"This is getting kind of boring," Hyerin mumbled, crossing her legs and propping her elbows on the table as she watched students dance to an overrated pop song.

Tao nodded, placing an arm around Hyerin's chair as he slumped in his seat. "I hate to admit it but yeah, it is getting kind of boring."

"Who the hell has that much energy to dance for more than two hours?" Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"Them, apparently." Kris nodded over to where Xiumin, Kai, Sehun, and Lay were dancing.

"Psh. Party animals," Tao scoffed.

"Eh, whatever. I'm gonna go grab something to eat." Baekhyun stood up from his seat and went towards the buffet table.
 

"Oh my god! Is that who I think it is?"

"Oh, no way!"

"Isn't that Yongguk, the basketball team's point guard?"

"Is that his girl?"

"Woah, she's really pretty!"

Hyerin and the others stopped talking among themselves and turned to the commotion. Students were whispering to each other, their attention at the entrance of the ballroom. It seemed like someone just arrived.

"What's up?" Luhan asked, craning his neck to see what was happening.

"I don't know, something about Yongguk." Lay shrugged, doing the same thing as Luhan.

"What, he has a new girlfriend?" Kris asked as he leaned back on his chair, disinterested. "That kid will never change."

"Yeah, Yongguk's always been a playboy," Tao distractedly commented, trying to see past the people blocking his view. "He's even worse than Kai when it comes to–oh! Oh, I see them!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Yup, definitely a new girl. She's pretty too, and she kind of looks familiar–wait. Oh no."

"What?" Kris raised a brow, arms folded.

He gulped. "Uh-oh."

"Why? What's the matter?" Hyerin asked, standing up.

"Oh no, this is not good."

"Tao, quit ting your pants and tell us what the hell's wrong," Kris said, glaring at the boy.

"Ugh, this is bad. Really bad."

Having enough of Tao's unhelpfulness, Hyerin sighed and stood on top of her chair. She scanned the ballroom entrance, for a while thinking nothing special was happening, when she suddenly spotted the basketball team's point guard with a familiar girl holding on to his arm.

Hyerin's eyes widened in realization.

It was Baekhyun's ex-girlfriend, Yoona.

"Hyerin, get your down from there before something dumb happens and you fall," Kris scolded.

Hyerin scowled. "I'm not clumsy."

"Yeah, well the people around you are."

She didn't reply as she stepped back down on the ground, brushing her skirt after.

"So what was so interesting going on there?" Lay asked.

"No, it's just that Baekhyun's..." Was it okay to say it?

"Baekhyun's what?"

"Yongguk's date is Baekhyun's ex," Tao bluntly said, sitting back down on the table.

The group shared a chorused 'ooh' when they finally understood what the situation was about.

"Should we do something?" Hyerin asked uncertainly.

"Nah, just let them be. Baekhyun's over it, I'm sure. He's probably just going to shrug it off if ever he sees them together," Tao said, taking the table knife and twirling it skillfully around his fingers. "He's just that kind of guy, you know?"

Hyerin wanted to believe it, she really did, but something told her that Tao was a little behind when it came to Baekhyun's feelings. Hyerin and Baekhyun sometimes got into the topic of Yoona, and she saw how he reacted whenever they talked about her.

She didn't want to pry in other people's lives, but she didn't want to let them get hurt either.

She looked towards where Baekhyun was and saw that he was still clueless about his ex-girlfriend's arrival. His obliviousness was somehow unsettling Hyerin. What would his reaction be once he finds out?

---

Baekhyun yawned as he took a plate from the table and headed towards the buffet area where the food was laid out. He was not much of a big eater, but it was hard not to get seconds when the food looked so appetizing.

He trudged happily to where the roast beef was when a hand was placed gently on his shoulder. Startled, he whipped around only to regret doing so afterwards.

"Baekhyun," Yoona started once he was facing her completely. She was all smiles in her peach knee-high dress and black stilettos. "Long time, no see."

The bespectacled teen almost dropped his plate. He clenched his jaw to prevent it from hanging wide open as he stared at her in shock. What was she doing here in his school? She's already graduated from high school so what was her business here?

"H-Hey," Baekhyun stuttered, shifting from one foot to another. "Uh, yeah, it's, um, it's been a while."

Yoona's smile didn't falter as her hand dropped down to his arm. He looked down at the contact, gulping.

