Wonwoo made it to Jaera's house an hour and a few minutes after their supposed meeting time. As he had expected, she was fuming the moment she opened the door for him, glancing at the clock on her phone. Almost everything about her changed – her demeanor towards him, her looks, her hair color, the way she dressed and how she wore less makeup – but it looked like her values when it comes to time did not.

"What time is it, Jeon Wonwoo?" she asked rhetorically, her brows arched and her temper obviously on hyper drive, but it wasn't what dampened his mood.

When she opened the door wider to admit him, he saw the very bane of his existence sitting on one of couches, a tablet sitting on his lap, seemingly playing a game. Jaera motioned for him to come in, but upon seeing Mingyu's overflowing figure on the seat, he stopped mid step and cast him a sidelong glance before shifting his line of vision to the female, who had a neutral look about her face.

Seriously, he thought to himself as he continued to enter the house.

“Feel free to sit down,” Jaera said, trying her best not lash out on him although Wonwoo already knew she was breaking at the seams. “Wait for me here. I’ll just grab some stuff.” She looked at the direction of the other male. “Mingyu, we’re leaving in a few.”

“He’s coming with us?” Wonwoo protested, disbelief lacing his tone as he stared hard at Mingyu. The thought of having Mingyu walking around with him and Jaera made him cringe inwardly. Old Site trash, he thought, his eyes sharp on the other boy.

Mingyu still had that friendly look about his face which aggravated Wonwoo further. He couldn’t find any fault in Mingyu, and truth be told, he really didn’t have any reason to hate him.

“Is there a problem?” Mingyu asked, blinking rapidly, looking rather innocent despite the outward animosity.

Jaera, who was about to ascend to the second floor, stopped. “No, Mingyu, and no, Wonwoo.” To the latter, she said, “If you were a minute later, I would have gone with him. You should be nicer since he is willing to do work that has nothing to do with him at all.”

“Jaera,” Mingyu admonished lightly, feeling somewhat guilty that she had to embarrass Wonwoo right there and then.

Unable to snap back at her, and seeing no right to do so, Wonwoo retreated towards the door. “I’ll be waiting outside. Will we need the car?”

“Yeah,” Jaera called from where she was. She got out of the house with Mingyu a few minutes later.

“You didn’t have to be so mean, you know.” Mingyu whispered to Jaera as she was locking the front door.

“If there’s something you must know about me, I hate tardiness,” she snapped, her anger projecting at the innocent person.

“Okay.” He snickered as she tried to walk off, catching her by the wrist.

“What?”

“He’s looking. You’re not actually going to leave your supposed boyfriend without even a hug, are you?” he said, his canines coming out as he beamed at her.

She stood by him, grinning. “You’re enjoying this more than you let on.”

“How could I?” he replied in mock horror then bent down to press his lips against her forehead before pushing her towards the gravel path. “Have fun.”

“Right.”

Wonwoo stood by the car watching as the supposed couple parted ways. His eyes strayed to Mingyu who nodded at his direction then walked the opposite way as if conveying a silent message for him to take care of Jaera.

Of course, Mingyu knew of the situation, but it made Wonwoo wonder why he was not even doing any effort to put a stop to it. It was either Kim Mingyu is a saint or there something terribly off with their relationship, but he did heed Mingyu’s silent message. He was tall and big and if something happens to Jaera on Wonwoo’s watch, he was sure that Mingyu won’t hesitate to pummel him to the ground.

 Wonwoo remained standing there for a few more moments that he did not notice that Jaera has already joined him and was about to open the car door, relieved when she actually opened the one in front. He had expected her to take the backseat and make him even more ridiculous.

“If I didn’t know you, I’d think you’re crushing on my boyfriend,” she said with a snicker, appearing rather lighthearted compared to when they were in the house.

He scoffed, evidently annoyed. “More like crushing your boyfriend.”

“You’re cute when you’re upset,” she said and boarded the car. Her smile dropped. “And you’re still late.”

Wonwoo got into the car and inserted the key into the ignition, but from his peripheries, he noticed that Jaera wasn’t wearing the seatbelt. That, too, hasn’t changed. He reached over much to her surprise, buckling her in place. “There. I think I should tell your boyfriend to nag you about car safety.”

“Shut up. We’re late.”

“For what?” He started the car and stepped on the gas. “It’s not like I’m the one tarrying with my boyfriend.”

“What took you so long?” she shot back.

“I got into detention. Don’t worry, I wasn’t flirting with other girls.”

“Don’t worry?” She smirked at him. “Don’t you worry, Wonwoo. I’m not in the least bit concerned as long as it does not involve my time.”

“Stickler for schedules,” he muttered.

