When I woke up, I groaned in frustration. My back ached, my eyes felt swollen and worst of all, my heart was broken. As I rolled from the middle of my bed to the end, I glanced over to my clock. Curse words flew out of my mouth left and right as I threw my blanket off of me and ran to my phone. It was already past 8, and school started in thirty minutes. After speedily dialing the number, after having it memorized by heart, I hesitated to press the talk button. I internally debated with myself until I just closed my eyes and let my thumb click it.

            “Hello?” a voice called after a few rings.

            “Oh, Yuri,” I sounded a little too startled. “I woke up late, so-“

            “It’s okay. Taemin slept over last night, and he had time to drop me off.”

            “… oh,” was all I could say. If my heart had managed to swim back up my chest, it would have dropped again by now.

            “I’ll see you later then,” she said before hanging up, not even waiting for my reply. Letting out a sigh, I threw my phone onto my bed on my way to the bathroom. When I came face to face with my reflection, sure enough my face was slightly swollen. Now that I thought about it, I don’t even remember falling asleep. All I could think about was how I just laid there and cried, begging to God to make Yuri love me. I bitterly chuckled at that; there was no way she could love somebody like me.

            I turned the faucet on, cupping my hands to grab the cold water. Even after thoroughly rinsing my face, it didn’t sooth my swollen eyes or tone down the bags under them. In the end, I just gave up on it. I really didn’t have anybody to please with my appearance, so I just quickly dressed. My attire consisted of a blue graphic tee along with some white skinnies. When I passed by the full length mirror on my way down the stairs, I realized I wouldn’t have looked half bad if it wasn’t for the bags under my eyes and disheveled hair.

-----

            After the seemingly long ride to school, I went to the attendance office to pick up my tardy slip. According to the clock that was hung against the wall, I was half an hour late. The teacher instructed that I sleep earlier from now on before handing me the slip. I nodded, bowed and slowly paced to class.

            When I walked through the door of my classroom, the noise that I previously heard in the hallway ceased. My teacher stopped his lecture and turned to face me along with my classmates. In the corner of my eye, I saw Yuri giving me a concerned look.

            “Youngmin, you are late,” Mr. Kim announced as he approached me. I handed him my tardy slip and bowed.

            “Sorry, sir. I overslept, but it won’t happen again,” I assured him before fixing my posture. He gave me a wave, and I dashed off to an open desk. Much to my dismay, the seat was to the right of Yuri, who immediately glanced over at me when I sat. As Mr. Km proceeded with the lesson, she just continued to stare at me. I, however, tried to remain focused on the board and pretend I didn’t see.

            When the lunch bell rang, Yuri jumped out of her seat to run over to mine. I had copied her, but dashed over to Minwoo. I grabbed him by his arm, yanked him out of his desk, and dragged him to the cafeteria.

            “Whoa, Youngmin!” Minwoo exclaimed as I continued to run. “Slow down!” I didn’t really listen; I just kept running. Minwoo was trailing behind, tripping on his own feet. When I finally stopped in front of the doors, Minwoo crashed into my back.

            “Sorry,” I apologized halfheartedly without turning around. I let go of his hand and made my way over to our usual table. Kwangmin was already there, so I just sat beside him, earning me a weird gaze from the younger.

            “Youngmin?” he questioned, stopping his previous actions now.

            “Yeah?”

            “You are sitting next to me?”

            “Can I not?” I raised an eyebrow to him. He quickly shook his head and lifted his hands up in defense.

            “No, it’s fine,” he covered his face in his hands, suddenly embarrassed. I comfortingly patted his back just as Minwoo sat down.

            “What did you do to him?” he sighed as he gestured to the seemingly crying boy. Kwangmin didn’t even try to answer, so I just shrugged.

            “Not entirely sure.”

            “So what is up with you?”

            “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, pretending to be offended. He rolled his eyes in response before gesturing again to both Kwangmin and I.

            “You are sitting next to Kwangmin, were late to class, and dude, you have bags under your eyes; what the hell happened?” he gave me a serious look, but I simply tried my best to ignore it.

