downwards. He sat on the edge of the bed beside me.

‘I-’ Nolan started.

‘I met a boy today, early morning, at the park.’
I remained silent.

‘I asked him whether he wanted to be my friend- but he told me to repeat my name, and I did— Shin-ae? Do you think my name is cool?’
He looked at me expectantly. ‘Of course, it’s the coolest name ever!’ I spread my arms out at the word “ever.”

‘Really? You don’t think it sounds like “null?” That’s what the boy at the park said.’

‘Null?’ I blinked at him, confused.
‘Zero. It means zero.’ Nolan answered, bothered.

‘Well, what that boy said doesn’t matter since he was wrong anyways. I don’t think it sounds like “null.”’

Nolan grinned. ‘Thanks Shin-ae, you’re the best!’

I placed my hand on his shoulder. ‘That’s what friends are for, right?’

Chapter Text

I was in the the 5th grade, I think. I walked to school alone those days, since my father had to go to work at the hospital. I didn’t mind walking to school on my own anyways.

I skipped through the wet pavement, gripping the straps of my blue backpack.

It had rained last night, and the air was so thick with fog that I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my eyes!

I strolled past the Lochlainn household, my eyes landed on the boy standing near the gates. He leaned on the garden wall.

‘Nolan?’ 

He looked up at me. A smile formed on his lips, Nolan trudged towards me.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked, surprised. Why was he outside in weather like this? He wore a yellow hoodie, his hands buried deep inside his jeans.

He must’ve been freezing. While I wore a school sweater on top of my uniform. 

‘Oh, I was hoping I’d run into you, actually.’ Nolan replied. 

‘Don’t you have school, today?’ I asked.

The gate lights were lit early because of the fog, I guessed. ‘You’re lucky, if you don’t have school today! I wish I went to your school!’ I said.

The school Nolan went to was a really expensive one, my father had said, when I had asked him about it.

‘Well, no. I do have school today, I—just didn’t want to go.’ He answered, shrugging. My eyes turned wide ‘Aw no way! Your not going to school ‘cause you just don’t want to?’

It was way to unfair, he could play all day, and I had to go to school.

But…Nolan didn’t look to happy about missing school. He kept avoiding my eyes in a weird way. 

Was he sick?

Was he lying to me?

Was there something he wasn’t telling me?

These thoughts popped into my mind one by one, all throughout my class.

‘Ms. Shin-ae Yoo, is there something on your mind you’d like to share with all of us?’ I snapped out of my daze. All the faces were turned towards me.

I gulped. ‘I…I don’t think I feel so well, Mrs. Jin. May I go to the infirmary, please?’

That technically wasn’t a lie.

The teacher sighed ‘Alright, Shin-ae. You may.’ I stalked out of the room, my head bent down. 

The cold outside air was refreshing compared to the stuffy classroom. The sky was grey, filled with fog.

She walked towards the playground bench. It was a bit damp, probably due to the rain. She sat on it anyway. ‘Winter seems to go on forever,’ she thought, bitterly. 

Shin-ae slouched forwards, placing her elbows on her knees and her chin on her palms. She had no idea why she came out here, her head was somewhere else while she had done it.

Her mind was still abuzz with thoughts about her red-headed friend, when, as if on cue, a boy trudged to the playground. ‘What was he doing here?’ Shin-ae thought, exasperatedly. Nolan quickened his pace, and soon he was standing before her.

‘Hey. Wanna a chocolate bar?’ He asked without preamble.

He held a yellow wrapped bar.

Nolan walked over and sat next to Shin-ae, ‘Why aren’t you at class?’ He started unwrapping the bar, ‘I had…I had other things in mind.’ She replied. ‘That’s not a good excuse for skipping class.’

He halved the chocolate, ‘Speak for yourself.’ Shin-ae muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Nolan handed Shin-ae a chunk of the brown delicacy. It had melted so it was sticky and it left splotches on her palm, she didn’t mind that.

She was grateful for it nonetheless.

‘Y’know? I debated on whether or not I should share it with you, but! Being the good friend I am, I decided to share it with you!’ He said bragging outwardly.

Whatever “gratefulness” she had within her had drained out at Nol’s words.

‘Yeah, yeah. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.’ Shin-ae said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She stuffed the chocolate into her mouth and licked the remnants of her finger, her friend did the same.

They sat there in silence for a bit.

Her eyes kept darting at Nolan until she couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Nolan?’ He turned to look at her.

‘You should know that… that I care about you, and you can tell me anything that’s bugging you, ‘cause we are friends right? And… and friends help each other out!’ Shin-ae rambled on and on, wishing herself to stop.

He stared back at her blankly. He let out a small sob, he tried to stop himself but was unable to. Soon tears ran down his face like endless waterfalls, forever falling.

All Shin-ae did was stare. Her brain seemed to be frozen in time and space. Seeing her friend, her ever-so-happy, always-smiling friend, breaking down like this… made her doubt whether or not she herself would ever be happy again.

But. But, then again, a small part of her brain seemed to “melt” and urge her to comfort him, like he always did for her.

For once, Shin-ae Yoo decided to be a good friend.

She enveloped her arms around his shoulders, so that he was crying into the crook of her neck.

She could feel his tears run down her uniform, her hands gripped his hair, it was only then that Nolan returned Shin-ae’s embrace.

