Karin's relationship with Mada continued as usual, except Karin was trying to keep her distance, and Mada seemed to be starting to notice.
"Kids, next week we'll be practicing table manners, okay? Get into groups of four or five," Ms. Mimi announced.
"Yes, ma'am," everyone agreed—except Karin.
"Sorry, ma'am, but wouldn't it be better if you assigned the groups or arranged them according to attendance? That would be fair," Karin said.
Some people were naturally surprised because Karin had never asked for anything like that before. But a few agreed, since if they chose their own groups, some would be made up of smart students while the others would become the "leftover" groups.
"Yeah, ma'am, just make them random," one of Karin's classmates said.
"What about everyone else? Should I randomize them or arrange them by attendance?" Ms. Mimi offered.
"Randomize them!" several people shouted.
In the end, they agreed to let Ms. Mimi randomly assign the groups herself.
Karin had suggested it because she didn't want to be in the same group as Mada again. But fate had other plans.
Karin still ended up in a group with Mada and three other people: Ninda, Lena, and Dika.
They began discussing what they would serve for the table manners practice. Unlike usual, Karin stayed quiet during the discussion until the period ended and they got ready to go home.
That night, as usual, Karin prepared her textbooks for the next day and browsed social media. Karin wasn't used to studying at night. She studied at three in the morning because she felt lessons sank in more easily at that hour.
While she was absorbed in browsing the internet, Karin received a message from Mada.
"Rin, I guess we really can't be separated, huh? Hahaha," Mada wrote to start their conversation.
"Yeah, even though I'm so bored of being in the same group as you," Karin replied.
"Why did you suddenly want the groups to be random?" Mada asked.
"It's nothing. I just felt like it."
"Are you okay?"
Karin fell silent as she stared at the message. She was still thinking about one thing: her feelings.
Karin had kept those feelings to herself—or no, she had already told Naya and Cila, her best friends. They were always there to encourage Karin whenever she remembered that Mada already had a girlfriend. For the past few days, she had been thinking about telling Mada how she felt. But she was also afraid of losing him.
Without realizing it, she typed a message saying that she liked Mada and sent it. Mada immediately called Karin.
"Seriously, Rin?" he asked when Karin answered.
"Yeah, hehe. Sorry, I guess I got carried away by the way you treated me," Karin replied.
"No, you don't have to apologize. I should be the one apologizing for not being able to return your feelings," Mada said.
"It's okay. I just wanted to tell you so I could feel relieved."
"I'm sorry again."
"It's okay, relax, hehe. I'm going to go now, Mada. I'm sleepy, hehe," Karin said before ending the call unilaterally.
After that call, Karin felt very far away from Mada. She didn't know why, but she also felt that Mada was keeping his distance because he no longer sat behind her. She had found it strange for a while, but Karin didn't want to dwell on it.
Karin also didn't want to interfere with Mada's relationship with his girlfriend, so she kept busy with her activities as a student council officer, preparing the school's anniversary event. Then one day, a message came in on Karin's phone.
"Are you close with Jidan?" wrote someone who turned out to be none other than Mada.
"Not really. We're just student council friends. Why?" Karin replied.
"It's nothing. He's a good guy." Karin furrowed her brow as she read the message. Then what? It wasn't as if Karin would be friends with a bad person, right?
"If he were bad, he probably wouldn't want to join the student council, right?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right."
The conversation stopped there because Karin felt awkward about it.