"You're not going to join us?" Jieun asked Eunji, who was putting her textbook in her bag.

Eunji only nodded in response, and zipped up her bag. At the corner of her eyes, she noticed Jieun pouting, giving her the eyes that begged her to join the scrapbooking group. Eunji could only sigh and swung her bag over one shoulder. She gave her friend a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Jieun, but I'm not like you. We already promised the cooking club that we'd go buy the ingredients with the club's money for tomorrow's activity. I can't just ditch them and say that I have other plans. At least one of us has to go and get the ingredients," Eunji pointed out. "Just think of this as me doing a favor for you."

Jieun continued to pout. "But still…No one fun is going to be there!"

"I know Junhee doesn't like art. I don't know why she still tags along with Chanyeol. Isn't Chanyeol fun, though?" Eunji asked her.

"Chanyeol? Who's he?" Jieun asked seriously.

"The guy who's always around Junhee. Isn't he the one who suggested all this in the first place?"

"Oh, right. That guy is coming, too," Jieun remembered, nodding her head. "Well, he's okay, I guess. I don't think he's fun. He kind of gets on my nerve, though."

Eunji laughed. "Geez, I wonder why!"

"What's with that smile? You're creeping me out, Eunji," Jieun said. She faked a shutter, only to earn a light smack on the back. "Ow! That hurts!"

"That does not hurt! I do it much softer than how Dasom hits people," Eunji defended.

"Well, that's true. I'm not going to deny that." Jieun glanced at the clock. "Oh! Time for me to go. Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

"I'm a hundred percent sure. If I ever get bored, I'll come straight back here and join you guys, okay?" Eunji told her. Jieun nodded her head, gave her a friend a quick hug, and headed her way to the art room.

Once Jieun was out of her sight, Eunji sighed and rubbed her neck. She was a little annoyed that Jieun had ditched her and decided to go with some other activity. It wasn't fair for only her to do the club's work. Then again, Jieun did help a lot whenever Eunji had trouble with preparing the food. With a positive mind, she decided to look at it as if this was some kind of fair deal between the two.

The moment Eunji stepped out of the door, she gasped and bumped into a boy. She looked up, ready to apologize, but looked back down at her feet when she realized that it was Daehyun…with his popular crew.

"Daehyun, are you okay?" a girl besides him asked. She walked over and patted Daehyun's chest, as if she was dusting off germs. She looked over at Eunji, who kept silent. "Shouldn't you apologize?"

Better apologize, Eunji thought. She squeaked out a small "sorry" and was about to escape until the girl stopped her.

"What kind of apology was that?" the girl snapped. Eunji finally decided to look at the girl, checking out who she was. She was deliberately surprised to find out that it was Byunghun's crush, Sunyoung, who was being rude to her. "Hello? If you're going to apologize, say it nicely."

I wonder what made Byunghun actually like her. Well, he was right about her changing. She used to be such a sweet girl, Eunji thought, slightly disappeared. She turned around to Daehyun, who gave her a pitiful look. "I am very sorry for bumping into you."

"That sounds sarcastic," Sunyoung muttered.

There's no reason to not be sarcastic. It was a small accident, Eunji thought.

"What if he gets hurt? You know who this guy is, right? He's Jung Daehyun, from the basketball team. You could've seriously injured him," Sunyoung said.

"You're being ridiculous. He's perfectly fine. In fact, he's been practicing for two teams—" Eunji abruptly stopped herself and noticed Daehyun's eyes wide and scared. He gave her a cruel look, shutting her up and having her change her words. "I mean, he's been practicing extra hard, so there's no way that he would get injured from this. He's not weak."

"Yeah, you got to cool your head, Sunyoung. I'm pretty sure she meant no harm," Jongdae said, comforting his girlfriend.

Eunji was about to add a comment until her phone rang. Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to answer. With a small blush, Eunji fished out her phone from the bag and noticed that it was her old friend calling her.

