A/N: Getting closer to the end now! I had one scene written ages ago, but the rest is all new. Can you guess which scene is a part of the original ending?

I should just have one chapter to go!

Woohyun was having a good time. He was drinking, joking with the others, raising his voice to the point he was sure that he wasn’t going to have it tomorrow, and dancing whenever the mood struck him. His smile was real and wide. He was happy. And he didn’t think anything could bring his mood down, not even the fact that some of the others brought dates nor the fact that Sunggyu was scheduled to make an entrance at any given moment. And that moment was drawing nearer from the looks of it. Howon was looking anxious all of the sudden after he learned that they were a half an hour into the celebrations. And Dongwoo’s eyes were practically fixed on the door even while he was talking with Woohyun. Surprisingly, Woohyun didn’t feel as anxious as they did. After Sunggyu would come in, they would probably sit at opposite ends of the table and ignore each other. Tolerating his presence was all that Woohyun knew he could manage, maybe a word or two too. But that would be it. That would be all that the others could ask of him now.

Suddenly Dongwoo’s anxiety morphed into panic. His eyes grew large, and he began choking on his drink, air, on something. He stood up so quickly that his chair knocked over, but he didn’t care because he was dashing towards the entrance. “Wh-what?” Dongwoo stammered loudly. “You need to get out!”

“Why? Hoya said that she could come!” Just like Woohyun suspected, Sunggyu had just walked in through the door. But it didn’t seem like he was alone. Woohyun’s heart stopped and he froze with the glass at his lips. It was shaking. Woohyun’s hand was shaking.

“He what?!” Dongwoo objected. “No! Why? She can’t be here!”

“I thought…” Woohyun finally dared to turn around to look at them, and when he did, Sunggyu swallowed his words. He was terrified, but he wasn’t as terrified as the woman next to him, who was paling and clinging onto his arm. Woohyun could easily see her grip getting tighter and tighter as she hid more and more behind the frame of the other.

“You said he wasn’t going to be here,” she whispered to the other, or at least tried to, but Woohyun could hear her loud and clear. She had never been good at whispering or at hiding her emotions. She was genuinely terrified at the sight of Woohyun, at the sight of her ‘best friend.’ It was as if she was facing a monster instead.

You’re the real monster here, destroying relationships and breaking...

“You need to go!” Dongwoo shouted again as he was trying to pry Maeri off from Sunggyu and push her out of the door. But she didn’t let go. She wouldn’t let go. Instead she pulled on his arm and whispered into his ear, ‘let’s go.’ She wanted to leave and take him with her. No, not again.

“HEY!” Woohyun barked at her and stood up. Maeri ducked behind Sunggyu fully now, and he, in turn, had pulled Dongwoo in front of him as a human shield.  Woohyun began walking towards them, pointing his finger at them. “You…” he stopped. Maeri abandoned her shields and sprinted out of the restaurant. “Yah! Don’t run! You coward! Come back here!” He tried to go after her. But he didn’t get farther than a step. Someone grabbed his collar and held him in place.

“Don’t cause a scene,” Sunggyu hissed.

And that made Woohyun angry. No, that made him pissed. It would be one thing if Dongwoo had stopped him, but what right did Kim Sunggyu have to tell him what to do? What right did he have to come between him and Maeri again? He didn’t.

Woohyun punched him in the stomach. “I do what the f*** I want!” he bellowed and then struck Sunggyu, now doubled over, in the face. “Just like you did when you f***ed my fiancée,” he hissed lowly, practically spitting on the other.

Sunggyu bolted up and pushed Woohyun. He slammed his fist against his jaw too. But he didn’t say anything. He was just standing there, panting and glowering at Woohyun, as much as he could because his left eye was swelling shut. It made Woohyun snigger. At that Sunggyu lunged at him, and Woohyun moved to meet him with teeth and fists clenched. But before they collided, Dongwoo and Howon grabbed a hold of them both. Sungyeol squeezed himself between the two feuding men and pushed them apart. “Who’s f***ing brilliant idea was this?” Sungyeol bellowed. No one responded. No one wanted to admit to it.

“Let me go!” Woohyun howled as he tried again to lunge at the other, and Sunggyu just leaned into Howon, making them both almost tip over.

“To hell I will,” Dongwoo groaned as he struggled to keep his grip on his friend.

“Everyone, out! All of you, get out of here!” the owner of the establishment came over and threw them all out. Well, not all of them. Dongwoo, Howon, Sungjong, and the dates stayed behind to settle the bill and apologize to the owner. Sungyeol went out with the two men, who were still fuming, especially Woohyun who pushed past the both of them.

“Get out of my way,” he grumbled as he checked both of them with his shoulders.

“Let go of me. I want to talk to him,” Sunggyu was mumbling at and struggling with Sungyeol who was still trying to hold him back. While Sungyeol could pin Sunggyu’s arms down, he couldn’t suppress his voice. “What did you say to me?!” Sunggyu yelled at Woohyun who was trying to walk away.

“Get out…” Woohyun began to repeat himself but…

“Don’t talk about us like that!” But it became obvious that Sunggyu wasn’t referring to what he had just said, but what Woohyun had said in the restaurant earlier. Sunggyu hadn’t moved far from the restaurant’s entrance, as Sungyeol was holding him. but he was staring daggers at the other, pinning him in place. “Don’t say like that!”

“You know what?” Sungyeol spoke up. “Go ahead! Kill each other. I don’t care!” He’d thrown his hands up, letting go of Sunggyu and admitting defeat. He walked back into the restaurant with the others. “I just wanted a nice night out. I didn’t want to take care of two grown babies…” he continued to mutter his rant as the door shut behind him. But the other two men paid no attention to him. They were only looking at each other.

“Why can’t I? It’s true!” Woohyun argued back, responding to Sunggyu’s accusation. “You…”

“We…” Sunggyu cut him off, but then he shook his head and switched statements, “She’s not yours!” That declaration sent jolts through Woohyun’s entire being, both setting him on fire and paralyzing him at the same time. Sunggyu continued to shout, “She’s not yours anymore! She’s mine!”

It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because…“She was, when….”

“God, I know but…” Sunggyu talked over him again. However this time, his voice wasn’t angry, nor was his gaze. They both softened to the point that it made Woohyun’s stomach churn with guilt. Guilt? Why was he feeling that way? Woohyun’s gaze dropped to his feet. He couldn’t look at Sunggyu, not when he was looking at him like that. “You gave us your blessing. You said that you understood,” Sunggyu still spoke in that gentle voice, reminding Woohyun what he said in that letter. “I want to stop feeling guilty for being with her.”

“Then stop,” Woohyun just barely spoke. He didn’t want to give in, but he already had, months ago. So many emotions were fighting each other in his heart; conflicting thoughts waged war in his head. And Woohyun wanted nothing more for it all to stop. “I said it was fine.”

“It’s obviously not fine,” Sunggyu didn’t believe his words. It was hard to when Woohyun was crumbling right in front of him. “I can’t feel okay about this until…” he paused when the other turned to walk away. “Woohyun, stop.”

“Leave me alone,” Woohyun spat back but kept moving. He had to get away. He couldn’t handle this anymore.

