Sunggyu was putting the last tick to his student's paper when the message came.

Seonsaeng-nim, the three of us are going for food, wanna come?

Sunggyu could not help but smile at his screen. Howon's text came at the perfect moment when he needed a break before beginning his next stack of work, and months ago he wouldn't even dare to imagine being on amiable terms with this troublemaker, let alone buddies.

Nah, I have work to do. Enjoy yourselves! But don't stay out too late, you have school tomorrow.

Sent.

Alright, old man. -.-

"Yeesh, I just can't be too kind to this kid." He grinned as he put away his phone again to start another pile of work.

Must be fun to be young, huh?  he thought.

He started typing on his laptop, preparing the notes for the next class about asymptotes. 

-∞-

"He's not coming. Work." Howon rolled his eyes as he started on his burger. The three friends were seated in a fast food joint munching on some cheap meal, having their first real good meal together since Woohyun started his job.

"I barely even see you these days. You always rush off for work right after class." Howon started drinking his coke loudly, earning a glare from both Janelle and Woohyun.

"That's how I earn my good reputation at work. You've got to maintain it, bro." Woohyun smiled proudly.

Janelle was ruminating over the scenes in the ferris wheel today and had been chewing on the same mouth of burger for the past minute. Woohyun noticed this first since he was seated across the two of them. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing much." Janelle snapped out of her thoughts and took another bite. She tried nudging Howon with her elbow but the bow was shifting away from her, assuming that she just needed more space. When she could not take it in anymore, she finally said, "Woohyun-ah, the two of us have something to tell you."

Well this definitely did the trick, because both the boys stopped their munching.

"You do?" Woohyun said wryly.

"We do?" Howon said, a little surprised as he turned around to look at the girl beside him. Her eyes were resolute and unwavering, as if she had decided alone that she would be up for this fight.

Woohyun stared at the two of them, a little touched and feeling teased. He's known for a while now that his best friend was too slow to notice Janelle's affections. It's obvious that she had finally reached out to him in ways no other girls could ever before, but it was just a matter of when he would notice it himself. He really could not believe how Howon could be so quick to pick up on the perfect chance to pull pranks, but completely ignorant about such things. It's been two years and frankly, Janelle liking him was like an open secret in class. Sunggyu's arrival was just a catalyst (one of those things that Woohyun was also grateful to his teacher for). Was this finally the moment? Did his younger brothers magically pull them together in the amusement park after all?

"So we wanted to tell you about our day at the amusement park," Janelle smiled nervously.

"Oh that." Howon was suddenly all serious, finishing the last bite of his burger and hurriedly downing it with coke.

"So, how did Myungsoo and Sungjong enjoy today?" Janelle said, almost testing. Woohyun frowned slightly, confused by where this conversation was going. "Well, they definitely enjoyed it! They sent me many selcas with you guys! I was just kind of surprised to see her with you guys. I thought she just fetched the kids and left. But ya, sounds like you guys had loads of fun without me."

Janelle was pretending she did not notice his tease, though the rising hotness in her cheeks probably betrayed her. Focus!

She was glad Howon did not notice, because he continued, "so you mean, they never sent you the pictures they took with your mum?"

"No, they sent me tons with you guys." Woohyun sipped his iced lemon tea. "Why? They probably didn't take many anyway, so they just wanted to send the nicer ones maybe?"

Howon and Janelle looked at each other meaningfully, pursing their lips. There was a brief pause in the conversation, before Howon finally spoke up.

"No, they took like tons with her. Or more like, she took TONS with them." 

"Do they like her that much?" Woohyun whispered, suddenly getting that this was not what he expected out of this dinner talk. 

"Woohyun, we need to confirm with you now. Over the past month, has Myungsoo and Sungjong said anything to you at all? Like anything out of the norm." Howon pushed on. 

"Guys, you are scaring me. What happened today?" 

"Answer me first." Howon said firmly. When Woohyun searched their eyes, begging them for answers and received nothing in reply, his fear ballooned. They were looking at him as if they were trying to solve something that he wasn't even aware of. 

"Nothing! She's been fetching from school. Sometimes the kids come home late because she brought them out for meals apparently? And when I said I'll pay for their tickets to the theme park, she even offered to bring them over in the morning. She visits every now and then for dinner, stays