Jaebum didn't know what he just witnessed that he had do a double take. He was walking past the 10th grade classroom on his way to the cafetaria with his friends when his eyes caught something.

"What are you doing?" he heard Jinyoung asked as he walked backwards a few steps.

And that's when he saw her, jumping around like a swan with joint problems across the classroom in front of a group of students who laughed and chatted feverishly. She kept doing it too - jumping without a care in the world as she made faces. Jaebum had never seen anyone so... alive.

"What's going on?" Jinyoung's voice brought him back to reality as a small smile formed on his lips.

"Nothing."

//

The second time he saw her, she was maning her class' booth in the school's yearly festival. It had been months since he noticed her spectacular performance as a stiff ballerina and he had almost forgotten about her. He was walking around the festival, looking for his buddies from another school when he was smacked in the face by an arm. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," she was bowing profusely before he knew it. Her hand reaching up, wanting to check if he was okay, but also wanting to apologise at the same time. It was a mess of limbs moving about in a rapid pace.

"Yah hoobae. What's your name?" he asked.

"Park Jimin from class 10.2," she straightened up immediately, as if she was a soldier answering to her officer.

Jaebum kept a stern look as he said, "Be careful."

"Yes, sunbaenim. I'm very really so very sorry," she continued bowing as he walked away with a smirk.

//

The third time he saw her, she approached him with a glass of coffee. "Hello, sunbaenim," she greeted carefully with a giant smile on her lips, bowing as she gave him the drink.

"What do you want?" he asked pointedly.

She grinned before taking a seat next to him on the bench, "So for the Christmas concert this year, you know how the school puts on a play, right? Well my friends and I are in charge and we were wondering if you would be interested in auditioning for the lead role."

"What?"

She grinned some more, "You are absolutely perfect for the role and we couldn't think of anyone else who do the role justice."

He leaned back and sighed, slightly baffled at the conversation that he's having right now. He's used to having underclassmen approaching him with coffee (or other variants of food and drinks) to confess their crush, to ask him out or even ask him to pass on a letter to Jinyoung, but he's never been approached for a reason like this before. He has to admit that he's intrigued by the long-haired, pale-skinned, and grinning girl next to him.

"Alright. I'll consider it," he finally responded.

She yelped (she actually did raise her arms and did a brief hooray in the air, much to his astonishment at seeing such expressive show of emotions) and stood up to bow in gratitude, "Thank you very much, sunbaenim. We look forward to seeing you at the audition. It will be tomorrow during lunch time in the theatre room."

He briefly nodded, focusing his attention ahead. "Ah... by the way, what role am I auditioning for?" he asked, nonchalantly before she walked away.

"Scrooge."

(His friends were very amused when he told them what happened, especially the part where she implied that he's perfect for the role. "She's right. You'd play a grumpy killjoy really well," they had said in between laughing.)

//

The fourth time he went on a date with her, he had an inkling that this was something more.

"Sunbae, why do you never want to go anywhere? You should pick a place too, you know. You can't have me pick every single time," she suggested as they walked by Han River. They had just finished bowling with their friends when she suggested that they go out on a walk, and he happily obliged. Any time he gets to spend with her is exciting.

"Yah, what did I tell you about calling me sunbae? Call me oppa," he said.

She chuckled and turned to him, stopping in her tracks, "Seriously. I thought when guys ask a girl out on a date, they suggest the activity. But you always just say, 'Jimin-ah, let's go somewhere tomorrow,'" she mimicked his deeper voice comically, making him laugh and his eyes disappear into thin lines, "I'm serious!" her eyes widened, making him laugh even more.

"Fine, fine," he finally said. He looked ahead towards the river and shoved his hands in his front pocket, taking a deep breath of the warm Summer evening. It had been a year since he auditioned for that play and two months since he finally mustered the courage to ask her out on a date. And now, with her next to him in a gorgeous pair of printed dress, he made a mental decision.

So he took another deep breath and continued, "You know what I want?"

He could feel her nodding without having to turn.

"I want to have you as my girlfriend."

He could also feel her body freeze in place.

"What do you think?" he asked, braving himself to turn and look at the girl who had become the highlight of his day for the past year.

Now it was her who was looking ahead with a serious expression before she broke into a small smile, "I like that," she said quietly.

He looked ahead and held her hand without a word, unable to contain the smile forming on his lips.

(Moments later... "'Yknow what I want? I want to have you as my girlfriend,'" she mimicked his voice again, "KYAAA!" she squealed as she curled her free fingers, making him blush. "I didn't know you can be that cheesy, oppa," she as they walked hand in hand.)

//

The first time she saw him, she stopped in her tracks, taking in the contrast between his lips that formed a measured line with the smile that was fully expressed in his eyes.