Luhan had enough. 

"Ow ow ow, h-hyung! Ow!" 

"What did you call me?"

"I called you hyung-ow! Hyung, my ears hurt! Please stop."

"You said i am your hyung."

"Yeah!"

"Then should you or should you not respect me?" 

"Well, that depen-ow! Ow! I should! I should!" Sehun yelped pitifully. His ears were at his hyung's mercy. 

"If you should then why did you enlist me in the competition wthout asking me first?"

Sehun yelped louder when Luhan's pull got stronger. "It wasn't me hyung! It was Chaekhyung noona!" 

Luhan let go of Sehun's ear with a sigh. So his doubts were true. They were trying to set him up with Sarang. He wasn't stupid. The library, the watering jobs Luhan and Sarang were always pushed to do and now this. 

"What are you guys up to?" 

"What do you mean Hyung?" Sehun said as he rubbed his red ears. "I told you it was Chaekyung noona."

"Sehun, i am not dumb. You don't think i will find anything funny when my groupmates always find an excuse to make Sarang and i water the field." 

Besides Ahreum, of course, he thought to himself. The relationship between the trio was still sour. It was their last day in the village and he wondered if they had any plans for a truce. 

"I am sorry hyung," Sehun mumbled in guilt. "I told them to stop, but they wouldn't listen." 

"What's done is done. We can't retrack my name."

"Sorry again hyung."

Luhan heaved again. He wanted to have a nice sleep, but seems like fate had some other plans. He would be participating in a race with Sarang. How did the girl even agree to do a race when she didn't participate in a single game in sports day? 

A bulb in Luhan's brain suddenly switched on.

Narrowing his eyes on Sehun who cowered under his stare, he asked. "Was Sarang the one who wrote her name in participation list?" 

Sehun gulped. 

"Does she even know she is in this competition?" 

When Sehun gave no reply, Luhan could but curse. 

"When is this taking place?"

"Tonight at 6:00pm at the place where the festival is taking place," Sehun replied slowly to see the reaction of his Luhan Hyung. "Since it is the last day of the festival, they were going to close it with this race. They said it isn't a race...."

"Sehun, Luhan hyung, i have heard about this great- why are you looking at me like-owww!" 

And poor Baekhyun was the next victim as soon as his entrance.

"Hyung hyung hyung!!! It hurts- ah ah ah!" 

 

 

 

 

"Why am i even here?" Sarang whined to herself. Wasn't she in enough trouble already? Seeing many unfamiliar students from other classes made her nervous. 

"I am sorry," Luhan said in a sigh. "Because of my friends we are here."

"It's okay," Sarang replied with a sad smile. "They are my friends too."

Luhan noticed how the girl's shoulders slumped. He felt the weird urge to see lift up her mood, but didn't know how (or why). 

"Hello students!" Mrs song said in the microphone. "First of all, welcome to the competition. You all must be wondering what is happening or what will happen. This is going to be like treasure hunt. The rules are simple. Whoever finds three flags of your color first will win. So, when i call you please raise your hands."

"Team A, color blue: Lim Chaerin and Kim Sungwoo."

"Present!"

"Team B, color yellow: Lu Han and Kim Sarang."

"Here."

Sarang twitched in annoyance when Mr.Grouchy raised his eyes disbelieving on hearing her name. 

"Team C, color green: Jung Hoseok and Park Jimin." 

It surprised Sarang on hearing Jimin's name. 

"Team C, color green: Jung Hoseok and Park Jimin," Mrs. Song bellowed again on hearing no response. 

 

....

 

....

 

Mrs. Song sighed. "Then team C is cut from the list. Moving on. Team D, color white: Kim Jogin and Park Iseul."

"Present."

The list continued until it reached the last team.

"The last team, Team H, color red: Han Bori and Jung Ahreum."

"WHAT?!" Three voices cried at the same time from three different directions. 

Sarang turned around in surprise on hearing the other two voices. She have been hearing it for so long that she can never mistake it. She didn't expect Bori or Ahreum to come at all. 

