Matthew doesn’t know what happened, one second Somin was pouring her heart out and the next, he kissed her, which is the most unbelievable thing he has ever done. And to top it off the kiss was probably one sided. He thought that she nodded but now that he thinks about it, it was maybe Somin falling asleep and that made it look like she nodded when she probably didn’t.  Now here he is carrying her on his back, dwelling in his own self-pity with the sound of occasional dripping of water on leaves. He should have just comforted her and not do the same thing what was the reason why he was comforting her in the first place.   The reason why he kissed her was to erase Bobby’s touch, he knows that it does not work like that, but it feels like it does. To Matthew, Somin is an incarnation of a goddess, she is beautiful and kind. It is very easy to fall for her, heads turn to her wherever she is, whenever she is. When he saw what that was doing, he could not help himself but pull him away from her, to get her away from him. 

At least the plus side is that Somin will not remember what happened and life will be like it was before, also if the one who shall not be named has any brains, will realise to keep his distance. By now they would be in class with stomachs full of coffee and goodies, but no, stuff just had to happen unexpectedly. Even when he can not see her, he knows that Somin would be smiling like she usually does after eating. Instead she had to deal with things no one should ever have to deal with. Strong and tired, that is what she is now, instead of the bubbly girl she was an hour ago. It really amazes BM how calm and collected Somin is all the time with the confessions pouring on her all the time. She is so small and fragile looking, like diamond, she reminds him of a diamond. Diamonds are beautiful, they look as fragile as glass but in reality diamonds are one of the hardest substances on earth and light. 

“Carrying you is like carrying a sack of feathers. You should eat more, you’re too light. Are you underweight?” Matthew asks aloud, not expecting for an answer from the petite female who is fast asleep. Somin probably didn’t eat breakfast, since she said that she was in a hurry this morning and they didn’t even get to eat lunch. So nothing? NOTHING? 

He isn’t sure if he should wake her so they can go eat or should he wake her up when they get to her place, maybe he shouldn’t wake her up at all, she is pretty tired. He could go and buy something for when she wakes up. Yeah that is what he will do but, how the heck will he buy some food for her, without waking her up in the process?

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“One large banana muffin to go and ham’n cheese sandwich.” The old lady behind the counter smiles sweetly before opening the display case and picking out the most appealing ones from the bunch of others alike. She grabs a small brown paper pocket from under the counter and places the warm banana muffin inside it. A large smile takes over her aged but young face as she places the order in front of Matthew on the counter, before tapping the orders on the cash register.

“Is the muffin for your girlfriend?” Matthew’s head jerks up at the words, eyes wide and mouth closed tightly he looks at her, mind blank. She doesn’t miss his reaction, the old woman shakes her head lightly and laughs it off. 

“Don’t be shy. What a beauty she is too.” Her shop has served and seen many couples, you could say her hobby is making the young teenagers on their path of young love, flustered. The reactions she get never seem to let her down, they never cease to amuse her and colour her day with a different colour. 

The tall basketball player is very, very confused at the moment, what girlfirend? She chuckles and nods her head behind him. Matthew turns his head, he looks towards the couch Somin is currently sleeping on. Coherent thoughts finally start to stumble into his blank mind and he finally realizes what the sweet lady in front of him meant.

“We, aren’t dating.” He sticks his hand in the back pocket of his black washed jeans and pulls out his worn out leather wallet. He bought the wallet from a thrift shop in America in his hometown, near his old elementary school when he was in his first year of high school. Old but gold, to some extent. BM not forgetting to smile takes out the the right amount of cash and places it on the slightly wrinkled outstretched hand of the woman behind the counter. Before he can move away with the orders, a warm hand lands on his arm, he looks up and meets a bright dimpled smile. 

The old lady grabs a hold of his hand and places half of the cash back on his palm. As the shop owner she has the power to decide how to vend the tasty creations her shop has to offer. Matthew looks up at her questioningly, she smiles warmly at him.

“The muffin is on the house.” She winks and turns back to assemble pastries in the display case. Dumbfounded he bows and thanks respectfully. He trudges back to the couches where the petite female is resting. He places the paper bag on a wooden coffee table in front of Somin and takes a seat opposite from her. The sun is now showing it’s presence by peeking from behind the gray clouds, the windows of the coffee shop reflect sun rays, that hit strands of blond hair of the girl in front of him with golden light. What he sees makes hairs rice at the back of his neck. After a generous amount of staring at his friend, does he then decide to stop acting like a weirdo and bite into his second meal of the day. His phone buzzes seconds later into the first bite. Too lazy to actually get up and have easy access to the front pocket of his slim fitted jeans, he struggles to get the device without dropping the sandwich in his other hand, also too lazy to just set it down. He finally managed to answer the incoming call from his best friend.