"How have you been? You look different!" she giggled. "And I meant that in a good way."

He chuckled nervously, adjusting his glasses. "I'm good, aha. And yeah. Uh, thanks?" he stammered. "Well, um. What about you? How are you doing?" he asked, crossing his arms. "How's, um, how's university going for you?"

"It's nice! I got into Yonsei and it's been fun so far! I made so many friends and just," She shrugged, grinning from ear to ear, "it's just really, really great. I've got what I've been dreaming of and I'm having the time of my life."

It's what you wanted, he thought, and he was happy for her. He remembered her ranting on and on about her plans in the future when they were still, well, together.

Then there was the other side of him that was darker, the one that was upset. Upset that she's smiling, that she's still quirky, that she's so stunning tonight, that's she's happy, that's she's okay. She was okay, really okay, that it made him feel so bad. She was able to talk to him as if they never lost communication for seven months, like they were old friends, like everything was alright. She wasn't stuttering and uncomfortable like him; no, she was okay. She was okay and he wasn't.

Baekhyun didn't realize she was waiting for him to respond. Clearing his throat, he said, "That's good. You got what you wanted."

Her grin widened and as much as he didn't want to admit it, his heart picked up in pace when she did that. "Yeah. I did." She looked down on her shoes with a soft glint in her eyes before asking, "So what about you? How's everything? How's your...band?"

For the first time since they started talking, her voice became strained and careful. Of course it would, she hated his music.

"They're okay, I guess. Same stuff going on." He shrugged, looking around at the people who were sneaking glances at them, probably wondering what their connection to each other was.

"Everything's the same. Nothing much has been going on since you..." he trailed off, suddenly realizing where he was going with this. "Um, yeah," he mumbled, watching as her gaze wavered a little.

Yoona opened to reply when an arm s around her waist from behind. She turned around to be met by a grinning Yongguk.

"Hey, babe," he mumbled into her hair, swaying the girl in his arms playfully.

"Hey," she laughed, putting her arms over his. "Where've you been?"

"Just talked to my homeboys over there." His eyes landed on Baekhyun. "Who's this?" he asked in curiosity.

Baekhyun couldn't do anything but stand there and watch as Yongguk held her like she was his property. What was happening? For some reason, his brain couldn't process it. Why must he always act so stupid when it came to Yoona?

"Oh! Oh my gosh, of course," Yoona chuckled weakly, pulling away from Yongguk. "This is Byun Baekhyun. He's a..." her gaze fell on the bespectacled teen, looking troubled for a second, "...an old friend of mine. We haven't seen each other in a while and...I just thought we could catch up," she added quietly.

"Baekhyun, this is Yongguk. He's the-"

"Point guard of the basketball team. Yeah, I know him," he continued, voice small and kind of squeaky.

"It's nice to meet you," Yongguk said, actually meaning it. He stuck out his hand for him to shake. "I've never seen you around here before. Which department are you from?"

Baekhyun took his hand. Yongguk's grip was firm. He felt so small compared to him. "I-I'm from the Fine Arts department. Building B."

Yongguk nodded and tucked his hands inside his pockets, chuckling good-naturedly. "Not surprising. You look like the artistic kind of guy. I'll make sure to say hi to you from now on whenever I see you."

Baekhyun wasn't sure if he wanted that.

"So anyway," Yoona took a deep breath, "If it isn't as obvious as it is already," She laughed nervously, and the painter was already having ideas of what she was about to say. They weren't very pretty.

"Yongguk is my..."

No. Please don't say it.

"Yongguk is my boyfriend," she said finally. "We've been dating for three months now."

Baekhyun stood frozen on the spot, and this time, he let his jaw fall open. This was all kinds of wrong. It was so wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Maybe he wasn't hearing clearly, but then again, that was what his mind expected her to say. It's just that his heart didn't want to believe it.

He hated how he felt hurt about it. He hated it so ing much. It's as if the wound opened up fresh again, and he was back to step one of the long process of getting over Im Yoona.

It didn't help that it was Bang Yongguk, one of the best players of the Yeongnam basketball team. He actually had a reputation and a status to be proud of. Of course Yoona would choose someone like him; he wasn't a lame painter who was a wannabe rock star at night.

The back of his eyes started to heat up and he couldn't believe he was about to cry. What ing grown-up cries over an ex?
 

