WhIP

by footfungus

nederlands verhalen over mijn otp

261. TALATBT VERSION 2 Noah as Baek Eunho KAI

Take a left at the broken tree

Chapter 1

I know you want to learn more about Ye Jin but trust me, the story about the tree is just as important.

I was seven that year when our town experienced its highest rainfall in 16 years. Now, we were one of the oldest families living along this street; the house had been my great-grandfather's. So, it was not like we were poor or anything, but our house was in serious need of upgrading and repairing. My father thought we could still delay it slightly longer, but he was not the one placing buckets in the house every time it poured, was he?

There was a thunderstorm that day. My mother had just hung out the phone and was shaking her head. "Noah's mom just called to tell us the lightning had struck down the big tree at the mouth of our street."

Kim Min Seok handed me three more empty pails quietly. I scowled at my older brother but proceeded to place them under the new leaks anyway. It was either water duty or Min Ah duty. Honestly, I had no strength to restrain my four-year-old baby sister; Min Seok, on the other hand, could lift her off the wet floor easily.

"Dad's not going to make it home to get us, is he?" Min Seok asked our mom. She looked near hysterical as she nodded. This woman did not attempt to hide her panic to keep her young kids from worrying. She glanced around our leaky house and turned to look at the never-ending rain. The sky lighted up right at the moment, followed by a loud clap of thunder.

"Will our house get hit by lightning?" I asked my mother frantically.

Min Seok frowned at me as Min Ah started to cry.

"Let's go to the Parks'." Our mom decided.

You see, Bonggu lived beside our house. Having just moved in less than ten years ago, their house was well furnished stable, and more importantly, dry. Mama Park was more than happy to take us in, she was starting to get nervous without her husband around as well.

That's how we ended up, Min Seok sitting on the sofa with Kira, Bonggu's older sister; Min Ah taking care of the two moms; Bonggu and I squatting by the window watching the thunderstorm.

"I heard if you died by drowning, you will haunt the waters for life unless you drown another human being to replace you as the water ghost," Kira told my timid brother. Gosh, I hated Kira when she was younger. What kind of nine-year-old talked like that? She was naturally bossy too, maybe that's why Bonggu grew up disobeying people just for the sake of it.

Min Seok got along with her though. I know they are same-aged friends and everything, but I believe he just likes to have order in his life. Our chaotic lifestyle got to him, I guessed, my older brother constantly had to deal with three unpredictable females in our house. But that's another story.

The panic must have shown up on my face because Bonggu looked at me, amused.

"Are you scared?"

"No," I answered too quickly.

"Don't worry. We will be fine."

"How do you know?"

"Because I already have an idea. We can stay on my bed so that if it floods, we will have a ready-made boat."

My eyes shone with admiration. "You are brilliant."

"Of course, stay with me, Kim Min Ji, and I will never let anything happen to you."

I blinked at Bonggu.

"Really?"

"Since when have I let you down? I will protect you." He rolled his eyes.

I lifted my right pinky towards him.

"Forever?"

He hooked his pinky around mine.

"Always."

We stayed hidden under his blanket for the next few hours listening to the thunderstorm. He held my hand through every flash of lightning and every clap of thunder. Bonggu was not fooling me though, he was as scared as I was.

When the rain finally ceases to a light shower, the night has already fallen. Bonggu and I went out with ponchos to the mouth of the street to find Noah and Yejun holding on to torches for the men as they lifted the fallen tree branches off the road. The big tree had spliced in half and bent over almost like a bow. The road was finally cleared and the cars could pass through again.

Papa Han was one of the first to return and his son greeted him gleefully. My father's car came through too and I told him we were all safe at the Park's. The four of us sat at the front door of Noah's house, which was the first house on the street, watching my father's car head for the Parks'. I saw Bonggu's face fall when he realized his father was not part of the crowd stuck waiting behind the tree. Instinctively I grabbed his hand to squeeze it. Yejun saw the exchange so I took his hand too.

"That was awesome. The thunderstorm." He grinned at us. The boy loved watching lightning. Noah grimaced.

"The tree caught fire for a while. Thank goodness the rain was big. It was not fun being so near."

"Min Ji cried," Bonggu said with a cheeky smile.

"No, I didn't!" I yelled back.

"You did!What if I die,Bonggu? I don't want to be a water ghost!" He said in an irritatingly high-pitched voice that sounded nothing like me.

"YAH! CHAE BONGGU!"

He started sprinting before I could hit him. I chased after him, with a laughingYejun following behind in a slow jog. Noah waved cheerfully to us as the three of us ran back to our respective homes.

Some days I want to kill Bonggu.

Some days I remembered his promise to protect me. Forever and always.

Chapter 2

To understand why I hate Jang Ye Jin, you must first understand what it's like to be Kim Min Ji. 'Min Ji' was the most popular baby girl's name in our country in the year I was born. In the 11th gradealone, there were five Min Ji's, two of whom have the last name Kim, including myself. The other Kim Min Ji? She's applying for the national ballet company after high school.

It was not too bad when we were attending primary school since there was only one school in our village, which had one class per level. Our middle school was in town, and that was when we started to make friends with other kids from neighboring blocks. It became even more apparent during high school, how I was doomed to be invisible among the 400 students all with various degrees of talent. How do you expect people to remember plain old Kim Min Ji?

You would think I should have gotten used to it since I am pretty much the invisible one at home too. Min Seok was the dutiful and bright son and Min Ah was the sweet and lovable daughter. Me? I was just the middle child. I love my siblings, believe me. I would do anything for them. But because Min Seok does nothing wrong, I would always be the troublemaker. And because Min Ah was growing up beautifully, I would always be the ugly one in comparison. It's highly unfair, because Min Ah was quite an air-head, but everyone thought of her as naive and silly. Me? Despite my extremely high intelligence and wit, I got labeled as stupid and dense.

I told everyone I tookafter Mama Kim. She's the kind of mother who could bring her three children out and forget me in the restroom, lose Min Ah in the shop, and try to bring home someone's else son, all in a day's work. We should all just be contented that we were alive and emphasized less on whether we could pass high school. But no. Kim Min Seok just has to get accepted to one of the best universities in the nation. And now the pressure's on.

Bonggu understood exactly what I was going through. Kira too, got in the same course as Min Seok. And Kira rubbed it in Bonggu's face every chance she got. At least, Min Seok was humble about it. It was fun though, watching Bonggusulked about it.

Yejun thought it was hilarious, that the two of us could barely make it to high school while our older siblings never had any issues in academics. How could he understand though? He was the only child and he was a freaking genius. His IQ level could easily get him into any other high school with special programs but the boy chose to stay near home.

I remembered the time when I failed Math in the 7th grade, along with Bonggu. Both of us were sitting in the classroom, unwilling to head home after the last bell. Noah, Yejun, and Ye Jin stayed behind too, watching us.

"I told you two to study." Ye Jin said pointedly. I scowled at her.

Bonggu's face was flat on his desk. "Mom's going to kill me."

He was quite right. Mama Park was very strict regarding his studies. She was not the kind to spare the rod.

"You have to face it sooner or later." Ye Jin continued, ever-so-helpfully. Thankfully, she left us alone and headed out of the room.

Noah watched her leave and waited till Ye Jin was out of earshot before he said what was on his mind. "How about you change the grade?"

"Eh?" I replied stupidly.

He started to dig into his bag and took out a red pen. "Here. Change it. They never looked past the front page of our papers anyway."

Yejun frowned. "Don't be stupid. That's not going to work."

None of us asked him for a better one. If there was one line that Yejun never crossed, was lying to our parents. Bonggu, however, was not above that. He took Noah's pen and changed his "35/100" to "85/100". He then handed over the pen to me.

"Come on." He encouraged.

I hesitated, torn between getting reprimanded for failing again and the bigger consequences if I got caught lying.

"I don't know about this..." I threw a worried look at Bonggu.

"Remember what your mom said the last time? She would throw you out to sleep in the streets if you fail again!" Bonggu reminded me.

"Min Ji... don't. Just face it." Yejun said softly. Noah looked at his two friends and said nothing.

Eventually, I was too much of a coward to change my grades. Yejun smiled approvingly while Noah simply kept his pen, without attempting to change my mind.

Bonggu frowned a little before he said. "Well, I suppose you could stay over if you did get thrown out. Mom likes you anyway."

Noah nodded along. "Just tell your mom you may have failed but you improved by five marks this time. That's like... how many percent improvement?Yejun?"

Yejun rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, Min Ji. It'll be fine."

It wasn't. I got yelled at, and beaten, and had to do all the chores in the next two weeks. It was not too bad, I guessed. I may not be pretty like Jang Ye Jin, I may not be smart like Min Seok and I may not be talented like the ballerina Kim Min Ji. But I have Noah, Yejun, and Bonggu who would support me without fail, in their quirky ways. Not everyone has that luck.

Well... not everyone except Jang Ye Jin.

Gosh, I hate sharing.

Chapter 3

Birthdays were a big deal for us; well almost every one of us, okay okay definitely for me. The most excited out of all of us was Mama Han though. She loved parties and gatherings. Noah labeled his mom as the receptionist of the street, everyone who came through the street had to check in with her first. But you could see where Noah got his talent for making friends. In a sense, he was very much like his mother, both totally at ease from being in the middle of the attention of a large crowd. I would always have to be careful when speaking to Mama Han though, she's very observant and was very gifted at luring out secrets by talking to you. At the same time, she was an extremely caring person and was genuinely concerned about you.

It was Mama Han who first found out about Ye Jin's family and was the first parent to sit down with her child and tell him to be nice to Ye Jin. Truthfully, they had nothing to worry over. Ye Jin was not the type to get pushed around anyway.

Mama Han had invited most of our middle school classmates to her house for Noah's 14th birthday. I picked up a new red dress to wear to the Han's that day. It wasn't like I was not fond of dresses, just that when you have best friends like mine, you simply couldn't wear a dress, or anything new.

Naturally, being the most loyal and responsible friend that I was, I had taken the initiative to show up early to help with the preparation. As usual, I let myself in and headed straight for the kitchen.

"Afternoon, Mama Han." I greeted the lady of the house, who smiled widely at our nickname for her.

"Ah! Min Ji dear! You are here to help too? Bonggu is here too. Here, bring these fruits upstairs to share. Can you kids please keep Noah out of the kitchen? I want the cake to be a surprise." She rattled on as she dashed expertly around the kitchen.

I took the plate of cut fruits to Noah's room as requested. At the top of the stairs, I tripped a little but managed to keep all the fruits on the plate due to my awesome aerobatics skills. Releasing a sigh of relief, I glanced at Noah's room to see if any of them witnessed my incredible feat.

They didn't hear me though, because they were talking and laughing among themselves behind the closed door.

"Noah ah, you can't be serious?" I could make out Bonggu's words amidst his loud chuckles.

"What? She's getting quite cute recently. There's nothing wrong admitting it."

"Who is?" I said, pushing the door wide open like I usually do.

Bonggu choked on his glass of water and Noah dropped a book that was in his hand in shock. I smirked a little, at successfully scaring them, before setting down the fruit plates on his table.

"Is that our primary school yearbook? I think I may have lost it already." I mentioned, picking the familiar book up. It was dog-eared on the page of our class photos.

"As always."

I ignored Bonggu's jab and shot Noah a curious stare.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked as I gazed down at the faces of our 12-year-old selves.

Noah shot Bonggu a flustered look before blurting out the last name I was expecting.

"Ye Jin."

"Eh?" I opened my mouth in surprise. I always figured Noahfound Ye Jin a bit too uptight.

Bonggu started laughing hysterically as Noah's face flushed.

I took at the gleeful boy. "You are taking this rather well."

"Why?" He said through his tears of joy.

I was expecting him to get offended as usual by other boys looking at Ye Jin. Was this the same boy who would challenge someone to a basketball match because the latter gave Ye Jin chocolates?

He glanced at me and smiled. "Ye Jin is pretty. It's a fact."

I scowled a little and sat on Noah's bed while stuffing watermelon slices into my mouth. The boys exchanged amused looks. They knew I hated hearing praises about Ye Jin. No like that stopped Bonggu.

"I didn't know Noah thinks so too," I mumbled through my full mouth. Bonggu nodded along as he helped himself to Mama Han's meticulously cut fruits too.

"Neither did I. When you noticed, Noah?" Bonggustill looked delighted at the news.

Noah on the other hand, was annoyed at the continuation of the topic. His face was bright red now. "She was never ugly."

"Of course," Bonggu smirked as he turned to stare intently at my face. Now it's my turn to blush, he was too close to me.

"What?" I asked as I put a hand to my warming face. He shook his head and smiled.

"Why is it that you and Ye Jin are both girls but you are so different?"

I smacked his head with the yearbook mercilessly.

At that moment, Yejun burst through the door.

"Hey, guys. Ye Jin said she would drop by as soon as her piano class is over. Oh? Nice dress, Min Ji. Are you going for the watermelon concept?" He grinned his usual upturned smile as he reached gently for the watermelon seed that was stuck on my upper lip.

Bonggu started chortling again as he earned another beating from me, for not telling me earlier. Ignoring us,Yejun engaged Noah in a different subject as I gazed at our primary school photo. It was the last time that there were only four of us in a class together before Ye Jin joined us in middle school. Why though? Why was it that in this photo with twenty different girls, Noah would pick the one not in there as the prettiest?

I set down the photo and tried to focus my attention on what the boys were talking about. I will never forget it though. I knew Bonggu always liked Ye Jin, I knew Yejunwas close to Ye Jin, so Noah was the last person I thought would find Ye Jin pretty. Since then, I asked him the same question every year when we get our yearbook.

Who is the prettiest in our school?

Without fail, he answered me every time.

Jang Ye Jin.

Chapter 4

Before Ye Jin moved in, Yejun was easily the most mature out of the four of us. I know that's not saying a lot given the kind of people we were. In a sense, he had a love-hate relationship with most of our teachers, since their prized student was also one of the biggest pranksters of the school. Still, as much as he loved having fun like the rest of us, he was always more sensitive and better at reading the atmosphere than the rest of us ever were. He would be the one to tell us off if we were way out of line, and he would always be the peacemaker if we got into a fight with each other, and that's not entirely uncommon.

He was always the glue. You see, we all had our arguments; especiallyBongguand I,NoahandBonggu,and of course, Ye Jin and I. ButYejunwould always make sure when things got out of hand, we would be reminded to place our friendship before our us from falling apart.

We would laugh at him and call him the mother of the group, from the way he took care of us.

Which was why it was so difficult when Yejun was the one in need.

When he got his first B, he locked himself in the school bathroom.

Or the time he lost his whole week's allowance, and he would rather starve than tell his mom.

Or when his dad passed away a day before his fifth birthday, and he cried until he lost his voice.

We were too young then. To understand what to do when your friend's life is flipped upside down. All we knew, was that his world got darker, quieter, and a lot harder to breathe. Which adult knew how to console such a young child? You can't talk through to a five-year-old, and it was not the type of situation whereby coaxing would work.

Nobody knew what to do with the boy. But it was not in our nature to shy away from difficult situations. And the three of us ended up camping over in his small room the whole week during the wake. We hugged each other to sleep, hoping to return some warmth to our dearest friend. Kira and Minseok took care of us then, helping us understand that loss was inevitable in the grown-up world. Eventually, it was Minseok who talked through to Yejun, and he finally stopped crying.

It was during that time we started the habit of making his house our headquarters, on the days we didn't wish to head outdoors. It was good for him too, since he liked to be close to his mom. Aunty Kim was the first adult I truly came to admire. She was unbelievably strong and she put her son's needs before her own. She was grieving too, but she did her best to ensure life for her son was going the same. She gave him twice the love. In return, Yejun never let his mom worry.

Since that dark September, Yejun wouldn't celebrate his birthday anymore though; every year he would tell us off if we hinted at throwing him a party. But during the September of the year we turned 12, his first birthday with Ye Jin around, it had all changed.

She brought him a gift. We were all checking out Noah's new Gameboy in Yejun's room when Ye Jin walked in. She dropped the heavy gift into his lap despite his protests. He had refused everything from us previously, and he had told his mother the same to his mother. Like I said, Ye Jin would always have her way.

It was a thick and informative book about meteorology. She had figured out, in her few months with us, that Yejun had a fascination with the weather. It was a long time later, that I learned it was Yejun's dad that instilled that love for thunderstorms into the boy.

He stared unblinking at the gift for a long time before Ye Jin couldn't stand it anymore and said briskly to him.

"Accept it."

I never knew why and how Yejun became the first to get close to Ye Jin. Bonggu tried first but she was never too receptive. Maybe it was because he lived closest to her. Maybe it was because he understood best what she had gone through. Maybe it was because Yejun simply knew how to warm the heart of even someone as elusive as Ye Jin.

That year, Ye Jin joined our class in middle school. The year after, she scored higher than Yejun during our mid-year examination. It was mind-blowing to me as Yejun had always been our top scorer, since the beginning of our schooling days. I cornered Yejun alone to console him since I knew how much his grades meant to him. Instead, I found him smiling vaguely to himself.

"Are you alright?" I had asked.

He gave me an odd look. "Of course I am. Why?"

"Ye Jin beat you today."

"I know. The teacher announced it. I was listening too."

"Are you not upset?"

"I should be, right? No. It was bound to happen eventually. This is fun, I have not faced any competition in a long time. Ye Jin is a good challenger." He said fondly.

I rolled my eyes. I can't believe I was worried for him. "Are you implying something about the rest of us?"

He simply laughed it off. "Don't dig a hole for yourself, Min Ji."

I glared furiously at him before stomping off. The laughing boy caught up with me in a few longer steps. He had grown taller than me.

"Kim Min Ji~ Were you worried about me? That's so sweet." He flashed his best Cheshire cat smile at me while batting his long lashes.

I scowled at his teasing and the boy threw his arm over me to steer me towards the cafeteria to our usual table.

A table for five.

Chapter 5

Have you ever had those 'what if' moments? What if we had listened to Noah and not gone fishing that day at the jetty? What if it didn't look like it was going to rain and we stayed out the whole day as planned? What if the moving van didn't stop to ask us for directions? What if we hadn't chosen to follow the van home?

Maybe we wouldn't have found out that, two blocks away from Yejun's house, a new family was moving in. Maybe we wouldn't have known there was an 11-year-old girl behind the blue gates. Maybe our whole group dynamics wouldn't have changed because of that first meeting with Jang Ye Jin.

He saw her first, that unsmiling girl in the passenger seat. She had made him curious, curious enough to follow the father and daughter to their new home. When she finally stepped out of the van, Bonggu couldn't take his eyes off her. I supposed she was tall and slim for our age. But what I noticed first, was that this was a city girl uncomfortable in our small town. Her piercing eyes were surveying us as we introduced ourselves as their new neighbors and Yejun pointed out his house to them.

"If you ever need anything, my mom and I are just two blocks away... er," Yejun paused, realizing we had never caught their name.

"Mr Yu." The Chinese man replied in his strange accent.

We turned to Ye Jin expectedly, but she hesitated before she opened her mouth. "Ye Jin."

It hadn't registered to me yet, that she neither looked nor spoke like a Chinese.

Yejun, on the other hand, was looking back and fro between the two of them with a curious expression. Still, he said nothing of it and instead told Ye Jin that she was welcome to come over to his house. We were planning on staying indoors and catching some variety shows with the ominous weather spoiling our fishing plan.

She glanced at Mr Yu briefly before shrugging and agreeing. Seeing that hesitant expression on his face, I asked the girl, "Don't you need to help your dad unpack first?"

Ye Jin glared disrespectfully at him. It was a look that we would eventually get used to.

"He's not my father. He's my mother's husband." She replied sharply.

We turned to each other in surprise but Mr Yu was still smiling warmly at us.

"Don't worry. I can unpack on my own. Ye Jin, why don't you wait for Hamin and your mom to arrive first before you go off with your new friends?"

"No. I will be back before dinner." She turned her head towards Yejun. "Let's go."

We scrambled off, though not without casting one last look at the slightly deflated Mr Yu. Noah, being the nosy one asked her about her odd interactions with Mr Yu. She simply explained that her stepfather thought it would be a fun bonding session for her to take the two-hour drive with him, and for his son, Hamin to take the car with Ye Jin's mom.

"I have already compromised once today." She stated bluntly as her eyes scanned Yejun's bookshelf with interest.

"Hamin? Is that your stepbrother then? How old is he?" I asked the new girl. Her indifference was starting to bother me, I didn't like the way she disregarded her family. I was half hoping that the brother would be better company.

"A year younger." We have already learned that all five of us were born in the year of the monkey. "I'm not close to him though. Enough about me. What's interesting around here?"

Bonggu grinned widely. "You're in luck. We are the most interesting part of this town."

We ended up not watching any variety shows. Instead, we told her about ourselves, our family, and our small town. We talked about my favorite noodle shop, Yejun's hilarious plan to get himself exempted from physical education class, why Noah was banned from the school library, and how Bonggu almost fell into the river this morning. Ye Jin listened, mostly in silence. The boys made jokes as usual, though mainly at my expense. Ye Jin didn't smile throughout the whole conversation. Honestly, that was quite the feat considering the nonsensical things that come out of the mouths of these childish boys. I know Bonggu well enough to know that not only did he notice, but it had bugged him so much so that he was seriously attempting to be funny. His actions were becoming ridiculously outlandish. Still, Ye Jin remained indifferent to his jokes.

An hour later, our stomachs started growling and Yejun remembered that they had some homemade kimbap left in the fridge.

"Awesome. Min Ji, go bring it here." Bonggu commanded and I started to stand up, not realizing Ye Jin was watching our interaction.

"Why are you asking Min Ji to get it?" Ye Jin frowned.

I shrugged and told her that Bonggu was always like this.

"Why? Because you are a girl?" She probed again.

Truth be told, I don't think they had ever seen me as a girl. But I'm not going to admit that in front of her. Thankfully, Yejun got on his feet and offered to go instead. I ended up following him, just because I didn't like the judging way she was looking at me. When we returned, Bonggu and Ye Jin were having a stare-down. Noah was watching the pair of them with an amused expression.

"What's going on?" Yejun asked warily as he set the plate down.

"Ah... just in time." Noah grinned. "Min Ji, out of a scale of 1 to 10, how gentlemanly is our Bonggu?"

Bonggu flashed me his usual boyish prideful smile as Ye Jin rolled her eyes at his overconfidence.

"Zero." I declared, thinking back at how just a couple of hours ago, he had placed his catch into my basket before we started cycling home from the jetty, after which he dared mocked me for being the slowest cyclist.

He was probably regretting it as he scowled at my answer and Ye Jin beamed triumphantly at him.

It was the first time we had seen her smile in the entire day. And it made Bonggu forget his annoyance and drop his scowl instantly.

"You are pretty when you smile. Why don't you smile more?" He blurted out, causing Noah to choke on the kimbap he had just stuffed into his mouth.

Strangely, Ye Jin was unperturbed by the sudden change of topic. "My parents are divorced. My mom decided that the best thing for us was to get married again as we would be doomed without a man in the house. Now I have to leave my home to live with a pair of strangers. What's there to smile about?"

We sat in uncomfortable silence at her outburst, before Bonggu looked her in the eye and answered confidently. "We will find you a reason."

At 11, Ye Jin moved to our town.

At 11, Bonggu was already intrigued by Ye Jin.

Chapter 6

We had never had secrets, between the four of us. Or maybe, we had never seen the need to keep secrets. After all, that's the beauty of being a kid, your mistakes get forgotten easily.

Which was why it was so strange meeting Ye Jin. Sure, she always spoke her mind (most of the time with little regard for anyone else's feelings), but she also kept a lot to 't heard from MamaHan, I wasn't sure she would have told us what had happened in her family. She would have left us wondering, what was it that she had against her new family? Mr Yu was unbelievably sweet after all, and Ye Jin's mum was a quiet and courteous lady.

There'sHaminof course, he seems to be a gentle boy from the way he interacts with the other kids. I wasn't close to him though. I tried talking to him before, but I had no idea if he could truly understand me since he looked confused most of the stayed away from us generally after he had associated us as Ye Jin's was clear that neither Ye Jin nor Hamin were trying very hard to get to know each other. They were alike in some ways, it was equally hard to guess what was on Hamin's the only one out of us who somehow managed to be friends with him.

When Noah found out from his mom, he went to Ye Jin and asked her about it. While she was mildly angered that her mom was going around telling people about it, Ye Jin didn't refute it.

Her father was an abusive husband. She saw it all, how alcohol turned her doting father into a raging monster. Ye Jin had seen it all and had begged her mom to leave. But she could never find the strength to run away. She couldn't leave her child, and she was a housewife who could not afford to be a single mother.

It was Mr Yu who stepped in. He was a foreign expat living near them. He heard all the commotion and took it upon himself to learn the truth. And when he did, he brought Ye Jin's mom away. The thing was, to strangers who didn't know anything, it would appear that Ye Jin's mom left her husband for another man. The finger-pointing got so much that they decided to move out of the city. They had decided to get married anyway.

