I nodded my head. It was a really tough decision! Choosing one over the other would really hurt the person I didn't choose! And I really wished that I didn’t have to choose in the first place. 

 

Kikwang is nice and cute, a little childish but that’s part of his charm. And to be honest, I really felt that we would definitely become good friends in the distant future. He is sweet and thoughtful, not to mention that he's nice to everyone. Even though it’s just the second day of school, I could see that most of our classmates really liked him. 

 

As for Junhyung... He's a hybrid, I guess? Not that he’s a mutant, but… I just don’t know how to put it to words! When he’s concentrating on something, he is very quiet and looks very serious and cool. But when he smiles... *Melts*. He's actually really nice and friendly! He isn't as intimidating as he looks.

 

“I’m not sure if I’ve made the right decision, but that’s the choice I’m going with.” I looked over to Aerine with determination.

 

“Come on,” she patted on my shoulder, “I'm always here for you and will support your decision even if it's stupid.”

 

I smiled at her. “Thanks. Hopefully I made the right decision!”

 

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As I entered the classroom, I immediately saw Kikwang. He was getting ready for lesson. I waved at Aerine as she returned to her seat while I returned to mine.

 

I settled down and placed my bag on the floor, letting out a huge sigh.

 

“What’s wrong?” Kikwang asked worriedly as he patted on my shoulder.

 

“Yeah...” I looked at him meekly. “I need to tell you something.”

 

“Yes?” Kikwang smiled brightly.

 

“Errrr… Aerine and I won’t be able to… ” I said slowly but started to stutter.

 

Kikwang’s eyebrow rose.

 

“Nothing! Nothing… ” I gave up trying to tell him. He was looking at me so innocently, affecting me so much so that I was unable to tell him the truth.

 

“Hahaha! Okay! Get ready for Chemistry lesson! Did you do the homework assigned?” He asked and started to laugh to himself. He did that a lot! It's the side of him that I got to see all the time... Maybe that’s the only side he shows to people.

 

I felt so bad that I was I feeling this way so I forced a smile for him. I hated hiding something from someone. But his innocent vibes made it really difficult for me to tell him something like this!

 

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Throughout the chemistry lesson, I wasn’t really paying attention at all. All I was thinking about was how I was going to tell Kikwang that I couldn’t go to lunch with him and Dongwoon!

 

I know it would hurt him a lot if he knew that I chose to go to lunch with someone else instead of him.

 

It’s not that I don’t value our friendship... It’s just that I feel that getting a chance to have lunch with Junhyung would be very rare? He looked so cool yet cold at the same time and it's hard to get close to him. I bet it’s a once in a life time chance to have lunch with him. As for Kikwang... He seems friendlier than Junhyung and chances to have lunch with him would be higher... It’s hard to put in words! It’s like Junhyung would only ever ask you out once and will never will again, but as for Kikwang, he would ask you again and again? Something like that. That's what made me choose to have lunch with Junhyung instead!

 

Through the next lesson, I made several attempts to confess to Kikwang, but I was having a hard time thinking of an excuse for Aerine and I not being able to have lunch with Dongwoon and him.

 

I looked over at Aerine to try and telepathically borrow some of her courage. I needed to tell the truth to Kikwang. I could see Aerine having a good time with Dongwoon. He was teaching Aerine something related to the worksheet that the teacher just gave, and Aerine was nodding her little head and smiling at Dongwoon, acknowledging that she understood what Dongwoon had explained. 

 

Suddenly, something came into my mind.

 

If I agree to go to lunch with Junhyung, Aerine would be going as well... And I could visualize the whole scene where Junhyung and I would be talking and Aerine would just be sitting by my side and doing nothing but eat... Junhyung did say that he would bring a friend, but who can guarantee that the friend would be able to bond with Aerine? I would probably be talking to Junhyung the whole time and would be ignoring Aerine. Or even worse... I would be talking to Aerine and ignore Junhyung. BAD IMPRESSION.

 

If we went out with Kikwang and Dongwoon instead, the four of us would just have a good time and be able to communicate with each other better! Not to mention that none of us would be ignored!

