Taeng had a restless night, after dragging himself home he went straight to his room without interacting with his mother. She grew worried, thinking her son got sick, but Taeng told her it was exhaustion. He had little to no sleep; he had trouble getting up this morning. His mother insisted him to stay home, but he warmly smiled and declined. He felt guilty enough making his umma worry about him.

Taeng head’s was against the cool surface of his desk. His eyes were close but he could hear his surroundings.

He feels a light tap on his left shoulder; he shifts his head on the table and sees Jessica looking at him.

“Hi.” He says, his voice hoarse.

Jessica frowns, “You look dead.”

Taeng chuckles bitterly, “Gee. Thanks for the compliment.”

 The latter looks at him affectionately, “Are you okay? You seemed really sad when you left us yesterday.”

Taeng smiles, touched by how worried the latter seems, “I was exhausted.”

Jessica stares at Taeng, the look in his eyes gave away that he was lying about his condition. She didn’t want to call him out however, the look on his face showed that he didn’t want any trouble today.

 “Okay.” She replies calmly “You should rest more, now that you’re doing a sport you’re going to be even more exhausted.”

 “Thanks Jessica.” Taeng replies softly, touching her hand affectionately.

Jessica gasps at the sudden contact; she feels sparks as his hand touches hers. He pulls away, warmly smiling at her before closing his eyes again. Jessica smiles, biting her bottom lip, admiring how cute Taeng looks when he sleeps.

 “Hey…” Yoona greets blandly.

“Hey Yoona.” Jessica replies smiling.

Yoona looks at Taeng, his face falls seeing his friend act so depressing. He wanted to talk to him but he didn’t want to burden him any more so he takes his seat beside Seohyun and engages in a conversation with her.

The door opens and Tiffany enters the room, happily skipping to her seat.

 “Someone’s happy.” Jessica chimes, seeing nothing but smiles on the latter.

 Taeng decides to keep his eyes close, yet he intently listens to the girls talk.

“I had a great time with Donghae yesterday.” She replies to the blonde latter smiling.

Yoona rolls his eyes, blocking out her voice and trying to focus on what Seohyun was telling him.

 “That’s cool.” Jessica says monotonously, she could care less about her friend’s relationship status.

“Yeah.” Tiffany says dreamily smiling.

 Jessica turns around facing the board and Tiffany notices Taeng sleeping.

 “Is Taeng okay?” She asks Jessica, pointing at her friend.

 Jessica nods, not looking back to Tiffany. Taeng slowly opens his eyes, pretending to yawn and stretch as he lifts his head from the table.

 “Good morning Tae.” Tiffany says, looking at the back of Taeng’s head.

Taeng turns around, Tiffany gasps. Taeng had bags under his eyes and his eyeballs were bloodshot.

“Omo! Taeng are you okay?” She asks with worry.

 Taeng nods, “Yeah.”

 “Did you not sleep well?” She asks.

 Taeng shrugs, “Had a rough night” He turns around, ignoring Tiffany’s comment and to end the conversation. He was already in pain enough.

Mrs. Lee enters the room and begins to lecture the class. The class grows silent except for the sounds of writing being produced from pencils.

Tiffany stares at Taeng, feeling a bit hurt he ignored what she said. His appearance made her worry even more. She wanted to know if there was anything troubling her best friend. She resumes staring at him until she was awakened by the sound of the bell for lunch. 

 The rest of the group takes their usual seats surrounding Taeng and Jessica’s desk for lunch. Yul enters, bringing in bread and chips for the group to share; he takes his seat next to Jessica.

“Hey Taeng, how are you feeling?” Yul asks his friend, concerned of his appearance.

“Tired but I think I’ll be okay.” He replies placidly, unwrapping the bread.

“If you’re really tired you don’t have to come to practice” Yul says with concern “I can tell Kikwang you weren’t feeling well.”

Taeng shakes his head, “No that won’t be necessary. I don’t want to make a bad impression of myself”

“Are you sure?” Yul asks to be sure, Taeng nods.

“Okay…but don’t strain yourself.” Yul says sternly, taking a bite of his bread.

“I won’t, thanks for your concern.” Taeng replies smiling.

 Tiffany was absorbed texting on her phone; she didn’t bother to pay attention the conversation.

“Aish Tiffany, can you go one day without texting Donghae?” Hyoyeon asks with irritation.

Tiffany looks at the latter and sticks her tongue out, “Whatever.”

“Anyways, since Taeng wasn’t up to par for steak last night…how about we go out for dinner again tonight?” Yoona offers, trying to cheer his friend up.