None of the kids were happy. Hamin didn't think that they were going to stay here forever, he had assumed they would return to China once Mr Yu's company rotational was over. He was not receptive to a new mother, a new sister, a new home, and a new Jin was equally mad. Weak, was what she had called her mom, for putting their faith in a man again.

"Your father... hurt you as well, didn't he?" Bonggu called her out when Ye Jin finished telling us her story.

I didn't understand then, after all, Ye Jin had said her father had never laid a finger on her. Ye Jin, however, looked up at Bonggu in surprise.

"He wasn't the hero you thought a father should be," Bonggu said thoughtfully.

Ye Jin scoffed at that, but she didn't deny what Bongguconcluded.

I think there's something about these boys, because of how they were brought up, and because of the values they shared... hearing that Ye Jin lost faith in her hero struck a chord in all of them. It had made them want to protect her more, it had made them want to give her more. Are all boys like that? Do all boys want to become someone's hero?

Bonggu wasn't entirely wrong about Ye Jin. But they didn't see her the way I did. A prideful girl like Ye Jin wasn't upset that she lost a hero.

She was upset she couldn't be the hero, that she wasn't enough for her mom to leave.

It was silly really. I thought it was obvious but she didn't see what we all saw. That her mom would have never left if it weren't for Ye Jin.

I didn't tell anyone what I thought. I have decided the one thing I would do for her, was to keep this secret.

Chapter 7

It was not the best year for me, the year Ye Jin moved in. I did not like the changes. I avoided it at all costs. Moving up to middle school was a big enough change. Now I have to get used to having Jang Ye Jin around all the time.
After what Ye Jin shared with us, the boys readily welcomed her to the group. You know, I honestly thought they went out of the way to ensure she felt happy being here. Me? I just had to learn to accept her. I mean I know what she went through was difficult, but I don't have to love her right?
I tolerated these changes. I tolerated having her around during middle school. We had to look for a bigger table when we hung out. We couldn't copy off each other's homework when she was around. We have one more person to share secrets with.
As I mentioned previously, secrets don't hold in this group.
We knew all about Noah's first kiss at 16.
We knew all about Yejun's first rejection at 15.
We knew all about Ye Jin's first Valentine's Rose at 14.
We knew all about Bonggu's first confession at 13.
I supposed I knew deep in my heart that it was bound to happen. From the moment he laid eyes on Ye Jin... From his restlessness if she was unhappy... From the way he was always trying to make her laugh... From the way his eyes followed her every action...
It was strange really, how that escalated. Ye Jin was our voice of reason since the rest of us were more playful. Sometimes she would partake in our activities, sometimes she would rather sit out and watch us make a fool of ourselves. And sometimes when she disapproved of what we were doing, she was not afraid to let us know how immature we were being. And she was harshest on Bonggu. They were always arguing, while the three of us watched on. She would call him childish. And he would call her spoilsport. Both of them wouldn't stop trying to change the other.
I was mildly entertained, it was always nice to see someone else yell at Bonggu. Bonggu, however, seemed to be the only one who could ruffle Ye Jin's feathers. He knew it too, but he does it on purpose anyway. I have a feeling Ye Jin would have left our group in anger long ago if it weren't for Yejun. Or maybe she doesn't have any other friends that could bear with her unsmiling face.
Oh, who am I kidding? Ye Jin attracted way too much attention.
It was a letter that started it all. Someone had written a confession note to Ye Jin during the 7th grade. Naturally, we found out about it and she showed us all the content. We were finding fun guessing who wrote it, but Bonggu was particularly aggressive about finding out who the sender was.
"Jongkook. I am sure of it. He's always looking at you." He grumbled unhappily.
"I'm pretty sure he likes someone else though." Noah pointed out.
"That flirt. I should teach him a lesson." Bonggu cracked his knuckles.
I laughed at him. "You're mental."
"He's not allowed to look at Ye Jin."
Ye Jin was frowning by then. "Why does it matter to you?"
"I don't like the way he looks at you." He narrowed his eyes as he punched his palm threateningly.
'Who are you to go around beating up guys that are interested in me? You know how I feel about violence." Her eyes flashed.
Bonggu looked up at her. "Because. No one else is allowed to like you but me."
I never knew it was possible to have pin-drop silence with the five of us in a room. But that was the longest and quietest ten seconds of my life.
Noah recovered first and made a move to leave Yejun's room.
"Are there eggs in the fridge? I think I'm craving for some ramen."
"I will help you!" Yejun rose to his feet.
"I want some too!" I quickly joined the guys before closing the room door.
We snickered at each other outside Yejun'sroom, before scrambling to the kitchen downstairs.
"Will she kill him in there? I don't want my house to turn into a crime scene." Yejun said with a smirk as he put the pot on the stove. Might as well have some ramen while we wait.
"That's the worst confession of the century," Noah added. "I know the surprise element was long out of the window, but boy, that was blunt. What do you think, Min Ji?"
"Yeah... weird huh? I have never really thought about it. Wow,Bonggu's the first out of us to like someone..." I replied casually as I dug into the kitchen cabinet for ramen.
I spun around when I realized the kitchen was quiet again, and saw the two boys staring at me strangely.
"What? Is it not this cabinet?"
"Min Ji yah... we know you like him," Noah answered with a small smile.
"What are you talking about?" My voice came out strangely high-pitched.
"Your little crush on Bonggu," Yejun smirked cheekily.
"I do not have a crush on Bonggu!" I pouted.
"Well... we weren't sure at first. But both of us started to notice some things... since last year?" Yejun turned to Noah.
He nodded. "Since we got closer to Ye Jin. And when Bonggu treats her better. Which is okay... all the time."
I turned my back on them to stare into the cabinet, thinking about what they said. "Does he know?"
"We think he's not that dense... but I have never asked. Ye Jin asked me about it though. When she suspected Bonggu's biases to her was the reason why you often seem annoyed at her." Yejun answered quietly upon hearing my embarrassed tone.
"Sorry, Min Ji. We didn't mean to talk behind your back. We just figured you weren't quite ready to admit it." Noah placed his hand on my head to rub my hair lightly.
Sighs~
They knew all about my first crush at 12.

Chapter 8

The thing is, I don't remember when it all started.

Maybe it was the time the six-year-old Bonggu promised to protect me from the it was the countless times Mama Park told me that she would love me as a daughter-in-law. Maybe it was when I first noticed that whenever we raced, he would always turn back to check on me even though he was laughing with the rest of the boys that I would always be the last.

Maybe it was the time Jang Ye Jin moved in.

It's silly, being in love with your best friend. It made me want to follow and listen to Bonggu blindly, even though I know he's usually up to no good. It made me climb a tree to pluck a fruit just because he said I couldn't, even though I was terrified of heights. It made me snuck over to his room in the middle of the night when he was quarantined with chicken pox, despite knowing how much trouble I would be getting into. It made me want to give him whatever spare goodies and candies I have, well, after Min Ah.

It made me want to be a little more like the tall, beautiful, and smart Ye Jin.

It's the same you see. While I don't recall a time when I didn't love Bonggu, I don't remember when he didn't have Ye Jin in his heart. He simply accepted it way before I did. He never saw a need to hide his infatuation for Ye Jin like I did.

Do you have any idea how hard it was? To look at how fast and hardBongguwas falling for Ye Jin? I couldn't understand of course, what was it about Ye Jin that attracted Bonggu. Okay maybe I did, but I didn't like it. What made things easier for me was that Ye Jin wasn't interested. Hence,I wasn't too bothered by the fact thatBongguconfessed. All of us knew it was bound to happen. I may be slow at most things, but I can read my friends well.

Ye Jin left shortly after, giving the three of us in the kitchen a small wave. We sprung up to Yejun's room with our ramen bowls in hand to find a strangely calm Bonggu, still sitting in the middle of the floor.

"That was a terrible confession." Noah threw an arm over Bonggu, once he sat his bowl down on the floor.

"Why are you smiling?" Yejun plopped himself across Bonggu and I joined him, after placing an extra bowl of ramen that I prepared in front of Bonggu.

He took it gratefully and ate a big mouthful of noodles before explaining. "She said if I were to speak of this again she would tell my mum where I hid my game cards."

Yejun started chuckling. We all knew the chaos that would erupt if Mama Park realized that Bonggu had recovered those cards that she threw out when he got his third detention within the first month of middle school. I may or may not have been involved in that rescue mission. "You don't seem bothered."

The grin grew wider on Bonggu's lips. "She asked that I never speak of it again. Not that I should stop liking her."

I frowned at him. "There's a difference?"

He scoffed. "Of course there is. You'll see... Ye Jin would fall for my charms eventually."

"What charms?" Noah rolled his eyes. "No one can like you except me!Possessive much?"

It was a spot-on imitation really, but still,Bonggu put down his bowl to smoother a pillow intoNoah's face. Yejun carefully pulled his precious bowls away from the pair of them, before he settled back next to me.

"Our group is just going to grow bigger now, isn't it?" He said to me, amused.

I blinked in confusion at him.

"First it's Bonggu's Ye Jin. Then Noah will find a girlfriend. And maybe with some dumb luck, someone might woo you too!"

Pouting at him for calling Ye Jin Bonggu's, it took me a little too long to register what he had said about me.

"Yah Nam Yejun!You are going to grow old and alone with that mouth of yours. No one is going to put up with you." I threw a punch at his arm, which he brushed aside easily.

"Sure. Girls are troublesome anyway. They are way too sensitive and they never speak their mind."

I snorted. "You would think with those large ears of yours, you would be a good listener? Or maybe you are too loud, that's why you don't hear what others have to say most of the time."

He chuckled before enveloping me into one of his signature solid side hugs.

"That's what I liked about you Min Ji. You aren't afraid of saying whatever's on your mind."

I heard a loud metallic sound across the room as Noah dropped his chopsticks into his empty bowl. Beside him, Bonggu paused with a huge amount of ramen still dangling outside his mouth as he stared at us. I didn't realizeboth of them were listening.

Yejun smiled serenely at the two boys before releasing me and returning to his food. He caught my side glance and gave me a quick wink.

"It's a pity you are not a girl."

"YAH!"

Chapter 9

Middle school was the time that everyone changed the most physically. Ye Jin grew taller and prettier by the day. Noah and Yejun's voices changed into surprisingly mesmerizing ones. Bonggu shot up like a tree and we joked about planting him to replace the broken one.

And it was also the time we changed mentally too. It was the time boys started to notice girls, and girls started to look at boys. It was the time Bonggu picked up the guitar and for the first time, we realized he had discipline. It was time Ye Jin started to wear makeup even though she was pretty enough without any. It was the time Noah started receiving love notes after he won his first singing competition. It was the time Yejun learned you had to make it clear that you weren't interested if you didn't want a stalker.

And then there was me. Yeah, I was there through all that. Still awkward. Still failing classes. Still unpretty. Still invisible.

It would affect you too eventually, when you constantly had guys trying to approach you for Ye Jin's number. Or when girls befriended you because your guy friends were cute.

You see, it was always me. No one ever approached Ye Jin for information about the guys. She was far too intimidating. Although she was the one that gave away Yejun's address to his stalker because 'she looked kind of sweet'. Who knew she didn't simply want to send letters to him but had such drive to show up at our street every day to watch him? In her defense, it was hilarious watching Yejun get flustered. Ye Jin got rid of her eventually. I told you she's intimidating.

"What though, did these girls see in those idiots?" Ye Jin mentioned to me as we watched the boys play a very rough game of basketball on the school court during one lazy afternoon.

"It's a small school. That's not a lot of choices." I shrugged.

"Yea..." She agreed. "Can't wait for high school next year."

"More girls to make me feel ugly? No thanks." I grimaced to myself.

She simply laughed it off. "It's not all about looks, Min Ji."

"Easy for you to say."

"There are guys who think you are cute."

She had a theory that I had secret admirers. I had a theory that she thought it was funny to give me false hope.

"No. Not about Kyungsoo again."

She chuckled lightly. "I didn't mean him. But sure. What's wrong with him?"

Kyungsoo was a really quiet boy we met in middle school. No one in class could strike up a conversation with him but me. Honestly, he's very nice once you get to know him. Besides, being his friend had its perks, his dad gave me extra dumplings whenever I dined at their stall. The rest were understandingly upset at the biased treatment and they liked to believe Kyungsoo talked to me because he liked me more than a friend. Bonggu was the whiniest about this. I asked him what did you expect when you once told the poor boy that he looked like a dumpling?

"He's not type," I grumbled at her amused expression.

"Right. I forgot you like the noisy type." Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she faced the court again.

I rolled my eyes at her. "What's your type, Ye Jin?"

"I'm not looking for a boyfriend." She replied in her usual prideful tone.

"You can still have a type."

Ye Jin. "I honestly don't know. I haven't met anyone that makes me think that far... I suppose probably someone who could take care of things, someone stable. You know what I mean?"

I stared at the court where Bonggu had just jumped onto Yejun's back so that Noah could score and snorted.

"Yeah, you're right. We don't know anyone like that."

Ye Jin smiled at the scene before us.

"Your brother's pretty close." She stated after a moment of silence.

"Minseok?" I had never thought of my introverted brother as someone's ideal type before. It's kind of a novel thought.

She nodded. "He takes care of Min Ah and you very well."

"He kind of has to. Mum's quite the scatterbrain."

"Lucky you then." She said wistfully.

There were not a lot of moments during our childhood when it was just Ye Jin and I. But it was not because of that reason which resulted in I remembered this sunny afternoon. I just couldn't forget this strange conversation we had just shared.

For the first time in my life, I wondered if Ye Jin was envious of me.

Chapter 10

There are a few reasons why I dreaded leaving middle school.

Firstly, the end of the year meant we were getting back our final grades, and there was never a good time for me or my mother. Let's just say that our house practiced capital punishment. Not that Min Seok or Min Ah was ever subjected to it, it was mainly reserved for me.

Secondly, the high school system puts us into classes based on our academic performance. For the first time in our lives, we would be separated. I nearly broke down when I realized Yejun was accepted into the best high school in the nation, but it turned out that the troll had merely applied to know if he was capable of getting in. I guessed none of us were quite ready to leave our family and friends yet.

The upside was, that Bonggu would be placed in the same class as me. He's not stupid... Bonggu simply wasn't interested in academics. We have seen how he excelled in music and sports where he had the discipline to practice. He didn't have the same drive to study. Noah, on the other hand, was the wild card. He didn't voice it out, but I could see him stressing about the probability that he would be in a class all by himself. It was apparent, from the nervous laugh he made when we touched on this topic. I wasn't too worried for him though, Noah made friends easily.

Lastly, the reason all of us agreed on, was the school dance for the graduating 9th graders. All of us had our explanations for loathing the idea of the dance. Yejun simply hated the idea of dancing. The first girl Noah wanted to ask flat-out rejected him and that got the poor boy in a slump. The girl Bonggu wanted to ask was Ye Jin who was brutally rejecting every single offer she was receiving. Believe it or not, she was fed up by all the requests. I wished my problem was like hers. No one had asked me yet and I honestly hated the whole game of waiting to be asked.

"You know what you can do then? Just ask the guy first." Yejun rolled his eyes at me. Ye Jin, Yejun, and I were having lunch in school.

"Kyungsoo." Ye Jin snickered as we all turned at the same time, to look at the quiet boy sitting at the furthest corner of the canteen. He was alone, as usual.

"Nooo. It's embarrassing." I groaned into my hands.

"Isn't it more so to go alone?" Yejun reasoned.

I glared spitefully at him. "It's a close second."

"I think it's fine for girls to ask guys." Ye Jin pointed out. Of course, she would think so, Ye Jin had no fear.

"Easy for you to say. No guys would reject you." I sighed sadly as I played with the food on my plate.

Ye Jin rolled her eyes at me. "Erm, not true. Yejun did."

I snapped my head up. Was she trying to kill Bonggu? "What?"

She shrugged causally. "I would rather go with a friend and have a fun night than go with a random boy for the sake of having a date."

The said friend grinned sheepishly. "It's a crazy amount of pressure to be seen as Jang Ye Jin's date you know. All the fan boy's hate I would receive..."

Ye Jin scoffed at Yejun. "Please. That's not the real reason. You were just worried about Min Ji."

Now they just kept surprising me. "Me? Well if we are just going as friends now, I could always ask Noah or Bonggu."

"Then the other would be dateless," Yejun explained evenly.

Oh. So that was his concern. It made more sense now. Being a group of five often had its issues of having someone left out. It was a problem we actively try to avoid.

"This is silly. We should just go and hang out as a group." Ye Jin protested.

Yejun contemplated the idea before his face lit up. "Ah! Let's do that then! We can go as a trio! I will be the star of the night with two lovely ladies beside me."

We laughed at his enthusiasm. "We are just giving up on Noah and Bonggu now?" Ye Jin smiled.

"They are good-looking guys. They can sort themselves out. Deal?" Yejun grinned mischievously with his pinky stuck out.

Not that I particularly enjoyed the thought of sharing a date with Ye Jin, but I supposed it would be more fun to hang out as a group. It's not like Noah and Bonggu considered asking me at all. The two of them were wrapped up too much in their misery to remember that I was a girl. Somehow, I had an intuition of what the two of them would end up doing about the impending dance.

Ye Jin stuck out a pinky and looked at me. It didn't take long before I mirrored her actions and hooked our fingers together.

"Deal."

Chapter 11

Of all the nights for Bonggu's family to come over for dinner, it was the day Yejun texted me that he had told the boys about our dance plans.

Bonggu's father was a busy man. I was still unsure what he does exactly but I know he's barely home. Mama Park was wonderful though, she kept the family and house in great order so that her husband always returned to a comfortable home. Bonggu, of course, was never too pleased that his mother was so strict with him. But he knew his mother was simply worried that with his father being absent most of the time, Bonggu may grow up to be a rebellious kid.

Well, I mean we weren't model students and whatnot. However, we grew up in such a close-knit community, no one ever strays too far.

Maybe that's why Mama Park likes me. It would seem like Bonggu was a little more responsible around me. Not that I have a positive influence on him or anything, he just felt that I couldn't take care of myself. Which is not true, but if it made him happy, I would play along.

The moment Mama Park heard that my father was away on a business trip, she convinced my mother we should have dinner together. Not just because it was easier to cook, but I guess the women just needed some adult company.

So while the two of them were busy in the kitchen, Min Ah was watching television, and Min Seok and Kira were talking among themselves. I turned guiltily to find Bonggu growling at me before he jerked his head toward my room. Sighing, I followed him. It was obvious that he was mad and Bonggu's growing height made him more intimidating than before.

"Are you angry at me?" I gave Bonggu my best impression of a wounded puppy once we shut the door.

He scoffed and pushed my head away. "Of course."

"That's not fair. I bet you aren't mad at Yejun or Ye Jin." I grumbled as I settled into Min Ah's bed since Bonggu was sitting in mine. Yejun would have warned me the other whist.

Of course, I didn't mention that I was a little gleeful regarding the fact that he was more upset with me. Could it be that Ye Jin having a date no longer bothered him?

"Well duh. I'm glad it's Yejun taking Ye Jin rather than someone else. I know Yejun doesn't like her that way. You! Why are you going with Yejun too?!" He glared at me.

I opened my mouth in shock, not hiding the anger that crept up on me upon hearing his words. "Why not? Not like you were going to take me."

"Please. As if I cared if I had a date. But you knew Noah was stressed out about it. I thought you would think of him."

"He didn't think of me." I pointed out. I hated the fact they always assumed I would always be fine with them treating me like one of the guys. Sure I don't mind, but it would be nice if they didn't assume.

Bonggu rolled his eyes. "Are you still angry because you thought Noah thought that Ye Jin was pretty?"

"Huh?"

"You realize that he didn't ask you because he thought you would want someone else to ask you, rather than going with one of us. Since dances are supposed to be a bigger deal for girls? That's why he asked someone else first."

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "Are you guys done thinking I can't handle myself? First Yejun, now Noah. Can someone just ask my opinion first next time?"

"I just found out today! If he told me sooner, I would have told him he was being stupid. As if someone would ask you." He raised an eyebrow in my direction.

"I am warning you, Chae Bonggu. I know of a perfect place where your body will never be found."

"Why are we even going to this stupid dance anyway?" He sighed and lay down on my bed. Maybe it was the death threat, but the anger in his tone was gone.

"Because we are growing up Chae Bonggu. Everything we are doing together now may be the last. And we have collected as many as these last as possible." I declared firmly.

He didn't say anything to that. Instead, he gave me a strange stare before he mumbled he was hungry, and left me alone in my room.

I forgot about the topic over dinner when Bonggu returned to his usual mood-setter self, making both my mother and Min Ah laugh nonstop. However, the good mood died out when Mama Park asked if I was attending the dance with Bonggu as the table grew strangely silent. Bonggu and I exchanged looks before I mentioned I was going with Yejun. Now the whole table was giving us weird looks.

"Oh? Then who are you going with?" Mama Park turned to her son curiously.

He shrugged and replied. "Nobody like your son."

I thought Mama Park would ask about Ye Jin but she never did. She had never approved of Bonggu's choice of an ideal type, even though she had never said it out loud. Mama Park was convinced that her son would grow out of that infatuation with Ye Jin. As for the reason being whether she disliked Ye Jin or was simply fonder of me, I had no answer.

I was doing the dishes with Kira when the topic of the stupid dance surfaced again. Seriously, how many times could this topic come up in a single day?

"He lied, you know." Kira causally mentioned as she turned off the kitchen tap.

"What?" I muttered as I dried the plates she had washed.

"Plenty of girls asked him to the dance. I saw the letters on his table. Bonggu turned them all down."

"Oh," I replied. "That's not surprising. You know? Ye Jin?"

She paused as she kept her eyes on the sink. "See that's what I thought at first. But he knew Ye Jin would not go with him or mind that he had a date you see? So I asked him, was it because he was afraid it would make you uncomfortable?"

"Eh?" I dropped the towel in my hand.

Kira smiled at me as her eyes twinkled mischievously. In that instance, I realized how strong the siblings' resemblance was.

"He's denying it, of course. But I know when my brother is lying. I just thought it was funny, just when I assumed that he often neglects you because he's too busy chasing Ye Jin, he turns around and proves me wrong."

Chapter 12

"Where are they?" Yejun grumbled. He was holding Ye Jin's camera in his hand while staring at the entrance of the school hall. I was blown away when we arrived as the hall was beautifully decorated for our graduating dance and it was unrecognizable. It would have been a picture-perfect moment but our group was incomplete.

"They'll be here." Ye Jin replied to him as she glanced at the food table eagerly.

I nodded distractedly as I scanned the dance floor for an empty table. Finding one, I grabbed my friends hastily towards it. We occupied it instantly by throwing our belongings on it before we even reached the table, earning a few irritated glares in our direction.

"Perfect." Yejun nodded satisfyingly before positioning the camera towards the door again.

"Ye Jin, light and sound?" He confirmed.

She snorted. Ye Jin did not appreciate not being trusted to fulfill her responsibilities without reminders.

Yejun grinned at that. "Sorry. Habit. Min Ji? What's the ETA?"

"Oh! Just round the corner!" I exclaimed as I realized I wasn't checking my phone for new messages till Yejun prompted me.

Standing up, Ye Jin made a signal to our juniors on duty in the audio-visual room. They made an 'okay' with their hand in response. Suddenly, the whole school hall was plunged into darkness and the music abruptly stopped. The unexpected darkness caused a few to scream while most of the 9th graders could be heard muttering to each other in confusion.

A spotlight lit up the front entrance of the school halls everyone grew quiet in anticipation. A familiar tune started playing in the background.

Now I've had the time of my life

No, I never felt like this before

Yes I swear it's the truth

And I owe it all to you

Everyone gasped as the door was thrown open and Noah stood alone, dressed handsomely in a white suit. His face was serious as he lipped-synced confidently to the music.

'Cause I've had the time of my life

And I owe it all to you

When the female verse came along, Noah gestured towards the door. Dressed in a sparkling black dress way too short, swaying along to the music in red heels, was one Chae Bonggu.

I've been waiting for so long.

Now I've finally found someone.

To stand by me

We saw the writing on the wall

As we felt this magical fantasy

Loud laughter and whistling erupted through the whole hall. There was an uproar when everyone realized what was going on. The crowd went wild as the boys started bursting into a ridiculous but challenging salsa dance.

Yejun was hollering at his friends as he gleefully recorded the iconic moment. I gave him props for being able to stable the camera given that I could barely stand from laughing too hard. Even the usual passive Ye Jin was cheering loudly beside me.

Now with passion in our eyes

There's no way we could disguise it secretly

So we take each other's hand

'Cause we seem to understand the urgency

Just remember

You're the one thing

I can't get enough of

So I'll tell you something

This could be love because

It was amazing to watch because Bonggu had grown taller than Noah. So when Bonggu lifted Noah and started spinning him, all the while in his red heels, everyone went nuts. There were smiles plastered on the teachers' faces as well. It was obvious, they would miss these boys after they graduated.

