She sighed and turned to the polaroid photo of them both on her bedside table. It was from the first day of summer where Jonghyun had followed her, Taemin and Luna to the beach. She smiled looking at the photo, it was the first time he had ever told her he loved her.

“I love you too,” She smiled. “ I miss you.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I don’t think it’s enough for this month, but this is all I have.” Wooyoung sighed, placing an envelope on the kitchen counter and sliding it over to his father’s side.

“It’s enough, don’t worry.” Mr. Jang reassured his son. He took a peek into the envelope and although he tried to hide the worry, knowing that the money wasn’t in fact enough, he gave a smile to his eldest child. “Take some time off work and rest.”

“You know I can’t,” Wooyoung replied.

Jinhee stood behind the wall separating the living room and the kitchen, closely listening in onto their conversation. For the past two months the two of them had been so suspiciously secretive; always whispering whenever Jinhee was around and abruptly stopping their conversation when she stepped in the room, making her really curious as to what was going on.

She couldn’t peek without getting noticed, so she had no idea what her brother had given to her father.

“Are we playing hide and seek?”

Jinhee shrieked, jumping a mile in the air and dropping her bag, at the same time exposing her position near the kitchen entrance. Her hand placed over her heart and breathed out in relief. She rushed forward to hit Minho who was chuckling at her reaction. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“I’m sorry,” Minho laughed, picking up the fallen bag from the floor and passing it to Jinhee. “I couldn’t help it. You looked so cute.”

Jinhee blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear while her other hand reached out for her bag. “How’d you get it in anyway?”

“The door was open,” He shrugged pointing to their front door.

“Oh,” She sighed.

He walked past her and entered the kitchen greeting both Mr. Jang and Wooyoung. For the past two months, Minho had gotten closer to Jinhee, sticking by her side and looking out for her. So it wasn’t unusual for him to have breakfast over at her house like this.

“Good morning kids!” Mr. Jang greeted. “Ready for your first day back in school?”

“Appa, we’re not five.” Jinhee rolled her eyes as she took a seat beside Minho. “You don’t have to give us that ‘first day back in school’ tone.”

“Aw, Jinhee is such a ray of sunshine as usual.” Wooyoung mocked, earning a few pieces of cereal being thrown in his direction.

Jinhee pouted and went back to her breakfast while checking her phone for any texts. From the corner of her eye, she noticed how Minho stopped her brother and whispered something to him. She watched them talk and it frustrated her knowing that something was going on which she didn’t know about.

“Why are you guys keeping secrets from me?” She placed her spoon nicely against the bowl and turned towards the two boys.

“We’re not,” Wooyoung replied. “This is just…man stuff.”

“Are you guys talking about ?”

"?" Minho scrunched his brows together. "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

"I think that you're a guy." Jinhee eyed him. "Well then what were you guys talking about?"

"Stuff," Wooyoung patted her head casually before walking to the living room to grab his bag. His father and he bid the two kids goodbye before they left the house for work.

"We should go too," Minho said finishing the last of his cereal.

Jinhee nodded and jumped off her seat. She placed their empty bowls and glasses into the dishwasher before hurrying off behind Minho, following him towards the car. Her eyes never left Minho for most of the ride. His hair was short now making him look even more dashing. She wondered why he had cut it knowing he liked his previous hairstyle; she did too.  

"You're burning holes into my face Jinhee," He kept his eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" She asked nonchalantly.

"You don't like it?" He glanced at her for a second.

"I love it!" She chuckled. "You look great. But I thought you liked longer hair?"

"I do," Minho sighed. "But someone made me cut it."

"Who?"

"We're here!" Minho said as he drove into the parking lot of campus. Cars were lined up by the side where students were being dropped off and there were so many students around that it almost seemed like they could get lost just by looking at them walk.

Jinhee raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you changing the subject?"

"I'm not," He backed the car into an empty space and avoided her eyes. "I'm just saying, we've arrived."

Jinhee eyed him carefully. There was definitely more than one thing he was hiding from her; but right now she only wanted to know one of them.

She placed her hand over Minho's and made him look at her. "What were you and my brother talking about? Tell me."

"I can't," Minho sighed taking his hand away.

"Minho," Jinhee pleaded. "Don't you care about me?"

"Of course I do Jinhee--"

"Then tell me what's going on with my family."

Minho looked at Jinhee with sincere eyes. He thought over it and finally gave in, thinking that she deserved to at least know what was going on.

"Financial problems," He said simply.

"So...why are you involved?" She gasped with wide eyes and grabbed him by the arm. "Did my brother ask you for money?"

