I don't have enough words to apologize for being so late... I mean, I took months to update!!!!! But it's finally here. I'm deeply sorry for promising you guys a "soon it'll be over" and just delaying it. I'm very happy for the ones still asking me to update!! I know I'm terrible with deadlines and stuff and I'll try to get better. I hope not many gave up on this story, and again, I'm sooorryy!!!

PS- Two more things I'm sorry for: first, this is the first half of the end. But this time I can safely say I'll post the last part tomorrow! I just need to erase some bits that are out of place and BOOM IT'LL BE FINALLY FINISHED. And the second: I know this is really half assed, but I was feeling bad for leaving everyone hanging for so long, so tomorrow I'll try to make it a little better (maybe not, my writing is ty anyways).  Thanks for everything, guys :D you're so amazing~

                Baro groaned. No, stupid essay, he didn't want to finish writing you. 'Finish' was actually wrong since he just wrote half a line up to that moment, but that didn't matter. He would much rather be doing anything else at that moment — it was a Friday night, for God's sake.

                Gongchan went with a friend of his to eat ice cream on a nearby place which opened recently, Jinyoung was doing whatever (he rejected Baro's call five minutes before), and Sandeul and Dongwoo went to a party. Again. Baro didn't really know why did they even bother to go, since they never stayed to the end and Dongwoo barely drank alcohol. But well, their fun, their problem.

                He took another look at his pretty much blank sheet of paper. It stared back at him with the most annoying white something could ever gather. And Baro crumpled the paper to a ball, throwing it to the other side of the room along with the pencil and eraser. He wouldn't be using none of that things again that day anyways.

                Why do something today when you have tomorrow, right?

                He stretched his arms above his head, feeling sleepiness spreading through his brain, overwhelming any thought of doing something barely productive. He lazily got up from the chair, walking away from the messy desk and letting himself fall on his bed.

                Moments before he fell asleep, he vaguely remembered the room's door was still locked and his roommate probably forgot his key — wasn't he at that party as well? — but didn't pay it much mind and in less than a minute he was already in dreamland.

______

                Bangs at the door.

                Silence.

                Angry bangs at the door.

                Silence.

                Angrier bangs at the door.

                Silence.

                Furious bangs at the door.

                "OKAY!", Baro, who was trying to muffle the sounds with his pillow, finally yelled. "I'LL OPEN IT, JUST WAIT A MINUTE!"

                He really wanted to sleep twenty more minutes — or three more hours —, but well, the mistake was his for not unlocking the door. And it's not like his roommate (yes, he was the one almost punching the door down) would let him sleep anyways. So up we go.

                Baro dragged himself from the bed and unlocked the door, being careful not to be on its way. Great deal, as it swung open the same moment with a loud noise.

                Ten minutes of death threats and another five of his roommate complaining about the hangover ("ing headache…"), Baro was finally free to go. He was about to grab his bag when he remembered: it was Saturday. Yes, like the responsible student he was supposed to be he should be trying to do his homework as soon as possible. But no one is a homework machine, huh? A day off won't kill anyone. Why do something tomorrow when you can do it the day after tomorrow?

                Without minding his messy hair and slightly wrinkled clothes (he didn't change before falling asleep), he stepped outside the building to the morning air — okay, it wasn't so morning anymore, it was about ten. But anytime before lunch is morning… Yes, so he was breathing the morning air.

                He thought about going to get breakfast on the cafe to wake up a bit, so he started walking in that direction. As he entered the place, which had some students reading or talking or just drinking coffee, he immediately spotted Sandeul paying the cashier and putting his wallet back in the pocket.

                The duck boy turned with a plastic bag in his hands and saw Baro. He smiled and walked up to him.

                "Hey!", he greeted happily. "Woke up late too?"

                "I was just resting my eyes", replied Baro.

                They both laughed quietly before Baro asked:

                "Are you going somewhere?"

                "Oh, yes, Cnu hyung is gonna help me with some things so I can't be too late. I wanna finish it all before lunch. By the way, have you seen Jinyoung hyung on your way here?"

                "Hm? No, why? Did something happen?"