"Excuse me for a second," Eunji said, pressing her thumb against the screen and sliding it to the right. "Hello? Howon! Howdy!" She noticed Daehyun stiffen, but she wasn't sure why. "…Oh! Actually, I'm headin' over to that area, too! Where ya at right now?… Okay, got it. I'll meet ya over 'der. I need to do some shoppin' for the club… Alright, laters!"

She hung up the phone, and placed her phone back into her bag. She looked at the others, who seemed bored with her. From what she could tell, it seemed as if she was off the hook. She bowed to her seniors, apologized once more to Daehyun, then ran off to meet with Howon.

Even though Jieun wasn't going shopping with her, she was glad to know that she was going to have company. Besides, spending the day with Howon would be good for their relationship. After all, they haven't been hanging out for a long time…

"He's followin' us."

"I know, but just pretend that he ain't."

"It's botherin' me."

"Does it, now?"

"Doesn't it bother ya?" Howon paused, then glanced over his shoulders. "Man, Daehyun is really bad at hidin'."

Eunji giggled. "He 'as always bad at hidin'…"

The two were heading back home, holding groceries with both of their hands. Howon had to carry the lighter groceries not because he was lazy, but because his bone was becoming too fragile for him to hold something heavy. He felt bad for making Eunji carry the heavier bags, but she claimed that there was no problem. A woman had to work out some of her arm muscles, right?

However, throughout the entire day, they had noticed that Daehyun was following them. He was tagging along behind them, trying to hide whenever they looked back. Eunji didn't know why he was trying to follow them. At first, she thought that he was following them because he had to run some errands. Later on, Eunji began to notice that Daehyun followed them everywhere and never bought a single item. It was at that moment when Eunji took notice that Daehyun was tailing behind them for whatever reason he had.

"Anyway, you missed a lot of things at school. I heard ya were hospitalized for another week," Eunji said. "Have ya been lookin' at my notes?"

"Yep," Howon answered, nodding his head. He paused, then smirked. "They aren't yer notes though, ain't I right? It's really neat, but it's 'lot more technical. You borrowed those notes from…what was that guy's name ag'in…Oh! Taemin, right?"

Eunji blushed. "Y-You knew?"

"Of course. I know how ya handwriting looks like," Howon said, smiling. He quickly turned beet red when Eunji gave him a stare. "I-I mean, I've only seen yer handwriting, so it makes sense to why I know how it looks like."

"Ah, good point," Eunji said, grinning. "I heard a rumor floatin' around sayin' that ya might be hospitalized during the field trips. That would !"

Howon turned slightly pale. "Ah, yep. My body ain't too healthy for travelin'."

"I wish ya would get well," Eunji confessed.

"Well, I'm ain't the richest guy in the world, so it's hard to find any medical help," Howon said, laughing. His laugh quickly disappeared and was replaced with a heavy sigh. "Sometimes, I think I'm better off not livin' anymore."

"Ya cain't possibly mean that!" Eunji exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Don't say sucha thing! If you weren't livin', who else would be my friend?"

"Ya still have those other guys. Ya know, Dasom and others," Howon pointed out.

"Yeah, but yer the only friend I have in my class," Eunji said. "It would to know that ya wouldn't be with me anymore."

Howon turned red. He looked away, rubbing his neck in a sheepish manner. It took Eunji a minute or two to realize that what she had said was slightly strange. She turned bright pink and quickly fixed up her sentence.

"I-I mean, since we're friends, it would to know that ya wouldn't be there as my friend," Eunji said. When she saw Howon's dejected look, she knew that somewhere along her words, she had hurt him. She wasn't quite sure what she had said that made him feel bad.

"Hey, Eunji?" Howon began slowly.

"Yes?" she answered, trying to keep up an optimistic mood.

"What if… What if I had a friend who's a gal—"

"Ya made a new friend? Howon, that's amazin'!" Eunji cheered, clasping her hands together.

