"Byunghun! We're in the same class together!" Dasom exclaimed. She threw her arms around Byunghun's neck, who stared at the new class list with a pale expression. 

"Oh god no," he muttered. He glanced at his friends. "Do you think it's too late to try to go to the special class?"

"You're not even fit to go there," Taemin said. "You would fail the test. Jieun failed it, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm surprised that you would fail it. I thought you were going to do all this for Hyunwoo?" Junhee asked her.

Jieun stiffened, but she smiled. "No, no! Nope! Hyunwoo is not in the picture anymore!"

The five stared at her, thinking that she was joking. However, when they noticed that Hyunwoo was a few feet away from her and how she didn't budge, their eyes widened and they gasped.

"What?" Dasom exclaimed. She grabbed Jieun's shoulders. "What do you mean that Hyunwoo's out of the picture? Does that mean you hate him? What happened during the summer?"

Jieun forced a smile. "It's nothing big. I just realized that I had to grow up a bit more. No big deal."

"I'm surprised," Taemin muttered. "Impressed, even."

"What surprises me is that Eunji got into the special class. Didn't you have the same IQ as Jieun?" Byunghun asked.

"I got Taemin to help me," Eunji said. Her eyes softened. "I think I should at least attempt to study hard now that Howon's gone. I mean, school was fun, but now it's time for me to get serious."

"Mhm. Well, I see that Daehyun made it into the special class, too. How's his IQ, Byunghun?" Taemin asked.

"Daehyun? What? That guy got in?" Byunghun squinted his eyes at the board. "I thought he wasn't planning to go into the special class…"

"Something must've changed his mind," Dasom said. She quickly locked her arm around his neck, causing Byunghun to groan. "Meanwhile, let's go and check out where we sit! We'll be heading to our class first!"

The group bid a goodbye to Dasom and Byunghun. Jieun let out a small sigh, but she continued to smile. She held Junhee's hands, then gently tugged her away from the other two.

"I think Junhee and I should go to class. We're in the same class now, anyway," Jieun said. "It's used to be me and Eunji but…" She playfully stuck her tongue out at Eunji. "Eunji! Why'd you have to get so smart? Who am I going to copy homework from?"

"You can copy mine. Dasom did that a lot back when we were in the same class," Junhee said.

Jieun stared at Junhee, then threw her a hug. "Junhee! You're my new best friend! Come on! Let's go and pick our seats!"

Taemin and Eunji watched the two scurry away. For the moment, they kept quiet, unsure of what to say to each other.

"Are you okay?" Taemin asked her cautiously.

"Yeah," Eunji said. She forced another smile. "How about you? You broke up with Soojung. Are you okay?"

Taemin's eyes landed on a particular figure. He watched the girl smile and laugh with her friends, acting as if she had never had a boyfriend in the first place. Swallowing his true feelings, Taemin only nodded and looked forward.

"I can't even see her anymore," he lied. "Let's go to the special class. It's best for you figure out who you're going to sit next to."

"Why?" she asked.

He gave her a stern look. "In the special class, it's all about who you're friends with and what advantages you can get from them. In this case, you want to sit next to someone who won't annoy you or push you around."

She only blinked her eyes and nodded. She followed him, not knowing that she was being closely watched by another friend of hers at the distant.

When lunch time came, the six gathered and sat down at the cafeteria for the first time a while. As they unpacked and ate, Dasom let out a groan and bumped her forehead against the table.

"That stupid teacher of ours!" Dasom cursed loudly. "Why can't we pick our own seats? Byunghun and I sit so far away! Who am I supposed to talk to?"

"You talk to everybody," Byunghun retorted, rolling his eyes. "She's just upset that she's sitting at the back corner of the class."

"Oh! That's where Junhee is sitting in our class! She's at the back corner next to the window, and her partner is that one art guy. I sit on the table besides them," Jieun chirped up.

"I hate seating charts. Those things need to disappear or something," Dasom complained. She searched her lunch bag, then groaned. "I didn't pack my drink. Do you guys have an extra?"

"No. I heard that the machine in the third floor has some drinks, though. The others ran out of drinks," Taemin said, pointing at the ceiling.

Dasom grimaced. "Ugh. Third floor. That's where all the seniors are."

"Is that a problem?" Junhee asked. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Myungsoo's probably busy with school stuff. What are the chances that I'll encounter him when I go to the third floor? she reasoned with herself. She shook her head at Junhee. "No, I'm good. Be right back!"

She got up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria. She traveled through the halls until she reached the stairs. She saw several third years and second years occupying the stairs, going up and down for whatever reason they had. She climbed up, ignoring anyone who looked at her.

When she made it to the third floor, she scurried quickly to the vending machine. She minded her own business, putting in the coins and pressed a button for the water bottle to come out. Just as she bent down to grab her bottom, she heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Dasom?"

She froze. Quickly, she stood straight up with her water bottle in her hand. Her face paled at the sight of him standing in front of her. Before he had the chance to say anything, she quickly dashed back into the crowd, hoping to blend in with the student body. She heard him call her name and knew that he was trying to chase after her, but she started taking wild turns to lose him.

She continued to run until she made a quick turn at another corner. Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. Right when she was about to yell Myungsoo's name, she made eye-contact with another familiar man.

"Baekhyun," she breathed, panting hard.

"What's going on? Are you being chased by some bad guy?" Baekhyun asked, looking around.

When Dasom realized that Myungsoo wasn't chasing her, she sighed and fixed her hair. She looked at Baekhyun and forced a smile.

"No, I wasn't. I just wanted to run a bit," she lied.

"You and exercise? That doesn't connect properly." Baekhyun chuckled and let go of her arm. "Tell me what's up."

