"What could you possibly need from the library?" Minhyuk whined, flopping his arms in different directions. Just because Changkyun was performing solo tonight didn't mean that he wanted to follow Jooheon around. "I need this book for a project! Plus, Kihyun said Wonho’s still at the library. He can help me out since he already took this composition class."

Minhyuk side-eyed Jooheon and continued to follow him down the university halls.

This was absurd. What he’d really wanted to do was practice a few new vocal runs with Hyungwon before their show tomorrow at D&W, but no one else had wanted to accompany Jooheon. Minhyuk sighed and ran them over a few times in his head silently, before smacking right into Jooheon's back.

"Hey!" Minhyuk yelled but was quickly shushed by a crowd of people. Startled, he looked at his surroundings only to notice they had already made it to the library. "Sorry," he whispered, poking Jooheon on his side.

Why wasn't he moving forward?

"What is it?" Minhyuk questioned, irritated. He leaned over Jooheon to get a better look and felt his jaw drop right onto Jooheon's shoulder. "Ah! Get off of me!" Jooheon shrugged Minhyuk off, the ruckus causing the people in the library to stare at them angrily.

"Stop being so loud!" Minhyuk scolded.

He took his gaze back to the pure and pristine picture right in front of them. A phone swiftly came into his vision, snapping pictures at different angles. Minhyuk chimed in and quietly directed some of them, helping Jooheon get the best shots of Wonho's half drool.

"Should we wake them up?" Jooheon asked, brows raised. A rhetorical question! They both smiled devilishly before sneaking up to either side of the couple.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty," Jooheon whispered down to Haru. "Wake up, fluffy bunny," Minhyuk sang into Wonho's ear.

Wonho jolted at the familiar phrase, his puffy eyes and groggy voice something they were both used to. "What the hell," Wonho croaked before attempting to smack Minhyuk, missing miserably. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Well," Minhyuk put a pensive finger to his chin, "A library is a public place so, I'm allowed to be here. Plus, Jooheon needed your help on something."

"Jooheon?" Wonho squinted. Minhyuk raised his eyebrows. Wonho slowly turned to his right, finding a dimpled Jooheon with a -eating grin. "I'm just..." As Wonho spoke, he traced down Jooheon's arm that was lazily placed on Haru's chair.

"Confused..."

Before Minhyuk could signal to Jooheon for some extra mischief, they both stared in awe at how careful Wonho handled Haru, using the lightest and gentlest of voices to wake her up, patting her head affectionately.

Minhyuk could hardly believe what was happening right in front of him. What was going on with his best friend? Wonho had sworn long ago he'd never trust anyone else outside of his brothers, but here he was...

Haru mumbled profanities under her breath as she woke, sending the rest into fits of giggles. At the noise, Haru straightened up abruptly, knocking her head right into Jooheon's chin in the process.

"Ow!" Yelled a pained Jooheon, which sent Minhyuk gasping for air on the floor. As he looked up at them all, he couldn't help but notice how Wonho had his hands hovering over Haru's head, laughter shaking his figure. The fondness in his eyes was something he had rarely seen out in the open. Haru was no different, laughing along in embarrassment.

Would this be the start of something great?

He'd be glad if it was.

“I’m so sorry! Oh my god.” Haru cringed, watching as Jooheon massaged his sore chin.

“It’s okay!” Jooheon brightened, flashing his dimpled million-dollar smile. Completely stunned by it, Haru barely registered the dancing gold in front of her face until Wonho spoke, all giggles. “Are- Are you okay?” He managed to say, attempting to hold in his laughter. Haru stared at him briefly before bursting into laughter herself. The whole situation was utterly ridiculous and highly embarrassing, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Although, how she managed to make it onto Wonho’s shoulder puzzled her.

“Do you guys have plans?” Minhyuk questioned, popping his head up from the floor and resorting to squatting by the table. Haru quickly shook her head no and was relieved to notice that it didn’t feel like a jumbled mess at the action. Wonho though, seemed to be suspicious at the inquiry.

“Why?” He treaded lightly, looking Minhyuk up and down.

“No reason. Chill fluffy bun,” Minhyuk replied, smacking Wonho on the arm. “After we’re done here, do you guys wanna go to the park or something? Blow off some steam.”

“Ah, yeah! Let’s go! C’mon, please Wonho!” Jooheon pleaded, giving Wonho the cutest puppy eyes Haru had possibly ever seen. Haru was so used to giving her boys what their hearts desired if it was reasonable enough. Her heart swelled at the thought. She truly missed them to pieces already.

“I’m down,” Haru blurted automatically. Her eyes danced over to Wonho’s, already formed into heart-stopping crescents. “Yeah, sure,” He said offhandedly.