"No, I'm just hypothetically speakin'—"

"Is she in our class? Wait, don't you dare tell me! I wanna figure it out!"

"Eunji, I really want to ask ya somethin' important—"

"Important? What could be more important than ya making a new friend?" Eunji asked, smiling wide. Having Howon open up his social circle was the best thing Eunji could hear from him. She never wanted him to be lonely; being lonely was one of the saddest tihngs in the world to her.

Howon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it while biting his bottom lip. "No, nothin'. Nothin' is more important than that…"

"So who's this gal?" Eunji asked. Her eyes glowed. "Wait, don't tell me that ya have a crush on her!"

"I don't!" Howon said a bit too quickly. Eunji took a small step back, slightly startled about Howon's sharp remark. He sighed and sadly looked down at his feet. "It's… Let me go back to my question. No, wait, let me change my question. Eunji, what would ya do if ya only have a few months to live before ya die?"

"A few months? Hm… Oh! I'd take a plane and go to America to play at Disney Land! I heard that it's a huge amusement park and that it's a lot of fun," Eunji said, grinning. "Besides, isn't that what a lot of people wanna do? Well, I'd also want to spend some time with my friends and family…"

"What if there's a someone ya like? Would ya confess?" Howon asked softly. His ears turned to the color of crimson.

Eunji shrugged her shoulders. "Someone I like? I don't really have anyone like that right now."

"Have ya ever had a crush on someone? Or dated?"

"I didn't. I never even kissed a guy," Eunji said, her eyes wandering at the sky. She sighed. "Man, my high school life ain't what I expected it to be. I thought I'd get at least one boyfriend. I want a nice memory with my first boyfriend, though, so I guess not havin' a boyfriend in high school ain't too bad…"

Howon looked away and whispered softly, "Then I'll probably do something really cruel to ya later on…"

"What did ya say?" Eunji asked him, tilting her head.

He turned and shook his head. "No, nothing."

She was going to press him to tell her what he was thinking. He looked bothered by his thoughts, and she didn't like how his mind was occupied with negative thoughts. She was just about to say something until she heard someone call her name from afar. The two looked up and saw two of Eunji's friend running towards her.

"Hey Eunji!" Byunghun greeted, waving his hand at his friend.

"Byunghun! Hi! Hold this," Eunji said. She handed him one bag of the heavier groceries. As someone who had been working out, he held the bag with ease. 

"What's all this?" Taemin asked, glancing at all the items.

"Oh, and you hold this." She gave Taemin the other bag she was holding.

He yelped when the weight suddenly pulled him down. Fortunately, he caught himself from falling and managed to grab ahold of the bag. Eunji twirled around and took the remaining bags from Howon's hands. He gave her a confused look until he realized that it was time to part.

"I'll see ya tomorrow?" Eunji asked him.

"Maybe, if I still feel as healthy as I think I am," Howon said, trying to some kind of humor. When he noticed Eunji frowning at him, he could only smile. "Don't worry too much about me, okay?"

"If you start sayin' those stuff, how can I not worry?" Eunji pointed out.

"Fine, fine. I'll be there tomorrow, okay? Is that better?" He began to chuckle. "Would you rather have me lie to ya instead of tellin' ya the truth?"

"Kind of. Sometimes lyin' is better than sayin' the truth," she said, nodding her head. She only watched Howon give her a small grin and bid her goodbye. The two parted ways, and Eunji stood at her spot until she couldn't see Howon anymore. She turned around and noticed Taemin and Byunghun giving her an odd look. "What?"

"Were you two on a date?" Byunghun asked in a blunt manner.

Eunji rolled her eyes. "What makes you think that?"

"You guys went grocery shopping together, right? It kind of makes you sound like a couple shopping together," Byunghun said.

"What's wrong with two friends shopping? I see nothing strange about that," Taemin said. "Anyway, why are you making us carry this?"

