“You can cry some more, if that makes you feel better,” Yukwon said awkwardly.  Minyoung rested her head on his shoulder, causing his heart to beat faster and his cheeks to turn pink.

“I don’t cry in front of people,” she replied quietly.

“Why not?” He was genuinely curious.

She sighed.  “My eyes get all puffy and red, and my nose gets stuffy.  Minhyuk would freak, and that’s the last thing I want to have happen.”

“I’m glad I found you.”

“I would’ve come home eventually,” she muttered.  Minyoung looked up at Yukwon with an unreadable expression.

“No, I mean, I’m glad I found a person like you.”

She chuckled.  “Are you done trying to flatter me?”

Yukwon reddened once again and fumbled for his cell phone.  How can she be so wonderful and not even acknowledge it?  At that point in time, Yukwon realized that he didn’t have Minhyuk or Minyoung’s cell phone number.

“Minyoung, what’s Minhyuk’s number?” He turned toward the girl, who was tracing random patterns on his arm.  It tickled him, but he didn’t want to tell her to stop.

“Here, I’ll put it in your phone.” Minyoung reached for his phone and started typing in the number.

Ah, Yukwon thought, we really feel like a couple.  If only Minyoung felt the same way about me…things would be so much easier.  We could date, and maybe I could even propose to her in a few years.  I’m sure that she’s the one for me…

“Hey, Kim Yukwon,” Minyoung said.  All traces of crying were gone from her eyes.  She had returned to her former bubbly self.  “What are you thinking about?”

“N-Nothing.”

“I’ve been calling your name for a few minutes now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I put in Minhyuk’s phone number and mine into your phone.”

Yukwon’s heartbeat quickened.  He had not expected to receive Minyoung’s phone number, and the best part was that he didn’t even ask for hers.  She had given it to him on her own.

He took the phone carefully and sent a text to Minhyuk.  He made sure to leave out the fact that Minyoung was crying.

“Kim Yukwon.”

“Hm?”

“Carry me home.”

“What?”

“You don’t want to?” She pouted.  “Okay.  I think I’m ready to leave.”  She got up off the bench, pulling Yukwon up with her.  “Let’s go!”

“You want me to carry you?”

She shook her head.  “You lost your chance already.  Let’s go!  Hurry.  I think the rain is going to come soon.”

Yukwon ended up following behind the impatient Minyoung in a daze.  So many confusing things had happened in the past fifteen minutes…things that he couldn’t comprehend at all.

First, Minyoung put her number into his phone.  Yukwon didn’t even know that she owned a phone because she never seemed to use it around him.  Second, Minyoung asked him to carry her.

“Spicy rice cakes!” A scream of delight brought Yukwon out of his thoughts.  Minyoung had spotted a street vendor and stood in line to get some free samples.  Yukwon waited patiently, like any good person would, until Minyoung returned, and they continued on their way back to the apartment.

“Yukwon, can I ask you something?” Minyoung said.

“What is it?”

“If I want a boy to like me, how should I do it?” Minyoung asked.

“Wear pretty dresses and stop eating ramyun.”

Minyoung glared.  “I’m being serious!”

Yukwon chuckled.  “Geez.  Well, just be yourself.”

“Everyone says that, but we all know it isn’t true.” Minyoung laughed.  “Sometimes, you have to lie to be accepted by everyone else.”

Little droplets of rain started to come down, causing Minyoung and Yukwon to walk faster.

“Come on.  Before it starts raining harder.” She grabbed his hand and made a wild dash for cover.  The apartment lobby was in sight, and the two made it in before the rain started to pour.

She didn’t let go of his hand, even when they had stopped running.  Instead, she gripped his hand harder—if that was even possible—and refused to let go.  They got into the elevator holding hands, and they walked to the door holding hands.

Minyoung finally let go when she opened the door.

“Minyoung-ah!” Minhyuk exclaimed as Minyoung and Yukwon walked into the apartment.  “I was so worried.  When it started to rain, I wondered if you were still out there.”

“We made it into the lobby area before it started to pour, thank goodness,” Minyoung replied.  “And I was going to come back eventually.  You sent Yukwon to look for me?”

