After class, you and Donghyuk headed over to the diner for lunch, and also to visit Chanwoo on his shift and possibly get a free meal (Donghyuk's words not yours -- well he actually said free feast).

"I love you two, but no way," Chanwoo replied as he crossed his arms and gave an exhausted sigh. He looked at you curiously. "Doesn't Bobby give you money for these kinds of things?"

"No, because he's my boyfriend not my father," you replied simply. "I have money for the bill. This was just Donghyuk's idea. He wanted to see if it'd work."

Donghyuk gave you intelligent look, avoiding the placed blame on himself. "But what's the synonym for both boyfriend and father?" He gave a dark smile. "Daddy..."

You and Chanwoo pulled disgusted grimaces.

"Please don't do that ever again," you sighed.

"What has gotten into you?" Chanwoo said, looking more offended than disgusted. "You used to be the normal one."

"People grow," Donghyuk told Chanwoo in a matter of fact tone, before sitting quietly for a moment. "For example, some men grow to be fathers and others grow to be daddies."

Chanwoo flicked him with some water from his pitcher. "Bad dog!"

Donghyuk laughed maniacally. "I love that word! All I have to do is say it and everyone freaks out!"

Chanwoo grimaced before turning around and walking back to the other table he was waiting on.

"You just keep on getting stranger and stranger," you mumbled as you shook your head.

"People grow in different ways," Donghyuk replied as he took a sip of his soda. "For example, you get softer and nicer. Bobby matures. I get funnier."

"If you say so," you replied, half convinced. "I feel bad for the future girlfriends who you'll force to call you... that."

"It takes a certain person to get my charm," Donghyuk explained. "In the mean time, Chanwoo will do. He gets me."

"Not sure. He seemed offended by that joke," you replied, unconvinced yet interested in finding out just who Donghyuk was. He was someone you couldn't really understand, even though you spent quite some time with him at school.

"It's sort of like he puts up with it even if he doesn't want to because he's my best friend," Donghyuk replied, lacing his hands on the table, looking happy to be able to share his thoughts. "I bring in the comic relief, so even though he's nice and polite, he has some fun."

You blinked, impressed by his analysis. "Do you just spend time analyzing everyone?"

"It's what the puppet master does," Donghyuk replied, eyes wide as he mimicked a puppet with his arms. Again, it was kind of creepy to see, but apparently that was his sense of humor. "Someone has to do it, or else everyone would be running like headless chickens when something goes wrong."

You nodded, slowly understanding the way his mind worked. "What have you found out so far about everyone else?"

"Well, right now you're in a tough place because Bobby's finally maturing, which is what you thought you wanted and still sort of do, but now he's not the bad boy you fell in love with and, honestly, sort of boring," Donghyuk explained, making you straighten in your seat at the accuracy. It felt like going to a fortune teller. "Bobby's okay with you being soft on him, because it was literally his fantasy since, I mean, forever. He's trying to be boring because he thinks that's what you deserve and he doesn't want you to dump him again, but on the other hand, he can't help but be Bobby sometimes. Being Bobby sometimes means being flirty and playful, but for us, his friends, he's just... boring all the time."

You stayed silent for a moment, taking in what he had just said. That was a lot of truth you didn't realize you needed to hear. You realized you really needed to sort your relationship out and Bobby needed to do some soul searching or... something. You squinted slightly in confusion. "And you figured this out how?"

"Oh, I'm an amazing observer," Donghyuk replied with a prideful grin. "This is what I do with my free time. You should hear what I have on Jinhwan."

///

Bobby stepped into the bar for his afternoon shift, but immediately stopped short at the doormat. "What is he doing here?"

Shin looked over his shoulder from the bar and grinned. "Bobby! What a coincidence!"

Jinhwan shrugged from behind the bar as he held up some paper. His expression didn't offer much about how he felt, but what was new. He was like the female version of you, only not as pretty and with a lot more sarcasm. "He came with a resume looking for a job."

Oh. Oh no.

