"…So in order to save some money, we've decided to cancel the sports festival this year and put the extra money into the third year's trip…and that's all I have for you guys." Taemin concluded his report and lifted his eyes from the paper. He glanced over at everyone, watching his friends' expressions. "Any questions about what I just said?"

Jieun rose her hand. "Is the special class going to be with the normal classes?"

"Duh," Byunghun said, rolling his eyes. "Weren't you listening? He said that due to low budgets, making a separate schedule for the special and normal classes would be to difficult, so they'll have to merge the classes together."

"But the groups are going to be randomized, too. Instead of going with the student's respective class, they'll form more of a body of strangers," Taemin explained, fanning himself with the piece of paper.

"So what I'm hearing is that boys are going to be mixed in with groups with girls, right?" Dasom asked, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Yes, that is what I have said ten minutes ago," Taemin confirmed, nodding his head.

"Yes! There's going to be boys!" she cheered, pumping her fist.

"I might be in the same group as Hyunwoo!" Jieun screamed with joy and got up, running in circles.

The student council president was informing his friends about the situation for the summer. They were lucky that he was part of the student council. It always meant that they got the exclusive news, but they weren't allowed to tell anybody or else the plans would be forced to change. The student council was somewhat secretive like that.

Jieun smiled to herself as she stopped to catch her breath. She sat back down with the group, nibbling on a sausage from her lunch. Her cheeks were flushed with an embarrassing shade of red as drops of sweat formed on her pores. From the way Jieun easily got red and sweaty, the friends understood that summer was coming close.

"So how is this going to be arranged?" Eunji asked him.

"Well, it depends. The special class has been protesting about this, so we're trying to figure out a different solution. So far, they've been asking to exclude students who fail the upcoming exam. A lot of the teachers are looking at this as a positive choice because they think that those who fail are undeserving to go on the trip," Taemin announced.

Jieun widened her eyes and grabbed onto his arm. "You can't! I'm so sure that I'll fail it!"

Eunji grabbed on Taemin's other arm. "Me, too! I'm going to fail that exam! I have no idea what I've been learning at school!"

Byunghun reached for Taemin's leg. "You can't do this to be, bro! Basketball has been keeping me busy, especially since I'm in two completely different teams!"

Taemin heaved a sigh and look at Junhee and Dasom. "Man, I'm glad that you two have been studying."

"Studying? Pft!" Dasom began to laugh. "I'm not going to take that test! I formed a cheating group with some of my classmates. We're going to cheat through it!"

"Doesn't that mean that at least one person in the group has to study or be a know-all?" he pointed out.

"Oh, they're going to look at Junhee's paper. I sit too far away from her," she said.

Junhee widened her eyes. "I never heard of this! Why am I the victim?"

"You're smart enough to enter the special class, Junhee. You never joined because you thought it would make you too busy," Dasom pointed out. She reached to grab a sandwich from her lunch box. "Besides, you're terrible at hiding your paper. Looking at it will be a breeze. Don't worry, we won't do anything that will get you in trouble."

Taemin gritted his teeth. "All of you guys (except Junhee) are offending the purpose of education. It's not about the points or the grade you get; it's more about the experience you take from it."

"I disagree. Education is all about the points and grades. Otherwise, I would be stuck in kindergarten," Eunji argued.

"I wouldn't even be in school!" Jieun exclaimed with a sarcastic laugh at the end. 

"I'm forced to go to school. My mom would kill me if I don't go to my classes," Byunghun claimed.

Taemin turned around for back up. Dasom sighed and flipped her hair, knowing that she would have to step into support him. Junhee stood behind her, knowing that in some way, Dasom was going to twist his words to make it fit her own perspective.

"He's right guys," Dasom said. "If he wasn't, then I wouldn't even have a boyfriend anymore! More than half of my boyfriends come from the school I attend with them. Besides, it's definitely the experience. Look at me! I'm experiencing all the popularity with boys and I'm an expert at dating!"

Junhee and Taemin closed their eyes, mentally disappointed at Dasom's response. Taemin only sighed, then reached into his cell phone. He checked the text message in the inbox, wondering who he got the text from. Jieun peeked over his shoulders, glancing at his screen.

"Girlfriend?" Dasom asked with a bitter tone.

"No, Hyunwoo," Taemin replied shortly.

Jieun squealed. "Hyunwoo? What did he say? What did he say!"

"Nothing much. He said to meet him after school at the cake shop down the street. He wants to challenge me to an eating contest," Taemin said. He quickly typed his response, then hid his phone back in his pocket.

"What did you tell him?" Junhee asked. "You're not much of an eater. You don't like sweets that much."

"I told him that he'd get fat if he had an eating contest with cake. Besides, I was going to decline it, anyway. I don't want to go through all that hassle," he said. 

