MIMI

Jinny continued to stare up at her from below with a stunned expression while Mimi looked down at her - a look of irritation etched on her face.

"Your food."

Jinny was confused. "Huh?"

"If you"re not going to eat it bring it up here."

Jinny looked up at the large structure and then the small girl. "H-how did you even get up there?"

"There"s a ladder."

True to her words, on the side of the wall, was a long ladder leading to the roof.

"But…how did you get here?"

"I stole the key," Mimi responded bluntly.

Jinny"s eyes widened even further with disbelief. "Y-You stole the key?!"

"You sure ask a lot of questions." Mimi"s bottom lip twitched.

"S-Sorry…"

The two went silent. Mimi sucking on her lollipop and Jinny staring down at her tray of food in a cold sweat. She could feel Mimi"s stare on her…well her food.

Ah, why did she suddenly feel like she was being preyed upon by a hungry predator?!

After a moment of silence, Mimi asked, "So, what are you doing up here? Did you steal the key too?"

Alarmed, Jinny shook her head fiercely. "No, no! I got permission, Gus the janitor here let me! You see after asking him he..."

"I didn"t need a whole back story, I just asked a simple question."

"R-Right, sorry."

Mimi looked at Jinny with a quiet expression before popping the lollipop back into her mouth. "You still didn"t answer my first question, though. Shouldn"t you be having lunch with your friends and that Senior Su?"

Jinny"s expression went stiff and her eyes lowered. Mimi continued to suck on her lollipop while observing Jinny"s expression – her legs freely dangling off the roof.

The atmosphere grew quiet and gloomy making Mimi"s eyes spark with a naughty glint.

Sighing, she pops the lollipop out of her mouth and looks up at the view. "I see. So they finally ditched you. Seems like your efforts of pleasing them to stay with you didn"t pay off."

Jinny"s head abruptly shot up to look at Mimi. "What?"

"Hmm? What"s with that expression? Don"t tell me you"re surprised by this outcome?"

"W-What outcome?"

Mimi sighed loudly, "Can"t you see? While your friends are eating down there together happily, you"re eating up here alone."

Jinny lowered her head while biting down on her bottom lip.

Why did she make her sound so pathetic? So…fake?

In a hushed down, she said, "They didn"t abandon me. I chose to eat here by myself."

Mimi held back the urge to roll her eyes and kept her expression calm. "Then shouldn"t they be looking for you?"

No response. Mimi hid a smirk while swinging her legs playfully on the roof.

"Just face the facts. Your so-called friends are merely exploiting you as a stepping stone to hang out with everyone"s precious Senior Su. Which by the way, where is she? Aren"t you always by her side? Don"t tell me she abandoned you too?"

Noting the young woman"s hands clench tightly by her side, Mimi"s smiles grew wider.

Almost there.

"I bet she never even considered you a friend. If anything, she probably caught on to your meaningless acts and decided to drop you."

"Stop it!" Jinny yelled.

Chills ran down Mimi"s spine as she observed Jinny"s face redden with anger.

There it is.

"Stop talking about her like that! Senior Su isn"t that kind of person! She"d never abandon me; she"d never fake anything because she"s a kind, honest and respectful person!" The corner of Jinny"s eyes reddened. "To her, I"d never…"

Hmm? Mimi"s head tilted to the side. It seems like there was more to this than she thought…interesting.

Standing up from the rooftop, Mimi jumps down - her hair fluttering from her movements. Alarmed by the girl"s dangerous actions, she hurried over toward Mimi.

"Be careful! You shouldn"t jump so high! Are you okay?"

Brushing off the visible dust on her black leather pants, Mimi takes the lollipop out of her mouth to look at the small woman in front of her.

"You seem to be pretty defensive toward Senior Su, so I"m guessing there"s more to your relationship than what I a.s.sumed." Mimi"s voice was gentle. "However, what about everyone else?"

"W-What do you mean?"

Mimi"s eyes darkened, "I"m saying…are the others as precious to you as she is? Or are they tools to you?"

"Tools? I…I never considered them that way, I swear!" Jinny shook her head.

Mimi sighed and looked at her. Without saying anything, she left her with a sentence, "If you continue to belittle yourself and use others as a stepping stone to your desires, you"ll just attract similar kinds of people."

After that, Mimi turned and left – not forgetting to grab the fresh bread roll on Jinny"s tray.

Jinny"s eyes followed her until her figure was out of sight. When Mimi left, she suddenly felt a sharp, numbing pain in her heart.