"Good morning, Riwon." Jungwon greeted her at the counter.

"Good morning, Jungwon. Have you eaten breakfast yet?" She asked while putting the strawberry milk she bought for herself and finding her purse in the bag.

But Jungwon gave the money he had to the cashier and paid for her as well.

"Ah.. you don't need to do that."

"That's okay. We're friends now. It's not wrong to treat each other." Jungwon smiled.

"Thanks."

They both walked together to the school. Riwon found some new information too. They lived in the same neighbourhood. How come she never met him outside before this? Maybe destiny leads them to not meet each other until the right time.

"You always buy strawberry milk. Do you like it that much? I love strawberry milk too." Jungwon said when he saw the milk in her hand.

"Yeah.. why do you love this flavour, Jungwon?" Why not find new information right?

"I enjoy strawberries more than chocolate. I don't really enjoy sweets. Strawberry milk isn't that sweet so.. how about you?"

"Oh— erm I'm just trying and the taste wasn't that bad. It's growing in me."

"So before this, you didn't like this flavour?"

"Yeah. I love chocolate milk."

"I see.. we're really different."

Riwon only smiled at him. Different huh?

It's been nearly two weeks since they became friends and to be honest, Riwon couldn't be more than happy and grateful. Jungwon must have thought of her as a friend only but she didn't feel sad about it. It is because she realised and knew her place. She didn't deserve to be more than friends with Jungwon.

He would look bad standing beside her as a boyfriend. As long as she can talk to him, she's happy. She will continue to admire him in secret and wish for the best for him. She wished it was just a small crush. She didn't want the past to repeat. She wants to like him just like how a fan loves her idol, wishing for them to be happy without being by their side.

"Riwon!" Ian waved at her and ran towards her.

"Ian.. hey." She didn't see him for a while because she had started to hangout more with Jungwon and his friends.

"Who's he? Your friend?" He asked.

"Of course he's my friend. What do you think?"

"I thought it's impossible that he's actually your boyfriend. After all, you like me." Ian said which left her speechless.

"I don't, Ian. I liked you. But not anymore." Riwon clenched her fist at his words. It feels like he's insulting her.

"Really? So, the rumours are true when they said you really moved on from me. Do you still remember how hot the topic was when everyone found out your feelings for me?"

"You—"

"Hey, don't you think you're crossing the limits?" Jungwon grabbed Riwon's arm and pulled her closer.

"What?"

"You should respect someone's feelings. If she had moved on from you, then it's better to not talk about the same topic anymore." Jungwon walked past him with Riwon by his side but before they entered the school gate, he said something that made Riwon's heart melt.

"Riwon is pretty. It is possible for her to have a boyfriend and I'm sure lots of them wish to be together with her."

"Jungwon.. why are you saying all of that?" Riwon stopped walking once they're gone from Ian's sight.

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Thank you for saying all of that but Ian isn't wrong. It's impossible for me to have a boyfriend."

"Why do you think so? Riwon, you're pretty, smart, and kind-hearted. Everyone wants to be with you."

"I'm not. If I'm pretty, why did Ian reject me? If I'm pretty, why does no one approach me? Why did I never receive even one confession from someone? That's because I'm not pretty enough for someone to like me. You don't need to comfort me or say I'm pretty to make me feel better because my family has confirmed it. They said I'm not skinny enough and I'm ugly." Riwon left for her classroom, leaving Jungwon alone in the corridors.

"Did I just say something wrong.. huh, I should apologise to her later."

Jungwon went to his classroom and saw his friends in their seats. Junho waved and smiled at him but seeing no reaction from the boy, he nudged Sunghoon's elbow. "What?"

"What's wrong with him? He seems sad. Is he in his emo era?"

Sunghoon sighed before pulling a chair and sat in front of Jungwon. "What's up, bro?"

"Sunghoon, what do you think of Riwon?"

"Huh? Riwon.. She's cold." Sunghoon blurted out.

"Cold? Someone as cheerful as Riwon, you said cold??" Jungwon couldn't believe his friend.

"Cold to people but not her friends, I guess. I'm not close to her, so I don't know. But she seems cold to me. She barely smiles. Even if she smiles, her expression would change to a blank one in a second. That time when I flirted with her, I was thinking twice whether I should continue or not after seeing her poker face." Sunghoon said more which caused Jungwon to sigh heavily.

