Two weeks had passed by since the middle school students held up their festival. The four went back to their usual routine: going to school, studying, then meeting up at the community garden to chat. However, this time, things were different. Not only was there an odd atmosphere, but everyone seemed to be uncomfortable.

Yoona had planned to ask Taecyeon about Bora, but every time she tried to bring it up, he always seemed busy. He wasn't doing it on purpose. In fact, his friends were the one who pulled him away from her, whether they were teasing their relationship or needed to copy his notes. Yoona didn't blame Taecyeon; he had friends who couldn't do anything right.

As the sky darkened, Taecyeon's phone rang. He looked at the contact, then swiped the green circle to accept the call. Yoona stared at him with curiosity as it was rare for him to get calls from friends.

"Hello? What's the matter, Bora?" Taecyeon answered confidently.

Yoona felt her heart jump. Bora? Bora was calling Taecyeon? Since when did the two get so close? She wanted to take the phone and throw it across the garden, but she knew that Taecyeon would get angry if the phone broke. Besides, Myungsoo would be furious if the garden was ruined. He worked hard on it, and he was still working hard.

Thinking about Myungsoo, she turned to her side and saw Myungsoo sitting a few feet away from them. Their eyes met, and he quickly looked away, blushing. Though Yoona wasn't sure if he was blushing. After all, it was night, and she could hardly see a thing with the two lamp posts that barely illuminated the garden.

Naeun sat next to him, and Yoona realized the way Naeun stared at him. The young girl would stare at Myungsoo for a few seconds, look away, then look back with slightly pink cheeks (or not; Yoona couldn't tell). She appeared to be quite shy around her childhood friend, and she obviously couldn't keep still. Seeing this, Yoona grinned, proud of how Naeun was slowly noticing Myungsoo.

"You want to hang out on Sunday? Uh, hold up. Let me ask Yoona," Taecyeon said on the phone. He turned to Yoona and tapped on her shoulders, causing her to turn around. "Bora wants to know if you want to hang out with her on Sunday at the mall. She wanted to talk to you and 'make amends.' Are you going?"

Yoona scowled. "If a girl wants to say sorry, then you know that it's some kind of trap. Tell her that I'm not going."

"You sure? Bora seems sincere about this," Taecyeon said, trying to persuade her.

For some reason, this ticked Yoona off. Why were guys always foolish enough to believe some other girl's words? She didn't like it. If he could believe in Bora's words, why couldn't he believe in her own words? Yoona rolled her eyes, giving him a sign that she was willing to go. Taecyeon smiled, then reported the reply to Bora, who seemed overexcited on the other end of the phone. Yoona groaned, then frowned as she stared at the wilting rose below the many red roses.

You're losing the battle, the dying rose seemed to be saying.

"Oh, shut up!" Yoona cried out loud, causing Taecyeon to widen his eyes in surprised.

Meanwhile, Myungsoo couldn't help but stare at Yoona. He liked her. There was no mistake in his feelings. Every time he stole a glance, he would find himself blushing and find his heart thumping. Was it annoying? Certainly. Did he hate it? Not exactly.

Then what did that make of Naeun? He wasn't sure. He kind of felt bad how he had always tried to make Naeun look at him, but then again, he was never successful. Besides, she never loved him, and she practically never will. As long as Taecyeon was there, there was no reason for Myungsoo to be worried over Naeun. Taecyeon was a pretty good guy, despite the fact that he still despise him for being the center of attention with the girls.

"Kim Myungsoo… Myungsoo!" Yoona shouted, calling for his name. For the first few seconds, Myungsoo pretended as if he didn't hear her. When she called his name for the fifth time, he finally responded by acting as if he was thinking.

"Yes?" he answered, secretly grinning to himself.

"Taecyeon and I are going. Oh, and we won't be here tomorrow," she said, taking her bag away from Taecyeon.

Myungsoo looked upset. "What? Why?"

"We're going to meet an old friend of hers," Taecyeon explained.

I didn't ask you, Myungsoo thought. "Oh. I see. Where are you going?"

"To some mall. By the way, that girl isn't my enemy. She's my nemesis," Yoona corrected.

"Whatever. We're still going to see her," Taecyeon responded.

Naeun's eyes glowed. "The mall? I want to go!"

"This isn't just little kiddy business. If you go, you're going to see me tear up the girl alive," the older girl muttered, gritting her teeth.

"Man, you must really hate her!" Taecyeon exclaimed, widening his eyes.

"Oh, then you must really like her, too!" Yoona shot up, storming away.

But I don't like her, Taecyeon thought, running to catch up with Yoona. I might even like you.

