Junhyung sat on the bench, half asleep, waiting for you to arrive.

“Where is that girl?” He mumbled to himself as he pulled his coat closer to keep himself warm.

“The girl is here! Boo!” You jumped out from nowhere.

“Omo! My heart!” He said.

“How is my friend?” You asked, putting your arm over his shoulders.

“Good.” He said, but in fact he was damn sleepy.

“That’s good! We have lots to do today!” You said.

“What??” He looked at you.

You smiled at him.

“Not again~” He sighed.

“Yes! This time, I’m going to pluck up the courage and speak to whoever it is!” You said confidently.

“You wouldn’t.” He laughed.

“Yah! I will!” You slap his arm.

“Ah~ Okay okay! We’ll see.” He smirked, but in fact, his heart ached like crazy.

He didn’t want you to have that courage, he didn’t want you to go forward to speak to any random man. He wanted you for himself, but like you, he never had the courage to open his mouth.

“Come on let’s go!” You said, running off first.

He walked in another direction as you but you kept you in eye range. Just like always, you two started the ‘grading game’. You would point at a potential boyfriend candidate and he would grade the guy according to a guy’s perspective, one being the least and five being the best. Sometimes, he would help you out as well, but most of the time, he was fooling around.

The last time you two did this, he finally gave a guy a five after walking with you for the entire day, but in the end, you ran back to him because you had no courage to open your mouth. He sighed and nagged at you for wasting his time but deep down, he was so damn happy and relieved.

“Psh~” You hissed.

He snapped out from his thoughts and turned to you. You were pointing at a nerdy looking guy in a bookstore reading some politics books. He choked and laughed, giving the guy a two. You laughed as well because you were just kidding about it. You two continued to walk on.

“Yah~” He hissed, catching your attention.

He pointed at a middle age businessman who was busy yelling on his phone. He cheekily gave him a four. You showed him your fist and walked off. He ran after you, laughing like a crazy person.

You walked into the mall, for some reason, there were couples everywhere and you were really envious. Your previous relationship was a terrible failure. From the start, your boyfriend only dated you because he had a bet with his friends. As hurting as it could be, you were relieved you found out earlier, but ever since then, you don’t seem to be able to trust any guys, with the exception of Junhyung.

Junhyung walked behind you, trying to find someone who absolutely doesn’t suit your taste. Not that he didn’t want you to be happy, he just hope the one giving you happiness would be him. He knew how hurt you was when you found out your boyfriend is such a jerk. He swore he would never let any other guy make you cry, including himself.

He hated your idea of this game, but he played along with you, but that was until he realize you were serious. He took it as a way to bond with you. He never had much time for you ever since he started his career and he is guilty about that. He secretly blamed himself for your previous failed relationship. He had the thinking that if he took a better look at that guy and realize it before you did, you would not have been hurt like this.

He snapped out from his thoughts and saw you frantically pointing at a guy who was busy looking at shoes. He looked absolutely like your type, and he started panicking. If he gave the guy a fail, you would get angry, but if he gave the guy full marks, you might go with him.

“Quick~” You mouthed to him.

He showed you a ‘four’.

You smiled and nodded, agreeing with him. His heart stopped for second when you took a step closer to that guy. He bit his lower lip so hard he could taste the coppery taste of blood. You smiled at the guy and had some sort of a small conversation that Junhyung couldn’t make out because he was quite far.

“You dropped this.” You said to the guy.

“Oh, thank you very much.” He flashed a smile at you as he took over the case in your hands.

“By the way, I think that pair suits you more.” You said, pointing at the red pair of Nike.

“Really? You know what? Actually I thought so too.” He said, and both of you laughed.

Junhyung stood at his ground, watching the both of you. His heart ached so much he thought it was going to burst open and then that’s the end of him.

“Don’t stand here like a piece of wood!” A middle age man shouted at him.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, looking down, still not moving.

Not that he didn’t want to move, his entire body felt numb that he couldn’t move.

“Move it, Young man!” The middle aged pushed Junhyung.

You were distracted from your conversation. You looked up and saw Junhyung getting pushed and yelled at by the stranger. People were crowding around and whispering to themselves.

“It was nice meeting you.” You said to the guy hurriedly as you ran off to Junhyung’s side.

“That was really rude of you, Sir.” You frowned to the middle aged man.

“You know this piece of wood? Bring him away! He’s blocking the walkway!” He yelled.

“There are empty areas there, there and there! Why do you have to walk here!?” You yelled back.

“Sorry.” Junhyung bowed.

“Let’s go.” He whispered.

You knew you couldn’t create a commotion as it would greatly affect his reputation. Despite feeling angry and unjust, you let it go.

When the both of you were out of the mall, you looked at Junhyung.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” You asked.

He shook his head and smiled weakly at you.

“But, why were you standing there?” You asked.

‘I couldn’t move because of you.’ He wanted to say.

‘I was in so much pain I couldn’t move. You were the cause of it.’ He wanted to say.

“So?” You asked again.

“I don’t know. My legs felt numb suddenly. I guess I’m tired.” He said.

“Ah~ Have you eaten?” You asked.

He shook his head.

“Feed me.” He said with a slight pout to look pitiful.

“Sure. Let’s feed my friend.” You smiled, dragging him into a random restaurant.

Friend. You called him your friend. He didn’t quite like that word, but he liked your company, very much.