~ Two months ago ~

* In Cresterwood mansion *

" Wonwoo, don't you take another step or I'll kill myself  ! " Eujin descended from the stairs. Her face was exploding with rage, but her son wasn't listening. " Please stay..."

Wonwoo stopped walking, his fingers gripped the handle of his roller bag. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, and faced his mother. She looked quite fine even though she had just divorced a week ago. His dad already took a flight to America, god knows how long he won't be coming back. His mom had taken over the family business after that, but Wonwoo felt empty somehow. 

Like he didn't belong.

" I've already decided, mom. " he said. " I said I'll be leaving and nothing will change my mind. " 

" How can you do this to me ? " she shrieked. " I'm your mother, you have to obey me ! " she pointed rabidly at him. " You ungrateful boy ! "

" I have to agree on dad, mom. " he shook his head. " There's a reason why everyone's leaving you, you never try to understand people. "

" Of course I understand you ! " she screamed. " You're my son ! I gave birth to you, you should be grateful ! And now you betray me ?! " 

" You tell everyone to be grateful, but have you ever asked someone if their grateful for what you've done ? Appreciating someone doesn't work that way. " he was choking. " You're my mom, of course I love you. But I'm sorry, I can't stand another day with you in this house. It's empty without dad, you know it. "

His mom stiffened and cleared , " I said no more mentioning that man in this house, he's gone. It was his choice to leave us. "

" But you agreed to divorce too ! " he fought. " Mom, don't try to put the blame on everyone else, reflect on our mistakes too. " and he was crying. 

" I did nothing wrong ! I did everything I could as his wife, he was the one who didn't appreciate everything we had together. And I don't want you to leave me too, Wonwoo. " he tugged at her son's arm. " Please stay, Wonwoo..."

It pained him to let go. But he pursed his lips and jerked away. His mom cried even louder. 

" Mom, I won't change my mind. " he swallowed down his tears. " We both need some time alone, so I'm taking the first step. It's better for the both of us. I promise I'll visit, I love you. I-I just need sometime to adjust to everything. "

And he didn't look back.

~ End of flashback ~ 

" Good morning, sleepy head. " I felt someone's breath against my ear, I silently smiled but I wasn't waking up.

Joshua climbed into my bed and snuggled with me, I inched closer to him and kept sleeping. He chuckled and tickled my nose, sadly I wasn't ticklish there. He then my hair and twirled it around his finger. " Wake up, Minju..."

I pulled up the covers and kept on sleeping, inside I was actually dissolving butterflies. Joshua tapped me with his hand again, and leaned closer. " Don't make me kiss you, Sleeping Beauty. "

I didn't wake up.

He pressed his lips on my forehead, then my lips and then all over my face. I squealed and got up, playfully shoving him away. " Nononono ! I have bad morning breath ! Joshua, stop ! " and I was laughing in his arms.

" I thought you wouldn't wake up ! " he protested, he was smiling. " Good morning, beautiful..." and he kissed my ear. 

" Morning." I replied. " Huh, first day of school already- Oh no ! School ! " I quickly tried to get up to get ready, but Joshua just laughed and pulled me back into his arms.

" Relax, school's one hour away. " he said. " And you'd still be early if you got there an hour later, you'd still have half an hour more. " 

I sighed in relief and shoved him playfully, " Thanks for waking me up. "

" I wanted to. Which boyfriend doesn't want to send his girlfriend off to school ? "

My eyes widened, " You're driving me to school ? For real ? " 

He nodded, " Sure, it's better than riding the bus. Am I right ? "

I smiled and kissed his cheek, he fakely gagged. " Wow, that morning breath is really present. "

I puched him in the arm. 

Seniors weren't needed to wear uniforms ( I don't know who invented that rule ). I wore baby blue jeans and a green blouse Jane bought me, it had a bow at the back so it was really special. I let my hair down and topped it with a bow headband and floral flats. I went downstairs and everyone else was eating breakfast, Jane was as glamorous as usual. With a really hipster look today.

" Hurry and eat breakfast ! " Mrs Hong called me over. " You must be exhausted, Minju. It's your first time taking a midnight flight, and school straight away. "

" I can manage, Mrs Hong. " I said, spreading jam on my toast. " And is Jane coming along with us ? " 

" No, unni . " she replied. " I'm a stay-at-home person. "

Mrs Hong could see the confused expression on my face, " Jane's homeschooled, Minju. "

" Ooh. " I answer, and smiled at Jane. " Lucky you, then. "

Jane puffed out her cheeks, " Yeah, but I wish I could attend school. I really want to know what it's like. I'm sure I'd be a popular girl, right Minju unni ? " she grinned.