"Baekhyun?"

He looked up to the sound of his name and was surprised to see Hyerin standing beside him, grinning so wide that it was unnatural for someone as indifferent as her.

Baekhyun blinked rapidly. "H-Hyerin?"

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." She looked straight into his eyes, and just from that, he knew exactly what she was doing.

She was saving his .

"I-I was," he stuttered, adjusting his glasses, "I was just talking with...friends."

"Oh, really?" Hyerin turned to them. "Hi! I'm Hyerin. It's nice to meet you!" She flashed a bright smile.

"Hi," Yoona warily glanced at the girl but returned the grin anyways. "I'm Yoona, it's nice to meet you, too."

Hyerin turned to Baekhyun and nudged him a little. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"T-Tell you what?" he dumbly replied.

Hyerin squeezed his arm, and the couple in front of them never missed the slight contact. "That you had your friends come over?" she chuckled. "Never mind. It's fine."

Baekhyun turned to the couple and saw Yongguk smiling and Yoona looking at him with a confused expression. It made him feel kind of good.

"Baekhyun is this your...?" Yoona trailed off, giving him a skeptic eye.

"What?" he asked, looking at the girl beside her and then at his ex. Seeing them like this, it did seem like they were a couple.

"I-It's not what you-"

"I'm sorry, but we have to go now," Hyerin cut off, beaming brightly at the two. "Baekhyun, let's go. The others are waiting for us," she said.

"The others?"

Hyerin nodded over to the end of the ballroom. Baekhyun turned around and saw his eleven other friends hanging out at one table, waving over to him and waiting for him to come back with big grins on their faces.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Hyerin asked, gazing at the boy softly. "Let's go."

A surge of warmness took over Baekhyun, and he'd never felt so grateful in his entire life. For once, he didn't feel like alone.

"Wow, you have a lot friends now," Yoona said, eyes widening in surprise.

Baekhyun turned to her and smiled. "Yeah." He nodded. "It's about time," he said before waving goodbye and following Hyerin to their table.

---

"So what are you planning to do with her?" Yura asked, one of Hyeseul's followers.

Hyeseul eyed the said girl. She was scanning the food in the buffet table, oblivious to the glares that were being thrown at her. Or at least, she pretended to be oblivious.

"I don't want to make a scene, but I want it to be just as horrible for her," she mumbled, index finger grazing her glossed lips.

"That needs to be taught a lesson," Hara sneered, folding her arms. "She's gone too far. All of them are too comfortable with her. It's irking."

"I wonder what spell she casted on them," another hissed. "It's like she magically gathered all the hot guys at school and befriended them out of nowhere. It's so suspicious."

"We should spy on them!" Hara suggested. "I want to see what they're doing when they're all together. It's becoming too strange."

"Don't worry, we'll get to that," Hyeseul said, eyes trained on Hyerin. "But for now, we're going to ruin her night."

---

I swear I'll rip their eyes off and set fire to their precious hair.

Hyerin walked down the buffet table, ignoring the malicious stares of the group of girls across the room. Their pathetic warnings whenever she encountered them were very irritating, but did they really have to continue with their immaturity even here at the dance? Ridiculous.

She casually scanned the table, not knowing what to get first. With this much variety, she could eat all night and she still wouldn't be able to taste it all.

"Try the scallops. You won't regret it."

The sound of an unfamiliar voice made Hyerin look up. A boy in his late teens with blonde hair and pale skin in a gray suit made his way towards her. His face structure was sharp, yet he had feminine features.

She frowned when he stopped right in front of her. She found his light cat-like orbs intimidating. He, on the other hand, did not falter and dropped the suggested appetizer on her plate.

"They're delicious," he said, crossing his arms.

"And who are you?" Hyerin had never seen him within the campus before.

He smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "My name is Kibum, but I won't mind if you call me Key," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," she mumbled out of courtesy, although her face showed otherwise. She nonchalantly turned back to the food, examining each dish carefully. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"I could say the same for you," Key said, following the girl with his hands behind his back. "I assume you have been receiving attention here only recently."

"And why do you think that is?"

"I'm guessing it is because you naturally stand out."

"No, really, what do you think is the reason?"

Key smirked at her, resembling a feline when he did. "Your relationship with those boys has been the talk lately, hasn't it?"