"Weird way of answering," Mrs. Song said with a laugh. "So you all got the rules right? The race shll begin in five minutes. Be ready." 

Bori and Ahreum ran towards Mrs. Song to clear up the misunderstanding.

"If they didn't write the names then who did?" Sarang asked, turning towards Luhan. 

"We did," Chaekyung said, appearing out of no where. Beside her was Baekhyun, Sehun and Jieun smiling cheekily. 

"Well, the master plan belonged to Luhan hyung," Baekhyun cooed. "He told us to do it."

Luhan...? 

Luhan smacked Baekhyun in the head before speaking, "They were having fun playing around, i thought i make them do some real work."

Jieun, Chaekyung and Sehun wooed while Baekhyun rubbes his poor head. 

"But why?" Sarang asked. She was overwhelmed by this and she hoped herself not to cry. 

Before Sarang could have asked why, Mrs. Song commenced the game. Sarang saw the begruntled faces of her friends. 

Good going Mrs. Song!

"Goodluck you two," Jieun said with a smile. 

"Hyung, give us a treat with the prize money if you win," Sehun said. 

"Contestants, ARE YOU READY?!"

 

 

Silence was all that could be heard between them...including the eerie sounds of the jungle. 

Ahreum and Bori may be in conflict woth each other, but the murderous thoughts running in their head for the person who did this were the same.

Gasp. 

Bori felt like her eyeball drop out of its sockets when she felt the glass drop from her frame. 

"," she cursed, bending down immediately to search the grounds. "I should have brought my the new specs."

Ahreum was adamant to stay keep walking. Even when she saw Bori searching for something like a blind man. But her resistance fell weak each step she took and each shuffles she heard from Bori's way. 

Damn heart! 

She her heels towards Bori. The latter jerked in surprise when she felt Ahreum near her.

"Don't think anything of it." 

"I won't."

 

 

...

 

 

...

 

 

"When did your frame break?"

"Yesterday. I had applied glue for it to stick. Thought it would work."

"But it didn't and your glass fell off of your frame." 

"It lasted a few hours." 

Ahreum snickered. "I can't believe this. You worked in that damn field wearing this?" 

"Baekyun can work there being asthamatic, i can work their with this specs too." 

"He is fine as long as he eats his medicines daily, idiot!"

"Tell that to Mrs. Song."

Bori and Ahreum ended up laughing thinking about how Mrs. Song aged because of Baekhyun.

He gasps, she faints.

He sits down to rest, she gets worried he is having another attack. 

He grabs the spear, she scolds the group members for letting him do all the work.

"We had to suffer because of him. We would scolded for no reason." 

"Yeah!" Bori agreed. The smiles on both of their faces vanished gradually when they faced each other.

"My glass."

Silence consumed them again as their search commenced. 

"Oh wait, i found it."  Bori said after sometime, lifting her glass to show Ahreum. The latter simply nodded. 

"Let's get going then. Th-"

"Wait."

...

Bori held Ahreum's arm before she could have stood up. "I need to tell you something." 

"Now? We could go back and-"

"I don't think my pride will let me by that time," Bori smiled sadly which made Ahreum sit down beside her. The latter watched as Bori tried fixing the lens back into the frame. 

"I am sorry." 

Ahreum almost missed it. Lucky her ears were sensitive. 

"...I am sorry too."

"I shouldn't have tricked you and Jimin to meet that night. If i had known it would break into such a mess, i would never had done that."

"It's okay, Bori. Besides, i know it was Hoseok who dragged you. He told me so himslef."

....

"Can i tell you something?" Bori asked as she tried her specs. 

"What?"

"I was always jealous of you. When we first became friends i thought you were going to take Sarang away. Sarang seemed very fond of you too. It made me insecure to the point i would be happy whenever you were absent."

Ahreum was shocked. "Say what? Why would you be insecure over me? And Sarang is fond of you too. From where did you even get these weird ideas?!"

Bori chuckled when she saw her friend's expression. She was glad her specs worked...for now.

