(A/N: I wrote this a few days ago when I was damn stressed with my exams. Not sure if that has affected what I wrote. Also, there's a lot of GFriend in this chapter I'd like to apologise haha I think I stress-wrote so this one is a little longer. It's okay right? Hehe)

chapter 4:

"첫사랑 인걸까"

"Is this first love"

___

Friday reaches again, and it's the day the girls stay over at Eunbi's, following their weekly routine.

Jackson watches as four in school uniform walk over along with two in home clothes, and he guesses they are the eldest ones in the group. Eunbi is one of the youngest ones, or so he remembers her telling him.

He is standing around his front yard, in hopes of an interaction with Eunbi. He actually doesn't know why, but somehow he has made his way down to welcome Eunbi home today. It isn't a routine, and Jackson wonders if he should make this a routine.

The noise grows louder as the group of girls walk nearer to Eunbi's place. He anxiously counts the time in his heart and as soon as he knows it, Eunbi is at the gate of her home, right beside him. He turns around and smiles.

"Hey Eunbi ssi!" a voice calls out and Eunbi turns to see Jackson in the neighbouring house waving at her. "You're home," he says with a wide grin.

Eunbi freezes, completely not expecting this greeting. "Yeah, hey," she sheepishly says, and quickly turns away to unlock the gate before he realises how red her cheeks are. She feels five pairs of eyes on her, and tries to ignore them by busying herself as she tackles the padlock and pushes the gate open, before making a run for the front door and opening it up, while kicking her shoes off.

As soon as Eunbi gets into her home she dashes up the stairs, and the girls' giggles from the entrance annoy her so much she just wants to cover her ears or even lock them out of her room. She collapses in the seat before her desk, burying her face in her palms.

"Hwang Eunbi, what is this?" Eunbi groans as a response to Sojung who is asking from below. It is a genuine question, because it is Sojung, but Eunbi knows that the rest will for sure.

"Yahh, you left poor Umji to lock the gate and door for you," she hears Sojung continue. She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, refusing to show any signs of interest in the conversation.

Yuna is first to enter her room. "Well, why don't you tell them?" she asks with playful eyes.

"Tell us what?" Yerin exclaims a question as she pushes the door excitedly.

Eunbi groans. The whole house could probably hear Yerin.

Yewon enters the room last, giggling in amusement from the noises she has heard from downstairs. She closes the door behind her and sits beside Sowon on the floor.

"ShinB's got a boy," Yewon jokingly says. Before she knows it, a textbook comes flying in her way, missing her face by a hair's breath.

"Kim Yewon!" Eunbi screams at the same time.

"Yahh Hwang Eunbi, you almost hurt her," Sojung glares at Eunbi.

"Well I meant to miss her," Eunbi plainly says as she comes down from her chair to join everyone on the floor.

"Umji, why is your friend like that?" Sojung asks and Yewon merely giggles in amusement.

"Unnie, I've never said I'm her friend," Eunbi replies sarcastically, and the book is flung back at her. This time, it hits her, landing lightly on her arm.

"Oh I'm sorry," Umji gasps and apologises before giggling again in her adorable way, "It meant to hit you though."

"This is why I'm not friends with you!" Eunbi attempts to hit the younger one by stretching her arms out as far as possible, only to be stopped by Sojung.

"Hey, we're supposed to talk about you and your boy, not see you maknaes in your love-hate relationship," Sojung laughs at her own statement that also incites laughter among the other girls.

"So, ShinB, got something to say about this boy?" the other Eunbi asks.

"It seems like Yuju and Umji knows about this," Yerin says next.

"Well, you're unlucky you're not as close to her as us," Yuna jokes, unexpectedly agitating the other girls.

"Yahh, don't make it seem like it's our fault or like we're segregated," Jung Eunbi seems a little offended, similar to the expressions on the other girls' faces.

The girls stay silent, the tension lingering amongst them.

