Before Jonghyun could even finish his sentence, So Dam had reached over to his side of the driver’s seat to press the horn a couple of times. It certainly did its job of getting Jinhee’s attention because she was now crossing the street, heading right for them.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

                ”Great now she’s going to think I’m a freak for just randomly showing up here!” Jonghyun whisper-shouted even though Jinhee couldn’t hear them from outside. He forced a calm expression while his fingers reluctantly clicked a button, unlocking the doors of his car.

                “Oh, don’t worry.” So Dam nodded. “Pretty sure she already knows how much of a freak you really are.”

                “This is not the time to argue.” He said, unamused by how much fun his sister is having.

                “Agreed. It’s time to get out that door and be a man.” She waved him off, pushing him to get off his seat and face Jinhee. Air inside the car suddenly seemed thicker and Jonghyun’s hand reached up to tug at his collar which felt tighter than it was before. Once he pushed the door open there was no turning back.

                “Hey! Jinhee…what a coincidence. Were you shopping here? I guess you were huh.” He could’ve sworn Jinhee almost let a smile slip at his rambling. But it was quickly wiped off.

                “Are you stalking me?” Her big eyes locked straight into his—in a scary way which had even his palms sweating. Her lips though, he noticed, were coated with a natural shade of lip gloss and protruded out just a little, just how it always is when she’s confused or in deep thought. He’d observed that trait of hers whenever they were going through math questions.

                She's still so cute. A small smile settled on his face.

                "What?" Her voice snapped him out of his trance. "Is there something on my face? You've been staring for a while." She subtly wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands which was when Jonghyun noticed she still had her grocery bags hung around her wrists. Finally coming to his senses, he freed her from the weight.

                "Thanks." She smiled slightly.

               "I'm sorry, I was just...distracted." His voice was kind of shaky. Hoping she had forgotten all about the stalking issue, he opened the door of his car and gestured for her to get in. "Come on. We'll send you home."

                The familiar smell of his car greeted her as she slid into the back seat. Normally, she'd despise the smell of a guy's car; secretly even Minho's. Even though she didn't have the heart to tell him. It just smelled so new and after a while the "new" smell made her dizzy. But this, the smell of Jonghyun's car, made her want to stay in it forever. It smelled wonderful. Of course it did. Because he was still using the lavender scented car freshener, the one she herself had bought for him--even if he did make a big fuss over his car smelling like a girl.

                So Dam turned in her seat to greet Jinhee and they exchanged a small hug. The last time they had met was during Jonghyun's birthday party which now seemed like forever ago.

                The car ride went well, to Jonghyun's relief, thanks l to his sister who managed to keep the conversation going between them girls. Every time Jinhee spoke he'd feel his heart thumping. It's been so long since they had a nice moment together, and soon, she'd move leaving him with no chance of such moments anymore.

                "That . Are you sure moving is the only solution?" So Dam asked. "I mean is there really no other way?"

                "Even if there is, we don't have much time." Jinhee shrugged. "Right now, moving is our best solution."

                They had reached a stop light just a few minutes away from Jinhee's house.

                "But you know, isn't there anything that would make you stay?" So Dam continued. "Anything at all?"

                "Well I would stay," Jinhee replied timidly. "If there was anything left to hold on to."

               Jonghyun reached up to adjust his rear view mirror and when he did, Jinhee saw his brown eyes looking back at her.

                "Woah, are we still talking about the same thing here?" So Dam snickered knowing exactly what Jinhee meant by that, even if Jinhee herself didn’t. She looked over to her brother, noticing how tense his grip on the wheel was and mentally sighed at how these two had even ended up in this situation.

                “Hey, Jonghyun?” Jinhee voiced after the silence that followed So Dam’s previous question—which sounded more like a statement. “You still haven’t answered my question from before. So…?”

                "What?" He huffed exaggeratedly, cursing Jinhee for not giving it up. "About the stalking thing? As in, following you around? No! Of course not. Why would I do such a creepy thing?”

                “Yeah, stalking is such a creepy thing to do. The creepiest, in fact.” So Dam added, stressing the words while she stared at Jonghyun. He returned her stare with dissatisfaction. The last thing he wanted was to chase her away with his ‘creepy’ attitude when all he wanted to do was to get close.