But he heard footsteps following him, and then there were words, “Woohyun, I…” A hand gripped at his shoulder.

Woohyun did his best to shake the hand off. “Let me go!” he yelled, but his feet were already slowing down.

The hand stayed on his shoulder, followed by another. “We really need to talk,” Sunggyu murmured.

“NO!” Woohyun exclaimed, but he already lost the battle against the other. He let Sunggyu hug him from behind, tightly.

“Woohyun, I’m sorry,” the other spoke as he hooked his chin over Woohyun’s shoulder, locking him in place. His voice was shaking, much like Woohyun’s body was. Woohyun was trying his best not to cry, but he was losing that battle too. “I’m really really sorry. I don’t think you know how sorry I feel right now. I f***ked up. We both f***ked up. There’s no excuse. None at all. And I’m not going to pretend like I have one because you don’t deserve it. We hurt you too much already.” Sunggyu let out a deep breath and leaned his head against the other’s. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. You’re my friend. I care about you. We still really care about you.”

Woohyun closed his eyes as he tried to embrace Sunggyu’s apologies like he was embracing him. But he just couldn’t. He couldn’t do it. There was still the fire simmering deep within him that would probably never go out. “I hate you,” Woohyun spoke through gritted teeth.

“I know,” Sunggyu replied and gave the other a squeeze.

“I’m not going to forgive you,” Woohyun raised his voice.

“I know,” Sunggyu said again, but this time, he got the message and let go of the other. A hand, however, still lingered on Woohyun’s shoulder. “I miss you. I really do. We don’t like not knowing what’s going on with you.”

Woohyun half-turned towards the other. His eyes still on the ground. “I need…more time,” he wasn’t going to promise anything, no matter how genuine Sunggyu sounded.

Sunggyu let his hand drop. “Okay,” he took whatever Woohyun would give him. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Woohyun finally raised his gaze up to the other and narrowed them, glaring as best he could. “You’re really a selfish bastard,” he growled.

But the other wasn’t intimidated. He smiled warmly, as if Woohyun had just said a joke. “I know that too,” he agreed with a nod.

In turn, Woohyun shook his head at the other and walked away, and Sunggyu finally let him go, but not without the heaps of guilt that was now baring down on Woohyun. Did Sunggyu really mean to guilt-trip him? Was he really that much of a bastard? Possibly yes, possibly no. Woohyun didn’t know right now. He didn’t know anything.

All he knew was that he was feeling more alone than ever before.

Woohyun felt like a solitary figure in the world with no one at his side. He had known that his so-called friends wanted him to talk things over with the couple, not to the point of reconciliation but to toleration. And so they forced this meeting between himself and Sunggyu, and while he had been aware of it beforehand, now that the two actually met, Woohyun was livid. He felt betrayed by everyone close to him. His friends should’ve known that he wasn’t ready. They should’ve known that it was going to be a disaster. But Woohyun was starting to suspect that they were only taking Sunggyu’s feelings into consideration and not his own. Sunggyu wanted to alleviate his guilt and be with his Maeri happily, which meant burdening the guilt onto Woohyun, who felt like he was expected to forgive and forget but couldn’t. He could never.

He could only bring himself to say that he hated Sunggyu. He couldn’t even say that he hated the both of them because, well, it wasn’t true. Woohyun still…

She’s not yours! She’s not yours anymore! She’s mine!

But there she was, sitting on the bench outside of their apartment, waiting for him to come home, like she’d done many, many times before when they were…Woohyun’s heart stopped. No, he couldn’t do this tonight. He had been through enough torment already. It was his turn to run away, far away, where Maeri wouldn’t expect him to go.

He quickly dialed a number into his phone and spun around when he felt Maeri’s eyes on him. “O-oh, noona!” Woohyun exclaimed loudly when the other side had picked up.
“Woohyun, what is it?” the woman on the other side sounded confused and concerned, as she should be because Woohyun rarely called her.

“You called me, silly!” he forced jovialness in his voice and a laugh. It hurt his throat to do so. It’d become so tight.

“Uh, no I didn’t,” this person was not picking up on the situation.

“Aaaah ahahaha,” Woohyun almost choked on his laughter this time. In fact, he coughed a little afterwards. He then heard footsteps behind him, so he lengthened and sped up his stride as he scurried away from his building. “So you want me to walk Koko tonight?”

“You don’t have to. I walked him already.” Woohyun was starting to think that Hani had zero sense.

“Yea, that dog has so much energy, only I can keep up with him,” he replied while in his head he was praying ‘Please get it. Please help me.’

“Woohyun, what’s going on? You’re acting weird,” finally Hani caught on.

“I’ll see you at your place in a bit, noona,” Woohyun spoke a bit out of breath as he was practically running down his street at this point. He wasn’t going to take any chances.

“Fine, I will see you later,” Hani was obviously still lost, but she accepted it anyway. And when Woohyun reached her place half an hour later, he was sweating, ragged, and out of breath. Hani was waiting for him, with Koko in her arms. It seems like she had been outside for a while because her cheeks were red from the cold and she was clutching onto the dog for warmth. Koko didn’t mind, as he was sleeping, probably exhausted from his walk earlier that night.

Woohyun didn’t care if the dog was asleep. When he reached the pair, Woohyun bent dog and took the dog’s face in his hands. “Good evening, Koko,” he whispered. The dog’s eyes fluttered open, and when he saw it was Woohyun, he began wagging. Woohyun smiled. Finally someone is happy to see me.

“Maybe it’s time that you got a dog of your own,” Hani spoke up as she let go of the dog, letting him jump off of her lap to greet the man with kisses.

“No!” Woohyun protested. “Koko is perfect. I don’t want any other dog besides Koko.” He grabbed the dog’s face in his hands again and turned it towards Hani. “Look, at him!”

But Hani didn’t look down at the dog. Her eyes were on Woohyun alone. “Look at you,” she retorted. Her hands clenched at her knees. “Woohyun, what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I really don’t,” he tried to dismiss it and began toying with Koko, making him bark a lot. He was probably disturbing the whole neighborhood. Woohyun probably should be reprimanded for it.

“Okay.” Hani still wasn’t distracted. “Is there anything you need? Any way that I can help?”

“All I need is Koko,” Woohyun insisted as he was getting Koko worked up more and more. It would take a while to calm the dog back down.

“Nothing else?” Hani asked again. And before Woohyun could lie once more and say that all he needed was puppy cuddles, his stomach growled. Hani raised her eyebrows. She’d heard it and wasn’t going to ignore it.

“Dinner?” Woohyun admitted.

“Alright,” Hani replied and stood up. She then gestured at the other to follow her. “Come inside.” She sensed Woohyun’s apprehension and added: “My dad is out with his friend tonight.”

Woohyun picked up the dog, who was squirming wildly in his arms, and followed the other. “A woman friend?” he asked and entered inside the home.

“Of course not,” Hani responded with a sad smile. She held the door open for the man, and after he came in, she closed the door and leaned against it. “I don’t understand how he still can’t move on.”

“It’s not that easy,” Woohyun answered with a groan as he put Koko down. After taking off his shoes, he stepped inside the home, scanning it and taking it all in. “Nice house,” he remarked.

