The realization of your love slapped you in the face, so for the following weeks you tried to avoid him as much as you could. You kept yourself busy so it wouldn't be a lie when you told him you couldn't hang out with him. It was stupid, you knew that, but you couldn't avoid it. You felt a bit bad because of the , but at the same time you were thinking how the hell you didn't notice him before, not in that way. Yes, he was younger than you, but he also knew you the best, you had lots in common and you didn't have to pretend in front of him, mostly because he could tell right away when you were trying to hide something from him. That was also one of your fears, that he could tell something in you had changed. The thought of it, knowing he would restlessly ask you for what had happened that was bothering you and your also known inability to resist him, was making you panic slightly.

One week before the start of the term, you were just lazing around in your room, deciding what movie would suit your mood best, when you heard the doorbell ring. You didn't move; someone else would probably open the door. When you heard the bell ring again, you suddendly remembered. There was no one else in the house apart of yourself, so you groaned, sliding out of the bed and kind of running downstairs, fearing the person outside would become tired of waiting. You didn't even look through the peephole to check who it was, so when you opened the door you weren't exactly expecting Hyuk to be there. 

"Hi! Oh, um... is it a bad moment?"

You blinked, trying to get out of the shock and answered "Ehm, no, why?" He looked at you, a pink flush showing on his cheeks, and pointed to your clothes. You looked down and whined when you saw that you were only wearing a loose T-shirt that was long enough to cover your underwear but was still revealing. You blushed slightly, tugging at the hem of your shirt to try to cover yourself a bit more.

"Oh, I, um, I was alone and... I didn't expect you to... Anyway, what was it?"

"Well, since you've been avoiding me all holidays, I thought I would come to pick you up and go somewhere. If I don't give you time to make up an excuse, you have to tag along, right?" he said plainly, leaving you no time to answer that of course, you haven't been avoiding him. "So since it seems you have nothing to do right now, get dressed, we're going."

"What? Where?" you blurted. He smiled a little devilishly.

"I still owe you an invitation for eating your cake. Come on, get dressed."

You rushed upstairs, yelling at him that he could have at least texted you as you reached your wardrobe and started selecting an appropiate outfit. You heard him laugh and enter the house, closing the door behind him. "I'll be watching TV meanwhile!" he shouted, still laughing.

Once you were dressed and looked again like a human being, you went downstairs and called him out. He turned off the TV and joined you by the entrance, where you were putting your shoes on. "I really hope it's worth it" you mumbled, fitting in your shoe.

"Believe me, it is" he beamed.

--

"So your idea of paying me back of eating my cake is to buy me the very same cake in the very same place?"

You two were again sitting on the same cafeteria, Hyuk had bought you the cake he had previously eaten and was watching you with an amused look in his face. The fact that he chose even the same table you were sitting some weeks ago was kind of amusing, making you feel a bit flustered by the fact that he remembered. It wasn't anything special, but that was the table you two were sitting the day you realized you were in love with him... So yeah, it wasn't a big deal, but it was nice anyway. In fact, you were trying not to seem any different from that day, you weren't really prepared to confess to him or anything. Not that you had thought about it.

Well, maybe a little.

A lot.You thought about it so much, it actually scared you the fact that he could possibly (or most likely, depending on your mood) reject you. So you were trying to enjoy your cake and make a normal face while inside you were a confused mass of nerves. He watched you eating your cake while sipping his own iced mocha, a questioning look on his eyes you were trying to ignore while you thanked him for the cake.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened to you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not really important but normally we hang out together a lot on holidays and I have barely seen you in the past weeks. I think last time was one week ago, I was thinking of going to your house to watch a movie, but you rushed out of the door saying you had an appointment on the other side of the city" he explained. You bit your lip, feeling a bit guilty. "So I wanted to know what I did and why you don't want to see me anymore."

"That's not it!" you exclaimed. He looked surprised, as thought he didn't expect such a passionate response. "You know, this is my last year at college, so I am trying to settle some things up, is not that I don't want to hang out with you..." you were whispering now and looking at your lap, you didn't want to say you were trying to avoid him because you were in love with him, but you couldn't really come up with something just that easy. 

