Sungjae was running late. 

Well, he usually does during this last year he had in his school. He didn't have a particular care for being on time. Sure, every time he went to school late was recorded in his school record but he didn't really care. The important thing was that he was there. 

He was around 15 minutes late which was normal for students in his school. He coolly walked to his room after going to the school's office. Naturally, he passed by Joy's classroom. His first instinct was to find her and he did. She was fooling around with Henry per usual. The way she laughed seemed so natural, so normal for her. But Sungjae felt like something was wrong, completely wrong with her. 

Sungjae turned his head away after he passed by her classroom. He may be late for class but he hoped he wasn't too late on knowing Joy for who she really was.

Joy was glad. Really, really glad. Why? One, their teacher was absent. She had a lot of free time to fool around with Henry, Jong-in, Seulgi, and a hella lot more of her classmates. Two, she had an hour to spend with Sungjae later on. Three, she noticed Sungjae looking at her when he passed her classroom. She could feel her heart exploding with happiness. She wasn't all sure anymore on what to do. 

"You look like an idiot," Seulgi pointed out. Joy shrugged before laughing. 

"I am always an idiot, Seulgi," Joy told her. Seulgi shrugged before pointing at Irene.

"What about her then?" Seulgi commented. Irene hit the back of Seulgi's head before frowning. 

"Sure, always tell me I'm stupid," Irene said as she crossed her arms. "Because I'm the most stupid one here."

"Come on. Don't say that," Yeri pouted. "Irene has her own smarts."

Seulgi rolled her eyes before looking straight at Yeri. 

"Aren't you such an angel?" She sarcastically said. Yeri only smiled at her while Irene attacked Yeri with a hug. 

"Anyhow, any progress with your one true love?" Irene decided to return to their first topic. Joy shrugged.

"He treats me like he treats other girls, I guess. I mean, we're still in the same platonic relationship," she answered before showing a smile. "But that's not going to destroy my hopes of ever dating him!"

"I'm sure Wendy told you a lot of times to be careful, Joy. You're a grown woman. You should know your limits," Seulgi reminded her. 

"I know my limits," Joy said matter-a-factly. "I am not Sungjae's type nor I will ever be his type. He never told me what he wanted in a girl but I'm sure it's not this emotional wreck."

"Psh," Irene scoffed. "Don't let a man determine your selfworth, Joy. Sungjae may never fall in love with you--"

"Irene!" Yeri said with a frown. 

"It is true, Yeri," Irene rolled her eyes. "But remember there are heaps of people out there who love you for being you. We're here. Jungkook and Jong-in are here. Heck, even Sehun's here for you. There's also Wendy and our classmates. Sungjae is a piece of trash if he hurts you more and leads you on."

"He told me he's not leading me on," Joy frowned. "He set the boundaries between us."

"He keeps on reminding you that you two being an item might be possible," Seulgi breathed in. "Might. But the probability is quite low if we think realistically."

"I think the probability's high," Yeri shared. "Sungjae often looks at Joy, even before this one-hour contract they have. I heard from Bomi that Sungjae often asks her about Joy. I think the SungJoy couple could be possible."

Seulgi shrugged. 

"We don't have the power to control our friend's future," she said. "Let's just hope for the best, shall we?"

The remaining three girls nodded with a small smile on their lips. 

"Let's," Joy said. 

Sungjae rested his head on his desk. His eyes roamed around his classroom after his teacher left the place. He was tired. They had a lot of projects recently. He couldn't get enough sleep. He couldn't even enjoy his pasttime recently. He matched his gaze with Taehyung's and only smiled lightly. 

Sungjae wasn't ready for commitments just yet. Joy knew that. He told her that when she attempted to confess to him at the school's rooftop. And yet, Joy still didn't give up on the boy. Sungjae admired her perserverance to capture his heart but he was sure enough it wasn't working. He needed to concentrate on his siblings, on raising them to be good people while his parents were away. 

Sungjae didn't have an ideal type. He really never thought about having a relationship while he was studying. He understood why his guy friends preferred girls over books but he never thought of being like them. Sungjae wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time, and at that moment, it wasn't a romantic relationship with the opposite .

Sungjae knew he had to break Joy's heart someday. But he was too nice to tell her off. Joy was too, well, Joy. She was filled with happiness when he first saw her. The gleam in her eyes were so pure. The smile on her face showed no worries. Her laughter seemed so light. Her heart was so fragile. Sungjae heard from Jong-in that Joy had someone else before she graduated middle school. And when he broke her heart, Joy changed. Well, that was according to Jong-in.

Sungjae never wanted to hurt anyone. He was a nice guy. He never wanted to say anything bad to a person but breaking Joy's heart might be a necessary evil someday. He'll have to do that when the time comes. Sure, there was a possibility he'll change his mind after this one-hour mess he entered but it was too low for him to anticipate any change between them. 

'This is why I try to avoid being noticed by anyone. How the hell did Joy manage to notice me when all I did last year was stay silent in a corner?'