‘I-I’m sorry Shin-ae I wasn’t fully honest with you. I lied. I lied about being fine. I didn’t want to go to school ‘cause… because the kids there always make fun of my name and because I look different. I try to make friends, but they always end up turning me down. Even…even my own brother doesn’t seem to like me.’ He sobbed, his voice cracking.

‘Since when did he have a brother?’ Shin-ae tried to recall whether or not Nolan had mentioned a “brother”. She pushed that thought out of her mind.

‘That’s ok, Nolan. All that matters now is that you told me about this because at least now you’re not lying. At least now you’re telling me the truth.’

Shin-ae pushed him back to look at him, he was vigorously trying to wipe the tears off his face. His ears were red, so was his nose from crying.

‘I feel stupid for crying in front of you, Shin-ae. You probably think I’m crybaby, or something.’

She grinned at him, ‘What? No! I cry too, everyone cries!’ She spread her hands out as if it were obvious. His ears turned even redder.

‘Yeah…You’re right.’

The bell rang from inside the school halls. ‘I should probably head back to class, my teacher must be worried about why I’m taking an awful lot of time in the infirmary.’ Shin-ae said, standing up.

‘The infirmary?’ Nolan asked, confused.

‘Long story!’ She giggled as she took off towards the school doors.

Chapter Text

Thunk! Shin-ae flinched, for like the third time in a row probably.

 Just ignore them Shin-ae. She chided herself, as a another crunched up paper hit her on the back of her head.

The bell rang finally after what felt like an eternity. She rushed out of the classroom, and headed down the flight of stairs leading to a hallway.

 ‘I’m pretty sure it won’t take that long!’

Shin-ae’s head darted upwards. A boy leaned against a wall, beside a slouching girl.

Shin-ae wondered what that was about, the girl didn’t look to comfortable around the boy.  ‘Didn’t you live in the USA?’ The boy continued bothering her. ‘I’m sure my English homework will be a piece of cake for you.’

Shin-ae furrowed her brows, this wasn’t right. She marched up to them, ‘Hey!’ Shin-ae yelled.

The two students looked up at her. ‘What the hell do you want?’ The boy asked staring at her, annoyed.

Shin-ae folded her arms in front of her, ‘Can’t you see? She doesn’t want to do your homework!’ She wasn’t done just yet, ‘So why don’t you leave her alone already and beat it?’

The bully looked at Shin-ae, incredulously then looked back at the girl, who, surprisingly, seemed bored. ‘Amy, do you know her?’ The bully asked. ‘Don’t tell me you both are friends?’ He scrunched up his nose in disgust. ‘Do you know what happens when you involve yourself with someone like her?’

Shin-ae’s eyes darted to look at the girl, Amy, who was avoiding eye contact with her. ‘I don’t know who she is.’ Amy said bluntly.

Shin-ae looked away, knowingly, whenever she tried to help someone, they either turn away or refuse her help.

As expected.

‘I just wanted to help her out, that doesn’t mean we know each other!’ Shin-ae protested. The boy pushed himself off the wall and folded his arms in front of his chest, ‘I am a year older than both of you, show some respect!’ 

‘I will once you start acting like that!’ Shin-ae retorted back. 

‘Watch your mouth you loser!’

The girl, Amy, slowly starting trudging away, unfortunately the bully noticed, ‘Amy! Where do you think you’re going? Come back here!’ He cried to the girl who just turned a corner.

Shin-ae couldn’t take it anymore, ‘JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!’ She burst out, angrily, grabbing the boy’s wrist in the process. ‘YO! Let go of me! Don’t touch me with those dirty hands of yours!’

SPLASH! 

If only Shin-ae had turned around in the nick of time, she wouldn’t have been standing there, drenched from head to toe.

The boy who had drowned her in bottled water slipped out from behind her, Shin-ae’s grip on the bully’s wrist loosened, he pulled it away from her, ‘Ah! Thanks a lot man!’ He said, relieved. ‘No problem.’ His friend answered. 

That’s ok. She just had to keep her cool and stay strong. She could do that.

For her father. 

Shin-ae dragged herself back to class. Her backpack lay on the floor, as if someone had pushed it down. There was a slip of paper near it, she picked it up, unfolded it—they would probably write something horrible about her or something—instead it said—

Thank you Miss. I will never forget this. -AMY—that…that was a first.

Hopefully things are turning around for Shin-ae. 

Hopefully. 

She had one thing to look forward to, as she pushed inside the apartment, she had finished all her homework. It’s not like she had anything else to do in her free time, or anyone else to talk to. At school, of course, she still had Nolan at the weekends most of the times.

‘I’m home.’ She said, to no one in particular. Her father was supposed to have an off day…right? 

Another slip of paper lay on the kitchen counter, Be back soon, went to pick up food. She walked over to the note, and laid her head onto her arms on the cold granite countertop.

Click! Shin-ae eyes darted at the direction of the front door. Her father stood in the doorway, dressed in green scrubs- why was in his work clothes?

‘Papa! You’re home!’ 

‘Shin-ae! Come here and give me a hug!’ He bent down so she could reach him. Shin-ae wrapped her hands around her father and buried her head into the crook if his neck. Her father did the same. 

‘Welcome home! I thought you didn’t have work today!’

Shin-ae’s father sighed wearily, ‘I didn’t. They called me saying they needed some help.’ 

He shifted a little bit, and pulled away from the hug. 