 

“Oh god!” I let out a loud sigh that caught Kikwang’s attention. That was so embarrassing!

 

“Gerdin, are you alright?” Kikwang widened his eyes and stared at me.

 

I looked over to Kikwang and I just couldn’t keep the truth from him anymore. 

 

“Look! I have something to tell you!” I gathered all my female balls and was very determined to tell him the truth. “I’m sorry but Aerine and I won’t be able to go to lunch with Dongwoon and you!” Finally I got it out! FINALLY!

 

Kikwang kept quiet for awhile. Then he suddenly burst into laughter. He laughed?! He laughed?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!!

 

“It’s okay! No worries! So that’s the thing you’ve been trying to tell me the whole morning?”

 

“Yes!” I pouted. Oh my god, I finally don’t have to hide it anymore!

 

“It’s no big deal! We can go another time! But why aren’t you guys able to make it today?” Kikwang looked me in the eye. Giving me the full blown 'Super-innocent-Kikwang' look.

 

“Well…” I started to mumble, “Aerine and I wanted to stay home and study...” Just when I was about to run out of excuses, I looked towards the whiteboard and saw 3 big words... 'CHEMISTRY TEST TOMORROW'. I quickly used that as an excuse.

 

“The chemistry test tomorrow!” I lied through my teeth.

 

“Why don't we study together?” Kikwang suggested with a smile. !

 

“But... Ermmm… Aerine and I prefer to study alone together! It has always been our habit! Please understand.” I was crossing my fingers and hoping that he would accept my excuse.

 

“Oh! Okay then! It’s no big deal! Thank you for telling me the reason!” Kikwang patted me on the shoulder and smiled. Telling me he understood and was okay with it. I don't know why but... I felt relieved that he understood. Why does his opinion mean so much to me?

 

! When his hand was on my shoulder, it somehow made me 1000000x more guilty than I was before. Damn! I feel so guilty now! More than I've ever been. And the worst part is that I lied to Kikwang! Ugh. I don’t want to think about it anymore.

 

The bell rang. Recess time! I'm really looking forward to having lunch with Junhyung and his unknown friend!

 

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“I've told Kikwang about us not being able to make it to lunch...” I take a bite of my chicken cutlet.

 

“Really? What was his reaction? “Aerine asked somewhat uninterestedly as she took a bite of her chicken chop.

 

I explained to Aerine Kikwang’s reaction and the excuse I told Kikwang. She needed to know what the reason was so that just in case Dongwoon asked the same question, at least we would say the same excuse and they won't become suspicious.

 

We were looking forward to having lunch with Junhyung and his mysterious friend, and to be honest, going out with seniors of our school was really cool! We just couldn’t wait till school ended!

 

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The next few lessons, English and Social Studies, were super boring.

The whole time in the class, I kept glancing towards Kikwang, trying to read his expression, if he was okay with my decision or not. But every single time I looked towards him, he would just give me his trademark smile! Causing me to blush every single time! His smile was just so... Sweet and attractive. Even though I admit that he had an incredible smile, I don't have any 'special' feelings towards him. There can only be friendship between us and I treasure that. A lot.

 

Another cute thing about him was that he would always check on my progress in class! He constantly asks me if I knew what was going on, like as though he knew as well, and if I did know, he would give me his signature smile and plead me to explain it to him! He's so adorable!

 

Him and his silly antics really brighten up my days. And he's smiles ensured me that he wasn't upset or hurt that I had cancelled on him.

 

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“Goodbye Gerdin!” Kikwang said as he quickly packed his Mickey Mouse pencil box back into his bag.

 

“Goodbye, Fool-Kwang!” That was the nickname I gave him. He really hates it though! But it's a really good way to !

 

“Yahhhhhhh!” Kikwang shouted and stared at me. He tried to act like he was angry, but he just bursted out in laughter!

 

He waved goodbye to Aerine and I as he left the classroom with Dongwoon.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Aerine asked.

 

“Yes I am!” I exclaimed as I packed my pencil case into my bag.

