Haerin's / Your POV

You had finally gotten the dreaded dress off of your body and slipped into your school uniform again.

"This is so much more comfortable!" You bent down to tighten the laces on your sneakers.  Then you hefted up your backpack, gathered the dozen dresses that Woohyun had thrown at you, and left the dressing room.

Namu is seriously going to die for making me wear these.

He had locked you in the dressing room and didn't allow you to leave until you had tried on all of them.

Seeing Woohyun, you ran full speed and the armful of dresses over his head.

"There, Namu! I wore them, so you better put all of them back!" you yelled.

Woohyun turned around laughing. "You are so naïve sometimes."

You cocked your head to the side, indicating that you didn't understand. "Huh? Wae?"

He ruffled your hair. "Haven't you ever been in a dressing room? You leave the unwanted clothes in there so that a worker can come put them back for you," he explained.

You looked around embarrassedly. "Oh."

Sungjong started cracking up. "Of course she hasn't been into a dressing room! All she ever buys are t-shirts and shorts from the guys' section, so she never has to worry about the size."

You shot him a glare. "Well, that's because I like wearing loose clothing. They're comfortable." You crossed your arms.

Nana smiled and said in his slightly high-pitched voice, "Well, did you find any pretty dresses that you'd like to wear to the dance?"

"Did I find any pretty dresses? Yeah, I did." You replied truthfully. "But did I find any that I'd wear? Heck naw. I'm not wearing another dress for as long as I live."

Woohyun pouted. "Aw, really, Haerin?"

You glared at him. "Yes, Namu. Really."

Suddenly, Sungjong spoke up. "Ok, whatever. I'm bored now. Can we go find some lemon candies?"

You looked at him strangely. "Go find them yourself. You know where to go. You stop by Destiny Wings every week."

He whined, "But I just did, and the noona said that they were out!"

You pointed a finger at him and laughed. "Haha! Too bad."

"Why you lil' brat!" Sungjong lunged forward at you, rolling up his sleeves.  You smirked and braced yourself to fight.

Woohyun stood in front of you protectively and held Sungjong back.

Nana gasped at the scene. "Sungjong oppa, you're so feisty!"

You couldn't control your laughter at how much Sungjong's face burned up by that statement.

He whipped his head in Nana's direction. "Bwo?!"

Nana stuttered. "N-nothing!" He quickly hid his face.

Sungjong released a long, tired breath. "Woohyun, Haerin, let's go."

Nana's head jerked up. "W-without me?"

Nana earned a glare from Sungjong and dejectedly hung his head down again.

Woohyun tried to liven up the atmosphere. "Well, you're still wearing your dress, Nana, and it would take a while to change out. The stores around here close soon, so we need to find a store soon for Sungjong."

Sungjong beamed at Woohyun's help and chimed, "Yeah. What he said. Let's go, you guys!"

Shooting apologetic looks to Nana, you and Woohyun followed behind Sungjong, who led the way out of the shop. The three of you strolled along the streets, with the diva in the front.

Woohyun nudged you as you walked, and you looked at him. He just grinned, meaning that he did it for no apparent reason.

You pretended to ignore it and just continued walking for a bit. When it seemed like he wasn't paying attention anymore, you nudged him back. He smiled and immediately pushed you back harder. You stumbled and crashed into Sungjong's back.

Sungjong turned around. "Haerin, are you drunk or something? Walk straight!"

You pointed at Woohyun, who was snickering. "He pushed me!"

Woohyun stuck out his tongue. "Mehrong~"

Sungjong rolled his eyes. "Walk next to me then. Leave Namu in the back." He turned back towards the front and continued his stride.

You fell into step beside Sungjong and twisted back to face Woohyun. "Haha, mehrong to you now, Namu."

He pouted as he became lonely in the back. "No!" He ran up so that he was next to you. "I'm not getting ignored!" He clung protectively to your arm.

Sungjong rolled his eyes. "Aish, lovebirds. Just get married already!"

Woohyun glanced at you sneakily. "Of course! But my Haerin's still in school. Two more years and we'll get married!" He exclaimed, pinching your cheeks.

You cringed.  "Namu, I'm used to your cheesiness, but I won't be accpeting anyone's hand in marriage anytime soon.  I am going to focus on my studies all through college."

Woohyun whined, "But marriage is the only way I'll ever see you in a dress again!"

Sungjong turned to you guys. "I gotta agree with Namu. You did look pretty in that dress."

You rolled your eyes. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've been living with seven guys for ten years. If you think that I'm ever going to feel comfortable in a dress, you're wrong."

For some reason, Woohyun defensively pulled you towards him and mock-glared at Sungjong. "Yah, Lemon Candy! Back off my girl!"

Sungjong laughed and said, "Fine, Namu. I'll back off."

You whacked the both of them for making fun of you. "No fighting over me," you teased.

They both cringed and complained, while you just laughed.

