“You didn’t have to help” I said as I draped a long white cloth over the couch in the living room.

“It’s fine. So are you selling the place?” Daehyun said as he wrapped up a vase in newspapers and carefully placed it in a large box.

“Yeah, I already put it on the market” I said as I pulled the edges down and made sure the whole thing was covered, “I’ve got three offers for it so I told real estate office to just sell it to the highest bidder”

“Are you sure you want to get rid of it so fast?” He asked as he fixed worried eyes on me.

“Yeah, I really would rather have no reminders of him” I said as I draped another cloth over the armchair besides and glanced around at the nearly empty house.

“What are you gonna do with all this stuff?” He asked as he gestured over the large cardboard boxes by the wall.

“I’m putting them in storage for now” I said simply, “I don’t think I want to put any of it in my new apartment you know? It sort of goes against the whole starting fresh concept” I said with a smile that didn’t fool him in the slightest.

“I heard you last night” Daehyun blurted out suddenly and he watched as I froze up.

“It’s the last night I’m staying at your house and you have to bring stuff like this up?” I said annoyed.

“You’ve been crying every night! I had to bring it up sometime! Hyerim it’s not good to pretend that you’re alright when you’re not I’m your friend, you can talk to me!” He said worriedly.

“I don’t want to talk!” I yelled facing him angrily, “…I’m fine Daehyun. Just let me be fine”

“…Okay, you’re fine” He repeated and I knew he did it more for my sake rather than it being the truth.

~9 Months later~

“I never want to go back! It’s official! I never want to take another class with Professor Kim Dongwan ever again! How can they let such an infuriating man try to teach at a university?” I complained as I met up with Daehyun and Sungjong.

“I told you not to take that class this semester” Sungjong said with a smile as he sat up from the floor where he and Daehyun had been talking while waiting for me to get out of class.

“Yeah yeah, whatever I’m still doing great so it’s fine. What were you guys talking about?” I asked as I noticed how they exchanged looks.

“Nothing” Daehyun said quickly with a grin and I rolled my eyes at his obvious lie, but I would have to interrogate him later.

“So what are we doing today?” I said willing myself to stop thinking about that class and instead trying to get my mind off it by having some fun with friends.

“Ah… I have to go help my mom move some stuff from the garage today. Looks like it’s just you two” Daehyun said apologetically.

“No you don’t. Your mom told me she gave up on you doing it so she just had your dad do it” I shot back quickly.

“O-oh… yeah my dad got pissed so he yelled at me and now I have to do it anyways” He said with a tense shrug and I raised a brow as he suddenly turned and went towards the opposite direction “Have fun guys!”

“Alright then… is it just me of Daehyun being really weird lately?” I asked Sungjong as I watched Daehyun walk away suspiciously.

“I don’t think so” He said calmly as he kept walking and I eventually followed besides him.

“Well, do you still want to hang out?” I asked as I lifted my backpack and swung it onto my left shoulder.

“Sure!” He said, his face brightening and I smiled in return, “Here I’ll hold that for you” He said as he reached for my backpack.

“No thanks I got it” I said with a small laugh.

“Come on please? Think of how it’ll look. The guy is walking freely, letting his female friend carry her large backpack” He said with a grin and I sighed.

“There’s no one around” I said as I turned and scanned the street for these people he so called claimed were there. There were only two cars parked along the street with a black one parked a bit up ahead.

“You know I won’t let this go” He warned jokingly.

“Fine! Geez no wonder you and Daehyun are such good friends” I said with a smirk as I let him take my backpack and a smug smile settled on his face, “So where are we gonna go?”

“I’m starving, can we eat first?” He asked.

“Sure let’s go I’m suddenly starving too” I said as I sped up only to catch the toe of my foot on a crack on the sidewalk and stumbled forward.

I gasped as I was about to fall when Sungjong ran over and gripped my arm to keep me from falling. I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at myself quietly.

“We’re never talking about this again” I said quickly.

“Talking about what?” He joked and I grinned.

