“Hey.”

“Hey,” I say, and sit down beside him. Chanyeol scoots over an inch to make room for me on the step. “Not a very private place for a meeting,” I say as I look over the familiar backyard of my dorm building.

“Solitary enough,” he replies. “Nam decided he wants my help, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We need a plan. Because getting them back together is very different from tying two strangers together.”

“All right.”

He glances at me. “You don’t seem enthusiastic.”

I stare at him, and then I laugh. “No, no, I am. I swear. Go on.”

“Okay, well, I brought a notebook,” he says, opening up his drawstring backpack and pulling out a small handbook. He flips to the first page and pulls out a pen placed between the ringed spine. “I like to be organized during big projects, so I have to write this out.” He creates two columns – one is titled Good, the other is titled Bad. “Think. The pros, the cons, the advantages and disadvantages. We need to weigh them together so that we know the strengths of our actions from here on out, and we know how we can make the weaknesses our forte.”

“Our work?”

“Their relationship in general,” he answers. “Let’s focus on the good first. What good things will happen as a result or during the process of reestablishing their relationship?”

“Um … Nam will be happy?” I venture. He writes ‘happiness’ underneath Good.

“Okay. What else?”

“They could be lovers for life,” I jest. He starts writing that down, too. “Wait. Really?”

“You never know,” he shrugs. “What else?”

“Uh. Can I do the Bad first? I’ve got a mind for those.”

“Well, I guess. What do you have?”

“We don’t know what Seya feels,” I say. “Therefore, we don’t know if she’ll cooperate with our attempts to get them together. Really, everything rides on Seya.”

“Seya it is, then,” he says, closing his book. “She’s step one of our project.”

“Exactly what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to find out what she thinks. And if it isn’t toward Nam, then we are going to change it.”

“We?”

He sighs. “I was hoping you would do it alone, but I know Seya more than you. I can’t do it alone in case I jeopardize everything, so I need you with me. It’s part of the whole partnership deal.”

I nod. “All right.”

“You’ve got to keep me in check, Junah,” he says, “Or I’ll go awry.”

“I’ve got you, stupid,” I say, punching his shoulder with a fist. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

The overused sentiment rings with negative foreboding. Within it, I find a nuance I still try to misinterpret.

“I’m going to go see if I know any guys that know Seya,” he says as he rises to his feet. “You know, have some bro talk, see what I can get.”

“What would guys know about her thoughts toward Nam?”

“She has more guy friends than girls. She’s actually quite popular. And this way, I kill two birds with one stone. I can eliminate the competition, too. Not for me,” he dashes to say. “I’m not in the picture.”

I never even accused him of saying that he was.

“Well, I’ll try to find out stuff on my own, too,” I say. “But you do you. And I’ll do me.”

“Exactly.” He opens the door. “See you. And, don’t stay out here too long. It’s a bit chilly.” He leaves, and although he warned me about the weather, I stay outside for another thirty minutes. I become cold after ten, but I feel the need to be rebellious even at a place where he cannot see me. When I can no longer bear the way the wind thrashes against my skin, I stand and retreat inside.

-----

I pass Seya on my way to class the next day. Although the prospect of talking to her seemed alie