Sunggyu stood at the end of the table, staring at the three of them, who were staring right back at him. He was in a fix. Sungyeol and Woohyun were sitting next to each other on one side. Kate, quick on her feet and with her feet, sat down next to Sungyeol, where Sunggyu was planning to sit, as far away from Nam Woohyun as he could without raising suspicion (he was going to pretend that he had to talk with Sungyeol urgently about one thing or another, but stupid fast Kate and her stupid fast feet slid into the seat while Sunggyu was still plotting what to do). The four of them couldn’t sit on the same side of the table. That would be just plain ridiculous. So Sunggyu, with a deep frown, sat across from his former best friend, as far as he could get from the wolf within reason.

The wolf didn’t prowl around to the other side of the table, surprisingly, in order to encircle and ensnare his prey. Nam Woohyun laid in wait on the other side of the table, leering at Sunggyu as they ate. Sunggyu was afraid that the other would pounce at anytime, flashing his fangs.

Before long, Kate jumped up from the table, brandishing her cellphone. She wanted to take a group photo of them, a proof photo for her mother that she could indeed cook and made friends in college. “She doesn’t think that I have any friends besides Sunggyu,” Kate remarked as she set up the camera on her phone.

Sungyeol lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She craned her neck back, and Sungyeol was pointing at himself. “You didn’t tell her about me?” he asked, breaching the topic with caution.

Kate snapped back around and answered in a distracted voice, “Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Sungyeol repeated with a pout.

“Everyone get into the picture,” Kate announced, not hearing her friend. The three of them on the same side of the table leaned in and posed for the camera. Sunggyu didn’t even move from his spot and just continued eating...and sneering at Nam Woohyun. That wolf had his claws on Sungyeol’s shoulders. Did those two even know what sort of danger that they were in? Kate then suddenly turned towards him. “Gyu, lean in closer. You’re barely in the frame,” she ordered.

Sunggyu didn’t budge. “Your mom already knows what I look like,” he retorted.

“Yes, but you’re the most handsome,” Kate tried to convince him. And it worked. With a heavy sigh, Sunggyu leaned across the table, showing his handsome face in all of its glory (and maybe trying to outshine the wolf too with his smile). As he was leaning in, Kate yelped. Sungyeol had pinched her. Based on her glare, Kate probably assumed that he did that so that she’d make an ugly face in the photo, but she would be wrong (Sunggyu catalogued that in his mind for later. Eventually, he’d have to talk to her about this). “Alright, everyone is in! Lee Sungyeol, don’t pinch me again,” Kate warned through gritted teeth. Sungyeol only shrugged, acting as if he hadn’t done anything wrong. “One, two, three, smile!” The camera clicked.

“Let me see it,” Woohyun commanded, stretching out his arm immediately for the phone after the photo was taken. Sunggyu scoffed and leaned back in his seat. Of course the wolf would be careful to groom his image. God forbid that there would be a bad photo of him. Kate handed her phone over to him. “Namu…” she cast a nervous glance to Sunggyu and quickly dropped, “...hyun, take one of us.” Kate gestured between herself and Sungyeol. Sungyeol, not expecting this, had just stuffed a king-sized dumpling into his mouth. Sunggyu hadn’t expected it either from his old friend either. It was curious. He raised an eyebrow at the two as Sungyeol quickly swallowed his food, and they posed for the photo.

“Okay. 1, 2, mandu!” Woohyun said as he took the photo.

When he handed the camera back to Kate, she gestured between Woohyun and Sunggyu. “Now you two!” she insisted. “I want a picture of you two.”

“Why?” Sunggyu immediately objected to the idea, almost cutting her off. He looked at Nam Woohyun out of the corner of his eye, and he was doing the same. Sunggyu turned to face him straight on, cocking his head. If Nam Woohyun was going to size him up, he might as well have a good look at all of Kim Sunggyu. But then he felt someone pulling him over the table. It was Kate, forcing Sunggyu into the frame.

“I just want a picture of the two most handsome men at the table. OW! Stop it,” she snapped, while hitting Sungyeol who must’ve pinched her again. She glared at him, rubbing her upper arm.

And Sungyeol stared at her right back. “I’m handsome too,” he argued.

“Of course,” Kate dismissed him and quickly turned to the other two boys. “Ready?” she asked. Woohyun gave a short nod and fixed a stiff smile on his face, hiding his fangs. Sunggyu didn’t smile. In fact, he didn’t even have time too (not like he would’ve anyways). Kate quickly snapped the picture before Sunggyu could move. His eyes were barely open. He was about to open his mouth, asking for a second shot, but then that would mean another photo of him with the wolf. Two was enough. Sunggyu retreated back to the safety of his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. Her mom better appreciate those photos. He practically put his life on the line for them (maybe one day Sunggyu would act like Nam Woohyun wouldn’t eat him alive, but today wasn’t that day).

Sunggyu raised his gaze, searching for his friend. Woohyun had switched seats with Sungyeol, and he and Kate were looking at the photos and exchanging phone numbers. Sunggyu shifted in the seat. He’d have to keep a closer eye on the beast. Nam Woohyun had snuck up on him without his notice. Sunggyu gripped the bottom of his chair, about to slide down closer to Sungyeol, but then he caught sight of his other friend. Sungyeol was stabbing at the mandu with his chopsticks, side-eyeing the two chatting happily next to him. No, it would probably be better to stay away from that as well. Sunggyu’s gaze fell back on Kate who was now giggling at something that Nam Woohyun had said. Does she like him? No, that doesn’t make sense...does it? Sunggyu thought back to what she had said earlier and how she defended the wolf. Kate had found him to be the most adorable being on the planet (in her own words). Sunggyu grimaced. Her crush was putting all of them in danger. Why didn’t she just go into the wolf’s den alone? Instead he and Sungyeol followed her like the sheep that they were. Well, Sunggyu was going to be the brave, black sheep and get them the Hell out.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began typing out a text. After he sent it, within seconds, Kate’s phone rang. She quickly glanced at the phone, saw who it was from, and put the phone back down without reading the message. Sunggyu’s eyes twitched in annoyance as he watched his friend ignore his text and resume her conversation with the enemy. And so he cleared his throat, getting her attention. “Kate, you have a text,” he reminded her.

Kate’s smile turned sour. “I’ll answer it later,” she responded.

“It might be your mom,” Sunggyu argued before she could ignore him again. “You know how she thinks that you’re dead if you don’t respond right back.” He held her gaze for one, two, three seconds until she finally gave in.

“Fine,” she muttered under her breath. She then turned to Nam Woohyun, asking for his patience, “One moment.” She then grabbed her phone and read the message.

Sunggyu: What’s Nam Woohyun doing here?

