"Here." Taemin looked up, noticing that Byunghun was handing him the journal. "You're our last journal guy."

"Oh, right. The last one," Taemin murmured, taking the notebook. "Do we know where we're going to bury it?"

"Not sure. Some time today at somewhere," Byunghun said, shrugging his shoulders. "You'll have to ask Dasom for the details."

"Got it," Taemin said. He stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going now?" the athlete asked.

"To Dasom," Taemin said. "Or our so-called, 'The Love Expert.' I have a few questions to ask her."

"About Soojung and Hyeri?" Byunghun asked. Taemin sighed, but nodded. "Tough luck. If only you had a smooth relationship like me."

"Smooth? If I remember correctly, you've been harboring a one-sided love for year and still didn't get the girl you had a long-time crush on," Taemin retorted, smirking.

"At least I got the girl I want, and that's Sohyun," Byunghun said. He followed Taemin out of the honor's class. "Dasom isn't in her class right now. I think she's at Myungsoo's class?"

"Why Myungsoo's class?" Taemin inquired.

"They're flirting."

"Who's flirting?" The boys turned and saw Dasom standing right behind them. Byunghun gasped, surprised as he placed his hand over his chest.

"Dasom! Don't scare us like that!" Byunghun exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't spread weird rumors like that! I wasn't flirting with Myungsoo. I went over to his classroom because he sent me a text to come over to his classroom."

"And what did he say?" Taemin asked.

She grinned. "Nothing much. He just said that he wanted to see me."

"See? Flirting," Byunghun said in a matter-of-fact tone. Dasom glared at him.

"Like I said, we weren't flirting!" she exclaimed.

"Sounds like flirting to me," Taemin said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What would you know?" She scoffed at him.

Oh right, he remembered quickly. "I don't know, which is why I wanted to talk to you."

"Me?" She seemed a bit surprised. "For what?"

"For love advice," Taemin said.

"Is this the whole drama with Hyeri and Soojung?" Dasom asked. He nodded. She sighed. "Taemin, I can't really tell you who to pick and why."

"Why not?"

She grumbled a bit before trying to explain how she thought of the situation. "Both girls love you, equally or not. However, everyone has difference preferences when it comes to love. I might say that I like Hyeri better than Soojung, but you probably like Soojung more than Hyeri, right?"

Taemin blushed a bit before slowly nodding. Byunghun stared at him.

"What? You seriously like Soojung?" Byunghun asked.

"Is it bad?" Taemin questioned his feelings for the moment.

"It's not bad, it's just a little surprising," Byunghun admitted. "I wouldn't expect you—who always studies and has his nose in a book—to think about love." Byunghun rubbed his chin. "It must be because of Jieun and Junhee. They're rubbing off on you."

"So are you," Dasom added. "You have a girlfriend, too. Don't you think it's reasonable for Taemin to start thinking about his love life when, like, two of his best friends already have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?"

Byunghun opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't really have anything in mind. Dasom was right, and that was it. There wasn't anything for him to refute.

"Then what should I do?" Taemin asked, bringing the two's attention back to his problem. "I like Soojung, but then that would mean that Hyeri would get hurt, which would affect the girls' friendship."

"Like I said, I personally like Hyeri. She's sweet," Dasom said.

"But Taemin should go with the girl he likes," Byunghun argued. "So he should go with Soojung."

"Either way, things aren't going to turn out well," Dasom said. She was about to say more until Taemin's phone rang. Taemin glanced down at his phone before heaving a sigh. "Who is it?"

"Hyeri," he said. "She's been calling me nonstop."

"See? She cares and wants to talk, compared to Soojung who's just running away," Dasom said.

"Caring? That's just being a creep," Byunghun said.

"Well, either way, it's all up to Taemin to decide," Dasom said, facing him. "You do whatever you want to do, okay?" She glanced at his phone. "However, I'd say you should pick it up and listen to what she has to say."