“Thank you,” Hani responded as she walked past him. She then waved her arm about. “I did add some decorations when I moved back.” She pointed to the pictures along the walls. “Like photos from when I was in England and of my sister and her family.”

Woohyun’s eyes fixed on a certain decoration, but it wasn’t a photo. “Like some plants?” he teased the other as he picked up the orchid that she’d bought on their trip to the nursery. He turned the pot around in his hands and investigated the plant. The flower wasn’t the healthiest looking, but it was still alive, all because Hani gave it a lot of love.

“Yes,” Hani murmured as she came up to his side. She then touched the other lightly at his elbow. “Come on. You can look around later,” she told him and gestured that he follow her into the kitchen, which was the next room over. He did, but he hovered in the doorway. Hani noticed and spun back towards him. She tried to wave him in again. Woohyun took a step into the room, and that was it. So Hani pulled out a chair from her table. “Have a seat,” she offered, but she did not sit down herself. After telling him to sit, she went straight towards the fridge, not even bothering to see if he sat down or not. Which actually made him sit down. He was slightly stunned by it. His eyes tracked her every move. Hani opened her freezer and was now digging through it. Once she found what she wanted, she went over to a cupboard searching for something else. Woohyun’s curiosity was satisfied a moment later, when Hani turned around, showing him an ice pack wrapped with a thin cloth. “That swelling is making me nervous. I can’t ignore it anymore,” Hani admitted, and she then walked over to him and gently laid the ice pack to his jaw.

Woohyun raised his hand and held the pack in place. When he did, his hand brushed against hers, which fell away. He noticed her pupils shake. He was still watching her carefully. “Is it that bad?” he asked lowly.

“Yes,” she responded, just as softly. But when she asked her question, her voice had returned to normal: “Are you ready to tell me what happened?”

“No,” he grumbled. Woohyun finally dropped his gaze and hung his head.

“Okay,” her heard her response and then her footsteps as she walked away from the table. “What do you want to eat?”

“Rice,” it was just barely an answer, but he was so hungry that anything would do at the moment. He just needed to eat now. “Let me help,” he insisted and stood up.

Hani shook her head. “I don’t think you can do both. Keeping the ice on the bruise is more important,” she said. But that didn’t stop Woohyun. He still came up to her side as she was scraping the leftover rice from the cooker. He leaned against the counter, waiting for her to finish or tell him what to do. And when she realized that he wasn’t going to sit back down, Hani sighed and gave in. “You can hand me things. Can you hand me the frying pan?” She put him straight to work and reached out her hand.

“Are you making fried rice?” he asked as he gave the pan to her with his free hand. She nodded and asked him to give her a wooden spoon, which was already in his hand to give to her.

And Woohyun kept doing that. He kept giving her things that she hadn’t asked for yet or just plain didn’t ask for. Instead of waiting for her command, he raided her fridge and pantry, searching for things he wanted to have in his fried rice. Hani soon stopped asking for things and just accepted whatever he gave her. But she didn’t put all of it into the rice. Several times she looked at what he had in his hands and shook her head, with that warm smile of hers. Occasionally, Woohyun would prod her and urge her to take his suggested ingredient. But she stood firm. “If we add anything more to this, it won’t be fried rice, but my entire pantry.” At that, Woohyun frowned. “If you want more to eat, there’s banchan in the fridge.”

“Okay,” he muttered and returned to the fridge. He propped his elbow up on the door because he was growing tired of holding the ice pack to his jaw. His other hand sorted through the Tupperware in the fridge. He took out a few and placed then on the countertop. “Can you open these?” he asked her. Hani nodded, put down the spoon, and uncovered the side dishes. After she did, Woohyun went over to inspect them with his eyes and nose. “Did you make these?”

“Not all,” Hani answered. She turned towards him and watched him with his nose deep in one of the side dishes. “The aunties in this neighborhood take very good care of us.”

“My mom makes good radish kimchi. Better than this,” Woohyun remarked and winced again after he took another sniff of the radish kimchi. He couldn’t put a word to it, but something about it was just off. He put the dish down and placed the lid back over it, then pushing it away. “Do you want some?”

“I made that one.” Woohyun froze, and he didn’t soften even when he heard Hani laugh. She took away the radish kimchi and put it back into the fridge. “Maybe your mom can teach me how to make it. I took this recipe from a website. It must’ve been a bad one. My dad didn’t like it either,” she tried to resolve the issue, but it instead made Woohyun more distressed. It wasn’t that Hani’s version was horrible. It just wasn’t right, but that’s to be expected from someone who has only made the dish a few times and barely knew what she was doing both times. If she had just a bit of guidance…Woohyun lifted his head and looked about. There were so many places inside this home that was missing a mother’s touch.

Hani put her hand on his shoulder, for a short moment, while she passed by him again. Woohyun guessed it was her silently telling him that she was okay. And that was true. Hani was just fine without a mother. In fact, given who her mother turned out to be, she was more than just fine.

“I should put you two in touch with each other,” Woohyun broke the silence between them. “She always wanted to teach Mae…someone how to cook,” he stopped himself mid-sentence and restated things. “I had her teach me some things.”

Hani must’ve known where his mind was going and tried to distract him. “Do you want to show me?” she asked and offered him a knife and an onion.

“Can I take this off?” Woohyun lifted the ice pack off of his jaw slightly before placing it back on.

“Eung,” Hani not only answered him in word, but after putting things down, she also came over and peeled the pack away from his jaw gently. Even though she was careful as she could be, her fingers still brushed against his bruise, adding just enough pressure to make Woohyun recoil and hiss. It hurt more than he expected to. He’d gotten hit pretty hard. He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about that anymore.

“It’s okay,” his voice came out louder than he expected, and his smile hurt his sore face. He took the knife and onion. “I’ll chop this up for you. I won’t even cry! That’s how good I am at it!” he bragged.

But like most of the time when Woohyun brags, he was full of it. He teared up. He began sniffing like crazy. And eventually he had to step away as a break.

Hani however pretended not to notice. Instead she thanked him for his work and finished making the fried rice. She was done in a few minutes, and within that time, Woohyun had gone back to the table to sit down with a spoon in hand and ice pack on the table, ready to eat. Hani came over with the pan and set it down on a trivet on the table.

“Thank you for the food,” Woohyun said right before tucking in.

Hani pulled out a spoon of her own. “Let me have some,” she said while already scooping up a hefty portion of fried rice.

Woohyun watched her eat while he chewed. After swallowing, he asked, “Did you eat already?”

Hani nodded. “I just want a taste.” And there it was, that smile again. For some reason, it didn’t make him feel good at the moment. It made him uneasy. He was wary now, both of that smile and of her. He moved his arm and felt it brush against the cool ice pack. His eyes dropped down to it. Why is she being so nice to me when…His eyes flickered back up to her. Her smile was gone now, and instead she was anxious. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“For some reason,” Woohyun paused. His spoon was tapping against the side of the pan, and only that noise floated in the air for a few seconds. Which was just long enough for Woohyun to put his concern into words, “I keep thinking of you as my friend, but you’re not.”

