It's said to take forty days to climb Mount Everest. Jaemin had no intention of ever climbing Mount Everest, so that knowledge was nothing but a random fact to him. That was until he decided to apply  it to his life. If you can climb the tallest mountain in the world, in just forty days, he can accomplish anything in that time; so that he too can stand at the best viewing point and see what he accomplished in those days. In forty days, he learned his favorite song on every instrument he could play. In forty days, he completed a two thousand piece puzzle. In forty days, he read an entire book trilogy. 

And finally in forty days, he came to terms with his new found feelings. He'd gone through a patch of trying to avoid Doyeon, but it was proven impossible by the tenth day. He tried to force himself back into his old head space of just being her friend, he gave up on that after thirty days. By day forty, he told himself he either needed to accept it, and begin processing everything in detail, or he needed to live in denial and miss his chance to see the top of the mountain. So, by today--day forty--he has come to terms with everything, and can no longer attempt to deny that he is crazy about her. 

And thus he's both fallen headfirst into a dangerous game, and reached the summit of the mountain of his mind. 

~~~

Doyeon wiped her hands on her P.E shorts. May had came quicker than she thought possible, it seemed like she'd only blinked and suddenly the weather was warm, and the sky clear. One of the bad things about May, was that the school year would be ending soon. In hindsight; she should be happy about that, afterall it means all that stands between her and her final year of high school is a two month long break. But, the future seemed so intimidating. She lived over three years of her life just trying to get to the next day, and now she was hit with the fact that she would be graduating in a little over a year, then what? She was never taught that college was a must, her father hadn't gotten his degree, instead he worked his way up slowly. And now he was a very accomplished man, who made a very accommodating income. But, of course depending on what you want to do, you might need a degree. So, what did she want to do? That was the question that was slowly creeping into her mind more and more. 

"Doyeon!" The sound of Jaemin's voice made her look up, he was pointing down, "Can you pass that back?" She looked down at the Soccer ball, she hadn't even noticed that it had stopped in front of her. She nodded at him, before kicking the ball over. He smiled at her, "Thanks!" She sent him a small smile before he turned to get back to his match. She'd noticed how his smile had changed over the past couple of months. He'd always had a blinding smile, but something about the way that he smiled at her now was just brighter. Maybe that's just her imagination though. 

Afterall, she's been noticing other changes in him, so maybe she's just begun to reach. It was weird, it felt like at some point he'd been ignoring her, but then when he stopped that he suddenly seemed so much brighter than he had been before. And it wasn't just her who'd noticed it, their other friends had even said he seemed to be in a good place. It made her smile, knowing that her friend was also doing so much better. 

It was kind of nice, she was able to see how carefree him and the rest of the guys are, and then suddenly the future wouldn't seem as intimidating.

Other times she felt herself slipping back into her old mindset, she'd try to blend in to the background, she'd cringe when they tried to include her into a conversation. It was weird, they both made her feel better, and worse, at the same time. She despised that the most, that she couldn't just let a good thing be good. It was similar to  how her own thoughts were both her safe space, and the reason she is the way that she is. She was still an open cut, but now she was healing; and that's what matters. 

"Nam Doyeon?" A shorter guy asked as he approached her. Doyeon looked at him with a raised brow, but nodded nonetheless. "The teacher said for you to drop this off with Ms. Lee." The boy handed her a green folder. Doyeon took it without any questions. 

"Okay." She said before walking off, happy to leave P.E class early. 

~

Doyeon opened the door to the teachers office, as soon as she entered she was met with whispered yells from somewhere inside. Her eyes scanned the room until they landed on Ms. Lee, and the kid in front of her desk. Renjun looked panicked as he tried to keep his voice even. Doyeon took a couple steps to the side, hoping they hadn't already seen her. Her intent wasn't to eavesdrop, it was to not interrupt whatever it was they were discussing so heatedly. She switched the folder to her other hand as she waited. Despite her attempts to ignore their voices, she couldn't help but catch a few things. 

"You have to let me retake it!" 

"Renjun, you passed with some of the highest marks in the class; why would you want to retake the test?" The teacher asked, it sounded like they're conversation had been running in circles. Renjun stuttered for a second before finding the rights words. 

"It-I know I can get a higher mark, I don't want this tearing my average down." He explained, he sounded desperate. It was weird, Doyeon knew he was a good student, but she didn't know he cared about his grades to this extent. 

"A single B won't mess up your average." The teacher told him, "Look, if it's that important to you, I can allow you to retest, but I really don't think it's necessary." She folded her arms before her, finally just giving in.

Renjun let out an audible sigh of relief, "Thank you, Ms. Lee." His shoes squeaked on the polished floor as he turned away from Ms. Lee's desk. Doyeon's head turned right as he walked past her, causing him to pause in his steps. He seemed unsure what to say, if not a little embarrassed. So, Doyeon sent him a small smile before walking off to hand Ms. Lee the folder. 

"I was told to give you this." She said, extending the folder to the older lady. The sound of Renjun walking off didn't go unnoticed by her. 

~

Chenle was ranting as Doyeon absentmindedly listened to him on their walk home. Jaemin and Jeno were engaging in conversation while walking a few steps ahead. "-and that's how I defeated the joker and saved Gotham City!" Chenle suddenly said, going completely off the tracks of what he'd been saying. 

Doyeon looked at him and blinked, "Huh?" Did she miss something? 

Chenle feigned annoyance, "Were you even paying attention to what I was saying?" Doyeon nodded, "Really? Then tell me what I said before." He urged her. They were unaware of the fact that Jaemin and Jeno had stopped talking, and were now