"Forget about dating and cakes!" Byunghun exclaimed. "Are you guys busy this Friday? Our team has a basketball game."

"I can't go," Taemin said, a bit sorry. "I told Soojung that I'd go on a date with her to the cake shop."

"Oh, geez. Here we go again. Back to the cake topic," Dasom said. She rolled her eyes and sipped some water from her water bottle. "Anyway, I can't go either. My mom is forcing me to study with Myungsoo that day."

Eunji raised her eyebrow. "Isn't Myungsoo a year older than us?"

"Yeah, and that's exactly why. She thinks that Myungsoo has the answer to the tests so she wants him to help him. She's even paying him to tutor me just for that test. Can you believe it?" she cried out. She sighed and clicked her tongue. "Then again, I guess it's a good idea to study a bit. I can't rely on my cheating group too much. I just hate it that I have to study with Myungsoo. Isn't he busy with his exams?"

"How about you three? Are you going somewhere, too?" Byunghun asked. He looked at Junhee, Eunji, and Jieun with pleading eyes. It was obvious that he wanted them to come to support him.

"I think I can make it to the second half of the game. I have piano practice," Junhee revealed.

"Damn. Eunji? Jieun? I know you two have the most free time compared to all of us," he pointed out, anticipating on their response.

Eunji smiled at him. "Of course I'll go! I always go to your games."

Jieun gave Byunghun a sheepish look. "I can't make it."

"Why?" Byunghun quickly replaced his question with the follow statement: "Oh, it's about Hyunwoo. Never mind, I don't want to listen to it."

"Why? Why? Why?" Jieun asked, dropping her jaws. "Don't you know how lucky you are to hear about the latest gossips going around with Hyunwoo?"

"Gossip?" Dasom grinned. "I want to hear some gossip. Tell me everything!"

Everyone else groaned while Jieun began to prepare herself. She cleared , looked around to check if anyone was nearby them, then leaned close to close the circle. Her friends came closer, knowing that if they didn't, then she would throw some kind of tantrum.

"I heard that some girls were trying to flirt with him outside of school," Jieun said in a low tone, "but no worries, I settled the situation yesterday after school."

At that moment, something gently hit Jieun's head. She was just about to complain but felt her heart skip a beat when she realized that it was Hyunwoo who had hit her head with his textbook. He gave her a glare, but she only returned it with a smile.

"Let me just tell you that they weren't flirting with me, but they were asking for directions. Will you stop following me around after school, too? I can charge you for stalking me," Hyunwoo threatened.

"You wouldn't do that," Jieun said, waving away his warning. "You're too sweet, Hyunwoo!"

"What did you do to the girls anyway?" Hyunwoo asked her, frowning.

"I taught them a smell lesson, then ended up getting caught by the old man outside for pulling on the girl's hair," Jieun reported.

Hyunwoo groaned. "Really? You had to be physical?"

"But they were making fun of you," Jieun muttered, pouting. "They were calling you 'easy' and other offensive stuff. They deserved it."

"Bullying them isn't going to make me feel any better," he pointed out. He paused, then grimaced. "Now I'm ticked off." He turned his attention to Taemin. "Lee Taemin! I challenge you! Whoever gets the top score for the next exam can have the losing party do anything they want."

"Dude, you lost already," Dasom said, rolling her eyes. "Number two will never pass number one."

"I was talking to Taemin, not you."

"She's got a point. Taemin hasn't been beaten since elementary school," Junhee pointed out.

"Do it, Taemin! Take on the deal!" Jieun exclaimed, putting her hands on his shoulders. She gave him her best pleading gaze. "Please? Do it and make him go on a date with me!"

"C-Cruel!" Hyunwoo exclaimed. He gritted his teeth. "Fine! Then if I win, I want Soojung to be my girlfriend!"

Taemin frowned. "I don't like that kind of—"

"He'll take it!" Jieun shouted back. She grabbed Taemin's wrist and made him pinky-swear with Hyunwoo. Her heart raced with glee, ready to anticipate on her official date with Hyunwoo! There was absolutely no way that Taemin would lose this.

Besides, Taemin was her friend, right? He wouldn't lose to Hyunwoo in any way or form if he really cared about their friendship.

After school, Jieun dropped her jaws after listening to watch Taemin had just told her. She watched him drop his sneakers on the ground and slide back his indoor shoes into his shoe locker. He slipped out his shoes and turned around to walk away.

"What do you mean you're not going to win for me?" Jieun cried out.

"I mean exactly what I said. I'm not going to go with this deal. I'm just going to take my test as usual and if I win, I'll tell Hyunwoo to do as he likes. Frankly, I don't care much about these bets," he said cautiously. He knew how angry she was at him, so he figured that it was best to use a gentle tone and make sure that she was understanding his perspective.