                Jonghyun pulled up at the curb and put his car on park. While Jinhee and his sister said their goodbyes and shared another hug, he left his seat and opened the door to let Jinhee out, helping her with her bags. Once she got out of the car, she stared at her front door with worry spread all over her face. Only then, after following her gaze, did Jonghyun realize that her father was standing by the front door talking to two men. They didn’t seem scary, no. They had suits on and Jonghyun guessed they were from the bank.

                “I’ll walk you to your door.” Jonghyun said carefully, checking her reaction.

She was quiet at first and remained frozen for a while before coming back to life and shaking her head while her hands scrambled to get the bags from Jonghyun. “No, you don’t have to. I can manage by myself.”

                “Are you—“ He looked at her once more and decided not to finish his question. She obviously didn’t want him to find out about those guys and why they were there. Hell, even she didn’t want to know. “Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll get going.”

                “Hey,” She said softly, finally turning to look him in the eyes. “Thank you.” She smiled, a real smile, before walking up to her house.

                “No problem.” He whispered even though she was no longer standing in front of him.

                His feet stood rooted onto the pavement even after Jinhee had made her way into the house. Windows of the house looked bare without the long beige curtains that hung. She actually is moving. Looking through the windows he could see Jinhee and her brother stacking boxes, one after another. Butterflies fluttered in his tummy upon the realization that this is all real. He got into his car quickly, flustered and helpless.

                “You’re going to stop her, right?” So Dam asked, seriously now.

                “How?” He sighed and shook his head lightly. There were too many thoughts racing through his mind. He knew he had to stop Jinhee from leaving. That’s what he wants to do. But is it the right thing to do?

__________

                Jinhee stared at her seemingly empty room. Blank walls, empty desk; only boxes stacked near the door made up most of the matter. Her eyes darted to her bed which had two pieces of clothing laid. The first one being the outfit for the dance evaluation and the second, a black dress Minho bought for her weeks ago to wear to the homecoming dance.

                Everything was going way to fast. Weeks ago she wouldn’t have expected to be leaving her home, her friends, and the person she loved. But such a sacrifice had to be made. After all, this was all her idea.

                She picked up the blue dress that had shining sequins lined around the edges which she had on earlier for the dance evaluation with Taemin. Despite how nervous they were over the lack of practice, they managed to pull off the routine perfectly. Even landing a spot amongst the top five in class. Ecstatic they were, until Jinhee remembered that she was not even part of the class anymore. Yet another sacrifice which she had to make; putting aside her love for dance.

                All she had to look forward to was the homecoming dance which was ironic considering she would be leaving after. She considered skipping it but felt it would be unfair towards Minho since she had already promised to be his date for that night.

                Just then, her phone rang off from atop one of the boxes. She checked the caller ID and swiped the phone screen. “Hey Aeri.” She answered.

                “Hey. Do you have plans tonight?” Jinhee hummed and looked around. “I was thinking of trying out the new restaurant that just opened up. I’ll get the rest to come down too.”

                “Sure. I’ve nothing better to do anyway.”

                “Great!” Aeri chirped. You could almost imagine the smile on her face. She had been acting rather distant lately that Jinhee wondered if she had done something wrong. But Minho re-assured her that it was only because she was upset about the move. “I’ll tell Minho to pick you up on the way. Get ready by 6!”

                “Sure.” Jinhee replied before hanging up. A groan then escaped her when she realized she had to go through the boxes again to find something suitable to wear.

                The ride to the restaurant was long. Jinhee had no idea where the place was but she left that part to Minho. They had been quiet throughout the ride with nothing much to say; only exchanging smiles and glances. Once they arrived, they searched the restaurant for the others and found Luna, Taemin, Aeri and Key seated by a window table, waving to get their attention.

                “Now that you’re here, I have some bad news to announce.” Luna started as soon as Jinhee took her seat.

                “What? Can’t we be happy for five minutes, at least?” Jinhee joked.

                “This is serious.” Luna retorted with the others nodding along playfully. “I’m not going to be able to send you off when you leave. My brother’s flying us off to Australia to watch his play.”

                “That’s great!” Jinhee replied, confused as to why this would be bad news. “We’re going to meet during the dance anyway! I’ll send you off. It’s not like you’re doing this on purpose.”

                “Besides, you’re going to AUSTRALIA.” Taemin interrupted, eyes wide with excitement. Luna ignored his comment and pouted Jinhee’s way. “But Jinhee…I don’t know when we’ll meet again.”