“Yeah we should, we can go to a different restaurant.” Yul chimes in, patting Taeng on the back.

 “Sure okay.” Taeng replies placidly, keeping his eyes on his bread.

 “What do you guys say?” Yoona asks in a cheerful mood.

The rest of the group nods in agreement, except for Tiffany. She was smiling incredulously at the mobile device in front of her.

 “Tiffany? Are you going to come with us or not?” Yul asks coldly, annoyed at Tiffany’s actions.

 Tiffany diverts her attention away from her phone, “Sorry I have plans. I’m meeting up with-”

“Donghae, okay we get it.” Yoona says with annoyance, finishing Tiffany’s sentence.

 Tiffany looks at the two with a weird look, agitated at how cold they have been treating her.

Taeng remains quiet, clenching his fists under the table to hide his frustration.

“Well that’s okay, we can have fun without Tiffany.” Jessica says bluntly, giving her an ice cold stare.

Unfortunately, Tiffany didn’t hear the latter’s comment; her attention was back on her phone. Taeng sighs, taking a sip of his water before directing his attention away from his best friend. Or so he thinks she’s still his ‘best friend.’

“We should go to Jieun’s restaurant.” Sooyoung suggest, wiping with her napkin.

Taeng’s face lights up, “Yeah we should! I miss the food there.”

“Then it’s settled, we’ll take a taxi to the mall after Yul and Taeng get off from practice.” Yoona says, confirming the plan.

All of this was happening and Tiffany wasn’t paying attention to a single word, a smile was on her face however because of the sweet messages Donghae was sending her.

The lunch was spent with the group discussing about random things while Tiffany was on her phone. Lunch was over and they clean up after themselves and make their way to their assigned seats. Taeng looks back at Tiffany and sees her still texting. His heart starts to ache so he quickly turns around and faces the board.

The school day was over, Taeng and Yul walk over to the locker rooms to change for practice. They walk in and see Donghae  sitting on the bench.

“Hey Donghae.” Yul greets him calmly, walking over to his locker.

 Donghae stands up, not replying to Yul and heads towards the exit; bumping his shoulder with Taeng along the way. Taeng takes a deep breath, not wanting to get mad over the slightest things he does.

“He’s probably jealous we’re friends with Tiffany.” Yul says in disgust, taking off his shirt.

Taeng chuckles bitterly, “I won’t let him get to me.”

 They change into their gym clothes and head to the court.

Kikwang approaches them, “Hey guys.”

“Hello hyung.”

 “Just a reminder we have our first game coming up in 3 weeks.” He says smiling.

“That’s so far from now.” Yul teases while chuckling.

“Hey I’m just excited.” Kikwang remarks “With Taeng on our team I’m sure we can pull our first win.”

Taeng chuckles, rubbing the back of his head “I’ll be sure to try my best.”

 Tiffany was doing homework in her homeroom. She does this every day since Donghae always asks her to wait for him. She didn’t mind waiting, she was actually proud of herself for doing her homework. She finishes the final touches of her assignment, placing it neatly in her folder and stuffing it in her bag.

“Aigoo…what to do now. I still have an hou.r” She says to herself, staring at the blank white board ahead of her.

Her mind starts to drift about Donghae, a smile creeps on her face. The past days they have been hanging out he was always so kind to her. The sweet words and actions he does always put a smile on her face.

“Donghae, I think I’m falling for you.” She says to herself, growing red of embarrassment from saying it out loud.

She sits at her desk, dreaming of Donghae and her happily. Tiffany snaps out of her thoughts, realizing it’s time to go to the gym. She gathers her things and heads out the door, making her way to the gym. She takes her usual seat on the bench, waiting for him to come out.

The locker room doors open, Taeng and Yul come out from the door.

 Tiffany looks at Taeng happily and smiles at him. Taeng looks at her, no smile, no words, but a hollow look in his eyes.

“Hi Tae” She says happily.

 Taeng doesn’t respond he stares at Tiffany until Yul wraps his arm around his neck and pulls him away leading him out the doors.

 Tiffany felt hurt, seeing Taeng didn’t respond to her or smiled.

 What’s wrong Tae?

The double doors swing open and Donghae approaches her with a smile.

“Tiff.” He says softly, Tiffany looks at him and smiles. Her heart pangs seeing the latter’s cute smile, her stomach feels light, she melts under his eyes.

“Hey Donghae, you ready?” She asks, standing up.

 “Yep, let’s go.” He says, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Tiffany blushes at the latter’s affectionate actions.

Donghae grins, “Is this okay?”

Tiffany shyly nods her head shyly, biting her bottom lip.

Donghae chuckles before leading both of them out of the gym.