"And then reject her," Byunghun chirped in. Dasom grabbed Byunghun's arm, ready to drag him away.

"We'll leave you alone with that call, okay?" Dasom said.

"Good luck!" Byunghun exclaimed.

Taemin only nodded his head as he watched the two leave. He let the phone ring a few more times before it stopped. Then, he started making his way through the halls of the school and down the stairs. He arrived outside and made sure that he was in a secluded area. When the phone rang again, he took a deep breath, and finally picked up the call.

"Hello?" he answered. There was silence. "Hello?"

"O-Oh. Taemin," Hyeri stuttered. She sounded shocked.

"Hi Hyeri." Taemin greeted her slowly. "You called?"

'You called?' That sounds so dumb, he thought to himself.

"Y-Yes! I did call!" In a quiet voice, she said, "Lots of times…" There was a short pause before she continued. "Can we, um, meet up?"

Taemin thought about it before replying, "For what?"

She was quiet, but cleared . "U-Um, I have to say something to you—"

"That you love me?" he asked, finishing her thoughts. She didn't say anything. So I was right.

"Yes," she said in a confident tone. "I love you. I love you a lot. I didn't want to do this through phone, but if I'm left with no choice, then I'll do it by phone."

He was grateful. He was happy to hear that she was in love with him and admired how persistent she was with her feelings. It showed that she was determined, and he felt like there was no other person who could make her happy except for him.

But, he thought, closing his eyes, there's only one person who can make me happy, and that's not Hyeri.

"Hyeri," Taemin said, "thank you for your feelings, but I don't need it."

She remained silent. It was a brief moment of silence where she was trying to absorb the entire situation. He heard a sniffle and a small chuckle.

"R-Right," she muttered. "You don't love me like how I love you." She paused. "You like Soojung, don't you? Even though you two broke up, you still love her, right?"

"Yes," he admitted earnestly. "I love her a lot." He looked down at his shoes. "I'm planning to talk to her later today."

"Oh, really?" she asked, surprised. He heard her choke over her own words. "W-Well, I hope things work out."

Taemin paused. I'm hurting her and I feel guilty over this. How would I feel if I dated Soojung? Happy, of course, but every time I see Hyeri, I'll just feel crushed for ripping her apart like this. He glanced at the wall. I don't even have the right to love someone if I'm going to always think about another girl.

"Yeah," he said, realizing what he wanted now. "I…hope our talk works out." There was a moment of silence. "Hey, I'm going to hang up. I'm going to ask Soojung if I can meet her today."

"O-Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll just, um, hang up," Hyeri stammered. "Taemin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for at least giving me a chance confess, even though you were always well-aware of my feelings for you."

A small smile appeared on his lips. "No problem, and I'm sorry that things just have to be this way."

"Yeah… Oh, and Taemin?"

"Yes?"

"Don't make Soojung cry," she warned him. "She's…a good girl."

He broke into a bitter smile. "I can't make any promises."

Before he gave Hyeri a chance to speak, he hung up.

Taemin looked down at his phone. Then, gently closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before contacting his ex-girlfriend. He lifted his phone besides his ear, listening to the intense rings that seemed to echo relentlessly in his ear. He continued to wait until he heard a small click. His heart nearly stopped.

"Hello?"

He swallowed—hard.

"Hi, Soojung," he said quietly. There was a short pause.

"Hi," Soojung replied. There was a heavy drop of awkwardness between the two. 

"Um, are you busy right now? If you're not, I'd like to meet up and talk…"

At noon, Taemin saw Soojung sitting on the swing set, lowering her head with her fingers tightly gripped around the chains of the string. Her face was pale and she was visibly upset, as if she knew what was going to happen next. Taemin closed his eyes, stood still for a few seconds, then gathered the courage to approach her.