Kate cast a curious glance up at her friend. With a smirk, she looked back down at her phone and typed out an answer: Eating lunch . Sunggyu groaned. She really thought that she was being clever. But he wouldn’t let her go so easily. She could only brush him off with her wordplay for so long. Sunggyu wrote out a longer response, not giving her a way out.

When her phone rang, interrupting her conversation with the wolf again, she sighed heavily and clutched her phone tightly in her hand. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized through gritted teeth. “My mother is being a pain right now.” She shot a glare at Sunggyu before reading his most recent message.

Sunggyu: You know what I mean. Help me come up with a reason to escape. Say that I look sick or something.

Kate looked up from her phone, to her friend. Sunggyu began acting already, pouting and rubbing his stomach as if it were bothering him. The smirk still hadn’t left her face. She was feeling mischievous. Sunggyu almost smiled, but then remembered that he had to be ‘sick.’ She was going to help him out of this mess.

But then Kate leaned forward, looking around Woohyun. Her eyes wide with concern. “Yeol, you look a bit pale,” she spoke, tone laced with worry. She got up from her seat and went over to him.

“Huh?” the three boys gasped in unison.

“Are you getting sick?” she asked as she sat down in the empty seat by Sungyeol. Kate then put the backs of her hands against his cheeks. “Oh my god! You’re burning up!”

“I AM?!” Sungyeol exclaimed. His hands flew up to feel his cheeks after Kate had removed hers. His eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to judge how warm they were. Kate nodded with a pout on her lips. She then grabbed a napkin off from the table and placed it under his nose.

“Your nose is running too,” she announced as she wiped away his already dry nose. Sunggyu scoffed, seeing Sungyeol tap his fingers against his nose.

“Huh? I didn’t even feel it,” he murmured. His face was genuinely concerned now, which contrasted greatly against Kate’s obviously feigned worry. She shouldn’t take up acting anytime soon. Sunggyu could tell that she was moments away from breaking into a laugh. Kate must’ve sensed that she had reached her limit. She stood up from the table, tugging on Sungyeol’s sweater.

“Let’s get you some medicine,” she suggested. Kate bent down and circled her arms around him, pulling Sungyeol up with her. “Here, I’ll help you up.” And Sungyeol must’ve convinced himself that he was sick because he wobbled as he stood up and relied on his master for support.

“My stomach does feel funny,” he mumbled, barely moving his lips as if talking was hard for him to do. He touched his stomach gingerly with his hands, careful on to put pressure on it.

Kate began dragging him away from the table and out of the cafeteria. “Does it?” she asked, looking down at the other’s stomach. Sungyeol nodded as he limped by her side. “Let’s get you something for that too.”

“K-kate! Sungyeol? YAH!” Sunggyu stammered after his friends as they abandoned him at the table as kibble for the wolf. “You can’t just…” Sunggyu hazard a glance at the other, still sitting across from him at the tabl. “You can’t just leave food on the table. That’s rude,” he altered what he was going to say. The last thing he needed to do was to provoke the other.

But surprisingly, Woohyun looked probably just as lost and confused as he did. “That’s odd. I thought Sungyeol looked fine,” he commented, shifting in his seat.

Sunggyu sighed and looked over at the entrance of the cafeteria. “Sungyeol is fine. Kate is going to be the one in trouble,” he remarked with a slight sneer, gripping tightly at his chopsticks.

“Huh? What did you say?” Woohyun asked.

Sunggyu waved his hand and dismissed the other, “Nothing.” He then brought the dishes next to Kate’s and Sungyeol’s abandon seats closer to him. At least they left the food behind. As long as he had his mouth full, he wouldn’t have to carry a conversation, and then he could excuse himself from the table to study. Right, if Kate wouldn’t help him, he could help himself and get out of this situation. He only needed to eat a few more things so that it didn’t look like he was intentionally avoiding the wolf...no matter how true it was.

However, the wolf was stalking him, looking for any opening. Of course, Nam Woohyun wouldn’t only let himself be ignored for so long. “So you already finished your service?” he asked as soon as Sunggyu swallowed down his food.

“Yea,” Sunggyu answered cautiously.

“I haven’t gone yet,” Woohyun replied.

Sunggyu smirked, his eyes looking for more food. “Good for you,” he muttered back.

“I’m thinking about applying soon.” That took Sunggyu by surprise. He stopped eating and finally met the other’s eyes. Woohyun’s hands were in his lap, and he seemed serious. Will this campus be free of his terror? “Do you think I should? You’re the only one I know who’s been discharged.”

Things started to make sense, why he was asked over and over again to have lunch. The kid wanted advice, and he came to Sunggyu for it. The golden boy with everyone wrapped around his finger came to little, humble Kim Sunggyu for help. Sunggyu was almost flattered, almost. “Is that why you wanted to eat with me? To ask me questions about the army?” Sunggyu asked.

Woohyun gave a short nod. “Sure.”

Sunggyu stood up straight and rolled up his sleeves. “Well…” he began his lecture that almost went on for half an hour about the army, the whole truth, how it was the best and worst thing to happen to Sunggyu. Because of it, Sunggyu felt like he finally became a man, but it also put him at a loss. He had a lot of catching up to do after being missing from the rest of the world for two years. At the end, he concluded that Woohyun should go after he graduates. He was already so close to completing his degree. It would be a shame to stop now. And Woohyun seemed to accept his advice. He thanked Sunggyu for his time and was the first to leave the table, saying that he had to finish writing a report.

Sunggyu cleaned up the table with a smile on his face. The lunch was surprisingly nice. He wasn’t trapped and made a fool of by Nam Woohyun again. The wolf was docile, sitting and listening to Sunggyu attentively, not like he was waiting for an opening for an attack but because he actually wanted to know what Sunggyu had to say. And the lecture wasn’t so much a lecture as it was a conversation. Woohyun would interject with a question here or there, or he’d say a joke without breaking the flow of the conversation. It was oddly nice, and Woohyun wasn’t the only one learning from it. Sunggyu did too. He learned a little bit of the other’s interests and preferences, even his family (he had a brother and his family owned a restaurant).

Maybe Nam Woohyun isn’t all that bad.

That thought stuck with Sunggyu for the rest of the day. While he was studying, he thought about how Nam Woohyun wasn’t all that bad. He left to go finish writing his report. That was somewhat responsible. Sunggyu wasn’t used to seeing a responsible Nam Woohyun. Maybe Sunggyu’s conversation about being ‘a man’ helped the younger turn over a new leaf and start taking charge of his life in a positive way.

The thought also stuck with him when he was walking home late that night to his bus stop. He was feeling hungry and then suddenly remembered that Woohyun’s family owned a restaurant. What kind was it? Where was it? Sunggyu should’ve asked because now that’s all he wanted to know, him and his angry stomach. It’s not like Sunggyu had the money for it anyway. Knowing Nam Woohyun, it was probably something pretentious, expensive, and European. He had that air about him. And all Sunggyu could afford was a couple pieces of triangle kimbap from the convenience store. Actually, triangle kimbap sounded very good to him right now. Sunggyu backtracked and headed for the store a block away. As he was reaching for the door handle, Sunggyu caught something out of the corner of his eye. He took a couple of step backwards and kept blinking, just to make sure what he was seeing was real.

