"So, what do you want?" Minji said as she followed after Minjoon. Their footsteps aligned with each other. Minjoon didn't reply to her as he continued to walk in silence. Minji stared at the back of his head and just followed him quietly. They walked outside the school building. This felt like deja vu to Minji.

"Did you give them my number?" Minjoon asked in a threatening tone. He was wearing his black mask again, which made him seem more intimidating to Minji.

"Well,, technically they stole it from me. But, if you want to look at the situation differently, then I guess you can say I gave it to them. Just reluctantly," Minji dragged out her words as she tried to explain the situation the best she could.

"Ugh... I knew it..." Minjoon sighed deeply as he finally turned around to look at Minji. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He asked while carefully examining Minji's appearance. Strangely, nothing seemed out of place for him.

"I'm fine," Minji tucked her loosened hair behind one of her ears and looked downwards. It was true though. Earlier, she was feeling the worst, but after crying her eyes out, she felt much better about herself.

"Is that so? That's a relief then," Minjoon let out another sigh, "Tell me if they bother you."

Minji didn't reply and just nodded. She wasn't planning on telling Minjoon anything. It wasn't because of her negative feelings towards him, but rather, it was because she felt uncomfortable relying on him. Not just him, anybody.

*What about Yejoon?*

Suddenly, he popped up in her mind. Before she could answer her own question, she heard Minjoon speak up, "Let's go back." Minjoon broke her train of thought. He gestured at Minji and started heading toward the classroom.

Ring!

And class had started. Minji sighed as she trailed after him. They were late.

...

"Where did you go?" The blue-haired boy asked Minjoon when he arrived back in the classroom. He noticed that Minji came in a moment after. "Did you confess to the new girl?" He asked, poking fun at Minjoon.

"Stop, it was nothing like that," Minjoon glared at the blue-haired boy named 'Joowon' while taking his seat. Joowon snickered when he saw Minjoon's ears turn red. "I know all of our little Minjoon's secrets," he joked. Minjoon just raised his mask to cover his nose and opened his textbook, ignoring his friend.

"How childish," the pink-haired girl behind them spoke up. She shook her head at Joowon's behavior and then turned to Minjoon. "Are you going to change your number again?" She asked him.

Minjoon thought for a moment before speaking, "I think I might have to again, it's bothersome when other people know my phone number."

"Just keep it," Juwoon said as he stretched lazily, "and make another phone number for private use. That way, they won't bother the new girl again"

"That's a good idea," the pink-haired girl named 'Siwoo' spoke up. Minion nodded, agreeing with Juwoon's statement. "Yeah, I should do that thanks," he said as jotted down notes written on the blackboard simultaneously.

Juwoon pouted at how focused Minjoon and Siwoo were on the class. Given how easy the content was, none of them needed to listen to any of the classes. But Siwoo and Minjoon insisted on paying attention. Juwoon leaned over his desk and stared in Minji's direction.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"The new girl and Minjoon huh..." He said to himself quietly while drifting off into sleep.

...

At the end of the day, Minjoon saw Minji slouching over her desk, asleep. He pondered over waiting for her but decided against it. He thought that perhaps Minji would want some time to herself today.

It didn't take long until the classroom became empty. As soon as the last person left the room, Minji immediately got up. She was pretending to sleep so that she wouldn't need to converse with Minjoon, and thankfully, he left without waiting.

She made sure none of the girls were hanging around the classroom. After checking, she slipped out of the classroom quietly. Minji took her usual route home; she wanted to see the evening view before heading back inside. While she was walking, she was lost in her thoughts.

"Minji?"

Somebody had called out to her. It was a voice unfamiliar to her. She turned around, confused.

"Is that you? Oh god, it's been forever!" A blonde-haired girl came running up to Minji. She hugged Minji without warning. "Umph," Minji let out a small sound as the weight of another person hit her. She almost fell backward but managed to catch herself.

"How have you been? I really missed you... I thought you moved out of the city, but I guess you came back? You should have contacted me," the girl pouted as she refused to let go of Minji.

Minji stood, confused at the entire situation. Just who was this girl?

"Uh... sorry I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Minji questioned the other party's identity. She had no "friends" because she never lived in this city before. The girl let go of Minji in shock. "No way! Everyone always tells me I look the same as I did when I was little!" Without catching Minji's confused tone, the girl kept talking excitedly, "I guess the only one who would know I changed would be you Minji whereas you haven't changed a bit."

"No wait let's rewind a bit. I have no idea who you are," Minji said in a more firm tone, "I never lived in this city before... I think you may have the wrong person."

*But the right name*

The last part didn't escape her lips as she stopped talking. The girl in front of her was tearing up. "Oh yeah I guess you wouldn't remember me," she said through tears, "we met when we were really little anyways." She wiped her tears away with her hands and smiled again at Minji. "My name is Seoyeon! We met when we were around 7. That must be why you don't remember me," The girl named Seoyeon said while reaching her hand out, presumably for a handshake.

Bewildered, Minji just went along with the girl and shook her hand. "Uh... I guess you already know me, but my name is Minji. I'm still positive you have the wrong person, but..." She trailed off her last sentence as she recalled Seoyeon's tears. She didn't want to make her cry again. "Maybe we can start over...?" Minji spat out the last part reluctantly. To be honest, she just wanted to leave this crazy person immediately, but she may hold some clues about this strange city.

Minji didn't grab the girl's hand, so the girl just pounced on her again. Minji let out another sound as the girl hugged her extremely tightly. "I have to get going now, but it was really nice to see you again!" Seoyeon giggled as she quickly let go of Minji and ran off towards a different street. Minji stood there, baffled at the entire situation.

...

"Mom, do you know somebody named Seoyeon? I don't know her surname but she had short blonde hair and blue eyes like a foreigner-" Minji quickly closed her mouth at the last part. She had almost forgotten that exotic hair and eye colors were common here.

"Oh...! I haven't heard that name in forever! I remember you crying your eyes out about having to leave her side when you were little," her mom chuckled, perhaps reminded of an old memory, "did you rekindle your friendship with her?"

"Uh... you know her?" Minji was left speechless. Again. There existed another thing that seemed off to her again.

"Do you have any pictures of her?" Minji thought about what to say before coming to this conclusion. She decided that if they did indeed meet when they were young, her parents would have kept some pictures of them.

"Of course sweetie, they're in the photo book you took a look at a few weeks ago," her mom said while washing the dishes. Immediately, Minji sprinted to the living room and took out the photo album she looked at to confirm her purple eyes. She flipped through the pages and saw all sorts of familiar pictures.

*There's nothing*

Minji frowned as she reached the last page. There were no traces of that girl. She closed the book again and opened it. "Huh?" Minji almost rubbed her eyes in disbelief, "There are extra pages..."

Minji quickly flipped to the new pages and dropped the album on the floor. What was going on? On the new pages, there were pictures of an unfamiliar blonde-haired girl.