 

We laughed and chatted as we head towards the school gate. Through the windows, I could see Junhyung standing there. Oh my god! We're late! Aerine and I ran down the stairs as fast as our feet could carry our big bodies! (We held hands too, just in case we fell again! >_>)

 

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“Sorry we made you wait for us!” I panted as we came to a stop in front of Junhyung.

 

“It’s okay,” Junhyung smiled as he looked up from his phone. “I'm waiting for my friend too.”

 

We both smiled and further contributed to the awkward atmosphere.

 

Just then, Junhyung's friend came! Time to break the ice!

 

“Hey! Over here!” Junhyung lifted up his hand, trying to catch his friend’s attention.

 

I turned to see who this friend was and our jaws literally dropped to the floor.

 

A male student, a senior, was walking towards us. He was tall, slightly taller than Junhyung, and had a killer smile. And that killer smile was somewhat familiar.... Too familiar... In a few seconds, my mind finally registered who it was.... It was Doojoon!

 

I knocked Aerine with my left and whispered into her ear, “It’s Doojoon!”

 

Aerine turned around and her gasp was the confirmation that I was right.

 

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Doojoon greeted us as he stood next to Junhyung and held out his hand. I didn’t hold out mine first because I wanted Aerine to shake his hand first. I knew that Aerine was definitely having some connection with him! So as such a good friend, I gave her the privilege to shake his hand first. 

 

“Hi, nice to meet you too. My name is Aerine.” Aerine replied as shook Doojoon’s hand. She smiled and Doojoon did too.

 

“And I am Gerdin.” I said as I shook his hand.

 

His charismatic smile melted our hearts. But of course, we didn't screech like those crazy fangirls that always surrounded him, I'm sure he had enough of that. So Aerine and I controlled our inner fangirling mode. We wanted him to have a good impression of us!

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Even though it was my second time at the restaurant, I was taken aback by the atmosphere. The restaurant was so mesmerising.

 

We settled down at a table for four. Aerine sat next to me while Junhyung sat in front of me and Doojoon sat in front of Aerine. Oh my god. It's like as though it's a double date!

 

We browsed the menu and I immediately knew what I wanted to eat. When everyone was ready to order, Doojoon signalled for a waiter.

 

Just then, the same waiter that served us yesterday walked towards us. His cute smile and adorable eyes made him really unforgettable. He looked really cute in his uniform as well!

 

“Hi! What can I get for you guys?” He asked us cheerfully and smiled. I looked over to his name tag... Right! He's Yoseob! His name is Yoseob! Hahahahahahha! I knew I thought of this before but that was a fitting name for a person that looked as cute as he did!

 

“I would like to order a plate of fried oyster rice and coke. Thank you.” Doojoon looked so charismatic even though he was just ordering food...

 

Now it was Junhyung's turn, “One seafood pasta and orange juice.” 

 

“Two chicken noodles, one coke and one ice lemon tea.” I ordered. And nooooo, it’s not for only me! It’s for both Aerine and I! I would never eat such big portion of food!

 

Yoseob looked towards Aerine. Aerine smiled and replied, "She has already ordered for me. Thank you."

 

“Oh, okay. Thank you! Your order will be ready in 20 minutes or so.” Yoseob smiled and left for the kitchen.

 

“How did you know what Aerine wanted to eat?” Doojoon asked curiously. Oh my god. Every question he asked was so serious and I didn't dare to joke around with him. He looks especially serious when he doesn't smile. It sort of scared me.

 

“Well, we’ve been friends for manyyyy years, and we have almost the same taste in food!” I laughed, so did Aerine. Causing Junhyung and Doojoon to laugh as well. Seeing Doojoon laugh was so different from seeing him smile... Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen it before.

 

“Well, are you guys freshmen? I've never seen you guys in school before.” Doojoon asked as he took a sip of water.

 

“Yep, we are. It’s our second day of school today.” Aerine replied, but I could see her kinda blushing. WOOOOOOOOOO!

 

“Ohhhhhh, I see. I saw you guys yesterday when I entered school and during recess.” Of course he did! He smiled at Aerine!