It was Nam Woohyun, seating by the counter alongside the window and eating alone. He had an open book and notes laid out in front of him, but he wasn’t reading. Instead, he was looking off into the distance while he was chewing on his cream bread. It was strange. Nam Woohyun didn’t have his usual smile on his face, nor was there the frown that Sunggyu had come to know (and thought was Woohyun’s natural state). Woohyun looked lost. His eyes kept moving around as if he were looking for something, anything.

Wolves, they don’t always travel in packs. Sometimes a wolf roamed the earth by himself, without a friend in sight. Nam Woohyun seemed like a lone wolf now. But that make him more dangerous or just pitiful? Sunggyu didn’t know.

But he knew that he had to get out of there. Sunggyu started to walk back to his bus stop with a still empty stomach. After taking a few steps, Sunggyu hazard a glance behind him, keeping a close eye on the predator behind him. And Nam Woohyun was staring straight back at him, tearing at the cream bread with his sharp teeth. It made Sunggyu’s blood run cold, and he quickened his step, nearly running to the bus stop as if he were going to miss the bus (and he almost did).

The next day, there was no one invading his lunch with Sungyeol and Kate. And Professor Kang had run over with her lecture, so by the time he met with the other two, they were nearly done eating. Afterwards, Sunggyu went to the library as usual, went to his usual table, and saw the usual people. It all left Sunggyu slightly disappointed. Was he expecting something unusual to happen? Yes, because that was the trend in his life recently. But now nothing was out of the ordinary, which seemed to put Sunggyu on edge. He kept looking over his shoulder, peering around every corner, searching for something or someone. But there was nothing to be found.

However, something found him once he left the library that afternoon. That something found him, jumped on his back, and wailed “OPPA!” Sunggyu didn’t even need to turned around to know that something was Myungeun. But how she got here and why, he didn’t know. So he peeled the teenager off of him and spun them around until they were face-to-face.

“What are you doing here, Myungeun?” he asked, hands firmly on her shoulders.

And she looked up at him with those round and shining eyes, lips in a deep pout. Once Sunggyu noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, Myungeun hung her head. “I failed,” she mumbled, barely moving her lips.

“You failed an audition?”

“Eung,” Myungeun grunted as she hung even lower, nearly bent in half and leaning her head against Sunggyu’s chest.

Sunggyu chuckled and placed his hand on her head, gently raising it back up so that they were looking at each other. “At least you’re trying,” he offered as comfort (Sunggyu wasn’t too good at it). But he was proud that Myungeun was actually putting herself out there and not singing on the doorsteps with her brother. She was already closer to achieving her dream (although Sunggyu was still in doubt about how well she could actually sing).

Myungeun wasn’t cheered up by his words. She groaned loudly and hung her head again. “I tried, and I failed. I’m never trying again,” she grumbled.

Well, that wasn’t good. Sunggyu only made her feel worse. And now, Myungeun was whimpering loudly, too loudly. She was drawing stares from passerbys. Sunggyu nervously looked around and bowed his head in apology to the people who passed by. Why? Why did Myungeun come to him? Myungsoo, her actual brother, would be infinitely better at this. He babied her. He could handle her whines. Sunggyu was just looking for a way to make her stop (and not necessarily to make things better).

“Ice cream! I’ll get you ice cream,” Sunggyu offered, raising his voice to be heard over her . Myungeun finally raised her head and nodded slowly. Sunggyu sighed in relief as he patted her head. “Was that all you wanted?”

“Yes,” Myungeun replied with a slight smile. “Oh!” she gasped. Her eyes were wide with surprise, and she got on her tiptoes in order to peer over Sunggyu’s shoulder. “OPPA!” she squealed, almost right into Sunggyu’s ear.

Sunggyu covered his hands over his ears and turned around to face what he expected to be Myungsoo. “Huh?” Sunggyu lowered his hands and found himself staring straight at…“Nam Woohyun?” He whipped his head back to the teenager. “You know him?”

Myungeun might’ve ignored Sunggyu, but she still answered his question. She skirted around Sunggyu and ran up to Nam Woohyun. “Oppa!” Myungeun exclaimed. She knew the wolf all right, and now she was acting like his little up. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and he responded like in return. “We were about to get ice cream. Do you want to come with us?”

Nam Woohyun raised his gaze and met Sunggyu’s. His face went from smiling to flat and expressionless. His lip twitched again (into almost a sneer) and then it pulled up into a grin as he looked back down at Myungeun. “Sure, let’s go!”

If yesterday’s lunch was awkward, this was even worse. The three of them were sitting on a bench, Myungeun in between the boys. The three of them were eating ice cream that Sunggyu had bought. He had just bought ice cream for his neighbor’s sister and his enemy, and now they were sitting on the bench like a happy . Sunggyu sighed as he stared at his melting ice cream cone. What kind of luck was this?

And those two ice cream leeches were just chatting amongst themselves, ignoring him. Myungeun seemed to only have eyes for Nam Woohyun. And he was doting on her like Myungsoo would, like he was her own brother. It was obvious that they have known each other for a very long time.

“Our little Myungeunnie failed an audition? Unbelievable,” Woohyun lamented.

“It is!” Myungeun chimed in. “I tried my best, but I still failed.”

Sunggyu bit his tongue, trying his best to not say the words threatening to jump off of his tongue. Indeed, he wasn’t the right person to lift up the spirits of a teenage girl, but Woohyun might just be.

“It must’ve been the song you sang. It didn’t show off your voice the best,” Woohyun reasoned. “What did you sing?”

“I’ll sing it for you, and you can judge,” Myungeun offered, getting all excited to show off to her ‘oppa.’ She then took in a deep breath and warmed up her voice. When she deemed it ready, she began to sing the song. But her voice cracked at the first note. She immediately stopped and buried her face in her hands, completely embarrassed. The two boys looked at each other and burst out into a laugh.

“I think I know why you might’ve failed,” Sunggyu .

Myungeun raised her head from her hands and glared at him. “I wasn’t like that at the audition,” she fought back. “I was good. I’m just nervous right now.”

Woohyun nudged her. “Why? Do I make you nervous?” he joked. He dug his finger into her cheek.

“N-no,” Myungeun denied and slapped his hand away. She then stood up from the bench and turned towards the two men. “I’m not nervous!”

“But you said—”

Myungeun interrupted them with a stamp of her foot. “Forget what I said,” she huffed. “I’m going home. You two are mean,” she announced before whipping back around and stomping her way back home with an ice cream cone still in hand.

