"Oh. My. Gosh." Dasom quickly jumped out of her seat and swung open the window. Taking a deep breath, she used her hands to make her screams loud and clear: "Byunghun has someone he likes! Everyone, Byunghun from the basketball team has someone he likes!"

"Will you shut up, Dasom?" Taemin asked irritatingly. He quickly swiped away the journal in her hand, which caused her to growl at him. She gave him a sharp look, but smirked widely when she noticed Byunghun running into the room.

His face was colored in deep red, as if he was embarrassed and tired from running up several steps of stairs. He panted hard, and everyone in the clasroom knew that he had heard Dasom's voice and ran as soon as he could to make her quiet. He stormed up to her, glaring at her while she looked away with a tight expression.

"Didn't you say that only us six would know about the things in the journal?" Byunghun reminded her.

Dasom kept up her poker-face. "But it was so interesting and I kind of sensed it…"

"Dasom, don't start breaking promises! What if the girl I liked misunderstood the entire situation? Huh? Didn't you do this back in middle school when you found out that I had a crush on Sunyoung?" he pointed out. "Are you planning to ruin my next love life?"

"I didn't exactly think all that through! Honestly, I—" Dasom was quickly interrupted when Taemin's phone rang. He looked down at the number, sighed, then placed his phone on Dasom's desk. Without thinking, she lunged for the phone to see what was going on. She inputted his password and glared at the screen, only to find out that he had five missed calls from an unknown number. "Who's this?"

"I don't know," Taemin said. "If I knew, I would've had the number in my contact list."

"Are you cheating on Soojung?" Dasom let out a dramatic gasp. "I can't believe you would cheat! I mean, Soojung isn't the nicest girl to begin with, but you cheating on someone?" She went for the window, reading to scream out her next announcement. "Everyone! Taemin is a play—"

"I said to shut up!" Taemin yelled, grabbing Dasom by the arm and pulling her back at her seat. "I'm not a player, and I'm not cheating on Soojung."

This time, Soojung was the once who marched into the room. She had a stoic expression, but Taemin knew from a glance that she was secretly disappointed inside. He figured that she had overheard Dasom's strange statement, and he knew that Soojung wouldn't let him go so easily.

"I heard that you were cheating behind my back?" Soojung asked, crossing her arms. Taemin shivered as she gave him a fake grin. "Or was that just a small rumor? I mean, one of your friends was shouting it out the window, so I figured that there has to be some truth into it."

Taemin gave her a gentle smile, joining her act. "Oh, no! I can never think about cheating. After all, I chose you to be my girlfriend. You're all that I see."

"Cut out the act, Lee Taemin," Dasom said, giving him a disgusted look. She turned to Soojung and tossed her his phone. "Look at that number! Know anything about it?"

Soojung didn't even a moment to answer. "Oh? That's Hyeri's number."

Taemin frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Who?"

He earned a quick jab on his ribs. He groaned and looked at Dasom, who was pretending that she had not hit him. He glared at her, but was slightly surprised to see her glare back.

"Hyeri is the girl you've met before," Soojung said. "My best friend, remember?"

Ah. He began to feel uneasy. That's the girl who confessed to me without knowing that I was Soojung's "boyfriend."

"You'd think he knows a thing or two about your personal life, hm?" Dasom asked, faking a smile. Taemin gulped, knowing exactly why Dasom had given him a glare. She knew about Soojung's best friend, and she was practically strangers with them. "Especially when it's about your friends."

"Oh, I don't blame him," Soojung spoke up. She gave Dasom another mature smile, ticking her off. "Taemin is a busy guy. I don't mind if he forgets my friend's name. I would mind if he forgot my name, though."

"Why would she have my number, though? I never gave it to her," Taemin said.

"Well, geez, I wonder how she got your number, too. Maybe your girlfriend gave it to her?" Dasom suggested.

"No, I never did. Hyeri and I meet, but I never gave my boyfriend's number to her," Soojung said.

Taemin felt something fuzzy crawl up to his chest when he heard the word "boyfriend" slip out of . He was happy, and he was able to recognize this feeling instantly. The problem was, he didn't want this feeling.

He didn't want to grow through the same pain he went through with Jieun back in middle school. It would bee too much of a hassle for him.

"Well, either way," Taemin said, putting some distant on Soojung, "she's calling me for a reason. Do you mind if I pick it up?"

Soojung blinked her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Do you mind if I pick up her calls?" Taemin repeated.

She stared at him for a bit longer, then slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, sure. I guess."

"Thanks. I'm stepping outside a bit—"

"Why?"