 

“So do you always have so many girls surrounding you?” Aerine asked. To anybody she merely appeared to be just curious, but I, as her best friend, could sense something else.... It wasn't just curiosity!

 

“He IS the popular guy in school! Everyone knows him. And there’s always girls surrounding him… And I don’t.” Junhyung said with a hint of jealousy. But I don’t think he needs to be. He's really handsome too! But we all laughed at Junhyung's reply.

 

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Lunch was really good and we had awesome little conversations. Little did I expect that the conversations were going to go smoothly. There weren’t any awkward moments! And I could see that Aerine was having a fun time talking to Doojoon! At first she was blushing like a red apple, but slowly as lunch went on, she got more comfortable and started chatting with Doojoon freely. They talked about the school, about their common interests which happened to be reading, music and others that I don't really remember. I wasn’t really paying attention to what they were saying as I was having a great time chatting with Junhyung! He told me about his schoolwork, his hobby that was song writing, and he even demonstrated his rapping skills! It was amazing! We had a great time.

 

“The total would be $75.40.” Yoseob smiled and handed over the tab to Junhyung. 

 

Junhyung placed money on the tab. Yoseob thanked and went back to the counter. Seeing Junhyung pay for the meal suddenly made me that much more attracted to him. It’s just that, seeing him pay the bill... He just became a gentleman in my eyes. That was a different side of Junhyung that I had never seen before.

 

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“Why don't we go and watch a movie together?” Doojoon suggested out of the blue.

 

“Yeah, sure! What about you girls?” Junhyung turned around and asked for our opinions. OF COURSE WE WANT TO GO! But of course we didn’t shout that out! We would have looked like lunatics! Instead of that, we just agreed and showed our excitement through our smiles.

 

“Great! I wanna watch that horror movie! The House of the Grandma Ghost!” Doojoon said excitedly.

 

“Me too! I’ve wanted to watch that movie since it came out!” Aerine replied jubilantly. She wasn’t kidding when she said that! She had been begging me to accompany her to watch that movie, but I'm not a fan of horror movies! And to be honest... I hate horror movies! That was one of the few differences we had between the two of us.

 

“Great! Let’s watch it together!” Doojoon seemed kinda too excited... o_O

 

I really wanted to say out that I hate horror movies as I would have nightmares and... I just hate horror movies sooo much! But I was too shy to voice out my opinion. Just then, Junhyung came to the rescue!

 

“But I don’t really like horror movies!” Junhyung whined. Thank god for Junhyung! But isn’t it strange that Junhyung doesn’t like to watch horror movies? I mean, he looks like a person that would be obsessed with horror and gore movies. But anyway, thanks to him, I managed to get my opinion out without actually saying them.

 

“That’s just not cool.” Doojoon frowned at Junhyung.

 

“How about this,” Doojoon came up with an idea, “Aerine and I go and watch The House of the Grandma Ghost while you and Gerdin could go catch another movie? How does that sound?”

 

WHAT A GREAT IDEA! I get to watch a movie with Junhyung? ALONE?! That’s way better than just having lunch with him! I could also feel that Aerine was feeling the same excitement as I was! After all, she is going to watch a movie with Doojoon!

 

“Sure!” All three of us agreed to Doojoon’s suggestion.

 

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Junhyung and I decided on watching Gnomeo and Juliet. 

 

Junhyung queued and got us the tickets while Doojoon went to get popcorn and drinks. While they were away, Aerine and I were getting all excited!

 

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to watch the movie with Doojoon!” I could tell Aerine was really happy and so was I!  We were mentally hopping around!

 

“Me too!” 

 

The boys then came back with the tickets and food.

 

“Well, let’s meet after the movie at this exact same spot?” Doojoon said as he tossed popcorn into his mouth.

 

We all agreed and left for our separate ways to our respective theatres.

 

 

As we sat down on the chairs, Junhyung and I braced ourselves for a two-hour long movie filled with comedy and romance.

 

Just as I was turning my phone to silent mode, my phone vibrated. Signally that I’ve gotten a message.