Sunggyu laughed until he heard another laugh along with him. He looked out of the corner of his eye at the man next to him. He and Nam Woohyun were alone together again. Woohyun’s eyes fell on his, and the laughter died down. Now they were just staring at each other. Well, this is sufficiently awkward , Sunggyu thought as he stood up. “I should walk her home...Myungeun. She’s my neighbor,” he stumbled his way through an (too lengthy) explanation.

Woohyun nodded, still sitting down. “Okay.”

Sunggyu waved at him. “Goodbye, Nam Woohyun,” he said before turning around and following the miffed teen. However, he didn’t get too far before casting one last look back at the man on the bench because as he was leaving, Nam Woohyun called to him in a teasing voice, like he’d used with Myungeun:

“Goodbye, Kim Sunggyu.”

Sunggyu easily caught up to Myungeun. She was shuffling her feet, walking slowly as she muttered under her breath. “Are you cursing me?” Sunggyu asked once he was by her side.

“Yes,” Myungeun answered honestly and narrowed her eyes on him. “And Woohyun-oppa. You two are mean. I just failed my audition, and all you two do is tease me.”

“I bought you ice cream,” Sunggyu pointed out.

Myungeun forced a pout on her lips and even trembled a little bit. “I’d feel even better if I had chicken to go along with it,” she whined.

“Chicken?” Sunggyu repeated with an amused smile. Myungeun nodded, widening her once narrowed eyes to appeal to him. And she won him over. Even though she was exaggerating her sadness, Sunggyu knew that the teenager was still feeling quite low. And although he questioned her singing, he didn’t want her to give up after just one try. She was cute, and if Sunggyu fell for her aegyo, others would too. You don’t always need to know how to sing to be an idol. Sometimes you just need the drive. “Okay, I’ll get you chicken if you go to another audition. Promise?” he laid out the terms and extended his pinky towards her.

“Promise,” Myungeun immediately responded back, wrapping her pinky around his. “There’s an open casting next week. I guess that I’ll go to that.” She then picked up her step. They were at the bottom of the hill that their building was on, but you could hear the strumming of guitar strings from even there. Myungsoo was on his beloved steps, playing his songs again. Myungeun ran up the hill and into the comfort of her brother’s arms, or so Sunggyu thought. And when he reached their building, he saw that his guess was correct. Myungsoo was cradling his sister in his arms with his guitar laid to the side. Sunggyu sighed at the sight and shook his head. Myungsoo was probably the reason why Myungeun liked being babied and was so needy. He was too lenient and giving with her.

His baby sister then raised her head from his shoulder. “Oppa! You’ll never guess who I just ran into!” she suddenly remembered.

“Hm,” Myungsoo hummed in thought. “Mom?” he guessed. Myungeun shook her head. “Jisoo-ssi?” She shook her head again. “Taek-ie? Song Joongki? Yoo Jaesuk?” his guesses were getting more and more ridiculous, so Myungeun finally put an end to the game.

“No, Woohyun-oppa!” she answered with a laugh.

Myungsoo’s jaw dropped. He looked up at Sunggyu, stunned. “Oh,” was all he could say.

The three of them were in the Myungs’ apartment. Myungeun was sitting at the table, happily munching on her chicken. Sunggyu and Myungsoo were sitting on the couch. Myungsoo didn’t believe that they knew the same Nam Woohyun, and so Sunggyu pulled out his phone and shared the picture that Kate had taken of them yesterday.

Myungsoo stared intently at the picture for a few seconds and then turned towards the elder. “Are you guys dating?” he suddenly asked.

Sunggyu narrowed his eyes on the other and cocked his head. That’s a weird assumption to make from that picture , he thought as he gazed over Myungsoo’s shoulder at the photo. Sunggyu wasn’t even smiling (or have his eyes opened fully), and Nam Woohyun looked just as uncomfortable. They were also as far apart as the frame (and Kate) would allow. “No, of course not,” Sunggyu replied. He cocked his head again. Myungsoo was a strange one.

“Oh where are your eyes?!” Myungsoo gasped. He then looked up at the real Sunggyu and pointed at his face. “Ah! They are actually like that.” He sputtered into a laugh as Sunggyu’s scowl deepened. “It’s a joke, hyung. A joke,” he insisted. “Anyone can see that you have eyes. Right there.”

Sunggyu widened his eyes a bit, proving that they were there, and tore the phone away from Myungsoo’s hands. ”Give me that,” he grumbled and stuffed the phone back into the pocket of his hoodie. “How do you know Nam Woohyun anyway?” he tried to put their conversation back on track after Myungsoo derailed it by focusing on his eyes (maybe Myungsoo did like them).

Myungsoo let out a deep breath and leaned back onto the couch, his head leaning against the top of the backrest. “We grew up together,” he revealed. “We lived on the same block in Ssangmundong for a few years. He lived just across the street. But I haven’t seen him since high school. His family moved into another house.”

Sunggyu nodded. The little block in Ssangmundong was probably too small for the Nam family. They must’ve moved into a bigger home in a richer part of the city, a place better suited for their fancy restaurant. But before that happened, Nam Woohyun was just a little pup, playing with Myungsoo and Myungeun, who were now just scraping by and mooching off of Sunggyu (who was not much more well off himself). It was hard to think that these three were ever living at the same place at the same time. They seemed to be of different worlds.

“How was he?” Sunggyu asked, his curiosity running away with him. “How was Nam Woohyun as a kid?”

“He was nice. A real good hyung, but…” Myungsoo paused and chuckled a bit. “But he can be a jerk sometimes.”

“Ah!” Sunggyu nodded along. He knew it. Nam Woohyun was a jerk, but no one else had believed it. Everyone had told him that he was wrong. Now, however, he had validation from someone who grew up with the wolf. Sunggyu had been right all along, but why did he feel so uneasy right now? He should be smug, happy. He wasn’t. He was almost sad to be proven right. Maybe he himself had begun to believe that Nam Woohyun was a sheep in wolf’s clothing. But the wolf was a wolf.

“He broke my hand.”

“What?!” Sunggyu exclaimed. His eyes went straight to Myungsoo’s hand, ignoring all else. It did look a bit beaten up, even a finger was crooked.

“My finger broke too,” Myungsoo explained as he raised his hand to look at it. When he moved it, his face scrunched up. Poor kid , Sunggyu thought as he raised his gaze from the hand to the man’s face. No one deserved such cruelty. And Nam Woohyun would’ve been young himself when it happened. He was a menace to society from day one. “Yah!” Myungsoo yelped, staring at his sister. He then turned to Sunggyu and pouted. “It still hurts sometimes.”