                “Oh come on Luna,” Aeri sighed with an equal amount of sadness in her voice. “I’m sure we’ll find some way to meet again. Right Jinhee?” Her gaze met with a teary eyed Jinhee trying to keep her emotions at bay.

                “Shall we skip this part of the dinner, I’m kind of starving here.” Minho spoke from behind the menu causing giggles to spread around the table. Taemin laughed and joined him in searching the menu. “What? I’m seriously hungry.” Minho responded when the other three turned to look at him.

                Key arrived shortly after they had placed their orders with bags in each hand, almost knocking down the waiter while hurrying to his seat next to Jinhee. He shoved the bags into Jinhee’s lap and smiled, obviously satisfied with himself.

                “What is this?” Jinhee asked, peeking into one of the expensive-looking bags. They were elegant and smelled nice. Her eyes widened as she carefully flipped over the price-tag in one of the bags. “Who is all this for?” She shrieked.

                “You, silly! These are my goodbye presents.” He shrugged as if it was the most natural thing to give expensive clothes and accessories as goodbye presents. “Something to remember me by while you’re miles away.”

                “That’s so sweet but—“ Jinhee shook her head and chuckled, motioning to the bags. “This is too much!”

                “Too much of something good, isn’t bad.” He replied.

                “Wow, deep.” Taemin giggled. “You should’ve at least told us you were getting presents so we could get her some too.”

                “No, you guys really don’t have to.” Jinhee retorted shaking her head. She placed the bags carefully by the side of her chair and hugged Key, thanking him for them.

              “Now I feel really bad.” Luna sighed. “I didn’t get you anything and I’m not even going to be there when you leave!”

                “Here we go again…” Minho sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

                Dinner went on normally after, even though at the back of everyone’s minds they each understood where Luna was coming from. This might be the last dinner they would have as a group for a while, so they made the most of it.

                They hadn’t noticed how late it was until one of the waiters kindly informed them that the restaurant would be closing up soon. Only then did they realize they were the last few customers still there. There were three other tables still occupied but they decided to call it a night.

                “See you at the dance.” Aeri said while hugging Jinhee. She got into her car as the rest said their goodbyes and waited for Taemin and Luna to join her. Key made his own way home while Jinhee went with Minho.

                Jinhee sighed as she leaned her head against the window of the car, observing the view outside, trying to memorise every single detail and imprint it into her mind. “What’s wrong?” Minho asked. She turned towards him and smiled, lightly shaking her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’ll just miss it here…Miss you guys…”

                Minho was quiet for a while before he spoke again. “I’m positive you’ll get to come back. You can’t stay there forever. I mean unless…you want to or something.”

                She laughed and shrugged, another sigh leaving her lips. “I…I don’t know…” Minho playfully punched her arm making her gasp. “What was that for?”

                “Don’t be so serious! If you don’t come back, I’ll make sure we come to you.” She laughed at his reply, feeling butterflies in her tummy from the way Minho sounded so serious. Even if he was joking, it made her feel a lot better.

                But the smile on her face slowly disappeared just as soon as it appeared. They had reached her house but there was a black car parked in front. She knew who it belonged to. So did Minho. “Do you want me to stay?” He asked carefully as he observed the seriousness in her expression. She smiled a force smile, as compared to before, and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. See you at the dance?”

                Minho smiled back uncertainly but nodded anyways. They hugged before Jinhee exited the car and walked towards the pathway. She waited for Minho to leave before turning towards the car and approaching it slowly. The door of the driver’s seat opened and Jonghyun stepped out. She let out a breath, as if building up courage before greeting him with a smile.

                “Hey,” She said as she got closer. He leaned against his car. She sighed mentally. She loved how he looked when he did that. “What are you doing here?”

                Jonghyun smiled and walked towards her slowly. “I wanted to see you. Thought you’d be home.” He managed a small shrug and made eye contact. “Guess I should’ve called first. Sorry.”

                “Why are you sorry?” You chuckled. “Well, I’m here now.”

                “Yup…you are…”

                Silence filled the area between them for a while and Jinhee wondered if she should leave instead. Her eyes shifted to the front door of her house. He caught her looking away and a sudden urgency passed through him. He took a deep breath and caught her attention. “So um, you’re coming to the dance right?” He asked timidly.

                “Mmhmm,” She nodded, pursing her lips slightly. “Will I see you there?”

