“Achoo!” You sneezed so loudly that the birds near your room flew away in fright. Groaning, you slowly sat up and saw that you still had 10 minutes till your alarm would ring. You removed your blanket and wanted to get out of bed when a wave of dizziness hit you but it left as fast as it came. You ignored it and stretched your body before you sneezed again. “Aish, I must have caught the flu.” You sighed as you felt another sneeze coming up.

You got through the morning routine by sneezing every minute till your nose was almost red. The thought of not going to school popped into your mind but you did not want to waste precious knowledge. “The only day that I won’t go to school is the day I faint.” You told yourself and grabbed an apple and headed out of your apartment.

Before you reached the school gates, you already felt tired and you just want to sleep. You know that dealing with those idiots in school would only make your head more pain but you did not know how to avoid them. Everyone in school knows who you are and they would be out there to disturb you.

You peeked through the gates and saw Mirin and her group of friends at their usual spot. It would to be caught by Mirin because you were sure that she would try to make your life even more difficult after that water splashing incident. Just then you saw Hoya a few metres away from you. “Howon!” You shouted and everyone looked at you, including Hoya. You quickly ran up to him, avoiding the looks from other people.

“Hey, that’s the first time you called me using my real name!” Hoya grinned when you were beside him.

“I can call you that from now onwards if you like.” You offered and he eagerly nodded. “Oh yea, I’ll apologise first because I am going to use you to get to my class. Is that okay?” You asked and he gave you a confused look.

“Use me?”

“Yea. People would not dare to do anything to me if I am with you or with anyone from Infinite. You see, I have this flu and I’m feeling really awful. They would just add to my headache.” You explained.

“Eyy, that’s nothing. If you want, there would be someone from Infinite to be with you all the time so you would never get bullied away.”

“Huh? There’s no need for that. I can handle them myself. Today’s just an exception.”

“But-” He started but you cut him off.

“I have to handle my own issues myself. It is not like Infinite will be with me for the rest of my lives.”

“We would if you marry one of us.” Hoya whistled and you stared at him with wide eyes. “I was just kidding!” He laughed at your reaction.

“Pssh. I thought you were being serious.” You gently punched his arm.

“We really would if we could though. You are already, after all, Infinite’s most important friend.” He said and you felt a pang of guilt through your body. “We are always by ourselves and we never really had any other friends outside of our circle. Sure, there’s bound to be a friend here and there but we felt like you are different. We felt that maybe you would be willing to be everlasting friends with us through thick and thin.”

You stopped walking and looked at Hoya. “Is that like.. a confession?” You asked and now it was his turn to give you a bewildered look. You burst into laughter at his expression. “I was just kidding!”

Hoya chuckled along while shaking his head. “You are so unpredictable.” He ruffled your hair, making you slap his hands away before he makes your hair into a bird’s nest. “Saemi, are you sure you do not want to go home and rest?”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s just a small cold.” You waved it off and he rolled his eyes.

“Yea, it’s just a cold small enough to make your face flushed and for your nose to be red. How small indeed.” He scoffed but gave you a worried look. “Make sure L brings you to the cafeteria later. I do not want you to be alone in this state.” He ordered and you mock saluted him, making the both of you laugh.

“I’ll see you later, Howon.” You waved before going into your classroom.

You saw that L was already in the classroom and you let out a small sigh of relief. You did not want to be alone today because you might never know what the others will do to you. “Are you okay?” It was the first thing L asked when you sat beside him.

“I’m fine. It’s ju