(Play music throughout the entire chapter)   The entire surrounding became a dark blur, and soon the world was caught in darkness. People walked by, brushing against her shoulder, and she just let them defeat her. Yerin was facing the ground, her hands folded together at the center of her dress to cover up the bleeding wounds. She could feel the raindrops falling against her skin, dispersing into tiny droplets that stung her like never before. Again and again, she was being hit by bullets of raindrop. The sky was cruel to start raining when her heart was already trapped in a stormy havoc. It was crying for her.   Yerin looked up to the barren night sky and realized something odd. The sky was clear. The grey misty clouds did not eclipse over the bright moonlight. It was not raining.   The sky was not crying; she was.   No words, mentally or verbally, could describe how immensely stupid she had been. It was so ridiculous she could hear her exerting some force to laugh at herself. But whatever chuckling sound she tried to made escaped her quivering lips as another bitter and pathetic sob.   Enough was enough. There was no need to suffer like this. She turned away on her heel, limping her way back to get away.   Her back silhouette did not go unnoticed when Hee-Jin opened her eyes. “Yerin?” She whispered softly under her breath, slowly letting go of the man in her arms.   The mention of the name made Chan Yeol turn around quicker than he ever would. His eyes were swollen and there were traces of tears making its way down his cheeks. His pupils dilated, scanning around the sea of people so rapidly to find the one name Hee-Jin had rolled off her tongue.   It wasn’t hard to find her. Chan Yeol did not realize how many times he had often wandered his eyes to her; watching her backside without her knowledge. He could pick up her presence among everyone. He remembered that red a-line dress she was wearing that evening despite being covered by a men's jacket, along with those black stilettos that looked so good on her. So good, he almost had told her not to go when she explicitly told him she had a date with some other guy. He remembered trying to act all aloof by not soaking her beauty in his mind, because he was scared he might’ve kissed her a second time if he let his eyes linger any longer.   “Should we go after her?” Hee-Jin’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and she carefully placed an arm against his jacket.   Chan Yeol was silenced, slightly shaking his head as a reply. There must be a reason why Yerin decided not to approach them; why she chose to walk away instead of calling out to him. He knew why, and so he let her be.   It was probably what she wanted.     “Uuuughhh…”   Yerin was studying her own reflection in the mirror the next day. She barely got any sleep, because she continued to cry even as she laid in bed. She cried until there were no more tears left in her system, and even then, she continued to sob and hiss in silent incoherent noises. So now, her eyes were completely swollen, and she had dark puffy eye bags under her eyes.   There was nothing she could do to cover it, and she began to think of an excuse to tell the others in case they questioned her about it.   But when she walked out, her apartment was empty.   Her paces slowed down as her eyes scanned the surrounding. For a second, she forgot Hyun Mi and Maerin always went to church on Sundays, and Seul Yi was probably doing a morning jogging routine she always wanted to try out.   Without any of her friends there, it suddenly felt lonely.   Her depressing thought was interrupted when the front door creaked open in such a secretive way, she would not have enough seconds to respond if it was a burglar.  But when she saw Chan Yeol appear, she wished it would’ve been a burglar instead.   “Hey, you’re still here!” Chan Yeol called out, surprised to see her.   “It is my apartment, why would I not be here?” Yerin managed to give her usual response to him. Only this time, it lacked so much power and she was sure he could’ve noticed.   “Don’t you have yoga classes at this hour?” Chan Yeol casually asked, opening their fridge to rummage for something he could eat for breakfast.   Yerin flinched a little at his words, feeling her chest tighten she nearly lost her ability to keep breathing. It hurt so much. The fact Chan Yeol knew and understood so much about her simply hurt. Because it only made her hopelessly adore him more.   “I woke up too late,” Yerin said, inhaling once to calm herself down. She was glad Chan Yeol was buried behind that refrigerator’s door, or else he would’ve seen the sadness reflected on her face.   “Ah, had too much fun on your date last night?” He asked teasingly. He straightened his back, appearing in sight again as he closed the fridge using his leg. His hand was filled with some bread and jam he casually borrowed from them. And when he faced her, he noticed her avoiding his gaze.   “Yeah, it was really fun,” Yerin replied lifelessly.   Chan Yeol picked up on her tone, but decided not to respond to it. He vividly remembered her solemn backside. Her dress was ripped, and one of her shoes was probably broken. Sometimes he wondered why he noticed these small details about her. He just did. And he knew she’d hate him forever if he openly asked her about it.   “So you must really like the guy then?” He continued asking, pretending not to know anything, and simply went along with whatever scenario she was going to come up with.   “Oh yeah! I will go see him again. Best part about him is that he’s a gentleman, and he’s really sweet and thoughtful. Unlike someone else I know,” Yerin immediately answered, carefully watching as a frown appeared on his face. She had no idea why she was even still trying to make him jealous despite knowing he already choose Hee-Jin anyway.   “And you… Were you with Hee-Jin after you called me?” She carefully asked, trying to hide the pain in her own words.   Chan Yeol blinked, wondering if she was going to reveal she had been there. “How do you know?” He asked with genuine surprise.   “You’re always with her. I figured you’d go looking for her first,” Yerin spoke bitterly, trying her best to keep smiling.   He frowned, and this time it looked more like a painful glare. “You were the first person who appeared in my mind. I called you first,” he slightly raised his voice, trapping her in his intense gaze. “But you were too busy.”   She wasn’t too busy, she was too late.   “Hm. Luckily Hee-Jin was there.” Yerin flashed him a smile, a crooked smile so unconvincing, Chan Yeol must’ve been a real fool if he bought it.   He decided not to reply to that, knowing he would’ve asked her why she appeared at the last minute. The curiosity in him was burning, but he wanted her to tell him at her own pace. So he headed towards the front door, eyes falling on the black stilettos she had carelessly flung around. The shiny and polished suede material was covered in mud and even had some of its black colored skin scratched out. He knew he saw her limp last night, because one of the heels was indeed broken.   “What happened to your shoe?” He asked, wondering if she’d tell the truth now.   “Oh that? I… I tripped… It was a cheap shoe anyway. Time to throw it away,” she answered awkwardly.   Chan Yeol looked at her once, knowing she was lying again. She always had the habit of fluttering her eyelashes twice, tilting her head slightly to the left, and entirely avoided any eye contact whenever she lied. And he for one knew she loved those shoes. He was there when she first bought it, and she had proudly declared she’d only use it for very very special occasions.   “Seems like it could still be fixed,” Chan Yeol uttered with a hand on the door hold.   “Nah, it’s already broken. There’s nothing we can do to fix it,” Yerin then said with a fake laugh to cover her sadness. She quickly walked over to the door, hissing a little from the pain in her foot after limping too much the previous night.   “I can fix it,” Chan Yeol insisted, but Yerin had already opened the door and started pushing him out of it.   “No, you can’t fix it, Chan Yeol,” she told him in a rush, quickly closing the door on him before he could protest.   She had to be quick, or else he would’ve caught her in tears once again. She let out a sigh, breathing out the heavy burden from her chest and plopping her body against the door frame. The tears continued to flow out, and her hand made its way to her chest, clenching so tight in the hope it could’ve reached her broken heart.   “You can’t fix it…”     Yerin had practically closed herself off that entire day. She took trips by herself to go elsewhere. She visited places she had never been before. She tried whatever she could to stay away from home; trying to avoid her friends who would ask her what was wrong, avoid Hee-Jin who wasn’t even at fault, and avoid the root of everything, Park Chan Yeol.   “Hey! Yerin noona?”   Yerin looked up from her feet, wondering where she was. She had let her feet do all the walking, she barely even realized where she had ended up at. There was a basketball court to her right, and she saw a bunch of guys playing basketball despite the windy weather. Chan Yeol used to occasionally play there, before he got too busy baking.   “It is you! I thought I recognized you!”   Yerin shifted her attention to the guy talking to her, and gasped when she realized Seung Cheol was standing there. Anyone else could’ve said meeting him so coincidentally was fate, but she knew better than that.   “Do you play here often?” Yerin asked, eyeing him up and down to see him in his sports gear. He looked good. And if she didn’t have feelings for Chan Yeol, she could’ve properly admired his amazing visuals in those shorts.   “Yeah, we’re having a short break now,” he answered, noting her attention span distracted by something else. He didn’t have to be a genius to guess it was related to her reason for leaving early during their date. “Hey, wanna get some ice cream?”   Yerin blinked at him, and before she could answer, he was already grinning and pulling her away with him. She must’ve had a really depressing look on her face for a guy five years younger than her offering her to get some ice cream. It was a funny thought, and for a moment, it took her mind away from her burden.   “I didn’t think I’d meet you this soon. But seeing you didn’t bring my jacket, I guess you didn’t come here to find me,” Seung Cheol spoke as they were in line for ice cream at a nearby ice cream stand not so far away from the basketball court.   Yerin gave him a sheepish smile, not knowing what to respond to him. Normally she could’ve made a witty remark, but her desire to keep the communication going was almost at the same stage as her desire to avoid Chan Yeol. It wasn’t that she disliked Seong Cheol; she was too depressed at the moment she was afraid he’d get the wrong impression of her.   “Whatever happened yesterday, I hope everything went well,” he suddenly said.   Yerin looked up at him in shock. It was a topic she wanted to avoid, so she couldn’t help but wonder about his approach to it. “Aren’t you gonna ask me about it?” She quietly asked him.   “It’s your privacy, there must be a reason why you can’t tell me, right?” Seung Cheol grinned at her.   Yerin was surprised at his maturity despite his young age and cute appearance. “Do all people your age have this mindset?” She asked.   “No, the others act like kids. I’m obviously the wise and mature one,” Seong Cheol proudly declared, and Yerin couldn’t help but laugh. “Although sometimes I do wonder whether making these assumptions are right. Would you rather I ask you about it?”   “It depends,” she answered him truthfully. “In your case, I’d rather you not get involved in this complicated situation.”   In Chan Yeol’s case, she normally would’ve hated the guy for even trying to ask. But at this point, she secretly wished he knew. She wished he had looked up to see her there. And if she had called out to him, she wondered whether things would’ve been different.   But some words were better left unspoken, and some things were better left unnoticed.   “What do you want? I’ll treat,” Seung Cheol asked when it was their turn to place an order.   Yerin glanced over the menu, seeing a lot of choices available. She scanned over the flavors she liked and the ones she disliked. Her mind was blank.   “You can choose whatever’s best for me,” she then told Seung Cheol, afraid to hold up the queue behind due to her indecisiveness.   “Wow, that’s a huge responsibility,” he laughed before pointing his finger to a picture. “I’ll take this one and this one.”   Yerin sighed at his words. Making a decision was a huge responsibility indeed, and she wished there could’ve been someone who would help her make the right choices in life.   If only it were that easy.   “Oh, Yerin? I didn’t expect to see you here!”   Yerin slightly flattened her eyes, wondering how people kept finding her when she was trying so hard to avoid others. She could recognize that friendly, sweet voice with zero fault. So when she turned around, she put up her best smile to face Song Hee-Jin.   “Hi! I didn’t expect to see you here either?” She answered with a pretty convincing gladness.   