He stopped momentarily when he was only a feet or two away from her. Soojung, sensing a presence, lifted her head. Her expression crumbled when she saw Taemin, who gave her a painful look of sorrow. Regardless of her heavy heart, she gave him a small smile, to which he did the same to her.

"Sit down," Soojung said. Taemin continued to look down at her. "What? Is it so bad to sit down?"

"No," he said. He slowly took a seat on the swing next to her. "It's not bad to sit down and just…talk."

Talk. Taemin shook his head. That was a terrible word to use.

"Yeah. Talk," Soojung said. She gave him another smile before looking away while rocking the swing back and forth. "So. What did you want to talk about?"

"I really like you," he confessed. Her eyes widened and lit up. A hint of hope was vividly displayed on her face. Taemin closed his eyes, but opened them to make eye-contact with her. "However, I don't think that I should date you."

"W-Why not?" Soojung asked meekly. "We like each other. I like you, too. I like you a lot."

"But Hyeri—"

"Hyeri has nothing to do with us," she told him.

"No," Taemin argued. "She has to do a lot with us. She's your best friend, and she has a crush on me."

"She'll come to understand."

"But your friendship—"

"I don't believe that our friendship is going to break so easily—"

"But I do," Taemin said, emphasizing that it was what he thought. Soojung kept quiet and stared at him in disbelief. "I don't think that your friendship will last if I keep being the problem."

Soojung didn't say a word for a long time. She rocked herself again, little by little.

Soon after, she took a deep breath and said, "Then it wasn't friendship to begin with."

"That's not what I'm trying to say," Taemin said.

"Then what else can I do? I want to keep two people in my life, but if I pick one, then the other won't be happy!" she pointed out. She started to get angry at herself, but she wasn't sure why.

"So I'm going to make it easier for you," he told her.

There was an incredibly heavy pause between the two. A gloomy atmosphere hovered over them. Soojung knew what he was going to say. She knew exactly what he was going to say. Her chest squeezed in pain and she found it hard to digest everything. It was a little funny; she knew what was going to happen next, but it was still difficult to swallow the truth.

"Please don't," Soojung whispered.

"I've already rejected Hyeri," he said.

"…I heard. She told me right after you rejected her."

"I think it's only fair that I should reject you, too."

God damn it, Soojung thought. "You don't have to…"

"I'd rather sacrifice this relationship rather than have you two deal with me. I understand the value of friendship, and I think it's important for you to take the time and repair that relationship." He finally got up from the swing set and walked over to her. He gently patted her head. "It's not too late, Soojung. I know that you and Hyeri are really good friends. I just think it's not right for me to be the reason why your friendship breaks."

"It…won't—"

"It will break if I keep staying," he declared. He gave her a gentle smile. "Besides, I don't have time to date. I'm going to be a third year next year and I need to study. I don't have time to be committed into a relationship. It's better for me to reject you now and get it over with instead of being distracted."

Soojung paused. A distraction. Of all the words he could've used, he stated that dating was a distraction.

If it's like that, she thought, then it's definitely better for me to be rejected and get along with Hyeri again.

Soojung smiled a little before letting out a small chuckle. "I guess it's better for me to move on…"

"I'm glad that you understand," he said. "I'm sorry, Soojung."

"No, it's fine," Soojung said. She took a deep breath. "You're going to regret breaking up with me."

Taemin laughed. "I already do."

Soojung giggled, then kept oddly quiet. "But…can you leave first? I want to stay here a bit longer."

"Sure," he said. He turned his back against her. "Goodbye, Soojung."

"Thank you, Taemin," Soojung said, breaking into one final smile.

As he walked away, he heard hear small sniffles behind him. His scrunched his face, and looked up at the sky to prevent himself from spilling any tears. He continued to walk away and made another turn at the corner, where he suddenly bumped into Hyeri. She was out of breath and her hair was messy, showing that she had been running for a long time. She gave him a shocked look, surprised to see him alone.

