“Jisoo?” called Joshua’s mom urgently. “Jisoo? Where’s Alice? Her room is empty and so is the bathroom. Do you know where she went? I wanted to make her breakfast. Jisoo?” The door handle jiggled, but the door was locked, to the older woman’s dismay. “Jisoo? Are you still sleeping?”

In fact, Joshua was still sleeping. Completely . Beside me. I was also completely .

My first thought was to just hide under the covers, but then I realized his parents would question where I was no matter what, so I scrambled to put on my pyjamas. I snuck up to the door and slipped out.

“Alice?” asked the woman standing in front of the door, ready to knock again. I placed a finger on my mouth and pointed inside while I closed the door.

“Joshua’s sleeping,” I whispered.

She squinted. “Are you looking for something?”

I shook my head with a smile. “Um, no, not at all. I just noticed that Joshua forgot his wallet in my bag last night, so I wanted to give it back to him before he panics.”

She began to nod, eyes still questioning. “So why did you lock the door?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t. Maybe it just jammed?”

Finally she seemed to accept what I was saying. “Well, I’ll go wake him up then. It’s time for breakfast anyway.”

“You know what? I can wake him if you want me to,” I offered.

“Oh, would you be so kind?” she asked me. “Thank you.” With that she headed back down the stairs and I sighed in relief.

I went back inside and crouched on the floor, level with Josh’s head. He looked so serene. Even in his sleep he looked like a marble statue, perfectly carved and chiseled by the finest artists in the land. The curve of his lips, the slope of his nose, and his big, brown eyes, staring into mine.

Oh my God, why are his eyes open?

Startled, I stumbled backwards. He chuckled sleepily. “Good morning, Alice,” he moaned, voice gruff and coated with layers of somnolence.

“Good morning,” I said back as I got up to my feet. “Your mom made breakfast. Wanna go eat?”

“Sure,” he said, and sat up. The blanket slid off his torso, revealing his bare chest. I was reminded once again that he and I had both fallen asleep without our clothes on, so I hurried to turn around and give him some privacy.

“See you downstairs,” I said.

“Alice?” he called out right before I opened the door. I stopped and turned my head. “You do realize I remember what you said last night, right?”

I stared at him, eyes wide, before just giving him a panicked, “No you don’t,” and ducking out of the room. I could hear him chuckle and I hated it.

Downstairs, I helped Josh’s mom set up the table.

“Can you take out a square glass container, Alice? They’re in the cupboard above the stove.”

I nodded, and then stared up at the cupboard in question. With a sigh, I got onto my tiptoes and reached as far as I could to swing the door open. I had to lean against the stove to try getting the container without dropping it. That was when I felt a body press against the back of mine and saw a hand easily swipe the container. My breath hitched. Josh was so warm I nearly melted upon contact.

“Here you go, eomma.” He shot me a subtle wink before turning back to his mother to give her the glass container.

“Oh, good morning Jisoo,” she greeted unceremoniously.

Once we sat down to eat, the older woman began to ask about our plan for my last day here.

“We’re hanging out with Jinhee and Jaeson,” Joshua answered.

“We are?” I asked.

“We are,” he confirmed. “Kyla, too. Sungyeon’s still with her parents.”

I stared at my plate. “Don’t Kyla’s parents live in California?”

Josh shrugged. “Based on the fact that she hasn’t seen them yet, I’d guess they’re not near here.” ‘Besides,’ he added in private, ‘we’re her parents anyway.’

After breakfast I hurried to go upstairs and change in order to avoid Josh trying to talk to me, but I realized all of that rush was futile once I got into the car and buckled in. He was just going to sit right next to me. And talk to me.

I braced myself for the worst.

“I can feel you’re uncomfortable about it,” he said as soon as he was buckled in himself, “but I don’t think it’s healthy to leave this topic unvisited.”

I sighed. “You’re right. Okay. Here’s the thing. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to say it. It was just-- the vibes, the energy, the mood was so good and comfortable that it just kind of slipped out.”

He nodded as he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. “Alright. I get that. And I appreciate the sentiment, I guess. And that name?”

I shut my eyes tight, clenched my fists in my lap, and whispered really fast, “The name of my idol ex.”

“Oh my-- You dated-- No way!” He was enjoying this far too much, and his laughter was very annoying, but it was my fault for letting this slip. He placed a hand over his heart. “And you love me more than you ever loved him?” he teased. “Flattering.”

“I am going to murder you,” I said under my breath.

“You couldn't. You love me.”

I groaned so hard it hurt my throat. “Let it go, I was practically sleep talking!”

He parked in Jinhee’s parking lot and insisted on holding my hand until we got to the door. He buzzed the Parks’ apartment and rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels as we waited for the door to unlock.

In the elevator, he leaned into me and whispered into my ear, “For what it’s worth, I think I love you back.”

The elevator doors opened and I simply stared at his back as he walked on.

“You think?” I called, jogging to catch up. “What the hell does that mean?”

Jinhee poked her head out. “Oh no. What has he done this time?” she asked me.

“I didn’t do anything!” Joshua defended, hands in the air.

“Didn’t you? Or do you just think that you didn’t?” With one last nasty glare at the man, I gave Jinhee a hug and she let me in.

Hana was there, and so was Thalia, one of her legs draped over Jaeson’s lap. “Did Josh screw up again?” asked the blonde.

“When doesn’t he?” Hana asked.

Jinhee raised a brow. “Hana, remember our last year in high school when you were the one mad at me for still holding that grudge over the breakup?”

Hana held out a finger. “My issue was with you holding a grudge against Thalia, Joshua Hong be damned.”

“I’m standing right here,” Josh reminded them.

Hana smirked. “Good. Did you catch all of that? I could repeat it if you didn’t.”

***

Kyla was late but she had messaged Alice that she was on her way. Jaeson and Thalia carried a large box out of his and Jinhee’s room and let it fall to the floor with a tremendous thud. Hana started to unpack it. Alice stared wordlessly.

“So, how did you mess this up?” Jinhee asked me in a hush. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had a smug look on her face.

I sighed. “I can’t explain. It’s something Alice and I will have to talk about ourselves.”

“Gee. For two people with literally connected minds, you two sure are out of sync. It’s pretty concerning, Hong.”

That got her a warning finger. “You know I don’t like that, Park.”

“Sue me.”

The doorbell rang and Jinhee went to answer it. I refocused on Alice staring at the box of clothing in the middle of the living room in annoyance.

“Josh, I don’t like cameras. Do I have to do this?” she asked.

I nodded. “For Kyla.”

“What’s for me?” came a voice behind us.

“Kyla!” I greeted enthusiastically. “You’re here! Just in time! We’ve got something for both you and Alice!”

Kyla looked around at all of the faces she had never seen before and then settled on Alice’s. “Do you know what’s going on?”

Alice took a deep breath and smiled bright. “Hey, Ky. So before we explain all this, let’s get you introduced.”

She went through everyone in the room as though they were her childhood friends. I watched in awe. Alice was far from comfortable with my friends, yet here she was, playing middle man to bridge Kyla to them.

Jinhee draped an arm over the teen’s shoulders. “I was asking Josh and Alice for help with an assignment I have. See, I need to write a fashion piece. Thalia’s dad got us clothes, Hana’s got the camera, I’m writing the piece, but… I kind of need models for it.”

Kyla looked around. “Okay..? What do you want me to do?”

Jinhee blinked. “Model,” she answered.

The young girl laughed. “You’re kidding. I can’t model. I’m not in good enough shape for that.”

Alice hung herself onto Kyla like