"No, nothing like that." Minho reassured her. "In fact I wanted to help with the money but your brother and father keep insisting that I don't."

Jinhee smiled and laced her fingers with Minho’s. She was more than thankful over how supportive he has been over the past few months. "Thank you for wanting to help Minho," She said. "You're really kind."

He shook his head with a smile. "It's nothing. You guys are having a hard time and your brother really doesn't want you to worry about this. That's why he's keeping it from you."

Jinhee sighed and turned to sit properly in her seat. "I wish he would let me help him," She said. "I could work!"

"That's exactly what he doesn't want,” Minho cupped her face. “You just focus on school. And don’t tell your brother I told you this secret. Got it?”

“Got it!” She nodded firmly before they both burst into laughter.

“Come on,” Minho nodded to towards the school. “We should get going.”

The both of them got out of the car with their bags in hand and made their way to the front of the school. Jinhee’s eyes widened as she noticed two familiar people entering the school gates hand in hand. She giggled and ran over to the both of them.

“Guys!” She squealed and wrapped her arms over both Taemin and Luna. She pulled away after a while and observed her two friends whom she hadn’t met for a while. She decided to give them some space over summer so they could be together and figure out their status. Currently, they’re in an open relationship.

Neither wanted to bring up the idea of being official. And although Jinhee didn’t understand why, she respected their decision.

The smile on her face dropped as she noticed something they both had in common. “Couple bags? Seriously?” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in disapproval.

“What? They’re cute!” Luna exclaimed, winking to Taemin as she did. Her eyes then shifted behind Jinhee. She smiled and waved at Minho.

Jinhee turned and reached her hand out to Minho, pulling him closer. The two boys bumped fists and exchanged hellos.

“Should we get going?” He asked. They turned and walked with the crowd towards the front entrance of the school. Students were everywhere, catching up with their classmates filling the area with laughter and giggles.

“Sorry but, are they wearing couple bags?” Minho whispered to Jinhee, staring at the two in front of them.

Jinhee giggled and nodded, wrapping her arm around his leaning her head on Minho’s arm. “It was Luna’s idea.” She said. “Aren’t they cute though?”

He let out a huff and bit his lip. “The couple bags though…”

“Oh stop it!” She hissed. “Taemin doesn’t seem to mind. Just be thankful I’m not making us wear couple bags.”

They chuckled and pushed each other playfully. It earned them some stares from the other students around them but they didn’t care. Why would they? Not until they knew the reason behind those stares.

“Yeah I heard he left her for another girl.”

“Figures. I knew they wouldn’t last. Just look at her; she’s not his type.”

The smile on Jinhee’s face disappeared and her mood took a deep plunge once she overheard the conversation of the girls who were walking close by. It almost seemed deliberate; like they wanted her to hear it. The smirks planted on their faces as they walked away said it all.

Minho heard it too. He placed his hand around her shoulder and pulled her close, as though trying to protect her from others like them.

Jinhee kept her eyes on the floor while they walked. The first day back hadn’t even started and she was already feeling down. She knew word about their break-up had spread but she definitely wasn’t ready for the comments people would make. And as if things weren’t bad enough, a familiar engine roar entered the school premises, making Jinhee sigh.

Even after two months, she could still recognise the sound of his car. Jinhee glanced in the direction of the parking lot where she could see him backing the car up.

Her eyes stayed glued to the car the whole time till Jonghyun appeared. He got out from the driver's seat and swung his bag over his shoulder. Jinhee smiled subtly at the sight of him; the sides of her lips curving upwards.

He looked handsome. He had kept his dark hair and was sporting a new look; shorter and shaved sides with the top part of his hair full and bouncy. She liked it.

Jonghyun checked his reflection on his side mirrors, making sure his hair was in place. He had gotten bigger, more muscular, earning more approving looks from girls even more than before.

Jinhee noticed movement from inside his car. He was with someone. The passenger side of the car door opened and out stepped Aeri looking as beautiful as she always has been.

Jinhee sighed with relief. Her heart was more at ease after realising it was Aeri. It could have been worse.

"Do you want to go say hi?" Minho asked.

She jumped in place and feigned ignorance as if she hadn't just observed Jonghyun from afar. "Say hi to who?" She replied.

Minho gave her an exasperated look and nodded in the direction of Jonghyun and Aeri who were slowly walking towards the front doors as well. "Them. Don't act like you weren't just staring at—"

"Hey look, my classmates!" Jinhee chirped. "I'm going to go say hi to them first."

"Jin—" Minho sighed and watched her strut off in the direction of her friends.

