The next morning, after spending most of the night lying awake on her bed, Sohee groggily walked out of bed to get ready. Krystal's words kept ringing in her ears as she walked out of her apartment building and walked towards the subway station. During the whole ride, she was tempted to send a text to Jiyong, to let him know that she's going to school on her own. Nope. He doesn't deserve that, she convinced herself otherwise before shoving her phone deep into her backpack. Besides, he may not even come by to pick me up, she added.

An hour minutes into her class, she saw Jiyong glaring at her through the window. She quickly ducked her head to pretend not to see, but he knocked on the glass, still glaring and beckoning her to come out. "Umm... Mr. Stuart? May I go to the bathroom?" she asked nervously. When she left the classroom, Jiyong grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the class towards the hall. "Where were you this morning?" he hissed. "I had to be here early," Sohee lied quickly, trying her hardest to sound confident and aloof. He closed his eyes and sighed, "I called you 20 times! Why didn't you answer your phone?" he nearly yelled. "I haven't checked my phone all morning," she responded, making Jiyong groan in frustration and lean on the wall next to them to calm himself down.

"Sohee, I waited for you for an hour," he huffed.

"I'm sorry," now Sohee was feeling bad.

"Did you take the subway here?"

"Yes."

"You should've told me that you needed to get here early when I drove you home yesterday," he exhaled, "Are you mad at me about something? You were awfully quiet yesterday too," he scrunched his forehead.

Sohee said nothing.

"Because if you are, you should just tell me instead of pulling that this morning," he huffed, annoyed and tired.

"Were you..." Sohee began, "Were you with Kiko two nights ago? At her house?"

Jiyong's face froze and he hesitated before answering, "Yes."

Sohee sighed. "Jiyong..."

"It was important."

Sohee shook her head quietly, "Jiyong, what's the point of all this if you're going to be at her house until late at night? I thought you're doing this so that you can show everyone and yourself that you're over her. If you keep doing that, what are we doing? Why bother pretending?"

"You don't understand, Sohee," he exhaled.

"What's not to understand? Explain it to me, Jiyong."

He shook his head, "You just won't. Don't ask me about this again," his jaw clenched.

Sohee could only sigh at his answer. There was something in his voice, something in the way his eyes dimmed that made Sohee stop pressing further. She could sense how important this was to him and she wasn't ready to poke further. And right at that moment, the bell rang and everyone spilled out around them, putting an end to their conversation even if they wanted to continue.

"I'm sorry. I'll see you at lunch," he leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips before walking to his class.

For the first time, the kiss felt bitter on her lips.

***

At lunch time, Sohee tried her best to be normal again. She sat next to him, munching away on her lunch when he nudged her, "Do you wanna go and get ice cream after school today?" He had a smile on his face and Sohee could see his friends waiting for her response too. "Sure," she nodded with a small smile. When they arrived at Softree, the guys and Jiyong sat at a giant table together, chatting away. She turned to ask him before sitting down, "What do you guys want? I'll order," she offered. The guys shouted their orders and she proceeded to place them at the cashier. She was about to pull out her wallet to pay when Jiyong's hand stopped hers. "I got this. I can't look cheap in front of everyone," he explained in a whisper, "As long as you're my girlfriend, you won't have to pay for anything," he added a little too loudly for the benefit of his buddies' ears. She rolled her eyes, remembering their conversation about what it meant to be fake dating that took place when they first started. He had said, "Since this is just a pretend, I won't pay for your food when we go out," which annoyed Sohee further because they were having this conversation while sitting in his luxury car. In present day, she whispered, "Thanks," as they walked to their table with a tray full of ice cream with various flavours and toppings.

Sohee couldn't understand most of their conversations and she was fine with that. Sitting next to Jiyong while munching away on her free vanilla ice cream was good enough. After all, who could say no to free ice cream? But she knew that this ice cream place is the hang out spot for many National High students, including Kiko. She couldn't help but to glance at the door everytime the bell dings to see who has walked in. She's a little scared and nervous. On one hand, while she's glad that Kiko hasn't done or said anything to her, she's also scared that once Kiko does, it'll be mortifying and humiliating. It's like knowing that the dentist is going to pull your teeth but he keeps hovering the tool around your mouth, not actually doing the deed and making you nervously fuss instead. She wondered if Jiyong was wondering the same too, seeing how jumpy he gets when someone walks in the door.

Once they were finished, they all walked out of the store with Sohee walking a step behind Jiyong, just lost in her own world. "Hey Sohee," one of the guys called out, "Are you going to the service trip in Bali?

Service trip? "I'm not sure."

The guys made noises and shook their heads at Jiyong. "Why don't you be my partner, then? Work with my team. You're so smart and kind, the people there will love you and they'll love me too," t