I've had the time of my life

No, I never felt this way before

Yes I swear it's the truth

And I owe it all to you

'Cause I've had the time of my life

And I've searched through every open door

Till I've found the truth

And I owe it all to you

When the finale came, we all ran forward to join the pair. Spotting us, Bonggu ran over to Yejun to plant a wet and loud kiss on his cheeks despite the poor boy's loud protest 'why'. Noah came over to snatch his date back to the center of the hall to take a bow. Amidst everyone's clapping and cheering, the boys grinned gleefully. That glowing look on their faces… it was like they were meant for the stage.

After Bonggu had changed out of the dress (that look suspiciously like Kira's), we took turns hogging the table and enjoying the dance floor. Whatever tension or awkwardness that was previously in the room of teenagers disappeared with the grand entrance of Bonggu and Noah. Everyone had loosened up and was just being silly and having fun. Somewhere during the night, we broke out of our comfort circle. Yejun and Noah took the initiative to ask a girl to dance, and both Bonggu and Ye Jin got invited by the opposite gender which they politely obliged.

At one point, Kyungsoo came over to the table and asked me for a dance, which I thankfully accepted. The boy had showed up alone, blissfully ignoring social conventions. Which was a waste, as he was a fun dance partner to have.

"Thank you for dancing with me," Kyungsoo said as he walked me back to my table.

"Thank you for asking me! I never knew you had such talents!" I grinned.

"Oh, I am a man of many hidden talents." He replied with a straight face.

"Sure." I winked. "Such a pity no one around here appreciates it. Did you bother to ask anyone to the dance at all?"

"No." He shrugged. "There's no one here I think I can stand spending the entire night with."

"Ouch." I love this boy. I could never be that comfortable with myself as I was always too busy caring about what other people thought of me.

"Oh, you are fine Min Ji! I would have asked you if it weren't for the funny way your friend looks at me. It's annoying actually, I could barely stand it for one dance."

"Ignore them. They like to tease me." I rolled my eyes. "Honestly I wished you asked me. I was depressed by how everyone just looked past me."

"That's because you are looking for attention in the wrong places. Well, see you around Min Ji!" He waved at me when I was nearing our table.

Waving back cheerfully, I sat back down at the table where my friends had surprisingly straight faces, even though all four pairs of eyes were on me.

"Shut up," I mumbled as I took a sip of my drink. I am not letting anyone spoil the good time I just had.

A grin broke out on Yejun's face first before he grabbed the two persons beside him. "Let's dance. I love this song."

He half pulled and half dragged Bonggu and Ye Jin with him, leaving Noah and me at our table. The two of us chatted and joked around while our friends danced the night away.

"Look at our cunning friend." Noah nudged me.

I turned to where he was looking and found our Yejun doing some wild fancy movements around the dance floor, essentially leaving Bonggu and Ye Jin behind, as they just couldn't bother to keep up with him. They were laughing at him but yet continued dancing with each other at their spot. Soon they forgot about him and danced together, even as the music slowed down.

"Bonggu got his wish." I smiled, knowing full well that the tall boy wanted to ask Ye Jin for a dance the whole night but couldn't pluck out the courage to.

"Yea... will you ask Bonggu to dance tonight?" Noah shot me a strange look.

"I don't know. Bonggu is having a good time, I don't want to... hey you are his date! You should be the one asking him!" I changed the topic with a light push on his shoulder.

"Do you think... you'll ever get over him?" There was a seriousness in his tone that I don't often hear in his tone.

I watched the boy who was capable of making my heart skip, smiling blissfully at the girl of his dreams."I am being stupid, aren't I?"

I didn't know how to explain to Noah, you see. Bonggu was such a big part of my life. He was there, in most of the memories that made me grin like a idiot. He would be there, in the future that I imagined when I laid on my bed, daydreaming. Even when I knew he didn't like me the same way, even when watching him dancing with Ye Jin, I still hoped. I was still stupid enough to hope, that maybe our future could become the one that I dreamed about.

I must have drifted off to my imagination again because I missed what Noah said after that. It was only when I realized he was watching me weirdly before I knew he was waiting for me to say something.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you would like to dance with me, stupid."

Chapter 13

I have never been used to being alone. Privacy is not a concept known to my family. Nor my friends, for that matter. Minseok once tried to sell me the idea of reflection. You know, taking time alone to think about the important stuffin life? For he thought both his sisters had too much of a reckless streak in them.

Yeah, I never quite got the hang of just being alone with me and my thoughts. Honestly, it freaked me out. I never knew I hated silence so much.

Which was partly why the first two weeks of high school were so terrible for me. For I was very much alone.

Sure, Bonggudid end up being in my class but as luck would have it, popularity came easy to him. He was a tall and good-looking boy. And because he made it to the school's soccer team, the seniors quickly introduced him to new people. I didn't get to see Ye Jin, Yejun, orNoahas much, because we were in different classes. I missed them so badly. And yes, even Jang Ye Jin.

They seemed to be handling themselves fine as they were all effortlessly making new friends. We never had to do that, because our previous school was small and everyone knew everybody. Even if I weren't popular then, I at least felt safe around my friends. This high school was huge and in comparison, I felt so small. I wasn't pretty like Ye Jin, smart like Yejun, friendly like Noah, or talented like Bonggu. I was one of the classmates who could never make an impression on anyone. I was one of those blurred faces that people passed by without a thought in the hallways.

Noah was the sweetest. He knew that I was having a hard time adjusting, so he would always find time to look for me. The rest of the gang was a little preoccupied; for once Bonggugot accepted into the soccer team, and Ye Jin into track, they often had socializing activities to attend after classes. Yejun kept himself busy attending several welcome receptions of various clubs, trying to find one that suited him best. I questioned why Noahwasn't checking any of these clubs or societies out, and he told me he already knew he wanted to join the glee club. All he had to do was to arrange an audition. Which was why he had time to watch me in my misery. The boy had been encouraging me to find something to join, despite my persistent protests.

He brought up the topic again, as the both of us found a corner of the school to wait for Yejun to escape from the academic decathlon team so that we could make our way home together. The latter was actively being recruited by the team, and Yejun was purposely making it difficult. (Though he denied it, I was positive that it was purely for his amusement.)

"I don't have any talents," I grumbled to him.

He rolled his eyes at my negativity. "That's what clubs are for. To learn new skills."

"I don't need to add more things to the stuff that I am bad at, Noah."

"How do you meet new people then?"

I placed my hands over my face and sighed loudly. "I don't need to. Let me be invisible. I am happy like this."

Noaheasily pulled my hands away and forced me to face him. "C'mon Min Ji. Or you should try harder at making friends with your classmates. Speak to someone else other than Bonggu. Maybe school won't be so hard said your classmates weren't so bad."

I found myself scoffing at those words. Of course, he would say that. Everyone was immediately nice to Bonggu because he was so prominent. The girls in our class flocked to him during the breaks. At first, I wanted to pull him away from the crowd, but then I began to realize he quite enjoyed the attention. It was too uncomfortable to watch, and I found myself leaving him to be most of the time.

"Ye Jin's probably attracting quite a bit of attention in class too, huh?" I changed the topic.

Noah gave me a small smile. "Yea. Doesn't she always? I had seen guys walking by our class to look at her already. It's only the first week of school! News spread fast!"

"Life is easy for attractive people…" I mumbled wishfully.

He chuckled at me. "You are getting too old to be jealous of Ye Jin, Min Ji."

I stuck my tongue at him in response which he instinctively imitated.

"Noah!" We heard an unfamiliar voice called out and both of us turned to the direction of the sound.

A girl with wild curly hair was waving excitedly at Noah. With three long quick strides, she was at our table with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Hey, Hana." The boy smiled politely.

Noah liked people. He was a naturally good conversationist. And it was only because I knew him so well, that I could sense immediately that his tone was off, despite the smile on his face.

"Is this your friend? Hello, I am Hana. I'm in Noah's class." Hana beamed at me, with a hand outstretched.

I stared at her hand for a while, before feebly shaking it. "Hi. I am Min Ji."

Her eyes widened in surprise as she registered my name. "Min Ji? You are Min Ji? I have heard about you… FromNoah's other friends, Yejun and Ye Jin?"

Something about her words made me strangely uncomfortable. Or maybe it was the calculativeway she was looking at me. "Yeah… the bunch of us came from the same middle school."

"I know. Ye Jin mentioned." Hana'slips pursed.

The boy flashed her his usual friendly smile again. "Why are you still around,Hana?"

She finally looked away from me. "Looking for you. Didn't you mention there's a nice place to eat around school? Let's go!"

"Now?" Noah nearly fell out of his seat while I raised an eyebrow at him. Did this guy manage to find himself an admirer already?

Hana nodded. "Of course."

"I am kind of busy now…?" He shot desperate looks in my direction. What was he expecting me to do? I wasn't good at this sort of thing. That's what Ye Jin was useful for!

His uneasiness went unnoticed by her, or maybe she was blatantly ignoring it. Either way, Hana persisted. "How about tomorrow?"

"Erm… Hana? I can't. I can't go with you, be it tomorrow or other days."

Han Noah was amazing. Unlike Yejun, he wasted no time being polite or trying to be sensitive to the girl. Way to go, I cheered in my head for his direct and assertive ways.

Hana pouted slightly. "Why not?"

"Because my girlfriend will get upset." He blurted out with a straight face.

"Your girlfriend?" His classmate repeated dumbly.

"Yes. My girlfriend."

There was an awkward silence between the three of us at Noah's words and I was squirming so uncomfortably at this point. I almost felt sorry for Hana till I realized the look on her face was not one of disappointment but doubt. Just when I decided to look away from Hana, I felt a large warm hand clasped over my own.

Noah was holding my hand and lifting it to Hana's face.

"My girlfriend." He repeated.

The doubt in Hana's eyes dissolved into utter disbelief as she gave me a quick once-over. In response, I gave her my best 'aloof Ye Jin' impression even though I was mentally cursing in my head.

What the hell, Han Noah?

Chapter 14

"What?" Yejun blinked furiously at a sheepish Noah, who had just finished explaining everything during our long walk home. At Noah's nod, our friend burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"I... What... You... Min Ji?!" was all I could understand as he tried to speak through his laughter. Yejun had tears streaming down his sharp cheekbones as he hung onto me to stop himself from falling to the ground laughing.

I slapped his hand away so that he did indeed fall to the ground—painfully, I hoped. "Are you done?"

Hic. A hiccup escaped his mouth as he put a fist into it to stifle his laughter.
"Oh, Min Ji. This is only the beginning. Wait till I tell Ye Jin! Wait till BONGGU hears about this!" Yejun stood up once he regained control of himself.

Rolling his eyes, Noah gave a playful kick to Yejun. "Stop terrorizing Min Ji."

That only made Yejun laugh more. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude to your girlfriend."

"NAM YEJUN." I narrowed my eyes. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Yeah! C'mon, Yejun. I only just got a girlfriend. I don't want her arrested for murder." A playful twinkle shone in Noah's round eyes.

I threw my hands up in exasperation as the boys clung to each other, laughing again.

By the time they noticed, I had already stomped a few meters away.

"Don't be angry, Min Ji." Noah threw an arm over my shoulder.

"Yeah." Yejun did the same from the other side. "If anything, this was my fault."

I glared at the two grinning boys flanking me. "How?"

"Remember the day Ye Jin brought the album from the dance night? I took an awesome photo of you and Noah during the last dance, and it was developed beautifully. I think I made too big a commotion, and it caught Hana's attention. So she came over and asked who this 'Min Ji' was that we were talking about."

"So?" I still didn't catch the connection.

"Well, the thing is, our Noah here had been overly friendly as usual. Hana kind of... latched onto the first person who was nice to her. Which was okay, except she was, uh, very possessive. Or maybe it was because Ye Jin unnerved people, but she didn't like that Noah was close to Ye Jin. Anyway, she started coming on way too strong."

This was news to me. Why hadn't I heard about her earlier? I voiced my thoughts aloud.

"Erm… because she was very curious about you. So I kind of used that to deter her from Noah," Yejun admitted, stealing a glance at me.

"You USED me?" I screeched into his ear as he winced.

"Hey, I just sort of mentioned you a lot in front of her. Don't look at me like that—it worked for Ye Jin when we mentioned Bonggu to guys bothering her. I wasn't the one who declared you Noah's girlfriend."

A loud groan escaped me. This was why Hana was giving me death stares. She was probably wondering how on earth she lost out to a midget like me.

"You know, we need to clue Ye Jin and Bonggu in soon. What if Hana questions them and finds out you were lying?" Yejun looked past me to glance at a thoughtful Noah.

"Ye Jin's smart enough to catch on. Hana doesn't know Bonggu yet. Honestly, I wish I hadn't spoken to her on the first day—it would've saved all this trouble." Noah pouted.

Yejun agreed. "She'll get over it. I doubt she's the type to persist once she knows you're taken."

"Are you guys even going to pretend to ask me if I'm okay with this?" I struggled to escape from between them.

"No," they replied in perfect harmony.

The two boys continued to talk as if I were invisible until we reached Yejun's house.

"Wait for me in my room. I need to speak to Hamin," Yejun said, motioning toward the neighboring house.

At our questioning looks, Yejun chuckled. "So, I just remembered I took some photos of Ye Jin and Bonggu during the dance. But I can't find them. Either Ye Jin selectively developed photos, or she stashed them somewhere."

"You're not going to ransack her room, are you? She'll kill you," I frowned.

"Ah, no. I'm not stupid. I'll just ask Hamin for the memory card—it's his dad's camera anyway."

With a wave, he headed to the house next door. Noah and I exchanged a look before letting ourselves into Yejun's. As I ransacked the fridge for snacks, Noah leaned on the kitchen counter, watching me.

"Are you upset?" he asked.

I turned to face him, noticing the sincere concern in his eyes.

I sighed. "Not at you. You know I wouldn't get mad at you for this."

A crease formed between his brows. "Then why are you like this?"

"It's the way Hana looked at me when you said I was your girlfriend. She didn't believe your girlfriend could be someone like me. I'm pretty sure she was expecting someone like Ye Jin." I finally admitted the uncomfortable, sinking feeling in my stomach that refused to go away.

"What's wrong with someone like you? I like someone like you!"

"No one likes simple, plain Min Ji, Noah. All of you like beautiful, smart Ye Jin." I avoided his gaze.

"Since when has anyone said they like Ye Jin except Chan—" He froze. "Oh."

There was a time when liking Bonggu in secret was joyful. Recently, it wasn't that easy. Recently, it was almost depressing. It wasn't his fault, of course—it was probably because my self-esteem had evaporated during this transition period in our lives.

"If it makes any difference," Noah said softly, "I would honestly rather have simple, plain Min Ji as a girlfriend than someone like Ye Jin any day."

I smiled at his sweet attempt to cheer me up.

"Seriously. Unless I have a sudden growth spurt this year, my ego can't handle Ye Jin."

He winked as I chuckled.

"Well," I walked toward him and linked my arm through his, "I never knew being short gave me an edge over Jang Ye Jin! You're going to regret this, Han Noah. You're stuck with a short, unglamorous, and thoughtless girlfriend for the next… month? Until Hana stops drooling over you."

As I gave him my best seductive look, Noah shot me a fearful expression.

"What have I gotten myself into?!"

That night, just before I fell asleep, a sudden thought crossed my mind. Was there a photograph of Noah and me during the last dance? I was quite sure I hadn't seen it, even after looking through Ye Jin's album several times. Where was that photo?

I would ask them about it, I thought, as my heavy eyelids shut. If I remembered to.

Chapter 15

As much as I loved my friends, there were many times I got so ridiculously annoyed by them that I questioned our friendships. Most of the time it had something to do with them going overboard with teasing and calling me stupid. I know I wasn't the smartest person around here, but I wasn't that dumb. You would think I could get used to it after all these years but it still stung.

I tried to remember that my friends were just teasing me. To be fair, Yejun called everyone else stupid. Noah believed that making fun of someone was a form of affection. Bonggu just liked to tease me mercilessly because he knew I hated it. Ye Jin... was the wild card. She never called me names causally or as a joke, like boys would most of the time. Her tone would be her calm and matter-of-fact self, and I could never quite tell what was her intentions.

Like that day after I promised to pretend to be Noah'sgirlfriend when she and Bonggu cornered me alone at my locker. The tall boy was making a big fuse that he heard about Noah and me through neither of us but from Ye Jin instead. Why would I tell him? He would have stomped into my house in the middle of the night and announced it to my whole family. It was better to wait for the next day. He was not happy when I told him that and was taking it rather personally that we did not think of including him in the plan.

Ye Jin was watching Bonggu rambling on about my disregard for our friendship with amusement. It was only when I threw her a look of helplessness, did she finally spoke up.

"You guys are being stupid."

"Eh?" Both Bonggu and I replied in sync.

Ye Jin rolled her eyes at Bonggu. "Not you. Min Ji and Noah."

That got several nods of approval from Bonggu but I was distracted by Ye Jin's expression. Or rather the lack of it. She said it so easily as though she was merely pointing out the sky was blue. Yet there was no hint of menace like how she would be when she nagged at the boys when they were out of line, instead, it was more of a thoughtful reminder.

In Times like this, I questioned if I could honestly read Ye Jin well. For I would assume that comment was out of fondness. Almost like… she was concerned about me?

The thing was I never quite knew where we stood in Ye Jin's heart. For she was never one to openly show affection. Sure, she liked hanging out with us, but exactly how strong was our friendship? Strong enough that she honestly wanted the best for me? Because that's what it felt like sometimes when she pointed out my flaws in that calm manner. Sometimes I felt that she was trying to encourage me to think differently. Sometimes I felt that she was trying to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone.

But why would she do that? She knew I was never too fond of her. That we only hung out because we have mutual close friends.

"Yes, that! I almost forgot! Whose crazy idea was that? No, it's Baek." The tall boy completely missed my annoyed glance directed at his outburst. "What was he thinking..."

"Why are you so agitated?" I found myself questioning. I had expected his reaction to be similar to Yejun's. He would laugh and tease us for this ridiculous predicament we found ourselves in. There was no reason for him to be upset. It was not like he liked me that way.

He opened his mouth to say something before Ye Jin swiftly swung out her arm to slap Bonggu's arm painfully.

At my raised eyebrow and Bonggu's loud yelp, Ye Jin simply smiled. "It's not the best way to turn someone down. I would know."

It's true. I knew she hated it when the guys rejected people for her by threatening them with Bonggu.

The tall boy simply sighed and led the way for us to the cafeteria. Behind him, Ye Jin took my arm gently.

"Noah would make a good boyfriend, don't you think?"

At my widened eyes, she laughed brightly. Ye Jin was never one to laugh out loud easily. And at that rare moment, Bonggu spun around, drawn instinctively by Ye Jin's amusement.

I should feel hurt at how aware he was regarding Ye Jin. But we were all too distracted as Bonggu ended up reversing into someone behind him.

"Sorry," Bonggu mumbled as he gave a light bow to the person he crashed into. The boy winced and lifted his head to stare angrily at Bonggu.

It was a face I recognized. It was a boy that was in our new class. One of those many that I had never spoken to. Ah, what was his name?

"Oh. Eunho right? Didn't see you there." Bonggu tried to pat the boy on his shoulder naturally.

"What a joke. The new star of the football team couldn't even walk properly." Eunho muttered in response as he straightened up to stare crossly at Bonggu. He was shorter than Bonggu, but something about his glare made the tall boy squirm uncomfortably.

"I said I was sorry." Bonggu stepped away from Eunho and motioned us to walk around the boy.

I was trying to avoid eye contact, but it was easy to tell Eunho was staring at us as we walked away.

"I would stay away from that guy if I were you." We heard him saying to our retreating backs. "He only has eyes for himself. Unless of course, you girls are striving to become the catch of the day."

Bonggu stopped in his tracks so suddenly that I nearly crashed into him. He spun around with one of the angriest looks I have seen on him and I automatically grabbed his arm to hold him back.

I forgot that we have more than one hot-tempered person in our group. For Ye Jin had already made her way back to Eunho.

"I would stay away from that guy if I were you too." Ye Jin's tone was low and chilling. She stood firmly before Eunho, fully channeling her natural air of supremacy. "Your jealousy is showing. And it's only making you look small and pitiful. Get out here. If you dare mess with Chae Bonggu, I will never let you forget it."

I should have realized, that just because one didn't wear their hearts on the sleeve, doesn't mean they don't have one. I should have known just because Jang Ye Jin doesn't show it, doesn't mean she don't love her friends as much as I loved mine.

Chapter 16

I never really knew what it felt like to be afraid of someone. You do need a bit of courage to handle the unpredictable nonsense that the boys were known for. But for the first time, I was truly bothered by the intimidating presence of one Kim Jong.

He was almost always watching us, in particular, Bonggu. I had caught him plenty of times, side-eyeing Bongguin our classroom. Thankfully, neither of us sat too near to him.

Bongguknew he was watching too, but he could not be bothered by him. We figured out by now, that it was Bonggu's popularity that was rubbing him the wrong way. While he gained some fame quickly in the new school, Bonggu had attracted a fair bit of haters as well. The tall boy never cared much for the way that people thought of him; instead, Bonggu was more worried for me. He thought if he showed how close he was to me in class, people who didn't like him very much, would target me instead.

"I could take of myself. You are overreacting." I told him when he admitted why he had kept a distance from me after I chewed him out for ignoring me one too many times in class.

Bonggu simply shrugged. "I told you I would protect you always."

The fact that he had never forgotten that tiny promise made me grin. He returned it easily as he rested his arm on my head as we waited for Noah to end his lessons at his locker.

"Besides," he added. "You are Noah's girl now. People might think I am trying to steal you away."

I scowled at him before pushing his heavy arm off me. Over the years, it was no longer a fair fight between us. He dropped his arm to rest on my shoulder instead, before using his knuckles to knock my head playfully.

"You are finally smiling. Don't think I didn't notice your unhappy faces during classes. Stop paying attention to Do Eunho. He's not worth our time."

"I tried. But I don't like that he's always watching you. It's not just in class you know. I caught him looking at our table in the cafeteria quite a few times."

"Really?" Bonggu frowned. "That I didn't know."

The both of us lapsed into silence as we thought about the strange behavior of Do Eunho. Even though, Bonggu would never admit it, I was positive that of all the hate he had received, Eunho's was bugging him the most. Maybe it was the most obvious. Or maybe he simply seemed the most unpredictable. It was too difficult for us to figure out what was it that this guy wanted from Bonggu. There was no way that he took Ye Jin's warning seriously, Do Eunho would be up to something. We were so lost in our thoughts that we did not realize that Noah had shown up till he cleared his throat loudly.

At the sudden sound, Bonggu jumped so high up that his arm that was on me went smashing into the lockers behind us. He cursed as he rubbed his elbow in pain. Laughing at his clumsiness, I glanced over to Noah and realized that he wasn't laughing along with me.

"What's wrong Baek?" The usually lively boy must have been having a bad day.

He gave me a strange look and replied. "That was an oddly intimidating moment that I just walked into."

"Oh?" I frowned at his choice of words. Beside me, I felt Bonggu shuffling away, possibly allowing Noah access to his locker. "We were talking about Do Eunho."

"That guy that a glimpse of our Ye Jin's wrath?" Noah asked as he threw his books into his locker. I let out a sigh at the sight of his horrible messy locker. It was a miracle that nothing fell out when he had opened it. Or crawled out. Waving him away, I proceeded to tidy up his locker for him. How on earth did he find his things in this crazy pile? I wasn't exactly a tidy person but I did pick up a few habits living with a neat freak a.k.a Kim Minseok. If it wasn't for the fact that the sweet boy had stuck a photo of the five of us from the dance in his locker, I would taken the opportunity to berate him.

"The same one. He hadn't spoken to me since, but it's kind of obvious that he doesn't like me at all." Bonggu explained to Noah.

"We could just set Ye Jin on him again," I suggested as I nodded approving at my handiwork before closing his locker. Spinning around to face the boys, I noticed that the familiar smile of Noah had returned to his face.

"That will be a fun sight." The boy said, with the usual brightness in his voice. "I haven't seen her temper in a long while. It's both terrifying and captivating."

I looped my arms with the two boys as we began making our way home. Both Yejun and Ye Jin had something on."Bonggu knows best. He's always at the other end of it."

"It's an honor that I refused to share with anyone else," Bonggu replied with a large grin.

"Yea yea. We all know you are Ye Jin's biggest fan." I rolled my eyes as the three of us turned a corner.

Noah might have said something in response but I didn't hear it. Standing by the water dispenser in the corridor that we just turned into, was Do Eunho. The way his head turned slightly to the left, was all the confirmation I needed that he had heard us approaching.

I felt Bonggu tensed up but he said nothing to acknowledge that he saw the boy too. Instead, he continued engaging Noah in a conversation. They may have still been talking about Ye Jin, but I wasn't sure, for my eyes were fixated on the boy by the water dispenser even after we walked past him.

As I looked over my shoulder, the boy lifted his eyes and locked them on me. His face was indecipherable even though we both knew we were caught staring at each other. I wasn't as brave or smart as Ye Jin. And I could not think of anything on the spot to say to him. Yet at that moment, I felt like I had to do something.

For I hated the patronizing looks he constantly wore.

For I was annoyed by how he seemed to be daring me to say something.

