“Cut the act, Haesoo. We’re far enough.”

Yookwon rolled his eyes. I abided his words. I looked down, guilty and embarrassed that he saw through my act.

“If there’s one thing I truly hate, it’s being used like an object,” he said. “And right there, even if nobody else could tell how you were simply using me, I could.”

Receiving a look from Yookwon, Taeil, Jaehyo and Jihoon left us both alone standing beside the array of shops. I studied my surroundings. I had never travelled around Seoul ever since I had arrived, only ever seeing the ghetto areas Yoongi often brought me to. This was the city area, some distance from our school.

I looked at Yookwon, gaining some courage to speak.

“I want to go home.”

“No.”

I looked down, almost giving up. Then, my mouth said something I hadn’t expected it to.

“Why?”

“Because you chose to go with me.”

I sighed. This wasn’t going anywhere. But I wasn’t that weak. I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I turned around and started walking towards the road to school where I could easily find the bus stop to go home.

But I had to stop when Yookwon pulled my hand.

“You can’t go.”

“I want to,” I said and urged my hand out of his grip.

“No.”

His grip was getting tighter and he was starting to pull me in the opposite direction. With that, I struggled and my hand eventually fell out of his grip. Both in the state of shock, I recovered more quickly than he did to rush in my desired direction. I barely felt someone chasing after me but I didn’t stop running. And that had so inconveniently landed me in a situation where my body had slammed right into one of a familiar male.

“Haesoo?” he called, rubbing his chest.

I looked behind first, checking for any sight of Yookwon. I sighed in much relief when there was none. I looked back at the person standing in front of me.

“Taehyung,” I acknowledged.

He looked like he wanted to ask something but he didn’t. And the situation was getting awkward by the second. When I saw the hint of irritation in his eyes, I said a quick goodbye and scuttled off.

I arrived to my bus stop and sat at the seat, waiting for my bus. I studied the two girls from my school on my left, giggling at their phones. They weren’t talking to each other and were minding their own business yet they looked like they were enjoying each other’s company. I wondered how it felt to have company at all, much less enjoying it. It must feel great. To my right, there was a couple sitting together. The girl was staring at her phone and the guy next to her was looking out for the bus.

A wave of loneliness rushed over me when I realized I was the only one under that shelter without a partner with me.

How great it must feel to have company.

I quickly pushed away the thought of Yoongi that was fast approaching with little beads of painful tears.

How absolutely great it must really feel to have company.

Yet there I was, pushing away the ones I love.

Yet there I was, complaining about loneliness.

***

I arrived home quickly. I placed my shoes neatly on the rack, taking notice that there weren’t any other shoes that the family usually used, which meant that none of them were home, except Jin, of course. In my daze, another pair of shoes were placed next to mine. I turned to see who it was.

Jeongguk gave me a deep glare and rolled his eyes, walking away. I had a feeling it was because of my choosing Yookwon over Yoongi. He must’ve found out some way. Maybe Yookwon snitched.

I followed him into the kitchen where he picked up a cup and started pouring water into it. All the while, I was mustering some courage to explain myself, even if the reason to do that didn’t seem that significant to me.

“J—”

“Kim Haesoo.”

He addressed me with such authority that I had almost forgotten how I was older than he was. However, I was too stunned by the seriousness of his tone to take notice of the disrespect he was showing to me.

“Yookwon is a bad guy.”

My eyes travelled down. I knew he was. And it was a mistake to have chosen him over Yoongi. But anyone in my position might have. Or maybe it was just me being too rash with my decisions.

The eyes Jeongguk had scared me out of my wits. He was angry. He was mad. Maybe