On Sunday at noon, Yoona and Taecyeon found Bora sitting down at a table in a fast food restaurant, smiling while crossing her arms and legs. Her foot dangled in the air, annoying Yoona as the two took their seats across from her. 

"What do you want from me, Bora?" Yoona snapped.

"First off, hi. Second, I want nothing else but to just say sorry for the way I treated you in the past," Bora said, stirring her juice with a straw. "Is it so bad to apologize?"

"Yes, it is. Now, can I go?" Yoona asked Taecyeon, who gave her a small frown.

"Well, not only did I want to say sorry, but I wanted to ask you guys a favor," Bora added.

Yoona threw Taecyeon an "I told you so" look. He gave her a small shrug, as if he was apologizing for not suspecting Bora any sooner. Yoona let out a loud groan, while Bora ignored her. She reached for Taecyeon's hand, his rough skin with her delicate fingers. Yoona widened her eyes, and while Taecyeon froze in place, unable to think. Bora smirked, while cupping his hand in her palm.

In a blink of an eye, Yoona slapped Bora's hand away from his and made sure that Taecyeon's hands were below the table. Bora frowned a bit, but continued to smile as she watched Taecyeon feel more awkward.

"I have a huge favor that I need to ask Taecyeon," Bora explained. "Remember how I said that I went to that play to see my friend's cousin perform?"

She's talking about Myungsoo, Taecyeon remembered. "What about him?"

"Apparently my friend doesn't like one of her cousin's friend, so she wants me to help them separate. Of course, I'm helping my friend pull them away. I just want your help because it consists of a girl, and I want you to kind of… I guess flirt with her or something? Apparently her cousin likes her," Bora said.

Taecyeon blinked his eyes for a second, ignoring Yoona's confused looks. "Um, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, but I can't answer all of them. Hyorin was supposed to be here, but yeah," Bora mumbled, glancing at the empty seat besides her.

"Is the girl's name perhaps Son Naeun?" Taecyeon asked slowly.

Bora looked up with a surprised expression. "Oh my gosh. How did you know?"

Yoona furrowed her eyebrows, catching up to their conversation. "You're asking us to pull Myungsoo apart from Naeun? No way!"

"Look, Yoona. If this has to do anything with me being a jerk in middle school, I'm sorry–"

"No, no. That's not it. Actually, we're trying to set them up. We don't want them to break up," Taecyeon hurriedly explained.

Bora's lips turned to a circular shape. "Oh. Then we have ourselves a problem, hm?"

"You were supposed to be gone years ago! Why are you still here?" Myungsoo cried aloud as he saw Hyorin lazing around on his family's leathered couch. The older girl munched on some chips, spilling the crumbs from her plump lips to the ground. The boy let out a groan as he quickly ran over to grab some tissues. "At least eat more nicely! You're going to bring ants into this apartment."

"I told you, I'm staying here for an year, but I'll be at another town. Gosh, you're such a mom. What if ants come in? A little bit of nature is okay," Hyorin assured, itching her calves with her foot.

"No, a little bit of nature inside the house is not okay! Mom doesn't like bugs," he said, throwing away all the crumbs in the trash. "If you're going to stay, then why don't you do something productive?"

"I am," Hyorin said, getting up from the couch. She the flavorings off her fingers. "I was supposed to meet my friend at the mall tonight. We were supposed to discuss Project Crush."

"Project Cru–What?"

"Project Crush. It's a top secret project that I decided to commit my life to for the time being."

"Well, can I know about it?"

"No. If I tell you, you're going to freak out."

"Why? Does it involve me?"

"Of course it does. It involves you and Naeun."

Myungsoo rolled his eyes. "What is up with you and Naeun? You two always bicker. Did something happen?"

"She's an annoying rich girl who thinks that the world is hers. It's time to show her that life isn't as easy as she thinks! She's no princess anymore! She needs to understand the middle school drama and how it'll affect her high school life," Hyorin declared, raising her fist.

"So you're jealous of how easy her life is?" Myungsoo asked.

"Of course. She doesn't even have to work hard for anything. For one thing, she's got a guy who likes her–" Hyorin glanced at Myungsoo, who didn't blush. She found it strange, knowing that Myungsoo always blushed when he knew that she was teasing him for liking Naeun. "–a large house, good family, and she's smart. It's time to give her a little struggle in life with Project Crush."

"Again, how does it involve me?" Myungsoo asked.

"It involves you to stop being friends with Naeun, of course," Hyorin responded calmly, getting up to throw away the empty potato chip bag.

Myungsoo nonchalantly nodded his head. "Okay, that makes sense–Wait, what?"

Hyorin only smiled and grabbed a thin jacket, heading out as the autumn breeze warned them that drama was in store for his friends.