‘Honey? Why is your uniform all damp?’ He asked, concern clearly visible on his face.

Shin-ae hadn’t thought about this. She didn’t want her father to worry about her much. Besides, she was fine. She needn’t make such a big fuss over spilt water…

So she lied. ‘So this one drinking fountain in school needed to be repaired. I didn’t know about it and all the water splashed everywhere!’

She forced a smile at her father, ‘So don’t worry about it!’

‘If you say so, honey…’

That night, her father had bought burgers for dinner, so they had one of their many burger eating competitions.

***

Shin-ae walked on the sidewalk, to her place. To get there she had to walk through a alleyway. So she did. Her eyes scanned the floor as she trudged through.

Her eyes landed on a black bag on the floor. Shin-ae scowled, it was a trash bag, why would people just toss their trash out here? The dumpster was right there, couldn’t they just toss it in there?

Shin-ae bent down to pick it up.

The bag rustled.

Shin-ae’s eyes went wide.

It moved again.

She crouched near it, and pulled the knot on the bag.

A weird stench filled the air, Shin-ae plugged her nose to block out the smell.

‘Meow,’ the sound came from inside. She fell backwards, surprised. The meowing continued.

It was a cat. 

Shin-ae gaped at it. Why would anyone do such a thing? People really are terrible.

The cat was covered in splotches of blood, she could see a paw peeking out from inside the trash bag-That must have been his family…

‘Rest up, Lil Buddy.’ She had put him in a box filled with soft blankets to the brim. ‘I’m sorry about your family,’

‘If it makes you feel any better, I buried them all nearby,’

‘It’s alright Lil Buddy, you’re not alone. I’ll be your friend.’

Shin-ae decided she wouldn’t tell her father about Lil Buddy, besides…He had other things to worry about.

But, she decided to tell Nolan. He would be happy to see Lil Buddy, who’d have another friend.

She fumbled around with the landline phone until she got the number right. She pressed it to her ear. Shin-ae could here the dialing tone beep.
Beep. Beeep. Beeeep.

‘Hello?’ His voice came out muffled.

‘Hey Nolan, it’s me, Shin-ae.’

‘Oh! Heya Shin-ae, what’s up?’ 

‘Uhm. Nothing really. Did you go school today?’

‘Well, yeah, Nana would’ve been pretty mad if she found out I skipped, you know how she is.’ She could almost hear his knowing grin. 

‘Heh. Yeah. I-I have something to show you, well someone actually.’

‘Really? Oh, man. Could I come over?’

‘Alright.’ She sighed and hung up.

Shin-ae pulled the door open. Nolan stood framed by the doorway.

‘Come in quick!’ Shin-ae beckoned him inside the house. 

‘Shin-ae? Who did you want me to meet? Where’s your father?’ 

‘He’s out right now.’

She shut the door behind them and hurried over to the box. Shin-ae crouched down, Nolan mimicked her.

He stared at the cat in astonishment, ‘Oh my gosh! When you said “someone” I thought you meant a new classmate or friend but this is better!’ 

Shin-ae’s eyes landed on him as he brushed a thumb across the space between Lil Buddy’s ears, gently as possible, who seemed to enjoy it since he purred contentedly. ‘What’s his name?’ 

‘Lil Buddy- I think. I haven’t really thought of a n—’ 

‘AAACHOOO!!,’ Nolan interrupted by sneezing violently.

Shin-ae took cover by shielding her face with her hands, ‘You okay?’ She queried, worried. 

He blinked at her groggily, ‘I…I think I’m allergic to something in this room-maybe the dust…’ He smiled at her sympathetically, ‘I’m not implying that your room is dusty, or anything…’ 

Shin-ae stared at Nolan grimly, he kept rubbing his nose, which had turned red.

He was fine when he had entered the place…Her gaze shifted to Lil Buddy, who was licking his paw happily-that made sense.

Nolan was probably allergic to cats, or maybe Lil Buddy’s fur. That sucked.

Nolan was gaping at Shin-ae, trying to read her thoughts, ‘Do you think maybe…maybe I’m allergic to cats.’ He succeeded at reading her mind, though looked disheartened. 

They walked out of her room and headed to the living room, ‘I was hoping you could keep Lil Buddy with you at you’re place…Since pets aren’t allowed here.’ Shin-ae said, as they flopped onto the couch.

‘That would’ve been cool, I’ve never seen a cat up close, y’know so I had no idea I was allergic to them.’

They sat there for a while, pondering on what to do.

‘Did you tell your father about him?’

‘Uh, no, you’re the only other person who knows about Lil Buddy.’

‘You should tell him.’

Shin-ae held her breath. ‘I don’t wanna worry Papa anymore.’

‘But he has the right to know, doesn’t he? Did you tell him about the bullying?’

‘No.’

Nolan’s shoulders sagged. ‘Y’know you shouldn’t deal with it alone, Shin-ae. You gotta tell someone besides me, there’s nothing I can do about it except listen and feel sorry, but you’re dad will know what to do about it.’ 

She blinked. ‘You’re…you’re right. I’ll tell him. About Lil Buddy and the bullies.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’

They spent the rest of the night watching cartoons.

Chapter Text

Shin-ae was having a restless night. She couldn’t keep her excitement in, she was turning around in her bed unable to control it.

So finally she sat up, slipped down the bed and started pacing the room up and down. Her eyes darted to the window at any minuscule sound coming from outside. 