“I’m your friend!” Hani objected. The loudness of her voice seemed to surprise her, and she slunk back down into her chair.

Woohyun shook his head at her. “You were her friend first,” he clarified.

“True,” Hani was starting to understand what he meant, but that didn’t mean that she agreed with it. “But that’s not how it works. I can be your friend too.”

“Are you on my side?”

That question surprised Hani and she stammered in a low voice, “I-I really don’t want to take sides.”

Woohyun sighed. He expected that would be her answer, which was why he was worried in the first place. Although it had abated for awhile, that loneliness he’d felt earlier that evening came back, stronger. While she took him in and fed him as if he was a lost puppy, Hani, just like the rest of them, wasn’t his friend. They weren’t just his. And right now, he really wanted a friend to call his own. “I just want someone to be on my side besides Koko,” he grumbled.

“I’m not choosing sides because I like you both!” she was irritated bordering angry now. Woohyun had hit a nerve.

But he didn’t really care that he had. His nerves were so raw that they were sore and tired. “Do you support what she did?” he challenged.

“No,” Hani’s response was soft but she was shaking her head strongly. “I don’t. I really don’t.” She huffed, “Just because I’m not taking sides doesn’t mean I support her cheating. You…you deserved better.”

“Like what? Better what?” Woohyun pressed her again.

Hani raised an eyebrow at that, as if she were surprised that he even posed that question. “Better from her? Him? A better person altogether?” she suggested. Woohyun hung his head and shook it. Those words sounded like lip service to him. How would Hani know how he felt or what he deserved? Hani had been not only out of the town but out of the country for years. What did she really know about him? Woohyun himself didn’t even know.

There was a clang against the table. Hani had put down her spoon. “Of course, you deserve better. Do you really not know?” her voice was softer than the spoon was. “I don’t know how to convince you of it.”

Woohyun refused to buy into it. “I’m not sure what I deserve anymore, or what I want,” he grumbled. Then he did try to think about both of those things, while he took a few more bites. And Hani herself ate more too and waited for him to speak again, knowing full well that he wasn’t done yet. Woohyun wished he was done, with it all. But he wasn’t. “I really loved her,” he admitted after a deep sigh. “I don’t think she knew. I don’t think I knew how much I did.” That was the crux of it. For almost a solid year, he’d been convinced that Maeri was who he deserved and that she deserved him, that he was the best thing to happen to her and vice versa. It was incredibly hard to get himself out of that mindset. Damn near impossible.

“Do you still love her?” Hani finally spoke again.

“Sometimes,” Woohyun confessed. He put his spoon down and rubbed his hand over his face, far too roughly. He’d forgotten about the tender bruise on his jaw. He moaned in pain, and then that moan turned into a groan, “I need more time!” He brought his hands down and huffed. “I’m trying! That’s the most frustrating part is that people can’t see how much I’m actively trying to get over this. I’ve tried being the bigger person! Hell, I told them to be together. I gave them my blessing! But I’m still…so angry at them. I don’t want to see them.” His arms were tight across his chest. It was heaving because he was still fuming. The picture of the both of them, terrified popped back into his mind. It wasn’t fair. “And everyone wants me to meet with them, and I just can’t,” he was barely moving his pouting lips. “It feels like no one is on my side. No one understands.” There was no way that he was coherent now, but he lifted his gaze to Hani, who was leaning over the table, trying to hear him. So he spoke the next part more clearly, “I can’t forgive them.”

“No one wants to see good friendships die,” Hani reasoned.

Woohyun scoffed. “They weren’t being good friends to me, were they?”

“No,” she had to admit it. “No, they weren’t.” Strangely, for her, she wasn’t smiling. No, she was frowning. Her arms were now across her chest too. “Honestly, I’m angry at them too. For you.”

Woohyun was piqued. He sat up straight and cocked his head. “Are you on my side?” he guessed.

Hani unfurled her arms and pursed her lips for a moment before nodding and confessing, “I’m more on your side than hers.”

Woohyun reached over the table, placed his hand over hers, and spoke from the bottom of his heart, “Thank you.” That was exactly what he wanted to hear tonight.

Maeri felt bad for running away, seriously bad and guilty. She didn’t how she could possibly make things worse between herself and Woohyun, but she did. He came up to talk to her (or yell at her), and being afraid of what he had to say, Maeri ran away as fast as she could. That’s not how you resolve problems, Maeri chided herself over and over again. While she was reprimanding herself, her feet brought herself to the place before she realized where she was. Home, her old home with Woohyun. Her heart knew what she had to do before her mind did. So she sat down and waited for him.

She didn’t have to wait for long, or at least it didn’t feel like she did. Woohyun came around the corner. Well, she knew it was Woohyun, but after taking a good look at him, Woohyun appeared to be a different person now. Even how he was walking, Maeri had never seen him walk like that. This wasn’t the Woohyun that she knew. This wasn’t her best friend.

This time, Maeri took initiative. She stood up and started towards him. But she soon stopped. Woohyun was on the phone, talking to another woman from the sounds of it. “You called me, silly!” he sounded happy. He was really happy from the sounds of that laughter. Maeri wanted to continue following him, to eavesdrop, but it wasn’t her place, not anymore. This wasn’t her Woohyun. He was someone else’s now, and she had to respect that.

“Good, he’s moving on,” Maeri concluded. That needed to happen. After all, Maeri had begun to move on before she had something to move from. Thinking of which, Maeri pulled out her phone. As she suspected, Sunggyu had sent her a text, but it wasn’t chiding her for running away or anything of that sort. He texted: “Where are you?” Maeri knew what that meant and called him immediately.

“Hey, where are you?” Sunggyu asked as soon as he answered the phone. There were times when Sunggyu would ask that question out of curiosity, but during moments like these, what he really meant was ‘I need to see you.’

“I was trying to catch Woohyun,” Maeri revealed to him. There was no point in hiding it.

“What?!” Because Sunggyu would react five times more dramatically than that if she told him later.

“I felt bad for running away, so I waited for him at his place,” she confessed. And right now, she was on her way to Sunggyu’s place. “I didn’t expect him to come home so quickly.”

“We got kicked out,” Sunggyu wasn’t going to hide anything from her either.

“What?! Why?” Maeri sounded more shocked than he did.

“Yea, I will tell you later,” Sunggyu promised or dismissed, Maeri couldn’t tell, because he quickly deflected with a question, “Did you talk to him?”

“No,” Maeri wasn’t going to mask her frustration. “I mean, I saw him. But he went to go meet with someone else.”

“Who?” he asked, just as interested as she was.

“I don’t know,” she grumbled in reply. Sunggyu probably had interacted more with Woohyun than she did. He stayed behind. Wait, a minute. “Did you talk to him?” she asked as soon as she realized that he could have.

“Yes,” was all that Sunggyu would divulge.

“About what? What did you say? What did he say?” the questions shot out of like rapid fire.

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” that was a promise.

But Maeri was too impatient for his promises. “Why can’t you tell me now?” She stopped only to stamp her foot before walking.

He didn’t give in. “Just come here. Hurry,” Sunggyu begged.