"And what? You're hiring him?" Bobby spat, his eyes darkening as he looked Shin up and down. "You can't let this piece of-"

"Bobby," Jinhwan warned as he looked back down at the resume. "This isn't high school."

"Oh, so what? When you finish high school you're just magically supposed to stop hating people?" Bobby countered as he stepped behind the bar and gave Shin another cold glare. "He's an-"

"Amazing worker with an impressive resume," Shin finished with an obnoxiously white smile (seriously, how was that even humanly possible?). "Hey, how's Ahri doing? Haven't seen her in a while. I miss her. Did she finally dump you yet?"

Bobby scoffed, taking a step forward. "Excuse me. What was that?"

"And just like that, Bobby returns in full form," Jinhwan mumbled dryly as he continued reading Shin's resume. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bobby's hand wrap around a bottle and he shook his head. "You break anything and you buy it."

"Oh, that's not fair, how about we split it down the middle?" Shin replied sarcastically. "I know Bobby probably can't afford what his temper takes."

"I was talking to both of you," Jinhwan replied tiredly as he looked up, not having the energy in him to act like he cared when he genuinely didn't. When you work two jobs and date a girl with as much energy as Yeri, it's tough. "Sorry, Jiwon, but please let me finish the interview before throwing the first punch. It'd make everything easier."

Bobby set down the bottle as Shin grinned at his reaction. "An interview?"

"Yeah, so go over there and... stretch or something," Jinhwan replied, gesturing to the floor a few feet away. "Don't want to catch a cramp."

Bobby sighed, about to counter, when his phone rang and he groaned instead, defeatedly grabbing it from his back pocket. "Hello?"

"Why do you sound so upset?" you replied. "You're not still irritated I didn't come over last night, are you?"

Bobby sighed. "No, I'm not, but you should really think about what I said."

"About moving in?" you replied. "We can talk about this when we get home."

"See, you just said when we get home," Bobby replied as he walked into the backroom. "That's a sign."

"You think everything's a sign," you replied, probably rolling your eyes. "Just because I got a little soft on you, doesn't mean you can force me to do anything."

Bobby smiled slightly, oddly at the moment despite the current situation. You were softened, but you were still tough in a good way. He should misbehave more often to see that side of you. "You're right. I'm just kind of irritated because Shin may or may not get a job here at the bar."

"'Kind of.' Yeah right," you replied with a sigh. "Anyway, just don't break your arm again. You're bad at kissing when you only have one arm to work with."

"Please don't remind me. I'm still traumatized by it all," Bobby replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was hoping you'd forget that happened."

You laughed airily. "I have to go. I'll see you later."

"Okay," Bobby replied. "You know, I'm always the one saying 'I love you,' and sometimes I'd like to say 'I love you, too.'"

"I love you," you said flatly, going through the motions.

"I love you," Bobby replied proudly. "No, wait. That's not it. See I'm not used to-"

"I love you too," you interrupted with a laugh. You hung up before he could protest.

///

"You wouldn't believe what Bobby just told me," you said to Hanbin as you set your books down on the kitchen counter and headed to the couch.

"What? That Shin's applying to work at the bar?" Hanbin mumbled, looking over at you. He was taking time off from work to heal, and he looked completely bored out of his mind. You wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't moved all day. Sure didn't look like it.

"What did you do?" you replied, giving him a suspicious look.

"I'm making Bobby interesting again. He's too boring now and it pisses me off," Hanbin casually replied as he leaned on his fist and flipped through the channels. "I'm sure you know what I mean. You should dump him again so he actually acts sort of like himself."

"I have no idea what to say to any of what you just said," you replied as you dropped down next to him. He got grouchy when he was bored and this was a classic example. "Where's Min?"

"I dunno," Hanbin replied. "Doing... something. She always leaves and then decides what she wants to do after."

Sounded like Minhee. It was funny. Hanbin teased you about "babying" Bobby, but the moment Minhee left, he was decomposing on the couch.

You hesitated just for a split second before speaking. "You really think Bobby got boring?"

"Yea