with love, flora

fourteen.

I brought his flying hands back down and held them there. "Kitty's my best friend. If not this, I would've worried about something else. If she was fitting in well or if Dae was being as nice to her as before, or if she's keeping her grades up."

Minho raised his eyebrows at the last one, and despite understanding the insinuation I had no defense for my best friend this time. She had been very poor in her academic performance until now.

He sighed and looked at me fondly. "Whatever the reason, I just wish you would worry about others a little less, and worry about yourself a little more."

The honeyed words, as simple as they were in meaning, had me blushing. To hide my red cheeks and show my appreciation, I gave my boyfriend a little peck which he prolonged. However, as warm as the moment was, I urged him to stand up by tugging on our linked hands, and he pouted as I pulled away.

"You can help me worry less by talking to Daeheon. Go on the coffee run with him." I kissed his growing pout away. "I don't think he would've reached very far by now."

He squinted at me, reluctantly letting go of my hands. "You must know I really, really like you."

"I do."

===

"You really want to stay here, don't you?" My Greek friend asked as he showed up out of nowhere and began walking in step with me.

I looked up at his big figure with a smile. "That's why I came here, Marius. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're doing your all," he said with a flourish of his giant hand, almost hitting another student in the face. I looked at the person apologetically as we walked past them. "Not one teacher has a bad thing to say about you, aside from the party which even Yuri was present at, so it kind of flies under the radar." He mimicked an airplane doing a nosedive before picking back up. "Your grades are great, you cooked for us expats and now you're also participating in the talent show with the traditional fan dance crew."

"What?" I asked as I paused in the middle of the hallway.

Had Madison taken my request to think her offer over as a yes? That didn't seem right. The redhead might be eager, especially with things regarding Korean culture, but she was respectful enough to not make any assumptions. I suppose at this point we could be considered fairly close, but was it close enough to overstep boundaries like this?

No, I shouldn't put the blame or make assumptions about Madison when that's what was putting me off right now.

"That's right, I know. Anyway, that rapport is bound to get you the extension you want. Hey, where'd you go?" He finally noticed my absence when turning his head to look at me, and walked backward to where I was. "What's up with that face? And why'd you stop?"

"Madison asked me to perform with them but I hadn't yet told her my answer," I pondered my dilemma out loud.

"Oh! I just saw Kitty sign you up as well as herself. She was with Yuri." His voice was quieter than when he began as he questioned next, "Didn't you talk to her?"

My shoulders slumped. "I didn't. She wrote my name down on her own."

"But it's Kitty, right?" His arm moved around my shoulders and pushed to get me moving once again. "You guys are best friends and she knows you best. You were, um, going to say yes, right?" I nodded my head, walking aimlessly, just following wherever he led. "Then it doesn't matter who signed you up. If anything, she just ran an errand for you."

But it was an errand I hadn't asked for.

It was the kind of thing Kitty did all the time. Throw people into situations they weren't ready for, but in the end everything would turn out fine because it's Kitty, TheMatchmaker™. She believed that this title that she'd given herself, which was supported by practically everyone who knew her, gave her the jurisdiction to meddle in every area of people's lives.