She looked around at the three smiling men who were arguing about what to do and felt a calm wash over her anxieties. An excitement of butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. Her hands turned into the yellow-orange she had only seen when around them, swallowing up the gray as if it had never been there like a permanent, awful stain.

It hadn’t been long at all, but they made her feel accepted. Made her feel happy.

And she was grateful.

To call the fifteen-minute walk to the park eventful was an understatement. Yelling, kicking, shoving, and screaming were involved, and by the time Haru got to the park, she wasn’t sure if she had a left lung anymore.

She let herself fall onto the first patch of grass she laid eyes on, still wheezing from laughing so hard. It had been so long since she had felt this type of freedom. This euphoria that sunk into her bones and made her feel light as air.

“Hey there, pretty lady. Whatcha up to?” Minhyuk skipped on over to where Haru was, flopping himself onto the grass next to her. “You’re still calling me that?” She cackled. “I call things as I see them,” He deadpanned.

Haru sighed in awe as she observed the sun, sinking little by little behind the city buildings. “Sunsets sure are beautiful, aren’t they?” Minhyuk made a frame with his hands and nodded in agreement.

“What are you guys doing?!” Wonho screamed, jumping in front of their view of the gorgeous sunset. “Hey!” Haru and Minhyuk screamed in unison. Haru leaned her head to the left and searched for the sun, attempting to ignore the sudden jump in her chest at the appearance of Wonho. “Oh my god, what happened to the sun?” She interjected in the commotion, resigning herself to look at Wonho’s smug self. The way his lips curled caught her attention momentarily, but then there was his sun blocking shoulders.

Curse him for being so wide.

Was that the word? Well, no. That didn’t seem right…

Minhyuk kicked at Wonho’s legs for the millionth time. Haru was convinced Wonho was bruised all over his ankles by now. “Move it! We were enjoying the sunset!” A deafening ring interrupted the scuffle, a flustered Minhyuk scrambling in his pocket for his phone while muttering angrily.

“Join us!” Haru said, patting the patch of grass to her left. Wonho gave her a smile before making himself comfortable, slapping his right foot on top of her left. “Ouch! Your foot’s heavy!”

“Revenge for earlier,” Was all he responded, looking up at the sky with bright eyes.

Haru might have stared at Wonho for too long, might have examined the lovely length of his lashes or the shape of his lips if it wasn’t for Jooheon showing up, beatboxing as he flung himself on top of Minhyuk’s stomach. “Oh my god! I can’t breathe! Kihyun, I think I might die!” He coughed into his phone.

In the momentary silence that ensued, all that could be heard was a very angry Kihyun shouting about Monsta X’s practice to Minhyuk, the ditcher. Haru attempted to hold in her laughter.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll make up for it later but just come to the park! Live a little, sheesh.” Minhyuk swiftly hung up on a fuming Kihyun, hands up and at the ready to exact his revenge on a peacefully napping Jooheon.

“Ah!” She exclaimed, ignoring the fighting going on to her right. “It’s not revenge, but since you shared your music with me… here,” Haru pulled out her phone and earphones that were in her jean pocket. “Something I’ve been loving lately.”

Leaning over to her left, she carefully placed an earphone in Wonho’s ear. Feeling his stare on her face, she felt heat crawl up the back of her neck. Haru stiffened at the sensation, at the heat of his ear on her fingers. Was she ever so aware of everything about him as she was now? She retracted her hand, catching a glimpse of how the setting sun brought out just how stunning Wonho’s brown eyes were. Slight amber and milk chocolate mixed with an overwhelming amount of espresso.

“Don't write a sad song
You'll burn out your love”

Self-conscious, she withdrew from him completely and instead observed how the night - full of various shades of blue and purple - swallowed the sun whole. It reminded her of her colors, making her feel bittersweet. Perhaps one day she’d think her colors were as beautiful as sunsets were.

“This.” Wonho lifted his right hand to his ear. Haru took her gaze to his eyes again, feeling constrict slightly, but refusing to look away.

“I feel the sunshine
That burns away the cold”

“This is good,” He continued, his gaze softly settling on hers. She could feel the heat from earlier climbing to her cheeks now.

“Taste me, baby
Take me as you please”

“Yeah…” Haru mumbled, feeling an unsettling sensation in her chest, unaware that her hands had turned a hot pink mixed with gold.

You’re good.

“You called us all the way out here just to play hide and seek?”

Haru could see the invisible vein on Kihyun’s forehead ready to pop at any second.

“After you missed an extremely important practice and cut what we were doing short?!”

“Right… So, not it!” Minhyuk yelled as he ran away, Jooheon nimbly following after him.