"I need to bring those to school tomorrow. I was hoping that you guys would be a gentleman and help me carry these back home," Eunji explained, leading them to her house.

Byunghun stared at the bags. "You have to carry all these? By hand?"

"Of course."

"Do you need help? We can ask the crew to come here early tomorrow and pick these up," Taemin said. "Who knows, maybe we can all walk to school together. It's been a while since we actually walked together from someone's home. We usually end up meeting each other on the road."

"Yeah! We can have breakfast at Eunji's house, too! Your parents like having your friends over," Byunghun agreed, nodding his head.

Eunji faked a small laugh. "I don't know. I mean, it sounds like a hassle…"

"Or what if we ask Jieun to cook something for us? She can bring us breakfast. She always packs Hyunwoo lunch, so why not ask her to pack us our breakfast?"

"Do you really think Jieun would walk up extremely early to do something for us?" Taemin asked him. "Besides, wouldn't it be easier to have her make lunch instead? It's better cooking the same thing rather than cooking different foods for completely different times."

"Okay, then what we can do is go to Eunji's house, bring the items, and have a small picnic somewhere at school. You can get us the keys to the roof top, right? It's usually open, but sometimes it's closed," Byunghun said.

Taemin let out a loud sigh. "Are you serious? I already got keys to the art room because Junhee needed them. If I go ask for more keys, they're going to think bad of me and I don't want that."

"How about—" Byunghun was shortly interrupted when Taemin's phone rang. He gestured his friend to pick up the phone, grabbing onto the bag Taemin was holding. Taemin quickly reached into his pocket, and found his phone. He glanced at the screen, looking at the caller. With a small, dejected look, he picked it up.

"Hey—What? No!…Really? Does it have to be now?…Well, yeah, I'm here, but—Hello? Hello!" He hung up the phone. "Damn it!"

"Girlfriend?" Eunji asked, noticing Taemin's annoyed expression. He only nodded his head, and shoved his phone back into his pocket when he saw a message come in.

"You know, Taemin, lately it seems like your girlfriend is more of a pain than a gift. I mean, at school, you guys look nice and all, but out of school, you kind of seem bothered by her," Byunghun told him.

Eunji could only nod in agreement. At school, the two seemed like the perfect couple. They would always smile whenever they were at school. Dasom always claimed that they were putting on some kind of show for the students, saying that the two didn't really like each other. Eunji wasn't sure if it that was the case, but she was beginning to believe that there might be some truth to the situation.

"Ah, no. It's just that she wants me to do some last minute stuff," Taemin tried to explain. "Anyway, do you mind if I go? I'm sorry. I need to go to the craft store. She was asking me to buy something for her project."

"Yeah, I can carry these. Your house isn't far, is it?" Byunghun asked Eunji.

"It's a few streets down, but it won't take long, I think," she replied.

"See?" Byunghun said, looking back at Taemin. "Besides, if anyone is supposed to be sorry, I should be. I'm the one who asked you to hang out with me, but ended up doing something else."

"Still. I feel kind of bad." Taemin groaned when another message came in. "You know, I think I really have to go. See you tomorrow! Tell me if we're going to meet tomorrow. Bye!"

The two waved at Taemin, watching him disappear at the corner of the street. Once they were sure that Taemin was gone, the two resumed walking. They walked in silence; the sound of footsteps and plastic bags rustling against their legs echoed in the small neighborhood.

"Oh, Eunji?" Byunghun suddenly said.

"Hm?" she answered, her eyes looking straight into his.

"Um, if I'm correct, Daehyun lives around here, right?" he asked her.

Eunji pressed her lips. "Well, yeah. I think. I don't know…"

"Okay. If he didn't, then I was going to ask you why he's following us," he explained. "Did you notice that he was behind us the entire time?"

Oh my gosh, Daehyun! You're totally exposed! Eunji thought, a bit frustrated. "Oh, was he? I don't know, I wasn't really paying any attention."

