The next day was the first of the new semester. It was the start of their final year of high school for Yejin and most of her friends within Jackson’s group. Only Bambam and Yugyeom were a grade below them, so they had an additional year to go. The eight of them were clumped together in the hall outside of the gym, just having gotten their class assignments and comparing them in the time before lessons began.

    “I’m in 3-B,” Jinyoung announced.

    “Me too,” Yejin said as a smile small played on her face. Youngjae, who stood next to her, leaned over to look at her schedule and compared it to his own.

    “All three of us are in the same class,” the boy said and Yejin peered up at him as they both smiled.

    “I’m in 3-D,” Mark said.

    “I’m in 3-F” Jackson said and Jaebum nodded, in the same class.

    “That’s because you guys are dumb,” Yejin teased, making a few in the group laugh and the others roll their eyes.

    “What did you guys do over break?” Jaebum asked, redirecting the conversation and leaving the question open to whoever wanted to answer.

    “I slept,” Yugyeom replied shamelessly.

    “Same,” Bambam said.

    “I prepped for classes and took dance lessons,” Jinyoung said, to which Jaebum replied with ‘nerd’ under his breath, causing the former to act like he was going to slap his friend silly.

    “I visited my dad in Hong Kong,” Jackson said and Mark nodded at this.

    “Yeah, I went back to the states and stayed with family for a little bit,” the eldest boy said.

    “I finally learned how to score in basketball,” Youngjae said which made Yejin laugh and a few of them raised their brows and chuckled as well.

    “I taught him how to shoot freethrows,” Yejin said breathlessly right as a bell rang, signaling that there were ten minutes before class started. The younger two said goodbye as the group parted ways and started towards their respective wings of the building.

    “What, are you two dating now?” Jackson said with a tinge of a grin, teasing the pair who were joking as they walked side by side. Youngjae looked at his friend and shrugged his shoulders, which raised a bit of suspicion in the other boy. Jackson walked in front of the two and stood still, causing all three of them to stop while the other half of the group paid no mind and kept walking and carrying on their own conversation.

    “Really?” Jackson asked, looking at Yejin with a bit of betrayal smothered under a cool front. The girl looked at him and cocked her head.

    “What?” she asked. The former shook his head and stepped forward, gently grabbing her arm and taking her with him down the hall. Youngjae watched this and Yejin met his eyes, telling him to go ahead to class, which he did.

    “Are you serious?” Jackson said as he stopped dragging her, satisfied with them hiding away in a corner as the stream of students thinned out and they were almost alone.

    “Why does it matter to you?” Yejin said, pulling her arm from his grasp.

    “I thought you liked me, not him,” Jackson asked as he straighten up and looked around, making sure no one could hear them. Yejin leaned her back against the brick wall, knowing this could take a while.

    “It doesn’t matter does it? Plus Youngjae is really sweet and I like hanging out with him,” the girl said as she made eye contact with the boy. Jackson let out breath as his eyes peered into hers, making sure she was telling the truth.

    “Fine, I don’t ca