"So you think they're the reason, I see," she mumbled, taking three scones from a platter before proceeding to walk slowly.

"Yes, but what makes me really curious is the reason behind your relationship with each other."

Hyerin stopped and whipped around to face him. Now it was getting really suspicious. What was he implying?

"Why are you talking to me all of a sudden?" she asked and this time, she wasn't afraid to show that she wasn't exactly happy talking to him.

"Why? Can't I strike a conversation with you?" he asked with sarcasm. He chuckled, his eyes glinting with dark mischievousness. "If this is the case, I should probably back off, then. Who knows what a girl like you could do to a normal guy like me?"

Hyerin made the right decision to not let her guard down with this boy. Something told her he knew something about her; heck, about them.

"What do you know?" she questioned in a low growl.

"A lot of things, Kim Hyerin," he muttered. "Which one are you referring to exactly?"

"Kibum."

Both Hyerin and Key turned around to see Suho with the rest of the guys approaching them, hostility clearly in their expressions.

"Ah, Joonmyun!" Key cooed, slowly taking a step towards the boy. "Long time, no see. How have you been, my friend?"

"Fantastic," Suho deadpanned. This was the first time Hyerin heard him talk in such a distant tone. "And you?"

"I am very fine, thank you," he replied, eyes landing on the girl beside him. "Especially now that I have met the lovely Ms. Hyerin here."

Chanyeol took Hyerin's arm and pulled her to their side despite the awkward talk they had earlier that night. He glowered at Key as if he were the devil himself.

"What brings you here, Kibum?" Suho asked, giving the latter a stern look. "I don't remember inviting you."

"I just wanted to see what the hype is about," he retorted, giving Hyerin a quick glance. Something told her he wasn't talking about the party.

"Well you've seen enough already, so why don't you please get the out?" Kai asked in a nonchalant tone. "With all due respect, of course," he added sarcastically.

"This is exclusively for Yeongnam students only, if you didn't get the memo," Kris spat coldly.

"Now, now! Not so rash there," Key chuckled. "I'm not looking for trouble. If I was, then I would have called my two little friends earlier–oh, speak of the devil!"

Two tall boys that looked to be the same age as Key appeared behind him.

The one on the right had black hair and ivory skin with dark, calculating eyes. He was skinny compared to the one on the left. The other had smooth tanned skin and deep, stoic eyes. His hair was long and almost reached the nape of his neck. He had a handsome mature face and a muscular tall build. He was even bigger than Tao.

The sight of the two made the rest of the boys angrier.

"What the  are they doing here?" Kyungsoo growled, taking one step towards the trio. Sehun held him back.

"Control yourself, Kyungsoo," Suho hissed before facing the three. "I suggest you leave immediately. Like what Kris said, this party is exclusively for Yeongnam students."

"Then I apologize for my rudeness," Key said, bowing slightly. Not only did he look feminine, he was flamboyant, as well. "I assure you it will never happen again."

"That better be the case," Chanyeol scowled.

Key gave them a tight smile. "We shall take our leave now. Hyerin, dear, it was nice to meet you." He lowered himself to bow once again as he kissed the back of her hand.

"I'll see you around." He winked before leading the other two to the exit.

Hyerin watched the trio leave. There was something about them that was just not right. For some reason, it felt like they didn't belong here.

"What was that all about?" she asked, turning around to face the others. "Who are they?"

"A bunch of punks," Kai spat bitterly.

"They're from our rival school, Gangnam Academy," Suho started. "That blonde guy is Key, the student council president. He's known for excelling in various things such as academics and playing instruments. I think he's a varsity for tennis, too." He shrugged. "The muscular guy is Choi Minho. He's known for being the best in all physical activities, but he's the star fighter for the boxing team," he said, glancing briefly at Kyungsoo.

In return, the boxer scoffed. "We'll see if he's still 'the best' when we have a match. I'm going to ruin his pretty boy face," he said. "He may be bigger but let's see if he can defeat my hidden talent." And they all knew what he meant by that.

"The last guy with the black hair. C is Myungsoo. He's really smart and is the top student in all of Gangnam Academy. Pretty mysterious, though. Nobody knows much about him," Suho said. "The three of them are siblings and are called the Noxius brothers."

"Noxius? Why Noxius?" Hyerin asked.