He stood in his position and looked at Jonghyun and Aeri. Her eyes met his instantly, already expecting him to be there. She turned to Jonghyun for a moment and said something to him, making him look Minho's way. He sent a smile to the younger boy but almost instantaneously returning to his blank expression walking with hands in his pocket and gaze low.

Aeri shrugged and gave Minho a sad smile. She mouthed the word "sorry" before hurrying off to catch up with Jonghyun.

Minho let out another sigh and watched them disappear down the hallway full of students. He strut to where Jinhee was and leaned against the locker next to hers. "You still love him," He said.

Jinhee paused in mid-air with a book in hand. Slowly, she placed the book neatly into her locker and turned to glance at Minho. "What are you talking about?"

"Jonghyun. Your ex-boyfriend, the one whom you completely ignored and ran away from-"

"I did not run!" She scoffed. "I just saw my friends."

Minho raised an eyebrow with a smirk forming on his face. Jinhee pressed her lips together and stared blankly back at him. She hated whenever Minho was right about something, knowing he would always make a big deal out of it. He was right this time as well and as much as she knew that, she wasn't in the mood to agree with him.

"Bye." She said sternly with a pout before stomping off to class.

Minho chuckled and waved even though she didn't turn back. He shook his head and walked to his own class while checking his phone.

“That was a fail…” A text read.

"Which only means they still love each other." He whispered to himself.

__________

“What do you think Jinhee?”

Jinhee looked back and forth between the two choices, scrunching her brow and biting her bottom lip as she took a pick. “The green one!”

“But I look better in the blue one,” Luna grabbed the phone away from her and looked at the two dresses before nodding in agreement of her own reply. “Right Taemin?”

“You look good in anything Luna,” He said lovingly.

Luna nudged him playfully and they giggled. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close as she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. Strands of her hair flew across her face and Taemin pulled them away, tucking them behind her ear. She smiled up at him.

With her chin resting against her palm, Jinhee watched them from her side. She was happy for them; yet there was something in her that felt sad. Sad that she didn’t have anyone to tell her she looked pretty, or tuck her hair back just to see her face. She didn’t have that; not anymore.

Her mind drifted off to the times where she did. Funny, it used to be Jonghyun doing such loving things to her while the two watched. How the tables have turned.

“Hey,” Taemin called out to her. “You okay?”

"Yeah, why?" Jinhee asked.

"Nothing. You just look...sad," Taemin replied. "That's all."

"Sad?" She scoffed. "Why would I be sad?" Her voice faded towards the end. She played with her fingers and prayed that they wouldn't bring up what she knew they would.

"So, how are you and Jonghyun?"

"Who?" She asked with her brows scrunched.

Taemin and Luna stared blankly back at her as if scrutinising her answer. For the past month they hadn't asked her anything concerning Jonghyun but neither of them expected them to not have contacted for this long.

Jinhee rolled her eyes and sighed mentally. "Sorry," She murmured under her breath, apologising for her failed attempt to seem as if she had forgotten about Jonghyun.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad between the both of you," Luna stated.

Taemin nodded in agreement. "Thought you guys might have reconciled, maybe? Have you?" He paused and searched her face for any possible evidence that they had. "Come on, not even a text to each other?"

"No!" Jinhee snapped. "You guys wanna know what's happening between the two of us? Nothing. Okay? Nothing. Never has been anything between us and there never will be! Because you know why? While I'm here, loving him with all my heart, he's out there having with the last girl I want to see him cheating on me with and as if that wasn't bad enough, I found out that he is still seeing her. Ugh!"

She slammed her palms against the wooden table and panted from her outburst. Taemin and Luna glanced at each other and then back at her with smirks on their faces. They knew Jinhee well enough to know that she still loved him.

“What?” She growled.

“You so love him,” Luna shook her head and sighed. “Why don’t you just talk to him?”

Jinhee whined and rested her head on the table. “I don’t wanna,” She muttered. “I don’t want to remember…”

“Aw Jinhee,” Taemin placed his hand over her head and her hair. “If you guys don’t talk, things won’t get better between the both of you.”

“But there’s no ‘thing’ between us,” She said. “No ‘thing’ to fix. Nothing. And I don’t love him.”

“Liar.”

Movement on the bench Jinhee was sitting on followed by a squeaking sound that came with the weight which took its place next to Jinhee made her groan subtly. She knew that voice well enough. That deep, y and at that point of time, very annoying voice.

“I don’t need this from you right now, Choi Minho.” Hair covered most of her face when she lifted her head off the table leaving only her nose visible.