“He volunteered, Minyoung-ah.” Minhyuk wrapped his arms around his twin and hugged her tightly.  “Were you with Jaehyo before this?”

Minyoung struggled against his grip.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Taeil hyung said—”

“Minhyuk,” Yukwon said.  “You two should talk about this some other time.  Minyoung looks uncomfortable.”

“Right.  Sorry.” Minhyuk let go of his twin and turned to Yukwon.  “Thanks.  I would have been even more worried if you weren’t here.”

“It’s no problem,” Yukwon replied.

Minyoung raised an eyebrow.  “What did I miss?  Why do you two get along now?”

“It’s a long story, Minyoung-ah.”

“Which means,” Minyoung interrupted, “that you have no plans of telling me what happened.”

“It’s guy code, Minyoung.”

“Whatever,” she replied, venturing off into the kitchen, looking for something to eat.

<:>

Later that night, at around ten, Minhyuk and Yukwon entered Minhyuk’s room.  Minyoung was already asleep on the couch, and both boys agreed that they didn’t want to move her to her room.

“So…” Minhyuk trailed off.

“So…” Yukwon honestly had no idea of what to say either.

“What’s your family like?” Minhyuk asked.  “I know that you know about my family, but I don’t know anything about yours.”

“Well, I have an older brother.  People say that we look alike,” Yukwon mused.  “I have a mom and a dad too.”

“Oh.”

“Well, my family isn’t that interesting.  Yours is fascinating.”

Minhyuk just laughed.  “You know, you’re the first friend that I’ve had in a very long time.”

“Really?” Yukwon hadn’t realized that Minhyuk thought of him as a friend—or anything even close to that, for that matter.  "I thought that Jaehyo was your friend."

“Around the time Jaehyo got that opportunity to study abroad, he changed.”

“How so?”

“He used to be humble.  But once he got that opportunity, he became arrogant and bragged to anyone who would bother to listen.” 

“So you stopped hanging out with him?”

“I was fine with him.  But what he said to Minyoung…I couldn’t forgive him for that.”

“What did he say to her?”

“I think that you’ll have to ask her.  All I know is that she came home one day and announced that she and Jaehyo were done.  I thought that she was joking, but I was shocked when I heard out why they broke up.  They were in love, you know.”

“Was Minyoung always addicted to ramyun?”

Minhyuk grinned.  “I can see why you’d be curious.  But to answer your question, she wasn’t always addicted to ramyun.  Instant ramyun is simple and doesn’t require much effort to make.  She got addicted to it after pulling tons of all nighters in the library.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to eat in the library?”

Minhyuk shrugged.  “I don’t know how she did it…oh wait.  Jaehyo was the student worker in the library after school.  That’s how they met.  I think that he tried to kick her out of the library, she refused, and they became attracted to each other.”

“They met in the library?” Yukwon asked.

“Any more questions about my sister?” Minhyuk asked.  “Now’s the best time to ask, since she isn’t around.”

“Well…”

“Spit it out, Yukwon.”

“It’s not a question about Minyoung.  I want to ask you a question,” Yukwon said slowly.

“Go for it.”

“Is it okay if I ask Minyoung out to the dance?”

Minhyuk shrugged.  “It’s not my decision.”

“Will I be rejected like how she rejected Woo Jiho?”

“Jiho was a jerk,” Minhyuk replied.  “And you’re not, so your chances are looking very good.”

“You know, Minyoung has a guy that she likes.”

“Really?” Minhyuk frowned.  “She never told me that.”

“In fact, as we were walking back, she asked me how to get a guy to like her.”

“Minyoung said that?”

“She’s so confusing.  One minute, I swear that she likes me more than a friend.  The next moment, she’s as cold as ice.”

“That’s what girls are, Yukwon.  Have you not met enough of them to realize that fact?”

Their light bickering continued into the early morning, when finally, Minhyuk decided that they should try to fall asleep.

Meanwhile, Minyoung sat outside of Minhyuk’s door, trying to listen to their conversation.