Jong Hyun cornered Bom after they washed their dishes.

"Anything wrong, Bommie?" he softly asked her.

She smiled at him sadly and shook her head. He ran his fingers through her soft hair and looked into her eyes.

"I don't believe you," he told her. "If you want to say something, then say it."

Bom shook her head.

"No, I don't want to burden you with my problems," she said.

And she walked out the door to the front porch.

*****

"Bommie, don't lie to me," Jong Hyun said.

By now, tears started falling down her eyes, and he held her hand and wiped her tears away.

"What is it?" he asked her gently.

She did not tell him about the reason why she and Jung Hee broke, or any of the other things that she talked about with her parents. The only thing ringing through her mind was one thing that she asked him.

"Can love be learned?" she asked him.

Jong Hyun smiled a bit and touched her cheeks.

"I cannot answer you that," he said. "But for me, the moment I saw you, I realized that love just comes. I don't know if I can learn to love someone else."

Bom shut her eyes and held his hand, only to push it away. But Jong Hyun pulled her again and hugged her.

"I may be younger than you, and maybe your parents do not approve of me," he said. "But I love you. I really do. And you know that."

Bom cried as she absentmindedly rested her head on his shoulder.

"Mianhae...." she sobbed. "I don't know if I love you or not....but..."

The words made Jong Hyun cringe. Was that 50/50?

"I cannot learn to love.... I must let it take me away....," she said.

The love she had felt for Jung Hee before, she did not know if this was the same thing she felt for Jong Hyun. She pushed him away and apologized.

"But my wish is.... I hope you'll love me back," Jong Hyun said in tears.

He leaned forward slowly and gave Bom a soft and tender kiss on her lips. Bom did not kiss back or object because she was confused. After the kiss, she apologized, stood up, and went away. Jong Hyun looked at her in sadness and shed his lonely tears.

*****

She got in the kitchen to drink some water to ease her heart when she met Min Hyuk.

"Oh? Noona, why are you crying?" he asked like a child.

Bom shook her head as she grabbed a glass and fetched some water for herself. Min Hyuk guessed what her problem was about.

"Jong Hyun made you cry?" he asked in concern.

She shook her head and told her that Jong Hyun did not hurt her.

"Bom-noona, I may be younger than you," he said. "But I can love you like a real man."

Bom looked at him confess seriously--so unlike the childish Min Hyuk who was always misbehaving. He went to her and took the glass away from her hand. He held her chin and leaned forward.

"I wish you will love me too," Min Hyuk said. "Because I love you so much."

Bom stepped back and looked at him in hurt.

"What is with you two?" she asked him. "Two wishes, two confessions.... Do I look like some kind of a prize to be won?"

Min Hyuk saw that this was Bom about to reach the boiling point. He shook his head seriously and cried.

"Noona, what is in Jong Hyun and Jung Shin that is not in me? Is it because they are more mature, more charming, more manly?" he asked. "Am I not manly to you? Do I look like a boy to you?"

Bom shook her head. "Ani.... I never looked at you as a boy, Min Hyuk-ah... I looked at you as a man..."

"Then why are you letting me hope?" Min Hyuk asked.

"Mianhae..." Bom said. "But I already warned you that you need to court someone younger than you, or someone of the same age. But you did not listen."

"Yeah, right, I should have listened!" he hissed. 

He strode to her, grabbed her by the nape, and crushed his lips to hers, and Bom struggled to get free. Min Hyuk kissed her to show her that he was a man, not a child. And gradually, his kiss softened, just to give her an idea that his love for her was true and that he had no intention of hurting her feelings. But Bom pushed him away and slapped him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she cried.

"Bom-noona.... I... I'm sorry," he apologized.

But Bom ran out of the kitchen, leaving Min Hyuk crying his lonely heart.

****

He went inside the room and saw Jong Hyun lying on bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Did you make Bom-noona cry?" he accused his roommate.

Jong Hyun shook his head.

"Bommie is not ready to love," Jong Hyun sadly said. "I cannot force her to love me."

Min Hyuk saw that Jong Hyun had also been rejected, so he turned off the lights and went to bed.

"I guess we have something in common tonight," Min Hyuk said, feeling bad. "She rejected me too."

But Jong Hyun did not reply. All he could hear were Min Hyuk's sniffles ruffled under his pillows.

*****

Bom climbed off the window leading to the rooftop, and there, she saw Jung Shin lying down while staring at the stars. She went near him and lay down beside him.

"Can I just lie here without you asking me questions?" she asked him.

Jung Shin looked at her and nodded.

"You are crying," he said.

"I told you not to ask me questions," she told him.

He got upset because she snapped at him--which was a first.

"I didn't ask you," he said. "I just stated a fact."

She could not argue because it was true. For a few minutes, they were silent. Bom internalized what her parents told her about love and marriage, but she had no intention of telling anyone, not even Jiyeon, about the real reason for her breakup with Jung Hee.

"Jung Shin-ah," she started. "Can love be learned?"

"I don't know," he casually stated. "All I know is that I can feel it."

He shifted his position and lay on his side, facing her. As she stared at the sky, she did not notice the bassist staring at her. It was until he caressed her face with his hand.

"Gwaenchanha?" he asked her.

"Ani..." she said in tears.

If Jong Hyun started with a confession, then a wish, and ended with a kiss, and if Min Hyuk started with a wish, followed by a confession, and ended it with a kiss, Jung Shin started with action.

He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly and tenderly, the same way Jong Hyun did. He stared at her and said.

"Saranghae...." he whispered, then kissed her again.

But Bom reciprocated his kisses with tears. 

"I wish you'll love me back...."

Bom got up in anger and looked at him in anger.

"What's this? Three guys, three wishes, three confessions, three kisses?" she told him. "I already told you that I have no intention of looking at a younger guy!"

Jung Shin began to shed tears.

"Is it because...I just look feminine, that is why you cannot love me?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"Ani....," Bom said. "Mianhae, Jung Shin-ah... I don't know if I ever feel something for you. I don't know.... I am confused...."

He looked at her sadly as she got in the house through the window, thus leaving him crying alone his aching heart.

******

Jung Shin went to the room and lay flat on his face on his bed. Yong Hwa, who was doing his assignment, looked at his bandmate.

"Ya, gwaenchanha?" he casually asked.

Jung Shin shook his head as he covered his eyes with his hand. Yong Hwa heard some sniffles coming from the bassist, so he got up and sat on the floor in front of the bed.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her.

Jung Shin told him what happened.

"Mwo? She got three confessions, three wishes, and three kisses from you all?" Yong Hwa asked.

Jung Shin continued covering his eyes to hide his tears.

"Take care of Shin Hye, and don't break her heart," he told him. "Coz I just did it with Bom-noona..."

Yong Hwa tapped the bassist's shoulder sadly as the latter continued with his crying session.

******

Bom flopped into her bed and allowed the dark room to swallow her. She could not believe that three guys loved her at the same time.

"Eotteohke?" she asked. "I don't even know what real love is.... Mianhae, Jong Hyun-ah, Min Hyuk-ah, Jung Shin-ah...."

Then she cried on her pillow to muffle her sobs.

~~~~