After practice people usually left the change rooms quickly. Exhausted, starving, and impatient for the weekend to begin, Haechan just stripped everything and changed into his school clothes, oblivious to Mark's presence. He said a vague bye to everyone, grabbed his bag, and left first. Mika was waiting outside in the hallway, either for her brother or for Renjun – probably the latter – and they exchanged nods, but that was it.

At home he showered and joined his family half-way through dinner, ate the green beans his little sister picked out, finished another lesson of his online English course, then crashed into bed.

Despite being exhausted, it took Haechan a while to fall asleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Mark – damn, that body – so he stared at the ceiling for a while, concentrating on the glow-in-the-dark stars he'd stuck up there when he was little. His eyelids started getting heavy, and he was about to pass out when his phone rang.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Sluggish, Haechan flung an arm over the side of his bed and d the carpet for his cell phone, finding it and pulling it from the charger. He swore, looked at the caller ID – and all his anger dissipated. Sighing heavily, he resigned himself to a night of little sleep and accepted the call.

"Hey, Hana."

"Sorry, were you asleep?" Hana's voice was faint through the phone and he frowned, unable to tell if she was just calling to bother him or if something was up.

"Almost."

"Oh, sorry." There was a long pause, and eventually, Haechan sighed.

"It's okay. What's up?"

"Um… I don't want to bother you."

Haechan raised an eyebrow at his stars. "A little too late saying that, isn't it?"

"…I'm really sorry."

"I'm just kidding." Haechan rolled over and looked out the window. Across the street, the light in Hana's room was on. "Tell me what's up."

"Okay… did you talk to Jeno today?"

"Yeah, we had long block together." Haechan felt his brows knit together. "Why? He's still bothering you?"

"I wouldn't call it bothering anymore." Across the street, the light turned off, then flickered back on.

Haechan chuckled. "What are you doing with those lights, Hana?" He heard a giggle on the other side and smiled, wrapping himself in the bed sheets. "I'm afraid I don't understand morse code." He whispered.

Hana giggled. "It's an SOS."

"Really?"

"No dummy, I just dropped something. Had to turn on the lights to see it." There was a pause, then an audible sigh. "I ran into Jeno today at the supermarket."

"Uh-huh?" Haechan said, letting her know he was listening.

"He was following me around the whole time. I mean, we talked and that was nice, but he started saying weird stuff."

"Define 'weird'," Haechan said warily.

"…He said stuff about you…" There was a long pause, and Haechan waited with his breath held. Eventually, Hana said quietly, "He said you told him that you like me."

, , .   Haechan in a breath, then forced himself to laugh. "Really? When did that happen?"

"I… I don't know, Haechan, I mean, now that I think about it, everybody's been saying it…" Hana said hesitantly.

Damn him, damn…   Haechan sat up, wide awake now. "Look –"

"We're really good friends, right?" Hana interrupted.

Haechan swallowed, feeling a painful lump go down. "Yeah. Of course, we are."

"Is this why you don't like Mark?"

"What are you talking about? We're good friends, aren't we?" Haechan stammered. "You aren't seriously going to believe Jeno, are you? Come on, if it were true I would have told you myself. I tell you everything!"

There was a long, long pause. Haechan felt the urge to go to the bathroom, and he willed Hana to hurry up.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, it was just bothering me, and…"

"No problem." Haechan sighed in relief. "So we're all good?"

There was another hesitant pause.

"Okay Hana, because I made you worry, I'll give you a present." Haechan said, heart racing as he looked at his stars for ideas. "Uh, I'll set you and Mark up on a date. Okay?"

"Really?" Hana's response was immediate – she sounded ecstatic, and for a moment Haechan was happy too. But then he realized what he'd just said and punched himself inside.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do." He forced himself to say. "Look Hana, I'm tired…"

"Oh, yeah, of course." Hana's voice hushed. "Sorry for waking you, Haechan."

"It's okay."

"Good night."

"Good night, Hana. Sweet dreams."

There was a beep as Hana hung up and Haechan dropped his phone on the ground with a sigh. He slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom – then returned and collapsed face-first on the mattress. All at once the day's exhaustion washed over him, and in a matter of seconds he was asleep.

..................................

The first thing he became aware of Saturday morning was the bright light shining into his face. Groaning, Haechan rolled away from the window and grimaced as he felt stickiness – then he realized he was covered in sweat, and that it was burning hot in his cotton pajamas. Grumbling irritably, he reached a hand into his shirt and lifted it up, struggling to sluggishly pull it over his head. He ended up stuck in an awkward elbow-lock with his clothes, and by the time he freed himself he was totally awake.

Ugh.   Haechan sat up and gazed half-lidded at the sheets. Dazed, he felt his stomach growl and realized that the warm air smelled sweet and buttery. His stomach growled again.

Okay, okay…

Haechan sat in bed for another minute, tempted to just fall back onto his pillow. He scratched his head and rubbed his face, then sighed and slid off, promptly stepping on his cell phone.

"Ow…"

He stumbled his way to the bathroom, where he used the toilet and brushed his teeth and washed his face. A little more awake, Haechan went back to his room and looked through the window, peering up at the cloudless blue sky. After a moment's thought, he went and changed into white shorts and his favorite navy-blue short-sleeve hoodie. He grabbed his cell phone and keys, took a deep breath, and walked out into the hallway.

"Mommy I want some cookies too!"

Wincing as his little sister's yelling immediately pierced his ears, Haechan jogged down the stairs and was overcome with a huge yawn as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Haechan." His mother said breathlessly as she ran around retrieving her keys from the countertop, then her bag from the sofa.

"Morning Mom." Haechan peered behind him and saw daylight streaming into the laundry room – the garage door was open, and judging by his mother's shorts and her untied, curled brown hair, his parents were probably out on a date.

"You can have one cookie, Haneul."

"Why can't I eat all the cookies?!" His sister stomped on the hardwood floor, tears bubbling up in her eyes as she crossed her clenched fists across her chest.

"They're for the neighbors, honey. Oh, Haechan, we have new neighbors, could you go and deliver the cookies to them?" His mother grabbed his arm and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sure, Mom."

"And make sure you don't leave Haneul alone, got it?" His mom knelt down and gave the angry girl a squeeze, then kissed her on the forehead and rushed out the garage door. "We'll be back by nine, call us if there's any trouble!"

Haechan sighed. "Yes, Mom." He said dryly. He waited until the garage door closed, then turned and gave Haneul a glare.

Haneul glared back, lower lip jutted out in a pout. "I want a cookie."

Haechan gave her a stern look, then smiled and looked at the tray of freshly baked chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies. "Actually, me too."

Haneul burst out into a giggle. "Mommy makes good cookies!"

"Shh," Haechan held a hand up to his lips and looked around exaggeratedly. "Let's sneak two cookies for ourselves for breakfast, then bring the rest to the neighbors, okay?"

Haneul grinned. "Okey dokies!"

"Go wash your hands first," Haechan said, shooing her off. She ran in the direction of the bathroom, little feet thumping against the floorboards, and he leaned back against the counter in relief.

Man, this is gonna be a long day…

The cookies were delicious, and though he was guilty for wanting to take five more for himself, he and Haneul had one each. Then he packed the cookies in a plastic container, checked that Haneul wasn't in her pajamas, and headed out the