“Alright.” Maeri picked up her pace. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Why are you wearing sunglasses?”

“Come inside first,” Sunggyu avoided answering her questions once again. Instead, he just grabbed onto her hand and pulled her inside. “Follow me.”

“Okay.” Maeri was skeptical. Her eyes watched his every move, anything that would explain his strange behavior. Wearing sunglasses inside of his own apartment in the middle of the night? He had also looked up and down the hallway, scanning for any witnesses, before pulling Maeri inside. “What’s wrong?” she asked. But as soon as she did, she noticed it. She noticed the puffy and discolored cheek before Sunggyu was able to take of the glasses and reveal his black eye. Her hands cupped his face, and she gushed, “Oh my gosh! What happened to you? Can you see?”

“Barely,” he replied through his pout and leaned into her hands. “Do you feel bad for leaving me behind?”

“Yes!” she spat out the answer. “I can’t believe he…” her voice dropped off. She’d been thinking out loud, and once she had realized it, she pursed her lips. Her eyes, though, they couldn’t stray away from the growing discoloration on his face. Her finger went up to touch it, to press against it. “Does it hurt?”

Sunggyu pulled away from her and grabbed her hands to hold them a safe distance from his face. He yelped, “Ow! When you do that, yes!”

“Sorry,” Maeri only moved her lips. She was too afraid to move anything else. “I just want…I want to help.” Her eyes finally moved from the bruise to his eyes. “What can I do?”

“Oh well,” Sunggyu muttered as he let go of her. He was starting to act casual and put his sunglasses back on, which meant that there was something he wanted but he wasn’t going to be upfront about it. “There’s something you can do.”

“What is it?”

Admittedly, Maeri found Sunggyu irritating at times, like how he refused to tell her exactly what he wanted her to do. Instead he told Maeri to follow him, and he led her to the only make-up shop that was still open in town. Once they were inside, all he said was ‘Okay, do it,’ as if he’d given her a cue. Maeri rolled her eyes at him. If Sunggyu wanted her to buy him make-up, she wouldn’t agreed to it and she would’ve done it with minimal teasing. But apparently he didn’t want to risk any teasing. He wanted to save what little pride he had left.

Maeri sighed and headed over to the foundations and concealers, trying her best to guess what would be the most appropriate shade for him, him who was far away, on the other side of the store, playing the role of the boyfriend who was waiting for his girlfriend to finish shopping. Maeri sighed. She shouldn’t get angry. Sunggyu wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for her. But it would be immensely helpful if his position was a lot closer to her so that she could compare colors against his skin and find an appropriate one for his skin type. Is he dry? Is he oily? All I know is that he’s impudent.

Her frustration was evident. A store employee came up to ask if Maeri needed help to find her shade. “Oh no, it’s not for me,” she denied, waving her hands about. “Uh, It’s for…my…little sister! Her skin is…” She glanced over at Sunggyu and scrutinized him. He tensed up as soon as her gaze fell on him. glances over at Sunggyu “A bitpaler than mine and, uh…” Maeri cut herself short and let out a sigh. She turned to the employee and pointed at the man in the corner, “Actually, it’s similar to his.”

The employee nodded in understanding and leaned in closer to Maeri. “Is it for him?” she whispered. Maeri’s eyes widened in shock, but the employee remained neutral. Just how many boys made their girlfriends by make-up for them?
Sunggyu must’ve heard the employee’s question because when Maeri looked over at him again, he was subtly shaking his head. Sorry, Gyu. “Yes, it’s for him,” she replied.

“Y-yah!”

Maeri went over to him and wrapped her arm around his, leaning onto him slightly. “It’ll match better this way,” she whispered. She then pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Just endure it a little.” She felt bad asking him to endure more for her, especially after tonight. But the make-up had to be the perfect match. Maeri was becoming more and more anxious the more that she thought about his black-eye. It wasn’t like Sunggyu worked a desk job. He was a teacher. The parents would be in an uproar if they’d heard one of the teachers got involved in a fist fight. That’s why he brought her to the store in the first place, and it was why Maeri outed him to the employee. Endure this small pain now or endure worse later on.

But how much more pain will he endure because of me, Maeri thought as she pulled Sunggyu across the floor. He wasn’t giving in easily, even though he knew it was necessary too.

“What kind of coverage do you want?” the employee asked once Sunggyu was in front of her. He looked over at Maeri to answer for him. And in turn, Maeri pulled the sunglasses off from his face. “Full coverage it is!” the employee exclaimed and then set out to find the perfect match for Sunggyu.

While the employee was helping Sunggyu, Maeri let them be and went around the shop picking up other essentials that she thought he would need: make-up wipes, powder, moisturizer, and things of that nature. A few minutes later, he came over to show off what the woman had selected for him and waited for her approval. Instead she took the foundation from him and put it into the basket she was carrying. “I’ll buy this for you,” she announced. “This wouldn’t have happened to you if it weren’t for me.”

Sunggyu nodded and leaned over to whine in a whisper, “You ran away.” He was pouting.

Maeri did too. “I did,” she whispered back. She then touched his cheek, just below the bruise. “I didn’t think he’d punch you. I would’ve stayed, if I knew. Honestly, I thought he was just going after me,” she confessed. In fact she had ran for several blocks until she realized that Woohyun wasn’t chasing after her. It had really seemed like he was going to.

“He tried to. I stopped him from chasing after you,” Sunggyu revealed. “And he wasn’t happy about that.” He took her hand away from her face and held it in his. Maeri cocked her head and her eyes went back to that same spot that they’d been returning to all night. ‘He wasn’t happy’ was an understatement. What they had done pissed Woohyun off.

“I hit him too,” Sunggyu declared at a normal volume.

“Huh?” It took awhile for Maeri to snap out of it. “You did? Where?”

“Here,” Sunggyu was using a low voice again. He lightly tapped against Maeri’s jaw with a loose fist. He was trying to be playful, but it backfired.

“Oh my gosh!” Maeri yelped, and the basket fell to the floor. She held his hand in both of hers. His knuckles were bruised too. He punched him…hard enough to…Maeri furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, concern, but not disappointment. Neither men were the type to throw punches for the fun of it. “Why? Because he punched you?”

“Because he said that I was f***ing his fiancée.”

“What?!” that was practically a scream from Maeri.

Sunggyu shushed her and covered with his hand. “Let’s talk about it later, okay?” He waited for Maeri to nod before he lowered his hand.

While Maeri would wait for later to talk about the subject in full, she had to say now, “I had no idea he felt that way.” Woohyun often bluffed. He often exaggerated things. But when he did, it was usually in jest. Maeri couldn’t recall the last time he exaggerated something serious like that. In fact, he’d typically diminish serious things. Unless…he hates when people take him lightly. He wants us to take him seriously. Him and his pain.

“Me neither.” Sunggyu then sighed and picked up the basket. He handed it over to Maeri and said, “Now buy me my make-up and let’s go home.”

When Maeri went to purchase the make-up and other items, the employee threw in a free gift for Maeri, saying that the ‘girlfriend’ deserved something pretty too. She must’ve found the situation funny. But neither Maeri nor Sunggyu could bring themselves to laugh at her joke. Nothing was humorous about this night.

