“You guys know each other?” Jimin darted his eyes back and forth between Yeonji and his friend, who was apparently Kim Taehyung – someone that Yeonji had desperately been looking for all this time. It’s obvious that he hadn’t expected the girls he’d just known knew his friend.

Yeonji didn’t answer. More like she couldn’t because she had her full attention on Taehyung, although he didn’t pay any attention to her. Not getting any reply from him, she was about to call him once again when he plopped down on his seat next to Jimin, plugging earphones in his ears. Putting down his backpack on the table, he laid his head on it, closing his eyes shut.

One thing for sure: he didn’t want to be interrupted.

“Yeah, we went to the same middle school back in Daegu,” Seulgi answered for Yeonji after making sure Taehyung wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. Somehow, Yeonji could sense her friend getting intimidated by the guy who seemed like he didn’t care about things happening around him.

“What happened to him?” Yeonji muttered, her eyes not leaving Taehyung even if she could barely see him with his hood up and his face buried in his backpack.

“Sorry?” Jimin was seemingly unable to understand her question.

Seulgi translated, “Yeonji is wondering what happened to Taehyung after their last meeting in middle school. He magically disappeared and she’s never stopped looking for him.”

“Whoa. I’m sorry, girls. I don’t want to die young.” He made a straight horizontal line across his neck with his hand. “He’ll definitely kill me if I ever tell anyone about his personal life. Why don’t you ask him yourselves? I can’t guarantee your safety, though.” He chuckled.

“Why did he change so much?” Yeonji asked no one in particular. Observing Taehyung like she’d used to do, she reminisced about the past – when Taehyung was the brightest person she’d ever met.

Now, Taehyung was no longer the one she’d known from middle school. He had lost his smile, his laughter, his bright expression. He was nowhere near friendly like how he would greet everyone he met before. He was nothing like someone who she’d used to admire. He had turned into a cold and dark Taehyung.

He didn’t even spare her and Seulgi, who were his old classmates in middle school – a glance.

“Yeonji, why are you so interested in him? Is he your long-lost crush or something?” Jimin asked in a joking manner.

“No, he’s not,” Yeonji sheepishly answered, feeling a pink blush spreading on her cheeks. “He’s someone who has made me into who I am now.”

Jimin shot her a look of disbelief. He turned to look at his friend who’s now probably fast asleep and turned back to face her. “Are you sure? This guy actually did something for you?”

“She’s exaggerating, Jimin.” Seulgi pinched Yeonji’s cheek lightly. “This girl right here is obsessed with your friend.”

“I’m not obsessed,” Yeonji protested shyly, trying to move Seulgi’s hand away from her cheek. “I admire him.”

Jimin burst into laughter. “Are you kidding me? Admire him? I can barely talk to him without worrying that he would land a punch on my pretty face. And he almost never reply when I talk to him.”

Suddenly, Taehyung sat up straight, making Jimin’s body jerk out of shock in his seat. Due to the abrupt move, Taehyung took a glance at Jimin, who flashed him a bright smile instantly. Rolling his eyes at his friend’s behavior, Taehyung laid his head down again, going back to sleep.

Jimin put a hand on his left chest and let out a sigh of relief. “Let’s just stop talking about him. My heart isn’t strong enough to handle this.”

They eventually dropped the topic and discussed about something else – mostly about their high school life since they’d just graduated and they found it nostalgic. Although she was getting much better, Yeonji was still having trouble in being active in a discussion. She had no problem replying to any questions they threw her, but she was struggling to join the conversation – more like a conversation only between Seulgi and Jimin – as a speaker instead of a listener.

It was even more difficult when Taehyung – the center of her attention, was right in front of her. She couldn’t help but wonder who or what had made him change. And if the five years of his disappearance had something to do with it.

Her curiosity about him was starting to get bigger.

The three of them went silent and Jimin lightly nudged Taehyung to wake him up, which didn’t work, when the lecturer strode into the classroom. Jimin ended up shaking Taehyung’s shoulders even harder as the first thing their lecturer did after entering their classroom was taking the attendance. Plucking the earphones out of his ears, Taehyung gave Jimin a dead glare before leaning his back against his chair and folding his arms across his chest, lazily eyeing the lecturer.

She had always hated the process of taking attendance, she still hated it now, and probably she would hate it for the rest of her life. Being the source of the attention of many people – moreover strange