He squinted his eyes and made a face, mocking her like it was his duty to do so every time they met. She had already grown accustom to it and ignored him, going back to placing her head on the table.

She listened as the three of them caught up with each other and exchanged stories from the past month. Talking about summer made her recall the things that had happened; the vacation, the break up, everything. She finally lifted her head up and watched as her friends lost themselves in the conversation, full of laughter and smiles.

When she looked at Taemin and Luna, her heart skipped. She felt guilty. She had lied. Truth is, contrary to what she had told them earlier, Jonghyun had tried to contact her. But being too egoistic for her own good, she ignored him. He had called; many times in fact. Every day. Even texted. But she wouldn’t give in. Until one day the calls just stopped. The texts too.

It was her own fault. She took that as a sign that he was starting to move on. And so should she.

“So you guys are going to the dance together?” Minho asked the two lovebirds.

The mention of dance caught Jinhee’s attention, bringing her back to the conversation. Dance? She thought. The upcoming welcome back dance.

“Of course,” Taemin said. “Unless…you have someone else in mind?” He directed his question to Luna.

She stared back at him with an annoyed expression followed by a light punch to his abdomen. “I don’t!” She cried.

They chuckled and he pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

“Who are you going with Jinhee?” Luna asked suddenly.

Jinhee raised her eyebrows and blinked several times. “Me? As in, who’s my date?”

“Yeah,” Luna nodded her head slowly.

“Um…” All eyes were on her. She gulped and cracked her brain for names of any boy she knew. She hadn’t a date yet, not when she was too busy getting over Jonghyun— who was supposed to be her date. “Minho!” She unexpectedly said.

“What?” The mentioned boy looked at her with his brows scrunched together.

“What do you mean what?” She chuckled. “You’re my date for the dance!”

“I am?” He asked, confused.

“He is?” Luna looked at Jinhee sceptically.

“You are?” Taemin asked Minho who simply returned his look of confusion.

“Yes!” Jinhee chirped. Scooting closer to Minho, she wrapped her arm around his and leaned on him. “He’s my date.”

__________

“He is not your date!”

Jieun banged her fist onto the table in front of her and stared deeply into Aeri’s eyes, outraged by the nerve of her to tell her what is or isn’t hers. “Yes, he is.” She stated.

Aeri rolled her eyes and with a scoff, pushed Jieun away from her. She was trying her best to keep Jieun away from Jonghyun who seemed like he had lost every care in the world— well he did, all he cared about was Jinhee, and he’s lost her.

“Jonghyun’s not going with you,” Aeri said. “Because…he’s going with me!”

“You?” Jieun growled. Her lips parted ready to reply with an insult but Jonghyun interrupted.

“Ladies!” He yelled, voice echoing through the room. Hands covered his ears, annoyed by all the arguing. “Although I appreciate your interest in wanting to be my date for the dance,” He said with a smirk on his face. The girls rolled their eyes at his ability to display arrogance even at times like this. “But I don’t think I’m going. That’s all. You may find other dates to go with. Have a good day.”

Slowly, he slipped out of his chair gathering all his papers from the table and walked out of the room. Jieun caught up with him and roughly tugged on his arm making him turn one round, facing her. “You can’t not go!” She yelled. “What about me!”

He looked at her with a chuckle. “What about you?”

Jieun huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose. He looked at her curiously with his head tilted, wondering why she was acting this way. She sighed and took one glance behind, where Aeri was, before pulling Jonghyun out of the class, just behind the wall next to the door and away from Aeri’s view.

“Look, you promised you’d go with me.” Jieun said through her clenched teeth.

Jonghyun furrowed his brows and thought for a while thinking if he had in fact made such a promise. Although with the past two months being such a blur, he could barely remember anything he did. After the break-up and endless unreturned missed calls to Jinhee, he tried to accept the fact that she was never coming back. He deluded himself into thinking that Jinhee meant nothing to him; that she was just another girl he dated.

It was as if he was hypnotised or as if his soul had been out, leaving his physical state wandering around empty. No expressions, not even the tiniest littlest smirk made its way on to his face.

He was just an empty boy who let Jieun do whatever she wanted; movie dates, dinner, shopping, anything but never once did he show any emotion. Jieun never seemed to mind either.

“I did?” He asked. “When?”

“Last month,” She said gently, her tone changing into a much softer one. Her hand moved over the side of his face slowly tracing her fingers over his features. “While we were at your house for dinner, remember?”

“No,” He shook his head slowly. “I really don’t remember.”

“Well I do,” She stated. “And you’re coming with me. You promised.”