“What?!” Haru yelped, her fight or flight instincts kicking in and leaving the scene before she could be stuck with the job of finding the rest of the mischievous fiends. Turning back briefly, she could see that most of them had gone and fled, except for Kihyun and Wonho, who stood there still stunned. Then, in the blink of any eye, Kihyun had inched his way toward Haru, leaving a bewildered Wonho behind.

Cackles could be heard throughout the small but empty park.

Haru ran through a few trees and bushes, examining the area to find an ideal place to hide.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the universe wouldn’t let Haru keep her promise to herself so easily. For under one of the few park pavilions stood Jungkook and the rest of her boys, with Mei.

“Why am I ‘it’?!” He yelled out into the fairly vacant park.

Wonho could hear faint giggling in the distance.

“It’s funny when you’re not the one finding the rest of you!” He yelled, dragging his feet. The fatigue from not sleeping was starting to kick in, despite the nap he’d had in the library. The chill of the spring night made him roll his hoodie sleeves down and over his hands. Wasn’t it supposed to be warmer by this time of year?

Wonho looked up at the starry night sky. The moon shone over the park, menacingly close.

“The moon’s pretty today too,” He commented to himself.

His admiration of the moon was short-lived, for he heard a branch crack under someone’s feet. Wonho set off into a run in its direction, leaving the moon behind him.

After finding a scared Jooheon, who had sworn he had seen a ghost in the corner of the dumpster area he was hiding in, he was chasing down the dreaded duo.

“Hey, get back here you two!” Wonho screamed as he ran full speed at Kihyun and Minhyuk. The two were in hysterics as they purposely let him get close, only to run away again. It drove Wonho insane. “Ah, I give up on you two!” He yelled breathlessly after them. Mischievous laughter was all that could be heard in reply.

Wonho gasped for air as he leaned against a light pole, putting his forehead to the cool metal. It was surprisingly soothing. “Just wait until we get back home, you scoundrels,” He snarled into the dark.

A sudden rustling of bushes startled Wonho from his moment of peace. He lifted his head and leaned over, still gripping onto the pole with his hands. The sidewalk lined with bushes was empty of any sign someone had been there.

Had he imagined it? Was he starting to get delirious from lack of sleep?

Wonho turned away from the light pole and decided to make his way back to Jooheon when someone blindsided him. He stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his balance, holding the other person steady by the shoulders.

“Woah!” He jokingly laughed but stopped at the sight of Haru.

She looked near tears.

“Wai- Haru-” Wonho searched her face, could hear her heavy breathing that was more like heaving. He felt his stomach drop. Had he hurt her somehow when she’d crashed into him?

“Haru, did you get hurt? Where? Tell me,” He fired off.

Searching her face, Wonho zeroed in on a scratch on her cheek, hovering his hand over it awkwardly. It was fresh, but it had to have happened before she’d ran into him. There was just no other explanation.

“Does it hurt?” He whispered.

A sharp inhale.

“No.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

Her eyes widened at his words and in an instant, she fell to the grass – as if all the strength in her legs had been drained out of her.

“I’m not… That’s not what hurts,” She said, voice devoid of emotion.

He settled himself across from her on the grass, perplexed.

“Then, what does?”

His eyes followed the way her right index finger lazily pointed to the left of her chest; her eyes distant as she did so. She looked so far away. Somewhere he had no right to intrude on. He didn’t want to pry any further, so, he said nothing.

The late spring breeze cooled the sweat that still dripped from his forehead and neck.

The grass moved in tiny waves.

“Have you ever,” She began, ripping grass out in large tufts, “felt like your life was crumbling right in front of you and… you just stood there and watched it fall apart. Watched it crumble into fine dust through your fingertips? And it’s not like you could have done anything to prevent any of it. So, you just let it happen.”

Wonho stared down at the grass for a while, staying silent.

“I think that’s the ultimate heartbreak,” She concluded.

He took a glance at her then, watching how a single tear ran down her cheek. Wonho never thought his heart would ever sink like this again.

“I have.”

Memories flitted across his vision. Memories that had been buried and locked away, the pain from them always as fresh as the first time.

“Does it ever get better?” Haru let the silence between them linger before speaking again, barely a whisper. “When does the pain end?”

The lack of emotion in her voice troubled him more than anything.

His hazy eyes focused on her again, surprised that there wasn’t a single tear left on her face. Was she holding herself back? He took his gaze back to the green grass that spanned around them and breathed out.

“It does get better. That I can attest to.” A sad smile crept onto his lips. “As for the pain, I suppose it depends on the person. For me, it comes and goes.”

In his peripheral, Haru shot out her hands and gripped onto the bottom of her chucks, hugging herself.

“I often think that through my blessings,