For I cared too much about Chae Bonggu.

Right before Do Eunho lost interest in us and turned away, I stuck my tongue out at him.

Chapter 17

"Something's wrong with Yejun."

I whispered out loud. Noah and Bonggu looked up from their textbooks to stare at our friend in the kitchen. He was cooking ramen for everyone as the rest of us turned his living room into a study room because of our upcoming tests. It was a stressful period for all of us, given none of us knew what to expect of the difficulty level of the high school syllabus.

"He seems fine." Bonggu pointed out as Yejun sang loudly to himself as he cooked.

I shook my head. "He's too happy."

At those words, Ye Jin closed her books. A look of realization appeared on her face. "He volunteered to cook."

Even though it was his kitchen, Yejun hardly ever cooked for us. We almost always had to play a game if we got hungry to determine a loser to cook for the whole group. The clever boy barely ever lost unless it was a game that was impossible to cheat. And whenever he lost, he would whine so much that most of the time, one of us would just go with him to shut him up.

"Are we worrying that our friend's too happy?" Bonggu glanced around the room in confusion.

A smile crept onto Noah's face. "Took you guys long enough. I thought I was the only one that noticed."

"And you said nothing?" I faked a motion to throw my book at him.

As always, He didn't fall for it. "Because I don't think he realized it as well."

"What?" I hissed at his vagueness.

The boy lifted one finger. "Areum."

That name made no sense to me as I glanced at Bonggu to see the same confusion mirrored in his face. Ye Jin, however, made a tiny 'oh' sound.

"No wonder you were the first to notice." Ye Jin smiled knowingly to Noah who rolled his eyes in response.

I was about to show my annoyance at them for speaking in codes when Yejun yelled out. "Food's ready!"

We made our way to the dining table with me jabbing Noah violently at his waist but he simply placed a finger to his lips, as he struggled to keep a straight we all took a seat before a piping hot bowl of ramen,Bongguglanced up atYejunwith a curious look.

"Who's Areum?"

A loud cough escaped Yejun as he choked on his first slurp of noodles and Noah could contain his laughter no longer. Ye Jin too, hid her smile behind her he finally could breathe normally again,Yejunlooked at our faces in surprise.

"Why?"

Bonggu ignored the question. "Who's Areum?"

"Our classmate. Why?" Yejun narrowed his eyes at Noah and Ye Jin, who were both actively ignoring his stares.

"Is she pretty?" Bonggu continued probing in excitement.

"Chae Bonggu," I warned him pointedly.

At that point, Yejun had turned into a bright shade of red. Still, he managed to reply quite casually.

"Yes, she is."

"Is she prettier than Ye Jin?" The tall boy grinned at the cool reply.

"Chae Bonggu…" Ye Jin groaned warily.

Our friend, however, had a thoughtful look on his face. "They are different types."

Noah laughed at the diplomatic response. "You are biased. Ye Jin's way prettier."

"What exactly have you been telling them?" Yejun turned to the chuckling boy in exasperation.

"Hey!" Noah threw his hands up innocently. "I didn't say anything to them! I didn't tell them that you have been getting along really with Areum and that you talked to her during breaks more often than to me or Ye Jin! I didn't mention to anyone when you had asked to share her textbook with her during Chemistry when I saw your textbook in your bag that very morning when I stole your calculator during Math!"

It was amazing that Yejun could ignore the fact thatBonggu was slapping the table in exhilaration and that I was tearing up from laughing. Even Ye Jin was chuckling lightly.

"You took my calculator?" He frowned at his failure to notice it was missing the whole day.

Noah shrugged. "See. You could solve those questions without anyway."

I was overcome with glee with what Noah had spilled. Reaching over to pinch Yejun's cheeks, I cooed. "Awww. Our Yejun is all grown up."

Slapping my hands away, he returned his attention to his bowl. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I think what Min Ji meant to say was," Bonggu began calmly before exclaiming loudly. "YEJUN'S IN LOVE!"

"No, I am NOT!" Yejun retorted. "I just… like talking to her."

"Please. I have heard that one before." Bonggu replied with a wink and a nudge to Noah.

"Chae Bonggu!" Noah slammed his chopsticks on the table as I watched them in confusion, holding each other's eye contact as if they were having a conversation telepathically.

"Are you going to tell her?" Ye Jin interrupted that odd scene that was unfolding before us.

Yejun sighed as he realized that even Ye Jin was not on his side. "Tell her what? There's nothing to say."

I was going to respond helpfully with what he should tell her but as though he read my mind, the boy shot me a warning glare that caused me to shrink back into my seat.

Right... I was the last person to be advising him to confess his crush, I thought as I glanced at Bonggu out of the corner of my eye.

The tall boy was grinning stupidly at Noah before he turned his attention back to Yejun. "I want to meet her. Ask her to join us for lunch one day."

"No," Yejun replied firmly.

"Ask her to join us for lunch this week." Bonggu redirected the question to Noah.

"No," Noah replied, still looking a little miffed at something.

"Lunch. Tomorrow." Bonggu tried again with Ye Jin.

"Leave Yejun alone." The girl said evenly.

And that was all it took for Bonggu to drop the subject as we ate our ramen in silence. He managed to hold his tongue the whole time, that was until Yejun's mum returned from work right when we were finishing our food.

"Hey, kids." She smiled lovingly at all of us as we returned the greeting brightly.

"Hey, Aunty Kim!" Bonggu flashed his white teeth at her. "Do you know aboutAreu-"

I covered my ears the second I saw Yejun open his mouth.

"CHAE BONGGU!"

Chapter 18

Sometimes we are too comfortable, we tend to assume we already know everything there is to know. And it had to take something huge, for us to admit that we were wrong, and for us to learn something new about each other, to learn something new about ourselves.

How Bonggu managed to get a good grade on his tests because his coach would not let anyone with bad grades play on the team. Even though he was supposed to be the lazy one. Or like how Yejun was utterly lost at how to speak to Areum now that we have pointed how that he had a crush. Even though he was the smart one.

That was what I was thinking about, as I waited for my friends at the entrance of our school, preparing to head out for lunch. My train of thought was interrupted as a familiar energetic boy suddenly walked up to me and took my hand, as if it was the most natural action in the world.

"Sorry, I'm late. Let's go." Noah flashed a quick grin in my direction. Before leading the way.

"Erm... Baek?" I called out as he continued pulling me behind him.

"Oh, the rest would meet us there." He answered as we turned the corner to the road leading to the noodle shop owned by Kyungsoo's parents.

"Noah," I repeated firmly till the boy finally turned to face me.

"Yea?"

"Hana's not behind us anymore."

A look of relief washed over his face as he finally slowed down his pace. "How did you know?"

"Because you look like you have seen a ghost?" I teased the frantic boy.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. She was bugging me after class, so I told her I was meeting you and zoomed out of the classroom."

"You abandoned Yejun and Ye Jin?"

"They were taking too long." He shrugged as he paused slightly at the pedestrian crossing.

"Bonggu won't be joining us by the way. Training."

The boy nodded as he continued walking when the green light flashed across us, at the other end of the crossing.

"And Noah?"

"Yea?" Noah replied casually.

"You are still holding my hand."

The carefree boy took a double take and looked down at our joined hands.

"Ah." He blinked slowly. "I am out of energy from walking too fast just now. Drag me to eat, Min Ji."

A chuckle escaped me as Noah stopped in his tracks with a zoned-out face. I pouted when he shut his eyes and refused to move an inch; and although I contemplated leaving him, I did end up pulling him by his hand. As I dragged him down the streets with all my might, the boy started making weird zombie noises.

"You are embarrassing, Han Noah."

"Brains. I am going to eat your brain. Oh, wait, Min Ji, got no brain!" With a hearty laugh, Noah let go of my hand and started running.

"You are so dead!"

As I chased after him for the rest of the journey, our loud laughter echoed along the entire stretch of restaurants. It must have caught the attention of Kyungsoo, for he stepped out of the shop and waved to us as we approached him.

"Hey Kyungsoo. Came to help your dad again?" I asked him breathlessly as Noah, who had long arrived, stood laughing beside me.

"Hey, guys. I am always here right after classes. I thought you forgot about me since you never dropped by anymore since we were assigned to different classes in high school. Where's everyone else?" He greeted us with his natural straight face.

"Late," Noah said. "Hey I am going to borrow your washroom, 'kays?"

As he left us, Kyungsoo watched his back intently before cocking his head at me.

"Are you guys finally together?" He asked right after Noah was out of earshot.

I frowned at his odd question. "What? Since when do you pay attention to gossip?"

"Gossip? No. I just thought... so no?"

"Of course not. He's one of my best friends."

Kyungsoo rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Ahhh. Don't say that to him though."

"Why not?"

"Trust me. No guy won't like to hear that. Four bowls then?"

Kyungsoo waved at someone behind me and I realized Yejun and Ye Jin had turned into the street.

"You two abandoned us!" Yejun's loud voice traveled easily.

As we settled ourselves into our usual corner, I turned to find Noah chatting with Kyungsoo and his father at the back of the shop. I still couldn't understand what Kyungsoo meant, but it would be weird for me to break that conversation now just to ask him to explain himself.

"What's wrong?" Ye Jin frowned at my odd expression.

"Kyungsoo said something weird," I told them.

"What's new?" Yejun joked with a smile.

"Hey Yejun," I said as a brilliant idea came to me. "You are one of my best friends."

The bright boy blinked at me in confusion. "I know?"

I continued staring at him in anticipation, waiting to see if he showed signs of unhappiness.

Yejun grew uncomfortable under my scrutiny. "Am I supposed to say… you too?"

With an approving nod, I sat back in my seat. Kyungsoo was just being his normal weird self after all, I should not dwell on what he said.

During the exchange, Ye Jin was watching us in amusement. "What are you up to again, Min Ji?"

I was about to tell her what Kyungsoo said to me when Noah returned with our food.

"And as usual, Min Ji gets the one with the extra dumplings. Even though I told Mr. Do that his dye job was covering those grey hairs brilliantly." He complained as he set our bowls down.

Letting out a triumphant cheer, I gleefully took my bowl from him. I could hear Kyungsoo's father laugh from the back of the shop and I spun around to give him a playful salute.

"Yah Min Ji, didn't you say we are best friends? Shouldn't you share?" Yejun stuck his chopsticks near my bowl like a hungry predator.

"No. Don't you dare?" I said firmly as I hit his chopsticks warningly with my own.

"Why not?" He whined as he attempted to use his puppy-like eyes on me.

"Because," I told him unsympathetically. "Noah will get jealous!"

Noah who was just about to start on his lunch, looked up from his bowl in shock. "I will?"

"Yea. You are all my best friends. I don't give any of you any special treatment."

As I glanced at the two boys who were both frozen at the table, I was taken aback at their very different reactions. Yejun was scowling at me while Noah was slowly letting out a smile. But it was a strange smile, one that did not quite reach the eyes. Perhaps he realized it too, for he avoided my gaze to return to his lunch.

"Liar." He simply commented, for he knew I was still looking at him, as Yejun nodded furiously beside him.

"You let Bonggu pinch food from you all the time." Yejun pointed out. "And he didn't even have to ask."

It was only when Yejun raised his eyebrows with a bold look, as if daring me to refute, did I realized how right he was. I could never finish my food, and I would offer to the rest only after I was stuffed. But Bonggu would eat off my plate naturally, even when I was nowhere near done. For he was a growing boy with a large appetite, and his share was never quite enough to appease him.

Perhaps it had started out with me offering him, till he got used to taking. Or perhaps he knew I had never rejected his requests, so he stopped asking. Or perhaps, Bonggu had long assumed it was right to take things from me without permission.

Honestly, it wouldn't be the first time Bonggu took something from me without consent.

I didn't quite catch what Ye Jin was saying next, for all I could hear was the deafening thumping of my own heart.

Sometimes you think you know everything.

And sometimes, you are wrong.

Chapter 19

Maybe my friends were right, that I wasn't the brightest among us. Because somehow I felt that I was missing out on something. Something big. Something that everyone seemed to know but me.

At times like this, I would speak to Yejun. But he had been strangely elusive recently, I needed another when Ye Jin brought up that the two of us needed some girl's time together, I took up the offer quickly. The thing was, I did not have the habit of turning to Ye Jin. She made me uncomfortable, for I always felt that she was judging me. And I did not like it. Yet something was bugging me, and I could not figure it out. Ye Jin would know. Ye Jin knew everything.

It was a warm cloudless afternoon when I ended up sitting on the spectators' bench beside the school track with her, as she waited for her training to begin.

"I have no idea why you liked running," I told her as the unforgiving sun shone down on both of us, and Ye Jin gave me a small smile in return.

"How do you explain things you like? It just happened." She said softly.

"Guess you are right."

"Hey Min Ji." Ye Jin looked me in the eyes so suddenly that I widened mine in shock.

"What?" I squirmed under her stare.

"Do you like Noah?"

I raised an eyebrow at that random question. "Sure. Don't you?"

"As more than a friend." Ye Jin rolled her eyes impatiently.

The negative answer came to the tip of my tongue immediately, but I held it back. For Kyungsoo's cryptic words popped into my head. Why was everyone talking to me about Noah? Didn't anyone else understand that we were just pretending to be a couple?

At my hesitation, Ye Jin looked away and faced the track instead. Her next sentences came out so softly that I almost thought I heard her wrong.

"What if Noah likes you, Min Ji? Would you like him back?"

It doesn't work like that.

"You don't like Bonggu back." I pointed out the subject of Bonggu's affection. And he didn't like me back, I added mentally to myself.

She tilted her head slightly at me. "Are we still taking what Bonggu said to me, when he was 13, seriously? I am sure Bonggu doesn't like me anymore. You know he secretly adored his fan club."

Ye Jin was right of course. The boy complained about it, but I had caught him smiling to himself when we walked past a group of girls who broke into excitable giggles when they saw him.

"It's still amazing to me, how he simply told you," I muttered under my breath. But I supposed, Bongguwas never one to hide himself.

Ye Jin bit her lip, as she looked thoughtfully at the sky above us. "Would you, Min Ji? Would you tell Bonggu one day?"

"No."

As the words left me, I realized it was the first time I had admitted to Ye Jin that Bonggu was more than a friend to me. Even though we had known each other for so long, even though Yejun and Noah long knew about it. I had never felt comfortable admitting it to Ye Jin. I had never felt comfortable talking to her about Bonggu.

Sighing deeply, I copied her action and faced the track. "I don't think Bonggu will ever be over you. So, no. I would never tell him."

"Not because it will hurt your friendship?" Her surprised voice came from beside me. It amused me slightly, that it was not the fact that I told her that Bonggu still liked her, but that the fact that it was my reason for keeping my unrequited crush to myself, that surprised her.

"Nothing can hurt our friendship, Ye Jin."

"I guess you and Noah are more similar than I thought." Ye Jin continued carefully.

I frowned at her mention of Noah. "What do you mean?"

"You know… you both have something so blatantly staring at your faces but neither of you wants to admit it."

I stare blankly at Ye Jin's still face, still unable to read her thoughts.

"He likes you, Min Ji. He refused to admit it though. Bonggu had been bugging him about it for ages and he still doesn't see it."

Ye Jin's intelligence was at an all-time low today. "You are making things up again."

"That's what I told Bonggu at first when he told me what he thought. But I sensed it eventually too. I am just surprised that Yejun hasn't picked it up." The tall girl commented.

Exactly, Yejun was always right. We should listen to Yejun more. Also, I knew Noah like the back of my hand. There was no possible way. Right?

"Noah doesn't keep secrets from me."

Ye Jin spun around so quickly that I flinched. "Do you? Do you want him to tell you? If he does like you?"

I always thought I would answer a hearty 'yes' to that hypothetical question. How many times have I seen people confessing to Ye Jin and secretly hoped it was me? How many times do I wish that someone would notice me? Why was I hesitating to answer her?

Do I want him to tell me? I had never had anyone tell me that they liked me before. I should be pleased about it right? It would be like having a dream come true. That someone saw me. That someone appreciated me. That someone actually likes me. The plain invisible me.

What if Ye Jin was right? And Noah liked me? Why was I not jumping for joy? What was this strong growing emotion in me?

Was it fear, I realized with a jolt. Was I afraid that she may be right about Noah?

"Ye Jin," I asked the cleverer girl out loud. "Why am I not happy about this?"

Ye Jin did not answer me immediately. Instead, she watched my face carefully, as though guessing what I had just come to realize.

"Because you are a nice person, Min Ji. Because Noah is your best friend. And you know he is going to get hurt because you can't like him back."

Was she right again? Why not though? There's nothing bad about him. There's nothing wrong with him. Noah's my best friend. Why not?

The question must have appeared on my face, for Ye Jin answered it for me.

"Because he isn't Bonggu."

There were many times when I wanted to retort Ye Jin because I did not appreciate how confident she was about things, how she seemed to know everything, how she knew she knew everything. And at that moment, I could not do it. There was nothing I could say to her words. There was nothing I could deny.

Noah and Bonggu were so similar, yet so different. Naturally, that made my friendship with these two boys... different, unique, and irreplaceable. And as much as Bonggu was undeniably important to me, I would not want that to be a factor in causing hurt to my other best friend. Noahmeant a lot to me too.

"Ye Jin, I hope you are wrong about Noah liking me," I admitted to her as I diverted my eyes from her. I wanted to talk to Ye Jin because I was feeling confused, and I didn't expect to be even more so at the end of did it come to this? When did our friendship, and our life become so complicated?Looking for a distraction from my messed up thoughts, I glanced around the spectators' stand before catching sight of a familiar boy.

How long had he been behind us?

Chapter 20

I was staring into the inquisitive eyes of Do Eunho.

"Ye Jin," I whispered as the casual boy continued sitting on one of the benches near us, acting as though he didn't choose that seat on purpose."Eunhois behind us."

The tall girl didn't look surprised nor attempt to look behind her. Letting out a small sigh, she whispered, "Oh."

"What do you mean by 'Oh'?" I blurted out, though careful to make sure he could not hear us. How was she so unperturbed by the random appearance of this boy? And of all the empty benches around, why would he pick one so near us?

She shrugged and pulled her long hair up into a ponytail. "He's always around."

"Always?"

"Kind of. Do Eunhohas been… trying to talk to me."

I caught myself at the last second, to ask her why would he want to talk to her, as I realized the answer was simple. I should kicked myself for not seeing it just another boy enchanted by Ye Jin's beauty, Ye Jin's wit, and Ye Jin's just like everyone else.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Ye Jin raised an eyebrow at my tone. "And makeBonggueven more uncomfortable aboutEunhothan he already is? I am used to guys like him anyway. He doesn't bother me any more than the others, butBongguwouldn't see it like that."

She had a point. Still, I shot an annoyed glance atEunho. Ye Jin suggested we ignore him for that's what she usually did. Checking the time, she realized she should be getting ready and Ye Jin left me to head onto the track to join the rest of her teammates. I was supposed to leave, once Ye Jin went to warm up.

But I didn't.

I couldn't leave when KimJongwas still there. Why was he staying for the training? Why was he watching our Ye Jin? How long had he been noticing Ye Jin? Did he not know that he was bothering her?

Not that there was any trace of annoyance and animosity that I usually spot in the way he stared atBonggu. But I knew Ye Jin well enough to know she hated people who looked at her like that. It was clear he was intrigued by her. Everyone was. And soon, he would be another name, to the long list of people that Ye Jin had turned down. For a split second, I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Ye Jin had it very clear, that she didn't care much for these boys who chased after her, these boys who placed her on a pedestal. For a very long time, I always thought Ye Jin was annoying when she complained about her frustrations about having people say they liked her when they knew nothing about her. It occurred to me after our last conversation, that perhaps the reason Ye Jin was burdened by them all, was despite her cold exterior, she was still upset by the fact that she was rejecting someone. Someone who thought highly of her. Perhaps Ye Jin cared more than she let on.

Of course, then we haveBonggu, who Ye Jin felt zero guilt towards. For whileBonggudid put her on a pedestal, like everyone else; he was also very sharp at pointing out that Ye Jin was as human as the rest of us, with flaws and all. And Ye Jin was not one to accept weakness, especially not from herself. She was always quick to point outBonggu'sbad habits, quick to engage him in another banter, and quick to yell at him for being out of line. Sometimes I wonder if Ye Jin did not like her admirers because they thought she was perfect; sometimes I wonder if Ye Jin did not likeBonggubecause he knew she wasn't.

DidEunhoknow what he was getting himself into? He won't be able to solve the mystery ofJangYe Jin. No one could. I continued stealing glances at the boy who was fixated on Ye Jin. His face was passive as usual. But it was clear that his eyes were following Ye Jin everywhere she went. Well, everyone tends to naturally watch Ye Jin, for her movement was always graceful and beautiful. She glowed even under the sweltering sun and in her simple sports attire.

Even her teammates were watching her. A few older girls, who looked like they were in the11thgrade, were speaking to her, and Ye Jin was tensed. She wasn't a social person, but I suppose the mystery was part of her charms. Their interactions were off though, and I found myself curious about what they were talking about.

The bunch of them moved to the starting line together, even though the coach was nowhere to be seen. I concluded they were probably doing some running on their own, as part of their warm-up. As they lined up at the starting line, I began to suspect they were racing. A small group of10thand11thgraders were watching, each showing their support for the different participants. Strangely, it appeared that Ye Jin wasn't very popular in her team. The prideful Ye Jin had always put people off. Perhaps the older girls wanted to put Ye Jin in her place, after all, she's new to the team. Beside the starting line, someone waved a flag, and the five girls started sprinting forward. Despite her being the only10thgrader in the race, Ye Jin was easily leading and I cheered uncontrollably.

"Go Ye Jin! Crush everyone!"

Eunhodarted a look in my direction but I ignored him. As expected of our Ye Jin, she easily reached the finish line first, and a proud smirk slipped on her face the second her feet crossed the100-metermark.

I almost stood up and clapped but then something happened. The runner beside her didn't slow down as Ye Jin already made a move out of her lane. It all happened so fast and before I could register what happened, a couple of girls collided with each other at the end and I lost Ye Jin in the mass of bodies. There were a few screams and I stood up instantly, hopping over the wooden benches to get to the track.

"Ye Jin! Ye Jin!" I cried for her name as I pushed past the gathering crowd of her other teammates. The older girls who collided with her were being helped by their friends. The only person still on the floor, clutching her ankle with a tense expression, was Ye Jin.

Dropping to my knees, I gripped her hand anxiously. There was agony on her face, but Ye Jin was not speaking. She looked like she was clenching her teeth to stop herself from screaming.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? Is it your ankle?" I asked her and the tall girl gave me a sharp nod as she held my hand in return. Her grip was cold and sweaty.

"What the hell?" I found myself screaming at the seniors who had collided with Ye Jin. They were looking fearfully at us, yet no one making a move for the first aid box.

"It was an accident." One of them spoke. "Ye Jin, go to the nurses' office and get your ankle checked."

It was no accident; they were no amateur runners. But I was too angry to speak. Furthermore, Ye Jin's grip on me tightened. I had to get her to the nurse first.

"Can you walk?" I asked her as I gently tried to lift her.

She attempted to stand on her good leg, leaning on me as support. But I buckled slightly under her weight and Ye Jin almost slipped. It's not a short walk to the nurses' office and I wondered if I should have asked for a stretcher instead. Then again, there was no one in the track team that I trusted. What if they dropped her?

A dark shadow came from behind me, soundlessly lifting Ye Jin's arm off my shoulder. The both of us looked up and we realized thatEunhohad taken it and placed it on his shoulder instead. As I blinked confusingly at him, he bent his knees slightly before scooping Ye Jin up in his arms.

"Yah!" Ye Jin let out asEunholifted her off the ground, and she threw her other arm around his neck in panic. "What are you doing? Let me down!"

"Oh, now you can speak? I thought you lost your voice back there when you were pretending it didn't hurt." He spoke in a low tone that only Ye Jin and I could hear, as he walked away from everyone, with her in his arms.

As he made his way toward the nurses' office, I marched wordlessly beside him. Ye Jin did not stop protesting, but I said nothing. She might not need his help, but I did. For once, I was thankful for KimJong-un'spresence.

Take a left at the broken tree

Chapter 21

By the time Noah got my message and grabbed Yejun to find us at the nurses' office, Ye Jin and I had long given up asking Eunho to leave. The silver lining was, that Ye Jin's mortification of being carried like a baby across campus, was more than enough distraction from the pain in her ankle.

Eunho didn't leave us, even though Ye Jin was in the good hands of the school nurse, and I told him that our friends would be coming by to help. He simply shrugged and continued watching the nurse bandaging Ye Jin's ankle. She had been unbelievably strong about it, for the nurse said it was a very bad sprain and it ought to be hurting a lot. Not once did Ye Jin complain about it, nor did she let out any cries of agony. Yet it was obvious that she was drenched in cold sweat and all I could do was sit with her and hold her hand.

The two boys rushed in with identical worried expressions as the nurse finished attending to Ye Jin. At the sight of Noah, I recalled the last conversation with Ye Jin. There was an odd feeling in my chest now that the boy had appeared in front of me, but I decided not to dwell on it. This was not the time.