"It might be some kind of exchange. Like, she might be informing him that your birthday is coming up or some kind of special occasion is going to happen," Dasom suggested. She flashed Soojung a smile. "You don't mind if your boyfriend talks with other girls, right? Or are you the possessive type?"

Soojung gulped. "N-No. I'm not someone who does anything like that!" She waved her hand towards the door. "Go on, Taemin. Have your privacy."

Taemin gave Dasom a frown. "Thanks. I will."

He walked out of the classroom, then looked down at the number. He pressed the "call" button and placed his phone besides his ears. The phone began to ring, and he waited until he heard a click and a nervous greeting.

"H-Hello?" the sweet voice stuttered.

"Ah, hi, Hyeri. This is Taemin," he answered. He paused shortly before adding, "Soojung's boyfriend. Did you call me?"

"Y-Yes!" she answered. He heard some squeals in the background. "Guys, be quiet! I'm on the phone…!"

I should be gentle with her. After all, it's something Dasom would tell me to do, Taemin thought. "Um, before I ask you what you called me for, I was wondering how you got my number?"

"Oh! One of your friends gave it to me! She said that you're perfectly fine with giving away your number, so I took the chance to get your number from her." There was a brief pause. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I should've asked you rather than your friends! Ugh, you probably don't like that, right?"

While Hyeri panicked and tried to apologize, Taemin's mind was roaming over who could have given Hyeri his number. He closed his eyes as faces of his friends popped up.

Was it Byunghun? No, she said 'she' so it has to be a girl. Jieun? Nope, Jieun couldn't possible meet Hyeri for any reasons. Eunji? But Eunji never gives away any personal information without permission. Was it possible Junhee who gave it to her? No, she has that personality where she would make people do it themselves. His eyes shot wide open. Dasom. He whirled around and peeked into the room, where Dasom and Soojung seemed to have an intense conversation. Dasom look up over Soojung's shoulder and gave him a brief smile while she waved her hand at him. What's she up to?

"E-Excuse me? Hello? Taemin, are you there?" Hyeri asked.

"Ah, um, yeah. I'm here," Taemin replied. He looked away from the room and tried to focus on the conversation. "So is there anything wrong?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to hear your voice…" Her tone became sentimental and soft. More squeals were heard in the background.

Taemin gulped, unsure of what to do. He knew that Hyeri was interested in him—and she was really into him. However, he was dating Soojung, and it seemed wrong to let Hyeri, who was Soojung's best friend, try to get close to him. It would be better for him to be clear and tell her that they could not fall in love or date or do anything romantic with each other. He was going to be loyal to Soojung, and that was that.

He opened his lips, ready to tell Hyeri the cold-heart truth. However, the moment he tried to speak, the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He stood still, frozen solid while he thoughts were jumbled together. The only thing he could do at that moment was remember at Jieun had told him in middle school. He closed his mouth, pressing his lips together uncomfortably.

There was no way he could tell her that. There was absolutely no way.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting all weird. I mean, I just wanted to hear your voice because I…thought that it'd be a good idea to get used to your voice since you're my best friend's boyfriend."

"Ask him on a date!" someone in the background shouted. More squeals and giggles were heard. He could hear Hyeri panic, telling them to "shut up" and to "get out of the classroom" while she tried to finish up her conversation.

At this moment, Taemin decided to hang up. This was getting too awkward for him.

"Um, hello? Hyeri?" he called.

"Yes? Yes! I am here!"

"If it's okay with you, can I call you back? I'm in the middle of—"

"Oh, yes! Sure! Actually, I have a quick question I'd like to ask you," Hyeri said.

It's one question, he thought. "Sure, go ahead."

"Can we please meet up at bookstore today?" she asked shyly. "I'd like to s-spend some t-time with you…"

"Kya! It's a date!" the girls in the background screamed.

"I-It's not!" Hyeri exclaimed.

At this point, Taemin wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to her friends. He glanced over back at the classroom, where he noticed that Soojung was giving him  a suspicious glance. 

Well, she is Soojung's best friend. If I said no, then I might here her rant all day, Taemin thought. He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes while he brought his fingers to rub his forehead.

"Sure, Hyeri. Does six o'clock work out for you…?"

At 6:30 p.m.,Taemin was still waiting for Hyeri to appear at the bookstore. He figured that she was running late for some school-related reason. He glanced at his watch, watching the second hand tick by as he browsed over some more book.

Soojung is usually on-time when it comes to appointments, he thought. She's usually early, too. I don't understand how Hyeri can be close friends with her. A smile crawled upon his face. Soojung must get annoyed a lot.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late!" Hyeri exclaimed, appearing right behind him. Taemin whirled around, surprised at her sudden appearance, not to mention that she looked completely different compared to the last time he saw her. She had cut her long hair into a short bob that made her look more cute. She also had a little bit of make-up on, obviously trying to impress Taemin a bit. "I had to help out a teacher with something. It took a lot longer than I had expected."