Sunggyu could tell. Myungsoo probably bore more scars than just those on his hand. Sunggyu took that poor hand and placed it in his own, warming them with his touch. “That’s awful,” he murmured, voice as gentle as his hands rubbing Myungsoo’s.
“Yea, I guess it is,” Myungsoo said, pulling his hand away from the other’s grasp. Sunggyu blinked up at him in surprise. Did he hurt him? Was his hand still that tender to the touch? Sunggyu silently reprimanded himself for hurting Myungsoo again as the other went to join his sister by the table, stealing some of her chicken (she couldn’t finish a whole box on her own anyway). Sunggyu watched the siblings eat and chat about the days when lived in Ssangmundong, but he wasn’t listening. His mind was still reeling and circling around one thought:

Nam Woohyun, that jerk.

Luckily for Sunggyu, his fall break had just started, and he wouldn’t have to see the jerk for a month. He didn’t have to see anybody for a week. He could just lock himself in his room and sleep his break away between bouts of studying. However, those plans were dashed when he opened up his email the first day of his break. Professor Kang was looking for an R.A. to help make an index for her book. It would be tedious work, but it paid well. And Sunggyu was her first choice as an assistant because not only he was her best student but he also came highly recommended. He grinned to himself. He was her top student once again and was highly recommended (by who? She didn’t say, but did it matter?). Also this opportunity would be well worth the sleep that he would miss out on over break, not only for the money but for the connections as well. And if he was really lucky, Professor Kang would even add his name to the book.

So Sunggyu spent his first day of his break on campus and in his teacher’s office, sitting at a small table surrounded by books (she also needed him to check her citations). He was in the middle of flipping between pages in the manuscript when there was a knock at the door.

“Professor?”

Sunggyu froze. He knew that voice all too well, from class, from when he’d suddenly pounce into Sunggyu’s life (like right now). Sunggyu slowly raised his eyes and saw Nam Woohyun standing in the doorway.

“Nam Woohyun-ssi,” he greeted as coolly as he could, trying to cover up his surprise. He dropped his gaze back down to his book.

But the man wasn’t someone who could ignored so easily. “Kim Sunggyu-ssi,” Woohyun greeted back as he walked into the room. “Where is the professor?”

“Out,” Sunggyu answered curtly. Professor Kang was coming back. She was only making copies over in the next room, but Nam Woohyun didn’t need to know that. Nam Woohyun needed to leave.

“Why are you here and she’s not?” Woohyun asked. Much to Sunggyu’s dismay, the man didn’t leave and only stepped further into the room, closer to him. “Do you have a meeting with her? Is she your advisor?”

Sunggyu closed the book and looked up at the other with a smug smile stretched across his face. He’d almost forgotten. He’d reclaimed his top spot in class from none other than Nam Woohyun, which would make this even sweeter. “I’m her research assistant. I was highly recommended,” he bragged.

Woohyun’s smile twitched, almost falling into a frown (or was it almost getting bigger). “Is that so?” he replied.

“Yes,” Sunggyu chirped back, grinning wider than ever. But it was too wide, so he coughed and restrained himself a little. Now scowling, he focused back on the man in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

“I do favors for Professor Kang,” Woohyun answered. Well, that was vague .

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. “What kind of favors?”

Before Woohyun could even open his mouth to answer (because he spent a good amount of time smiling coyly at the other), Professor Kang entered the room with a fresh stack of papers that she plopped on the already crowded table Sunggyu was sitting at. “Check the citations in this chapter when you’re done,” she commanded. She then spun on her heels, hair whipping in the air as if it were some shampoo commercial. “Ah, Woohyun-ssi, you came. Are you ready for our meeting ?” Sunggyu perked his head up. That sounded suggestive. He leaned over on the side of his chair, nearly falling out, in order to catch a good glimpse of the wolf in action.

Nam Woohyun nodded and patted his bag. “I brought the stuff. I’m ready if you are,” he responded. His shifted his gaze from the professor to Sunggyu, and he (freaking) winked.

“Good,” Professor Kang said as she gathered her things. “Sunggyu-ssi, I will be back in an hour or so.”

That’s a peculiar amount of time . “Oh okay,” Sunggyu stammered as his professor headed out the door.

Nam Woohyun followed behind and was closing the door. Before the door fully shut, he poked his head through the small space. “Goodbye, Kim Sunggyu,” he spoke. Then the door clicked closed.

Sunggyu looked around the room, mouth agape and eyes wide as he tried to process everything that had happened. There was only one conclusion, one reason behind all of this. “Holy , Nam Woohyun is having an affair with Professor Kang,” he muttered aloud. He then gasped and clamped his hands over his mouth in case anyone had heard him. This was a secret that was dangerous and that he personally never wanted to know. But he could never forget it now. In fact, it was all he could think about right now, and not the work literally laying right in front of him. Was that how Nam Woohyun was doing so well in class? Was he getting preferential treatment? Then he had a sudden thought that made him drop the papers all over the floor. What if Nam Woohyun was the one who highly recommended him? And he did so during one of their...trysts? But why would he?

“Because I know,” Sunggyu muttered under his breath as he gathered the papers up from off the floor. Because he already knew the true nature of Nam Woohyun, the beast stalking the campus and picking off the sheep-like students one by one. He knew of Myungsoo and Myungeun too, who knew about Woohyun’s past. Was this supposed to be some sort of ‘hush money,’ making Sunggyu feel obligated to keep his mouth shut?

Sunggyu sighed. Even if he were to tell people, no one would ever believe him. He felt like Cassandra, and Woohyun was Apollo, giving him all this knowledge that he couldn’t share with others and forcing Sunggyu to carry the burden all by himself. Nam Woohyun was a jerk.

Since Sunggyu’s mind was preoccupied by the events of that afternoon, it took him awhile to realize that he was being followed. It was a rustling in the bushes next to him that gave the stalker away. Sunggyu’s head snapped in the direction of the noise, and a girl dressed in sequins from head to toe squealed and ducked behind the bushes again. Inha was at it again. Sunggyu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. What should he do? Call her out? Ignore her? Sunggyu went with the latter and continued to ignore her. But he picked up his pace as he walked. The rustling followed him and now even twigs were snapping as Inha was running through the bushes to keep up with him. Unfortunately, the row of bushes was ending soon, and he’d end up face-to-face with the crazy woman in the matter of seconds. Fortunately, the convenience store was also at the end of the row. Sunggyu, trying to catch Inha off guard, broke into a sprint and ducked into the store. Once the door shut behind him, Sunggyu leaned against the door, panting and clutching his heart.

“What are you doing?”

“ACK!” Sunggyu yelped and jumped away from the door. “Don’t...scare...me...like that,” he wheezed in between breaths.

Nam Woohyun spun in his chair, turning towards him. He chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d scare so easily,” he remarked before biting into the sausage in his hands.

“Well I do,” Sunggyu retorted, slowly regaining composure, and that’s when he finally got a good look at the other. He tilted his head, scanning Nam Woohyun from head to toe. “What are you wearing?”