“Stay still.”

“Do it lighter!” Sunggyu whined.

Maeri was being as light as she could around the tender area, but how was she supposed to blend in the foundation when Sunggyu couldn’t keep his face still? They had tried to position themselves in Sunggyu’s bathroom to make this easier for them. Sunggyu was leaning against the counter with his legs out-stretched so that he and Maeri were at eye-level. It meant that Maeri had to stand in between his legs to apply the make-up. Although it was an awkward position, it was supposed to make things easier for Maeri, but Sunggyu was making things hard as he kept lifting his chin and pulling his face out of her reach.

“You have to beat it in,” Maeri insisted as she pressed the make-up sponge against his cheek again, and he flinched yet again. But she continued. “That’s how it stays. Trust me. I do this every day.” Sunggyu opened his eyes (which had been closed) and stared at her, making Maeri amend her statement, “Nearly every day. Most days.”

He sniggered, closed his eyes again, and tried his best to keep still. “I bet this is a first for you, huh?”

Maeri bit her lip before answering, “Actually, no. I’ve put make-up on a guy before.”

Sunggyu opened his eyes again. “Woohyun?” he guessed, and when Maeri answered with a short nod, he let out an aggravated sigh. “Is there anything you haven’t done with him?”

Maeri stopped trying to put make-up on him and pulled away slightly to face him head-on. “We did a lot. I spent half of my life with him,” she reasoned. It wasn’t like she intentionally meant to do most of those things with him. It just happened because they’ve known each other so long.

“I guess that makes sense,” Sunggyu followed her line of thought and agreed with it. He might’ve been frustrated still, but he understood. And he was ready to continue. He took Maeri by the hips and pulled her in closer again.

Maeri laughed and rest her arms on his shoulders. “I bet I’ll have a lot new experiences with you. We’ll be together for a long time, right? Right?” she kept asking until he nodded, and he delayed from doing so to . They both laughed. “Maybe I can dye your hair next,” she suggested and began running her fingers through his hair. “I haven’t done that to anyone.”

“Hm,” he hummed as her glanced up at her. “What color?”

“Red,” Maeri replied quickly. “Bright red. Like ketchup. So I can dip my fries in it,” she joked and brushed his fringe over his forehead and eyes.

Sunggyu shook his hair back into place. “Only if you dye yours that color too,” he played along. Between his own fingers, he took a lock of her hair and twirled it.

“Uh, maybe it’s not such a good idea,” Maeri concluded. She stopped playing with his hair and picked up the make-up sponge again. “I like your hair as it is. Really,” Maeri insisted, and she wasn’t lying. She really like Sunggyu’s style on a whole, which honestly might be part of the reason why she was so attracted to him. He was her style, even with the black eye, which was now covered with make-up. Maeri was working on blending in the rest of his face.

“So you did Woohyun’s make-up before you dyed his hair? What does that say about him?” Sunggyu brought up and chuckled a bit.

“Sunggyu,” Maeri muttered and she backed away a little, showing the make-up sponge to him. She giggled when he realized what she was implying.

“This is different! He punched me!” he argued. “I got this protecting your honor.”

“Really? My honor?” there was no laughter in her voice.

“I told you what he said,” he reminded her, and Woohyun’s words flooded into her mind again. She hadn’t heard them herself, but she could perfectly imagine how they were said, the hurt behind them. Hurt that wasn’t his alone. It was shared with everyone and was constantly becoming more and more painful. She was the cause of it. Because of it she couldn’t look at the other anymore, also because her eyes were watering. She tried her best not to blink or else she’d…“Maeri, don’t worry about it,” Sunggyu spoke and tried to get her to look at him again.

“How can I not?” she shot back and consequently broke out into a sob. Great, she was crying again.

“Don’t cry,” he attempted to soothe her. He wiped her tears away. “He just needs more time.”

“I know,” Maeri choked out. She sobbed again and watched the concern grow in his face. She wanted that expression to go away. She wasn’t just crying for Woohyun now. “I’m worried about you too. Your eye was already small to begin with. Can you even see out of it?” Maeri expressed just a little of her worries about the other. But Sunggyu glared at her, thinking that she was trying to make light of the situation with a joke, as usual. Maeri shook her head and cupped his cheeks. “I’m being serious. Can you?”

“I can see just fine. Look!” He then tried to open his eyes as wide as he could, but a few seconds later he shut them tightly and blinked furiously. “Aish, that hurt.”

Maeri sniffed loudly and put an end to her tears. This wasn’t the time to wallow over the past. She needed to be in the present and to do her best. “After I finish here, we should put some ice on it,” she suggested and wiped her cheeks dry.

“Maybe we should’ve done that first,” it was supposed to be a joke, but it stung her a little. Why wasn’t her first reaction to treat the wound? Instead she bought him make-up to cover it up? It didn’t matter that it was his suggestion. Once again, Maeri got caught up in the excitement of the situation. When was she going to learn to take a step back and think? Her eyes were watering again. That was when Sunggyu wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. And Maeri put her arms around his neck and hugged him back. “It’ll be fine. We’ll deal with it later, and it’ll be fine.”

Maeri often wondered how Sunggyu felt about her crying so often lately. She knew that Woohyun had complained to him before about how she was a woman with dry tears, but now those tears had finally become wet and were spilling out more than ever before. Maeri was exhausted, mentally and emotionally, too weak to hold them back anymore. She also felt like she didn’t have to restrain them either, not in front of Sunggyu. Maeri didn’t know why this was the case. But maybe it was the soft gaze and smile that he gave her when she pulled out of the hug. It was like she was being rewarded for her honesty and vulnerability. He wasn’t going to about it, at least not now anyway.

“Oh!” Maeri gasped. All along her sleeve was beige spots. Her gaze flickered back up to his face, and sure enough, Sunggyu’s skin was patchy now. “I got some of your makeup on my sleeve,” she told him and showed it off to him.

“How?” Sunggyu asked, chuckling, and gazed at the mess. “Now you know how I feel.”

“What?” she gasped again. “I don’t get makeup on you…do I?” She was completely unaware of this, or that it could even happen.

“Eung, all over, like this.” He then buried his head into the crook of her neck and began nuzzling, trying his best to ruin her clothes apparently. Maeri couldn’t recall a time that she nuzzled his aggressively. But he really wasn’t trying to make a point at the moment. That was obvious.

When he was done and pulled away, showing his hair and face messier than ever, Maeri leaned into the sparse distance between them and kissed him. He kissed her back. And they continued like that, with each kiss lasting longer and growing more heated. Eventually Sunggyu stood up and led them away from the counter, and then away from the bathroom.

But they jumped apart and darted back into the safety of the bathroom when they heard the front door open. “Sunggyu? Hey Gyu? Are you okay?” Dongwoo’s shout echoed throughout the apartment. Sunggyu and Maeri looked at each other and began whisper to each other furiously, trying to figure out what to do and to hide all of their new purchases in the drawers. Dongwoo, oblivious to all of this kept shouting, “I would’ve come home sooner, but Sungyeol talked us into staying out and just letting the two of you kill each other. I kinda feel bad that we all agreed, but MAN was it fun! Just a bunch of guys being dudes. Nam-goon didn’t kill you, did he? Gyu? Gyu-hyung?” The couple stopped and stared at each other. They should probably respond now, so they began whisper-debating about what to say. But before they could figure out a story to tell Dongwoo about what they did that evening, Dongwoo burst into the bathroom. “Oh hey Maeri!” He waved at the both of them, appearing relieved to find the both of them alive and well.