Helpful, like Soojung. Maybe that's why they get along, Taemin thought. He smiled. "It's no problem. I'm used to waiting."

Hyeri blushed. "That's nice…Soojung really found a lucky guy."

Am I lucky? he wondered. "Is that so? I don't think too highly of myself."

"Nonsense! You're so cool! You're like, a white prince or something!" Hyeri exclaimed. Her cheeks turned apple red. "L-Like a p-prince…"

"Anyway," Taemin continued, trying to change the topic, "why'd you call me here for?"

"W-Why…?" She seemed a bit confused, then gasped as if she had realized something. "R-Right! I asked you here for some other purpose instead of dating…!"

My gosh, he thought. She's so easy to read, it's a bit sad.

"I wanted your opinion on…" Her eyes wandered for a bit, and she quickly grabbed the closest book to her. "I really wanted to hear your opinion on this book!"

"'Stealing The Boy's Heart: Even Your Best Friend's Boyfriend'. You sure you want me to, um, tell you my opinion on this book?" Taemin asked quietly.

Hyeri quickly looked at the book's cover, then gasped when she realized that she picked a pretty controversial book for their situation. She turned red and quickly  slid the book back into place. She opened , trying to think of some kind excuse.

Actually, this might be good, Taemin thought. He cleared his throat. "Well, honestly, I never read the book, but it seems like a pretty underhanded tactic. I think a friend should respect her best friend and her boyfriend."

Disappointment clouded her face. "But feelings can't be helped, right?"

"Feelings can move on, right?"

"But what if they break up?"

"That's in the future. Don't hope too much for it."

"So you're not planning to break up with Soojung?" Hyeri asked. "You're planning to marry her, too?"

Taemin thought about that question for a moment. He was dating Soojung to help her out with making Myungsoo's life more reasonable, while he took advantage of her good status to make himself look better in front of adults. Once Myungsoo was taken care of, wouldn't that mean that Soojung would break up with him? How would that work out later?

"I haven't thought that far," he replied earnestly. "Marraige is something that should be mutually agreed. I don't know if this is just a fling or not for Soojung."

Hyeri smiled a bit and briefly looked away. "So that means I have a chance!"

"Look, I'm flattered that you confessed to me, but as long as I'm dating Soojung, I prefer it if you can leave me alone," Taemin said. "I don't know why Dasom decided to give you my number, but I do know that Dasom usually means bad news when it comes to love."

Her smile faded. "But it's not like you two are going to last. If I remember correctly, last time she had this huge crush on Myungsoo. If I know her any better, I bet she's using you for something."

Taemin stared at her. She's not as dumb as I thought she was. 

"But since Soojung didn't tell me her exact reason for dating you besides the fact that you're perfect, I'll respect your privacy with her." Hyeri smiled. "That doesn't mean I'm giving up, okay? Once I hear that she's breaking up with you, I'm going to scurry right over to your side."

Troublesome, Taemin thought, scowling. "Fine, but that doesn't mean that I'll get with you or anything. I just want you to leave me and Soojung alone without doing anything behind our backs."

"That seems agreeable," Hyeri said, nodding her head. She looked over his shoulder, then smiled at him. "Oh, speaking of your girlfriend, there she is!"

Taemin turned around and saw Soojung staring at the two of them. He noticed that her eyes were wider than before, as if she was surprised to see her best friend and her boyfriend together. Soojung turned to her other friends, told them something, then made her way over to Taemin's side. She awkwardly smiled at Hyeri and looked at Taemin.

"Hey guys! I didn't think I'd see you two together," Soojung said.

"Oh, I was just helping her pick out a good book to read," Taemin lied. He bent down and picked up a book. "Anyway, are you planning to get a book? If anything, I recommend this one. Helps a lot with learning English vocabulary."

Soojung forced a smile. "Oh, Hyeri doesn't take English for her language class. She takes Japanese."

Dang it. I screwed up, Taemin nervously thought. "Really? Hm. Then I'd recommend this other book. It helps with learning Japanese. I used this book in middle school."

"Thanks," Hyeri replied. She reached for the book he picked out. "I'll look over it." She flashed him a smile. "I hope we can meet soon! I'll leave you two alone…for now."

"I appreciate that," he responded, smiling back. Hyeri waved at him, then hugged Soojung. She walked away, purchasing the book just because Taemin had chosen it for her.

When the two were left alone, Soojung turned and faced Taemin. She still displayed her fake smile, and Taemin could tell that she was angry at him when she crossed her arms. The only thing Taemin could do was smile back innocently.

