Yerim sits in study hall, tapping her pencil on her books as her mind drifts off into nowhere. She can hear Jaehyun sighing repetitively beside her, which is out of character for him. He usually falls asleep during study hall, so the young girl worries for him.

“Hey, Jae, is there something wrong? You seem a little off.” The male turns to her before sighing once more. He shakes his head quickly before stilling.

“Actually… I may as well just tell you. You know how there was a call in the group chat last night? With me, Youngho, and Seungwan?” Yerim nods, though she feels like she’s going to regret asking. Jaehyun pauses before continuing with his thought. “Now that Seungwan knows about his feelings for you, he’s more comfortable with telling her things.”

“And? What does that even mean…? You know I’m clueless, so don’t be so vague.”

“It means that he’s been complaining about you behind your back. Last night, he kept talking about how at the cafe, you were shameless about asking him for money. And he mentioned how Joohyun and Seulgi kept convincing you to take advantage of him.”

“So you’re saying he basically talked about me behind my back? To my friend?” Yerim’s voice breaks a little, but she manages to keep herself together. Jaehyun nods to confirm, and she can feel herself start to get annoyed. “Well, that’s dumb. He’s the one who told me I didn’t have to pay him back in the first place.”

“Cut him some slack though, Yerimmie. I don’t know if you knew this, but you’re the first girl he’s ever liked. He doesn’t know what to do since you’re so adamant on not giving him a chance.” Jaehyun tries to reason with the girl, but she refuses to have it. She never asked to be liked, especially not by someone she barely knows.

“I just don’t understand how he can say he likes me, then talk bad about me behind my back. Is that not weird to you?” Jaehyun merely shrugs as he looks down at his blank notes. “Hey, don’t ignore me, Jung Jaehyun.”

“Well, to be fair, you haven’t been treating him very well either. The way you act to him during classes is different now. You’ve stopped joking around with him, and you don’t let him do you any favors either.”

“That’s taking advantage of him, isn’t it? So he doesn’t want me to ask him for stuff, but if I don’t let him do stuff for me, he gets mad? That doesn’t make any sense.” It wasn’t often that Yerim got mad, but her expression said it all. She couldn’t stand people who went back and forth, and as of that moment, Youngho fit the description all too well.

“Yerim, if I know you as well as I think I do… Don’t do anything rash. It’s just going to become a hassle later on.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Jung Jaehyun. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

☆

“Can you do me one little favor and, I don’t know… Give me and my friends some space for a while?” Yerim requests, crossing her arms as she stares at t