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JIA

"Did mom take the car again?" Jia asked to the cleaning lady. She glanced at Jia and nods. "They must've fought again then." 

It was the usual routine for Jia. Monday morning and her parents were already arguing. She sighed as she would have to take the bus today. Every time they fight, one of them would always take her car leaving her with no choice but to ride the bus when going to school.

"I'm sorry about your parents dear. They really need to figure out what to do with their relationship. It's affecting you." The cleaning lady said.

Some says when you have everything there was nothing to complain about. That felt unfair for Jia as she might've had what people classify as 'everything', some things were just bound to mess up and that happens to be her parents' relationship. Her biggest fear nowadays is how they would resolve this clash between them. 

"Um I'll be on my way. It's nice to see you." Jia said, bowing down to the cleaning lady and getting out of her house. 

She could ask Ahra to pick her up but she didn't want to be a burden so she just chose the bus. Inserting the earphone to her ear, she cancelled the noise around her that was bound to ruin her already ruined day. 

Once she arrived at school, she removed her earphones and went straight to class. All she wanted to do was study. Cancel everything around her and focus on studying her lessons in the library. The sooner she gets this lecture done, the sooner she can consume herself to studying in the library.

"Jia there you are!" Heeseung said once Jia had sat on her seat. 

"Yes?" She asked, wondering why Heeseung was looking for her. "Do you need anything?" 

He lifts a finger, telling her to wait for one moment before walking to his table and grabbing a paper bag. She tilts her head, curious as to what's inside the bag. "Here, Sunghoon wanted me to give that to you."

She grabs the paper bag and opens it, only to see a lunch box with a note attached on top of it. "Thanks. Why didn't he just give this personally?"

"That's what I said. He said he was too embarrassed to see how you would react." Heeseung chuckled. "I don't really get him, wouldn't judge you if you felt the same." 

"He's a puzzling man sometimes." Jia agrees which later on Heeseung followed with a laugh. 

"Talk to you later then, but nice hair though. You look prettier." He said and went back to his seat. 

Jia was puzzled why Sunghoon would be embarrassed by her reaction. What was inside the lunch box anyway? She pushed aside those feelings as soon as the teacher entered. When the bell rung, she grabbed the paper bag in hopes of knowing what was inside. 

Once she arrived at the cafeteria, she knew at that moment, this day just wasn't her day. From afar she could see Ahra and Sunghoon sitting on one table. If she approached and sat next to them she would have to endure the pain of being the third wheel. 

Instead she turns around and marched back to her classroom to return the paper bag. She passed by Heeseung who looked at her curious why she was back already. 

"You're already done eating?" He asked. 

Jia smiled. "Lost my appetite." 

He seemed to buy it because he left Jia alone after that. Jia walked out of the classroom and made her way to the library. She had been spending so much time in this place it almost felt like a second home to her.

Or maybe her only home. 

She grabbed the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone and sat on the corner, allowing herself to be devoured by the fantasy of Hogwarts. She went back to her childhood when her parents first introduced her to the series, at that time the movies were a big hit so Jia would watch it repeatedly until her parents would scold her for hurting her eyes. 

The child version of herself would always wait for her Hogwarts letter to arrive but as she continued to grow and things around her begun to change, she slowly lost that glimmer of hope inside of her. Not until she was introduced to figure skating by her cousin and then she saw a certain figure skater that captured her heart. 

"Well if it isn't Ms. Selfless. Our meetups are starting to become more frequent." She looked up only to see Jay towering over her. "What are you doing over here reading Harry Potter?" 

"I'm having a self reflection." Jia joked, sparing him a snarky smile before looking at the chapter again. He sat next to her holding a book he also pulled from the shelf. 

"Hmm really?" He asked. "You better be reflecting on that selfless attitude of yours."

Jia laughed. "I swear, what is your problem with my selflessness? You never know, someday you'll be thanking me." 

"I better hope that's not foreshadowing. Anyways, shouldn't you be nice to me? After all I know your secret." Jay smirked and Jia fought the urge to snort at his dumb attempt of blackmailing her. "Hey, why are you laughing?" 

"That was a funny attempt." Jia blurted, covering her mouth as she giggled. "Yeah blackmail me all you want. I know you won't tell." 

"And how are you sure?" Raising an eyebrow at Jia. 

"Because you're his friend too." 

Jay pressed his mouth shut, probably ran out of words to say. She seemed to have caught him there red handed with her reason. No matter how much Jay says he hates selfless people, there would always be a tiny bit of selflessness inside the person. His hatred against the feeling could never change his true nature. 

"You know what's funny? I'll probably pass as the main character's smart best friend that would constantly give her advice. Don't I pass that?" Jia admitted, with a sneer escaping her lips. 

Jay  slightly smiled. "Are you calling yourself a plot device?"

"Probably yeah. I'm that person that binds them together, how funny." Jia said, covering her face with her hands. "The least they could do is name one of their children Jia."

"You suck."

"Go away." Jay laughed. 

"I really don't think you pass the main character's best friend role." He commented. 

Jia titled her head. "Why?" 

"First of all those best friends aren't pretty and they don't get chased by men." He explained. She laughed, guessing the guy probably had not seen that many dramas. 

"Thank you?" Jia said, still laughing. 