"We got here as fast as we could!" Noah announced loudly to the room before the nurse glared at him. She moved to the backroom, having just finished setting a cast on Ye Jin.

"What happened?" Yejun rushed to the other side of Ye Jin and immediately put a comforting arm on her.

As the pale girl shook her head lightly, Noah looked around the room for answers. It was only then he caught sight of Eunho, who had made himself comfortable on an empty bed in the infirmary.

"What is he doing here?" His eyebrows shot up instantly.

Yejun glanced at the boy that caught Noah's attention in equal surprise. He frowned as he stepped away from Ye Jin and made a move towards Eunho.

"Was it you then? You did this to our Ye Jin?" An unusually livid Yejun grabbed Eunho's collar.

"Yejun! Let him go! He helped me get Ye Jin here!" I stood up promptly and grabbed him.

"Yejun." A soft warning tone out of Ye Jin's white lips.

At our words, Yejun let go of Eunho, but he was still glaring furiously at Eunho. He was not being himself, as I felt his whole body shaking with anger. Since when did Yejun have a temper? I cast a frantic look at Noah, but he shook his head at me.

Later, he mouthed.

"Where's Bonggu?" I asked the two boys.

"I dropped him a text. But I don't think he's coming. Don't think his coach would let him off training." Noah explained, turning his attention to Ye Jin.

She wasn't listening, for the nurse had returned. The nurse cast a warning glance at the bunch of us standing around before going back to her patient. She launched into a long list of dos and don'ts, regarding Ye Jin's bandaged ankle as the rest of us listened in silence with her.

"What about running? When can I run again?" The painkillers had kicked in, and Ye Jin's voice sounded stronger than before.

"Don't be silly, girl. Don't even think about running for at least a month. Do you want a full recovery a not!" The nurse chided Ye Jin in a motherly fashion.

Those words, however, seemed to have crushed Ye Jin's spirit, for she dropped whatever restraints she was holding on. Never had I seen the confident girl so obviously deflated. It was not a look I was used to seeing on Jang Ye Jin.

It was the look that greeted Bonggu when the tall giant came crashing into the crowded office, with clumsy footsteps.

"Ye Jin." Her raw expression had caught him off, and strangely, the obvious pain in his tone had unintentionally made her jolt back to her normal self.

"I am okay." She gave the worried boy a light smile. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Yejun frown at Ye Jin, her acting was not fooling him either. Noah however, interrupted the moment, before Yejun exposed her.

"Don't you have training now? Your coach let you go?" He asked Bonggu curiously.

"I walked out. Ye Jin's more- what is he doing here?" The sixth person in the room finally caught Bonggu's attention when he looked away from Ye Jin to answer Noah.

It was honestly amazing that Do Eunho was still around when everyone in this room did not welcome him. Eunho was undeterred by it all, as he stuck his head over Yejun's shoulder to catch Ye Jin's attention.

"You are pretending again." He said pointedly, earning a less-than-pleasedlook from the injured girl.

"Hey! I am serious, why are you here? Leave Ye Jin alone, she needs to rest." Bonggu strode over to join Yejun and me, standing between Eunho and Ye Jin.

The tanned boy blinked calmly in the face of a livid Bonggu. "I am here because I am worried about her. This has nothing to do with you."

That was not the right thing to say and it made Bonggu even more furious. "You... of course this has to do with me! Ye Jin's business is my business! She doesn't need you to worry about her! Now leave!"

Eunho was getting annoyed. "Not everything is about you, Chae Bonggu. Get that into your big head."

"Get out." A cold unimpressed voice came from across the room. I spun around, expecting to see the nurse finally losing it, but it was Ye Jin who had spoken.

"OUT! Everyone!" She raised her voice angrily.

It was the tone that we knew to take seriously and Noah was the first to slide out of the room. I cast a warning look at Bonggu and pushed him lightly toward the door, but he wouldn't budge.

"I will call Hamin's dad to see if he could pick you up," Yejun told Ye Jin.

The girl shot a threatening glare at Yejun but he remained firm. "You are not taking the bus with crutches."

Yejun took Bonggu by the arm and forcefully dragged him out. It was the three of us again. I stared stubbornly at Eunho, making it clear that I was refusing to give him a moment alone with Ye Jin.

Regardless he treated me like I was invisible, and spoke to Ye Jin through me.

"You should tell them. Just because you are good at pretending that you aren't in pain, doesn't make it go away. Jang Ye Jin, there's nothing wrong with admitting that it hurts."

My mouth gaped open at his closing words as Eunho finally left. I stole one last look at Ye Jin before I followed him. The girl was quiet, as she stared at her cast. There was something off about the way Ye Jin looked. Uncertain about what to say to her, I left her alone. I was worried too, but she did ask for privacy.

More importantly, I wasn't stupid enough to not predict that the boys would be waiting outside the corridor for Eunho.

I wasn't looking forward to burying any dead bodies.

Chapter 22

Was I the only one that got that very strong intuition? Knowing deep in my heart that things were not going right, or feeling that something was about to go very wrong? It was the same when Ye Jin moved into our street. It was the feeling as when we met Do Eunho, that something was going to change.

After I left the nurse's office, the three boys were expectantly in the corridor with an unsurprisedEunho. Once Yejun saw me, he motioned for me to keep an eye on Bonggu before proceeding to make the phone call to Mr Yu. Or maybe it was to Hamin, for I have no idea if Yejun had Mr Yu's mobile number.

Eunho stood there silently, assessing the situation as Bonggu blocked his way to leave. It was only when Eunho made an impatient sound with his throat, did Bonggu tensed up determinedly.

"Thank you." The tall boy said to my surprise. "For Ye Jin."

Eunho was trying very hard not to scoff. "It's not about you."

At Eunho's terse response, Bonggu attempted to wipe the residual anger from his expression. "Didn't matter. You helped Ye Jin. So I have to thank you. Maybe we have a misunderstanding, but let's start over. We can be friends."

Casting a slow deliberate look at all of us, Eunho raised an eyebrow. "You won't want to be friends with me. If you haven't already guessed it, I am interested in Jang Ye Jin. Unless that's precisely the reason why you want to be friends with me?"

If Bonggu was unnerved by Eunho's bold admission, he didn't allow himself to show it. I, on the other hand, let a tiny gasp escape my lips. At least it was not a groan.

"Do you not like me because you are interested in Ye Jin? Or are you interested in Ye Jin because you don't like me?" Bonggu voiced his thoughts to Eunho.

A smirk crept slowly onto Eunho's face. He shook his head slightly at Bonggu before wordlessly walking away from us. Neither of us attempted to hold him back, for none of us understood that slight shake of his head. Was that an answer to Bonggu's question? What exactly was Do Eunho thinking about?

Only when Eunho was out of sight, did Bonggu let out a long sigh. As usual, he did not like hearing about the competition he had for Ye Jin's attention. We eventually convinced Bonggu to return to his training. The boy was in a bad mood, perhaps being back on the field would be good for him. There was nothing he could do now for Ye Jin anyway.

Sitting on the stairs of the school's entrance, Noah, Yejun and I waited in silence for Mr Yu to arrive to pick Ye Jin up.

Wait… why were we in silence?

Yejun was distracted, and Noah too, seemed to be lost in thoughts. Frowning at the two boys beside me, I asked, "What's wrong with the both of you? You looked as miserable as Bonggu was."

I recalled Yejun's sudden temper back in the nurse's office. Why was he so edgy about it? Was it because it was Ye Jin?

I don't care if Ye Jin had a broken leg or two, I would scream if Yejun had a sudden revelation that he liked Ye Jin too.

Yejun placed his face into his hands and let out a muffled scream, causing me to jump closer to Noah.

"I told her," Yejun muttered behind his hands.

"Her?"

"Areum," Noah whispered helpfully. "He told her. Well, it was more of a babble."

I clasped my own hands to my lips. "Wait what? When did this happen?"

A loud and drawn groan came out from behind Yejun as he finally lifted his face. "Just now. I happened to catch her alone. And I have no idea what came over me and it just came out of my stupid mouth. I never planned to tell her! It was bad. I was rambling nonsense to her. It was like verbal diarrhea. I was worse than Bonggu. ARGH why did I do that? I blame you Han Noah!"

"Hey!" Noah said defensively. "What did I do?"

"You… you should not have let me know that I like her! You should not have left me alone with her when we ran into her! You should have dragged me off and stopped me from speaking! You should know better!"

Noah threw up his hands. "How would I know you would have a brain fart?"

As I pat Yejun pitifully on his head, I shot Noah an angry look. The boy pouted unhappily and said, "Fine. I will let you have this one."

"She's not… interested. I don't know, maybe she already liked someone. Or maybe I frightened her off. It just came out! I think I was too anxious. Or maybe I was too confident. I thought she might like me. Now I ruined everything. I don't know how to deal with girls! Girls are crazy! And I am rambling again! Min Ji-ah…" He whined continuously.

Throwing my arms around him, I tried encouraging the upset boy. "It will be okay! You might still have a shot. She might forget about this... next year?"

The dejected boy threw a desperate look at the both of us. "No. Never. I am never speaking to her again. It's too embarrassing."

"Really?" Noah asked in surprise. "But you guys were pretty close!"

Yejun shook his head violently. "You didn't see the look in her eyes. Even if she would pardon my pathetic self, how am I going to face her again? She made it clear anyway. Not interested!"

Noah was oddly worried. "That's it? You are no longer friends because she rejected you?"

He received a firm nod in response. At the affirmation, Noah looked down at his shoes and started ruffling the back of his head bitterly. I have no idea why he was so shocked, after all, Yejun never hadBonggu's confidence.

Yejun paid him no attention, instead, he lowered his shoulder in a slump, looking smaller than ever.

Holding the dejected boy tighter, I rested my head on his shoulder. He's the smartest person I knew. Did Yejun guess? Did he ever guess that he would be so helpless in front of a girl he liked? Did he ever see that it coming? Did he have a feeling that it would go so wrong?

Did he know, that at this point of our four closely knitted lives, all four of us were perhaps, pinning after someone that we couldn't have?

Chapter 23

Ye Jin's injury wasn't too serious, even though it did mean that she had to miss track training for a while. But the incident seemed to have triggered something in all of us. It was like the full moon was out, and all of us were acting strangely.

Even though at this point we have been friends for years, we didn't have the habit of spending time over at Ye Jin's place. The atmosphere in her family was simply too awkward, even for the energetic boys. Mr Yu would always be trying to get close to Ye Jin, Ye Jin's mum would be mad at Ye Jin for being rude, and Haminwould always be in his room, with loud music blasting, probably to drown out Ye Jin's yelling. And now with her sprained ankle, we were spending more time with her at her place, despite her insistence that there was no need to.

Her mother was understandably worried about her daughter's condition, but so was Hamin'sdad. He was trying to find a way to reach out to his stepdaughter, who was not any keener for his attention than she normally had to endure. When he had volunteered to send her to and from school every day, she shot him down pretty bluntly. Even someone like me could see how his face fell when Ye Jin flat-out rejected him. Maybe it wasn't so much for the fact that she didn't like her stepfather but more because Ye Jin didn't want to be seen as being chauffeured around like a child. It was embarrassing for her and Ye Jin made it clear to everyone to not make a big deal of her injury. And somehowHamin knew her better than we thought, for he never hovered around her like the adults did. Yejun felt that Hamin was most likely the one to finally convince his father to leave Ye Jin alone.

Yejun was very harsh on her after witnessing the whole incident, which was totally unlike him. He gave her quite an earful regarding her lack of consideration of Mr Yu's feelings. The straightforwardness of his words was not unusual, but his harsh tone took all of us aback. The rejection from Areum had affected him way more than he let showed, and that was probably the only reason, Ye Jin did not put up a fight when he reprimanded her.

He was not the only one, acting out of character. Noah was a lot more withdrawn these past few days. I thought he may been have feeling guilty for egging on Yejun regarding Areum, even though it was not his fault. When I asked him about it, he merely shrugged and told me he was just tired from all the arguments around us. And I probed no further, for it was a valid reason. It was getting on my nerves too.

It was Bonggu's over-protectiveness that was the last straw for Ye Jin. While Ye Jin was visibly uncomfortable about his overwhelming concern for her, she said nothing much of the situation. It was expected, after all, that he would go out of the way to carry her books, buy her lunch, making sure she was feeling fine. It all exploded when Bonggu saw Eunho's signature on Ye Jin's cast, and he lost it and interrogated her endlessly regarding her relationship with Eunho. It was easily one of the worst arguments that they had. He was mad that he never knew she was spending time together with Eunho, and she was equally mad at him for interfering with her life.

This was why I decided, that it would be best for me to take care of Ye Jin instead. Not that she ever asked for help, but I was sensitive enough to Ye Jin's needs. It was easy to find excuses, for I had no after-school activities to attend, so it would make sense that I was the one to accompany Ye Jin home or to run errands for her. Meanwhile, I convinced Bonggu and Noah to spend more time with Yejun. The boys had their quirky own ways to cheer each other up. And Yejun needs them now.

Sometimes when it was just Ye Jin and I in school, Eunho would join us, even if it was only for small talk. He never bothered her with any questions regarding how she felt. Nor did he ever stay long to make us feel uncomfortable. Somehow he knew exactly how to avoid Ye Jin's temper, forEunhowas getting good at engaging Ye Jin in conversations. Yet it was the way that Ye Jin replied to him that intrigued me. For there was a significant drop in annoyance in her tone when interacting with the boy that she had not long yelled at, to let her go. Something strange was going on.

At my constant probing, Ye Jin finally told me the truth regarding her newfound friendship with Eunho. Before her injury, the coach was planning to send her to an inter-school competition. Even though it was a friendly match, it would be the first time that Ye Jin would represent our high school and the rival school was known to be a challenge. And a challenge was exactly what had excited the girl. She had put in a lot of effort, and her excellence in the sport despite being new to the team, had made her some enemies in the squad. After all, she was the only 10thgrader selected, and some 11thgraders were not too happy about the missed opportunity.

Do Eunho had watched her enough times during her track practice to have overheard. And Do Eunho had had a good gauge of Ye Jin's personality to know that, it was not her physical injury, or her ostracizing from her team that hurt her the most. But rather, the fact that she had lost a precious opportunity that she so clearly wanted.

Of course, Ye Jin had told the boy he was being overconfident in calling her out. Still, he had managed to make some sort of impression on the girl. I didn't tell Ye Jin, but the truth was, the way Eunho was so sure of himself, had reminded me a lot of her. I had asked the girl if she was truly disappointed at not being able to run for a while, and she brushed it off and said she would be back on the tracks soon. Her confident words, could not make me forget her raw emotions the moment she knew she could not compete. Ye Jin was not as strong as she wanted us to believe.

Hamin saw me, leaving Ye Jin in her room after that very conversation. He stared motionlessly at me as I gave him a light wave in acknowledgment. His hesitation, made me wonder for instance, if he had heard Ye Jin about the competition. Instead, he merely commented softly, that I was always around recently.

"Of course," I told him with a smile. "Ye Jin might not like it, doesn't mean she didn't need help. You wouldn't believe it either, but her normal grace completely vanished when you handed her a pair of crutches. She is surprisingly clumsy with it."

Hamin did not laugh at my joke. He looked thoughtful for a while before he responded. "Oh. It's just that I always thought you weren't very fond of Ye Jin. I am just a little surprised, seeing you running around and taking care of her."

"Huh?" I wasn't clear on what he meant by that. "Was I not supposed to?"

He considered what I said, and the sides of his lips lifted. "I guessed not. That's how you always treat the people you care about after all."

I could never understand anyone in this household. Was Hamin implying… that I was close to Ye Jin?

The girl that had given me nightmares since she moved here, by being prettier than me, smarter than me, more popular than me?

The girl that caught the eye of the boy that I had a crush on my whole life?

Do I care about this girl?

Chapter 24

I have decided that for my sanity, it was better to refrain from being bothered by the fact that Ye Jin received so much more attention than me. For almost the entire extent of our friendship, I had always wondered what was it like being Ye Jin. You see, I had never had parents fighting for my attention; I was the middle child, and it was me who was demanding more love from them. Not that they neglected me, but there were times I did honestly wish that I was the only child, and there were days I didn't want to share.

As a kid, I was even envious of Noah and Yejun, they received ample attention from their family. We all agreed that Noah's parents were completely spoiling him and that he had the most comfortable childhood out of us. Yejun was different of course, he was easily contented, which made him essentially the one with the closest relationship with his mother.

Perhaps that's why Bonggu and I knew each other so well. We were the babies of the family, living in the shadows of our overachieving older siblings. Perhaps that's why Bonggu always looked out for me the most. Till Ye Jin's appearance of course.

Still with recent events, I was trying to be a better friend to Ye Jin. Yes, I was finally accepting that Ye Jin was a huge part of my life. Perhaps it was the fact that she trusted me enough to lean on me, I think I was starting to see how much I was a part of her life too. Somehow, despite our glaringly different personalities, we had become friends. And the friendship wouldn't work if I was constantly envious of her. Honestly though, looking at how Ye Jin was distant with almost everyone, from her family to her team, I was quite sure I didn't want to be in her shoes, or rather, shoe, since you know, the other leg was in a cast.

Okay sorry, that was mean.

"There you go."

Bonggu dropped a familiar bag from a street snack stall on my table. I looked up from the bed that I was resting in, to find my friend in the doorway of my room. The boy had let himself in as usual.

Sniffing the aroma coming from the bag, I didn't move from my bed. I knew that smell of red beans anywhere. Boonguhppang was Ye Jin's favorite snack, and I wasn't even going to be surprised that the boy had gone to the stall five streets away, rather than the one nearest to us. Ye Jin preferred theirs, and he would do anything for her.

"Aren't you guys speaking already?" I pointed out. That's the way Bonggu and Ye Jin were, quick to bicker, fast to forget. Also, Ye Jin was recovering well, her mood had been a lot better.

Bonggu nodded as he sat on my bed, completely ignoring my personal space. I tucked my legs in to make space for him. It was clear why he had come looking for me. He wanted me to make a trip to Ye Jin's.

I raised an eyebrow and continued. "Give it to her yourself."

"Do me a favor?" He flashed his teeth a rich grin.

"I'm tired! Don't make me walk!"

"C'mon Min Ji. Please. You are the prettiest, nicest, sweetest, kindest, awesomest -"

"Aishhh" I threw my pillow at him as he came way too close to my face in an attempt to persuade me with his puppy eyes. Holding my warming cheeks, I grumbled as I sat up. "There's no such word."

"And you are smart too!" He enveloped me in a side hug. "Thank you!"

"She's not going to get mad at you for buying her food you know?" I said after I finally climbed out of his crushing arms.

"I know that." Bonggu rolled his eyes. "But I don't want to make her feel bad. We made a deal where I won't fuss over her anymore."

That was news to me, I thought as I peered into the bag on my desk. Indeed, he had only gotten one. He did go out of his way to make Ye Jin feel better. Turning around to find Bonggu still on my bed, I responded. "She was upset because of the competition. I think the fussing just constantly reminds her of her injury."

He shrugged. I had clued the boys in on what happened. "Ye Jin's always like this. She hates appearing weak. I would be more concerned that someone on my team was trying to kill me."

"She doesn't like people. Every 10thgrader was trying to get to know their seniors. Ye Jin doesn't talk or hang out with them outside practice. Of course, they don't like her."

Bonggu pondered upon my words. "We should buy her a book for her 16th birthday. How to talk to strangers."

"How to make friends," I suggested.

"How to smile more."

"How to look less scary."

"How to be likable."

Giggling to ourselves, we closed our mouths with our palms in synchrony and exchanged a look. There was a silent agreement that Ye Jin would never hear about this conversation. We would have our heads.

"Ye Jin has enough admirers I think," I said after we finally stopped laughing. "She doesn't need lessons on how to be likable."

Bonggu pouted slightly. "Please. Those boys only like Ye Jin for her looks. How many of them knew her? Why do you think they are so easy to be scared away?"

"Oh that's what you were doing, weren't you? Ever the noble knight, Chae Bonggu." I raised my eyebrow at his remarks. He was unperturbed.

"You know it's true."

"What about Do Eunho?" I challenged him.

"What about him?"

"Why do you think he likes Ye Jin?" I cast him a pointed look.

Something in his eyes dimmed. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just… I kind of think he gets her. And I wasn't expecting that."

Bonggu hesitated. "Ye Jin… isn't that difficult to read. She's a cold girl with a warm heart. I guess Eunho figured that out too."

I found myself frowning at the tall boy. "You are okay about this?"

"Well… Ye Jin's right. I don't have a say in this. I just… I just don't want to see her with someone who couldn't appreciate her that's all. Enough about this, it's not like Ye Jin likes him anyway."

"I guess…" Still, I had an uneasy feeling in my chest. Even though Bonggu was determined not to be bothered by Eunho any longer, I wouldn't be his best friend if I didn't know how worried he was about this. He was simply pretending to be nonchalant for he did not want to upset her.

"Hey, so you will drop this off at Ye Jin's for me?" He pointed to the bag. "Just tell her I was in the area and I got some for everyone or something."

I sighed heavily and nodded. "You know you really could have gotten some for EVERYONE?"

Bonggu threw his head back and laughed at my gloomy expression "Don't give me that look. I am not that mean to you. I went to the Chinese stall beside and got your favorite baozi."

My eyes widened in surprise. "You bought me baozi? Where are they?"

"Well, Minseok saw me carrying them in and he took the bag off my hands. Good luck." Bonggu winked mischievously.

I ran frantically to the living room where the baozi stealer was. He turned to me with his usual innocent eyes and a half-eaten baozi dangling off the edge of his mouth.

"KIM MINSEOK! SPIT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!"

Chapter 25

Despite everything that Bonggu said, I didn't believe him. He cared too much about Ye Jin to not be bothered by her budding friendship with Eunho. He didn't dare do anything about it for he had just made things up with Ye Jin. But it was different for me. At this point, I didn't care if Ye Jin got angry at me. I didn't like that this boy was just appearing out of nowhere and sticking himself into the lives of my friends I had to find out what kind of person Eunho was, and I had to do this not just for me, but for Bonggu as well.

For you see, Eunho was getting bolder by the day. He was constantly seeking Ye Jin out, even with the rest of us around her. Perhaps he had realized, it would only be beneficial to be nicer to Ye Jin's friends, Eunho was starting to be polite, to most of us. It was still awkward between him and Bonggu, but he was somewhat getting along with Noah and Yejun. The two boys didn't have many issues with Eunho after all, now that he was no longer bothered with declaring war on Bonggu.

It was annoying to me how easily all of them were accepting him. I wasn't convinced at all. What if Eunho knew Bonggu like Ye Jin? What if all along Eunho was trying to spite Bonggu? What if Ye Jin got caught up in the crossfire? What if Bonggu was wrong, and Ye Jin falls for Eunho?

No, it was up to me to find out the truth about this boy.

And the most obvious method was to stalk Do Eunho.

Eunho would reach the classroom right before the bell rang every day. He was never late, but never early. He did not have close friends in our class and would keep to himself most of the time. When someone did try to engage him in a conversation, he would give curt and simple answers. He would never elaborate, nor attempt to hide the fact that he would rather you leave him alone. The only time I did see him eager to talk, was when he was with Ye Jin. Even though he was a loner, no one dared to make fun of him and were instead wary of him. He was not one to be bullied easily. According to the people from his middle school, he was suspended before, possibly for assault. This was no simple boy.

When I was speaking to a few students that were from his old school, it was clear that he was as much of a loner then, as he was now. No one knew him in person, but everyone had heard of him. There were many rumors about this mysterious boy. Some say he was the son of a gang leader, some say he was the gang leader. The consensus was, to never cross Do Eunho. There was a very good chance, that he could kill you.

"HE'S SIXTEEN!" Noah threw his hands up after I reported to him my findings on our bus ride home.

I shook my head at his naïve-ness. "Sixteen-year-olds can be gang leaders."

"Do you even hear yourself, Min Ji?" He rubbed his temples furiously.

I ignored his annoyance and continued seriously. "I think we should stay away from him. I don't think he's good for Ye Jin. And Bonggu will be a goner if they ever got into a fight over her."

"I am not meddling, Min Ji. Look at what happened with Yejun. No, I am staying out of this! Bonggu said he was okay with Eunho being around. And Ye Jin's not stupid either."

"You didn't see them, Noah! Ye Jin was laughing with him yesterday! Ye Jin was laughing! This is terrible. Who knows what Eunho has up his sleeve?" I grabbed Noah's arm anxiously.

"They get along! Eunho and Ye Jin are quite alike, in some ways."

"Exactly! We need to do something. We can't just let them continue getting close to each other. Ye Jin doesn't need a guy like that in her life." I fumed angrily.

The bus had just pulled to our stop and we both hopped down and started walking towards our homes. I walked in silence, still mad at Noah's lack of understanding. He must have caught on, for he peered at me cautiously before commenting. "As much as I think it's sweet that you care so much about Ye Jin, I think you are being a bit biased against Eunho. He doesn't seem like the type to be fake. So yeah, I am pretty sure Ye Jin can judge for herself."