"Well for starters, Noxius means 'dangerous'. It's probably because they're a power trio and that it's impossible to beat them. It's like, if you go up against them, you'll get crushed. Something like that," Chen explained, shrugging.

"Psh. Noxius brothers," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "They probably made that up themselves. Bunch of tards."

"Well that doesn't matter now because it's over," Suho said. "Just continue whatever you're doing and forget about it." He gave everyone a stern look before walking away. The others did, too, except for Hyerin.

No, she can't just forget about it. Something was definitely off about those three, and it's not just because of their overwhelming appeal or the haughty aura surrounding them. It was something different, something out of this world. Literally.

She'll have to ask Chen later on to make a quick background check on them.

"So many distractions," she muttered under her breath as she turned back to the buffet table. She completely forgot about getting food.

As she turned around and took a generous serving of soup, a certain group of girls decided to take advantage of her vulnerable situation.

Hyerin was peacefully minding her own business when she felt her backside loosening. She didn't mind it at first, thinking that the sudden airy feeling was just the AC, but when she reached down to the back of her skirt, her fingers went through a slit.

Her eyes widened as she felt up her backside. Her skirt, from the very bottom up to the middle of her waist, was ripped.

"!" she hissed, turning her back to the table to refrain people from seeing her exposed backside. It was a good thing she was wearing skin-colored spandex inside or else she would really be screwed.

She was mortified, looking around as she struggled to close the big rip on her behind. She was sure this was done purposely, because how in the world did her dress suddenly rip like that out of nowhere? It wasn't the fact that someone did this to her that she was shocked; it was because she didn't even feel anyone creeping up behind her.

She scanned the ballroom with anger in her eyes, knowing perfectly who did this to her.

Her suspicions were correct when she met gazes with Hyeseul across the room. She was holding back her laughter, a pair of scissors held in one hand.

The wasn't even hiding the fact that she was the culprit. This angered Hyerin even more. With a red face and two hands struggling to keep her dress intact, she started towards Hyeseul.

"Little !" she exclaimed.

Just when she was halfway through the dance floor, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Hey, hey! Easy now!"

"The fu–what the hell do you want!?" she growled, but she didn't mean to. She was just too pissed off to control her tone of voice.

The person whipped her around, and it was no other than Kyungsoo. "It's not worth it, Hyerin."

"Uh-" she stuttered, caught off guard. "I'm sorry."

Kyungsoo said nothing as he took off his coat and placed it around her shoulders, leaving him with nothing but his dress shirt and black suspenders.

"You don't have to," Hyerin said with her hands still behind her.

Kyungsoo scoffed at her before shaking his head and fishing something out of his pocket. "I know what happened to you," he said.

"What are you talking about?" That's right Hyerin, act even more like a dumb little by pretending not to know anything when he obviously knows.

"Quit ing with me and take your hands off your back," he said in an oddly calm manner.

"Wha–no! Why should I?"

He glared at her. "Why shouldn't you?"

"Because," She looked up, thinking of some kind of reason, "Because I-I like it this way."

"You are ridiculous," he sighed, forcefully pulling her arms from behind.

Her hands automatically shot up to her chest area to keep the front of her dress from loosening. "Hey!"

Kyungsoo ignored her as he looped his arm around her waist. She was startled by his proximity at first, but then realized he was actually pinning her dress back together from behind. No one saw since his jacket around her covered most of her dress. To everyone else, they were just a couple swaying to the music.

He was still fumbling with her dress when he asked, "Since when did they start bugging you?"

She shrugged, thinking there was no point in lying anymore. "It's been a while, I guess."

Kyungsoo straightened up, done with her dress. She felt up her backside and three pins that roughly kept the cloth together.

"You bring safety pins with you?" Hyerin found herself asking.

Kyungsoo raised a brow. "It came in handy didn't it?"

Hyerin flushed. "Yeah, it did." She noticed she was still holding on to him, so she dropped her hands to her sides. "Thanks. I can't believe I was about to give Hyeseul a piece of my mind with my dress all torn apart."

He sighed, giving her a look that said he agreed.

"Um," she fumbled to take off the coat, "here's you coa-"

"No," he said, coughing into his fist timidly. "You can keep it."

"But-"

"Just give it back to me by the end of night."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I should go now, I guess," she said before adding, "Thanks again."

Hyerin her heels and was about to leave when Kyungsoo stopped her once again. She looked up to see him looking away, flustered.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask if you, we-" He let go of her. "-can dance?"