Jonghyun sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head in defeat. “Fine.” He said. Jieun shrieked and jumped in her joy, hugging Jonghyun along the way. Her lips met with his in an empty, meaningless kiss.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see that,” Aeri stood by the door with her arms folded and eyes wide, blinking, as if to try and erase whatever she had just seen. She eyed the both of them and demanded for an explanation.

Jonghyun looked at her apologetically and she shook her head, already knowing what he meant by that look. He shrugged and reached out his hand to pat the side of her arm. “Apparently I promised,”

“But—“

“Uh, you know what Jonghyun why don’t you move along,” Jieun interrupted. “I’ll settle this with Aeri.”

Jonghyun nodded and gave an apologetic shrug to Aeri before going off. They waited till he was gone down a corner before turning their attention to each other with a fierce growl under each of their breaths.

“You listen here,” Jieun said, pushing Aeri’s shoulder with her index finger. “Jonghyun is my date for the dance and there is nothing you can do about it. You will not ruin this for me. So why don’t you just run along and find yourself another date.”

“Or what?” Aeri retorted.

Jieun scoffed, her red lips curving up one side. “Or I will tell your friends that breaking Jonghyun and Jinhee up was your idea.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Is it?” She asked. “Weren’t you the one so determined to separate the both—“

“That was back then!” Aeri yelled. “It was different. And I was foolish.”

“You still are foolish.” Jieun remarked as she ran her eyes over Aeri threateningly. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing? You’re just trying to get those two back together, aren’t you?”

“Yeah because he loves her,” Aeri breathed, looking straight into Jieun’s eyes. “He doesn’t love you.”

It sent anger ranging in Jieun, causing her to scream in frustration, covering her ears to prevent herself from hearing those words. “He does love me,”

“Oh I think you very well know he doesn’t,”

“Shut up!” She yelled, shoving Aeri as hard as she could, making her almost collide with another student walking by. “Leave.”

“Whatever,” Aeri huffed. “This isn’t over yet.”

“Do I look like I give a ? Just go!”

__________

“They’re not actually dating,” Aeri said with a hint of uncertainty in her tone. “They’re just…seeing each other?”

Her reply which sounded more like a question made the rest look at each other. Minho drank from his cup slowly, eyes focused on the table. Taemin played with his ring, rolling and spinning it on the table while Luna sat in between the two boys with her head on her palms.

“So what does that mean?...” Luna asked.

“I don’t know either.” Aeri replied with a sigh.

After one final spin, Taemin threw his ring into the air and caught it with the same hand, grinning at his own success. “All I know is that Jinhee still loves that guy.” He said casually.

“Yeah no kidding Taemin,” Luna rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Even a blind person could see that.”

“I don’t think we can do much,” Minho finally says placing his cup nicely onto the table.

The other three looked at him questioningly. Especially Aeri. She looked straight into his eyes, wondering what was going on in that head of his.

“You’re saying we should let them be?” She asked.

“Yes,” He nodded.

“But Jinhee and Jonghyun still—“

“I know, Luna. They still love each other.” He sighed and sat up straight in his chair. Even if the others seemed uncomfortable with this idea but they too knew, that it was the best for the two. “They found each other once before without our help, they can find each other again.”

Luna cleared deliberately and raised her hand slightly. “Technically speaking Taemin and I helped so…”

“Luna…” Taemin covered with his hand stopping her from saying anything else. Minho and Aeri chuckled at the sight. It was always cute when they bickered, even cuter now that they actually are seeing each other.

Aeri smiled at the sight of them teasing each other. Her eyes then fell to Minho who was already staring back at her. She leaned in closer to the table and to Minho, whispering to not interrupt the other two, “Do you have a date for the dance?”

“Apparently I’m going with Jinhee.”

“Why do all of you use the word apparently?! Like, do you just say yes when the girl asks you or something, geez!”

Minho scrunched his brows together. “Well I’m sorry she claimed me before you did!”

“Who said I was going to ask you anyway?” Aeri scoffed.

“Fine then, hope you get yourself a nice date.”

“Fine.”

They faced away from each other, with frowns on their faces. Taemin and Luna were now looking at them with weird looks, distracted by the yelling from before.

“Are you two okay?” Taemin asked.

“Fine!” They roared at the same time. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seems like everytime I want to write I always fall sick or something with come up lmfao yeah so sorry once again for the delay. In fact I'm still sick but I really didn't want to forget whatever ideas I already have heh ^^;; 

Thanks for sticking to my story. Will get interesting (I guess) soon enough <3