“This?” Woohyun asked as he tugged on his jersey. “This is a soccer referee uniform. Why do you think I wear it?”

Sunggyu’s conclusion from that afternoon flashed across his mind: Woohyun with Professor Kang in the...He then violently shook that thought out of his head. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna know,” he stammered.

“Suit yourself,” Woohyun responded, looking at Sunggyu out of the corner of his eye as he turned back around to face the window. “Oh my god!” he shouted, nearly falling out of his chair. He gripped the countertop, catching himself and pulling himself back up.

“What? What? What?” Sunggyu blubbered as he came right over. “HOLY!” he covered his mouth before he could complete the swear. Inha was standing outside of the window with her face pressed against the glass, searching the room for Sunggyu. And when the two of them made eye contact, they both dropped down into a crouch onto the floor, which made Woohyun laugh.

And while laughing, he knocked on the glass. “Yah, come in or leave,” he commanded the stalker. Inha must’ve heard and obeyed because a few seconds later, Woohyun was patting Sunggyu’s back and saying, “The coast is clear.”

Slowly, Sunggyu rose back onto his feet. He wasn’t entirely trusting of Woohyun, so he peered over the countertop for a few seconds, checking the scene for himself. Once he saw that it was Inha-free, Sunggyu bolted upright and heaved a sigh of relief. He then sat in the chair next to Woohyun. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“Inha-noona is still following you?” Woohyun asked. Sunggyu didn’t even bother answering because it was obvious. Woohyun clicked his tongue. “I really thought she’d give up by now.”

Sunggyu breathed in deeply again. “Well, she really likes me,” he said in resignation.

“Do you like her?”

Sunggyu looked at the other as if he were crazy (and maybe he was because he was wearing a ref’s uniform while eating sausages). “Inha?” Sunggyu asked in disbelief. Woohyun nodded, which made Sunggyu groan, “Oh god no. She’s not my style.”

Now it was Woohyun’s turn to look at the other incredulously. After scanning him from top to bottom, Woohyun fought back, “You have style?!” But he could only maintain his serious expression for a second before a smile cracked across his face, and he bursted into a laugh.

Sunggyu didn’t find any of that amusing. His style was just fine. And he was comfortable. Wasn’t that all that really mattered? Sunggyu scoffed. He wasn’t going to take this dis from someone in a soccer jersey. “Myungsoo was right. You can be a jerk.”

“Ah,” Woohyun muttered with his mouth full of food. “So you guys talked about me.”

Sunggyu nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yea, I know all about you now,” he responded.

“Uh.” Woohyun looked nervous, and the corner of his smile twitched again. “You do?”

“You broke his hand!” Sunggyu shouted, unable to keep that one secret hidden inside any longer.

But Woohyun reaction wasn’t what he expected. Instead of looking guilty, a smirk spread across Woohyun’s face as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Aish. Is he still blaming me for that? It was an accident!” he explained. “Myungsoo must’ve warped his memory and made me the bad guy.” Woohyun then raised his arms in the air in defeat. “Fine. I’ll be the bad guy. It was years ago anyway. Not like it matters now.”

Sunggyu scoffed. “He says that it still hurts,” he pointed out. There were serious consequences to his actions, and Woohyun needed to know that. Sunggyu didn’t like how casually Woohyun was handling this, like his past actions didn’t matter.

“What?” There it was, the look of guilt that Sunggyu was looking for. It was just a flash of an expression, but it was enough. Nam Woohyun wasn’t completely heartless. “Does it ache whenever rain is about to come? I’ve always wanted that. It’s kinda like a superpower, isn’t it?” Or maybe he was. Every time Sunggyu thought that he figured Nam Woohyun out, the wolf would bark out something unexpected like that.

“You...you’re weird,” Sunggyu concluded. He had to come to terms with it. He didn’t know Nam Woohyun that well at all. Sunggyu couldn’t even tell what he thought about the other any longer (except that he was getting more comfortable being around the wolf).

Woohyun gave the other a half-smile, only letting the other have a peek at how he felt. “So you finally noticed,” he mumbled.

“Noticed what?”

“Me,” Woohyun answered and a whole grin spread across his face. He then got up from his seat and gathered up his trash. “I have to go. My bus is leaving soon,” he announced. “Goodbye, Kim Sunggyu.”

“Bye, Nam Woohyun,” Sunggyu responded back, waving at the other until he was out of sight. The wolf’s smile broadened until his fangs flashed under the streetlamps.

Sunggyu then looked at his waving hand and groaned, pulling the hand down onto the countertop. “Get a hold of yourself. You can’t fall for that smile.”

For the rest of the break, Sunggyu didn’t see Nam Woohyun or his troublesome smile again. But he did see Professor Kang, too much of Professor Kang after spending hours in her office as he assistant. And just because his break was over, didn’t mean that his assistantship came to an end. Now Sunggyu had to sit in her office every morning, helping with her book, and every afternoon, he’d have to listen to her lecture in class. Sunggyu almost regretted taking the position, almost. At least some good came out of that week in Professor Kang’s office. He got to know his TA better. And although the TA was scatterbrained (losing things ended up being a habit that he had), he did try to make up for it. He was the one who recommended Sunggyu for the job.

And so, on the first day back from break, Sunggyu walked back onto campus feeling as if he didn’t have a break at all. Kate and Sungyeol, on the other hand, looked refreshed and had a spring in their step. Kate talked about how she and her mother went to the beach for a few days. Sungyeol talked about how he helped his parents out at their shop. And all Sunggyu could talk about were the papercuts that he’d gotten from flipping through Kang’s book endlessly. Those two were also excited about starting classes again, but Sunggyu wasn’t. He had to go stare at the face which he stared at all last week.

Sunggyu shuffled his feet as he entered the lecture room, and he fell into his seat as if it were one of the last days of finals week rather than the first day back from a break. He laid his head on the desk, groaning as the other students filed in. Someone sat down beside him, and he didn’t even bother to see who it was. He just moaned and turned his head to the other  side, towards the door. And that was when he saw something unusual.

It was him. But it wasn’t him because Sunggyu was him. Sunggyu raised his head and shook it, trying to get the contents of his head back in order. But when he opened his eyes, he still saw the same thing: his own reflection. And his reflection sat down in front of him. The man in front of him was wearing a black beanie, with baggy, black shorts, and a oversized black hoodie with a graphic print on it. But the real kicker was the long, plain jacket that the man threw onto the back of his chair. Sunggyu looked down at himself. He was wearing that jacket right now. Hell, he was practically wearing the same outfit.

“Wow!” someone muttered besides him. Sunggyu craned his neck and saw that it was none other than Nam Woohyun sitting besides him. “He looks just like you,” Woohyun whispered with a chuckle. “Maybe you do have style.”