She blinked a few times. "Dance?"

He looked like he wanted to disappear right then and there. "I was supposed to say 'talk' but then I ended up saying 'dance' but I mean, same difference, right?" He considered it for a second. "No. Not the same, idiot," he whispered to himself, shaking his head.

Her surprised expression remained. "Haven't you asked anyone to dance yet?"

"No," he scoffed, cheeks reddening despite himself.

"Oh. I'll be your first, then." Truthfully, she already danced with the others guys all except for Kyungsoo. It wasn't only because they had this mutual frenemies relationship, but also because things started to get awkward after the love spell incident. They never talked much after that, save for the usual greetings.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat. "Well, then...?" He slowly offered a hand to her, looking at her unsurely through his lashes. She wiped her damp palms against her dress before taking his hand.

It couldn't get any more uncomfortable when they finally started swaying to the music. Her grip on his shoulders was too tight while Kyungsoo barely touched her waist. They were looking away from each other and everything just felt awkward.

They were both probably thinking the same thing as they spoke at the same time.

"Hey-"

"Did-"

Kyungsoo decided to go first. "Okay," he sighed. "I just wanted to say sorry."

Hyerin frowned. "For what?"

"For acting like a complete sissy around you during that stupid incident." He looked down in embarrassment as he imagined the things he possibly did when he was under that love spell. "It's just...ugh. I can't believe I let that happen to me."

"I should be the one apologizing you know." She chuckled a little. "That happened to you because you saved me."

He was silent for a while before replying quietly. "Well, it's not like I regret anything, you know."

Hyerin raised a brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, it's not what you think!" he exclaimed, eyes growing wide with what his statement might imply. "It's not that I like you or something stupid like that. It's just that, you know," He shrugged, sighing, "If it's a comrade in danger then I'm willing to make sacrifices."

Hyerin smiled at this. "Thanks."

"I must have acted really dumb then, didn't I?"

Hyerin recalled the childish Kyungsoo's touchiness and playful antics. She also remembered that night he almost kissed her and those other times when he looked at her in a way that this Kyungsoo would never look at her.

"Yup." She nodded, laughing. "Really unlike you."

Kyungsoo poker her in the ribs, making her laugh. "What was that for? You were asking!"

"It's just so stupid. Everyone's been making fun of me for it," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Tao even said he liked that 'version' of me better. What the hell? Saying that straight to my face? Thanks a lot."

Hyerin shrugged. "He was a bit more likable than you."

"You say that as if we're different people."

"Well, it kind of feels like it."

Kyungsoo scoffed at her. "You, too?"

"No," she said, giving him a teasing grin. "I like this Kyungsoo better."

His face heated up for what seemed like the tenth time. "Shut up, you."

"It's true." Her smile faltered slightly before asking him seriously, "But do you remember anything at all?"

Kyungsoo looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it. "When I said I didn't know what happened the whole time, I really didn't. But sometimes I get these little flashbacks. No, actually not flashbacks. Kind of like that déjà vu feeling except not really?" He was unconsciously tapping his index and middle finger against Hyerin's waist, making her smile. "Yeah, like that. It just randomly pops up and I just wonder if it's real or not."

"Is that right?" she asked, kind of disappointed. "So you don't remember?"

"No, not really." He leveled a pondering gaze at her. "Why? Am I supposed to remember something?"

She gave him a smile and shook her head quietly, continuing to sway to the music. They were stuck in a comfortable silence when he suddenly spoke.

"You know, even though I don't remember anything, I'm sure the things that the 'other Kyungsoo' said were true," he quietly offered. " After all, we're still the same person."

He was looking up at her with raised eyebrows, like the way the other side of him used to do. The way he spoke was different too, and for a moment she thought the lovestruck Kyungsoo was back. Yet she knew that it was still different. There was a sense of reluctance in what he said, while still meaning every word of it.

Kyungsoo giggled. "Silly Hyerinnie! I'm not leaving," he said, pulling away as the grin on his face turned into a small gentle smile. "I'm not going anywhere you're not going."
 

Hyerin nodded to herself and flashed the boy a smile. "I believe so, too," she agreed.

After that, they finally loosened up. Her grip on his shoulders relaxed and his hands were comfortably placed around her waist. Suddenly, it wasn't so awkward anymore.