Joshua rolled his eyes, " You shouldn't wish that. All the hottest girls in high school end up getting pregnant, and they don't get good college applications. And do you know what happens next ? "

Jane frowned, " What ? "

" They spend their life after high school working at a fast food station forever, that's what comes next. " 

I couldn't help but giggle at Joshua's whole talk about teenage pregnancy, it was like he was a fifty year old man and never had a crave. N-not that we ever had before though ! Maybe it was a better thing for us. One, I was so not ready for yet. Two, I could sense both Joshua and I didn't want to be labelled as  ' teenagers and their hormones ' or we would be the typical teenagers in high school that made that ' mistake '. 

That was nothing we wanted, not at all. 

" I was just wondering..." Jane muttered. " No need for the whole speech, grandpa. "

" Joshua's right, Jannie. " their mom added. " You should always have a safe life, and always use protection. "

" Mom..."

Her dad closed the newspaper, " And don't forget, never let the boy bring the . "

" Oh my godddd ! " Jane groaned. " Why are we talking about right now ? I was just talking about high school, and now you guys go talk about my life ?! Geez, I'm too young to know about this ! "

" Jannie, you're fifteen ! Some girls get pregnant at thirteen ! They're children who are already having their own children ! " her mom protested. " I've seen girls like these all the time at campaigns, they regret what they did. And the most innocent victim are their babies ! " and she shook her head.

Jane sighed, " I know mom, I know. I get it, I'm not allowed to have until I turn seventeen. "

" Until you're married ! " they snapped together.

It was a serious discussion, but I couldn't help but laugh at the scene they were making. Joshua was snickering as well, and he beckoned me. " C'mon, we can't keep listening to their education all day. "

He dropped me off infront of the school, and kissed me before driving off.

" Minju ! " he called me back before I walked off. " Remember what I told you, as long as you think everything'll be okay, it'll be okay. Got it ?"

I smiled, " Okay, love you. "

" Bye. " and he drove off.

As I entered the hall, it was soon packed with students. I could identify a few seniors since they were distinguished in casual clothing. Then I saw him.

He looked so different, I didn't know why. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, he had an army cap on, it was as if he didn't anyone spotting him. It was a little obvious, since some people were already glacing at him intentionally. He was getting his books at his locker, the problem was...

It was next to mine.

I gathered my courage and walked towards him. He seemed to notice, and he shifted further from me. I opened my locker, and took out my books. There was eerie silence between us, the I broke it.

" Hi. " I blurted. 

I could sense his uncomfortness. " Yeah, hi. "

" I heard about your parents. " I said. " I'm sorry to hear that. "

" No need to be sorry, it would happen sooner or later. " he said stiffly. " And he's your dad too."

I didn't know what to say, I never thought of that man as my dad or something. That just made me sick to the bone even thinking about it. I was too scared to even care about that issue, I couldn't bring myself to hate anyone. 

" Can we not talk about this ? " I look at him, he has his poker face on. " Wonwoo, what happened between us was something we can never fix-"

" You don't have to bring it up. " he interrupted, it was like even my presence was torturing him. " I know we can never go back to the way things used to be, you and I both know that. I-I'm just sorry for whatever happened between us. I really am. "

He said sorry so many times, it was hard to not give him an answer, since it wasn't his fault too. Both of us were innocent, we just felt like we couldn't even talk to each other. 

" It's okay, I'm already over it. " I replied. " I hope you can get over it too, maybe we can still be friends. " I suggested.

He chewed the inside of his mouth. " I-I'm not ready yet. Let me think about it first, I need some time. " 

I looked down, " Sure, whatever you want. But Wonwoo, you're still a friend to me. "

He didn't reply and walked off hurriedly, leaving me alone at my locker. I told myself to cheer up, and failed multiple times. Luckily, Halla and Yuna saw me in the hallway, they raced towards me.

" Minju ! " and they hugged me. " Oh my god, we missed you ! "

I laughed, " I missed you guys too ! So how were your holidays ? " 

Halla grinned, " Oh well, not much. But I guess Yuna did lots of fun stuff with Mingyu, right ? " she nudged Yuna.

" Cut it out ! " she whined. " I just went on dates with him, not much. The real question is..." she looked at me. " How was your holiday ? "

" I'll tell you guys later, I promise. " I told them , and we walked off to our class.

" By the way, that's a really cute dress ! "