"Hey, I love you all okay? Don't fight over this," Eunbi tries to make peace as she is placed in an awkward position. She begins to feel bad, because she is in truth closer to them a little more than the rest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend," Yuna immediately feels guilty.

"It's okay, I know Yuju was joking, right?" Jung Eunbi turns to face her sulking friend.

"I was," Yuna whispers in guilt.

"Do you guys have better things to talk about? Or we should start work," Eunbi plainly asks, without processing her words.

"Oh yes we do!" Yerin immediately replies enthusiastically, instantaneously changing the mood in the room. It is then Eunbi realises what she has said and starts to regret her question.

She feels an odd stare from the girl of the same name, making her feel uncomfortable. "What?" she snaps in irritation.

"I can't believe someone like you got a boy," Sojung sighs and stands up before settling herself on the bed, uninterested.

"No! Don't listen to that Kim Yewon," Eunbi shouts once again. "It's not true..." her words trail off because she doesn't exactly want to lie in front of her friends.

"It's slightly true, is it?" Yerin sees through her.

"You're going to have to tell anyway you know," Yuna pushes Eunbi's thigh as she pesters her.

Eunbi sighs and relents. "Aish okay," she mutters in defeat, and the girls clap their hands in anticipation.

"So, are you two together?" Jung Eunbi still has her eyes on her.

"No!" Eunbi's eyes widen to the size of spoons at Jung Eunbi's statement. "Far from that," she adds in defence.

"What's going on between you two?" Yerin curiously asks, looking at Eunbi with her wide twinkling eyes.

"He's just-" Eunbi struggles to find the right words, "he's just my neighbour," she answers, seemingly conservative.

"There's more to that," Jung Eunbi confidently says next.

Eunbi sighs again. 

"And you're in love with him!" Yerin exclaims.

"No!" Eunbi denies immediately.

"Are you sure?" Yewon asks with a cheeky smile.

"Yahh!" Eunbi furrows her eyebrows in annoyance.

"Just tell us," Sojung is smiling, though unpatient.

She swallows a gulp. "I may like him," she admits softly after a long silence.

Sojung, Yerin and Jung Eunbi gasp at the same time. Yuna and Yewon are giggling playfully.

Meanwhile, Eunbi still doesn't believe what she has just said.

So, I like him? She asks herself in utter confusion. Has her heart finally put her feelings into words?

"Our ShinB is in love!" Yerin exclaims really loudly, bring her hands to her face. This juts Eunbi out from her thoughts.

"Shut up, you'll wake my brother up!" Eunbi hisses, hurling a pillow in the direction of Yerin. Her ears flush red. Eunbi wants to go to the window and check if Jackson is still in the front yard, even though the chances are slim. She has a short internal debate but she concludes that she doesn't need to care about the girls' reactions anymore now that the cat is out of the bag.

She climbs onto her bed, whips the curtain apart and looks out of the window. As she sees Jackson idling around in his front yard, she heaves a loud sigh of relief before retreating back from the window.

The girls realise that it isn't because of Eunbi's brother.

"It's because he can hear us, can he?" Jung Eunbi says in a soft tone.

Eunbi slowly nods.

"Okay..." the girls' previously amplified voices has turned to whispers. Eunbi oddly feels a sense of peace, from the loss of the usual noise the girls create together. (This is despite that she won't deny that she is one of the loudspeakers of the group, yet she feels it is the 97 liners who are the noisiest.)

"Yerin unnie, you don't know how much I want to kill you now when I think of the possibility of him having heard it," Eunbi grits her teeth as she talks, which effectively scares the other girls.

"I'm sorry," Yerin sheepishly apologises.

Eunbi still hopes with all her heart that she feelings are still unknown from him. Nevertheless, he thinks of how she was greeted as she arrived home, and it somehow brings her joy to be welcomed home by his smile and his voice.

Eunbi sighs. Still, she refuses to believe that she is in love.