Tap, tap, tap...
The soft clicking of a phone keypad blended into the chatter filling the classroom before the first lesson began.
Dina lowered her head, her fingers flying effortlessly across the keypad of her gray Nokia N70.
"...Din. DIN!"
She looked up reflexively.
"Huh?"
Icha had already leaned halfway across the desk, looking as though she was about to slam her hands onto it. Her curly ponytail bounced with every irritated movement.
"I've been calling your name forever," she complained. "You're always texting. Who're you texting this time?"
"Alfa," Dina answered briefly, her eyes already dropping back to her phone.
"Alfa again?"
Icha tilted her head, wearing the expression of a detective who had finally found a clue.
"Is this the same Alfa from last time... or another one?"
Dina grinned sheepishly.
"...A different one."
Icha slapped her forehead as though she'd officially given up on her best friend.
"Oh my God, Dina. How many Alfas are you planning to collect? Every time you meet someone named Alfa, you start getting close to him and texting him. Seriously, what number is this? Twenty? Thirty?"
Dina immediately glared at her.
"Hey! It's not like I'm collecting Alfas. I only text the ones who fit my criteria. Besides, I've got a feeling... this Alfa is the one I've been looking for."
"Oh please. Your feelings again."
Icha snorted.
"You said the exact same thing about the last few. When has your intuition ever been right?"
Dina simply clicked her tongue.
Icha let out a long sigh.
Her tone softened, though she was no less talkative.
"I've never told you to forget the past, Din. But when it gets to this point, I think it's becoming a little... obsessive."
Here we go again...
Dina exhaled before finally looking up and locking her phone.
"I'm not obsessed, Cha. I just want to meet my little hero. I want to know what he's like now. Who knows? Maybe this Alfa really is my Alfa."
The memory always returned in fragments, like scenes from an old movie.
A scraped, bleeding knee.
An orange sunset.
Someone carrying her home.
That was why, whenever she heard about someone named Alfa—whether through a mutual friend, a friend's friend, or even a rumor from someone's acquaintance—she almost always found herself reaching out.
"That's basically the same thing," Icha argued.
Before Dina could respond, Icha pointed toward the front of the classroom.
"Then why doesn't that Alfa count?"
Dina turned.
Ando.
Laughing with that infuriatingly smug grin of his.
His hair was slightly messy, somehow perfectly suited to his annoyingly confident face. He was chatting with Aldi and Dudik.
Naturally...
While causing a commotion.
His full name was...
Alfariando.
Technically...
Yes.
He was an Alfa too.
Practically...
Dina had already rejected the idea before it had even crossed her mind.
"There's no way he's the Alfa I'm looking for," she said immediately.
"My Alfa was cute. And he was a gentleman. As for him..."
She made the exhausted expression of someone carrying years' worth of accumulated irritation.
Icha shrugged.
"I don't know. I think he's cute. And honestly... he's not that bad."
Dina looked at Icha as though she'd just written the wrong answer across an entire chalkboard.
"Cha. He makes my blood boil every single day. In case you've forgotten."
Icha fell silent for two seconds.
"...Only with you."
Dina rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'm going back to texting."
She lowered her gaze to her phone again, leaving Icha to continue grumbling to herself.
"I can't believe my best friend has a hobby of chasing people's names."
Dina ignored her.
A small smile returned to her face.
Maybe...
Maybe this Alfa really is my Alfa.
And if he isn't...
Oh well.
Sometimes...
Searching was more exciting than finding.
---
At the cafeteria table, Nia absentmindedly twirled the pink straw in her iced sweet tea between her fingers like a tiny ballerina that couldn't decide where to stop. The glass was already half empty.
"Why're you having lunch with us today?" Icha asked curiously.
"Where's Mila?"
"She didn't come. She's sick," Nia answered before taking another sip of her drink.
"What about your other friends? You don't have anyone else?" Dina teased.
"Oh, shut up."
Nia frowned.
"The others wanted to grab food outside. I didn't feel like walking. It's way too hot."
She split her mayonnaise-filled rissole neatly in half.
Somewhere in the middle of lunch, Icha told Nia about Dina's newest "Alfa."
Nia laughed.
She was long past being surprised by Dina's strange habit.
Meanwhile, the girl they were talking about merely pouted.
Nia leaned forward, mischief written all over her face.
"Hey. I've got a question."
She took another bite of her rissole.
"Does your future husband have to be named Alfa?"
Dina's eyes widened.
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Icha instantly burst out laughing, slapping the table.
"You've really thought this through!"
Nia laughed along.
"Well... You never know. With your obsession, if you don't end up marrying an Alfa... you might name your kid Alfa instead."
"Niaaaa..."
Dina glared again.
At that exact moment, a voice came from behind them.
"Alfa? Were you calling me?"
Ando.
Wearing that self-ssatisfied grin that instantly made Dina's blood pressure rise.
His friends burst into laughter.
Dina covered her face with both hands.
She seriously wanted to throw her straw at him.
"Go away. Don't flatter yourself."
Instead, Ando casually stole a piece of siomay from Dina's plate without asking.
"Well... If you ever need a real Alfa... just let me know."
He finished with an exaggerated wink worthy of a cheap shampoo commercial.
"Leave."
Dina's voice was flat.
Dangerously flat.
Ando chuckled and raised both hands in surrender.
"Relax. I'm leaving."
He walked away with his friends, all of them still laughing.
Nia looked at Dina, struggling not to laugh herself.
"I swear... that timing was perfect."
Dina merely snorted before continuing to eat her shumai.
Icha patted her shoulder.
"Indirect kiss."
For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Dina glared at her.
Icha and Nia exploded with laughter.
Although her cheeks turned red, Dina didn't stop eating.
What was she supposed to do? Ask for another fork?
She simply continued eating as though nothing had happened.
Yeah.
Her friends loved teasing her.
And sometimes...
Their jokes hit a little too close to home.
Icha chewed on a stuffed fried tofu before teasing her again.
"You like tall guys, don't you, Din?"
Nia took a sip of her iced tea before adding,
"And smart guys."
Without the slightest hesitation, Dina answered,
"I like guys named Alfa."
Icha and Nia exchanged a glance.
Then they burst into laughter again.
"See?!"
Nia pointed dramatically at Dina.
"I told you! The first requirement to become your husband is being named Alfa!"
Dina's cheeks burned.
"No! It's not that bad!"
Icha leaned closer.
"Well... Ando happens to have all three. He's tall. He's smart. And his name even has 'Alfa' in it."
"Cha, how did we end up talking about him again?"
Dina pinched Icha's cheek affectionately.
Icha rubbed the sore spot.
"Don't forget, he already has a girlfriend. You two want me to steal someone else's boyfriend now?"
Dina shook her head, completely baffled by how her friends' minds worked.
The two girls fell silent.
Checkmate.
"Repent, both of you."