Until she heard a faint knock.

Shin-ae hurried to the window, and gripped the sill tight, till her knuckles turned white. A green-eyed boy stood waving. She beamed at Nolan.

Shin-ae pushed the window open and cautiously put her foot on the sill.

‘Don’t worry, if you fall I’ll catch you.’ Nolan said matter-of-factly.

She just rolled her eyes at that. ‘Yeah right.’ 

Shin-ae lifted her other leg onto the sill, now she was crouching on it. She was holding on to the frame of the window, praying that she wouldn’t fall.

The drop wasn’t that far, but it still worried her, what if she landed face-first? This midnight expedition thing was all Nol’s idea, if she ended up hospitalized, the blame was on him, he’d have to pay the medication bills, which Shin-ae had pointed out to him.

‘Ok, I’m gonna do it. Ready?’

‘Ready!’

‘AAAAAHH!!’

Shin-ae jumped down, into Nolan’s open arms. ‘Ugh…Am I alive?’ She asked, disoriented.

Nolan heaved her up, putting his hands below her armpits. ‘Yup, I’d be pretty freaked out if you died on me.’ 

‘Shut up.’

‘I saved your life, you should be thanking me.’

Shin-ae steadied herself and patted herself down for any injuries, which was unnecessary.

‘Alright. I’m good, where to first?’ Shin-ae questioned, looking at her friend expectantly.

Nolan reached for his nape, and grinned sheepishly, ‘I…I haven’t really planned anything of sort…’

She scowled at him, ‘Figured much.’

He turned away, embarrassed. ‘There’s no use standing here, is there? We’ll find something to do!’ Nolan said trying to be optimistic. But Shin-ae felt anything but optimistic.

‘Come on Shin-ae, I think there’s a forest near by, somewhere. I heard it’s filled with cool stuff!’ 

That caught Shin-ae’s attention. ‘Cool stuff?’

Nolan nodded his head, enthusiastically. She could barely see his freckled face in the faint moonlight. The only other source of light was the one coming from inside Shin-ae’s bedroom.

Nolan reached for her hand, she could feel his fingers gently brush across hers, he was hesitant in doing so. She could see his eyes ask her the query instead. Shin-ae sighed to stop herself from grinning outwardly, Nolan took this as a yes and entwined his fingers through hers, ‘So we don’t get separated, y’know?’ That was his excuse.

Their feet crunched on the leafy ground as they walked hand-in-hand through the woods. There was no other noise except for their light steps.

Shin-ae and Nolan had no idea where they were going and they had no idea what they wanted to accomplish, but either way here they were walking through a forest in the middle of the night. 

Nolan turned to look at her, ‘Did you tell your dad ‘bout Lil Buddy and the bullies?’ 

‘Yeah. Papa allowed me to keep Lil Buddy and he talked to my teacher about what happened.’

‘That’s good.’ He said, nodding.

They walked in silence for a bit. Nolan swung their entwined hands playfully. The canopy of leaves above started to thicken as they trudged deeper into the woods. Shin-ae’s hand slipped from Nolan’s grip.

He looked at her, ‘What’s up?’ He asked. He was incredibly nonchalant throughout this whole thing. 

‘Are sure we aren’t lost? Besides it’s getting so dark…’

‘No, I’m pretty sure we’re fine and for the “getting dark” problem, luckily I have a solution!’

Nolan slipped a backpack from his shoulder, unzipped it and took a flashlight. He clicked it on, a beam of glorious light shot out of one end, seeing it made Shin-ae tear up a little with happiness.

He fumbled with it until it was the right direction in front of them. The light revealed the brown leaves and a grasshopper.

Nolan yelped at the sight of it, ‘I didn’t know you were scared of a little insect!’ Shin-ae teased him, as she nudged his arm light heartedly.

‘I was just a bit surprised, that’s all…’ He said, pouting.’ 

They kept walking on a indefinite path until Shin-ae spotted something shimmer in front of them, like light hitting water. She stretched her hand out in front of Nolan, ‘There’s a body of water here, careful you might fall in!’

Nolan pushed her hand out of the way lightly, ‘So that means we’re here!’ 

‘Where?’ Shin-ae asked confused.

‘The duck pond!’

‘Duck pond?’

‘Not any duck pond, The Duck Pond.’

‘Oh.’

He sat down on the bank of “The Duck Pond”, Shin-ae followed his lead. He placed the flashlight on the ground, and looked through his backpack for something.

Finally he pulled out a Tupperware box, Shin-ae couldn’t make out what was inside it—‘Brownie?’ Asked Nolan, presenting the dessert to her.

‘Thanks.’ Shin-ae said, as she reached for one, Nolan took one for himself too. He bit into it, Shin-ae did the same. ‘My mana mave feese, byf fe fay.’ He said, chewing noisily.

Shin-ae made a face, ‘Your what?’ He gulped down the rest of the brownie, ‘My nana made these brownies, that’s what I wanted to say.’ Shin-ae couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes, ‘Don’t talk while eating.’ 

‘Why?’ He looked like he was challenging her. 

‘Cause you might choke.’

That shut him up.

Nothing was left in the container except for the crumbs. ‘Do you think the ducks might come tonight?’ Shin-ae asked Nolan.

‘Nah, their probably asleep.’

‘That’s what we should’ve been doing.’