“Of course,” was all that Sunggyu could manage to say in response. He cocked his head and stared at the man in front of him. Who are you?

Whoever it was, he was answering every, single question that Professor Kang posed. Sunggyu frowned. That was normally him who did that. But Sunggyu’s doppleganger was faster than he was and raised his hand first. What sort of reflection was faster than the person casting it?

Sunggyu got his answer towards the end of class, when Professor Kang was wrapping things up. “Good work today, everybody,” she announced. Her gaze then dropped to the doppleganger. “Especially you, Howon-ssi.”

“Howon?” Sunggyu muttered underneath his breath. Why did that name sound so familiar? The doppleganger then turned around and faced the original. It’s him! Ho-person!

Howon (apparently) raised his hand and waved to Sunggyu. “Hey, hyung! How was your break?” he asked.

“Fine,” Sunggyu muttered in response, too stunned to say much more.

One of their classmates, Dahyun, walked up to Howon. “I’ve never heard you talk so much,” she praised the doppleganger.

“Yea, my parents gave me this pretty voice so I thought that I might as well use it,” Howon joked. Sunggyu perked up and cocked an eyebrow. He was the one that normally said comments like that. This kid was stealing his jokes too. “That and my participation grade was low,” Howon added as he stood up from his chair.

“Hoya!” someone shouted from behind Sunggyu. Now both of his eyebrows arched upwards. Sunggyu was the one who came up with that nickname...by accident. How did other people know about it? Dongwoo, who called out to him earlier, walked down the rows until he was next to Howon. “Let’s eat lunch together,” he suggested. Lunch! That was another thing that Sunggyu did (along with most people on the planet).

“I can’t. I’m meeting with someone,” Howon/Hoya/copycat replied. His ears grew hot and the redness was slowly spreading to his cheeks too.

Dongwoo laughed and put his arm around the other. “Is it a girl? Did you go and get yourself a girlfriend over the break?” he asked in a teasing voice.

“Oh yea,” Hoya stammered out awkwardly.

“Oh! Wow!” Dahyun exclaimed as she clapped excitedly. “Hoya’s got himself a girlfriend! Who is it?”

Hoya rubbed the back of his neck anxiously as he responded, “Her name is...K..Karen and she’s from...Canada?” Sunggyu scoffed at that. If this Ho-man was going to copy his life, he might as well do it right. Her name is Kate and she’s from America, Sunggyu sneered in his head. He’s even trying to steal my friends .

“Wah! A foreigner?” Dongwoo asked in amazement.

Hoya nodded, more confident about his answer this time. “Yes.”

“HoYA!” Sunggyu winced after hearing that voice. Of course it was only moments until Nam Woohyun entered himself into this whole debacle. Woohyun slid over his desk and stood up next to Hoya. He pulled the plaid jacket off from Hoya’s chair. “That’s a cool jacket. Can I try it on?” he asked, even though he was already trying it on.

“Oh, sure,” Hoya mumbled in reply, given no choice.

“Nice!” Woohyun praised as he slid the coat on. It was a little large for his frame, and his hands were gripping at the edges of the too-long sleeves. “How does it look? Good, right? I’m handsome? Su—!” In the middle of his self-praise, Woohyun had raised his arm to do something, but because he was gripping the end of the sleeve and had raised his arm too quickly, a tear formed at the armpit, ruining Hoya’s copycat coat.

Sunggyu smirked. At least that was one thing Hoya couldn’t copy anymore. Thank you, Nam Woohyun.

Along with Professor Kang, there was one other person that Sunggyu kept seeing: Inha. This time, she wasn’t even bothering to hide. She was just walking alongside Sunggyu in silence, as if this was completely normal for the both of them. “Inha-ssi, what are you doing?” Sunggyu finally asked, not being able to take this anymore.

“Walking to my bus stop,” she answered. “We take the same bus.”

“I’m going to the library though,” Sunggyu retorted.

Inha clapped her hands together. “Good idea! We are students, and students should study. Right, oppa! Let’s go to the library and have a study date. Call!” she exclaimed, getting all excited by herself.

Sunggyu stopped and grabbed the back of Inha’s collar so that she’d stop with him. She made a slight gagging sound, but it soon turned into a giggle as she twisted around to face him. “I don’t want to go to the library with you. Study by myself,” he tried to turn her down nicely.

“Okay,” Inha agreed, nodding along. “Let’s study by ourselves but sitting right next to each other. I can do that.”

“NO!” Sunggyu huffed, stamping his foot. “I’m going to the library by myself, and you go anywhere else but the library,” he laid out the terms for her as clear as the day.

“Ah,” Inha muttered, still nodding her head like a bobblehead doll. “Woohyun warned me about this. He said that you like to play hard to get. And that when you say ‘no,’ you usually mean ‘yes,’” she explained. Inha then wrapped her arms around Sunggyu’s. “So I’m not going to leave your side because that’s what you really want.”

“Noooooooo!” Sunggyu whined, trying to shake her off.

“Yes!” Inha squealed happily, clinging on more tightly. “I’m never letting you go! Don’t worry!”

“Hey! You said that you were going to be in the library a half an hour ago. What happened?”

“Kate!” Sunggyu called out to his friend in desperation. She was walking up to the couple from the entrance of the library, eyeing both of them curiously. “I got a little caught up with something,” he said nodding over to Inha.

Inha wasn’t very happy about all of this. “Who’s she?” she asked Sunggyu, digging her fingernails into his arm. “Why are you going to the library with her? The library is our place!”

“Me?” Kate asked, pointing to herself. “I’m Kate. His friend. We’ve actually met before...”

“Friend?” Inha repeated, ignoring whatever else Kate had said. Kate nodded, which made Inha beam in delight. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and placed a hand over her heart as she introduced herself (yet again) to Kate. “Well, I’m his girlfriend .”

Kate clapped her hands together and then pointed at Inha. “Oh so this is stalker that you were talking about!” she exclaimed happily, as if this was a good thing.

“Oppa talks about me?” Inha sounded besides herself with glee.

“Aish!” Sunggyu cursed as he tried to shrug off Inha for the hundredth time. “Don’t give her ideas. You’re starting to act like Nam Woohyun,” he reprimanded his friend.

“What? Me?” Kate asked in disbelief. She then looked off into the distance as she mumbled under her breath, “It’s not like Sungyeol and I hang out with Nam Woohyun behind your back or anything.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Kate dismissed him. Instead, she leaned in and whispered loudly into Sunggyu’s ear (she was always awful at whispering), “So you want to get rid of the girl?”

“Yes,” Sunggyu didn’t even need to think about that.

“Okay,” Kate whispered back and winked at him.

That wink made him nervous. “Wait! What are you going to do?” Sunggyu stammered, second-guessing his decision.

