When Hyoyeon and Sooyoung randomly left her near the mall entrance, Hayeon was completely and utterly confused. But a minute later and Minhyuk was jogging up to her with a smile on his face.

"They dumped you later than I thought." he said almost breathless.

"What's going on here?" she asked, still confused.

Minhyuk laughed a little, "Well, this has been their first date since the second semester started so I was expecting them to turn you over earlier." he explained. "Thank you. I already told Hyoyeon you would be the last person to judge her for her uality but... I hope you understand why she hid it."

"I do. What I don't understand is why you guys are having a relay race of dating me today." she answered, crossing her arms for good measure.

Minhyuk started coughing right after that, which made Hayeon raise an eyebrow at him.

"Anyway, let's go. We still have things to do and only half a day left." Minhyuk said, not answering her question. He wasn't meeting her eyes either, darting everywhere else but at her, and his ears were a bright shade of red. It was the first time she saw him this flustered over... well she doesn't really know.

Minhyuk gave a shy glance at her and Hayeon realized he was expecting her to make some sort of movement to indicate that she was intending to follow if he moves. It was something unusual. She was so used to Taekwoon casually touching her, or dragging her if it was him in this situation, that she didn't realize that Minhyuk wouldn't even think of doing that.

She uncrossed her arms and gestured towards the mall entrance. Whatever her friends were planning, she'll go along with it for today. She did kind of miss them this entire week of moping around.

~*~

"I can't believe you managed to convince Mr. Kim to lend you the rooms!" she exclaimed, wiping off the sweat from her face.

Hayeon didn't know that while she was taking a bath this morning, Hyoyeon took the liberty of packing her some practice clothes which were so conveniently handed to Minhyuk. This day was totally planned and she had half the heart to be angry at her friends for ganging up on her, but everything about today had been wonderful.

"And you know the choreo for 24 Hours." she said smiling, "I knew I got lucky with you during the first day performance." 

"I also have I Got A Boy and Like A Cat." Minhyuk playfully supplied while he was near the player, choosing the next song for their little dance party, and Hayeon beamed. During classes, they only use intrumentals when practicing dances. Hayeon had always loved dancing to kpop songs but she hasn't really gotten the chance to, with classes and evaluations always looming over them.

A couple of hours later and both Hayeon and Minhyuk were spread wide eagle on the floor, half heaving half laughing. "You... You're great!" Hayeon said in between gulps of air. "You... should audition... as a girl group idol." she laughed a breathless laugh afterwards.

"Thanks... but no thanks... I'm too pretty for that." 

And despite their already ragged breath, they laughed again. It has really been such a nice day.

After a few minutes, Minhyuk finally picked himself up from the floor. "I'll just go get something." Hayeon gave a small nod and waved him away and just stayed lying down until she heard the door of the practice room open again.

She chanced a look at him and laughed a little, "You guys really planned the day, huh." 

Minhyuk stood there, almost frozen, like he wasn't expecting Hayeon to have caught on with their plan.

"I'm not dumb, Minhyuk. I know I've been in such a pitiful state this past week and --"

"You're not!" he countered, his usual gentle voice suddenly loud and insistent. "You looked so strong and you carried it so well, your break up, I mean. You gave your relationship your all." he said, walking towards Hayeon who was still on the floor, then settling the paper bag near her as he sat down. "We wanted to let you unwind but we thought you needed more time before moving on."

"And?" she sensed there was more to this plan so she urged him gently. It was so sweet of them, she couldn't help but smile.

"But Eunji..."

 

Hayeon laughed a little, "I suspected Eunji is in this."

"It was actually Eunji's idea. She said it's high time Taekwoon, and this is her exact words okay, pull his snout out of the gutter, so we can have our turn at being your friend."

Hayeon laughed again. "That's my fault, actually. Taekwoon... He's a bit sensitive whenever I get hurt. And I think I got a bit too carried away that he was pampering me so much. I feel like I took advantage of him this time."

She felt Minhyuk stand up. A shadow loomed over her face, then Minhyuk's face was coming to her view. "It's fine to want to be pampered and taken care of when you're hurt. I'm sure Taekwoon just wanted to keep you away from anything that might hurt you, to keep you comfortable." Minhyuk extended a hand towards her to pull her up. "Now, let's eat this cake that Hyoyeon and Sooyoung so graciously brought us."

~*~

It had been quite a while since the sun set when Hayeon finally returned to her room, and the first thing she did was to call Taekwoon. Now, she understands why he had messaged her this morning saying that he has something to talk about with her when her day is over. If Taekwoon was with Eunji today, then he should've heard of what their little plan was.

It only took a couple of rings, then Taekwoon's sweet soft voice was humming as an answer from the other line. Maybe it was because they have been almost inseparable this past week, but the moment she heard him, Hayeon realized, that despite enjoying her day to the fullest, she had missed Taekwoon so much. She almost wanted to cry. But she reigned in her emotions. It wouldn't do them any good if she started crying. She'll just give Taekwoon more things to worry about.

"How was your day?" she asked, hugging her pillow towards her.

"I should be the one asking you that." Taekwoon replied.

"Before that... I think I need to apologize to you. I'm sorry for being such a kid and relying on you so much." she said in an almost whisper, hoping that Taekwoon had caught every word.

"And for trying to keep you away from the world, I'm sorry, too."

Hayeon expected the apology. She had noticed how much Taekwoon had kept her away from everyone, occupying all of her time everyday, but she was equally at fault for indulging. So instead of a word of forgiveness, "Thank you, Taek. For being my best friend."

~*~

"...and then Minhyuk came back with this paper bag from that cake shop. Hyoyeon and Sooyoung bought that really good strawberry cake..." Taekwoon's hand paused before he could knock on Hayeon's door, his phone nestled in between his ear and shooulder since his other hand was occupied with the very same cake and paper bag Hayeon was talking about through the phone. He had bought it earlier to give it to her, knowing she liked this particular cake shop and that particular cake.

He let out a soundless exhale, careful not to let Hayeon hear, it's a good thing they were talking through the phone, at least he can hide things from her this way.

"Hm... and then what?" he asked, walking carefully away from Hayeon's door.

"We danced a bit more then we went out to have dinner." she continued happily. He walked out of Hayeon's dorm building, inhaling the humid air of May. He listened to her talk more about her day and just anything and everything she felt the need to tell Taekwoon.

"Good night, Taekwoon. Sleep early. You'll return back to class tomorrow." she said, almost slurring her words.

"Good night, Yeonie. Sleep well." he replied, only getting a soft hum in response before the call was cut. Taekwoon hugged his knees to himself, staring at the empty container of the strawberry cake. "It's okay. She got to eat it today." he said to himself.