Yerim had went back on Sunday night and luckily she did not spot Jungkook near her house. She saw the number of calls Jungkook left, as well the messages but she hadn't actually opened it only seeing their previews. She was still a bit reluctant to open the messages from him but had thought to herself that it was about time for to reply.

She scanned through the messages asking where she was, why couldn't he call her and apologizing for not being there for her birthday on time. Yerim thought for a while what to reply and had just quickly sent a 'thank you' and that it was okay that he had missed it. Adding that she understood that he might have been busy.

What she didn't expect was the quick reply from the boy himself.

jeon.jk: yerim! you finally replied

jeon.jk: i'm still very sorry that we didnt get to celebrate like usual

jeon.jk: i feel really guilty T.T

myemim: it's ok! you were probably busy

myemim: we celebrate every year together anw, dont worry too much

myemim: or else you'll be the one getting older and not me :p

jeon.jk: this kid..

jeon.jk: hey i'll be back soon, think we can meet up just for a while?

myemim: actually..i'm pretty tired i think i'll head to bed earlier

myemim: since i still have school tomorrow..

jeon.jk: oh ok. but we should meet soon!

jeon.jk: night yerimie

Yerim then left it on read and proceeded to throw herself on the bed. She reread her replies to him and mentally gave herself a pat on the back for sounding normal. She thought about what Jungkook said about wanting to meet and her mind began finding ways to come up with excuses to not meet him.

-

The following week the school really did become hectic. On Saturday they were going to hold the graduation ceremony for the seniors and the underclassmen were asked to help around. Not to mention, the final exams for the sophomores and the juniors were also soon approaching. Yerim didn't really have to make up excuses since she really was busy.

However, since Jungkook was free he's been asking whether she wanted him to take her home from school since she's been getting back quite late. Yerim had declined for two days and whenever she was back Jungkook was luckily never there. On Wednesday, Yerim was left with reviewing a couple of subjects since she'll be busy for a while.

Yerim had been stuck in the library since class was over. Her focus was solely on the reading at hand and when there was an approaching figure she wasn't able to notice. When the sound of a chair being dragged was heard, she turned to see it was a fellow classmate of hers, Mark. He had transferred in the beginning of the school year and although they haven't had much chance to talk, both were quite acquianted with one another.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" The boy asked. She saw how Mark had already placed his bag on the table at she let out a small giggle.

"Well, seeing that you've already placed your bag on the table," she started, "one would think you didn't have to ask at all." Noticing what she meant, the boy let out a shy laugh as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's okay, no one's sitting there anyways." Yerim said with a smile, she then moved a few of her stuff away which the boy had thanked her for.

Both had then settled themselves and started to do their own tasks. Mark would sometimes get stuck on a question or passage and when Yerim noticed, she would offer to help him. He would also bashfully ask her straight away when he got confused and would apologize fist for disturbing her before askng for her help.

During that time, Jungkook had just come to school. It has been a while since the last period at school and he had planned to surprise Yerim a bit. Walking into the school he thought just going around before eventually asking where Yerim was. The students who were still at school quickly greeted him and he gave them a warm greeting back.

Jungkook had just bumped into Lee Chan, Yerim's friend from drama club, as he went out of the teacher's office. Both were well acquainted with one another as Jungkook knew Chan from his close friend and would usually ask to help keep a look out for Yerim in the drama club.

"Are you looking for Yerim, hyung?" the younger boy asked which Jungkook replied with a nod. "I think I saw her at the library." Chan recalled as Jungkook gave him a quick thanks before they went their own way.

Jungkook reached the library where a couple of students were still seen buried deep in their assignments. He gave a quiet greeting towards the librarian and began to look for Yerim. He was a couple of away when he spotted her familiar figure. Jungkook was about to approach her when he saw that Yerim had company. Both were deep in discussion and the more Jungkook look at them, the more hesitant he became in approaching their table.