Scowling at his words, I raised a finger in his face. "One, why is everyone so surprised that I care about Ye Jin? Two, this is not always about her!"

Noah stopped in his tracks so suddenly that I was completely caught off guard. The broken tree stood right in front of us. I frowned at him as he turned around to face me with the strangest of expressions.

"Then what is it about, Min Ji? Why are you so obsessed with Eunho?"

His intense stare made me hesitate. Instead, I walked nearer to the tree. There was a faint engraving etched permanently on one side of the tree trunk. I knew it was there, even years later, for I could never fail to spot it every time I happened to glance in that direction. I remember its location well, probably even more than the person responsible for it.

"Look." I pointed it out to Noah who had joined me. "PCY heart JYJ. This is how it's supposed to be, Baek."

Noah stared at the initials of our two friends. He must have remembered it now. The day that Bonggu told Ye Jin that he liked her. How she had told him never to say those words to her again. How he decided that even though he could not express his infatuation through words, doesn't mean he could not show his feelings through other means. The boy led us to the tree, and we all laughed at his unoriginality as he carved those letters and a badly shaped heart. He had simply shrugged and beamed proudly at his handiwork. It didn't matter to him if Ye Jin had ever seen this public declaration. It hadn't bugged me much then, for I knew that Ye Jin had turned him down. But just like how the engraving stayed visible through the years, Bonggu's heart had never wavered. Even though Ye Jin attempted to keep a certain distance between them, even though they got into plenty of arguments, even though there were other girls for vying his attention. To Bonggu, Ye Jin was always his ideal type, his dream girl, his beautiful princess.

Doesn't the prince always end up with the princess?

"Is this…" Noah asked softly. "Is this how much you like Bonggu?"

I jerked my head towards him at the conclusion that he had drawn. His question rang loudly in my head. When was this about me?

"You are planning to help Bonggu get together with Ye Jin, aren't you?" His eyebrows furrowed.

I flinched at the harshness of his accusation. There was no way I could keep secrets from Noah, so I nodded in response. Noah rubbed the back of his head furiously and stomped away from me.

"No, I can't be part of this anymore. You are on your own."

I felt my heart dropped at his anger. How could he not understand? Did he not care about his friends at all? Before he could walk away from me, I pulled tightly onto his backpack to hold him back.

"What are you talking about? Noah!"

He jerked, trying to get me to let go but I was persistent. He must have been truly irritated for he simply pulled himself out of his backpack to get away from my hold. To my surprise, I dropped his bag onto the roadside, accidentally spilling its contents. Books and papers of this unorganized boy came flying out and I dropped to my knees immediately to pick them up.

Noah sighed and joined me on the ground.

"Leave it, Min Ji." His tone had softened as he started picking his things too.

Ignoring his request, I piled his books onto my lap neatly. Something jutting out from one of his books caught my attention. It was a photograph that he was using as a bookmark. Unable to hold myself back, I pulled it out and stared at the memory that he had kept.

It was from the night of the dance and Noah was giving me a back hug as I grinned stupidly into the camera. It was that moment when we finished our dance together and were teasing each other about our awful sense of rhythm when Yejun screamed for us to pose. I had forgotten about this one, for we had taken so many pictures that night. I had forgotten about asking them about it.

This was… the missing photograph that I had never seen. He had kept it. He had kept the photo that captured him not looking at the camera. Instead, his eyes were on me, his contented smile… was for me.

"Do you understand now?"

Chapter 26

Some days, I am extremely grateful for the people in my life. I admire Yejun for his wit in times when we were all stumped; I admire Noah for his infectious cheerfulness that he so selflessly provides; I admire Bonggu for being reliable and secure even when you don't ask for him to be; and I even admire Ye Jin for her unparalleled boldness to be herself. But because of who they are, but because of how much they shine, my whole life I was led to believe that I was invisible. That I was doomed to stay in the shadows of my brilliant siblings and friends. That I was unseen.

How do I even describe that feeling, that feeling that just bursts out uncontrollably from within you, when you are holding on to indefinite proof that you were wrong about something you believed your entire life? That you had been wrong about your lack of importance in the lives of the people closest to you? That you are not invisible? That you were, perhaps, good enough?

I had no words and I could barely hold it together.

There was a soft sigh and I felt the photograph being tucked out of my hands. I looked up at Noah who had sat down on the floor, and started chucking his belongings back in his bag. I handed over his pile of books before I sat down beside the tree as well. He was waiting for me to say something, but I had no idea what to say. Or rather, I had no idea what was the right thing to say.

This was my best friend. The one that I could always rely on when I needed a laugh. The one that always lives life with a wide smile as if there's nothing in his world worth worrying about. The one that could share his most humiliating and embarrassing moments with a silly grin. This was my best friend, sitting beside me, without a smile.

"You have been keeping secrets from me." I finally commented, with a light jab on his arms.

"I wasn't going to tell you." He lowered his eyes to the floor. "I like you, Min Ji. In a more than a friend kind of way."

Seeing his discomfort was a strange experience. He was terrified that his secret was spilled and I did not like to see him like this. Nothing ever fazed Noah. Nothing ever made Noah lost for words. Nothing ever made Noah lose his smile.

"You should have said something. I mean, here I was thinking what did I do to be this naturally unlikable my whole life." I joked light heartedly, in an attempt to let him know, it was alright.

He looked up at my tone and returned me a sad smile. "How do I even tell you when I can barely understand what I am feeling? I kind of knew for some time now, you meant more to me than just a friend that I grew up with. I know I like to make you laugh. I know I get really happy when you are with me, and I have this annoying feeling in my chest when you are with someone else. It did occur to me that that's not normal, but I didn't dare to dwell on it. I didn't want anything to change between us."

"Nothing will ever change between us," I told him firmly.

Noah gave a dry laugh. "And that's actually kind of sad. Because even after what I just told you, you are still not going to move on from Bonggu, are you?"

Was he right? The smile slipped off my face as I struggled to find my voice. I wanted so badly, so badly to tell Noah he was wrong. I wanted so badly to make Noah happy. But I couldn't, I couldn't lie to my best friend. I couldn't lie to myself.

Staring at me with an eerily calm face, Noah spoke loudly. "Kim Min Ji. I am breaking up with you."

That statement caught me off as I widened my eyes at him. "Eh?"

"Don't give me that look. Liking you… is not fun for either you or me. I think I will be happier this way. Not expecting anything from you, not feeling angry at... I think we will be better this way! I think we will be better as friends. So I won't be burdensome, Min Ji! I am sure my new single status will make many girls happy!" A large grin that didn't quite reach the eyes, stretched across his handsome face. He said the words he knew I wanted to hear, to make me feel better. He held back the other words to not make me feel worse, that Han Noah, was planning to move on.

I heard it anyway.

"Thank you, Baek," I said softly to the brightest boy I knew.

"I know you best after all." He brushed it off with quiet understanding.

I shook my head. "It's not that. You do know me so well. I know that's why you want to keep this secret, and now for saying these words, all to not trouble me, to protect me. But Noah, I want to thank you, for liking me. Thank you for being the first to notice me. Thank you for making me feel, for the first time in my life, visible."

How do I even repay you for that? I scanned his face as he registered what I just said. An odd look flickered across his face, almost like he was regretful of something. We held each other's eyes for a moment before he placed the photograph he was holding onto, into my palms. I understood, and I held onto it.

"You know," He recalled slowly. "I have been thinking, about your 8th birthday. Do you remember how you locked yourself in your bedroom because you got a terrible haircut right before your birthday party? Yejun and I thought it was hilarious when we heard that's the reason you wouldn't come out. Your mum wanted us to coax you out but we were so busy laughing at you through the door. We never thought you would be so conscious of your look. The Min Ji that we played with in dirt and mud! It was such a girl thing, and we thought that's so unlike you.

Do you remember what Bonggu did? Bonggu didn't laugh, instead, he climbed through your window into the room. Next thing we know, the two of you exited the room hand in hand, both with bandanas around your head. He told everyone excitedly that we were going to have a pirate theme party.

That's how Bonggu always is, isn't it? On one hand, he teased you endlessly, on the other, he always took extra care of you. I think he realized you were a girl, way before Yejun and I did. And even when we did, we didn't think to treat you any differently. From the start, he was always protective of used to warn me about making you cry you know?"

Noah smiled lightly at me, as memories of that day flooded back to me. Memories of my best friends sitting around me in the living room. Bonggu was cutting cardboard swords that I drew, Yejun was copying everyone's words like a parrot would and Noah was tattooing himself with a marker. I even remembered Min Seok and Kira dressing up our house with small flags while Min Ah was helping to decorate my cake. How do I forget, these rare moments when I was the center of everyone's attention? Why though, would Noah remember?

"I was thinking, Min Ji... what if I had been the one to climb through that window that day? What if I had noticed earlier?" He looked me wishfully in the eyes. "The person you like now... would it be me?"

Chapter 27

My four friends could be very different from each other. Ye Jin either didn't share anything, or she would be very blunt. Yejun was a lot more sensitive with his choice of words although there were times when I couldn't fully understand his intentions. Bonggu could be hard to take seriously and sometimes I couldn't get the response I needed. Noah was always the easiest to speak with, he listened well and he spoke his mind freely. I could always rely on him for his honest opinions and positivity when I faced troubles. But how could I turn to him now?

It was not like things were now awkward between us, because it wasn't. We wouldn't do that to each other. We had a very long talk that afternoon. Mostly about the past. Mostly about what if things had been different. Of course, we both understood, that there was no point in thinking about what already happened. Still, it was an interesting thought.

Would the past me fall for the current him?

I felt like just adding 'Love' to the long list of things that I would never understand. I hated myself for not being smarter. There were so many things going on in my head, and I couldn't make sense of any of them. It was all too confusing. I think I was mostly sorry. Sorry, because he was the one to see me first. Sorry, because I cannot return the feelings. Sorry, because he was my best friend. I did the only thing I could when my thoughts got too heavy, and when I had no idea who to talk to, I hid myself under my blanket the second I returned home.

I had no idea how long I stayed there, or that I had missed dinner till I heard footsteps entering my room. Peering half a head from under my blanket, I watched as Min Seok sat down a plate of food on my desk, and Min Ah made her way to her bed.

"Eat, Min Ji." My brother commanded and I obliged wordlessly. He turned to join Min Ah to sit on her bed as I moved to sit beside my desk. When I looked at my plate, I realized that my mom had made my favorite dish.

"She didn't even complain about your tone." I heard my sister whisper out loud to Min Seok.

I shot both of them a sharp look to tell them that I could hear them quite clearly, as Min Ah quickly hid behind our big brother for protection.

"I didn't hear Mom call," I mumbled as I dug into my plate. She should be quite mad at me for not joining everyone at the dining table and I wondered why she didn't come barging in my room.

Min Seok answered me with a peculiar expression. "She knew you were upset with something."

"She did?" I asked with my mouth stuffed.

"We all did, Min Ji. We are family after all." He gently reminded me as Min Ah nodded furiously beside him.

My baby sister looked at me with worried eyes. "What's wrong, sis?"

Sensing their concern for me, I decided to tell my siblings what happened with Noah, and how much guilt was weighing on me. I knew they couldn't help, I knew they may not even understand. But just by sharing with them, I felt so much lighter. By the time I was done, I had finished my meal as well and went over to join the both of them as we formed a circle on Min Ah's bed.

My baby sister who was amazingly silent throughout the whole thing, enveloped me in a hug once I sat down beside her.

"Awwww! Don't be sad! You are not supposed to be sad when someone likes you!" She professed.

"I am not sad about that." The words came out in a muffle as I nearly lost my ability to breathe from her tight embrace. I pat her hastily and she released me apologetically.

"But because you don't like him back." Min Seok added quietly as I took a deep breath.

"Yea..."

My brother paused as he looked thoughtfully at us. "He will understand. You guys have been friends forever. Your friendship's not going to fall apart that easily."

I nodded absentmindedly at his words. I understood that of course, but it was nice to be reassured. Almost like he could read my mind, Min Seok reached over and placed a firm grip on my shoulder. I knew what he was trying to relay from that small touch, he wanted to tell me everything would be all right. I smiled appreciatively at my old brother, secretly glad that we didn't have that bickering relationship that Kira and Bonggu shared. Min Seok tend to give in a lot to me, and in return, I learned from him and I gave in to Min Ah. Speaking of our pampered baby sister, there was a curious expression on Min Ah, as she watched me closely. "But do you not like Noah?"

"Ah don't phrase it like that. And I don't choose who I like, Min Ah."

"Oh. Well, Mum's gonna be upset."

"Huh?"

A loud sigh escaped her lips. "She always thought that you and Noah were cute together. Why else do you think she had never gone along with Mama Park's obvious attempt to set you up with Bonggu? If it helps, I am on your side, sis."

My jaw dropped at her words. "My side?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Team Bonggu of course!"

Beside us, Min Seok was losing it completely though I wasn't sure if he was laughing at my exasperated expression or Min Ah's stance. He shook his head as I glared at him. Giving me an amused smile, he commented, "Really? I always felt that Yejun would make a better boyfriend. He's a lot more mature than the other two."

"How can you not want your sister to end up with the guy she likes?" Min Ah looked angrily at our brother, with her lips pursed together in a way that shockingly reminded me of our dear mother. I turned to her in surprise as she blinked innocently back at me. I have never told any of them about my crush on Bonggu.

"What? I am on your side! And also, I have ten dollars at stake here. Ten dollars!" She threw her hands up as I continued gaping at her.

"I don't understand half the things you say, Min Ah."

My 12-year-old sister waved me off. "We just have an ongoing bet on which one of your three guy friends, you are going to end up with eventually."

"We?" I placed both my hands on my face which was heating up furiously.

"You know, me, Mom... and Min Seok."

Min Seok was hyperventilating by the time I turned around to smack him hard on the arm. Min Ah continued looking innocently at me as if lost to why I was so mad. My siblings are mental, I thought as I fumed at them. The both of them were tugging one arm each as they tried to get me to cool down but I snarled at them instead. What kind of family bets on your love life? I refused, I refused to forgive them. No amount of affectionate gestures or pouting from Min Ah could make me excuse them. I jerked my head away from her adorably cute face and found myself eye to eye-with my older, wiser, and calmer brother. Upon making eye contact, he copied Min Ah's expression by puffing up his cheeks and blinking his eyes at me.

"That's cheating!" I exclaimed as I finally let out a chuckle at hisridiculous face. Min Ah cheered at hearing my laughter and launched herself at me for another tight embrace. Beaming at the both of us, Min Seok started to slide to the far end of the bed. He knew what we would do next, and we knew he was trying to escape. The both of us pulled him in as he groaned exaggeratedly. Min Seok hated it when we enveloped him in a hug because of his 'personal space issues'. But how could we exclude him in such a sweet siblings' moment? We couldn't stop giggling as he struggled to escape our clutches but to no avail.

Where was he trying to go anyway?

This was where love grew.

Chapter 28

As much as I loved my family, I refrained from telling them everything. Min Ah was too young to understand what I felt, and Min Seok, that's nothing wrong with him. He was an excellent listener, but at times I ended up wondering how was it that Min Seok had his entire life in order. How was it that Min Seok didn't seem to have any troubles? In comparison, was I being immature for worrying about the smallest things? How was it possible that we were brought up in the same household, but developed completely different personalities? How could I do nothing right? Min Seok would only chuckle when I voiced out these thoughts to him and told me it was because I had a bigger heart than him.

My heart was not big. I couldn't even bring myself to return Noah's feelings.

He was surprised, that I came to his room and told him the depth of my guilt, away from Min Ah's earshot. Min Seok had assumed that I would usually share these thoughts with my friends. Of course, I would, in due time. When I was certain that no one was too upset at me. Min Seok was my brother, he kind of had to take my side even if I was up to something stupid.

It was an intuition, but he seemed to understand the extent of the feelings I had for Bonggu. I was pretty sure he saw it coming way before I did. As I said, Min Seok inherited all the limited intelligence in this family. Before I could finish picking his brain for some wisdom, Min Ah interrupted us, with a peculiar expression. She told me I had a visitor in our room. With an exaggerated sigh, my sister declared she would be sleeping in the living room tonight and left us. I honestly think she would make a good actress in the future.

So someone had heard. The news was already spreading down the street.

Still, it came as a surprise when I returned to my room to find the girl causally sitting on my bed, with her crutches laid down flat on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out.

"Is it okay? That I dropped by?" Ye Jin smiled.

I continued staring at her in amazement, wondering how on earth could she be the first to hear about what happened. Noah couldn't possibly have turned to Ye Jin. "You should have asked me to go over. You really shouldn't be limping down the street at night."

"Noah is at Yejun's." She explained softly. "Also, I have to be here to stop Bonggu from coming over and making you feel worse than you already felt."

"Was he planning to?" I groaned. So everyone knew. And there was a meeting going on without me.

"Not on purpose. But you'll never know with him."

I nodded before stealing a look at Ye Jin. It had been long since I have seen such serenity on her usually indifferent face. Her mood really must have been improving, and I felt even guiltier, that she was now probably worried for us. She was not the first person I would turn to, and there were still words that I couldn't share with , as I sat down across her, I felt strangely glad that she was here with me. Ye Jin, must cared about me more than she let on.

"What's going on at Yejun's?" I asked her curiously.

"Boys' talk. Noah is taking it all in stride. Who knew Yejun was the most delicate of the lot?" She chuckled lightly. Yejunhad been down since the Areum incident.

No wonder Ye Jin wasn't invited over. She would be out of place in a room full of rejected boys. "Ye Jin-ah?"

"Hmm?" She raised her perfectly arched eyebrows.

"Why didn't you tell me that not liking someone who likes you hurts more than liking someone who doesn't like you back?"

It was a question that had weighed heavily on my mind the whole night. How did I learn to live with having an unrequited crush my whole life, but I could barely sleep tonight after speaking to Noah? Ye Jin was smart, she should know the answer, right? But a tiny sigh escaped her thin lips instead, as she gazed softly at me. "I don't know, Min Ji."

"Right, no one is good enough for our Ye Jin. You wouldn't understand." I replied with a knowing smile as I lay down flat on my bed. I guessed I had to learn this on my own, after all. I might have been expecting too much from her. Ye Jin wouldn't know the difference, she had never fallen for someone.

She pushed my arm lightly in annoyance as I giggled. "I supposed I was worried about Eunho for nothing."

"Eunho?" Ye Jin repeated in surprise.

"Yea. I thought you guys were becoming quite close. I heard strange things about him, Ye Jin."

"Oh." She played with her hair casually as my words sank in. With a thoughtful look, she laid down on my bed too. "Do you know what people say about me?"

"What?"

"I don't... like making friends. So they say I am cold and arrogant, that I see everyone as beneath me. They said you guys are only friends with me because I paid you. I have guys telling me that they want me in their life, and then turning around to curse me to die alone when I reject them. They go around telling everyone that I played with their feelings. When they found out about my mom's remarriage, they say I am like her. I have people calling me very nasty names to my face when I am alone, Min Ji."

"No! You are nothing like that! Who says such things?" My voice raised angrily as I sat up. I had never heard any of it. I knew people generally avoided Ye Jin, but I had never expected such harsh words to be passed around not only behind her, but in her presence as well. The boys, I realized, it was that fact that the boys were always with us, that no one would come forward to disturb Ye Jin. And it was because I was always with the boys, that I had never seen Ye Jin being mocked.

Ye Jin shook her head. "I don't care... let them criticize who they think I am. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. But my point is, that people talk. When you are not like everyone else, people always talk about you. They like to think that they got you all figured out. Do you know what I am trying to tell you?"

Her words were light, but they hit me so heavily in the chest. I had known Ye Jin for so long, had I been so immersed in my world that I had missed the fact that she was going through all this? I assumed she was handling high school a lot better than I was. I couldn't be the only one who thought that Jang Ye Jin had the perfect image. How could people speak that way of her? Why would people do that when they barely knew her? "Your point is… Eunho?"

"I don't think he's the person that everyone says he is. No, I know he isn't. He is a very different person than the front he puts up. He acts like he doesn't care about the world, but he has a sensitive side, doesn't he?"

I thought about what Ye Jin said. I supposed the fact that Eunho seemed to understand Ye Jin, could be due to his sensitivity. "I don't know... but I still think he's quite intimidating to be around."

"I don't think he's the loner that he is pretending to be. He isn't lucky like me, to have you guys around." She grinned cheekily. "You guys are a bad influence on me."

"Ha! Are you trying to be his friend now?"

"He doesn't have any, does he? No one seemed to know him very well. He has a thick protective wall up."

"What is he trying to protect anyway?" I asked nonchalantly, not entirely sure of what I felt about a friendless Eunho.

"I don't know. Himself I think? Maybe he has a reason he doesn't like people close to him..."

I thought about her words carefully before frowning at Ye Jin. "So? Are you planning to knock down that wall?"

Ye Jin closed her eyes. "I am curious, curious about the boy beneath the tough guy act, curious about the reason why he is so stubborn. I am curious why it's so easy to relate to him. Who is Do Eunho and what is his world like?"

"Ye Jin-ah..." I looked at her in shock. "What about your world? Are you letting him into your world?"

She didn't answer me. Instead, she continued lying down on my bed with her eyes shut, perfectly showing off her long lashes. The Jang Ye Jin in my eyes, was untouchable. In terms of beauty, intelligence, and even her emotional strength, she was always above me. Ye Jin was never interested in much. Ye Jin was never impressed by many. Ye Jin couldn't be shaken.

Ye Jin was like a star, mesmerizing and out of reach. The star that belonged to no one. The star that shone only for itself.

I had let myself forget, but the truth was, even the brightest of stars, fall.

Chapter 29

Maybe if I was smarter, I would know what to do. Throughout the night, I was replaying all the conversations in my head, with Noah, with Min Seok, and lastly, with Ye Jin. There was simply a lot to think about. I fell asleep wondering, thinking that I honestly just wanted all my friends to be happy. But there was no perfect solution to this mess that we had all found ourselves in, was there? At least, everything that I could come up with seemed flawed.

To my surprise, I was woken up the very next morning by a scream and dragged unwillingly to the grocery shop with a boy who was way too chirpy in the morning, namely Nam Yejun. Which was strange, considering we all knew that he had scheduled grocery shopping with Aunty Kim every Sunday. Yejun simply explained that Noah cleared his kitchen of food yesterday so it was only honorable for me to take some responsibility for that. Begrudgingly I found myself in the wet market with Yejun at an unearthly hour on a Saturday morning, denying myself some well-deserved quality time with my comfortable bed. Ignoring my grumpiness, the boy slung his heavy grocery bag over his shoulder and lifted two watermelons to my exhausted face.

"Which one looked better to you?"

I frowned at the identical fruits, momentarily distracted by the fact that he could lift them with one hand each, before shaking my head. "They looked the same to me."

He scoffed as he examined them himself. "You are no help, Min Ji. Aren't a girl supposed to be good at this?"

"That's sexist."

"You have been spending too much time with Ye Jin." His eyes twinkled with amusement.

I laid a light punch on his arm at that response. "Ha! You know you have always been a much better daughter than the both of us."

The smile slid off his face slightly, before he abruptly turned around to make payment for his chosen melon. He tossed the heavy fruit to me to hug as he proceeded to browse around at the other stalls to see if he had missed anything. As we walked along the wet market, it became clearer to me that something was weighing on Yejun's mind. The energetic boy was too quiet.

"Hey Min Ji."

"Hmmm?"

"Don't worry. I was just teasing before about Baek eating all my food because of his broken heart. Well he did, butBaek's fine. I think he had every intention to... forget this crush of his before you found out. You may have just kind of, speeded things along."

Unconsciously, I hugged the melon tighter. "Oh."

Naturally, Yejun didn't fail to notice that little action of mine, it was the privilege of being the friend of this sensitive boy. He ruffled my hair slightly before giving me a reassuring smile. "It was just some stuff he said. About why he didn't want to pursue you… or even keep liking you. At the end of the day, he always knew that he didn't want to risk his friendship with you, and also, his friendship with Bonggu."

"Bonggu?" I met Yejun's eyes in confusion.

There was a hint of sadness in his smile. "Well, I think he was afraid that he might start looking at Bonggu the way you look at Ye Jin. He didn't explain though, if he was angry at our friend, or resentful. Or maybe it might be envy? Whatever it was, I think he knew he would be happier without feeling competitive with Bonggu."

"I... but Bonggu… No! I am okay with Ye Jin!" Nonsensical words fell out of my mouth and I let out a heavy sigh. Sure, Ye Jin had many qualities that I wished I had, but I was never resentful! Or was I? Had I been unfair towards her for so long because I couldn't have Bonggu looked at me in the same way as he did towards her?

"Min Ji-ah, you have a very odd friendship with Ye Jin." He raised an eyebrow.

I pouted in frustration. "It's... difficult to explain."

Yejun gave me a comforting smile. "Maybe it's better this way. For him to make his choice to give you up, and he could never blame you or Bonggu for it. And I am glad that our friendships won't be affected! You know, I used to think you guys are crazy. I shouldn't have made light of all of you having unrequited crushes. It isn't very fun, is it?"

