I quickly caught on to something strange about Jongin. As my first friend in a new place, my mom forced me to invite him over to eat dinner and spend the night.

My dad, who was always at work, didn't mind.

My brother, who was at college, certainly would have minded a boy sleeping near his baby sister, but Mom and I kept it a secret from him.

I called his house, inviting him over for dinner and a sleepover one day after school. This is where the strange things became a bit more obvious. Jongin, who lived fifteen minutes away by walking, appeared at my door less than a minute after my phone call, his overnight bag packed and a house gift of small cakes already outstretched for my mother to take.

"How the heck did you get here so fast?" I demanded almost immediately once we were alone, as he set down his overnight bag in my room, at the foot of the cot that Mom and I had set up.

Jongin stiffened, but didn't look at me, arranging his things. "Uh, I was in the neighborhood."

"With all of your things already?" I was a bit incredulous.

You see, contrary to popular belief, I wasn't a ing idiot. I knew that fifteen minutes away by walking could be five minutes by car, could be 10 minutes by running. But there was no translation that equated less than a minute.

Jongin hesitated for a moment before shrugging. "I was going to my grandma's house and just came here instead."

There was a lot of stuff that didn't add up about his story - namely that he had known about the invite despite being home and also that he had told me that both of his grandmothers had died a long time ago - but I simply eyed him for a moment longer before changing the subject.

But I certainly hadn't forgotten it.

A few weeks later, we were meeting at the local movie theatre to see the latest addition to the Marvel Avengers series and Jongin was late. As in, the movie was starting in three minutes and if he wasn't going to show up, I was going in alone because Steve Rogers waits for no one and neither does Song Minah.

In a last ditch effort, I called his house, and he answered. "Hello, Kim residence."

"Jongin, you , if I miss as much as the opening credits, I will end your life." I snapped into the phone. He better not 'Kim residence' my . "You haven't even left your house yet?"

The line went dead.

I stared at my cellphone. Did he just ing hang up on me? I could only gape at the screen that read 'CALL ENDED'.

I entered the theatre alone, extremely pissed off, and sat alone in the center of the theatre.

Just as the 'MARVEL' logo appeared on the screen, various comic book scenes flicking through on the logo, someone slid into the seat next to me.

"Popcorn?" Jongin smirked, outstretching the bucket towards me.

I hissed at him, ready to give him a downright lashing, when Steve (<3) appeared on the screen. I gave him a final glare, whispering "You're not getting out of this!" as I dug my hand into the popcorn bucket.

By the end of the movie, I was crying and incapable of giving him a scolding. "S-Steve, you are so wonderful..." I sobbed, blowing my nose into my sleeve.

Jongin simply rolled his eyes.

The last straw came when we were at his house, watching an episode of The Walking Dead.

"Minah, can we go eat?" Jongin begged for the thousandth time. He had been harassing me for the past two hours to buy him a snack.

I waved him aside, too distracted to tend to his neediness. Will Glenn be alright? Where's Carl?! "Grab a bill out of my bag and bring back ice cream for us."

He cheered -  I shushed him immediately - and he lunged for my bag. He disappeared out of the door.

Not even a minute later, Jongin returned, a grocery bag hanging on his arm. "I'm back, Minah~" he singsonged.

I paused the show, glancing over my shoulder at him. "Already? You just left? Where the hell did you buy ice cream from this quickly?" Even though I had been totally absorbed into the world of zombies and violence, I wasn't a ing idiot.

He blinked, innocently, shifting from one foot to the other. "The corner store."

I frowned. Was he kidding me? "That bag is not from the corner store. That's from HomePlus Grocery store, the closest one is like 4 miles away. No way you went there and back in less than 5 minutes."

Jongin swallowed, setting the bag down on the table. He began wringing his hands together, a clear sign of his nervousness. "Um, I-"

What the hell? I turned to face him, standing up. "Jongin, I'm sick of you lying to me."

"W-What? I don't lie to you-"

I raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed. "You literally just lied. And it was a pointless lie. What's the benefit of lying to me about where you bought ing ice cream from? Is it fun? Do you like screwing around?" I was working myself up, getting more and more upset by the second. "Do you hate me? Are you just toying around with me?"

"No, of course not." his face fell and he took a step closer to me. "Minah, I would never-"

"You would never? You just did." I shook my head, fuming, stepping backward, stopping him in his tracks. "You always do this. Little lies here and there... they add up. And they're always pointless. Stupid little things. What's the point of it? What's wrong with you?"

His shoulders slumped and I remembered when we had first met, months ago, when he had teased me and I had gotten upset. He had been the same way, this guilty boy. "Minah, I don't... I don't want to lie to you."

"Then why do you lie anyways? Why can't you just tell me the truth?" I demanded, crossing my arms. I was pissed. He had been feeding me bull for months, lying about this, lying about that. What was wrong with him? Why was he like this? Pent-up anger surged through me.

Jongin looked desperate, his dark eyes becoming watery. "Minah, I..." he choked a bit. "I... I can't tell you."

My face became blank. "Fine." I grabbed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. "Fine." I started for the door, shaking my head. Had our friendship been a lie too? What was the point?

"Minah, don't." he grabbed my arm.

"I don't want to be friends with a ing liar, Jongin." I sneered, slapping his hand away. "Don't ing touch me."

The boy who had been my only true friend for months was very close to tears. "Minah, please understand I can't tell you-"

I repeated the words I had spoken so many months ago. "Please don't talk to me ever again, you complete ."

A tear slipped down his face and I had to bite my trembling lip. "Bye." I whispered, closing the door softly behind me.

As I walked home, too embarrassed to call my mom for a ride, my face felt wet. "Weird." I sniffed, wiping at the dampness. "It's not raining."