Jungkook then decided to settle on one of the unoccupied table a couple of distance away from the two people. Jungkook couldn't help but trying to scrutinize the boy sitting next to her. He saw how shy the boy was whenever Yerim made eye contact after explaining something. He also saw how the boy had snuck a couple of glances at Yerim whenever she wasn't looking.

Other than looking at the boy, Jungkook couldn't help but glancing at Yerim's direction a couple of times. He noticed how Yerim would stop suddenly in the middle of explaining things to her friend and scrunch her eyebrows in confusion. He also noticed Yerim's habit of biting her pencil when she was deeply concentrating at her work. Jungkook unconciously let out a smile as he paid attention to the cute little things Yerim did.

She's just adorable, he was snap out of it when the thought crossed his mind. He couldn't help admiring his so called best friend though. Her bangs were longer now and Yerim swept it a bit to the side as it was starting to bother her concentration. A sudden realization that came to Jungkook. Were Yerim and the boy on a study date?

The thought had made Jungkook feeling uneasy. It felt like he was thinking of just heading home when Chan popped out.

"Oh, hyung you're still here? Did you not find Yerim?" He asked the older boy. Chan then did a quick scan and spotted the said girl. "Oh, she's right there. Let me call her for you."

Jungkook was about to stop the boy but he accidently bumped his knee on the table which made quite a loud noise. The librarian happened to be there and gave him a scolding look which Jungkook quickly apologized for. Before he knew it, Chan was already at Yerim's table, said something to her as he pointed towards Jungkook's direction which caused the pair at the table to look his way.

Jungkook then saw Yerim saying something to both boys before standing up and making her way towards Jungkook. Jungkook had then gave her a stiff wave and smile.

"Chan said you've been at school for a while and was looking for me." The girl said in a hushed tone. "Have you just been sitting there all this time? Why didn't you head over to my table or contacted me?"

"Ah, oh," Jungkook was stuttered out, "I saw you were so serious in doing your assignment and you had company so I didn't want to bother you." He tried explaining to her. "I was actually thinking about heading home and contacting you later on."

"You know I wouldn't be bothered by it." Yerim had said as she crossed her arms. "I'm about to finish anyways, can you wait for me for a bit longer?" Jungkook had nodded quickly and Yerim went back to her table. He saw Yerim saying something to the boy at her table as she sat down and proceeded with her work. The boy had waved off whatever she said with a smile, he then looked over to Jungkook's way and gave a small nod in greeting which Jungkook replied to.

Not long after that Yerim began packing her things, said goodbye to Mark and walked over towards Jungkook's table.

-

Both Yerim and Jungkook had began their usual track to home. Yerim was a couple of steps ahead Jungkook as the boy couldn't help but be in a daze as he looked at her. Noticing the older boy lagging behind her, Yerim stopped walking and looked back at Jungkook's figure with her head tilted to the side.

"What's wrong? You've been awfully quiet since we got out of the school." She had asked, tone filled with worry. Jungkook let out a small smile at her confused face and dismissed her question with a shake of his head. He then caught up with her as she let out huff and rolled her eyes.

"What were you doing back at school anyways? Aren't you busy?" She asked again.

"I'm not busy, you are." He said, giving a light nudge to her shoulder. "We should have met up sooner but you kept on being busy."

"Hey, I'm busy for a reason." She said, crossing her arms. "We had to prepare for your year's graduation ceremony while having to prepare for finals." The boy had only joked and repeated her answer in a annoying way which resulted in the girl pushing him.

"What do you have there anyways?" Yerim asked after seeing the paper bag Jungkook had with him. Jungkook was confused at first until he followed Yerim's gaze.

"Oh! This is actually why I've been asking to meet up for." Jungkook said, he then pulled her towards a nearby bench. He sat her down as he began taking things out from the bag, but Yerim couldn't see what it was.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Yerim, happy birthday to you~" Jungkook sang as he held out a redvelvet cupcake with an unlit candle. "Sorry, looks like I didn't bring a lighter with me." The boy explained bashfully, realizing his mistake.