"Junho, what do you think of Riwon?"

"Fucking smart. Everytime I see her, I can't help but wish I could compete with her in some competition or something. Imagine beating the smartest student in school? Hahahahaha!" Junho laughed.

"That's not helping at all.. I need someone to say she's pretty first when people talk about her. Hey Hari.. what do you think of Riwon?"

"Sorry, don't know who that is." She didn't even bother to turn around to look at Jungwon.

Jungwon sighed.

———

Riwon felt helpless through the class. She felt bad and guilty for letting out her sadness at Jungwon. He did nothing wrong and in fact, he helped her. So she bought strawberry milk to make him feel better. She didn't plan to give it directly to him, though.

As usual, she looked around in case someone might see her. She went straight to his seat and placed the strawberry milk there. "I'm sorry.. Jungwon." After that, she left.

Jungwon and his friends who just came back from P.E were shocked to see his favourite drink on the table. His smile widened. "It's back."

"Finally after a few weeks.. I thought the sender got sick or something. It seems like she's still thinking of you."

"So confident it's from girls." Hari joined the conversation.

"Actually.. I had someone in mind." Junho whispered to Jungwon as he smirked. "Well.. I'm not sure if you would believe me but it's Riwon."

"And why do you think she's the one who gave me this? She could just give me face to face."

"She might have her reason! I told you, she's smart. You saw that she's drinking the same one as you all the time when it's not her favourite flavour. And your first meeting with her when Hari got sick, I don't think it's a coincidence. She gave you the milk, trying to get close to you." Junho exclaimed.

Jungwon chuckled. "You're funny, Junho. I think it's not her. It is a coincidence that she's a girl who likes strawberry milk too."

"You're dumb.." Junho mumbled.

———

"Riwon! Kim Riwon! Hey, can you stop walking?!" Ian grabbed her wrist.

"What do you want, Ian?"

"Please forgive me for what I did this morning, okay? I must be dumb for saying all of that."

"Glad you realised that." Riwon slapped his hand away and continued walking. She saw Jungwon in front of his locker. Should I talk to him?

She decided to talk to him tomorrow and walked past him, expecting to get no reaction from him when he suddenly called for her name.

"Riwon, wait." He called her name softly.

Riwon stopped but she didn't dare to turn around. She stared at the ground when a tall figure blocked the light from her. She saw his shadow in front of her and that's when she felt his hand on her head.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Why would you apologise? Did you do something wrong to me?" She pouted.

"My words must hurt you. I'm sorry."

Riwon really couldn't get mad at him especially when he apologised with this tone of voice. He sounds like near to cry. She looked up and met his eyes. They're so close and his eyes caught her attention.

"It's pretty.." She mumbled. She never knew Jungwon had such pretty eyes. That just made her feel more insecure to think a boy is prettier than her. But that's not Jungwon's fault. She shouldn't be selfish. "Jungwon, I never get mad at you. You don't need to apologise. It's not your fault."

"Well then if you say so.. ah, how about we go to the ice cream shop together? I heard there's an opening ceremony and 10 early customers get free ice cream! Let's go!" Jungwon grabbed her arm and started to run out of the school.

"Yah! Jungwon, I can't run too fast!" Riwon said which caused him to stop immediately.

"Really? I'm sorry.. hehe I must be so excited. It's okay if we can't get the free ice cream. I will treat you." He walked with his hands in the pocket.

Riwon noticed how he seemed a little disappointed. Maybe she shouldn't say that. A little run can't hurt her right? She pulled out her phone, searching for something. "Where's the ice cream shop located?"

"Huh? Oh.. it's near my house."

"I see.. we're not far from there. Okay then, let's go."

"Of course. We're heading there now."

"I mean, let's get the free ice cream." Riwon gave her bag to Jungwon, rolled up her uniform sleeves before starting running, leaving Jungwon there dumbfounded.

"Wait— Riwon, you said you can't run! Wait for me!" He slung her bag over his shoulder and ran to catch up with her.

They reached the shop in five minutes and there's no one there. "Are we late?"

