Finding Eunji right in front of his room while he was going back after a shower was something he never expected this particular Sunday morning.

"Okay. Where are you going this early, mister?" Eunji said, crossing her arms in front of her and made no sign that she'll move away.

"Uh..." Taekwoon answered, looking at the bath towel and the clothes he changed out of in his hands.

"Don't act smart on me, Taekwoon." she said, scowling at him a little.

"I'm going to Hayeon." he said finally. Actually, he has been doing this for the entire week. Coming to Hayeon's room before she even wakes up and staying until she's fast asleep on her bed. 

Eunji sighed and lets her arms fall to her sides. "Taekwoon, you need to stop this." she said, looking almost worried.

"But Eun--"

"At this point, you really are turning into a stupid guard dog. You, spending the three days of suspension together with her is fine. But you, being with her from the moment she wakes up, taking her to school, fetching her back and staying until she falls asleep, now that's stupid." Eunji looked absolutely serious as she enumerated the things Taekwoon has been doing for the past three days.

"I just... I just don't want to leave her alone." he said at last. It had been difficult. To let her out of his sight even if she's just going to class, knowing that she's still hurt and yet she'll try not to show it in front of others. 

"You can't keep her in your shell forever, Taekwoon. Hayeon is strong and now what you need to do is to let her be the strong person that she is." Eunji looked at him, almost pleading. Taekwoon knows she's worried, for both Hayeon as her friend, and Taekwoon as her boyfriend. And as he looked back at her, he also realized that in the process, he had neglected Eunji. She has all the right to be mad at him, but all she's doing is scolding him because she's worried.

"Eunji..." he breathed out.

"Yes?"

"Slap me."

"What?!" Her eyes widened at the words and she even took a small involuntary step back.

"Slap me. Like how you would've that if you were the one who saw him being the assh--"

There was the unmistakable sound of skin hitting skin and Taekwoon lost his balance for a moment. An involuntary "Ow." pushed past his lips as his left hand flew to the side of his face, cradling his now quickly reddening cheek.

Eunji's eyes widened even more when she realized that she did actually slap Taekwoon, and really hard at that. "Oh my god! I must've been crazy. Are you okay?" she asked panicked. Her hands were on Taekwoon, trying to see his face and the extent of damage she created.

"Ow... Ow..." Taekwoon cried and Eunji grew increasingly guilty. "I'm really sor--"

She didn't get to finish her apology. Taekwoon cutting her off with a chaste kiss and a small smile. "Thanks, tiny. I needed that."

Eunji looked confused for a moment, then her lips stretched to a smile when she realized what Taekwoon meant. But, then it soon changed to a scowl as she hit his shoulder. "My hand hurts now, you stupid giant!"

Taekwoon took her hand in his and squeezed a little. "I'm sorry, for being a stupid guard dog, for being a bad boyfriend, and for this." he said, giving the hand she used to slap him another squeeze.

"I want a date as compensation." she said, smiling. "The amusement park will be hot and crowded but I would still love to go with my boyfriend."

Taekwoon smiled. "Okay. Let me just finish getting ready. And can I stop by Hayeon's first? I think I need to apologize to her, too."

Eunji touched his arm, "Message her. Then you can meet her later. She's probably in Hyoyeon's hands by now." she said amused.

"Hyoyeon?"

"Yes. Together with one more pretty girl."

~*~

"Remind me again why we're at the arcade when we can be going around the mall right now." Hyoyeon said, seated near the basketball shooting game.

"Because..." she let the word hang in the air for a moment to prove her point, then draping her arm over Hayeon's shoulder. "You didn't tell me your friend was tall." Sooyoung finished.

Hayeon smiled at Hyoyeon's exasperated expression.

~*~

She was surprised at first, to hear someone knocking on her door that morning. Taekwoon these days, had invited himself to her room even before she woke up. So it was somewhat odd to hear someone knocking.

Hayeon opened her room door to a smiling Hyoyeon, with a much taller girl behind her.

"Go and freshen up. We're going out. Our treat."

Hayeon stared at her, then to the girl behind her. "Uh... Hyoyeon, you're a great friend but did you really have to show my drool stained face to your friend?"

"Your sass is back. Good!" she said with a proud look. "Also, this is Sooyoung, my girlfriend."

