With an envelope opener, I ripped open the boxes that sat in my new room. It was a single. I have to admit, I'm going to miss my late night conversations with Nic, but it's really nice to get my own room and have all this personal space. Plus, now, when I hang out with Taec in my room, it won't be super awkward.

I had just returned to the Boston two nights before today. I had been staying over at Taecyeon's house before we both returned to school. I registered this morning, and school would start tomorrow (sadly).

The day passed slowly; by six o'clock, I finished packing just in time for dinner. Taecyeon promised that he'd take me to a restaurant near by.

As I made my way over to his dorm to get him for dinner, I bumped into Chansung.

We greeted each other happily, hugging one another without the slightest hint of awkwardness of our past relationship. We sat on the benches out in front of their dorm, and chatted about our summer as I waited for Taecyeon.

When he finally showed up, we invited Chansung to join us to dinner. I really did want to have dinner with Chansung, truthfully. I mean, compared to the number of times I've spoken to and seen Chansung, Taecyeon and I have basically been joined at the hip all summer.

He agreed to have dinner with us if he could bring a friend along so that he wouldn't be third wheeling on us.

"If you don't mind my asking... who is this friend, Channie?" I asked cutely, the same way I've always spoken to him.

"No one special," He chuckled, "It's a guy.."

"Oh." Disappointed, I pouted.

Taecyeon held my hand to get my attention, "We should probably get going then; Chansung? Can you call your friend?"

He nodded and pulled out his phone and dialed, "Hey... yeah... Do you want to have dinner with some friends of mine near by?... Mhmm... Yeah we'll be back before 8 or 9.... Okay... I'll be outside Johnson House... See ya."

"So... What's his name?" I asked.

"Dongwoon."

I chuckled, "What are the odds..."

"What?"

"No. Nothing. His last name is Son, right?"

"Yeah..."

I looked over to Taecyeon, "Taec and I both know him, but from different things. How do you know him?"

"His parents know mine... We're like... family friends... Actually, he and I have been close ever since we were younger. What about you?"

"I met him at camp. It was like a Kumon camp sort of thing, but a little bit more relaxed." I then realized that Taecyeon had been keeping silent.

"Tiff, maybe you should invite one of your girlfriends or something so that you're not the only girl here. I'm about to call Jay to ask him to come with us," Taecyeon suggested. It was interesting that he didn't have the same worried tone of voice that he had when he and I argued about Dongwoon over the summer.

"That's a good idea." I pulled out my phone and called Nicole to invite her to come, but she didn't pick up; so I tried Brittany, one of the girls in my dorm, who accepted my offer.

Jay showed up first as he only had to walk down the stairs to meet us, then Brittany showed up next. We waited for about five minutes before Dongwoon showed up. During the time that we waited for Dongwoon, I could tell that Brittany had a thing for Chansung. She kept trying to talk to him and when they weren't talking, she'd be staring at him intently. It was actually quite cute.

"Hey," Dongwoon greeted me first, wrapping his arms around my waist as I nuzzled my face against his chest.

"This is weird, I can't believe that you're actually attending our school now," I paused and chuckled, "I was just telling Chansung... what are the odds that we all know each other?"

He ruffled my bangs as Taecyeon had always done. "Fate?"

I laughed, but then as I looked to Taec and saw the jealousy painted on his face, I immediately took a step back so that I was standing next to him again, putting one hand in his pocket.

"Sup, Taec," He greeted Taecyeon.

But Taecyeon only stared back at him with a hint of a glare in his gaze. "It's nice to see you Dongwoon," He finally said after I nudged him.

We quickly introduced Dongwoon to Jay; quietly, Taecyeon whispered to Jay, "That's the guy I was telling you about."

I realized, then that Chansung and Brittany had been chatting up a storm as we had all been doing our meet and greet. They'd be a cute couple. She's such a sweet girl, she deserves a guy as nice as Chansung. Same for him.

Before I could even think about calling a cab, a taxi van pulled up to Johnson House.

"I called the cab because I knew you guys were all too busy catching up," Jay waved his phone.

We ended up sitting in the van this way: In the back row, Jay sat next to Taec who sat next to Brittany; I sat next to Dongwoon in the front row, and lastly, sitting shot gun was Chansung.

Taec gave the driver the address and we were off.

I could see from the corner of my eye that Dongwoon was staring at me, and that Taecyeon was glaring at Dongwoon from the back row.

"So, how was your summer?" Dongwoon asked.

"It was fun.... Lots of studying.." I answered with a grin.

"Studying is fun?" He asked skeptically.

"Well... You know... after Taec left, I really only had two things that I could do: swim, or study."

"You're going to need to tutor me at some point, then, Tweety."

I giggled. "Wow. I haven't heard anyone call me that since that summer.."

"Other people called you Tweety? That was my nickname for you though..."

I shrugged, smiling cheekily.

"Wait; that's not okay. You promised that that'd be my special name for you."

"Hey, Tiff? I have to show you something... I need your opinion," Jay quickly interrupted, handing me his iPhone that had a video loaded on it.

I knew what he was doing. He was interrupting because Taecyeon was getting jealous. Dongwoon was flirting with me, and he was afraid that I was getting into it too. I looked to Taec and smiled cutely, reaching my hand out to hold his hand before I pressed play. I wanted to reassure him that I had no one but him in my heart.

The video was of Jay's bboy crew that he had been practicing with all summer long.