“Hi,” Maeri replied.

“How was the rest of the party?” Sunggyu asked before his roommate could ask them anything.

“Fun. Sungyeol really knows how to get a party going,” Dongwoo replied. He then cocked his head, scanning the man up and down. An amused smile spread across his face. “Hey, are you wearing make-up?”

Sunggyu groaned. “You can tell?”

“Your face is two different colors,” Dongwoo pointed out. “And that side is positively glowing. I like it.” It was supposed to be a compliment, but the couple took it as a sign of their failure. They didn’t want glowing skin. They wanted his skin to look dull but natural.

“We should probably do your whole face and even it out,” Maeri concluded and then added under her breath, “And put on some powder to get rid of the shine.” She went into the drawers and began pulling out the make-up again. After she did, she uncapped the powder and was dipping her brush in it. “You’re a shiny boy,” she remarked after tapping off the excess.

“I don’t want it!” Sunggyu whined and went over to stand by Dongwoo. If Maeri took another step closer to him with that brush, he was going to use Dongwoo as a shield, again. “How many things are you making me do to my face?”

“Just a little bit more, okay? It won’t take long. I just want to show you how to do it,” Maeri pleaded. With a begrudgingly ‘fine,’ Sunggyu came back over to her, and with many grumbles about how his back hurt, he settled himself back into the position that he was earlier and pulled Maeri back into place too.

“Maeri, do you put make-up on all of your boyfriends?” Dongwoo joked, of course unaware that she and Sunggyu had already addressed the topic, sorely.

“Uh no,” she replied in a distracted voice and began brushing the powder over Sunggyu’s face (not well though as a lot of powder snowed down). “But it doesseem to happen a lot.” She then half-spun turned Dongwoo and flourished her brush. “Do you want some?” Maeri offered.

There was a tug at her shirt. “Maeri,” Sunggyu whined. “You didn’t finish with me yet.” He then gestured towards the products in the drawer. “And this is mine. You bought it for me,” he reminded her. Maeri and Dongwoo giggled. Sunggyu was getting possessive over the strangest things, but Maeri knew that what he was enjoying the most about this whole process was the attention. He wasn’t about to let that go.

“I’m good,” Dongwoo declined. “I’m gonna change.” He giggled and waved his hand at them. “You two are cute.”

After Dongwoo left, Sunggyu let out a breath that he’d probably been holding in for a while now. He had been nervous about being discovered, but Dongwoo wasn’t the type to judge. “Now let’s finish this,” he said as he lifted his face up for her, with his eyes closed. “Hurry.”

Maeri dropped a quick peck on his lips before replying. “Let’s do this.” She didn’t spend much more time on his face. After only a few more swipes of the powder, she put the brush down and stepped over his leg and away from him. “You know, I don’t need to give you a full face of makeup tonight. I’m just teaching you how to do it. You’re a smart guy. You can figure out the rest on your own,” she said and began putting things away. Sunggyu opened his eyes back up and straightened himself up. He seemed disappointed. But it was getting later and later. The both of them had to work tomorrow. Maeri faced him again. “You’ll need to wash this off in a bit.”

“I know, but…” Sunggyu sounded as disgruntled as he looked. He tugged on her shirt again. “Can you show me how to wash it off?”

That just proved that he only wanted attention now. He needed it now. Like any child that had been injured, he wanted his pain to be coddled away. “Okay,” Maeri yielded. She took out the make-up wipes and placed them on the counter. She didn’t pull any out yet. Instead, she reached into her own hair and pulled out a clip from it. Carefully, she brushed back Sunggyu’s fringe and clipped it back. Now he really looked like a young child, and it made Maeri smile. She then pulled out a wipe and began rubbing the make-up away. “Like this,” she whispered.

Sunggyu inhaled sharply. “Gently,” he warned her.

“Oh sorry,” she apologized. With the lightest touch that she could, she swiped the wipe around his eye. Maeri was barely breathing because she was concentrating so much. “How’s this?” she let the soft breath of a question. He hummed in response. Sunggyu was enjoying this again. Maeri couldn’t say the same. The bruise was visible again, and it had deepened in color. “My poor baby,” she murmured without even thinking about it, but she meant it. Once she realized that, she stopped. Before she’d hated that pet-name. She thought it was demeaning to call someone that, after all they were adults. She thought that ‘baby’ was synonymous with ‘cutie.’ But it wasn’t or at least that wasn’t how she had just used it. She said it because she wanted to care for him, protect him. And since she’d never used that pet-name before, did it mean she’d never felt this way before?

Sunggyu opened his eyes and gazed up at her, silently asking why she stopped. Maeri didn’t answer that but had a question of her own: “Does it still hurt?”

“Eung,” he grunted. His hands were on her hips again, his thumbs caressing her sides. “A bit.”

Before they could finish, Dongwoo interrupted again, throwing open the bathroom door. “Are you guys done yet? I have to pee,” he announced without an ounce of shame and shooed the couple out of the bathroom.

Sunggyu had taken Maeri’s hand and led her out into the hallway, just steps outside of his bedroom. “I don’t think I can do this by myself tomorrow morning. Can’t you spend the night and help me in the morning?” he proposed, but he couldn’t look at her as he did.

Maeri couldn’t give into him this time. She shook her head. “Sunggyu, I live with my parents now,” she reasoned. “They would be suspicious if I didn’t come home.” Maeri didn’t even want to begin to imagine the repercussions if she had stayed out all night, what her parents would say to her, what they’d say to Woohyun’s parents, what Jonghyun would say to him…it wasn’t a good idea.

But Sunggyu wasn’t backing down easily. “What if you told them you were spending the night at Sora’s place? For some appraisal thing?” he suggested, tightening his grip on her hand.

“I don’t wanna lie, especially not to my parents,” Maeri explained herself. She needed him to know that she wasn’t staying because she didn’t want to be with Sunggyu but because…“I’m tired of lying, and lying is tiring.”

“Maeri,” he called her name, but he wasn’t looking at her again. Instead, he took advantage of what she just said: “What are we?”

Maeri was not expecting that. And it took her a moment too long to answer, “You’re my boyfriend.” Sunggyu waited for her to say more, and so she tried to elaborate, “And…I care about you, deeply.”

“But do you love me?”

“I do,” Maeri replied more quickly this time.

“Then just say it,” Sunggyu whined. While her confession made him happy, he was more disgruntled that it had to come out like this. He leaned against the wall and swung their conjoined hands. “I tell you that I do, a lot. Tell me just once,” he pleaded.

“Only one time for the rest of my life?” she tried to turn it into a joke.