"I don't know from where. Insecurities are always there in everyone. Even in you. Isn't that the reason why you were upset at the news that Jimin got recruited by an entertainment agent?" 

 

"...."

 

 

"I will take your silence as a yes. Anyway, this isn't what i wanted to say. I just wanted to let you know of my insecurities. Eventhough it was years ago,  my insecurities are still there...somewhere deep within, but it is there. I realized how toxic it could be when we fought the past few days. I am still sorry for interfering between you and Jimin, by the way."

"It's okay," Ahreum sighed. Her brain was slowly taking in what Bori had just said to her. "I am sorry Bori. i had no idea."

"This isn't a thing you should be sorry over, genius," Bori teased. "Your sorry won't feed my hungry stomach." 

Ahreum laughed on hearing that. "What about the competition?"

Bori snorted. "I don't even remember what our color is. We can tell them my glasses broke and we cannot participate." 

"I think we should be thanking your spectacles for what just happened," Ahreum said as she stood up. "Will you take my help, Bori agasshi?"

"With pleasure, Genius." 

As soon Ahreum helped the girl up, Bori said something that made Ahreum's eyes widen. 

"One thing Ahreum. I wouldn't have helped Hoseok if he hadn't told me about Jimin crying." 

Bori noticed how her friend stilled and took this opportunity to continue. "Ahreum, Jimin cried. He is even thinking of rejecting the entertainment agents. Please, as a friend, speak to him. Don't do anything that you will regret later."

With that said, Bori left ahead of Ahreum.

 

 

 

Where Bori and Ahreum once stood was only silence...except for the two people who had witnessed the whoee exchage. 

Luhan sighed as he looked ahead. "Are you fine?"

Sarang nodded.

He didn't say anything.  He didn't know what to say.

"I didn't know Bori felt that way," Sarang whispered as she leaned her back on the tree they were previously hiding behind. 

"We will never know what others are feeling all the time." 

Sarang turned towards Luhan, pleading to herself not to cry in front of him again.

"When i was young, i promised myself to be a great and a loyal friend. That i will be the kind of friend who will know what her friend is feeling and will be by her friend's side forever. The us against the world kind," Sarang laughed pitifully at the last sentence. "I was an idiot." 

She turned up to see the stars. "I was such an idiot."

Luhan mimicked her and looked towards the sky. 

"Mama! Where are you?!"

"You were innocent," Luhan spoke. "We all were, some point time." 

Sarang managed a sad smile. "You are right. Isn't that sad?"

 

Sad...?

 

"Kid, this is your new home."

"But what about my mother, police uncle?"

"Kid, your mother won't come."

 

"Yes," Luhan answered, feeling bittersweet. "It is sad."

They sat in silence until Sarang spoke up again. "Why did you ask Chaekyung and others to write down Bori and Ahreum's name in the competition?"

"Because i owe you an apology."

Sarang averted her eyes to the boy beside her. "What apology?"

LuHan simply took out his necklace which made the girl nod in understanding. shaped into an 'O'.

"I never thought you would remember let alone apologize," she chuckled. "It's good to know that you know what a brat you are."

"Tsk." 

"That! Exactly that! You are still acting like that!"

"What are you talking about?"

The sky slowly cleared away showing the beautiful stars it hid. 

 

 

The next morning, as students were leaving the farmhouse one by one, Sarang was having a panic attack because of her bag zip.

Suddenly a hand helped her close the zip. 

"Yo friend," Bori greeted awkwardly as soon as Sarang craned her neck towards her. 

"How's life?" 

Sarang looked at them seriously. It made her friends gulp. 

"Stupid people, you don't do hi-byes with me!" Sarang said as her face broke out into a grin. "You hug me!"

That's how she pulled both of her friends into a tight hug. 

Bori and Ahreum looked at each other before returning back the hug. 

From her peripheral, Sarang detected Luhan's profile outside their door. He was ruffling Sehun's hair while the latter tried shaking it off.

Ba-dum. 

Shut up, damn heart!