~*~

Hayeon made a dramatic expression as she lean her head on Sooyoung's shoulder. "The pains of being the only tall girl in your group of friends."

Sooyoung, playing along, patted her shoulder and also put on all the drama as she looked at Hyoyeon, "Someone tiny will never understand."

"We've been together for less than an hour and I'm already regretting this." Hyoyeon hang her head low as she sighed, deep and heavy. "Can we at least have breakfast first?"

Hayeon felt Sooyoung withdraw from her and watched as she approached Hyoyeon's crouched figure. "Aww, you're so cute!" she said, pinching Hyoyeon's cheeks with her hands. "Okay. Since the baby is hungry, let's go have breakfast."

Hyoyeon just gave an audible grunt.

Ten minutes later and they found themselves a table at the pancake place she frequents with Taekwoon. 

"I'll go order. Pancakes for me, waffles for Hyo, right?" Hyoyeon gave a nod. "Hayeon?"

"I'll have pancakes, too."

Sooyoung walked away, the frills of her sleeveless blouse fluttering a little as she maneuvered to the counter. Hayeon then directed her eyes to Hyoyeon and smiled at her friend's expression. It was the softest she'd ever seen her. Hyoyeon's eyes were fixed on Sooyoung's back while she was standing in line.

"Hayeon." she suddenly said. Hayeon didn't know Hyoyeon was aware that she was looking. "Quit staring."

She gave a little embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, but you're just so smitten. It's amusing to see." And she's saying the truth. Hyoyeon will compliment someone's good looks but she had never shown interest towards anyone. Hayeon never thought that it was because she's already in a relationship.

Hyoyeon withdrew her eyes from Sooyoung's direction and looked at Hayeon. "Sorry for never mentioning anything about Sooyoung before." she said, looking even smaller in her seat.

"It's fine. It was a shock though."

"That I'm into girls?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit pained.

"What?! No! I mean I was surprised to find out you've been in a relationship all this time and you didn't give us a hint that you were so it kinda caught me off guard." Hayeon explained in a rush. She saw Hyoyeon's shoulder visibly sag in relief and then it suddenly made sense.

"Is this the reason why you never mentioned Sooyoung? Because you're afraid we might judge you for it?" she asked gently, trying to catch Hyoyeon's eyes. One thing she learned from Taekwoon is that, the unspoken words can always be read in someone's eyes.

Hyoyeon gave the lightest of nods, her eyes darting away from Hayeon's face. It gave Hayeon the opportunity to reach out to lightly tug at the loose strands at the sode of Hyoyeon's face. "You silly girl." she said in a playful tone.

"Make room, girls. Food's here." came Sooyoung's cheerful voice. 

They both helped set their breakfast table and they ate with a much lighter mood. Hayeon didn't notice earlier how tense Hyoyeon was, but now that she was naturally, and probably unconsciously, leaning at Sooyoung's direction, she was able to compare how much her friend was making a conscious effort to minimize her contact with her girlfriend before their talk.

"Go find seats. Hayeon and I will go and grab popcorn and drinks." Sooyoung said, pushing Hyoyeon to the direction of the cinema. Hyoyeon made a face but obediently went in.

"Thank you. For accepting us." 

Sooyoung wasn't looking at her, still fixed on Hyoyeon's retreating figure but Hayeon still smiled. "That's nothing to thank me for."

"If you've seen how our so called friends looked at us when we got together, I think you'd change your mind." 

Once Hyoyeon turned the corner and disappeared inside, Sooyoung finally moved from her spot towards the direction of the food stall. "Forgive her for not saying anything before, okay? We just decided to be careful whom to tell."

"It's fine. I'm not even the least bit mad over that."

They were now waiting for their drinks, the largest popcorn already on their tray. "Thanks. You're a great friend. I'm glad you're Hyo's friend and Minhyuk's --"

"Minhyuk's?"

Sooyoung gave a little nervous laugh. "Nothing. Ignore me."

Hayeon was about to ask more but their drinks were ready and Sooyoung took one of the trays and went ahead. Oh well. She'll ask her after the movie ends.

-------------------------------------------

Akira: The second half of this day will be in the next chapter ^^ This got longer than expected so I cut it into 2 parts instead.