Howon held a book in one hand and an apple juice in the other, which he casually took a sip of. He had been annoyed at companies when they had introduced clear plastic straws, and he only used white and opaque straws.

Eunhye easily noticed this. Everyone drank with transparent straws – who used any other types of straws for juice boxes these days?

She could feel his gaze that never averted from her, and it annoyed her to no end. Here she was, trying to actually study for once, and someone was bothering her. She spun her pencil in her right hand, a habit she did when she couldn’t focus.

A few hours passed as Eunhye mindlessly flipped through pages in her textbook while Howon read a book. It was three in the morning, and everyone had returned home already; everyone but the two of them.

There was no way Eunhye would allow Howon to figure out where she lived, and there was no way she would bring him anywhere close to her mother’s friend. You’d expect close friends to be nice to each other’s children, but nope.

Her eyes were already droopy, and Eunhye was beginning to question if she could pull off an all-nighter. As nice as it sounded, she would just be wasting time as she wouldn’t be able to remember anything she studied.

“Are you done yet?” Howon asked as he plopped down onto the seat beside her, his expression bright and lively as if he didn’t lack any sleep. Sleep was an actual hobby to him - he didn’t need it, but he did it for the fun of it.

“Go home already, jeez!” Eunhye stuck her tongue out and didn’t even bother looking at him.

Howon chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and resumed his reading, completely unfazed by the glare that she gave him when he didn’t move away.

After an hour ticked past, Howon glanced up when he heard the sound of a pencil dropping. A cheesy grin spread onto his face as he saw Eunhye passed out.

“I win,” Howon snickered quietly as he shook her shoulder. “Wake up you bookworm, it’s time for you to go home and sleep.”

Eunhye groaned and sat up straight, clearly admitting defeat as she packed up her books.

Eunhye shivered slightly as she arrived at the gates of her house. She had managed to convince Howon to walk her halfway home, using the excuse that he lived in the opposite direction and needed to go home as well.

She stood outside her house and stared at the lit windows, which showed that her guardians were still awake despite it being almost five in the morning. Did she really have the energy to face them? Nope, but she had no choice. All she wanted was to bury herself under the covers and sleep for a whole day.

Taking in a deep breath, Eunhye unlocked the door and quietly entered the house, trying to make as little noise as possible. She locked the door behind her and snuck up the stairs, letting out the breath she had been holding when she safely reached her room.

“Where have you been, you little ?!” Jina came out screaming as Eunhye turned the doorknob to her room.

“I was studying for our exam.” Eunhye lied, her heart racing as she carefully observed Jina’s movements. She pushed open her door and slowly walked backwards.

“Fine, but you better not – hold on, are you injured?!” Jina gasped when she realized that Eunhye was limping. “You got into a fight, didn’t you?”

“What fight?” She scoffed nervously. “I don’t even know self-defence.”

“Exactly! You’re such a disgrace to your mother, you know?” Jina looked at her in disgust. “Get out of this house. You can come back in at morning for breakfast.”

Eunhye had no energy to protest this time, and immediately left, a scowl on her face as she stepped back out into the chilly night. She decided to walk over to the nearby park and sit on the bench.

She heard a twig snapping, and her first instinct was to hide, but she was too tired. Eunhye turned her head to see who had interrupted her quietness, only to be met with a blanket being thrown onto her face.

“I’m sorry my parents are so heartless to you.” Jihoo sat down beside her.

“It’s fine. At least I have food and shelter.” Eunhye smiled in thanks to him as she wrapped the blanket around herself.

“You call this shelter?” He stared at her weirdly.

“Usually.” She shrugged.

“You’re not going to sleep at all?” Jihoo worriedly glanced over at her. “Your eye bags are like the craters of a moon.”

“Sleep? Who needs sleep?” Eunhye scoffed as she kicked her backpack on the ground. “I’ll just study in the park and go back to the house when I get hungry.”

Jihoo shook his head and sat on the edge of the bench, patting his lap in a gesture for her to lie down. “I don’t have work tomorrow, so I can spend as long as I want here.”

“I’m only doing this because of two things; one, I’m tired, and two, your thighs make a comfy pillow.” Eunhye mumbled as she lied down and placed her head on Jihoo’s lap.

Howon furrowed his eyebrows as he turned away from the scene at the park. Eunhye had walked in and walked back out, and he had no idea why. He had no idea who Jihoo was, and no idea why she was friendlier towards him.

He was going to have to find out more about Eunhye.

Edited: 130820

Author's Note: //wallows in my own tears// I feel like flinging myself off a cliff while I'm editing. What was I thinking when I wrote this whole thing. Just what.