                "No, it's just that we were looking for him. He wasn't at his room last night and all. Oh, wait! Cnu hyung went to look for him at Hyunjun's! I should ask him if he was there."

                "Hyunjun?" Who the hell is Hyunjun? Wait… Okay, now Baro remembered who was Hyunjun, and he wasn't pleased. "Is that so? Right, go look for him. I better not bother them."

                Sandeul flinched slightly at Baro's sudden cold tone, wondering why he was like that as the blonde turned away. He was still confused when he, too, walked out of the cafe. But, at least, he did know something was wrong and it was something important.

                "Wait!", he tried to yell after Baro. "Wait, Baro! Come back for a second! Hey! Cha Sunwoo, come back this instant or…!"

                But the blonde was already away from hearing range at this point. Sandeul stopped and bit his lip, nervous. Everyone inside the cafe was looking at their direction, either curious or startled by their loudness — or just used, really, to Sandeul's sudden bursts. Sandeul didn't care; he was worried as hell and somehow didn't feel anymore like drinking the coffee he just bought.

                He fished out his phone and dialed Dongwoo's number to tell him he didn't know where Jinyoung was, all the while hugging the plastic bag where his breakfast was.

...........................................

                Baro was walking fast. Where did he think he was going? Punch Hyunjun? Confront Jinyoung? Ask them? Burn the school down? Well, he was going absolutely anywhere to be honest. But he kept on walking, almost running.

                So that's why Jinyoung screened his call the night before? Now he could understand why nobody knew where he was. Cheers to finding out and being a complete failure in pretending not to care. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't even look ahead, and bumped into someone. Maybe he wasn't going that fast as the bump wasn't that painful.

                "Oh, I'm so… Baro?"

                He looked up and his whole world of anger almost crashed down. There he was, Jinyoung, all sleepy and stuff, apparently in the middle of a yawn. Just took him a moment to remind himself of where the tousled hair came from and his expression hardened again.

                Jinyoung looked completely speechless to see him there (what? Baro wasn't supposed to see him walking out of Hyunjun's wonderful little room? Too bad) and he smiled faintly. His hands fidgeted on the edge of his shirt.

                "Hi", he choked out.

                Baro was divided between melting the jealousy (nope, nope, not jealousy, it was anger, ya hear? A-n-g-e-r) or just letting it grow. Why, can you tell me, did Jinyoung look so absent-minded? Oh, right… probably from the great night he just had. Yeah, time to feed the green eyed monster.

                "I… I… I'm sorry", Jinyoung stuttered. "I didn't… I mean, I wasn't paying attention."

                Baro couldn't look at him. His fist tightened as he looked at somewhere on his left. 'Are you this nervous because Hyunjun did something two minutes ago? Probably. Probably… no, definitely. Yes, he definitely did something.' He finally looked at the red head and the latter seemed to be expecting something. Oh, right, Baro was supposed to answer, right?

                "It's okay", he said lowly, not able to make any of a happier sound.

                Then he turned to any direction but Jinyoung and Hyunjun's dreamy room and started walking. 'That's why he didn't want to tell me who he liked. It was Hyunjun all the time. And there I was, raising my hopes up and making a fool out of myself.' His mood turned worse.

                He decided to spend the rest of the day inside his room, listening to music. No best way to sulk than doing so like a regular young person, and it wasn't too nice but it was better than nothing.

..........................................

                It took two weeks after it all started crumbling down — after a tiring and quite stupid routine of doing his best to not show Jinyoung signs of him being with Hyunjun, which pretty much were pretending the red-head was a mere hamster (Baro had the 'slight' impression he was becoming the so hated ) — for something different to finally happen.

                It was break, and he found himself walking towards the place he normally spent this time at. When he was five tables away from where he spotted Gongchan's head, behind a small crowd, he realized he didn't really wanted to stay there at the moment. Still, he got nearer.

                His eyes wandered the table. Only Sandeul was there too — Dongwoo was probably buying some food, but there was someone certainly missing.

                "Where's Jinyoung hyung?", he automatically asked.

                He wanted to see the red head, but at the same time wanted to stay the furthest possible. Oh, a teenager's complicated mind! He dazed off a bit after his question, thinking of what he would do if Jinyoung suddenly showed up, when Gongchan's soft voice snapped him out — he said Jinyoung wasn't around and asked something afterwards.