Seung Cheol received the ice creams and handed one cone to Yerin. He gave her secret glances, noticing her amazing transformation from one mood to the other. Whatever was bothering Yerin, he was sure this girl was involved in some way. He could see Yerin was dying to get away from the scene.   “It was nice seeing you, but I-”   “Can I talk to you for a while?” Hee-Jin quickly interjected.   Yerin blinked in confusion, and parted with Seung Cheol afterwards. He had offered to stay, but she told him there was no need to. Maybe he could’ve accompanied her a little longer though; sitting alone with Hee-Jin on a lonely bench in the park was more awkward than she imagined it would be.   “I met with Chan Yeol oppa last night,” Hee-Jin had started out, and Yerin wondered why she was telling her this. “Something bad had happened to his parents.”   Yerin’s eyes widened. So her guess was right.   “It had been going on for a while actually. His father was going on a tour to Japan and needed help to know some good places to stay at. He asked me since I’ve studied there before. But last night he told me his father didn’t go on a tour. He was gone forever,” Hee-Jin spoke solemnly.   Yerin couldn’t believe her ears for several reasons. His father ran away from his family with no regards for his responsibilities. He ran away and disguised it as a tour for his work. He ran away when his wife was threatening to divorce him if there were no reconciliations.   But what shocked her most above all, was the fact Chan Yeol never told her about any of this. How often had she asked him about his parents’ well being? And how many times did he try to change the topic afterwards? She thought he was uncomfortable with the topic, and therefore didn’t push him on it. But he managed to tell everything to Hee-Jin.   “So when I saw you last night, I really wanted to call out to you so you could cheer him up, since you are closer to him, but-”   “Wait.” Yerin held her hand up to stop the other girl from talking so fast. Her brain tried to process everything she had said. “You saw me last night?”   “I saw you turn away without approaching us, and Chan Yeol told me not to call out to you,” Hee-Jin said.   Yerin bit her lips together, not knowing what to think of this. After everything she had sacrificed just to go find him, he had seen her, and simply let her walk away like that. He had noticed and chose to ignore it. Her heart constricted in that suffocating way, clenching so close she was no longer sure whether she was feeling sad, angry, or a mixture of both.   “I just wanted to make sure there were no misunderstandings,” Hee-Jin said quietly.   There was nothing Yerin could do but to reply with a small nod. She tried her best to stop crying, not sure why the tears wanted to escape her eyes in the first place.   “I am so sorry if this is an invasion of your privacy, but I just really wanted to ask you to clear up some things, you know, before there are misunderstandings. Really sorry in advance though.” Hee-Jin was doing her usual run down of firing a thousand words and apologies just to make a single point. “Do you like Chan Yeol?”   Yerin saw it coming, and continued her ice cream. What was it with this family? First Hyun Mi asked her, and now the cousin Hee-Jin was asking her about it too. They would’ve made some creepy stalkers.   “Do you like Chan Yeol?” Yerin darted the question back at her.   Her movements momentarily stopped when she saw Hee-Jin’s cheeks take on a rosy blush. The girl faced her knees and soon fiddled with her fingers in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.   “I mean.. I know he is very fond of you. And if you like him, then I wouldn’t want to get in between. I’d hate to be the third person, and I promise we’re just really good friends right now. Maybe I do like him a little… Or a lot actually. But I like you a lot too! So I really don’t want to be in the way if you like him…”   Yerin couldn’t help but chuckle. There was no way she could ever hate Hee-Jin. She was too nice and adorable of a person, and Yerin could honestly see why Chan Yeol liked her. If only it were a movie whereby the other girl was a mean and hateable antagonist. But no, Hee-Jin was everything nice. She was everything Chan Yeol needed in a soulmate.   “You don’t need my permission to like him. If you like him, then go for it,” Yerin told her and softly patted her shoulders.   “But it wouldn’t feel right considering you two being so close,” Hee-Jin uttered.   “Don’t worry, I don’t like him,” Yerin reassured. And it was true, she wasn’t lying. Because indeed, she didn’t like Chan Yeol.   