I didn't tell Yejun, that I had recently found a feeling worse than having an unrequited crush. Instead, I just gave him a grateful smile. I was thankful for what he had relayed to me that Noah didn't tell me. Yejun never failed to know what to say. He knew I was pressured and I knew he told me all this to relieve the burden. Noah would be fine. He didn't expect anything from me, so that meant that I couldn't have possibly disappointed him right? Though knowing Noah, he would never let us worry about him. But it didn't matter. Whatever it was, we would go back to before this all started. Noah would go back to his happy self. He had to.

"Min Ji?"

He had stopped in his tracks without me noticing. Turning around to face Yejun, I noticed the heavy look in his eyes had not disappeared. I frowned slightly, realizing that he looked more upset than I was at this moment. "What?"

A regretful look flashed past his eyes. It was unusual to see him trying so hard to string his words. I tilted my head slightly to the side as he avoided my curious gaze. "Do you think… Baek kind of knew how to handle all this because of his dad. Do you think his dad talked to him about girls? That's probably how Baek learned how to deal with all this right?"

I took a step towards him when I realized what he meant. My chest tightened as I watched Yejun clenched his fists together to stop them from shaking. "Yejun..."

The clever boy looked up with a lost look, as I stepped closer. His eyes were swimming with emotions that I could not comprehend. "I mean, he was upset, but he was handling it so logically. And then look at Bonggu, he never let Ye Jin put him in a slump, he is always so confident around her. They all seem to know what to do. Even when they are rejected, they all seem so brave, like how guys should be. Do you think... maybe I don't know how to be a guy?"

My eyes widened at the vulnerable tone in his voice. One that I haven't heard in a while. Yejun didn't share his feelings with me as often as he did with Ye Jin. Hearing it upfront, I fully felt how much Yejun missed his father. A lump formed in my throat, but I struggled to keep it hidden as I forced a beam at him.

"Don't be silly. Why do you want to learn from those two idiots? Those two brushed off emotions like it's a virus. They are always too embarrassed to admit their real feelings. You feeling bad because of Areum is perfectly normal. How is it that your ability to feel strongly makes you less of a guy?"

He tore his eyes away from me. "But you think maybe... I would know what to do if... if Dad was still around?"

"I don't know... Yejun. I don't know how to answer this one." Biting my lips in frustration, I felt useless at helping my friend with his troubles. It was like Yejun sensed it, for he finally met my eyes. I wanted to hug him, but there was a stupid melon in my arms.

"Yea... it's okay. Forget it." He gave me his usual soft smile, but it didn't reach his darkened eyes.

I pushed the heavy melon that I was hugging into his chest. He caught it in with a soft 'oof' and I was relieved to know that his fingers hadn't lost their functions as they wrapped around the fruit. Flicking a finger on his forehead, I gave him the sincerest of smiles. "But Yejun, you know what I know? I think you have many qualities that none of us have. Maybe it was because of how your dad used to love you. Maybe it was because of how you still loved him. You are kind. You are sensitive. You never get mad at us. You are always the one reminding us to think for each other. You are always putting others before you. Forget what other people say about how a guy should act. Just be you."

Maybe that was why Yejun always had all the answers. He had questions that had never even crossed my mind. But here he was, as lost as the rest of us. Right then, I only wished he saw himself the way that I always saw him. There was a long pause before a small laughter escaped his upturned lips. "When did you become so smart, Min Ji?"

Of course, Yejun wouldn't understand, what was it like being me. When you are constantly surrounded by people much more brilliant than you are, you always feel the gap. You would constantly be hyperaware of their good traits that you lacked, and be in awe of their notable qualities.

Like their bravery, for instance. Like how Bonggu was so bold regarding chasing the girl he wants. Like how Ye Jin remained determined to be herself. Like how Noah would put up a smile for everyone regardless of what he's feeling. And like how Yejun allowed himself to be vulnerable.

I wished I had that bravery, that bravery found in all of my friends. Not too much, but just enough to push me to do the right thing. I shouldn't let fear stop me any longer. After spending a whole morning with Yejun, I didn't head back home to crash into my bed. Instead, I stood outside our neighboring house and stared blankly at a particular window. There's something I knew have to do, but it would take a whole lot of courage. I didn't like it, but I won't forgive myself if I didn't.

Letting myself into his house, I slowly made my way to his bedroom. The loud blasting music through the door indicated that he was at least awake. Good, because he was as much of a morning person as I was. With a small sigh, I pushed the heavy door open.

From his messy bed, Chae Bonggu looked up at me in confusion.

"There's something I have to tell you."

Chapter 30

There were a lot of decently solid reasons why I shouldn't tell him. I could hear them all in my head, strangely all in Noah's voice, as I stared hesitantly into Bonggu's wide and confused eyes. I could almost hear his sigh and him telling me not to be stupid. And there was only one, only one reason why I had to be honest with him, despite the consequences, even though someone might get mad at me, even though I might get mad at myself. And I had to do it now before I overthink things. Because he is Bonggu.

"She likes him."

Maybe I didn't have to tell this to him straight in the face, maybe he would have eventually figured it out. Maybe Bonggu didn't care as much as I did. But now that I knew for certain, what Ye Jin felt regarding Eunho, I couldn't keep it from Bonggu. Ye Jin could keep lying to herself but Bonggu had always been serious about her. It would break him, to know that one day, Ye Jin's smile, wouldn't be his responsibility anymore. It would break him.

And it would eventually break me.

It was like the air in the room thickened as the truth settled in Bonggu's increasingly crestfallen eyes. He sat up to turn down his stereo before casting a long and hard look at me, as I stood nervously in his doorway.

"She told you." It was a statement, not a question. I nodded apprehensively.

Bonggu gave me an odd smile before continuing. "I didn't think you would tell me that."

"Why not?" He knew I always had his back unless he knew I wasn't a hundred percent supportive of his pursuit of Jang Ye Jin. Did Noah tell him?

He weighed his words thoughtfully but replied. "I thought you would be angry at me. For never telling you about Baek."

Was that why Bonggu had not looked for me since he found out? And why had this conversation reverted to me? I shook my head furiously. "Why would I be angry at you? Can we not talk about me? Worry about yourself. If you don't do something, you might lose Ye Jin forever!"

The tall boy let out a small sigh. "You know she hates it if I interfered with her life. And she had especially told me to butt out regarding Eunho."

It spoke volumes, of how much Ye Jin meant to him. Bonggu hated being told what to do, maybe it had something to do with the way his mother and sister strictly handled him. He often did the opposite, simply for the sake of not doing what he was told. But Ye Jin… always listened to Ye Jin.

"But you can't do nothing!" I threw my hands up in the air as he looked on, amused at my reaction.

"It's not that Min Ji... I don't know what to do. If she likes him, what do you want me to do?"

"Fight him for her!"

He raised an eyebrow as I hastily added. "Figuratively."

"Oh don't worry I am not giving her up. I just don't think I can stop her from liking someone else. He must have good points... that Ye Jin appreciates. But I am not that bad, right? I think I am pretty cool too." His eyes lit up again as he gave himself a firm nod as he finished his sentence.

I couldn't help smiling at his self-motivation. "Yea. Our Bonggu's always the best."

"I am not going to give up without a fight. I just know I am the right guy for her. I mean, I don't want to put down Eunho, but he doesn't know Ye Jin as long as me." He beamed determinedly, as though he was trying to mask his worries. "You are all rooting for me right?"

"I... yeah. Of course."

He grinned gratefully at me, before patting the edge of his bed, asking me to sit beside him. As I sat with him, Bonggu gazed kindly at me. "Hey, Min Ji? Baek's a pretty cool guy too."

"I know." I found myself avoiding his eyes, which were burning into my side profile.

"Yeah... maybe it's a good thing. Imagine if you two end up fighting! How awkward would that be for everyone else? I guess Baek's concern made sense too..."

There it was. The excuse that Noah made up for me. He must have convinced Bonggu to drop this topic. What did I do to deserve such a good friend?

"You know," He continued thoughtfully. "I still cannot get used to it. Noah likes you… well, looks like everything will be back to normal soon."

"What's wrong with me?" I pouted angrily.

He chuckled. "It's not that. It's just that I've known you since your diaper days. Oh right, Noah and Yejun joined us later, didn't they? It used to be just you and me."

It used to be Bonggu and I. It was another reason why Bonggu would always be special to me. Since we lived next to each other, since our older siblings were playmates, it used to be just us. We were the closest, even after we met Noah and Yejun, although it didn't take us too long before we warmed up to the other two. But for a short period of our life, it was just the two of us.

I wished I could be surprised, that the idea of liking me seemed ridiculous to him. But I knew him too well. I knew him well enough to have never asked him why he liked Ye Jin. The more Ye Jin didn't like to smile, the more Bonggu attempted to make her smile. The more Ye Jin didn't like to show her emotions, the more Bonggu wanted to draw them out. The more she didn't want someone to rely on, the more Bonggu wanted to be there for her. The more impossible something seemed, the more Bonggu would try and do it. He was born to sing a different tune. And Ye Jin was his song.

Truth be told, I almost wished I could be like Noah. Knowing him, he really would put everything unhappy behind him soon enough. He rather be contented, than chasing something that he could not have. I wondered if one day, I could do that. Or perhaps, would Bonggu be able to give up on Ye Jin? But then again, maybe we were too alike. Maybe we were all more alike than we thought.

"I still remember you telling them to be careful of me, because my stupidity is contagious." I rolled my eyes at the memory of our nursery days.

He draped an arm over my shoulder naturally, before beaming his usual grin and pulling me closer. "Well, it's too late for that. Pretty sure we all caught it by now."

We were the same.

We were just stupid people falling for stupid people who fall for other stupid people.

Chapter 31

Bonggu couldn't hide his emotions well. He laughed heartily when he felt joyful. He released his wrath mercilessly when he felt angry. He's easy to read, at least for me. It must have taken him tremendous strength, to not show that he was broken with Ye Jin and Eunho's growing relationship. The latter seemed to be always around her now. I wished Ye Jin could be more tactful regarding Eunho, but again, I understood her wishing her closest friends would like this boy too. It was clear that Ye Jin was being cautious with her feelings, despite the increasing fondness between them.

I was in a mess, for I wanted Ye Jin to be happy too, but why can't she be happy with Bonggu instead? Yejun was still distracted, for it was not him to notice what I was going through. Instead, it was Noah who pulled me aside and told me gently to stay out of this. Even with me telling him that Ye Jin was seriously considering Eunho, Noah didn't look bothered. He gave me an odd look, before commenting that he thought I would want Ye Jin to get together with Eunho.

Why would I want that? Why would I want something that would make Bonggu unhappy? Why would I trust Ye Jin with Eunho? Despite trying to give Eunho the benefit of the doubt, and being a little friendlier to him, I still barely know the enigmatic boy. There was no possible way that he could like Ye Jin more than Bonggu did… right? Was it unfair, to judge him before really trying to get to know him?

"What do you want?"

Raising my head, I found myself staring straight into the eyes of a surprised Do Eunho. He was finally here, I frowned as I stepped away from his locker. I had been waiting for him since class had ended. Even though we see each other more often now, it is always in the presence of our friends. And it would be bizarre to bring the topic up in front of them. No, we couldn't be overheard.

"I need to talk to you." I glanced around for familiar faces along the corridor. There were plenty of students moving past us, and the hustle and bustle ensured that no one would pay attention to us.

He shrugged as he returned his books from his bags to his lockers. It didn't skip my attention he brought nothing home.

"It's about Ye Jin," I mumbled quietly to me. "What do you want with her?"

Eunho chuckled drily. "I thought we had this conversation. What else do you want me to say?"

"Why? Why Ye Jin?" I folded my arms in front of me.

"Seriously?" He frowned as he checked his watch. "I don't have to tell you. And I have to get to my job soon."

"Explain quickly then. It was not like she was very nice to you on your first encounter with her. Why would you want to get to know her?" There was no way I was going to let him move, not when it took me a lot of courage to finally confront him.

He hesitated as he studied my determined expression. "Curiosity."

I froze at that familiar choice of word. Shaking my head, I decided it wasn't good enough. Ye Jin, was, after all, someone who didn't get close to people easily. "You need a better reason. I won't let you near her for that reason."

Eunho looked amused even though I had my 'tough face' on. "You know, I was expecting Bonggu to be the one to tell me all this."

"You know he likes her... why would you come between them?" I shot him a stern glare, wondering if he was taking me seriously at all.

"Min Ji, it's not about who was there first. It doesn't mean I can't like Ye Jin too." Eunho ran his hand through his hair confidently.

"Can you tell me then? Can you honestly say you didn't approach Ye Jin because of Bonggu? Because of this strange thing you have against him?"

The look in Eunho's eyes darkened. "Why are you harping about this? For her? Or him?"

"Both of them. Both of them are very important to me. We both know you found out that Bonggu liked Ye Jin, way before you started speaking to her. Don't deny it. But because Ye Jin asked me to give you a chance, and not judge you by what others say, so I want to hear it from you."

Perhaps it was hearing that Ye Jin spoke up for him, the apprehensive look on his face disappeared. Instead, for the first time, a small genuine smile appeared. "It must be nice… having someone like her around. That was the first thought that came to my mind, the day she stood up for Bonggu."

The boy's tone was soft and his gaze was far away. "If I hadn't met her like that, I would assume she wasn't very close to anyone. She seemed so… independent. Like she couldn't be bothered with the world. Until I started to watch her more carefully. Ye Jin tries very hard to be perfect as if she simply has to show that she can do very well on her own. She likes to be the best, she likes being mature, and she likes being strong.

But this silly girl… also has moments when she is weak. But she so stubbornly refused to let anyone see it. She has a set of rules that she drew for herself. Then I understood, someone like Ye Jin, when they love, that love must be stubborn and strong. Just like the way she does things, she will give her all. If she wants something, Ye Jin must get it. When she loves someone, I bet she will never let go."

It hit me, that Eunho might have really understood Ye Jin's heart, and someone who appreciated that would never abuse it recklessly. But he had missed out on something important, Ye Jin was more than stubborn, she was smart, and she was cautious. Ye Jin wouldn't waste her time and energy on anything or anyone that wasn't worth it. I had to keep probing, although I understood that Eunho would never treat our friend lightly, for he had not addressed my main concern. He had not cleared the issue that had been bugging me, since the very start when I found out how he was chasing Ye Jin.

"You really… like her? It wasn't because you didn't like Bonggu?"

We exchanged a long look before Eunho admitted. "I won't lie, I think it may have been. I am a bit regretful now, but I don't know if I would have paid attention to Ye Jin if it wasn't because of him. Looking back, it sounded childish. I didn't realize I really would fall for her. I didn't realize I would grow to hate that initial reason for approaching her."

I was right then. I wasn't right very often, but somehow, I wasn't happy to be right about this. Something about his tone had convinced me that he had seen the error of his ways. At the very least, Eunho was coming clean to me. When he approached Ye Jin, he did not expect to be attracted to the girl. And now that he had registered how important she was becoming to him, how could I possibly be angry? He seemed relieved when I didn't get mad at hearing the truth, and words fell out of him easily, as though he had been holding them in for too long. Eunho confessed after a humorless laugh.

"I don't like guys like him, guys that enjoy being in the spotlight, guys that enjoy the people complimenting him for his looks, for his talents. It's kind of cliché, but guys like Bonggu, love a challenge like Ye Jin, don't they? It must be a huge hit to his pride if I could take the girl he like away from him. He wouldn't be able to walk high and mighty around the halls anymore. Won't it be funny, that the golden boy didn't get the girl, but the outsider did?"

"So I am a joke to you? Or am I a prize?"

Eunho and I jumped at the sound of Ye Jin's sharp voice from behind us. Spinning around, we came face to face with Ye Jin… no, a genuinely livid Ye Jin.

"You know," she snarled with a piercing look at Eunho. "you are wrong about Bonggu. He attracts people not because of his looks, or his talents. He attracts people because he is real. He is real and he is sincere. Is there anything wrong with him being honest about enjoying the fact that he is likable? Is he hurting anyone? Do Eunho the outsider, the reason why you dislike Bonggu, doesn't it boil down to your desire to fit in as easily as Bonggu could? But how do you expect to, when you approach people with such ridiculously childish motives?"

It dawned onto me, that Ye Jin had heard, not the full conversation, but the end of it. She had not heard that, despite Eunho's misled initial reason for approaching her, Ye Jin had won him over on her own accord. She had not known, that Eunho had long ago abandoned that plan to pursue Ye Jin, simply to mess with Bonggu. Of course, he did, why else would he be so honest with me now?

As rapid as her temper came, it was gone in a blink of an eye. Ye Jin's face was wiped clean of emotions. Coolly, she looked at Eunho, before she turned on her heels to walk away from us. Nonetheless, I saw the hurt that she tried to hide using anger. Ye Jin had allowed herself to care too much for this boy.

Eunho didn't go after her. It must have been shocking, for he stared, with his mouth hanging open, at her fast disappearing back. There was no mistake, and the mortification forming in his widened eyes was good enough for me. Do Eunho cared equally for her.

"I am so sorry! I didn't know she was here. But I will talk to her!" I pat him firmly on his arm as he stared down at me in confusion.

It was my fault, after all, I made him tell me. I may not know him well. I may not like how he misunderstood Bonggu. I may not like his initial reason for getting close to Ye Jin. But there was no denying that he did like her. More so, the look in Ye Jin's eyes terrified me. I didn't want Ye Jin to feel that she had yet again, misplaced her trust in someone whom she believed. With an apologetic look at him, I made my way to go after Ye Jin, but not before making a promise to Eunho.

"Leave this to me! I won't let her stay angry at you!"

Chapter 32

I had a theory, smart people tend to form judgments, conclusions, and opinions faster than the rest of us. And by the rest of us, I meant people like me, who spent most of their free time trying to understand how the world works. But even I understood haste was not always a good thing. Sometimes, be it knowingly, or unconsciously, we judge someone too quickly. Sometimes, we tend to read a situation too hastily. Sometimes, we blame someone without knowing the whole story. Sometimes, people deserve a second chance. But sometimes, they don't get one.

Ye Jin didn't speak to Eunho for an entire month. I told her, more than once, that I was certain that he grew to like her. Wasn't she the one who asked me to give Eunho a second chance? But our Ye Jin was as stubborn as a rock. Or perhaps, she was never really listening to what I was saying. All she registered, was that Eunho made a mistake; and in Ye Jin's world, mistakes were unforgivable.

While she didn't wear her bad mood on her face to the rest of us, the fact that Eunho stopped hanging around us didn't go unnoticed. The guys wormed it out of me regarding the reason why Ye Jin was mad, and by the end of it, they stopped talking to Eunho too.

To his credit, Bonggu was not gleeful that Ye Jin was mad at Eunho. Nor did he go after Eunho despite his anger at the boy. Perhaps he felt that he had to take some responsibility for it too. Perhaps he knew that Ye Jin was more disappointed than she was mad. And we both knew, that if Ye Jin had not had such high expectations of Eunho, she would not be this disappointed. She was hurt because he was important to her.

And that was what I kept reassuring Eunho, I was sure that Ye Jin would forgive him soon enough. He was back to being alone all the time again, and I could no longer bear to see him like this. If he was upset that everyone was ignoring him, Eunho said nothing. Instead, he was only curious as to why I wasn't.

"I thought you were on Bonggu's side?" Eunho had questioned me when we were alone.

Were there sides to take? It was true that I didn't have to help them patch things up and Eunho did not blame me for any of this. He knew I already told Ye Jin everything that could be said. But it was bugging me so much. I knew most of this, boiled down to Ye Jin feeling as if she misplaced her trust in Eunho. And I hated seeing her like this, I hated seeing her thinking she was right that she could only rely on herself.

Noah was quite done being patient with me, and it was clear he didn't like me interfering with Ye Jin's life. Instead, Yejun became the poor soul who had to hear me go on and on about what we should do.

"Are you mad at me too? Like Noah is?" The question slipped out of me timidly after I realized I had spent another afternoon grumbling to the boy.

Yejun shook his head. "Noah isn't mad at you. He is just upset that you may end up doing something that would hurt you eventually. Because you are always worrying about everyone else, when will you think about yourself?"

At that sudden question, my eyes met his.

"What do you want, Min Ji?" He seemed unusually tired these days. "You want Ye Jin to forgive Eunho? Or do you want Ye Jin to choose Bonggu? It can't be both, you know?"

Were there choices to be made? I didn't want Ye Jin to be hurt. I didn't want Eunho to be misunderstood. And I didn't want Bonggu to have his heart broken. With a firm stare at the clever boy, I finally came up with an answer. "They are all my friends."

"Where's Yejun?" Noah threw his heavy bag down on the usual bench where Ye Jin and I were. We were waiting for each other after school again, except for our busy football star.

I looked up at him in surprise as he sat down with us. "Was he not with you?"

"I got caught by my homeroom teacher. She kept trying to convince me to join the international student relations program thing. I told Yejun to come and inform you girls first."

I checked my watch again. "We didn't see him. We were this close to abandoning the two of you."

"That's strange. Not like him to not tell us if he needed us to go ahead without him." Noah frowned. We both turned to Ye Jin expectedly, she would have to make the decision.

"Yejun has been odd lately." Ye Jin commented offhandedly, causing both of us to exchange a look with each other. "You don't think so?"

"Well…" Noah prompted his chin on the palms of his hands. "He has been disappearing a lot on me. I thought he merely wanted some alone time."

Before we could decide if we should just leave him, we heard a female calling Noah's name. As a flustered Hana approached us, I saw the genuine worry etched across her face.

"Hey, guys. I am glad I found you! I heard a fight going on at the back of the school. The thing is, I thought I saw Yejun, but I didn't dare go near." She told us anxiously as Noah stood up with such agility normally unseen in him.

"Where?"

As she told us the location, Noah jumped out from the bench and sprinted across the campus, with complete disregard for his belongings. Ye Jin, too, scrambled onto her feet and grabbed both Noah's and her bags, before racing after him. She had forgotten that even though she had recovered, she was still supposed to be careful when running. Not that I was judging the both of them, as I jumped out from my seat as well. I hurried after them, as quickly as I could, but not before thanking Hana furiously. She gave me a few quick nods. "Be careful!"

The campus grounds were ridiculously big. At least, that was all I could think of, to distract myself. Yejun's not a fighter! He was a… scholar. Why would he be in a fight? Hana wasn't sure it was him either. Maybe she saw it wrong. Maybe it wasn't him.

It was in a far corner of the school, near the stands of the football field, that we found them. The sight of not just Yejun, but Bonggu and Eunho as well, caused both Noah and Ye Jin to stop in their tracks, and for me to crash clumsily into them. My mouth dropped at the sight of the three boys. It was clear that they were in a physical fight.

Both Bonggu and Eunho's clothes were disheveled, and they were clearly out of breath as both of them were trying hard to control their unsteady breath. I couldn't tell, who was hurt more, for they were both leaning on the wall across each other, with their heads down. But even in that state, there were obvious bruises on their fists and faces. Yejun sat between them, cross-legged and confused, on the floor. Looking slightly lost, the messy-haired boy looked up at us, as if questioning how on earth did we find them.

"What happened here?" Noah was forcing his voice steady, as he glared at all of them, as though deciding if he needed to restart the fight. But I wasn't going to stay calm like him.

"Were you guys fighting? Chae Bonggu! What would your mother say? Nam Yejun, you should know better than this! And you, Do Eunho! Do you think you can fight well? Going on the two of them on your own! You boys are crazy!" My fists shook as I took a few steps closer to the three of them. I was angry, I was angry that they chose to use violence to settle their differences. It didn't even matter to me who had started it.

"You, are crazy." The same words fell out both Bonggu and Eunho's mouths and they exchanged a long look in surprise before the two of them started laughing.

Just what on earth was going on?

Chapter 33

Secrets were a weird concept to me. It was not like I had a lot of confidence in myself, but I was so used to the fact that my embarrassing and awkward moments and mistakes would always be witnessed, and later spread, among my close friends and family. There was no point in keeping secrets intentionally. Until there was a need to.

As it turned out, Yejun had been intentionally keeping a secret. A really big secret. There was an 11thgrader that been harassing him for unclear reasons. It started small, from strange glares across the campus, to 'accidental shoves' along the corridor, and recently, very purposeful bumps into solid walls. Perhaps, our Yejun looked small and easy to bully. Or perhaps, he didn't like the fact that Yejun was not just topping our year, but the advanced classes he was taking with the 11thgraders as well. Of course, there was a possibility that the reason was the fact that this bulky bully, was close to Areum; and he was not pleased, about the competition, even though it was clear that Yejun was over it.

Whatever it was, he had not left Yejun alone despite the boy's attempts to ignore the bully. Yejun knew better than to let on that the bullying was getting to him in front of the 11thgrader. But the larger boy started to seek him out more, taunting our friend cruelly, and even threatening to physically hurt Yejun. He had his hands on Yejun's collar while mocking the boy after successfully cornering him alone when Eunho heard them. The elusive Eunho was resting alone under the stands beside the field again, when he heard Yejun, and immediately stepped in when he saw them. He asked the 11thgrader to leave Yejun alone, and they got into a fierce scuffle when the bully refused to compile. The loud sounds of their fight had attracted Bonggu and his teammate, on their way to their practice.