 

 

 

“1 Unread Message”

 

 

===============================================================================================

From: Kikwang

Hellozz! How’s the study going on for you guys? ^^

  

===============================================================================================

 

 

 

===============================================================================================

To: Kikwang

 

Hi! We are now studying in my room with snacks! Trying to remember all these formulas! ><|||

===============================================================================================

 

 

 

I put my phone back into my pocket and tried to pop popcorn in my mouth, and of course, I failed! Urgh! Junhyung caught me doing that and laughed out loud! I was so embarrassed but decided to laugh along with him. Everyone should be able to laugh at themselves once in a while! 

 

“You’re so funny! I bet you will do a good job if you were in Gnomeo and Juliet!” Junhyung teased me. I laughed so hard that I could feel my eyes tearing up. Just as I was about the wipe my tears away, I felt the vibration of my phone again.

 

 

 

“1 Unread Message”

 

=============================================================================================

From: Kikwang

Okay okay! I shall not disturb you! 

I am going to go buy a lunch box now anyways! Seeya tomorrow in school! :D

==============================================================================================

 

 

 

 

==============================================================================================

To: Kikwang

Okay! Have fun eating your lunch! See you! :D

==============================================================================================

 

 

 

I quickly kept my phone into my bag as the movie was about to start.

 

 

“Oh my god!” I tried to speak while I was laughing my head off, “The part when Gnomeo tried to go over to Juliet’s house! That was just too hilarious!” Junhyung started laughing as well. Filling the walkway out of the theatre to the lobby with our laughter. 

 

Hmm… I wonder if Aerine was having a good time? What was I thinking, OF COURSE SHE IS! SHE’S WATCHING A MOVIE WITH DOOJOON!

 

Minutes later, I saw Doojoon and Aerine coming out of the theatre laughing. I’ll bet a thousand dollars that these two are nuts! How can anyone be laughing after a horror movie?! These two are equally crazy!

 

“How was the movie?” I walked towards Aerine and hugged her.

 

“It’s awesome!” She answered and was still laughing. Oh god! MY BEST FRIEND IS NOT NORMAL!

 

Junhyung and Doojoon were catching chatting as well when I was talking to Aerine.

 

“Hey! Anyone wants an ice cream?” Doojoon pointed to a ice cream truck nearby. Strange to see an ice cream truck in a shopping mall! O_O

 

I didn’t want ice cream though. The popcorn made me so full! So I decided to wait at one corner while the three of them went to get ice cream.

 

I stood in a corner, observing the people in the mall. Some were chatting, some were shopping and others were just window shopping. And some are… Wait a second…

 

I came eye to eye with a guy standing 5 metres away from me. I stared at him and he did the same. He was wearing dorky glasses, a blue hoodie with a white tee inside, long track pants and was carrying a plastic bag with a lunch box in it. Just then, I realized, it was Kikwang.

 

His eyes, I’ve never seen them before in this manner. It’s a combination of sadness, disappointment and maybe a bit of fury? I can’t believe he caught me in the mall outside the cinema, holding to a pack of half finished popcorn in the left hand and a cup of coke in my right. He must be so sad and disappointed that I lied to him. I was in a state of shock. I could tell he was shocked too. I felt so terrible. Oh my god.

 

We stared at each other for a few seconds… But it felt like hours…. Just through our eye contact, I could feel his emotions. His face then turned blank. He turned around and just simply walked away.

 

I lifted up my left foot to get ready to run towards him and was about to open my mouth to call out his name but Aerine grabbed hold of me before I could do any of those. I bet she saw what had just happened.

 

“Come on! Let’s go!” Aerine ordered me as she pulled me towards the guys.

 

“Alright… Let’s go.” I replied dejectedly.

 

I turned back. I could still see Kikwang’s back. It was so different this time. His shoulders were pointed downwards, and his head was tilted down as well.

 

Just then, it really hit me. How could I do such things to such a nice friend I’ve just made?

 

I turned back as Kikwang’s back view slowly disappeared.

 

I looked down. I just couldn’t replace that frown on my face with a smile.

 

The only thing on my mind was…

 

I am so sorry, Kikwang.