Suddenly, Sungjong remembered something. "Haerin, weren't you wearing a dress the first day we met? You know... during the incident." He spoke that part softly, knowing that you still hadn't gotten over that day.

You tried to laugh, but it came out meekly. "Yeah... I guess." You didn't really want to that topic to ever be brought up, and the both of them knew it.

Sungjong glanced at you. "Sorry. For bringing it up. It just crossed my mind."

"It's fine," you mumbled.

Woohyun pointed up ahead.  "Oh look! A candy store!"

Sure enough, there was a sign advertising assortments of candies.

And just like that, all your sadness drifted away.

"Yay!" you and Sungjong cheered.

You've developed an affinity towards lemon candies when Sungjong had offered you one the first day you guys met. That's why, nowadays, you took a few of his when you ran out of your own.  He probably regretted ever giving you one on that day.

The two of you raced towards the store, deserting Woohyun in the back.

"Yah! You guys are leaving me again?"

"Hurry up, haraboji!"

You outran Sungjong and arrived there first.

The inside of the shop was gigantic. The entire shop was dense with boxes and tubs of candies. In a corner, there was a staircase that led to another level.

"I feel like I'm inside a Willy Wonka room!" Sungjong exclaimed.

You agreed. "I know, right?"

The walls seemed like a black-and-white optical illusion, with lines spiraling towards a point in the center of the room. The tiles were checkered and glowed faintly.

Woohyun finally caught up to you guys. "Not cool, leaving me behind like that."

"Let's race," you turned to Sungjong. "Whoever finds the lemon candies first, gets more this week."

Sungjong put on his game face. "Oh, it's on. Be prepared to live a week without lemon candies, girl."

You smirked and counted down from three. "Ready... Set... Go!"

You sprinted towards the right side of the shop, while Sungjong ran to the left.

You figured that it would be best to team up with Woohyun so that you guys had a better chance of winning.

"Namu!" You called.

He ran towards you and stopped. "Yeah?"

"You should search around here and stall Sungjong. I'm gonna check upstairs."

"I'm not teaming up with you, meanie." He pouted. "You left me behind."

Your eyes strayed to Sungjong, who was also searching around frantically.

You pleaded, "Please, Namu! We'll split the prize."

He still shook his head and crossed his arms like a three-year old having a tantrum.

You were desperate for winning the lemon candies. "Aish, fine! If you help me, I'll agree to whatever you want."

Woohyun's face lit up.

You looked over your words and immediately added, "Except for anything girly."

His face fell a bit. "Aw, but ok, I'll help."

"Yes! Thank you, Namu!"

With a quick look to see how Sungjong was progressing, you dashed up the stairs.

Hopefully they're up here, you thought.

You reached the end of the stairs and looked around. The lights were extra bright, to the point that the floor was white. The floor seemed to be a circle, since there were five doors arranged along the curve.

"This really is like a Willy Wonka factory," you mumbled to yourself.

Just like the first floor, this one didn't have many customers. To be exact, you seemed to be the only person.

The only difference between the two was that this floor wasn't crowded with boxes of candy. Each door seemed to indicate a different flavor of candy instead.

You ventured closer to take a look at the nearest door. "Hm, this one has chocolate on it... Probably not this door."

You ran to the second door. "Taffy? Ew, I hate this."

The third door indicated nuts, the fourth door contained powdered sugar, and finally, the fifth door had a picture of fruits.

"Bingo!" You cheered as you pushed the door in.

What greeted you was surprising. "Huh? These aren't candy."

The room was a lot dimmer than outside, and there were huge machines set up all around. It seemed like the shop wasted all their electricity on lighting up the outside and so this room had a power outage.

You strolled up to inspect the machines. It was too dark to see, but on each, you could make out some ingredients and recipes for the fruit candies.

"Oops. I guess I'm not supposed to be here." You started to turn back to the exit. "This is a staff facility." 

Then you realized something.  "Darn it!  This means that the actual lemon candies are downstairs!  Aish, Woohyun better have found them before Lemon Candy..."

"Hey, Haerin."

You froze and turned around to look towards the machines.

The room was too dark to see through.

"Um, who said that?"

You weren't afraid of the dark nor ghosts. But one thing did scare you: talking to people when they didn't reveal themselves.

"Guess."

You would've been out the door already, but the fact that this stranger knew your name was rooting you to the floor in fear and curiosity.

You spoke up, although your voice was hitched. "Why don't you just reveal yourself instead of hiding in the shadows like that?"

Just then, the figure stepped out next to one of the machines.

You breathed a sigh of relief as you recognized the person. Thank goodness it's not some serial killer.

Although this guy seemed worse than a killer.

You yelled at the guy. "What are you doing here, Baek?"

A/N: This is my favorite chapter so far.  I would love to be in this candy factory.  Wouldn't you? ^^

Thanks for reading!