"... I'm sorry" you heard him say. You looked up, confused. "I didn't know you were doing something for your future... it just seemed like you were trying to avoid me. I'm sorry" he apologized again.

"No, I'm sorry" you rapidly said. "I should have been less cryptic and let you know." He half smiled and looked at you apologetically, but when you smiled back at him he beamed at you, like nothing had happened and making that something warm spread inside you.

You both then started talking and chating like always, and after you were done with the drinks and sweets, started to go back home taking a pleasant detour from your common route to go through a park. It was quite big, the trees were tall and leafy, the breeze felt nice in your face and even the small lake seemed completely calmed and undisturbed, the sun shining on its water and sending reflections everywhere. You were telling Hyuk how the last time you tried to bake a cake you forgot to put in yeast when suddenly your view was blocked by a pair of hands. Surprised, you turned around to find the smiling face of a friend you haven't seen in a while.

"Jonghyun, it's you!" you exclaimed, happily.

"I thought it was you, so I ran you catch up to you" he answered, smiling broadly. 

"Oh, this is my neighbour, Sanghyuk" you introduced him.

"Nice to meet you" Jonghyun said, offering his hand for Hyuk to shake it.

"Same" Hyuk answered sharply shaking his hand, his eyes saying quite the contrary of what he stated.

"So are you guys dating or...?" Jonghyung asked cautiously.

"Oh, no, he's just my neighbour..." you looked at Hyuk and froze, the look on his face was not friendly.

"In that case, we should hang out sometime" Jonghyun offered, then looked at his watch. "I need to go now, work is piling up on my desk... I'll call you, ok?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye!" you waved at him while he walked away.

You started walking again with Hyuk in complete silence, the boy without uttering a single word until you were outside of the park.

"He was flirting with you" Hyuk said, still in a bad mood.

"He wasn't, he even asked if we were dating!" you answered, chuckling.

"He only said that to know if you were available" he pouted. "Is that what you were doing these past weeks, meeting him?"

"Of course not, I haven't seen him since highschool!" he seemed unconvinced by your words. "Oh, come on, Hyuk, are you jealous?" you .

"Of course not!" he shouted, blushing slightly. The way in which he said it plus the blush made you heart beat with anticipation, but still you wanted to .

"You can tell me, Hyuk, you know I won't tell anyone if you like me" you kept teasing him, your heart beating even faster when the boy's cheeks went from slight pink to deep red.

"Stop it already! I don't like you and I never will!" he shouted. You stopped right on your tracks, thunderstuck, the smile you had on your face fading. You knew there was the possibility of him not liking you the same way, but that being said so bluntly hurted you more than you expected. Your mouth slowly opened to form an O, without making a sound at all. You even could feel something breaking inside your chest.

"No, I mean... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way... I only-" he mumbled, trying to explain.

"No" you cut him midsentence. "It's ok. You don't need to explain anything. I'm sorry I teased you."

He didn't know what to say so he put his hands inside his pockets and kept walking beside you. The journey back home seemed longer than any other time, you trying to keep the tears from falling from your eyes as he concentrated all his efforts in looking everywhere except your direction. After what it seemed like hours, you arrived at your house. He looked like he wanted to say something, but you didn't allow him.

"I suppose I'll see you next Monday for the start of classes. Please be here 8AM sharp or otherwise we'll be late. Goodnight."

And without leaving him time to even agree to what you have said, you got inside your house and shut the door right in his face. You then run upstairs, just flailing a hand at your mother when she asked why where you home so early and if you wanted something to eat. You closed your door behind you, not wanting anyone to get in your room nor to ask you any questions. You didn't want to cry, in fact you even knew that he would probably not feel the same way and it was stupid to feel this bad, but silent tears began falling from your eyes, without being able to stop them anymore. The pain in your chest was sharp and heavy, and you thought about how stupid you had been thinking you even had a chance with him. You cried until your body was exhausted. It was well past midnight when you finally were able to lie inside your bed, under the soft sheets, solitary tears falling from time to time from your almost dry eyes and thought about what were you goi