‘Yeah, that’s what I feel like doing right now…’

He yawned and dropped his head on her shoulder, his eyes drooped but he blinked to avoid falling asleep but soon he was on her lap, on the leafy ground, snoring softly.

‘Hey, Nolan. You can’t just sleep on me like that, it’s not fair…’ She tried to stifle a yawn but was unsuccessful. 

His hair was tousled, with a singular leaf caught in it. Shin-ae reached for it and pulled it out slowly not willing to disturb him. She covered another yawn with the back of her hand, they should probably head back…no, it would be smarter to go back only when it’s light out.
Shin-ae closed her eyes with that thought in mind, used Nolan’s backpack as a pillow.

She could feel something wet hit her cheek and slide down, like a tear, but Shin-ae was quite sure she wasn’t crying…right?

Then it only meant one other thing—rain!

She scrambled up and tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. Her eyes landed on Nolan stirring. She shoved him on the shoulder hurriedly waking him up, the rain was starting to drizzle quickly, they’d become wet in seconds! 

Nolan jolted up and came to his senses, ‘Ah! Quick check my backpack for an umbrella!’ Shin-ae was astonished, ‘You have an umbrella?’ But she just let the question hang as she reached for the bag, rummaged around a bit, and triumphantly pulled out a red umbrella.
Shin-ae unfurled it, opened and held it out for Nolan.

They huddled together under it in a stupor, grateful for the shelter. Nolan sighed and swung the backpack on his shoulder, ‘Thank goodness I’m so prepared, amirite?’

Shin-ae smiled at him, ‘Yeah…’

There was a faint light coming through the heap of clouds.

It was early in the morning, Shin-ae had had enough of the night. ‘Man, I’m so glad we’re still alive,’ Murmured Shin-ae, shaking as a drop of cold rain hit her on the cheek. ‘I don’t think I would’ve let you die!’  Nolan said, he had taken the umbrella from Shin-ae, his shoulder was pressed against hers and she could feel him shiver with each step.

‘Oh, really? Who are you? My knight in shining armor?’

Nolan smiled, ‘Nope, you’re pretty capable of taking care of yourself.’

Shin-ae smiled back. Maybe this “expedition thing” hadn’t turned out so bad after all…

The rain showed no sign of stopping, so they had cut their adventure short. Nolan had already headed home earlier, but Shin-ae had received some good news- ‘School’s cancelled!’ Nolan shouted happily over the phone.

A laugh escaped Shin-ae, ‘Wait really? Why?’

‘The rain! It rained way to much! Now there’s no school!’

‘That’s so cool! Can you come over?’

‘I could try…but I have to ask nana..’

‘Oh…’

‘I could cycle over, a bit later?’

‘Alright, it’s ok if you’re not able to.’

Nolan wasn’t able come over, a bicycle was not an ideal vehicle to use in the rain. So Shin-ae’s dad drove her to Nolan’s place. 

‘What should we do?’ She asked him.

They were sitting beside the fireplace, a warm flame danced inside, it casted faint shadows on the couch and wall behind them. Shin-ae was hugging her knees, with her chin on them, Nolan sat a bit away from her, cross legged, staring mesmerized at the fire.

He blinked when he heard her voice, ‘Uh, anything is fine.’ He said, shrugging, half heartedly. Shin-ae stood up abruptly. ‘Come on, let’s do something. I didn’t come here to just sit around.’

Nolan stood up too, ‘Alrighty Shin-ae, why don’t you suggest something to do?’ He wasn’t looking at her, but at the mantelpiece. There was a picture of a red haired lady, smiling calmly, her eyes looked so happy and unaware of what might happen in the future.

Shin-ae reached for Nolan’s shoulder to shake him out of his daze, his eyes darted back to look at her and at the hand on his shoulder.

‘Ah. Sorry, Shin-ae. Dozed off a little.’ He said chuckling. Her hand dropped from his shoulder, ‘Are you alright? Why don’t we play some board games?’

‘Good idea.’ He murmured, already walking towards the door.

Chapter Text

It’s not like Shin-ae could ever forget that day. It felt like it was burned into her head, she tried so hard to forget it, but it was impossible to do so.

She stared at her reflection. Her chestnut brown hair was tied up into a ponytail, her eyes flickered to turn into brown then amber then to scarlet as she twirled around to look at her black dress.
It hung a little after her knees, with sleeves that didn’t go past her elbows. Shin-ae really didn’t want to wear a dress, but her father had insisted on it.

Shin-ae sprinted down the stairs. She spotted her father adjusting the sleeve of his white dress shirt, his looked grim, his lips pressed into a thin line with his eyebrows furrowed.

‘Papa! I’m ready.’ Shin-ae said.

He turned to look at her, ‘Ah, alright Shin-ae, let’s go.’ Her father reached for the black coat on the couch and slipped it on.

The sun smiled at them, but Shin-ae or anyone around her at the moment did not seem to be in the mood for smiling.

She stared at her Mary Janes as they walked through the aisle, her hand gripping her father’s.

They sat on the third pew from the front.

Shin-ae couldn’t bring herself to look up at the altar throughout the whole mass, when she did her eyes met the massive back of a massive person, she almost stumbled backwards.
It was a giant man, he was hunched over, probably in prayer.

If his back looked this intimidating, Shin-ae couldn’t imagine how his face looked like, a shudder passed through her at the image.