Yerim looked at the cupcake and at Jungkook, her heart fluttering at the sweet action. Noticing the girl not repsonding with anything, Jungkook began to ramble. "I know it's very late, but we've always celebrated your birthday together."

"And even though you said it was okay, it just felt weird not doing it this year." He continued on. "I'm really sorry again for missing your birthday."

"Thank you." Yerim let out softly that Jungkook almost didn't hear. When he looked up at her face, Yerim had the brightest smile directed to him. Seeing her smiling so sweetly, Jungkook felt his heart skipping a beat.

Jungkook then urged her to take the cupcake and to pretend to blow out the candles. Yerim played along and even made a wish before blowing the unlit candle. Jungkook then handed her the paper bag which Yerim quickly took a peak at.

She took out the object from the bag and was pleased to see what it was. She read the cover of the book over and over again, then looked at Jungkook and then back to the book. Jungkook was very pleased with her reaction that he let out a small laugh.

"How did-"

"I know you've been looking for that book for quite a while and got it further away from the city." He began explaining. "Actually that was why I was unreachable during your birthday."

"I even had Eunji noona to drive me back to the city." He continued on with the story. However, Yerim's smile was quickly wiped off with the mention of the older girl's name. Jungkook noticed and had stopped talking.

"You okay Yerimmie? Did I say something?" He asked confused. Yerim mulled over whether she should ask what was on her mind before going for it.

"What's your relationship with Eunji?" She asked boldly, however she wasn't able to look directly at Jungkook.

"She's a close noona that has been very helpful to me." Jungkook said slowly, confused at her sudden question. Before he could ask why, Yerim had beat him to it.

"Really? It doesn't seem like it, especially after quite a while." She said lowly, still not looking at her direction.

"What?" Jungkook was sitll confused by her sudden question. "Why are you suddenly bringing Eunji noona up?" Yerim however didn't reply and stared at her hands on her lap. Jungkook was about to prod her to talk when she got up.

"Actually, forget it. It's getting late we should head home." She said while trying to gather her things. Jungkook however wasn't having any of it.

"Come on Yerim, I won't understand if you don't explain it to me." He said, also standing up. However she only shook her head and was about to walk away when he grabbed her wrist.

"I said forget about it." She said as she pulled her hand away from his grip.

"What's going on Yerim?" He questioned again while trailing after her. "You're acting weird, it's like you're..." jealous, he wanted to say but he decided against it. Why would she be jealous about?

"Like what?" Yerim asked defensively. Her tone was harsh and Jungkook was starting to feel frustrated by her sudden change of mood.

"Like you're jealous!" He finally said it but he didn't just stop there. "And it's weird cause it's not like we're dating or anything." That seemed to struck something within Yerim as her expression changed into a slightly gloomy one which didn't come unnoticed by Jungkook.

"You're right," she finally spoke up. "We're only best friends." And with that she started walking away again.

"What about you and that boy at the library?" Jungkook finally said, loud enough for Yerim to hear even with the distance between them. Yerim looked back at Jungkook after he spoke up, a bit surprised at the sudden question.

"Seemed like you guys were quite friendly with each other." He said again after having no response from the girl. "I didn't want to come to your table because I didn't want to disturb your study date."

"It was not a date." She finally replied. "We're classmates and Mark was just asking for help on some of the work we had to do."

"Oh really, good to know I didn't ruin your date with Mark then." He answered back sarcastically. It was Yerim's turn to be frustrated.

"Why are you suddenly acting like someone that's jealous now?" She talked back. "Like you said before, it's not like we're dating." She shot back his words at him. Jungkook had only gaped at her and seeing that, Yerim really did walk away from him not even sparing him another glance.

Jungkook thought back towards every word said during their 'fight'. He then began scolding himself remembering the things he said. When Yerim finally arrived back at home, she also just realized what she has said to Jungkook and regretted everything she said.

That night both Yerim and Jungkook went to bed with heavy hearts. Both didn't have the courage to speak up to the other first.