AFTER CLASSES

"Minnie-ah! Since you said you've been missing us, how 'bout we go home together? It's been so long." Heechul shouted right after the teacher left.

"Yeah, Heechul's right! Minnie~ let's walk home together or get an ice cream or something." Ryeowook said as they both approached Sungmin.

"Ne~ let me just fix my things..."

Afterwards...

"Yey! We're finally spending time together again! Just the three of us!" Heechul shouted as they started leaving the school.

"Ahahaha~ yeah, it has been a while. How are you guys?" Sungmin asked.

"You know. We've been fine. We've really been worried about you and we've been really missing you so bad." Ryeowook said.

"Worried? Why? Don't worry, I've been fine too and I really missed you two Wookie-ah, Chullie-ah~" Sungmin said with a sincere smile.

"Just worried that you'd have a hard time not having us around." Heechul coolly said.

"Thanks for the concern, but I've really been fine. Seohyun's been with me at times, I guess we're becoming real friends now."

"Ah.. that's nice to hear..." Ryeowook said (not really... Seohyun's one of the reasons why we're worried in the first place)

"But, Minnie-ah~ You're still closer to us than you are with Seohyun, right? We're really close friends, right?" Ryeowook asked.

Sungmin paused for a while, looking very unsure what to answer.

"I--I---" Sungmin was stuttering for a while when...

"Sungmin-ah!!! Let's walk home together!" and they saw Seohyun running towards their direction.

"Again??" Heechul angrily whispered.

Sungmin didn't know how to react when Seohyun suddenly grabbed her hand and practically dragged them away from the other two.

"Awww.. Sungmin-ah, we're friends right? Shouldn't friends go home together? Why did you leave me?" Seohyun seemed giddy, asking too many questions, seemingly out of her own regular composed self.

"Ah, mianhae, but Ryeowook and Heechul, we're friends. I can't just leave them either. I've really missed them...." Sungmin tried her best to explain.

"Ahhh... so it's like that... just go then... just leave and go home with them. I guess we aren't friends afterall. I'm sorry for thinking so..." Seohyun said with her pouty lips.

"No. it's not like that. Of course we're friends. I've really always wanted to be your friend and I'm honored that you think of me as your friend as well." Sungmin said, trying her best to make the other feel better.

Seohyun's face suddenly lit up. "Jinjja? We're friends, right? Then let's go! Let's go home together!"

The two walked together, quietly. Seohyun tried to start up conversations at first but Sungmin just gave her short answers and seemed very uninterested. Seohyun eventually got annoyed and just ignored the later as well. They said their goodbyes and both headed to their respective homes. Everything seemed a little too cold and quiet if they were really "friends" as Seohyun says.

Heechul and Ryeowook probably understand, right? They wouldn't be mad when I left with Seohyun, right? I had to leave with Seohyun. I couldn't stand to hurt her or make her cry. They'd understand, right? They know that I think of them as my closest friends, right?

Sungmin's head was filled with questions all night long. She couldn't calm herself down, thinking badly of how she might have hurt her friends. She couldn't help but question herself if she made the right decision to walk with Seohyun home instead of staying with her friends. She kept trying to make excuses how she didn't want Seohyun to get hurt but in the end she just kept blaming herself and filling her own mind with depressing thoughts. She was happy she had friends all right but it was getting complicated eversince Seohyun started to distance her from Heechul and Ryeowook. She didn't know why that is, if they just didn't like Seohyun or what. She was very deep in thought especially as the day of their little outing approaches.