She glanced up at her father through the corner of her eye, his hands were pressed together his head bent downwards, Shin-ae couldn’t bare to look at him like this so she looked away.

They never came to church that often, so Shin-ae had a hard time trying to figure out when to sit or stand or to kneel.

She was glad to finally get out of there.

She couldn’t even see what was going on at the altar, since the gigantic man was in the way, speaking of the giant man, he was standing a little away from them talking to another man who looked way too tiny compared to him.

Shin-ae’s hand slipped from her father’s grip, her eyes scanned the courtyard they landed on a wooden box, ‘Come on Shin-ae.’ Her father beckoned gently, placing a hand on her back.

They walked towards the wooden box, some people accompanied them, she spotted a woman dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, and another lady sobbing.

All this crying made Shin-ae feel sad too. She wished Nolan was here. Where was he anyways?

That didn’t help either.

A tear formed, it clung on to her bottom eyelash, she wiped it away hurriedly before her dad noticed.

They had started walking again, and Shin-ae’s legs worked automatically so she hadn’t noticed that they were at a graveyard.
A hole had already been dug and they were lowering the coffin in, Shin-ae let a sob escape her, she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, her father pulled her close, ‘It’s gonna be alright kiddo.’

The front door was wide open with people coming in and out of the house.

People wearing black stood near the doorway, they must have arrived here right after the burial.

As soon as Shin-ae got there, she let go of her father’s hand, pushed past those people and ran up the stairs, down the hallway and into her friend’s room, hoping that he would be there, but she had hoped wrong.

He wasn’t there, or anywhere else for that matter.

Shin-ae sat on his swivel chair, spinning around, dejected, her eyes passed his table, his nightstand, his bed, his dresser, his window—

THUD! She fell backwards along with chair, but she didn’t spend much time picking herself up.

Shin-ae rushed to the window and peered out, squinting her eyes, trying to focus on one singular moving shadow out in garden.

It couldn’t be him. She was way to far away to judge.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles vigorously, trying to get her eyes to focus properly.

Shin-ae stared hard at the window once again. The shadow was gone. That was enough, she was just paranoid.

Nothing to worry about here.

She stalked down the rickety stairs of the massive house, eyes unable to look up. She reached a landing, then another, and another, finally she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Shin-ae spotted her father talking to a petite old lady with greying hair, she was Nol’s nana.

Shin-ae rushed over to the two and tugged on her fathers sleeve, ‘Papa, have seen Nolan anywhere around here?’ She queried, her eyes scanning the living room.

‘Oh, no, honey. Why don’t you go check outside?’ He suggested.

Nana looked down at Shin-ae, her eyes saddening, ‘I’d rather you not wasting your breath trying to find him, I haven’t seen from this morning! But, I suppose it is worth a shot trying.’ she said shrugging, looking kind of downcast.

Nana patted Shin-ae on the head endearingly, her face shifting to a happy guise, ‘here why don’t you take some sandwiches with you, share some with Nol, hm?’

‘Alright.’ Shin-ae mumbled, taking the napkin, which held two cucumber sandwiches.

Shin-ae walked down the stairs of the front porch, she trailed her hand across the wooden railing, she stopped on the last step.

The happy sun from earlier was peeking out from behind a clump of clouds and a soft breeze carried the scent of honeysuckle through the air.

She finally decided to jump down the last stair with unnecessary flourish.

She stared at the napkin on her palm, she picked at a corner and managed to unwrap it, she lifted the sandwich up, and eyed it, after a minute or so it disappeared from her hand completely.

She strode through the long grass, the hem of her dress getting caught frequently on a stray twig.

Finally, she spotted a silent shadow in a bush, a couple of yards away from her, it flitted around restlessly, Shin-ae quickened her pace at the sight of it.

‘Hey.’ She mumbled, looking down at a head of red hair.

He was crouched there behind the bush, with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

When the boy didn’t respond, Shin-ae decided to tempt him, ‘You want some cucumber sandwiches? Your nana made them, she asked me to share them with you, if she hadn’t, I would’ve already eaten all of them.’

At those words came a muffled reply.

Shin-ae sat down cross-legged beside him, she nudged him with the sandwich, ‘your nana made them just how you like them, no crusts.’

Nolan twisted his head a little so that Shin-ae could see one eye peek from his arms. She shifted closer, now their shoulders were pressed together, Shin-ae mimicked him, pulling her knees up to her chest and placing her head in her arms, the sandwich lay forgotten on the napkin in front of the pair.

‘You okay?’ Shin-ae asked, knowing it was pointless, since she knew the answer to that.

‘A bit better, cuz you’re here now.’

‘Really?’ The reply was lost in the wind, as a rush of air blew past them.

The leaves of some trees rustled softly, like a million people whispering at once, and the napkin holding the sandwich wrestled to be free.

Shin-ae picked the sandwich up causing the napkin to fly away, unfortunately. She tried offering it to him one more time, and to Shin-ae’s relief, he accepted it. Nolan bit into it gloomily, chewing extremely slowly. Shin-ae noticed, that his eyes were puffy and that he was still wearing that yellow hoodie from the last time she saw him, last time being—yesterday.

He finished the sandwich and gazed at the greying sky, “I miss her so much.”

‘It’s gonna be okay, Nolan.’ She said, patting him on his back, reassuring him and, in the same time herself.