                “Yeah!” He said a bit too excitedly. “I mean, yeah you know…you probably will.”

                She chuckled at his reaction. “Okay…” She nodded again, running out of words. It felt like there was so much to say and yet, nothing came out. It startled her when he grabbed her hand out of nowhere and pulled her towards the curb where he sat and brushed the space next to him, then pulling her down to join him. “Did you have something you wanted to say to me?” She asked looking straight into his eyes.

                He blinked at her a couple of times, wondering what she meant by that. “Yeah,” He lied. She might just get up and leave if he didn’t get the conversation going. “Where’d you go tonight?”

                “Seriously? That’s the best you can do?” She rolled her eyes and stifled back a laugh. He shrugged and gave her a look. “Hey at least I’m trying,” He said while his hand suddenly reached into his pocket, pulling out a packet of M&M’s and offering her some. She placed out her palm while he carefully poured out some for her. “Hmm, okay. I went to dinner tonight. With the gang.”

                “What?! Why wasn’t I invited?!” She laughed, almost allowing the candy from dropping out of . Her laughter filled his ears and caused a smile of his own to appear. It had been a while since he made her laugh and he’d missed it. “Well how am I supposed to know? Aeri did all the planning…” She said, shrugging.

                “Next time, ask me too.” He pointed a finger sternly at her. She rolled her eyes again and made a face at him. “So…you’ll be at the dance right?” The sudden change in topic made her silent again but she smiled, finding it cute that he seemed to have forgotten asking her the same question just a few minutes ago. Brushing her hands after shoving the last few pieces of the candy into , she nodded. “Yup. So are you right?” He nodded back.

                “Then you’re leaving…” He said ever so quietly but loud enough for her to catch. They sat there in silence. Jinhee could hear the front door opening and knew that her brother had probably spotted them sitting there through the window. She moved her hand to Jonghyun’s knee, startling him. He stared at her questioningly. “Do you want to send me off at the train station?”

                The sides of his lip curved slightly upwards as he processed whatever she said. “Is that an invitation?” She smiled sincerely and nodded. When she turned back, her brother was already halfway towards them and she gave a small wave.

                “Oh it’s only you guys…” Wooyoung muttered. “Coming in anytime soon?”

                “Yeah I’ll be a minute,” Jinhee called after. She started to get up and brushed back of her pants. Jonghyun did the same and stood awkwardly before her not knowing how to say goodbye. “Okay…” Jinhee mumbled to herself and started to make her way to the house.

                “Wait,” Jonghyun called out and she found her hand being pulled into his direction. She slowly followed suit and he reached for the other hand. Now both her hands were in his and she could have sworn her heart almost jumped out from her chest. “Yeah?” She looked up at him with an anticipating smile.

                “Will you dance with me at homecoming?” He asked smoothly as if he’d been planning to all along.

                She giggled and nodded. “Sure. I’ll save you a dance.”

                “You better.” He said playfully before letting go of her. He watched as she made her way to the door where her brother was standing, arms crossed and leaning against the door frame with a smirk on his face. Jonghyun bowed formally to him and got a nod in return.

                “Bye,” Jinhee called out and waved.

                “Bye,” Wooyoung wrapped his arm around her and also started waving. “Drive safely.”

                Without adding anything else to the already awkward scene, Jonghyun paced straight to his car and started the enging, waving from the driver’s seat before driving off. He still felt the chills when Wooyoung was around and it was even scarier when he’s nice.

                “Did you just ask him to drive safely? That’s so weird.” Jinhee punched Wooyoung playfully as soon as Jonghyun’s car disappeared. He put one hand up in defense and used the other to shut the door.  

                “You still like him.” Wooyoung said, as a matter of factly.

                “What?” She huffed. “No I don’t.”

                Wooyoung stared at her with a knowing smile on his face for the next minute or so.

                “What?” Jinhee crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. She hated it when he gave her that look and he knew it. “Oh my God, shut up! You are the worst brother ever! Ugh!” She yelled while running up the stairs to her room.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

This felt so much longer that it actually is ugh I am such a horrible author I'm sorry. 
Somehow lost the motivation for updates and yeah it took me forever to write this only to realise that it's so short lmao.
I'm not going to leave this hanging though, I WILL FINISH THIS!!!! 
Thank you to my subscribers (if you still want to read this lol) I'm sorry for being really annoyingly horrible )':