The next morning, the boys went to the park to play some basketball. They had invited Taeyeon, who had bought two boxes of tissue papers in case she would have another nosebleed, and Jieun, who was in charge of looking over her. As the boys and the two girls sat down at a picnic table in the park, they decided to drop the topic about Jieun and moved on to the new topic: Why Baekhyun had a crush on Myungsoo and how he never told anyone about it. 

"I told you, I do not have a crush on Myungsoo!" Baekhyun protested angrily. "It's just her being weird!"

"But two summers ago, I saw you two at the beach!" Taeyeon exclaimed.

"The others were there, too. It just happened to be that Myungsoo and I were in your vision," Baekhyun defended.

"You put sunscreen on Myungsoo's back."

"He asked me to, and Jieun complained that Myungsoo gets sunburned easily."

Taeyeon squealed and grabbed onto Jieun's arm. "Oh my gosh! Look, look! He cares for his little sweetie Myungsoo."

Myungsoo shivered. "Baekhyun, I never thought you had such intentions when you were wiping sunscreen on my back!"

The vicitm shot him a glare. "Do you want to die?"

"Enough, enough," Yoseob said, sitting between Baekhyun and Myungsoo. "I got a plan. The boys will be playing basketball. Jieun, you describe what's going on to Taeyeon, who is going to respond what she sees, too."

Daehyun stopped dribbling the orange ball on the table. "How is this going to help?"

"Depending on what Taeyeon says, we can see if she's just being dillusional or if Baekhyun really have feelings for Myungsoo," Yoseob explained, snatching away the basketball.

"For the last time," Baekhyun muttered, "I do not like this annoying--"

"First two winners will be teamed up." Yoseob forced the boys to make a small circle. "Ready? Rock, paper, scissors!"

After two minutes of waving their fists, it was finally decided that Yoseob and Baekhyun were a team, leaving Myungsoo with Daehyun. Baekhyun seemed pretty happy, but Taeyeon remained upset. She pursed her lips and began to watch the boys head into the center of the court. Once the orange ball flew up in the air, the game was on. When Baekhyun swooped the ball and passed it to his teammate, Jieun started describing the raw scene.

"Yoseob passed the ball to Baekhyun. Baekhyun misses, and Myungsoo catches it," Jieun reported quickly.

"Yoseob passed the ball to his teammate, but of course, Myungsoo doesn't want Baekhyun to touch another man's germs, so he steals it away from Yoseob's grasp and takes it away from Baekhyun!" Taeyeon exclaimed, grinning wildly.

How do you get all that from one failed pass? Jieun wondered. "Um... Myungsoo passes it to Daehyun, Daehyun catches it, but he is blocked by Yoseob. Baekhyun over and blocks Myungsoo."

"Myungsoo gives it to Daehyun, tired because he has a lazy personality. Daehyun, like any ordinary boy, grabs it but is blocked by Yoseob. Seeing this as a chance, Baekhyun protectively guards Myungsoo as if he does not want the orange ball to hit his dear Myungsoo."

Fantasy number two! she counted. "Daehyun sees no opening, and decides to take the chance and throw the ball inside the hoop. He makes. Yoseob and Baekhyun are disappointed. Myungsoo is grinning and exchanges a high-five with Daehyun."

"Daehyun shoot and he scores. Yoseob is just bitter over his loss, but Baekhyun is jealous over Myungsoo touching another man's hand."

"U-Uh... The boys are running over here. Myungsoo is walking, Baekhyun is jogging here quickly. Yoseob and Daehyun are next to Baekhyun, walking fast."

"Baekhyun is ignoring Myungsoo because he was happy with another man," Taeyeon answered. She glowered. "That's just messed up, Myungsoo. That's just messed up."

Yoseob was the first to arrive. He was sweaty, just like the other guys, but he was dripping with sweat after one tough game. Jieun handed him some tissues for him to wipe off the sweat. Her heart skipped a beat for a second when she caught sight of Yoseob's glistening neck. It kind of made him look a little bit mature, like a man instead of a regular teenager.

"So... How'd it go?" Yoseob asked, knocking Jieun back to her senses. She gasped and blinked her eyes. Then, she scratched the back of her head and bit her bottom lip.

"Well... She definitely thinks that Baekhyun is jealous over Myungsoo and Daehyun. You should've heard her. She has a very active imagination," Jieun said. 

Baekhyun threw his towel on the ground. "For goodness sake, I am not jealous over Myungsoo with Daehyun--"

"Oh my gosh, this is perfect! This is exactly what Baekhyun and Myungsoo needed!" Taeyeon grabbed both of Jieun's hand. "They needed a third wheel! Daehyun, you're perfect for that role!"

Daehyun spat out his drink. "W-What--"

"The innocent first year who fell in love with Myungsoo, but has no clue that Baekhyun has his eyes on him, too. He gets closer, and closer, and..." Finally, Taeyeon jumped on the blond boy, knocking him to the dusty ground. She began to giggle and squeal, and wrapped her arms around his sweaty neck. "Oh my gosh! This is perfect! You three, come with me! I want to explore more about your secret love."

In a flash, the excited girl managed to grab ahold of Baekhyun's, Myungsoo's, and Daehyun's shirt. She dragged them away from Jieun and Yoseob, who remained unfazed and dumbfounded. It took them a few more minutes to realize that Taeyeon took the three to somewhere they wouldn't know. The oldest heaved a sigh, and took a seat next to Jieun.