But Sunggyu wasn’t having it. “No,” he groaned, shaking his head by rolling it along the wall. “Tell me all the time and every day.” He stilled and let his gaze fall on her. He was waiting, wanting her to say it. And Maeri tried. She opened , but she closed it soon afterwards. No, not yet. She then tried her best to rid him of disappointment. Winding her arms around his waist, she laid her head in the crook of his neck and squeezed him tightly. “That’s not telling me,” he pointed out but still reciprocated the hug.

“I’m showing it,” her voice was muffled. She dropped a peck on his neck, hoping that he could be assured of all of the affection that she had for him.

He still challenged her: “Do you reallywant to show me?”

“I’m not staying!” Maeri stood her ground.

Sunggyu knew that he was fighting a losing battle but he still pleaded, “Don’t go.”

Maeri unwound herself from him and backed away from him until she was leaning against the opposite wall. The longer she held onto him, the harder leaving would be. “I can’t stay,” Maeri repeated. “But maybe I can come over early tomorrow. This isn’t too far from work,” she offered.

“Maeri, don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.” He finally accepted that their night was coming to an end. “Go home and get some sleep.”

“You too,” Maeri replied without much thought. When she realized that it didn’t make much sense because Sunggyu was already at his home, she added, “Sleep well.” She then said her goodbyes with a short kiss and walked away.

Only to return a few moments later. “We gotta do something about that bruise,” she declared.

Sunggyu smirked. “You didn’t forget?”

“Almost.” She honestly almost forgot her promise to treat it. However, she didn’t quite know where to begin. “Let’s ask Dongwoo for help.”

And as if on cue, Dongwoo came out of the bathroom. “Hey guys! Oh, nice hair!” he gestured at the clip that was still in Sunggyu’s hair. Sunggyu quickly took it out and asked Dongwoo for advice about his bruise.

When they were done and Maeri went home, she just barely arrived at her parents’ place before night became morning. In only a few hours later, she’d have to go to work. Even falling into her bed after an eventful night didn’t feel satisfying, knowing the short sleep and long day that laid ahead of her. It made her regret not staying with him for the night.

But she knew that she’d made the right choice.

“Kim-saem, are you wearing make-up?”

Sunggyu had went through half of the day without called out, so he was just about to call it a success. Not even Howon had remarked about his ‘new look,’ but Howon could’ve just been acting nice (or was hung-over from the previous night). But right as he entered this particular class, one of his more astute students noticed it right away. “I wanted to look pretty for you guys,” Sunggyu had a joke ready at hand for this moment. He’d hoped not to use it.

“It’s a little patchy,” the student added. And Sunggyu tried his best not to flinch, but failed. That morning, after little sleep, he had to quickly slap the make-up on his face and focused more on covering every millimeter of his black eye than blending it into his skin. I should’ve had Maeri do it.

“Alright, enough about my face,” he barked. “And open your books!”

After the night he had the other day, Woohyun wanted to be pampered to the high heavens, so he went back home to his parents’ home. He hadn’t spent the night at their place since, well, he’d realized that Maeri moved back across the street. He didn’t care about their proximity now. In any case, if they were to run into each other again, she’d probably just run away like she did before. Woohyun had nothing to worry about.

But his parents, on the other hand, had been very worried about him. They tried to conceal it; however, they watched Woohyun a bit too often and asked if he was okay one too many times. Finally, he confronted them about it. His mother was the one to answer, and in all honesty, Woohyun should’ve expected what she was going to say. Their Nam Woohyun had changed. He’d been acting distant from them, calling them less frequently. Other than that he was just all-around quieter, less cheerful, which they had expected to some extent, given the situation. However, they did not imagine that it would last for so long.

But then his mother added, “I wouldn’t say you changed into someone unrecognizable, but you reverted.” His father just jumped in and talked about how Woohyun was as a child. He used to be more reserved. He was never a loner, he was always well-liked, but his introverted tendencies were coming out again. He wasn’t acting like an entertainer, trying to lift everyone’s spirits as he used to. Woohyun was just being Woohyun. And that was fine. And he was still their Woohyun.

It was comforting to know that. Woohyun had known for a while that he’d changed, but it was nice to know that others still thought he was himself too.

After being well fed and much fussed over, Woohyun went into his bedroom and prepared to go to bed. Before he went to go shower, he threw a book onto his bed which he intended to read before he went to bed. Hani had recommended it to him, and even though he’d initially declined it, he found himself, days later, pulling the book from the shelf. He had made sure to come when Hani was reading to children so that she didn’t see him check the book out. Now he wanted to surprise her and casually bring it up when he finished it. But he had no idea when he’d finish this book. Although it was short, it was a slow read, a very slow read. However, that was probably the whole point; it was intentional. You needto read it slowly. You needed to live through the circumstances with the characters. And life was slow too, very very slow.

But when Woohyun came out of the shower, he didn’t dive straight into Persuasion, but instead he went over to open the window and cool off. A cold shiver went down his spine. It wasn’t because of the cool night breeze wafting through the window now, but it was because of Maeri. She was walking around outside, in front of her house, on the phone with, well, Woohyun had a pretty good idea who it was. Woohyun should’ve closed the window and walked away, but no, he didn’t. Instead, his head was nearly out the window as he was craning his ear to hear their conversation. Were they talking about him? What were they saying? If they weren’t talking about him, then why weren’t they?

Then Jonghyun walked up. He was coming home from night lessons. When Maeri saw him, she lowered her phone and went to give her little brother a hug. But Jonghyun dodged her, pushed her away, and ran into the house. Woohyun sputtered into a laugh. Good job, brother. His gaze drifted back to the girl. Surprisingly, Maeri didn’t seem bothered at all by Jonghyun’s rejection. No, she was laughing too, which made Woohyun stop. She then put the phone back up to her ear. After a few words, she gave the phone a kiss and ended the call, while walking back into the house.

Woohyun kept staring at the house even after the door closed. It really was like he was watching a drama, and not life, his life. He felt worse than a second male lead now; he was just a spectator.

Woohyun shook his head, trying to rid himself of this cool feeling, and walked away from the window. He picked up the book, fell back on the bed, and started reading. Anne, she was much of a spectator too. She wasn’t the most active of female leads, and Woohyun was waiting for her to do something. Come on, one of us have to, he thought as he turned the other page.

His phone rang. Someone sent him a message. Woohyun sat up in his bed with a smile as he reached for the phone. Who is it? Is it…

No, it was Maeri. She texted, “Your mother’s birthday is tomorrow. I won’t go to the dinner if you don’t want me to.”

Woohyun fell back onto his bed, still holding the phone in front of his face as he tucked an arm behind his head. It didn’t take him long to come up with a response. He knew what to say (but typing it up took quite a long time to do): “Come. She’d want you there.”

But that wasn’t the only message that he sent her. He was done being the spectator. “Come meet me at the playground.”

Within seconds, he got his reply: “Okay.”

A/N: While the entire dialogue and situation has changed, I had always planned on woogyu meeting up again on Hoya's birthday and fight a bit. But in all of the other endings, Maeri wasn't there. It had been a boys' night.

Adding Maeri in changed a lot, and I think it gave more motivation for Woohyun to finally crack. 

You guys have been waiting for him to do it, I know.