01. (1/1)

He would call it a daily routine—you know, walking behind her a meter or two on the way to school. He knew very well that his pace was faster than hers, but he always chose to walk a few steps back just to admire her quietly from behind. Every day he would debate whether or not he should say hello, but his choice would always end up being the latter. Instead, he would watch the delicate curls of her hair bounce ever so slightly on each step she took. He would smile to himself—chuckle, even—when he would see her occasionally trip over nothing. He found it rather cute, how clumsy she could sometimes get. She would even scold herself for being so embarrassing.They arrived at the school with just a few more minutes to spare. He kicked at a pebble that rolled through the front gates as he sighed for the first time today. He mentally slapped himself for lacking the courage to greet her. He scolded himself for not being “manly enough.” He couldn’t get a hold of himself because the girl that he likes is still out of his reach.Homeroom was no different than other days—people were talking over one another, some were catching up on homework, and some were catching up on some much needed sleep. She was sitting two rows in front of him. She sat up straight with her legs uncrossed and had her face buried in her phone. He assumed that this was her way of passing time. Sometimes, she would lay her head down, and sometimes she would have her nose in a book or some notes. Either way, her earphones were plugged in, muting the outside world just until the teacher comes. The bell soon rang and everyone sat in their respective seats. She took her earphones off and wrapped it around her delicate fingers before she placed it in her bag. He stared at the back of her head throughout the whole lesson.He took the long way home that day. He stared at the ground in front of him, mindlessly walking forward. It took him a few thoughts in to realize that his feet lead him to an old park. The wind blew, making the rusty swings creak and the leaves rustle. Although he was more than a few blocks away from home, he didn’t mind. He took this time and opportunity to think on one of the swings. The soft wind lightly tousled his hair and made the leaves on the ground dance around him. He began swaying slightly as he let his thoughts of her drown him. Those thoughts were soon cut off when a wet substance touched his hand. Disgusted by the foreign feeling, he looked down. It was a large dog. He was quite relieved that the substance on his hand was just slobber, and nothing worse, but he was still repulsed by the amount of saliva that it let out. He furrowed his brows as he looked around to see if the owner was anywhere nearby. A slender figure came into view, her hair waving with the wind and her cardigan swaying behind her. His heart began to race when he saw the familiar figure walking towards him with a soft, relieved smile spread across her face.“You found her! Thank you; she can be quite the troublemaker.”“Actually, she came to me. And no worries, she was very well behaved.” he stared at her, smiling, drinking in her presence.“Oh—really? I’m sorry if she caused you trouble nonetheless. Although I’d love to stay and chat, I’ve got to go—some other day, perhaps?” she tilted her head.He nodded,” O-oh, sure.”“See you at school then, Jimin!” she said, waving goodbye.His tongue was caught and he couldn’t speak after that. He stared at her backside as she walked towards the main road, making her way home, just as she said. Snapping out of his trance, his smile grew wider. At least she knew who he was.Jimin woke up the next morning with a light heart. He believed that she was one of the only reasons why he was so motivated to get out of bed every morning. He took a shower, changed his clothes, ate his breakfast, and brushed his teeth. He kissed his mother goodbye and he was off to school once again. He waited at the curb where they usually crossed paths. Once she was in view, he began walking slowly behind her, as per usual, careful not to give off the wrong impression. Jimin noticed that she had put her hair up in a ponytail today—which she never does—so that made his heart race faster than the other days. Suddenly, she stopped to bend down and tie her shoe. He kept walking, but his slow pace became even slower so that he wouldn’t overtake her. She stood back up and began walking again, but then she stopped. Why did she stop? She turned around on the balls of her feet and looked at him with her almond-shaped eyes. Jimin swallowed hard and stopped in his tracks as they stared at each other.“Would you like to take the long way with me?”He blinked continuously as he looked around, making sure he wasn’t mistaken. He then pointed at himself, “Me?” She chuckled and smiled that precious smile that would reach her eyes.“Of course, who else?” Millions of questions flooded his poor mind, first one being, how did she know I was standing behind her? She rocked back and forth, waiting for an answer.When did she ever notice? Was I too obvious? Maybe I was walking too close this time. No, that couldn’t be it. He didn’t know.She didn’t mind.Every morning, even if he was late, she found herself waiting for him at the curb. He didn’t know why she was doing this, but he didn’t mind. It didn’t take them long to start conversing with each other and become closer to one another. He learned even more things to love about her.  He knew that those little things made him fall for her even more, but he didn’t know if she should tell her or not. His heart was about to burst, but he held his feelings in for a little while longer. He didn’t want to break the bond they already had.It was one of those mornings where they ran out of things to talk about. They were both drowned in their own thoughts. Jimin was thinking about her again, even though she was right beside him. It had already been a while since they got to kno