Shin-ae’s hand lingered on Nolan’s back for a second to long, then pulled back.

Nolan stood up abruptly and offered her his hand, she accepted it and heaved herself up.

He dropped his hand to his side and glanced at Shin-ae tentatively before wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug.

Shin-ae returned it, a bit surprised with the unexpected embrace.

‘Shin-ae?’ Nolan whispered, his voice faint.

‘Yeah?’ Shin-ae could feel him draw a deep breath before answering, ‘we’re friends right?’ She was taken aback by the question, ‘Of course, why’d you ask?’

‘No reason.’ He said, quickly and pulled away from the hug.

***
Two months later

“I’m moving.” He blurted out, unexpectedly, one day.

Shin-ae turned her head around to look up at him, they were at his house, watching a movie, “What do you mean?”

“I’m leaving in a couple of weeks,” He murmured.

Shin-ae still didn’t understand what was going on. She was sitting on the carpeted floor near the couch, where Nol was sitting.

“I’m moving to my nana’s place, since y’know…”

“Ah…we can still see each other right?”

“I don’t know, the house is really far from here.”

***

Shin-ae was dreading this day.

Nolan had already packed all his things, he didn’t have much anyways.

“I’ll try to visit you, right after I unpack my stuff, okay?”

He had assured her, but Shin-ae didn’t feel quite ‘assured’.

Months went by and the ‘promised visit’ was overdue. Shin-ae more or less gave up all the hope she had.

Chapter Text

She looked up from the doodles that dotted her notebook, to spot a blonde headed male who was peering at her.

Just as she had glanced up at him, his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

Shin-ae raised her eyebrows in amusement, what was he looking at?

 ***

She felt horrible for doing it, but it had to be done—she had to reject him.

Besides she barely ever talked to him.

Shin-ae just stared at her friend who was making the rejection such a big deal, as if she was the one being rejected.

“The poor guy! You could’ve at least done it nicely!” Maya whined.

Shin-ae folded her arms across her chest, “Rejection is rejection. I make no exceptions.”

Maya countered, “He was cute too! Not to mention he’s german!”

“Why does it matter if he’s german? He still a person.”

“Ughhh!!” Maya groaned. “You just don’t get it! Imagine all those cute half german babies!”

Rika, Shin-ae’s blue-headed friend, stared as the pair argued. Maya buried her face in her hands, frustrated with her friend’s stubbornness, “I could have made a great aunt!”

“Yeah. Sure.” Shin-ae mumbled, rolling her eyes.

She and her friends were at a restaurant, Shin-ae was meaning to try the Heart Attack.

“I’ll be your server for today, would you girls like anything to drink?” The waitress asked the trio.

“I’ll have water!” Maya smiled.

“Same here.” Rika mumbled.

Shin-ae ordered an orange soda, unlike the other two.

“…And are you ready to order?”

“Yeah!”

Maya was showing Rika something on her phone, “What do you think?”

“Is that your mask for the party, tomorrow?”

“Yeah,”

She flipped the phone around to show Shin-ae the screen, “Shin-ae, what do you think?”

“Think of what?” Shin-ae asked, raising her eyebrows.

“This mask, right here. Do you think it looks cute?”

A black mask with yellow designs covered the screen.

“I think it’s cute.” Rika commented, grinning.

“What’s it for?” Shin-ae asked. “Oh, it’s for a party that the company where my dad works at throws! It’s masquerade themed this year, you wanna come? Maya’s going to be there.” Rika said.

“I don’t know, parties are not really my thing, I’d rather stay at home.” Shin-ae murmured, bored.

“Did I mention all the free 5-star food?”

“Oh?” The mention of food snapped back her attention.

“Yeah! It’s the Hirahara company after all!”

Then her friends went on to list all the food being served at this party.

“If that’s the case then I’ll go!” Shin-ae grinned, convinced.

“Cheer up, Dieter…”

Shin-ae’s eyes darted up to spot a couple of boys, about her age, walk in.

She recognized the blonde—the boy who she had rejected, why here of all places?

“Shin-ae? What’s up?” Maya asked.

“He’s here!” Shin-ae whisper-shouted.

“Who?”

“The dude I rejected!”

At that, they sunk down on their seats, hoping to not be seen.

“You’ll get over her in no time!”

Shin-ae couldn’t help but be a little curious, she turned around to spot the german, another blonde-haired dude, who had just spoken, and a redhead.

The three teenagers sat down on the booth right behind them.

“Just forget about that Shin-ae girl,” It was the german’s blonde friend.

“I dunno…” mumbled the german.

‘Wow, he must really like me…’

“I can hook you up with some hot girls I met the other day!” said the other guy.

“Hey be a little more considerate…it’s too soon.” said the redhead, patting the german on the back.

The trio settled down in the booth behind Shin-ae and the others, causing them to duck lower onto their seat, if that was even possible.

“Just forget that Shin-ae girl.” grumbled the rude blonde guy.

He was starting to get a little annoying.

The guy continued, “That no-date hoe. The way she eats now, she’s gonna end up looking like a pig in the future. Not that she doesn’t look like one now. She’s not even pretty.”

The guy rattled on, “Bruh, your better of without her. Just forget that b*tch. There are tons of better-looking ones.”

Okay, he was starting to get very annoying.

“Can you not refer to her as b*tch?” muttered the german.

Shin-ae could feel the eyes of the blonde burning into the back of her skull.