We continued walking and I suddenly screamed in surprise as we passed the black car parked up ahead and it suddenly and it honked its horn loudly as its engine came to life. We stopped suddenly and I stared at its tinted windows trying to figure out why whoever was inside was being so loud. I looked over at Sungjong who only shrugged and it was then that I noticed he had kept his hand on my arm. I looked down at his hold and he let go with a shy smile which I tried hard to ignore.

“Let’s just go eat and not provoke the weirdo in there” I said to him and he agreed as we walked forward.

To be honest, I should have seen it coming. Not because I knew Sungjong, but because I knew Daehyun. Still, I was surprised when Sungjong suddenly put his fork down and stared at me intensely.

“I… was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to go on a date” Sungjong said suddenly.

I stared at him in shock before finally snapping back to my senses and looking away apologetically.

“I’m sorry. You’re a good guy, but I’m not ready to go on dates” I said firmly as my palms began to sweat and I instantly got nervous.

“I heard you got out of a long term relationship… I’m not asking for anything serious. I’ve just been paying attention to you suddenly in a different way, sometimes your eyes are so sad” He said and I felt myself go pale.

“Whatever Daehyun told you, well, he shouldn’t have. I’m sorry I’m just really not ready for anything”

“Ok how about this? Just once. Go on a date with me just once and I promise that we forget about it all and we go back to just being rude friends to each other” He said with an unsure smile.

I stared at his big hopeful eyes and felt bad that my initial reaction was to simply shoot him down. My eyes flickered away and back to him as I tried to rationalize saying no. Because by all standards I was single, there should be no reason to really say no. I winced and looked back at him.

“We can hang out in a date-like environment once… but I mean it Sungjong… I’m seriously not going to change my mind. I’m not ready for a relationship” I said firmly.

“I know, but let’s think of this way. If we just do this once then Daehyun can stop nagging you about dating and he can stop pushing me into confessing embarrassing things to girls I like” He said with a grin and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t as awkward as I expected it to be for the rest of the time we ate. He naturally steered the conversation away and I was all too happy to talk about school and tv shows. It was after we had said goodbye that I practically ran home. I was breathless as I burst into my door and sprinted towards the phone. I called once, then twice and finally on the third time I resorted to screaming into the phone’s messaging machine.

“JUNG DAEHYUN I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T PICK UP THE PHONE—“ I screamed until I heard the familiar click of someone picking up.

“…..” There was only a guilty silence on the other line that I quickly recognized.

“What the hell were you thinking convincing Sungjong to ask me out a date?!” I said angrily.

“I-I’m just looking out for you! It’s nearly been a year and you haven’t even tried to move on! You think you’re doing a great job, but I know you Hyerim! God, you’re not as happy as you think you seem!” He said suddenly as if he had been waiting to give me this lecture for the past month. Which I knew he had.

“Damn it! That’s not up to you!” I said frustrated.

“I know it’s not” He said and his voice rang with apologies, “But I’m worried about you. You haven’t been the same after what happened with him. Do you want me to find him? I’m sure if you talked to him then maybe…” He said before finally stopping.

“No! You are never allowed to talk to him. Daehyun I’m serious” I warned, gripping my hand firmly to stop the shaking that suddenly happened.

“Then go on that date… please. At the very least you’ll get out a bit and relax” He said gently.

“I already said yes” I snapped.

“What?! You did?! That’s great Hyerim. I’m so proud of you” He said truly happy and I made a face.

“Shut up, this is the one and only time I’m letting you set up dates for me. I’m serious after this if you do it again I’m never talking to you again” I said, the previous anger and outrage slowly seeping back in.

“Ah… alright I promise” He said, but I could tell he didn’t take me seriously so I swore quietly and hung up on him.

I stayed by the phone for a few minutes longer before heading to my room and passing out on my bed. Ok so I had a date. That was fine. It was just a stupid date. I shouldn’t be getting this scared. I closed my eyes, but unwanted images came back and I groaned. I sat up and ran a hand through my hair.

I wondered uselessly if Kai would care. I remembered his words, that we would forget about each other in a few months... He had probably moved on already I told myself.

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Alright this was an early update! There's only two more chapters left so I'll post those up in the next few days :)