Day 6: Underrated.

"You don't understand!"

"You had a fight with Soo, didn't you?"

Wang So rolls on the school bench, trying to will his best friend away, but Baek Ah, unable to hear his thoughts and effectively ignoring his tantrum, sits on the arm rest to look at him.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. What happened?"

"She lost something. I don't know why I'm the one who needs to get yelled at."

Baek Ah arches a perfectly shaped eyebrow, knowing Soo is not one to lash out.

"Well, what did she lose?"

"A stupid bookmark."

"Ah, I see what the problem is."

So doesn't. He's replayed their argument several times in his head but each time Soo overreacts. She has an infinite supply of bookmarks, he's given her some, she always gets a new one when she goes to the bookstore, she has one for each book on her shelf. However, at the end of each replay, Soo always yells at him and storms off the classroom, and try as he might, he's still at a loss.

"Just because something seems unimportant to you, doesn't mean it's not important to her. If you don't hold her opinion in your esteem, then I don't see why you'd start dating."

So opens his eyes, glares at the weeds within his line of vision.

"I value her opinion."

"Then go and help her find the stupid bookmark, Wang So."

He pulls himself off the bench and walks away without even sparing a glance at Baek Ah, his mind full of thoughts of her. He doesn't know where to begin, but it's only because there are so many places he could look, each one with her invisible footprints, the sight of her long, swaying hair guiding him along, even if she's only in his mind.

There's the library, the corner for historical romances where she'd sit on the ground during her free periods. In the roof they sneak in during lunchtime, he searches under old buckets, broken chairs, and every corner of the fence. He asks the manager of her favorite café if they ever found anything, if he can look around her favorite spot by the window, where her bright, round eyes like to take in the passersby, making up stories for them, telling him each and every one over a cup of tea. He wants to search the surroundings of her house but what use would it be for her to see him, a hurt expression still frozen on her face, if he didn't have the answer she was looking for?

It's already night when he goes to the lake, sitting under her favorite tree, the bench where they first met just a glance away, over his shoulder. Wang So has known Hae Soo for three years, all of his high school life, and in his young mind, it's the same as an entire lifetime. Before her, there was only a private school and badly lit hallways and drills and dormitories full of unfriendly rich boys. When he was set to move in with his mother, the only prospect for his future was peace, walking to school all the way from home, enjoying a freedom his father's manor would never have. Living with his mother meant punctuality, checking his progress in schoolwork, keeping his own room clean and aiming for college. But it was also meals prepared with her own hands, dishes he liked instead of fancy meals, and her warm hand on his forehead when he was sick.

He leans against the tree, looking over at the bench, and he can almost see Hae Soo hovering over his form, the sound of her stifled giggles rousing him from his nap, her smile the welcoming arms to a new city. She takes a flower that was caught in his hair, saying it didn't really match his style, and he asks why not, what if he liked flowers? Another one falls from the tree, right on Soo's open palm, the spring breeze filling his ears with the sound of leaves, Soo's flowery dress dancing around her calves. Then let's keep one each, she says, their first promise, their first compromise. When he meets her in class the next day, her recognition is brighter than sunshine, and he thinks, I might like it here, after all.

His hands move around the ground in his reminiscences, touching an anomaly, discovering an opening on the tree's trunk. He reaches for his phone and illuminates the area, and the light makes something shine. He reaches inside and pulls out her bookmark; a pressed white flower, suspended in time by a careful plastic protection. He turns it in his hand, over and over again. Looking up, there are no white flowers to be seen, too far from the season, but he knows they're there, waiting for spring, blossoming with the admiration of Soo's love.

A few days later, he captures her hand after class, almost dragging her away, but not walking fast enough to cause her discomfort. Soo follows him, no dance in her steps, no music in her voice, just tagging along with him, dejected and crushed, the world a little monochromatic in her eyes. He stops by their bench and sits her down, gently, but doesn't let go of her hand. He reaches in his pocket and returns her bookmark.

Color returns to her at once, a flashlight turned on in darkness.

"You found it?!"

"It was right by that tree. I think you meant to keep it safe but forgot about it."

Soo presses the flower to her chest as he sits down beside her.

"Thank you, So. I looked everywhere."

He watches her touch the edges of the bookmark before he asks,

"Why is it so important to you?"

She kicks her feet back and forth, her eyes turning to half-moons just for him.

"I promised you I'd keep it. I could never get one just like it ever again."

So turns his gaze to the water, the mirror that reflects the sepia-colored afternoon. Soo laces her fingers with his and he closes his hand around hers, in case she thinks of letting go again.

"Is it silly?"

She rests her head on his shoulder and all the strain of their fight melts away in the air, in the wind. So crosses his legs and looks for the answer in the water.

"It's not. You like keeping memories, storing them safely. I just... I see you everywhere I look, so how could I forget a single thing?"

He can feel her eyes on him when she moves to rest her chin against his shoulder instead, her free hand moving to tuck his bangs behind his ear. She whispers his name in the confidentiality of their proximity and it makes him flush with the truth of her feelings for him. From the very start, from the first sight of her, framed against the green leaves that surrounded him, he never stood a chance. He could never look away, see or hear anything else. She studied with him, listened to words, read over his shoulder, sneaking her way into his heart, and every day he woke up with a new thought to share with her, things she'd like, places they should see. Friendship blossomed into love like a flower that only opened up to the moonlight.

He reaches inside his pocket and gives it to her; something new, like she loved. Something to keep.

Hae Soo turns the resin ring in her hand, holding it against the light. All the flowers kept inside have her favorite colors, yellow and pink and lilac and white, tiny and delicate, just like her hands. It fits her index finger because he had no idea what her size would be, but it fits. She stares at it with her mouth slightly open, the pastel color of her nail polish matching the flowers perfectly.

"It'll be harder to lose this one."

He doesn't expect the peck on his lips, her lip-gloss sticking to him, the taste of it making his heart lose its usual compass. When he places his fingers on his lips, looking away, blinking rapidly, Soo's giggles course through him like they're his own.

"You do understand."

He doesn't think so. Because every time he thinks he understands, that he knows all, she does something that robs him of his breath. So what could he do?

He kisses her again, their clasped hands held against his heart.

She tastes of first love, of flowers and spring.