“Yah, you just left me hanging here by myself.” Taehyung informs from the other end of the line. BM had totally forgotten about his responsibility also commonly known thing called education. His backpack, Somin’s bag, they are still left at school. Now he realizes that he has to go and get them.

“Hey! Are you even listening? Are you still there?” Taehyung voices out dejected, probably being all pouty. Taehyung is just like this, sometimes his cool and all but sometimes he is cute, never in the between. It’s either cool or cute, how is it possible, no one knows.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Things came up.” BM utters as he takes another bite of his sandwich, Taehyung just replies with a hum of understanding. He understands his best friend’s actions, he or Jiwoo would’ve done the same but it is a matter that should be handled privately alone. Blond locks fall in front of Somin face as she shifts on the other side, she buries her face deeper into the soft cushion  humming lightly as she does so. Silent, evident snores can be heard around the cafe. Apparently even goddesses snore and it doesn’t bother BM at all. Snoring is a completely natural thing to do and the fact that it makes Somin hundred times more adorable than she already is, is a big plus.

“Hey, I don’t think Somin wants to come back to school and our bags are still there. Can you ask Jiwoo to get Somin’s bag, I’m coming to pick them up and then take Somin home.” Matthew asks. He stuffs the last of his sandwich into his mouth and wipes his face clean with his right hand. He then wipes his hand on his jeans like any other teenage boys do.

“Yeah sure, it’ll be in front of your locker.” They exchange a few more words before saying their goodbyes and hanging up. He really doesn’t want to wake Somin up but how is he going to carry their bags, a muffin and a petite girl without dropping something or someone.

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With one hand Matthew turns the key in the lock and opens his locker, he grabs his backpack and places it down at his feet. He carefully closes the door and locks it again. Somehow they had managed to come to the school, walk across streets and Somin still hasn’t woken up. To be such a heavy sleeper has it’s cons and pros, it must be hard to wake up on time and what if your house sets on fire? You won’t necessarily wake up, you could burn to death in your sleep. Okay there is no way that could happen, but he seriously is worried of Somin, anything is possible. At one point, as they walked or as he walked, BM had to rock side to side to get a reaction from Somin. Somin slept so deep he thought she was dead or unconscious in a not as innocent matter as sleep. She eventually mumbled something about muffins, he came to conclusion that she was completely fine and just sleeping.

Matthew drops the paper bag with the banana muffin in it, into Somin’s over the shoulder bag and hangs it over his neck. With his left and free hand he grabs the handle of his backpack, he shifts Somin on his back and takes a better hold on her. He has strong muscles and he’s in good shape, thanks to basketball and all the extra practice he did to get to where he is now, but really, carrying a teenage girl on his back and two school bags takes it’s toll. A sweat bead rolls down the side of his face, he feels like his arms are about to fall off. These are the kinds of things real friends do for each other. And what lovers do for each other, what? BM internally smacks himself for thinking about lovers but he isn’t wrong, it’s true. Real and true friends do a lot of same things as lovers do, often people say that they haven’t only married a lover but a best friend too. Anyways, he himself isn’t really sure what loving someone in a romantic way even feels like, let alone what dating feels like. 

“You sure like taking things.” A voice comes up behind BM, the voice drips bitterness. He knows that voice well, it belongs to a person who, like many others, suffers from unrequited love. Matthew turns around, a cocky smirk is spread on Bobby’s lips as he leans against a row of lockers. Having feelings towards someone and not getting them returned , but no way in hell does it justify coming forcefully on someone and that, ticks Matthew off.

“What are you talking about.” BM asks bored, he really doesn’t want to deal with this right now. He just wants to get Somin home, so she could sleep more comfortably and continue her well needed rest, also his arms are dying from all the carrying. 

“Well congrats on being the current captain of the basketball team, which was my place. Oh let’s not forget, congrats on getting the school’s sweetheart as your girlfriend, who was mine too.” Bobby muses, emphasizing on the words which and mine, voice void of any real amusement. “There is a pattern, wouldn’t you agree?” Bobby continues, he looks around a little as if to search for some imaginary answers. 

“You should’ve done better, if you don’t improve, you’ll fall behind. Also Somin isn’t my girlfriend and she was never yours, she isn’t anybody’s. She owns herself.” Matthew replies and he means every word, no specks of lies or uncertainty mixed in. Bobby was cocky, yeah he’s good in basketball, he’s one of the best players, but he didn’t improve, plus the way he leads . As a captain you should encourage others, instruct and basically not be a cocky bastard.

“Yeah right and I didn’t kiss Somin three hours ago in front of everybody.” Bobby remarks sarcastically, ego smugger than ever. The words make blood boil in Matthew’s veins. He advances towards the school’s player, in split second his long legs lead him inches away from Bobby’s face. He leans forward.