"Should we go and chase after them? I feel like explaining their relationship to Taeyeon will be useless," Yoseob confessed.

"No, I think they'll be okay. Baekhyun will probably get annoying, Myungsoo will wander off, and it'll be Taeyeon with Daehyun, who'll remain timid and shy among strangers. They'll be fine," Jieun replied. She stared at him for a few more minutes before saying, "Do you want to go somewhere and eat?"

"Sure," he answered. "Of course, I need to go home and take a shower first..."

Slurp, slurp.

Noodles flew all over the place, but landed safely back into the hot bowl of soup. It was getting late, but the two decided to have hot noodles in the cool, night sky. As the insects began to quiet down and the wind softened, the humid air remained in the atmosphere. Yoseob tiredly wiped his forehead, and stirred his bowl of noodle. The friends were eating outside in front of Yoseob's apartment, waiting to see the other three boys appear in front of their sight.

But, at least for now, they never came.

"They're missing out on some good stuff," Yoseob commented, hungrily drinking the hot soup.

"Mhm... I wished we had cold noodles, though. Those are the best in this kind of weather," Jieun said, pouting.

It was true. In this heavy weather, having something cold would've been nice. However, Yoseob had to save his money for next month's rent, so he could only apologize for the lack of money he had. He wiped his mouth, and stared up at the sky.

"You know what? Autumn's coming soon."

"Yeah, and it's going to get so cold."

"But the leaves are going to be beautiful."

"And there's going to be annoying crunching sounds from every end of the block."

"And when did you know about Daehyun's feelings?"

"Around the time when a group of girls came and told me to stay away from Daehyun and dumped my head--" Jieun stopped herself, then bit her bottom lip. She looked down and poked her noodles with her chopsticks. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now."

He only laughed, and patted Jieun's head with his hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But really? They told you that Daehyun liked you?"

"Not exactly." She sighed. "I kind of figured it out. During the time they told me to stay awa from him, he just kept coming. I tried telling him, but he got more closer. I thought he was just being really protective... until I heard your conversation with him a few months ago."

"Which conversation?"

"The one where Myungsoo came to pick Baekhyun up from the club room. It was also the one where I was about to learn yoga."

"So you knew all along?"

"I tried to convince myself that it wasn't me, so I acted oblivious. Though it just got more obvious," she explained. For a second, she was ashamed. She knew that Daehyun was a fragile boy, and she never planned to hurt him or torture him. Though this was a topic she wanted to avoid. Love between someone you didn't love? She didn't dare to reject Daehyun, either.

"Well, since we're already talking about love... Do you like anyone?"

Jieun paused. Did she?

"I don't think so," she answered hesitantly. "Do you?"

"Sure do," Yoseob said, grinning. Jieun's heart stopped. What if it was her? "I like every one of you. I like Baekhyun, Myungsoo, Daehyun, and you. You guys are precious."

His answer put her to ease, but she was a little disappointed. "Have you ever fell in love with anyone, though?"

Hearing this, Yoseob gave her a painful expression. In just seconds, he decided to mask his negative look with a positive smile. He nodded his head, and stared up at the moon, which was the only light that shined down on them from the sky.

"Sure did," he admitted. Though Jieun recognized something: he didn't blush, nor did he act shy. He seemed pretty upset and regretful. "I fell in love with a girl around my age. We started out as friends, and when I tried to confess... I was too 'simple' and more of the 'best friend' type."

"That sounds more painful than rejecting someone," Jieun said. "You know, being rejected?"

"No, Jieun." Yoseob let out a soft chuckle. "Rejecting someone is way more painful than being rejected."

"What? No way. When you reject someone, you just say 'no.' When you're rejected, you're whole heart is crushed and broken."

"Jieun, hearts can always be repaired. If you're lucky, time can be on your side and heal your wounds. All a broken heart need is time. But if you're rejecting someone, that's a totally different story."

"I don't understand, Yoseob," she said, finishing up her soup. "Why would rejecting someone be more hurtful?"

To this, Yoseob gave her an innocent grin. "Because when you reject someone, you hurt them without wanting to hurt them. You're forcing yourself to break their heart, and if you accept an unwanted love, then you're just breaking your heart. And these hearts don't heal, because certain confessions are etched into your mind and soul."

"Is that what your crush told you?" she questioned him. "Like, after you were rejected?"

Yoseob forced a laugh. "No, no. She would never tell me something like that."

"Then who told you that? Did you make it up?"

"Nope." Silence filled the atmosphere. "Her boyfriend told me that."

Jieun was going to say something, but his answer unconsciously made her quiet. It became awkward, and Jieun didn't know why it did. Was she supposed to comfort him? Say that he was going to find new love, anyway? What was she supposed to say at these types of situation?

As three boys appeared over the hill-like sidewalk, Yoseob stood up and the conversation quickly disappeared. However, it left the young girl wondering how it felt to be in a love where pain seemed to repeat in one's memory over and over again.

And, like any other girl who would be close to this simple-minded man, she wanted to comfort him.

Her arms reached over and wrapped themselves around Yoseob's waist. He widened his eyes, but slowly embraced her hug. The three boys, who were seeing this scene from afar, quickly stopped. Baekhyun put his hands over Daehyun's vision, who couldn't see anything.

"What's going on? What happened?" Daehyun asked.

Baekhyun and Myungsoo remained quiet. Although they were tired from Taeyeon's endless stories of her fantasy, they were energized after seeing Jieun hug Yoseob. Jieun, with Yoseob? As in lovers? That was impossible.

Hence, it was impossible.