"Welcome! Congratulations for being the third customer of ours! Feel free to choose a flavour and get free ice cream!" One of the people in the white uniform said.

Riwon smiled widely. She turned around to see Jungwon had just arrived and caught his breath. "Jungwon! We did it!" She jumped happily.

"Are you okay? Here's water for you." Jungwon handed her the bottle.

"I'm fine. Let's choose the ice cream flavours." Riwon looked around when she saw her favourite flavour. "I want the cookies and cream flavour, please."

"I thought you're going to choose chocolate?"

"Yes, I'm a chocolate lover but cookies and cream ice cream is my favourite." Riwon smiled when she finally got the ice cream. She walked further and sat beside the window.

Jungwon came to join her a few minutes later. He had the same flavour as her. "You like that flavour too?"

"Oh, yeah." He smiled.

"Really?! Finally someone who has the same taste as me."

Jungwon felt happy to see her smiling. A little lie isn't a problem if that could make Riwon happy. He lied. Cookies and cream isn't his favourite and this is his first time tasting it. He just wanted to try because it's her favourite. They ate the ice cream happily.

———

"Why are you late?"

Riwon stopped at the living room when her mother asked right after she entered the house.

"I went to the ice cream shop with my friend." She replied to her questions and went straight to her room. Riwon saw her sister standing near her room. She wanted to enter her room when her sister blocked her way.

"What's wrong with you? Move away."

"Hey, who's that boy?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I just got home from the store and I walked past the new ice cream shop and saw you with a boy. Who's he? Your boyfriend? That's probably no. Your friend? Since when did you have a boy best friend?" Miwon, her older sister, asked more.

Riwon sighed. "Does it matter to you? Can't I have a boy as my best friend?" She pushed her to the side before closing the door right in front of her face.

Riwon lay on the bed and stared at the wooden ceilings. She really couldn't understand why her sister needed to ask all of that. Is she that ugly until it seems impossible to have a boyfriend? She might be smart but her sister is prettier.

She always has been that famous girl who got popular for her beauty. Sometimes being smart is useless when you're ugly because pretty people always win in everything. No matter how much you tried to fight using your brilliant brain, it's no use to fight against pretty people who got lots of people by her side.

"Miwon probably got her beauty from her mother. I heard her mother was so popular back then."

"Who's that? Miwon, you have a little sister?"

"They don't look alike."

She still remembered how her sister's friends said all those words when they met her for the first time. And after they left, her sister said something that broke her heart.

"Riwon, I don't think you can play together outside after this. It's not that I don't want to play with you! Er.. I think it's time for you to play with your own friends." She said, fake smiling.

She lied. She just felt ashamed to play with her. Miwon used to be her favourite sister, favourite person, but she broke her trust.

"I should just go study."

———

The students gathered in the hall to hear the speech from the teacher. Riwon stood next to Maya with her hands in her pocket as she felt cold due to the surroundings. It's November so the weather and temperature started to change.

"Hey." A voice greeted her and she turned around to see the boy smiling with his dimples showing up. He took her hand and put a hot pack on her palm. "Today is cold, isn't it?"

"I wondered what that old man wanted to say. He's taking a long time." Sunghoon joined by standing beside Jungwon. He flashed a smile at Riwon but somehow from his point of view, that girl never smiles unless around Jungwon.

"Sorry but you're not supposed to stand here? This is our class queue line for girls." Maya glared at the boys.

Jungwon awkwardly smiled. "I'm sorry, I just want to talk to Riwon." He apologised and dragged Sunghoon away from there back to their original line.

"Good morning, students. You must be wondering why I called you here, especially the 12th graders. After having a long meeting, we decided to plan a vacation for 12th graders before you guys have your university entrance test."

The students started to make noise. Most of them are excited to hear more about it. The teacher explained more about the vacation before they were sent back to their class. On the way to class, Maya wouldn't stop talking about the vacation. She seems really excited.

"Riwon, we need to go!"

"We will see. I'm going to ask my parents permission first."

"Of course they're going to let you go. You're not a kid anymore." Maya pulled out the chair and sat on it. She fixed her bangs, looking at the small mirror.

Riwon looked around and saw everyone was talking about the vacation too. She hopes her parents give her permission to go.