There was procrastination when it came to studying, and there was procrastination in the social world too. 

It had been about a week and a half since Yu-jun had given the popsicle to Ishaan. Ishaan, who was tapping his pen on his desk, was still unsure of what to give him. In fact, he wasn't even sure how he would meet with Yu-jun, given his circumstances.

Yu-jun had been "conveniently busy," as Ishaan called it, ever since that whole incident. Ishaan had tried to find him with what information he had; in the classroom, afterschool, nothing seemed to work. Everytime he did manage to find him, their conversations were but small exchanges, consisting of hellos, and then an "I'm busy, so I'll talk to you soon." Except the soon would never come. 

Perhaps Yu-jun really was busy, and Ishaan's interruptions were bothering him. Ishaan was about to give up one afternoon until he passed by a snack shop. 

The bells at the top of the door jingled as Ishaan came in. The scent of freshly baked goods filled his nose, and he gazed at a shelf of colourful confectionary with all sorts of treats, as many as could fit in the small room.

"Welcome! Are you looking for something?" A girl with a braid down her side and a name tag reading "Anya" stood behind a cash register. 

"Oh, I'm just looking for, I guess, a thank-you gift? I'm not really sure." Ishaan looked around at the wide variety, finding himself lost in colourful wrappers and packaging.

Anya stepped from behind the counter. "I'd recommend the gummies personally." She picked up a pack of fuzzy strawberry gummies. "Usually after work, I like to buy these ones. Do you have any flavours in mind? People tend to pick strawberry or mango."

Ishaan had nothing to offer but a blank stare as blank as his mind. He had no idea what Yu-jun would like. He had tried asking some people who he thought were close, but none of them really knew. Strawberry? Mango?

The orange packaging caught Ishaan's eye. He picked up a pack of orange ones. "I'll take these."

"Sure," Anya shrugged, "good choice." She headed behind the counter. "Anything else?"

"Nope, that's it. Thank you for your recommendation by the way."

She smiled warmly. "No problem! Cash or credit?"

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Ishaan headed to the library, speedwalking, sprinting, whichever suited the situation best. Recent intel had told him that he would for sure find Yu-jun, potentially alone, in the library, and so he was heading there as quickly as he could without getting in trouble. 

He clutched the snack he had bought the other day, as well as a handwritten thank-you note. Even if Yu-jun would be alone, he might be busy studying, so Ishaan wanted to get his message across as quick as possible. 

He swung open the library doors and began scouring. Not there, he thought, scanning the tables. Was he wrong?

At last, hidden behind a shelf of books, Ishaan found Yu-jun intensely focused on a book in a corner. 

His mouth opened. "Yu-"

"SHHHHH!" The librarian stuck her index finger up, and placed it on her lip. Ishaan felt his face flush.

"Sorry."

He sat down in the seat across from Yu-jun, and rested his head on his crossed arms. "What are you reading," he whispered.

"It's on biology," Yu-jun replied without looking up.

"I see, do you have a test coming up or something?"

"Well yeah, and also for fun."

Ishaan could tell he was not ready for a conversation and felt stupid for getting carried away. "Well, I'm going to leave this with you." He slid over the gift and note. "I wasn't sure what you liked, but I wanted to say thanks for the other day, or week."

Yu-jun looked up. "Other day- you mean the popsicle? It's no problem." He looked back down. 

Ishaan averted his eyes. Clearly, this was not going well, and he was being a disturbance. He wanted to scratch his head, run around, and toss and turn. 

"Well, yeah, that's all I wanted to say. If you need help, let me know!"

Yu-jun nodded and continued reading. This was seriously getting awkward. Ishaan got up. 

"You sure you're okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm good."

Ishaan was not good. He was quite hurt. Maybe he really is super busy, and super introverted. Maybe I'm the problem. If only he would stop yapping so much, Ishaan thought. He walked away, doing a small little wave again. Maybe it would be more useful to get him a biology workbook or something.

He walked back to the entrance of the library, where the librarian was. "Sorry for the interruption, but do you happen to know where the biology books are? Or maybe a workbook?"

He then thought about it some more. "Wait, no, it's okay. Have a good day." Ishaan headed out of the library, leaving the librarian with a look of utter confusion. 

________________________________________________________________________________

"What is this?"

Yu-jun Lee, two weeks after transferring into his new school, had finally received the infamous "gift-on-the-desk." It was in a brown paper bag, the contents neatly wrapped, and a sticky note on top in neat handwriting. "Biology Workbooks for Grade 11, hope this helps :)" read the note .

As soon as he read the note, he knew who it was from. He carefully unwrapped the books as a crowd formed around him. Lo and behold, the practice books Yu-jun had been saving up for were right in front of him. He could not have been happier. 

Ishaan. He figured Ishaan would have been mad at him or had given up on trying to be close to him. However, the gift took him aback. The orange gummies he had been given a few days prior felt as if they were made for him, and here Ishaan had done it again, subconsciously knowing what he wanted. Leaving quick notes. Checking up on him. Somehow picking the right gifts. It made him feel a little weird, a feeling that made him wonder if Ishaan could just peer into his soul. Yet the feeling was warm anywho, and Yu-jun was very close to hugging the books. It was the crowd that surrounded him that stopped him so.

He flipped through them, smiling, and started working immediately. He would not let the gift go to waste. Gradually, the crowd dispersed, and the feeling of tranquility and peace filled him. 

Then he felt a bit of guilt. Perhaps he was avoiding Ishaan too much. It didn't seem right for Ishaan to be completely unaware of his gratefulness or his circumstances.  Maybe it would be okay if he got a bit closer to someone after pushing most people away. The only time he had crossed that boundary was when a certain group of boys were bullying Ishaan. The thought of that scene, and the thought of someone as outgoing as Ishaan surrendering to something like that, Yu-jun could not help but feel angry. 

I'll visit his class, Yu-jun thought. See what I can do for him then.