Except this was Jieun, and Jieun didn't want to understand. No, she just couldn't understand.

"Taemin, you can't do this to me!" she told him, grabbing onto his arm.

Eunji, who was following behind the two, gently grabbed Jieun's other hand. She pointed at Soojung, who was waiting for Taemin in front of the gates. Seeing this, Jieun heaved a sigh and dropped her arms back to her side.

"We're not done with this conversation," she snapped, glaring at him.

Taemin rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

He walked away, leaving the two alone to walk home. Once he disappeared with his girlfriend, Jieun let out an annoyed groan and went over to kick a tree. Eunji gasped and rushed over to her sides, wondering if she could do anything to make her feel better.

"Don't take it out on nature, Jieun," Eunji told her.

"I can't help it! He ditched me last minute!"

"Maybe it's for the best," the other girl suggested.

"But it's about Hyunwoo…" Her voice faded. "I can't lose Hyunwoo like this."

Eunji gave her a long stare. "You know, why don't I buy you desert when we walk home? I'm sure you want to talk about your love life while eating some cake—"

"Did someone say love life?" Dasom, who appeared out of nowhere, locked her arms around the twos' neck. "Alright, I'm in! Let's go!"

"If it's about love, then I'm joining you three," Baekhyun said, coming out from the side. When he noticed Eunji's and Jieun's strange glance, he only smiled and extended his hand. "The name is Baekhyun. I am this school's personal match maker. Nice to meet you!"

"What the—Dasom! Don't you have a group date?" Jieun asked her, completely ignoring Baekhyun.

"Ditched it. I looked at the guys from a girl's phone and they looked like they were just desperate for any girl. I need a guy who wants me and me only," she explained quickly. She whipped out her phone. "Anyway, I know a great place! Let's just walk over on this block and we'll be there in no time!"

At the desert shop, Jieun spent the rest of her time stuffing with cake as she furiously tapped her foot against the ground. Her strange behavior garnered attention everywhere across the room, but her excruciating glare caused the other customers to look away. Dasom ate the cake without taking a break, while Eunji was the only one who used manners and ate the cake as nicely as she could.

On the other hand, Baekhyun had a strawberry smoothie in front of him, and it was barely finished. He was smiling and watching his juniors eat their deserts, and couldn't help but think that he could make some money off of these heartbroken children. They seemed to lack love experience—except for Dasom—but he was sure that with his guidelines, they would find their romance in no time.

"I want more chocolate cake!" Jieun announced.

Eunji panicked. "Hold up, Jieun! I didn't even get to fill my wallet. I don't have a lot of money on me right now!"

"The bill is on me," Baekhyun said, waving his hand carelessly. "Don't worry about it."

"But—"

"Leave it to him, Eunji," Dasom told her, giving her a soft nudge on the side. "Take advantage of him right now. When he's gone to college, you'll never see him again. Besides, this guy is rich. He's dating a filthy rich girlfriend."

"You date for money?" Jieun asked him curiously.

"No, I date her because she's cute. On the other hand, I can picture Dasom dating for money," Baekhyun said, smirking. "Anyway, this isn't about me, is it? Jieun was your name, right? Tell me what's going on with you and Hyunwoo. Are you two dating?"

"Yes!" Jieun replied enthusiastically.

"It's more like a one-sided crush," Eunji tried to explain.

"No, it's more like a stalker and a victim," Dasom clarified.

"Hm, I see. An obsessive kind of love." Baekhyun kept quiet for a few minutes, then sipped his smoothie. Finally, he cleared his throat and gave Jieun a sharp look. "Give it up. It's not going to work out."

Jieun dropped her jaws. "What?"

"You're doing everything wrong. Give it up," he blurted out.

Jieun stared at him for a long time. "And they call you a love expert?"

"How long has this love been going?" he asked her.

"A couple of years," she answered.

"Yep. Give it up," Baekhyun repeated. "This is definitely the worst kind of romance you can have."

Her face began to turn red. "How would you know that, huh? I don't think you had a love like mine!"

"Look, in this kind of love, you're the only one doing all the fantasizing. From what I know about Hyunwoo, he's more of a rational person. Love is the least thing in his mind. He's going to think about college and the studious part of his life. You? You're going to think about Hyunwoo and only about Hyunwoo. It's unhealthy," he told her. He folded his hands and continued to give her a stern stare. "If you keep this up and if things don't go as you planned, not only would you be hurt, but your entire relationship with Hyunwoo. You might never be able to speak to him again."

"But we love each other!" Jieun insisted.