The hot-tempered Bonggu was going to jump right in, upon realizing that the 11thgrader had been not making life difficult for Yejun. His teammate had held him back, begging Bonggu to not get involved. The teammate warned him, there would be consequences if Bonggu decided to get into a physical fight with the team captain. And there it was, the reason why Yejun was keeping this secret. This 11thgrader was Bonggu's team captain.

To the surprise of no one, Bonggu ignored the well-intended advice. He forcefully pulled the team captain off Eunho and threw a well-aimed punch on the face of the 11thgrader. It quickly escalated into a 3 men fight, that would have been disastrous if Yejun had not yelled at them to stop, giving Bonggu's teammate a chance to quickly drag the very angry 11thgrader away. The bully knew he had lost this time, but it was clear to the boys, that it was not over.

"What happens now?" I asked Bonggu tentatively. Undoubtedly, there would be consequences for him, but he seemed unfathered.

"You should have said something earlier." He frowned at Yejun after the boy had finished explaining to everyone what had happened.

The smaller boy sighed and glanced at our worried faces. "That was precisely the situation I was trying to avoid."

"Really? You are mental if you think my spot on the team is more important than you." Bongguwas scandalized.

"I checked with the school board. There was no evidence that he was bullying me unless he laid a finger on me. Which he didn't, so what else do you want me to do? You two, on the other hand, would be getting into trouble for fighting. You would be lucky to just get away with detentions, you know the school rules on physical violence. Also, Mama Park's going kill you for getting into a fight." Yejun quietly continued as fear flashed past Bonggu's eyes.

I had to force myself not to smile because I knew he was not afraid of how the school was going to punish him, but rather, his mother. The one and only, authoritative and fierce Mama Park.

"I am dead. I am dead. I am dead." He muttered continuously with his face behind his huge hands. Slowly parting his fingers apart, he looked at me with a single eye. "Your mom will take me in if I get kicked out again, right?"

"Mama Park is not going to kick you out… for long." The last time he was kicked out was back in middle school and Bonggu had swung a baseball bat into the back of Noah's head accidentally. Our friend had to get seven stitches, but even he agreed that what Mama Park put Bonggu through, felt even more terrifying than his operation. Surely of all the troubles that Bonggu had caused previously, defending a friend was a minor issue.

"I suppose I could live at Yejun's. We are always there anyway." He continued thoughtfully, without hearing me.

"What is she like?" Eunho directed the question to Bonggu as Ye Jin stared at the boy who had kept silent the whole time.

Bonggu shuddered. "My mom? She's like a tiger. A merciless tiger. Min Ji here knows the full details of everything I did wrong in the past because my mom's voice could travel through walls. She's scary when she's mad. You don't want to know."

"Please, I know everything mostly because you inherited her vocals. That terrified screams of-" Bonggu cut me off with a death stare and I gave him a shrug in return. You can't deny the truth.

Smiling,Eunho wiped the blood off his hands on his crumpled shirt. "Must be nice."

Everyone was confused with what he meant for none of us knew what to reply to that. Eunho looked up at the silence and replied cryptically.

"What's wrong with a tiger mom? At least a tiger wouldn't hurt her cubs."

He explained no further.

Honestly, there was no point in keeping secrets. Yejun couldn't keep the truth from Bongguas hard as he tried. Our tall friend got into a fight with his captain regardless. And Bonggu would not be able to keep the fact from Mama Park, that he would later get two weeks' worth of detention, as well as a ban from the upcoming football match. He had to deal with her fury at him for resorting to violence; and that was the consequence, for being part of the Parks' household.

Eunho, too, would not be able to keep his secrets for long. It was not that I would intentionally pry them out of him, but because it was inevitable. How eventually, I knew the full contents, of his long talk with Ye Jin after this incident, and that they were back to speaking terms. And I knew that Bonggu and him, kind of bonded over the two weeks of detentions, and whatever awkwardness that was between him previously, was gone. And I also knew that Yejun and Noah made plans to include Eunho in our group, whether the latter wanted to or not.

Eunho's secrets would be no secret soon.

For that was the inevitable consequence, that came with being friends with Noah, Bonggu, Yejun, Ye Jin, and I.

Chapter 34

Whether I liked it or not, change was the only constant in our lives. Just when I thought I had finally gotten used to high school, everything was changing. Only with the end of our 10th grade approaching, did I finally realize how different life had become, since the start of the year. We could never have seen it coming, we could never have planned how everything had turned out.

For one thing, Eunho was part of the gang now. Ye Jin and he had an understanding of sorts. He's still very much interested in her, but even though he has earned her forgiveness, he has not regained her trust. Still, keeping him around, was her way of giving him another chance. But even Eunho admitted it was slightly different between them now. He thought she would be more understanding, but she thought he should not even have erred in the first place. The thing was, sometimes she mentioned to me, that she felt that Eunho might have anticipated her to be a much better person than she was. She said I wouldn't understand, but I did. She couldn't see that she had ridiculous expectations of him. Yes, it was ridiculous, but she still expected it. Eunho was not the sort of person to fit into anyone's expectations. Eunho was the type to look like he could murder you with a single glare, but yet I came to realize that he laughed like a goofball. This boy was very much his person.

Our Bonggu had quit his football team, claiming that he couldn't work with the kind of people that were on the team. Ye Jin mocked him for it. After all, she was still on track, leaving all of her haters eating her dust. The tall boy was no longer the new star athlete of the school. Instead, he decided to join the small guitar club, which I didn't even know existed till he told me about it. You would expect turning to music would mean his popularity would be jeopardized, but I had seen the shining eyes of the girls in our school following him whenever he strutted across campus with his guitar. Bonggu was the type that people liked, even without him doing anything. Thankfully, this growing popularity would never get into his head, not with the lot of us around to shoot him down.

Ye Jin still attracted more attention than she liked. Which was saying something, considering Bonggu's towering build and Eunho's fierce glowering stare must have deterred off plenty of suitors. She was still as friendly as a block of ice, but somehow, we had become closer than before. I had never quite shaken off that habit of going over to her house and spending some quality girls' time, even after her ankle was fully healed. It was there that I overheard Mr Yu wanting to bring both her mother and Ye Jin over to China to visit his family this summer. Throughout the years, Ye Jin had always found ways to get out of it. This year, she was finally considering it. Even though her excuse was that her stepfather was willing to buy her a new phone if she went, I knew that even our stubborn Ye Jin was growing up.

Yejun was never bullied again. And the reason was, no one would ever leave him alone. Bonggu and Noah were almost always by his side outside of class unless they had practiced. And somehow, during those times, Eunho would need help with his schoolwork. Even if Eunho was doing as well in school as I was, I would have thought he rather turn to Ye Jin for help. I suppose he didn't want to feel inferior in front of the girl he liked. It was good too, for Yejun was feeling annoyed by the attention from our two overprotective friends, so he escaped to the library with Eunho as often as he could. Sometimes, I would tag along, after all the library was a great place for an afternoon nap.

Even things at home were changing, and I only realized it when Min Seok happily passed his university acceptance letter around the dining table. We were overjoyed for him, and sure, it brought new rounds of my family teasing my failing grades. But the truth was, I was terrified. Min Seok had always been around for him. I could always sense him silently looking out for me in school, even though we didn't hang out. And I would miss fighting with him for the last egg at the breakfast table. A few hours away, sounded way too far. My brother was leaving the nest, and somehow I didn't share Bonggu's joy at having one less person in the house to fight the bathroom for.

Still, despite his multiple complaints about his sister, Bonggu took charge and planned a graduation party at their place, inviting all our neighbors as well as some close friends from school. Even though we were all proud of Kira and Min Seok, everyone was sad to know they would be leaving us after the summer, even if it was to a pretty prestigious university. Bonggu stuck close to Kira the whole night, as though he had to make sure she was having fun. Ye Jin and Yejun were huddled around Min Seok, chatting the night away as though they didn't know when they would have the chance to again.

As for me, I was with Eunho that night. I took it upon myself to make him feel less awkward and out of place in the presence of our families. It had turned out that I worried for nothing and he was pretty good at fitting in when he wanted to. For a large part of the party, both of us found ourselves being the able assistants of the moms in the kitchen. He looked entertained to be watching the ladies at work and was full of praise for their cooking. That of course, made him instantly popular with our mothers. He easily had all of them charmed and even my mom was telling me that Eunho was a very sweet boy. Please, if only they had seen and heard him when he was with people he didn't like.

We were walking back from the store two streets away, after volunteering to buy drinks because Bonggu severely underestimated his initial order. It was too quiet of a stroll and I found myself asking him how he found our families.

"Like how families should be." He answered quite pointedly and I rolled my eyes at that obvious answer.

"Must be nice, it's like growing up with a very large extended family." A rare smile slipped onto his face as he lengthened his answer after I displayed annoyance.

I nodded in mock gloominess. "A very large and nosy extended family."

"Oh?"

"There's no secrets along this street." I shuddered dramatically.

Eunho chuckled. "That's a scary thought."

"Tell me about it." I shot him a look at the sound of his laughter.

"Is that why you grew up to be so nosy?"

Despite my threats to stop worrying about him in the future and leave him to be, he simply kept laughing. He had been spending too much time with the other boys. The usually stony-faced boy was in a good mood. Who knew that the fanfare from a group of middle-aged ladies could have this effect on him?

"Hey. Look at that." The beaming boy who dared accuse me of being nosy was pointing something out as we took a left turn into our street.

Two shadows were standing at the bus stop at the mouth of the street. Upon closer look, I realized it was just Noah and Mitsu, the Japanese exchange student that was in his class for the last three months. Noah was assigned to be her buddy because even their homeroom teacher could tell that Noah had a talent for making friends. As she was returning home very soon, Yejun and Noah invited her to Bonggu's party. I haven't spoken to her much, but she was very sweet and bubbly most of the time. It was just that her endless energy was too much for me to handle. Noah got along with her fine though, and I could hear them laughing together the whole night. He didn't have to say it, but this boy would miss her after she left.

And there they were, saying goodbye to each other. Suddenly I felt that we were intruding on a very private moment. Even Eunho was silent, as the both of us paused in our steps, instead of approaching the two of them. Noah was saying something cheerfully as she listened with an unusually soft expression. His hands were flying all over the place causing her to chuckle and grab his hands down as he nearly hit her face. The night made it difficult to see, but there was a regretful expression on her face. It was like she knew; this would be the last time she saw him. As the bus pulled to the stop, he gave her a big smile before he whispered goodbye. Mitsu nodded tentatively, before casting a look at the bus behind her. Taking a sudden step forward, she tipped on her toes till her determined face was at eye level with Noah's surprised one. He knew what was happening. The blushing girl touched her small lips to his before she hurriedly turned and ran up the bus, without a second look back. Noah's face was now the same shade of red as his pale fingers raised slowly to touch his lips. His widened eyes followed the bus carrying the Japanese girl, till it was finally out of sight.

"Woah! No one told me you two were a thing?" Eunho strolled up to the boy who jumped at the sudden sound of Eunho's voice. Noah greeted an amused Eunho with a burst of nervous laughter before his eyes traveled to me as I joined the boys at the bus stop.

"We are not." He told me and I couldn't help smiling at how flustered he was. "We are just friends and we were just saying goodbye! I am probably never going to see her again..."

There was a hint of wistfulness in his voice and Eunho teased playfully. "Man, if that's the way they say goodbye to their friends in Japan, I am living in the wrong country!"

Noah grinned uncertainly at that before glancing at me again. "You are going to tell everyone when we go back, aren't you?"

I nodded and beamed at the fact that he wasn't even going to try and stop me, before turning my back on the both of them to lead the way home. Bongguand Yejunwould have a field day when they heard about this. Noah... Our Noah...

Everything was different now.

As I listened to the two chuckling boys trailing behind me, there was an odd sensation rising in me. I almost wanted to believe this was unexpected. ButNoah was never one to dwell on unhappy things, and maybe because of their positive outlook his, happiness and contentment gravitated towards him. Unlike the rest of us, who planned, who worried, who chased endlessly, perhaps, Noah's way of living was a pretty good alternative.

Because sometimes, things don't work out exactly as you planned.

Sometimes we thought that we would look back on this day and remember how bittersweet we were at Min Seok and Kira's high school graduation.

Instead, we would only remember the hearty laughter and endless teasing following a blushing sixteen-year-old's first kiss.

Chapter 35

I admit, there are a lot of things in life that I couldn't catch, that I couldn't understand. This was why, when I did understand something, I was almost always sure that that was the full truth, the real truth. So it may sound silly, but I always trusted my gut instincts. How from a young, I knew that Bonggu was someone who I could rely on, and he had always protected me. And how I knew that Ye Jin's appearance was going to change our lives the second we met her, and I was right about that too. So it made perfect sense that I was going crazy, for I had an unexplainable strong feeling that something big was going to happen on this China trip. And it was one of the main reasons, why I was scared out of my wits even before we boarded the plane.

With her natural ability to always get what she wanted, Ye Jin convinced Mr Yu to agree for everyone to visit them at their Changsha home. I meant, I could tell that he was rich but the fact that their family home could fit not only his Chinese family and his Korean family, but also 4 more noisy teenagers, was just pretty amazing.

That's right, Bonggu, Noah, Yejun, Eunho and I were flying to China for the first time. Ye Jin's family was staying for a whole month, while the rest of us were only joining them for a week. As usual, my family was unnecessarily worried about me. Though I was surprised that not just my parents were being paranoid, I even caught Min Seok instructing Yejun to make sure none of us did anything stupid. It was mildly amusing that my brother deemed Yejun to be the only trustworthy one. They had nothing to worry about. I was too scared to be doing something reckless. It was the first time that Yejun, Eunho, and I were taking a plane, and Noah took every opportunity to tease and scare us. Eventually, Yejun got annoyed and arranged for Noah to sit with Eunho for the plane ride since he was the only one who couldn't be scared easily while planting me between him and Bonggu. Thankfully Bonggu took pity on the fact that I was already scared and speechless, and he held himself back from making fun of me.

The first hour was nerve-racking, I was clenching my fists so tightly that Bonggu volunteered his hands for me to grip instead. But my fear did eventually subside, and I was soon lured to sleep to the sounds of Yejun humming softly on my left and Bonggu's light snoring on my right. Two hours later, I was shaken away by a grinning Bonggu, only to realize I had used his arm as a personal pillow the whole time. There was a warm blanket draped over me, and I smiled appreciatively at Yejun, knowing that it could have only come from him. The cheeky boy winked at me, as Bonggu complained away about losing the feeling in his left arm.

Deciding that I had enough of both of them, I tagged beside Noah once we were off the plane. To make up for scaring me, a slightly remorsefulNoahbecame my porter as we wandered around for the longest time in the large foreign airport, frowning at all the strange Chinese characters. To our amazement, Yejun managed to ask for the right directions in broken Chinese and quickly steered us back on course.

"I picked something up from Hamin." He rolled his eyes at how easily impressed we were. Of course, he would learn something useful from the Chinese boy. All we learned after years of knowing Ye Jin's stepbrother, was the ability to count to ten and a few swear words.

At long last, we found the pick-up point. A beaming Ye Jin stood waving beside Mr Yu, and she jogged over the moment she saw us.

"I miss you!" She enveloped me in a hug first, one that I joyfully returned, before turning to the boys. "How's the flight? Did any of you bully Min Ji in my absence?"

Everyone was quick to tell on each other as Ye Jin chuckled at the stories that she had missed out on during the three weeks that she had been away. It was a noisy gathering, amplified by the fact that we were all squeezed together in a seven-seater, but what would you expect when we hadn't seen her for so long? It was too strange, to have a summer without hearing Ye Jin's nags and criticisms.

Mr Yu shared with us all the famous landmarks of Changsha as we passed them by. We were bombarding him with questions of this foreign land, and he answered every one of them with much patience. We never really knew him well, for he was almost as busy as Bonggu's father was. Furthermore, Ye Jin didn't speak much about him. It only made us even more curious, about what kind of man, Mr Yu was.

It had turned out, that he was an impressively rich man. I mean, we knew they lived in the city before moving to our quiet town because of the stress on Ye Jin's mother. But it had only dawned to us how much he had given up in China when we saw his family house. It was a majestic mansion, situated close enough to the city center, but far enough for peace and privacy. It was nothing I had ever seen before, and I was calculating in my head, how many years do I have to work to afford a home like this? The answer is maybe about 101.

Ye Jin was bored with all this, as she hurried us inside to show us the rooms. Naturally, I was sharing Ye Jin's room, whereas Bonggu, Noah, Yejun, and Eunho were taking the guests' rooms. The interior was even more impressive to me, but I kept my mouth shut as I felt Ye Jin was growing uncomfortable at the extent of how our mouth was dropping. Still, I couldn't help asking as I unpacked my luggage in her room.

"Mr Yu gave up all this for your family?"

We had learned from Mr Yu, on our way here, that this was their family manor. It was where both Hamin and his father were born. Hamin's grandparents still lived here, along with the family of Mr Yu's older sister. They had never cleared out his belongings and were more than happy to welcome Mr Yu's new family and friends to stay.

Ye Jin shrugged uneasily. "I have never asked about his life before he came to Seoul."

There was a lot about Ye Jin that I never could understand. What topped the list, was her persistence to not like her stepfather. But perhaps, she never really understood why either. She did tell me though that Hamin's grandparents were a lot like him, both very gentle and kind. The only issue she had, was that Mr Yu's sister made it quite clear that she was not too fond of Ye Jin and her mother. Ye Jin wasn't quite sure but she thought that perhaps the strong-headed career woman looked down on the simple housewife, and she never quite approved of the life that her brother settled for. She constantly emphasized that Hamin's late mother was a woman of much class and elegance, and hence the well-mannered Hamintook after her. Ye Jin's behavior, she was told, was inappropriate and rude. Not that Ye Jin ever cared to impress anyone, but now she spent most of her days trying to annoy her step-aunt just for the fun of riling her up.

"I will explain later. We should check on the guys first. Do you think they are knocked out in their rooms?" Ye Jin wondered as she hurried me out of our room, for it was almost time for lunch.

"Very probable." I beamed as I hopped excitedly in front of her in an attempt to see if I could remember where was their rooms, in the very confusing large manor. "We could always abandon them. Nothing stands between me and authentic Chinese food!"

At the end of that sentence, I pumped my fist into the air enthusiastically. And of course, it had to be that moment when I had to make a turn and crash straight into someone who was coming from the opposite direction. A pair of strong arms gripped me steadily as I stumbled backward in surprise. A soft chuckling sound made me look up, and I found myself peering into the sparkling eyes of the cutest boy I had ever seen.

"Ok ok! I won't stand between you and Chinese food! Don't hurt me!" The boy flashed a wide grin at me as I felt my cheeks warm up from the proximity.

"Hey Min Ji." Hamin popped his head out from behind the owner of the pair of arms that was still on me. "I forgot that you guys are arriving today."

It was only when Ye Jin pulled me back did the stranger let out an embarrassed smile as he glanced from us, before turning to Hamin expectedly. Stepping forward, Hamin threw an arm over the older boy.

"Min Ji, meet my cousin, Luhan."

Did I mention how I had a strong feeling that something was going to happen on this trip?

Chapter 36

As it turned out, Luhan was the same age as Min Seok. And because we were close in age, Mr Yu had requested him to bring us around Changsha. A surprisingly thrilled Hamin tagged along. It was uncommon for him to willingly hang around the group of us and I always thought it had something to do with how loud and playful we sometimes were.

But with Luhan, we saw a different side of Hamin. He was always smiling, and there was an unusual spark of mischief in his eyes when the cousins rambled away in Chinese. We knew they didn't want us to overhear, for Luhan was fluent in multiple languages as his mother believed that the heir of her thriving business must be a good conversationalist. Indeed he was, the cheerful 18-year-old drove us around different attraction sites, and gave an elaborated but engaging explanation each time. It was great having him as our guide, and I got along surprisingly well with him. Of course, more importantly, he knew where all the good food was.

It was at a dim sum place when I noticed he too, really enjoyed eating steamed baozi, as his eyes lit up whenever the waitress passed us by with steaming hot baozi on her trolleys. The two of us ended up in a silent competition of who could wolf down the most. It went by unnoticed by the rest of the table except Hamin who was visibly amused by the increasing speed of his cousin's eating. I finally gave up at one point, after letting out a soft burp in defeat. Luhan, who sat on my left, sniggered as he shot me a triumphant look.

"You remind me of my older brother. You would like him." I grinned at Luhan who had just picked up another baozi.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "I hope not."

Luhan ignored my confusion at his words and returned to finishing his meal. Just when I wanted to ask him what he meant, I saw a hand sneakily taking the dim sum I left half-eaten on my plate.

I wasn't going to say anything about it till I saw Luhan shoot Bonggu a strange look. The taller boy noticed too, for he met Luhan's eyes and mumbled quite unkindly. "What? She's done."

It was unlike the boy to be rude, especially to someone who was nothing but generous during our stay. Luhan had been an amazing host, but Bonggu seemed to have something against him. I made a mental note to ask Yejun or Noah if I was being over-sensitive about it. After lunch, the group of us bought ice cream to eat by the riverside. Ye Jin and Eunho seemed to be in a deep conversation by themselves as Hamin was helping the rest of the boys take pictures. Since I wasn't finished with my ice cream, I sat on a nearby bench laughing at their silly poses. Luhan took a seat beside me, flashing me his usual warm smile.

"I am glad you came here. I don't have many friends to practice speakingKorean with." His eyes sparkled under the afternoon sun.

I guessed that was true. Ye Jin was not the chatty type, and Hamin was glad to be using his first language when they returned home. No wonder, Luhan had been constantly seeking me out to talk throughout our stay here.

"Happy I could help. You are really good already though." I smiled in appreciation as I took another lick off my ice cream cone.

He started laughing softly as I frowned at him, not quite catching the joke. Reaching out to my cheeks, he used his thumb to wipe off the ice cream that had somehow gotten on the corners of my lips.

I could feel my entire face burning up upon his toucheven though he was no longer looking at me, I couldn't help staring at his face. When did 18-year-old boys have such flawless faces? Why was it that even though I was eating ice cream, I felt that my brain could overheat?

"Yah! Min Ji!" I glanced up, surprised to find Bonggu grabbing onto my wrist. "Come take pictures with us."

"I'm not done." I waved my popsicle in front of his face. The annoyed boy promptly bit down on my ice cream and finished the whole thing in a single mouth as I yelped in annoyance.

"Done. Let's go." He said through his stuffed cheeks. Ignoring my death stare, he half pulled and half dragged me towards the larger group where Noah edged his way between us and promptly threw an arm around me as if posing for Hamin's camera. We both knew he was trying to keep me from clawing Bonggu's smug face.

"What's wrong with him?" I whispered to Noahwhen I was alone with him later but the boy only shrugged.

"Ask him." He chirped ever so helpfully. "But he has been very restless this trip huh?"

The afternoon went by quickly, and I realized that Bonggu had been walking beside me with a grumpy expression the entire day. It was not like him to be clingy. Bonggu was not being himself.

"Hey. I know you are upset about that." I nudged Bonggu towards the direction of Ye Jin and Eunho, who were strolling side by side. "But at least try and enjoy yourself?"

His eyes darted towards the pair before he frowned. "It's not that. Eunho and I are cool with each other."

Isn't it? I questioned him through my eyes. The boy responded with a firm shake of his head.

"I don't like how Luhan looks at you." He admitted in a low tone after checking that the rest of the group were out of earshot.

"Huh?" I glanced at the back of the older boy, who had his arms over Hamin. As though he knew I was looking, Luhan turned around and met my eyes. The sides of his lips lifted as he winked at me, before returning his attention to his cousin.

"Stop looking at him," Bonggu growled.

"What's wrong with you? He has been nothing but friendly." Even if he was upset at something, I was not going to let him get away with being rude.

"Wow, you really can be dense. He's not being friendly. He's flirting with you."

"What?" I gaped at him stupidly.

"I am a guy. I know. Honestly, how do you expect me to trust you to take care of yourself when you are this clueless?"

"You are crazy. We are talking about me, you know? Guys don't flirt with me. Guys don't even see me!"

"How would I know? He's weird." A hint of a smile finally appeared on his face as I punched the side of his arm furiously.

We continued bickering over this issue, although it was mostly good-natured. I always knew Bonggu had a vivid imagination, but even this was unexpected. Luhan was friendly. And Bonggu was being unusually silly and over-sensitive regarding Luhan's intentions. Still, I was secretly glad. How could you expect me to get angry at Bonggu for this? He should be beside Ye Jin now, but instead, he was with me. I could tell him of course, that he was being unnecessarily worried that I would fall for someone that he deemed 'too pretty to be trustworthy'. But that would involve me telling him that the spot in my heart, was long occupied.

I supposed some things were better off left unsaid.