“Dieter’s right. Show a little respect.” said the redhead.

‘Oh, yeah. Dieter. That’s his name.’

The guy just didn’t know when to stop, he kept going, “That reminds me. One of my friends went to junior high with her. From what he tells me, she’s just trash, and no one liked her!”

“That’s not nice.” said the redhead.

“Don’t say that. That’s mean.” said Dieter.

Shin-ae wondered why the two of them were his friends.

Maya and Rika were sitting up straight and gawking at the dude as he went on, “So yeah, whatever. That girl is bad news. And I’d steer clear of her friends too-”

That does it. Shin-ae’s hand reached for the cup of orange juice on the table.

“-they hang out with her, they’re probably just as bad. They’re butt ugly anyway.”

Rika and Maya’s face darkened. Shin-ae couldn’t take it anymore. He had insulted not only her, but also both her friends.

That was the last straw.

SPLASH!

“DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!” yelled Shin-ae, flinging the cup and the juice at him.

‘Oops. Wrong dude.’ thought Shin-ae as she watched the redhead stand up and get drenched in the orange juice.

“Shin-ae?” exclaimed the german, Dieter, turning red.

“What did I tell ya? That b*tch is crazy! Throwing drinks at random people like that!”

‘Darn it. Should’ve kept my cool.’ Shin-ae inhaled nervously and apologized, “I’m terribly sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to toss my drink at you… I was aiming for your friend…”

She looked up at the dude.

Her eyes widened,—‘green eyes, red hair…was it him? No it can’t be.’

But she said his name just to be sure, “Nolan?”

He looked taken aback for a second before realization dawned on his face.

He blinked multiple times before saying, “It is you! I thought I had imagined the name Shin-ae, but it’s actually you!”

Nolan’s green eyes sparkled with delight and a smile tugged at his lips.

Shin-ae could feel her own lips tug into a grin.

Nolan’s eyes darted to Dieter then to Maya and Rika. “Uh. I mean… who’s Nolan? I’m Yeong-gi,”

Shin-ae was confused, Yeong-gi? She was pretty sure this was the kid with the red-rimmed glasses.

But the look on Nolan- or Yeong-gi’s face said otherwise.

So she decided to play along, “Umm, yeah. I have no clue who you are, though I’m really sorry about your jacket…”

Nolan sighed in relief, “Don’t worry about it, my nana can help with that.”

Shin-ae nodded quickly and walked over to their booth, “I…I think we should really leave.”

Maya and Rika looked surprised, “But, we didn’t get our orders yet!” said Maya.

For once Shin-ae really didn’t care for food. She needs to talk to Nolan.

“I thought we were going to that fancy-schmancy party! I bet there’d be better food there!”

Rika and Maya got up reluctantly and headed out while Shin-ae hung back, eyeing Nolan who was still dripping in orange juice from head to toe.

“I’ll see you guys later, I-uh…my brother’s calling,” lied Nolan gesturing to his phone.

He walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out to the cold night air.

“Hey.” he said, squeezing her arm, leaving splotches of juice on her sleeve.

Shin-ae tried for a smile but faltered.

“Hey.” She was not prepared for this.

Chapter Text

Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeeep!’ Nolan groaned, swiveled around, and yelled back to the bright red Ferrari parked a little away from the two of them, “Alright! Geez, Kousuke...”

He turned to look back at Shin-ae.

“I...I’m sorry for not talking to you for the past couple of years. It’s been complicated and it has nothing to do with you, so don’t worry yourself, okay?”

Nolan’s eyes were filled with regret, his eyebrows were furrowed and concern dotted his face, Shin-ae couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s fine...really. I’m sure you were better off without me,”

Nolan was startled, “What? No. No, no, no, no. I was never ‘better off without you’. In all honesty, I was worse off without you! Every single day, I regretted not calling you back or visiting you. For some strange reason I...I thought you would be better off without me!”

Shin-ae stood there and stared at him for what seemed like forever, until Nolan’s brother- Kousuke, jolted them out of their trance with an ear-deafening ‘BEEPPPPPP!’

Nolan rolled his eyes, “I’m really sorry about him, he can one hell of be a prick sometimes. Actually—all the time.”

Shin-ae grabbed his hand, causing Nolan to freeze up for a couple of seconds before glancing over at the car and back at her.

“You’ll stay this time, won’t you?” asked Shin-ae, desperation laced her voice. He took a step towards her and smiled, his eyes twinkling, “Of course, I’ll stay.”

His hand was so warm unlike hers and it seemed to fit perfectly in his.

Nolan blinked at her before pulling away his hand.

“I heard that you’re going to that party, I’ll be there as well,” he said, scratching the nape of his neck, his eyes kept darting away from Shin-ae’s.

“That’s cool. I guess,” she mumbled, somewhat awkwardly.

Nolan cautiously took another step forward, until the cold between them dissipated. “You called yourself ‘Yeong-gi’, just then, why? Are you on the run or something?” She asked.

“It’s a long story,” Shin-ae could see he was reluctant to share, so she merely shrugged it off, “You trust me, right?” Nolan looked startled at her question, “Of course I do...”

Kousuke beeped once again. “I should go, we’ll meet at the party!” He said and turned his back to her.

Shin-ae watched, as he jogged off into the darkness.

He was back, but he didn’t seem to be the Nolan she knew.