"Jieun, stop it. Baekhyun's got a point. He's not wrong," Dasom said, agreeing with the boy. Jieun dropped her jaws at her while Dasom only continued to speak: "The longer you keep dreaming, the more chances you're going to lose in other relationships. Love like first loves are unique. If it's not working out now, it's probably not going to work out later."

"Eunji!" Jieun called out. "Support me!"

Eunji kept silent for a few moments. "They…do have a point. There's no point in love when it's hopeless."

"But it's not, Eunji! It's not!"

"How do you know?" Eunji bit her bottom lip and gave her friend an uneasy look. "Jieun, why are you doing this to yourself? Don't you feel like you're hurting yourself rather than creating love?"

Jieun opened to speak, but she stopped. She stuffed with more cake, trying to think about Eunji's question in more depth. Whatever she said next would definitely affect the three's thoughts, so she had to make sure that she chose her words carefully.

Forget about that! she told herself. Just tell them the truth!

"Do you guys remember back in elementary school when I was getting bullied by some guys?" Jieun asked slowly. The girls nodded their head.

"Of course I do! I told them they were jerks and told them to back off!" Dasom exclaimed, nodding her head.

"Well, there was a day where you, Dasom, were absent. The rest had cram school so I was going home with Eunji. When I was going, Eunji and I separated ways because that's what we usually did. During the time when I was walking home alone, those guys came and began to toss my stuff and played a game of 'monkey-in-the-middle.' On that day, Hyunwoo had just moved into the neighborhood. He…kind of helped me. He was nice and helped me get back my stuff. We went to different elementary schools, but when I walked home, I would always see him waiting outside and he waited until I got into the apartment. I thought he was the nicest guy in the world, so I only thanked him secretly.

"But in middle school, everything changed. He was growing taller, his voice was getting slightly deeper, and overall, he was becoming more attractive. He was smart and he was polite, too. In middle school, I was also getting asked out by a lot of guys, but they didn't want to date me for my personality. They just wanted to date me because I was dumb and cute. It was kind of tiring and Hyunwoo was kind of there to tell them that they were being annoying with the letters and confessions. I mean, if he really didn't care about me, why would he go ahead and do all those things for me?"

It was the first time in a while since Dasom and Eunji got to see Jieun's shy expression. She was acting like a maiden in love, acting all bashful and lady-like as she reminisced the past. It was a very delicate moment for Jieun, and it kind of made them see her as a girl longing for her knight in shining armor rather than an obsessive freak who wanted to feast on love.

Jieun took a deep breath and fanned her face with her hand. Telling them her story made her feel embarrassed, and her heart wouldn't stop racing. She got up for a moment and excused herself to the bathroom. When she left, Baekhyun scoffed and finished his smoothie.

"I still think she should give up," Baekhyun commented.

"Well, there were a few tweaks in that story," Eunji said slowly, trying to force a smile.

"Tweeks? What kind?" he asked her.

"Well, the part where Hyunwoo was waiting for her? His mom kind of told him to do that," Dasom said. "I remember because I overheard them talking about it when I went to visit Jieun's house."

"And the part where he told the guys they were bothering Jieun? He had his shoe locker next to her so it was uncomfortable for him to see letters sticking out of her shoe locker. He likes neatness a lot," Eunji added.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "See? She's just being delusional. I should seriously help her find a better guy…"

"But you know what?" Eunji interrupted. "Hyunwoo isn't a bad guy, and I don't think Jieun is that hopeless."

"What do you mean?" he inquired.

"Well, Jieun probably knows this, but Hyunwoo is actually pretty nice and cautious over her," Eunji started.

"True. He tells her to back off and everything, but he never reported her to the principal for harassment. I mean, he'd complain to the teachers sometimes, but that was when she was disturbing his class and stuff. Other than that, he pretty much allowed her to follow him around, even though he always told her to leave his side," Dasom said.

Baekhyun scowled. "So you're just going to leave her alone like this?"

"Why not? It's only high school. Let her dream for a bit longer," Dasom said lazily.

"Dasom, I'm going to warn you now, so listen up. I've seen people like her, and trust me, in the end, they end up being so heartbroken they won't even speak about their crush again. They'll start getting depressed and blame themselves for causing the awkward situations," Baekhyun informed her. He put a handful of cash down on the table. "I'd charge you for this advice, but since you're Dasom, I'll let you take this advice for free."

Dasom only smiled. "Please, do you have that much doubt for my friends?"

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "You think she'll be fine?"

"Of course," Eunji said, smiling along with Dasom. "She's Jieun. She's not like any normal girl. She's twice as optimistic and twice as strong."

"Then she'll only fall twice as hard," Baekhyun warned. He got up from the booth and walked away, leaving the girls to finish their deserts.