            “I like Kwangmin; can’t I sit next to him?” I challenged, knowing that I left out the answer to his most important question. He was obviously irritated with my behavior because he got up and hit the top of my head.

            “Seriously?”

            “Look, I just slept late last night. No big deal,” I tried to act aloof to calm his nerves.

            “I’m beginning to really worry about you, Youngmin,” Minwoo sincerely confessed after he gently placed his hand over mine.

            “Your bromance is so cute,” Yuri cooed as she sat down, plopping her lunch tray onto the table loudly. My whole demeanor dropped instantly. I let my gaze drop to the table as I pulled my hand out from under Minwoo’s. Obviously I could have been a bit more subtle about everything, but I didn’t really think about it. Well, at least not until Minwoo roughly gripped onto my hand again.

            “Minwoo?” I mouthed out to him in confusion. My eyes widened when I saw the stern look on his usually cute face. He motioned with his eyes over to Yuri with an eyebrow raised. When I tried to look down and avoid his question, he squeezed my hand tighter.

            “What are you doing here, Yuri?” he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Although he was talking to her, his eyes never left mine. Every time I tried to break contact, he would harshly grip onto my hand until I looked back.

            “Hmm, don’t I always eat with you guys?”

            “Oh, that’s right. Silly me,” he laughed artificially, tilting his head. His eyes widened to such a size that it almost seemed comical. Sighing, I nodded, answering his previously unspoken question, confirming that Yuri was indeed the source of my dismay.

            “Hey, Youngmin, are you okay?” Yuri suddenly asked me. I finally was able to rip my eyes off of Minwoo without him hurting me and glanced over at the girl.

            “Why do you ask?” I asked gently with a small smile, trying to be convincing. In the corner of my eye, I saw Minwoo pretending to gag and Kwangmin looking totally lost.

            “You just seem out of it.”

            “And who’s fault do you think that is!?” Everything stopped, literally. The people surrounding us ceased talking and turned over to our table. Minwoo was standing from his seat, fist clenched and slammed into the table. Yuri and I stared in disbelief at his sudden outburst. Was this really the same cute kid that I’ve known since middle school?

            “Minwoo?” I said softly, trying to snap him out of his trance. Luckily, he instantly came to. He turned around and went back into his usual cute mode.

            “Sorry everybody!” he smiled and waved at them. Most of the people just turned back to their conversations while others took a few seconds to take in what just happened. Minwoo sat back down and let out a sigh.

            “Oops.”

            “Uh, Minwoo?” Yuri questioned him slowly, trying not to anger him again. “What did you mean earlier?” I watched him tense up and look to me for an answer. Solemnly, I gave him a small shrug, making sure it went unnoticed by the others.

            “I,” he started. His lips suddenly curved into a sheepish smile as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. “I meant to say that to Youngmin once he replied, but I got too excited. You know, you have to take care of yourself, Youngmin.” He ended the explanation with a wagging finger to me, as if scolding me playfully. Yuri nervously laughed it off before turning back to me.

            “So are you okay?” she asked me again. I nodded after shrugging.

            “Just not sleeping well,” I replied honestly, leaving it fairly vague though. It was enough to sooth Yuri’s worries, but not Minwoo’s. He gave me a look before standing up again. That ‘sweet’ smile appeared again.

            “Youngmin, will you come to the bathroom with me?”

            “Um, can’t you go by yourself?” I tried to act nonchalant about it. His teeth clenched tightly shut as he spoke again.

            “But, I don’t want to go alone,” he whined. Still not trying to give in, I hastily looked over to Kwangmin.

            “You want to go with him?” I asked hopefully. He shook his head immediately before leaning so his lips were near my ear.

            “He’s kind of scaring me right now,” he confessed, giving me a look of worry.

            “Yuri?” I turned to my last option.

            “Youngmin, I am a girl,” she reminded me. Minwoo smiled victoriously towards me before skipping off, knowing that I would follow. Slowly, I got out of my seat and waved goodbye to Kwangmin and Yuri before leaving. When I was outside the cafeteria, I squealed slightly. Minwoo came out of nowhere and put his hand over my mouth.