"Why were you with Hyeri?" Soojung asked, looking at him from toe to head. "I thought you said you had to do something with your friends."

"Is Hyeri not my friend? Any friend of my girlfriend is my friend," Taemin answered.

She stopped smiling when she realized that Taemin was avoiding her question. "You should think twice before lying to me, Taemin."

I'm not exactly lying, Taemin thought. "Does it matter, though? I mean, our relationship isn't that serious, is it?"

Soojung frowned. "W-Well, yeah, but still. I think I deserve to know—"

"I see your friends are here. How about we have a small date?" Taemin suggested. "Would that make you feel a bit better?"

She was just about to protest until Taemin grabbed her hand. She looked down at their hands, shocked that Taemin had taken the initiative to lead. She glanced up at him and noticed him giving her the fake smile that he gave to nearly everyone else.

She didn't like it.

Before she had entered the bookstore with her friends, Soojung had seen Hyeri and Taemin talk through the window. The only reason she went into the store was because she saw Taemin frowning at Hyeri and thought that he was saying something bad to her friend. However, the moment she stepped inside and saw Hyeri smile, there was a strange wave of anger—sadness, maybe—that made her feel that she was slowly fading away from their eyes.

In the end, she just wanted to know why the two were together. The fact that Taemin wasn't telling her already made her feel that she was excluded.

Soojung quickly removed her hand from his. Taemin turned around, alarmed to see her unwilling to play pretend. She pouted at him while frowning at the same time.

"Is there a problem?" Taemin asked.

"Why won't you tell me what you were doing with Hyeri?" Soojung asked softly.

He kept putting up that fake smile she didn't like. "I said it was nothing. Come on, let's g—"

"Why can't you just tell me?" she asked, raising her voice. A few people turned around and stared at her. She glared at Taemin, who only stared with an unamused expression. "Is there something wrong with telling me?"

"It wasn't anything big so I don't feel like I should really tell you about it," Taemin said. "If you're curious, go ask Hyeri. She'll tell you, right?"

Soojung opened , but closed it after thinking about his last few words. He was right. She could just go and ask Hyeri, but…

"But why won't you tell me?" Soojung asked in a softer tone. She looked up at him, still scowling. "Why can't you just tell me? You're here. It'd be easier getting information from you since you're here."

At least lie to me, she thought desperately. That way I know there's some kind of reason.

"I came to help pick out a book for her," Taemin replied. "There?"

Damn it, Taemin! If you're going to lie, make it a good one! Soojung thought. She gritted her teeth. 

"Should I hold hands with you? Or do you want me to do something else? Your friends are watching," Taemin said. 

Soojung glanced over to her group of friends, who were staring at the two with a worried expression. They knew that something was up with the couple. As much as Soojung didn't want to show it, she couldn't help but vent her anger at Taemin for being dishonest.

"You know what? Just go home. I'm going to stay and study with my friends," Soojung told him.

"Really? Should I stay to help you guys stu—"

"No! We're fine!" She shot him another glare. "I'm fine!"

Taemin looked at her for a few minutes. Then, with a small nod, he patted Soojung's head and turned away.

"I should give you some alone time. You don't seem to be in a good mood today." He waved his hand without looking at her. "Bye."

He walked away, while Soojung stormed towards her friends. She reached over and booked up a random book, pretending to read while her mind was filled with angry thoughts about Taemin. As she roughly flipped some pages, one of Soojung's friend decided to speak up. 

"Aren't you going somewhere with your boyfriend?" her first friend asked.

"No. I'm not. He's being a real jerk right now," Soojung muttered.

The second friend was encouraged to speak up. "What did he do?"

"He won't tell me anything. I asked him what he was doing with my best friend and he didn't tell me anything," Soojung answered.

"Maybe it's some kind of surprise party he's hiding," the first friend suggested.

"Impossible. There's nothing to celebrate," Soojung said. She sighed. "I just wanted to know, but he kept shutting me out."

"Maybe you're jealous," the third friend said.

Soojung stared at her friends with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"

"You do sound a bit jealous," the second friend added. "I mean, it's your best friend with your boyfriend. Would anything happen?"

"Exactly," Soojung said. She closed the book. "Nothing should happen, so I don't understand why he won't tell me."

"I still think it's because you're jealous," the third friend told her. "Calm down a bit, Soojung. It's Taemin for crying out loud. He's boyfriend—no, he's husband—material. If I was dating Taemin, I'd worry more about the friends he hangs out compared to him getting close with my best friend. He's close to those four girls and heck, some of them are hard to argue with."

Soojung took a deep breath. "Yeah, you guys might be right. Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

Though even though she resumed acting like herself, Soojung couldn't help but still be worried.