"Hey, Jung Daehyun! Come over here!" Byunghun shouted, surprising Eunji. She whirled around, listening to her heart beat pound against her chest. When she realized that she might've been looking at Daehyun too long, she looked back forward, staring down at ther shoes.

"Ah, um, hi Byunghun," Daehyun said, trying to figure out what to do. His foot steps got louder as he walked next to the other basketball player. "What's up with all these?"

"Cooking club," Byunghun responded simply. "Eunji is in the club."

"I know that. I saw her before during the spring festival," Daehyun told him. "Did you go shopping with her?"

"No, she went with Howon. He left a while ago. Taemin was here, too, but he had to go and see his girlfriend."

"So was it like…a…date…?"

Eunji turned head and widened her eyes. "A date? How could you possibly say that!"

Daehyun bit his lip. "Was it offensive?" He quickly recovered with a cough and a smirk. "Well, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a date. It couldn't possibly be a date. You and Howon? Please, you two look good as friends rather than a couple."

"You—Wow. Just wow. I cain't possibly believe what I'm hearin'!" Eunji cried out, her dialect leaking. She gave Daehyun a cold glare, shocking him. "Are ya tellin' me that I cain't find myself a guy to love?"

"Well, yeah. Basically. I mean, you're pretty average. There's no reason for a guy to like you or to date you or anything," Daehyun blurted. He started to panic, his heart pounding against his chest. What was he doing? He was only making her angrier! He didn't really mean what he was saying. The words were just rolling off of his tongue, making his mind go blank.

"Really? Wow, well, I'm sorry that I'm just an average gal doin' my own things at my own pace!" Eunji snapped.

When the three had arrived at Eunji's home, she snatched away all the bags from Byunghun's hands. Before heading inside, she stuck her tongue out at Daehyun, who only dropped his jaws, clearly offended. The boys watched her storm inside, eventually slamming the door on them. There was a short pause, and the two could hear Eunji groan loudly at Daehyun's stupidity.

Daehyun tucked his hands in his pockets. Guilt overwhelmed his feelings, but there was just enough pride to prevent him from going in and apologize to her. With a scowl, he turned away and took a few steps away from the house.

"Sheesh! What's her problem? I mean, it ain't my fault that she's a plain woman," Daehyun muttered.

Byunghun blinked his eyes for a minute. "Wait, you have a dialect?"

Daehyun narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Dialect. You have a Busan dialect, right? You just used 'ain't' rather than 'not'. Your dialect leaked out," Byunghun pointed out. 

For a minute, Daehyun only frowned at him, trying to tell him that it wasn't a good time to point such a thing. It took him a little longer to realize that his dialect might've not been cool—possibly embarrassing! Blushing, he turned around and shrugged his shoulders, making sure Byunghun didn't see his face.

"So what? Some people think they're cool," Daehyun said, defending himself.

"I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I was just pointing that out. It's pretty cool. Dasom doesn't like it when Eunji speaks in her dialect, but I think it's cool," Byunghun told him. He patted his hand against Daehyun's back. "Hey, I need to get going. I need to start contacting all my friends about what we should do tomorrow. I don't need to walk you home, right?"

Daehyun scoffed. "Of course not. You go on! My house isn't far from here."

Daehyun bid his goodbyes to Byunghun, who turned around and ran in the opposite direction. He patiently waited for Byunghun to find the road and watched him disappear down the hill. When Daehyun was sure that he was gone, he sighed and glanced back at Eunji's house. Then, he looked at the house next door. He walked over to his home, taking out the keys and unlocking the front door.

There was a short pause. He listened carefully, trying to hear any more screams of anger shooting from Eunji's home. It was awfully quiet, making his stomach feel sick as if it was churning too much. A pain in his chest made his heart feel heavy, and all he could do was rub his sore chest and stare off at Eunji's house.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly. With those words only heard by the speaker himself, Daehyun opened the door and went inside his home, embracing the long awaited darkness of loneliness and solitude.