Dasom bit her bottom lip. "I don't know if I can trust you with this…"

"Is it about love?" Baekhyun asked. He grinned. "Is it about Myungsoo?"

She let out a soft yelp. "H-How'd you know?"

"It was a lucky guess. Here, let's walk and talk," he said, walking ahead of her. Dasom frowned, but she followed him. "So what's up?"

"I've been avoiding Myungsoo for quite some time," Dasom said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I get this weird feeling every time I see him. Like, usually what happens is that I approach him or he approaches me and I make fun of him. Now, it's like I lost the ability to mess around with his mind." She gasped. "It's like he's messing up my mind!"

"Hm… Is it?" he asked, slightly amused. "Maybe you're just messing with yourself."

"No, no, no. That can't possibly be it. I know myself," Dasom said, disagreeing with him completely.

"But that's what love does. It messes with people, even though they think they know how to control themselves," Baekhyun pointed out.

Dasom frowned and stared down at the ground. "I know, but this isn't like love. It's kind of like… disgust?"

"Why disgust?" Baekhyun asked, laughing.

"I don't know. Every time I see him, I kind of get scared," Dasom said.

"Scared? So you're disgusted and scared?" He smiled. "You see him as some kind of creep, don't you?"

"Creep? No, that's too harsh!" Dasom exclaimed.

"Aha!" Baekhyun turned and pointed at her. "That's it."

She frowned. "What's it?"

"Since when did you ever consider Myungsoo's feelings? You've called him plenty other bad names before. Why did you defend him now?" Baekhyun pointed out.

She was about to respond to his question, but found herself unable to do so. Her eyes widened and she covered with her hand.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "I'm being nice. I'm being considerate."

"And that's not like you," Baekhyun added. "After you found out that Myungsoo likes you, you've become more aware of him. You don't see him as someone you can make fun of anymore. You see him as an actually guy, and you're just not used to it. That's why you're feeling all freaked out."

"Amazing," she murmured.

"Don't underestimate the skills of a love expert," Baekhyun said, smirking.

"So what should I do?" Dasom asked. She looked at him for a long time, only seeing him smile.

"Accept the changes," Baekhyun reasoned. He smiled at her. "In the end, Myungsoo's probably hurting way more than you. Do you know how much it hurts when someone you love ignores you and runs away?"

Dasom bit her bottom lip. "I guess it wouldn't feel too good…"

"Exactly. Now, that entire advice succession will cost you. How about treating me to dinner next Friday…?"

After school, the group was surprised to discover that Dasom would be walking home without the gang.

"Are you sure?" Junhee asked. "I mean, if you're waiting for someone, we can wait with you."

"It's fine," Dasom said, smiling. "I need to face this on my own."

They were confused, but they left her alone anyway. She waited alone in front of the gate, pacing back and forth. As the sun came down, Dasom watched several students pass by her. Some greeted her, while others stared at her, wondering who she was waiting for.

"Dasom?" 

Dasom whirled around. She saw Myungsoo standing in front of her. Baekhyun was besides him, planning to accompany him to home. Once he realized that Dasom wanted to talk in private, he only patted Myungsoo's shoulder and smiled.

"I'm going first," Baekhyun said. "Good luck."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Myungsoo asked, watching his friend run away. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Then, he glanced at Dasom, who looked down at her feet. "Did you want to talk or something…?"

"Talk," Dasom repeated, nodding her head. "I wanted to talk. Do you need to go anywhere?"

"Well, no. I was planning to go straight home today," Myungsoo said. "You know that."

"Good," she said. "Then let's walk home together."

A blush crawled up to his cheeks. "T-Together?"

"Yeah." Dasom nodded her head and turned. "Together."

The two walked in silence. The sky reddened. A few birds chirped their afternoon song while a couple of cars drove passed by them. Their footsteps tapped against the concrete pavement in sync, but they never looked at each other or talked. It was horribly awkward for both, but somehow, it was bearable.

When they were a few minutes from their house, Myungsoo sighed. Dasom heard him, but she didn't say anything. She continued to walk, trying to get the feel of how it would be if the two started dating. If it was awkward now, how awkward would it get if they planned to date?

"Listen," Myungsoo started. He stopped his tracks and looked up at Dasom, "let's go back to how things were. My feelings weren't supposed to be revealed like this. I'd rather go back to how things were."

Dasom bit her tongue. He was looking at her with so much pain in his eyes. It actually hurt her to see him like this. Just how mean could she get and agree to pretend that this had never happened? 

"Accept the changes." Baekhyun's voice rang in her head. "In the end, Myungsoo's probably hurting way more than you are."

Forcing a smile, Dasom looked directly in his eyes.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's already out there. There's no way that we can pretend that it never existed." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to say this to you, but I'm going to have to reject you."

Myungsoo stared at her. Then, he let out a small laugh and hung his head low. He took a deep breath, holding back his tears. With a smile, he nodded his head, acknowledging Dasom's answer.

"You're not as stupid as I thought you were," Myungsoo said. He walked besides Dasom. "Okay, fine. I'm rejected. No big deal."

"No hard feelings?" Dasom asked, clenching her teeth.

"No hard feelings," he repeated, nodding his head. He took another deep breath. "It kind of feels refreshing to be rejected, though. I feel like I have a little bit more freedom."

Dasom smiled. "Thank goodness! I was afraid that you were going to prank me or something for rejecting you."

"Oh, I've got plans," Myungsoo said, chuckling. "It's just that you won't know when I hit you."

Dasom dropped her jaws and stopped walking, watching Myungsoo's back.

"You… You jerk!" she cried out loud, chasing after him. She still smiled, though. 

Perhaps for the moment, it would be better for the two to be friends.