“At least I don’t disrespect other people’s time.”

“At least I don’t waste more of it by canoodling with an Old Site trash,” he retorted.

Jaera’s eyes hardened into cold gems as she regarded Wonwoo glacially. “Take that back.”

“Why should I? It’s true,” he told her angrily, much to her mortification.

Of course, she hated how Wonwoo is being too judgmental about Mingyu’s origins, which she also knew nothing about if she would be honest, but she was sure that he was calling Mingyu names that he does not deserve. It hurt her to think that Wonwoo is being an because he can’t have things his way if it was true that he still wants her.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel powerful to be causing such distress to him. Apart from feeling that she has the upper hand as compared to her former flame, she also felt a spark of hope where they were both concerned. It wasn’t much about whether he felt something for her in the romantic sense, but more on the fact that he still cared. Jaera had quite a difficult time seeing that, but she found herself smiling to herself that Mingyu is right though it was at the expense of her being proven wrong.

She saw no need to bring matters back the way they used to be. She and Wonwoo didn’t have to regain the kind of relationship they’ve had. To her, it was just going to hurt them both if they would try to pick up the pieces from where they’ve left off. The Jaera and Wonwoo of the past were nowhere to be seen and will never be found again, much less be brought back together like those matching pieces of puzzle that fit perfectly. Gone were the days when it was just the two of them.

Their horizons were wider. There was Se Young and there was Mingyu.

Life became more complex as they grew apart and grew up. It could have been just a year that they’ve been apart, but it made no difference if it was a decade or a century. Things just do not work that way, at least to her, it didn’t. Sooner or later, if they get back together, there would be the tendency that all the aches of the past would haunt them and make them grow apart the second time. She just knows she couldn’t bear with such hurt again. There’s just no way she was going through the loss again, not with so much ahead of her.

Though she cannot put things the way they are supposed to be, she wanted for the animosity between her and Wonwoo to go away, but seeing things as they are now, she knew she was a long way from that, but she had to at least try.

“Why do you hate him so much?” she asked quietly, just testing the waters.

Wonwoo looked at her in disbelief, wondering if her stay in New Zealand has somehow made her unfeeling or blind. It wasn’t so much about Mingyu as it was about her. In all honesty, he did not know why he felt antagonistic towards Mingyu, but he was sure why he felt that way towards her.

“He makes you happy,” he answered as a sorry excuse to his lack of proper reasoning, and once again, he was ruining it.

Jaera flashed him an incredulous stare. “What?”

“Didn’t I tell you I’ll make your life a living hell? He’s a rip tide. He makes you happy.” Wonwoo stopped by a red light. “After what you did to me, what makes you think I won’t see to it that you’re unhappy?”

She didn’t understand him at all, and she knew he would not listen even if she tried to explain. He wouldn’t even answer her when she asks what she did exactly, so there was nothing to explain really. “You’re still on it with what I did to you. I don’t even have an idea about it, and mind you, I won’t ask,” she said, her tone devoid of emotions. In truth, she was hurt that her notion regarding Wonwoo’s refusal to feel happy for her was proven true.

“You don’t deserve to be happy.”

“Pathetic.” She chuckled. “Getting to Mingyu to get to me. I expected more from you. I guess I overestimated the enemy.”

Wonwoo glowered at her.

“You’re wasting your time.”

“I realized that, too…” He let up on the scowl and smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes as she was looking the opposite way outside the window. “Where’s the fun in that?”

She shrugged. “Point taken.”

The car went to a sudden halt, as he parked on the location of the store where they would purchase the materials for their project. He undid his seatbelt and opened the door, his eyes intent on her.

“Sooner or later, you’re bound to ruin him, too.”

**

“So…how is your project going with Wonwoo?” Hyeri asked, her tone turning into a hiss as she said the boy’s name. She rolled her eyes and flipped her luxuriant, caramel curls to the side as she joined Jaera and Mingyu on the table, her question directed at the former.

“You mean my project,” Jaera said, her eyes on Mingyu who was lazily traced circular patterns on the palm of her hand. A smile was playing at the corners of his mouth which no one else noticed but her, and though she felt like the earth and sky had fallen over her shoulders, she couldn’t help but be amused.

Mingyu just had a certain effect on her which makes her feel that everything is going to be fine, that she will be alright. She didn’t know if she was imagining it, but she just seemed to gravitate towards him all the time though sometimes, she wished he was someone else…someone she knew she couldn’t have, but every single time Mingyu would flash that smile at her, she would forget of other people’s existence regardless of their proximity to her.

Though everything was pretend, she didn’t know why her system just won’t fight it.

‘He makes you happy,’ Wonwoo said to her two days ago when they went to get the materia