She loved him.     Days passed by like any other 24 hours flashing by without bearing any intrinsic meaning. Yerin had tried so hard to keep him away from her mind after she had partially told the truth to Hee-Jin. She knew Chan Yeol would be better off with a cheerful girl like that; someone who could properly cheer him up after the issues with his parents. As for her? She was only to bring him down because of her own traumatic experience.   She tried so hard to get over him, but he was making it nearly impossible to do so.   When she returned home one day to see her black suede stilettos all fixed up as if it was newly bought from the store, she bit her lips so tight it almost started bleeding. She had gone to her room, cursing Chan Yeol inwardly for being so thoughtful. When he started sending her text messages at 12 AM to go to sleep, she nearly threw her phone away to avoid his affectionate actions, but knowing she’d miss it if he stopped doing it. Whenever he started to buy those McDonald’s meal for random occasions without having anything to apologize for, she realized being in his presence suffocated her. Her heart couldn’t handle his kindness.   “Hey, Chan Yeol’s birthday is next week, right?” Hee-Jin suddenly asked when the girls were gathered together around a table.   “Yeah, November 27th,” Yerin answered as if it was always there at the back of her mind. She wasn’t even paying attention and was lazily browsing through her laptop.   “Should we celebrate it? Oh, of course we should! I wonder what we should do. Are you usually in charge, Yerin?” Hee-Jin was overflowing with excitement.   Yerin flinched a little. She was in charge only because the others had ‘sudden’ plans appear in their agendas on the same day the person in charge was going to be appointed. After deciding she wanted to forget about him, this was something she should not be doing.   “You should be in charge,” Yerin told Hee-Jin.   “Me? B-but I don’t know the things he likes. I know some of them only. I love parties, but I’m quite scared if it doesn’t work out well,” she began hesitating. And only after Yerin placed a hand on her shoulder did she stop talking.   “I’ll help you out. But you should be in charge and make it a great party,” Yerin said, flashing a soft smile.   The other girls were witnessing the oddness in Yerin’s expression, but they didn’t think much of it. They had noticed Hee-Jin’s not so subtle interest in Chan Yeol and had since then stopped the ChanRin shipping.   Hyun Mi left her gaze on Yerin a second longer, noticing that uncomfortable glint in the things Yerin had said. Everything relating to Chan Yeol was probably making her feel restless.   “You should all be thinking about your university applications. Did you guys write your personal statement yet?” Hyun Mi smoothly diverted the topic, and the other girls were soon drawn in.   “Please eomma, you’re older than us. We don’t have to think about transferring out of college yet,” Maerin subtly reminded her.   “Yeah, it’s just you, Yerin, Woo Hyun, and Hoya,” Seul Yi reminded her friend.   “Oh right, you girls are still young.” Hyun Mi laughed, scratching the back of her head at the stupid distraction. It worked; Yerin was at least smiling along.   Yerin looked down to her laptop screen, seeing the list of universities she had been browsing. It was almost time to part with the others anyway. Time to part with Chan Yeol. Time to part with her feelings.   It would be a great escape.     “Happy birthday!!!”   Everyone had jumped out from behind a couch, throwing a variety of peanut assortments to Chan Yeol who walked in through the front door. He was so off guard he only displayed a goofy look on his face.   “Y… You guys remembered my birthday!” Chan Yeol was nearly at the verge of tears now. He looked down at one of the peanuts that got stuck on his jacket, picked it up, and ate it. “Why peanuts though?”   “Hee-Jin said you liked peanuts,” Tae Min said. “She is actually the one who organized the whole surprise.”   “Really?” Chan Yeol’s eyes scanned around the room in amazement. There was a big banner wishing him ‘Happy Burstday’ along with some comical figures Myung Soo drew to represent them. The room was decorated in black and gold streamers, his favorite color. There was a bowl of rice and tonkatsu ready for dinner because Yerin said he loved Japanese food. And of course the strawberry flavored mousse cake he loved so much was in Hee-Jin’s hands.