“Listen you , if you ever, touch Somin or even come close to her. I will mess you up so bad, your own mother won’t recognize you.” He spits harshly into his ear, voice like poison. The current captain is the first to step back, he looks the other straight in the eye who in return looks back just as hard. Matthew turns around, lifting one leg in front of the other, he heads towards the exit.

He steps out of the doors, a slight cool breeze dances through the courtyard. Behind him, Somin shivers as the breeze waltzes over them. Soon, you’ll get home soon.

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“That girl, I don’t know what to do with her.” Somin’s mother sighs, the two of them standing on top of the threshold, with Somin out like a light upstairs, in her room. When he got to the front door with Somin sleeping on his back, he decided to try his luck and so he rang the doorbell. The moment the door opened Somin’s mother’s eyes widened to the size of plates. Like any mother, Mrs. Jeon asked if her daughter was alright and what had happened. BM the good friend he is (the person who took advantage of her daughter, who was in a vulnerable state), left out the part where a jerk kissed her daughter and basically he opt to lie. Now Somin’s mother thinks that Somin had passed out because of sleep deprivation, hence the reason why they were at the Jeons’ doorstep before school had even ended.

“I think she is just stressed.” BM says, it’s not a lie though. Dealing with life, jerks and school at the same time is ought to be tiring and entail a great amount of stress too. Somin is so strong, she never complains and she can handle whatever life throws at her. Admirable from the inside and outside, just how many things are there to discover? He has already found so many and the flood seems continuous. Young-hee sees the emotions swirling in her daughter’s friend’s eyes, even so she can’t make out what those feelings are.

“Matthew, thank you for bringing her home. I apologise for the burden we have caused, to make it up I insist that you come over someday for dinner.” Mrs. Jeon atones. Matthew’s face turns a shade of pink, he had momentarily forgotten where he currently is and though about Somin once again. The words sink in his brain few seconds later, is she trying to kick me out politely or is she just nice? No, the second one is most likely. 

“NO! I mean uh, it wasn’t a burden. That’s what friends do for each other” and lovers “and really there is no need to make up for it.” Matthew splutters, the middle aged woman in front of him raises an eyebrow, which scares the sandwich out of him.

“Are you turning down a dinner invitation?” Somin’s mother questions, one eyebrow raised so high it manages to scare BM even more. His eyes widen and nostrils flare, he is almost too scared to say anything, afraid he is going to say something wrong.

“A-ah, N- no.” He replies nervously, smiling timidly he avoids the woman’s eyes. A wide smile splits across Young-hee’s face, the boy sure got scared. Funny. 

“Good, now I’m sure you don’t want to stay here and chat with me. Go ahead, you are free to leave, I won’t keep you here any longer.” Mrs. Jeon chuckles amused. BM finally has the courage to meet her gaze, a familiar pair of eyes greet him. He never noticed this before but, their eyes are the same, Somin and her mother have the same eyes. Although Mrs. Jeon’s eye color isn’t as strong, they are still the same, even the length of the black lashes are the same.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll get going then.” Matthew turns around ready to leave and head home. “Oh, there is a brown paper bag in Somin’s bag, there’s a banana muffin inside it and I forgot to take the bag out.” During the process of getting Somin tucked in bed, he forgot about the baked treat and left if in Somin’s bag.

“Ah, I’ll take it out then and she can have it after she wakes up. You know, ever since she was young, she loved the banana muffins I baked. Maybe I should try to bake them again.” Young-hee muses. She used to bake them all the time but, one day she just stopped, she really doesn’t know why. Her baby girl staring at the muffin batter with sparkling eyes while trying to contain the need to eat the batter the way it is still in the bowl. The sweet memories play in her mind every now and then, warming her heart.

“You should, I heard that they are the best banana muffins ever.” Matthew replies, the memory of Somin talking about her mother’s baking with sparkling eyes still fresh in his mind.

“Hah, that girl.”

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It’s 3 am and Matthew hasn’t even had a brink of sleep. Thoughts of a certain blond, petite girl occupying his mind. He is so confused. Four hours ago he retired to bed, extremely tired but, apparently not tired enough to knock him out and now here he is staring at the ceiling of his room, that is completely dark in the dead of night.

Every time Somin is sad or down he feels heavyhearted. Every time some guy stares at her it bothers him. Every time someone confesses to her, a feeling of dread forms in his chest, making it feel stuffy to breathe. Every time he sees her, he thinks about one specific word, beautiful. Every time he thinks about Somin more than is necessary, he schools himself for thinking about her more than a friend would. She is beautiful on the inside, outside and every way possible. She is admirable, kind, goofy, funny, adorable, strong, a mystery, totally and completely irresistible. 

He kissed her, hugged her, held her, supported her, cares for her, has feelings for her, he likes her.

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