"Where's Soojung?" Hyeri asked. Taemin pressed his lips, which only caused her to draw her eyes even wider. "You…" A face of confusion. "Why…?"

"I have school," Taemin told her, shrugging his shoulders.

Hyeri scoffed. "Great excuse."

"Thank you," Taemin said, replying to her sarcasm. He gestured his chin behind him. "Anyway, she's at the park."

"Is she crying?" Taemin remained quiet. Hyeri's face rolled into disgust. "You couldn't even reject her without making her cry? Seriously?"

"It was inevitable," he said.

"I don't know why I even liked you," she muttered.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Hyeri rolled her eyes and walked pass him. "I'm her best friend. What do you think I'm going to do?"

He grinned as he watched her disappear. Once he saw her off, he turned again and continued walking.

Just a couple of feet away, he saw five familiar faces waiting for him at the corner of the street. He frowned, but walked over to them, wondering what they were doing.

"Are you finally done?" Jieun asked.

"With what?"

"With all that drama stuff," Dasom said.

"Oh, yeah," Taemin said. He let out a soft chuckle while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "We're through."

Dasom studied his expression before giving him a sympathetic smile. "You really liked her, didn't you?"

"Is that wrong?" He barely managed to choke out his words.

"It's perfectly fine," Eunji said, rubbing his back.

"…Why do I feel like I did the wrong thing?" he asked.

"You're still too naive with love," Junhee said.

"Says that girl who just started a relationship," Byunghun said. He dodged Junhee's hand, which was about to smack his face. "Aha! My athletic skills have increased!"

"Come on," Dasom said. "Let's go eat!"

"Eat what?" Jieun asked.

"Desserts."

"Why?" Junhee asked.

"For this guy right here," Dasom said, locking her arm around Taemin's shoulder.

"I don't really need anything—"

"Great idea," Eunji said, smiling.

"Come on, let's go! I want free food!" Byunghun exclaimed. "You're paying, right, Dasom?"

"I was going to make Taemin pay," Dasom said.

"You're going to make the heartbroken guy pay for everyone?" Junhee asked.

"Yep!"

"Wow," Taemin murmured. "You guys are great friends."

Although his voice was dripping with sarcasm, his smile showed that he sincerely meant his words. His friends all smiled and laughed. They all huddled close to Taemin, dragging him to the nearest sweets shop to drown away his sorrows with snacks.

"Have you decided on what the last journal entry is?" Dasom asked him. "We're burying that later today. You know that, right?"

Taemin nodded. "I got a good idea of what to write. I'll have it written and we'll bury it."

"Good. Now, let's go!"

The End

Author's Note: And after 3+ years (cause the original was deleted wayyy before) with the final 60th chapter, To Trouble Thee has finally been concluded! The goal of this story was to balance out each character's timeline by making them write in the journal and take turns. However, I'm not sure if you guys noticed, but the days started to get closer and closer to each other as the chapters increased because I miscalculated and screwed up there (lol). Still, the overall story ended somewhere close to how I imagined the ending would be. Sure, not everyone had an individual happy ending, but not everyone gets a happy ending when they've just started living their lives.

I want to take this time to thank all my readers, subscribers, commenters, up-voters, and anyone else who supported this story. It really means a lot that you guys followed me until the end, especially since I screwed up in the beginning by accidentally deleting this story when I was supposed to delete a draft.

As of now, none of my current stories holds any fluff or happy themes. Usually I also have a new story to advertise once I finish my story, but I don't have one right now. Technically my newest story is Pillars of Pawns, featuring Red Velvet's Seulgi, f(x)'s Krystal, EXO's Sehun and Kai, and Girl's Day Hyeri. So if you want to check that out, click >HERE< and you'll be redirected to there! It also has a school setting like TTT, except PoP is more focused on the idea of popularity vs. friendship, and it has a lot more drama compared to TTT. 

Again, thank you so much for supporting this story and I hope that you guys enjoyed it!