                Baro's mind made a loop, mixing thoughts with what he was feeling (disappointment) and what he was supposed to feel as a grumpy guy (happiness) and what he was supposed to feel as a friend (worry), before finally settling down. It might not have last more than a second, but for him it might have seemed to be too much.

                He answered Gongchan's question, not paying real attention at what he said (what was the question again?), and invented whatever reason to excuse himself from there and just stay away until he put things in order. He was walking away when he allowed himself to relax his mind and finally realize he was probably overreacting, but he already ed out enough and he could do it for a bit more of time if it meant his confusion would go away. It lasted way too much to be good.

                He barely noticed as his feet guided him back to his classroom, however maybe it was better to stay away for the time being. He wasn't angry anymore, no way, he was mostly frustrated at himself for being so utterly stupid. Even though he knew he was most probably throwing all his chances in the trash, there was a small and shy chance he could make things right, and he was betting on that.

                But his frustration always managed to turn itself into anger every time Jinyoung tried to talk to him and he always ended up bringing more distance in between them. He was beginning to doubt his social abilities as a human being. He needed to apologize, and soon.

                He decided — I'm gonna apologize today.

                Maybe it'd be effective, maybe not, but he'd definitely feel a lot better if he did it. Yes, it's the best thing to do. And he wondered why the hell hasn't he done it before.

                "Excuse me?" A voice called him out.

                Baro blinked. He noticed he was standing in the doorway of his classroom, blocking it.

                "Oh, sorry", he said, stepping to the side to let the person in.

                "Thanks, but I just need to know where's Jung Jinyoung's class."

                Baro looked, and he cursed under his breath. Hyunjun looked at him, waiting for an answer.

                "End of the corridor", the blond answered shortly. "Why?"

                "He forgot his coat yesterday…"

                "Oh, right", Baro cut him off, drily. "He must be searching for it, you better hurry."

                But at this moment the bell rang, ending the break. Hyunjun muttered something about having to go there after the classes before disappearing in the sea of students that were going back to their classrooms. Now in a real bad mood, Baro walked to his desk and dropped on his chair. I think I'll have to apologize tomorrow… I'll probably say something wrong if I go today.

                ----------------

                Apparently Lady Luck wasn't on Baro's side lately, he decided as he blankly faced Jinyoung. The redhead was waiting for him outside his classroom, even though he was the last to go out.

                "I need to speak to you for a moment", said Jinyoung firmly.

                Yes, please, let's talk!

                "Can't. Busy." Baro gulped down his, now disappearing, anger.

                "It won't take long, really, just five minutes."

                "I already said I'm busy."

                Busy apologizing to you. Or at least these were my plans…

                "And I already said it's gonna be quick. Jesus, Baro, stop being an ."

                You heard him, shut up.

                "As if you don't have anyone else to speak to. Whatever you want to say, you can say to Hyunjun, right?"

                SHUT. UP.

                "I… Wait, what?" Jinyoung seemed confused.

                To cover up his newly renovated frustration and will to punch himself, Baro made a noise and turned his head. No, no, stop it, just ing apologize. He said something to try and go away, he didn't want to say anything that would hurt Jinyoung — but he held Baro back and insisted more ('I just wanna know what's wrong! Tell me!').

                For some reason Baro got desperate, irritation filling the spaces in between it and he screamed the first thing his mind could come up with.

                "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

                .

                He knew, when Jinyoung's grip on his arm faltered, that he said something terribly wrong. And he was even more sure when they looked into each other's eyes and he saw the shocked and hurt look in the foxy eyes. I ed up, I ed up… I'm so sorry.

                "Just leave me alone." No, please, don't. "It's annoying." Shut up, it's not truth! I don't mean any of these words!

                Baro shrugged off the hand over his arm and ran to the stairs. He never hated himself more than at that moment. His mind was acting on its own accord and he really felt the need to punch himself right on the nose. But his legs kept on running, getting him away from the one he wanted to be near the most.

                Please, I'm sorry. Forget what I said, please.

                I'm sorry.