“I’m going to tell her the truth, like you should have ages ago,” Kate clarified. And Sunggyu gulped. He didn’t think that he was ready for that, and he wasn’t sure if Inha was the right person to tell the truth to. “He’s...not interested,” Kate explained to Inha. And Sunggyu sighed in relief that it was all she had said.

“B-but Woohyun…” Inha stuttered as her gaze darted everywhere, trying to figure things out. But then it fell on Kate, and she smirked knowingly. “Oh, I see what’s going on. You like Sunggyu too!”

“Me? Like him? This kid?” Kate scoffed, wagging her finger in Sunggyu’s face. Sunggyu frowned and batted her finger away. He didn’t like how she was on the verge of laughing at that idea, not at all.

“You don’t, do you?”

The three of them whipped their heads over to the side. Sungyeol was walking up to them now, with a greatly concerned look on his face, his gaze fixed solely on Kate. “Do you like Sunggyu?” he posed the question more directly.

“No,” Kate quickly answered her slave. She then turned to Inha with a red face. “I really don’t. We’re just friends. Like Sungyeol and I,” she clarified.

Sungyeol chuckled dryly. “ Just friends?” he repeated.

“Then you shouldn’t have a problem with me dating him,” Inha retorted and stuck out her tongue at Kate.

“You can’t!” Kate lamely argued, stamping her foot in frustration.

Sungyeol placed a hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Why can’t she?” he challenged.

“Because I don’t want to!” Sunggyu shouted on the top of his lungs. All three of them finally looked at him. “Yea, I’m still here,” he announced. Inha tightened her grip on his arm, showing that she didn’t forget him. Sunggyu yanked his arm from her grip, finally freeing himself, and then he placed both of his hand on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. Maybe this will work. “Look, you can like me. I can’t help that. But don’t expect me to like you back, ever. I can’t help that either. You’re just...not my type. People won’t love you just because you love them. That’s not how it works,” Sunggyu tried to explain it to her as best he could.

“B-but…” Sunggyu sighed. He should’ve known that she wouldn’t stop without putting up a fight. However, no matter how long he waited, that’s all she could say, “But...but,” like a broken record.

“Inha, find someone who loves you more than you love them,” he advised her, patting her on the shoulder before turning to leave. He could still squeeze in a good hour or two of studying before going home. But Sunggyu stopped before he could even take another step. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t get any studying done tonight.

“Are we really just friends?” Sungyeol asked Kate.

She shook her head that was hanging. Her gaze was fixed on their feet until she raised it quickly to look at the other’s face. “You’re my slave,” she replied.

“Stop it,” Sungyeol snapped. Sunggyu had never heard him so stern. Kate’s eyes fell again to the floor. “Stop with this whole slave business,” he insisted.

“Why?” Kate argued. “It’s fun,” her voice was low, almost inaudible.

But Sungyeol heard it, loud and clear. “Because I want to be serious for a change,” he responded. He tilted his head, trying to catch her gaze, but she avoided him. Sungyeol sighed, frustrated. “And you, you always try to turn everything into a joke when it gets too close or too real. Can we just have an honest conversation for once about this?” he asked. “Please?”

Kate finally raised her head, but her eyes didn’t fall on Sungyeol. She was looking straight at Sunggyu. “Sunggyu can hear,” she mumbled.

“Why does that matter?” Sungyeol snapped back. Kate chewed on her lip as she shifted her gaze back to Sungyeol, thinking it over but still saying nothing. And that’s when Sungyeol finally lost his patience. “Fine, if you really want to be with Sunggyu, you can. I’m leaving,” he announced, turned, and left, not even looking back at her or Sunggyu.

But Kate’s eyes stayed on Sungyeol back, even when it was barely visible anymore.

Cautiously, Sunggyu inched closer to her. She didn’t move, so he took it as a good sign. “Kate…” he started, but he didn’t know what else to say. So he just ended it right there.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she muttered as she slowly turned to her old friend. Her smile was small, forced and the corners of her lips were twitching, threatening to fall. She sniffed loudly before asking, “Do you want to get anything to eat? I’m hungry.”

Sunggyu was right. He was done studying for the day. “Yea, sure. Anything you want.”

As it would turn out, Kate didn’t even want food, or at least she wasn’t acting like it. She guzzled down one bottle of soju already, which was an entire bottle ahead of Sunggyu already. He hadn’t even touched his first glass. So Kate took it and drained it for him. When she handed him the empty glass, Sunggyu sighed. “Thanks,” voice thick with sarcasm. Kate nodded, her head bobbing more than it should. She was already very tipsy. Too tipsy. She was red in the face, and her eyelids were drooping. One more glass, and she might be passed out on the table.

So Sunggyu took the bottle of water at their table and filled the empty soju bottle with water. After he was done, he handed it over to Kate. “Got you another bottle,” he lied.

“You’re the best,” Kate praised, taking the bottle from him with both of her hands. She was already pouring herself another glass.

Sunggyu sighed yet again as he watched her. “Kate, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Drinking,” she answered curtly (Sunggyu expected that answer), and she took a sip from her glass. “AH! That’s good. That’s smooth. Like drinking water.”

“Yea, funny how that is,” he replied dryly. Right now wasn’t the time to have a serious conversation with her. She need to stew in her own thoughts for awhile until she figured things out. Knowing her, she was probably drinking her way into an epiphany. And it would be Sunggyu’s job to make sure that she didn’t kill herself in the process. But above all, they needed food.

“I’ll go and order some food, okay? Don’t drink all of this,” he told her, pointing at the bottle.

“Can’t make any promises,” Kate chirped back, pouring herself a second glass of water. Sunggyu shook his head at her and left to go order some food.

It took longer than he expected. The line was long, and the ahjumma at the counter was a bit slow at taking orders. And while he was already gone for a long time, Sunggyu also hit the bathroom, taking care of his own business before he could take care of Kate’s. When he came back, he realized that he was gone for entirely too long.

“Mandu, mandu, mandu, mandu, 10! Aha! I win!” Kate cheered. She then began to roll up her sleeves. “Now I get to flick your forehead! Ready? Ready?”

“I’m ready. You talk too much. Just do it.”

“Ah, I can’t do it. You’re too cute,” Kate praised as she ruffled the hair of the man across from her.

“Okay but when I win, I’m going to flick you hard, okay?” Nam Woohyun responded. He then placed his hands in front of him, folded up to look like a dumpling (who played this game with both hands?). “Ready? Mandyu, mandyu, mandyu, mandyu, 15!” he called out in a high-pitched voice. He looked at their still folded hands. “I lost.”

“Oh! Gyu’s back! Now we can play with 6 hands!” Kate cheered, waving at her friend with both hands.

“Oh, it’s Kim Sunggyu!” Woohyun exclaimed, just as excited as the tipsy girl across from him. He also waved like her and smiled broadly.

Get a hold of yourself, Kim Sunggyu. You can’t fall for that smile.