"Wah.. Jay, you're really good," I complimented. "Do you want to teach me some time?" I joked.

"You?" Jay asked skeptically.

I chuckled, "I'm kidding, I'm like the Earth's most physically challenged person. You'd go insane if you tried to teach me how to dance."

"I'm sure that's not true," Dongwoon added.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at how uncoordinated I could be."

When the van stopped, we climbed out and split the fare six way.

Taecyeon wrapped one arm around my waist, "I love how this was supposed to be a romantic dinner between you and me, and now it's a giant frenemy gathering."

"The only frenemies here are you and Dongwoon," I whispered to him resting my head on his shoulder as we walked into the restaurant.

We sat down in the restaurant near the window.

I sat across from Chansung, next to Taec who sat next to Brittany, across from Jay, and next to Jay sat Dongwoon. We all ate peacefully, and when we finished, we all went to the amphitheater across the street. I assumed that it was for community gatherings and plays-- when there wasn't snow.

Suddenly, the colorful lights on the stage began to flash in patterns, and I ran to the stage to get a closer look at the light show. Taec called my name and grabbed my hand following me down the steps to the fifth row.

Out of nowhere, music began to play. It wasn't coming from the stage, though. I looked behind me, Jay was playing music from his iPhone to match the light show.

When the spotlights stopped blinking, Jay put on a slower song as we all sat in the fifth row, staring at the intricate patterns that decorated the walls of the stage. I leaned against Taecyeon's shoulder.

Chansung sat next to me. He poked me, and I simply smiled back to him.

A drop of water hit my face.
I looked up.

Before I could even say "I think it's raining." It began to pour like none other.

Dongwoon quickly pulled his jacket over me to shield the rain.

"What about you?" I asked him as he helped me up.

"Let's just get to the stage so that we won't get any wetter," he said loudly through the pitter-patter of the rain.

Without another word, we all sprinted to the stage and climbed onto the platform.

The jacket that had just shielded me from the rain now cloaked my shoulders.

"You're cold, aren't you?" Dongwoon asked.

"A little, but I'm sure you're colder without this," I took it off of my shoulders so that I could hand it back to him.

"Put it on; I don't want you to get sick like you did that summer..."

"You got sick too."

"But not as sick as you."

"Here, Tiff, take my jacket," Taecyeon took Dongwoon's jacket from my hands and handed it back to him and took his off to hand to me.

I gladly put on Taecyeon's letterman-- the same jacket that Dongwoon had given me that summer.

We all sat in a circle, facing each other, listening to the rain create a harmonious calming melody against the steps of the amphitheater.

Dongwoon leaned towards me, "Do you still have my jacket?"

I nodded.

"Good." He smiled as he played with his fingers. Then, he lowered his voice and spoke once again when he saw that Brittany, Chansung, Taecyeon and Jay were talking moderately loudly again, "You know, Chansung told me about everything that's happened last year with your love triangle."

"Oh?"

"I'm sad."

"Why?" I looked at him weirdly.

"Because I should have been a part of that fight; I'm sure I would have won," He said as he stared into my eyes.

"I doubt it."

He gave me a confused look.

"I was very infatuated with him... as I still am," I said as I glanced over to Taecyeon. Taecyeon returned the greeting by smiling at me.

He forced a smile as he stared at the ground.

Then I thought about it... does that mean that Dongwoon likes me... now?

The rain began to grow thin as the sky grew to a glowing red.

"We should probably get going and get back to school now," Jay said as he began to walk down the steps of the stage.

I nodded and followed as I linked my arm with his. Taec rarely cared that I was so touchy with Jay. He knew that no matter what, Jay would be my big brother, so even if he and I had a tickle fight or cuddled, there would be no emotional attachment to the physical touching.

When we got back to campus, Brittany had to meet with an academic dean to figure out her private music tutors. And so in the end, Chansung walked me back to my dorm because Taecyeon was busy being scolded by their dorm parents for sneaking off without getting his room checked for the status of his unpacking-- basically, he had not been unpacking at all today. 

"Tiff, I know Dongwoon and I are pretty much best friends, but don't fall for him, okay?"

"What?"

"I just kept seeing him make moves on you at dinner and after."

"Chansung--"

"I didn't lose to Taecyeon so that he could lose to Dongwoon. Plus, knowing Dongwoon... he wouldn't be a good enough boyfriend for you. You're too good for him." He cut me off.

"Why are you being so protective all of a sudden?" I asked with a smile.

"The next best thing after boyfriend is best friend."

"And...?"

"Let's just look after each other from now on, okay?"

I nodded. "I've always wanted an older brother."

He patted my head. "I've always wanted a little sister."

"Jamshimanyo," I paused, "You have to promise, Chan, that you won't step out of the brotherly role though. I know that sometimes there will be a slip and--" I didn't want to say it directly, but what if he started to like me again and was using this as an excuse to get closer.

"My feelings have been pushed aside. From now on, it will strictly be a non-romantic relationship." He smiled reassuringly.

I opened my arms to hug him and rested my face against the soft fabric of his hoodie. He placed his chin gently on the top of my head as his arms embraced me as well.

"I really do need a guy to talk to as a best friend, Chan. Thanks."

"No problem," He paused, "I'll be here for you if you need to talk."

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I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter. I've been really busy ever since I've been back at school, so I haven't been able to update in a while.

I hope you're all enjoying the New Year!! :) HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!!

As always, please comment and subscribe; it'll make me a happy writer... thank you!!

love,
yellowbee