            “Shh,” he tried to calm down. Soon after, he released me and gestured to the direction opposite from the bathrooms.

            “That’s not-“

            “This way, they can’t find us if we take too long,” he explained without turning around. I gulped obnoxiously as I shakily followed after him.

            “Y-you make it sound like you are going to k-kill me,” I laughed nervously as I joked. He shrugged.

            “I might. You know, if you don’t answer me,” he turned around to smile at me. We were now in an empty hallway that I recognized to be five minutes away from the cafeteria.

            “I’m going to be honest; I’m scared.”

            “Good. Confess your problems, and everything will be fine. What’s wrong?” Minwoo threatened before showing his underlying concern. Although Minwoo acts like a complete fool sometimes, he is such a good friend.

            “Well, did I ever tell you that Yuri has a boyfriend?”

            “What?! Since when?” he freaked at the sudden news.

            “For a while now,” I shrugged. “It’s on the down low though, so keep it there.”

            “Is that why you are upset?”

            “Sort of. I met him for the first time yesterday.”

            “How did that go?” he cautiously asked. As if on command, I felt my eyes begin to water. My thoughts were rushing through my head along with images of last night. All I could see was Yuri and Taemin kissing happily, but the only sound that played was my cries from last night.

            “Youngmin, calm down,” I heard Minwoo shout at me. When I snapped out of my trance, I was on the ground with Minwoo holding me. He pulled away slightly, but only slightly so I could still be comforted by his heat.

            “Sorry,” I mumbled as I averted my gaze. His hand slipped under my chin and pulled me up to re-face him.

            “It’s alright; now talk,” he commanded. He was being pretty harsh right now, but I knew he meant well. Minwoo was the type of guy who believed that talking out your problems was the best thing to do.

            “He’s actually a nice guy,” I confessed in a hushed tone, but he still caught it.

            “Damn it all,” he cursed as he abruptly stood up. He began to pace around in a circle, banging on a locker occasionally. “If only he was a douche.” I immediately laughed at his comments.

          “Shouldn’t I be happy?” I shrugged, trying more to convince myself than him. “She’s happy with a nice guy.”

            “No,” Minwoo stressed the word. “You should be mad as hell.” That elicited another laugh.

            “Why?” I mused.

           “Now how are you going to go in, smack that loser around, and show Yuri that you are Superman?” he joked. Weirdly enough, even though he was actually joking this time, it suddenly made me upset again.

            “I was never Superman to begin with,” I solemnly confessed my thoughts. “I’m just… nobody.”

            “No!” he shouted before sitting back in front of me. He took my hands into his and stared into my eyes. “You are the good guy, and the good guy always gets the girl.”

            “But he seems like a good guy too,” I argued with him.

            “You are better!”

            “Why do you think that?”

            “Why don’t you think that?” he yelled angrily at me. “I swear, Youngmin, you are the most insecure guy I know.” He looked away to run his fingers through his hair in frustration.

            “I guess,” I agreed while a tear silently slipped down my cheek. When he looked back, he immediately jumped to wipe it away.

            “I love you though!” he smiled cheekily to me, trying to act cute again. When I didn’t respond positively like he wished, his smile turned into a confident smirk. “Now we will just have to get Yuri to!”

            “… you are the best,” I mumbled with a small smile. Minwoo pulled me into a hug and began to rock us back and forth.

            “No, you are!”

Author’s Note: There is so much depression in here. :c I realize that I’ve been getting really lazy. This chapter . Sorry, guys. I’ll try and get better.  Please leave a comment and subscribe! Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. <3

Question of the Day: What is your favorite song from the new Boyfriend mini album?

Mine is Super Hero! <3 I just really like the beat and lyrics. Plus, it’s fun to sing and dance to. C: haha. Furthermore, Love Style saddens me since Youngmin sings for like… five seconds only.

So until next time guys! :D