The two separated as soon as the bell rung, marking the end of lunch break. She admits it was refreshing to have someone like Jay to talk to. She opened her phone to see a text from Ahra asking where she ate since she couldn't spot Jia in the cafeteria. She replied with a: 'no I didn't eat' before closing her phone and settling on her chair. 

She remembered the lunch box Sunghoon gave her. She'll probably eat it when she gets home since food isn't permitted inside the library. Her next lectures were even harder than her early ones, draining all the energy from her body. As much as it was her coping mechanism, it could also tire her to the point sleep would be her best resort. Right now, it wasn't much of a great option since Jia had her tutoring sessions with Sunghoon.

Dragging her body back to the library, she sits at their usual table and hopes he doesn't get there too early. She needed a quick nap, that's all. She just needed to charge herself. Allowing the darkness to devour her, she slowly closed her eyes. 

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She was back there again. 

At that spot, sitting next to her father while they watch young figure skaters compete. Her cousin was one of the contenders hence why her father had decided to tag her along. 

The cold feeling coming from the ice crept on her skin making her hug the jacket tighter, warming her skin. Then out of the blue, he came out from the side. 

The way he glided through the ice made her eyes shine and then she stared at him, full with awe. Adoring how he pours his heart out in every movement he created, the gracefulness still not faltering. 

Her eyes fluttered open to a guy sitting in front of her. She fixes her position and rubs her eyes, embarrassed that she had just slept in front of Sunghoon. "Sorry."

Her dreams seemed to be repeating itself. She recalled she also had the same dream the last time she slept in the library. 

Sunghoon looked at her confused. "Why are you saying sorry? I don't really mind."

"It's... inappropriate." Jia frowned while Sunghoon just smiled at her. 

"It's really fine. Everyone needs their daily dose of sleep." He explained, trying to tell Jia it was really fine that she slept on their tutoring session. 

Once Jia was full awake, she grabbed her notebook from her bag and opened it to their lesson for today. "Okay let's start." 

"Wait before we start, um." He seemed to be having a hard time thinking of what to say. Jia looked at him weirdly as the guy fidgets nervously. "W-Was it good?"

"Excuse me?" She asked. "What do you mean?"

"T-The lunch box, I mean. Did it taste good?" He finally had the strength to complete his sentence. Jia understood what he was saying and quickly glanced at the paper bag sitting right next to her bag. 

"Um." Jia suddenly regretted not eating earlier. "I haven't eaten yet."

Sunghoon's eyes widened. "At all? What were you doing during lunch then?"

"Reading Harry Potter." She confessed. She glared at him when he snorted at her response. "Hey! What are you laughing at?!"

He shrugged, coughing to stop himself from laughing that would anger Jia any further. "Nothing. You must really love to read then."

"Can we just start so we can get this session over?" Jia scowled at him and all he could do was smile innocently. 

He swiftly glances at his phone and types something before looking at Jia again. "By the way, I have plans today so let's make this short."

Jia nods, immediately remembering she was tutoring a figure skater prodigy. Him cutting their session short is no surprise to the girl. Following his request, she briefly discussed the important details of the topic leaving behind the unnecessary ones. Sunghoon seemed to be listening since when she glanced at him, his eyes were fixated at the notes.

After thirty minutes, Sunghoon's phone rang. Jia took that as a sign that their tutoring session was done. "Well that's it I guess. If you have any question, just text me."

He smiled. "Yeah thanks Jia! Also eat when you get home, okay? Tell me how the food taste." 

She grabbed the paper bag and her bag, standing up to leave. "Yeah. I'll text you."

And then she left, remembering that her car was with her mother hence why she would need to walk back home. 

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Jia opened the door, welcomed by the silence again of her own home. 

Stepping out of her shoes and putting it aside, she threw her bag at the sofa and made her way to the dining table to eat the lunch box Sunghoon gave her. Her original plan of stopping by the library was cancelled for the reason she kept anticipating to know what was inside the lunch box. 

She opened the plastic bag and a note was attached on top of it with the words written: thank you. I hope you like this.

Finally opening the lunch box, her eyes widened upon seeing the sweet and sour pork. For a split second she questioned how the guy knew this was her favorite but then she remembered Ahra mentioning it one time while he sat next to her. 

She grabbed a spoon and fork, and took a bite of the food. Though it wasn't the best tasting sweet and sour pork she had ever had, the butterflies in her stomach was unbearable every time she was reminded Sunghoon remembered her favorite meal. She dialed his number on her phone and put it on speaker. 

Sunghoon answers after a few seconds. "So? How did it taste?"

"Wow when will you ever greet me every time we call each other?" Jia laughed. She was starting to get used to this. Every time one of them would call each other Sunghoon would never greet her. 

"When I greet you, you should know that's not me. So really, how did it taste?" He asked again, not straying away from that question. 

"It's good. Not the best I've had but still good. Where did you buy this?" Jia asked. There was a long silence from the other line that made Jia confused if he was still there. "Um hello?"

"Actually um." There he was again, struggling to find words to say. 

"Spit it out, Sunghoon." Jia said, taking a bite of the sweet and sour pork. 

"I made that." 

Just when Jia thought the butterflies in her stomach couldn't get any more uncontrollable. 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE : 

Desiderium is getting so many attention, thank you! <333