Notebooks. Pens. Flash drive. Everything else.

You zipped your bag close and patted its bulging center before looking outside your window. Wonwoo’s house was quiet. Not a stir nor the sound of the microwave being used can be heard. Your gaze then landed on your messy desk with how-to books and jumbled up notes on scratch papers. With the preliminary exams fast approaching and the club getting busy with all the filming needed to be done, the break seemed timely.

“It’ll pass,” you assured yourself, shaking away the empty feeling that’s been creeping since that night.

“Sweetheart! Breakfast is ready.”

“What are we havi–” You stopped right at your door when you saw a familiar figure seated at the table. With a plate of pancakes right in front of him, Wonwoo looked up from his plate and gave you an awkward smile.

“Sweetie. Hurry up,“ your mom said, peeking from the kitchen.

You gave Wonwoo a hard look, your lips pressed into a thin line and answered, “I’m running late. I’ll eat on the way.” Without sparing him another look, you your heel and marched outside leaving Wonwoo scrambling for his bag as he too left and ran after you.

Just a few feet away, the remaining few passengers were almost done getting on the bus and it was all ready to leave. Your steps quickened, however, Wonwoo’s voice seemed to grow near.

“Y/n!”

“Ignore him. Ignore him,” you repeated.

Wonwoo caught up sounding out of breath, his hand hovering just a few inches from your arm. “You’re still angry.”

“Why were you in my house?”

“I…I needed someone to fix my tie,” he said, his tie dangling from his hand earning him a scowl from you as you continued to walk towards the bus. “Alright. Okay. Your mom invited me for breakfast,” he confessed. “Like always.”

“How about saying no?” you muttered to yourself and stood behind the last passenger in line. The frown on your face deepened when you noticed him stand behind you. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to go to school?”

“You don’t even take this bus!”

“I have to since the bus I usually take already left.”

Ignoring him, you got on the bus with him right behind and noticed that there were only a few seats left, most for sharing, except for the one at the end of the bus right next to a stranger. Without a moment’s hesitation, you took it. Wonwoo stood in the aisle, his eyes obviously trying to meet yours before finally taking the empty seat in front.

Placing your bag on your lap, you sighed. Staying mad at someone was easy. But staying mad at someone who tries to patch things up, especially when he did nothing wrong, needed great effort. And boy it did, especially since this went on for weeks, a month almost.

On some mornings, Wonwoo would be eating breakfast at your house. On others, he would be walking to the bus stop with you, each time trying to alleviate the awkwardness and eventually just walking with you in silence. There were close calls of you acting normal with him especially when you’re in a good mood; things like stopping mid-smile when you see him at your house or almost calling out to him when you see him on the street going home.

‘If you miss him and want to apologize, just go!’ was what Soeun said. Easier said than done, of course.

At the cafeteria, Soeun and Wooshin watched you eat your food aggressively while editing a video on your laptop and reading your notes all at the same time.

“Uh…”

“Yes. It’s due tomorrow. Yes. I have an exam in half an hour. And yes. I’m cramming everything. Don’t judge me,” you answered without missing a beat.

Wooshin pushed his jaw close with his hand and shook his head. “I could get you a drink with caffeine in it if you want. Just enough to get you through the day.”

“That would be awesome.” You allowed your eyes to leave the screen and looked at Wooshin in the eye. “You’re an awesome friend.”

“Hey,” he said standing up, “as long as I’m awesome.”

“You need to rest,” Soeun said simply once Wooshin left. “You’ve been glued to your laptop since a week ago and you’ve been cramming every single day.”

“Can’t afford one right now.”

“How are you doing all…this?” she said peeking at your notes.

“I’m not. I’m barely doing anything.”

“How are you surviving?”

You sighed, the cursor of your mouse just centimeters away from the cut tool, your other hand holding your fork above your plate before setting it down. “This is crazy,” you admitted, leaning back in your chair with your eyes shut.

‘You’re crazy’ came Wonwoo’s voice. You opened your eyes and looked around the room, looking from one student to another but he wasn’t there. And with that single thought, Wonwoo has invaded your mind again.

Wonwoo has always been your savior when it came to multitasking. But he’s not here. This time, you have to survive on your own because you chose it to be that way. It wasn’t all that bad. Only, it would be nice to have him back.

“You should be proud of me. I’m growing up,” you whispered to the empty air, willing the words to reach him.

“What?”

You looked at Soeun who was busy chewing her food in a somewhat relaxed manner and smiled. “Nothing.”

Sunday night during the last week of the month. The first term just ended. Exams were done. Projects have been passed. All was peaceful or so it was until your mom arrived with someone for dinner.

“Y/n, go help Wonwoo prepare the food.”

“You want him in the kitchen?” you asked, not even bothering to look at him.

“Just wash the vegetables for me and set the table. I need to do some business in the toilet real quick.”

You screwed your face as you watched your mom speed off to her room. “Too much information, mother.”

You took a quick peek at Wonwoo noting the weary expression on his face, the line of sweat on his forehead and the wrinkled clothes he had on. He was out with his friends. Probably.

Grabbing the bag he was holding, you went straight to the kitchen and did as told. You began taking the vegetables out of their containers and started washing them when he stopped to stand right next to you.

“You can set the table and rest,” you said simply.

Seconds of itching silence passed before you heard him sigh, and if you heard right, a chuckle; a small laugh. He moved to the drawers where the plates and the cutlery were and moved back to the table, leaving you alone with your job.

The cold water against your skin was nothing compared to the slight tingling that moment gave. It was like being able to see what you want most right in front of you, as if you were almost back to normal with him. Almost.

At last, your mom arrived, announcing she’s taking over everything else.

“Now you two, being so painfully slow with everything. Just go wait in your room and I’ll take care of this. And you,” she turned and met your eyes, “fix this….whatever this is with you two. Now shoo!” she said, practically kicking you and Wonwoo out away from her sight.

“Always knowing everything,” you grumbled as you climbed on your bed and drew your phone from your pocket.

“Just so you know, I didn’t tell her anything,” he said, sitting on the bedside floor like usual, studying the book he grabbed from your desk.

“I really wasn’t talking to you.”

You bit your lip. Your eyes darted to Wonwoo who was seated in silence with his back against the bed, not moving at all, not even opening the book he had in his hand. You shut your eyes tight and tried not to bury your face in your hands as you realized the words that came out of your mouth.

Calling him names, stealing his food and barging in his house without permission were things that he would coolly let pass. But if there was one thing that he really hated, one thing that would make him upset at once, it’s being disrespected or talked down to.

You clenched your teeth, a small groan leaving your lips as you plopped yourself on your pillow and mumbled an apology. You peeked from your pillow but Wonwoo stayed still.

“M'sorry,” you mumbled louder.

“I can’t hear you.”

“I said I’m sorry!”

“Are you apologizing or are you yelling at me?”

You shut your eyes tight and groaned louder on your pillow, even thrashing your feet on the bed.

“Now say it nicely one more time.”

You sighed and pushed yourself from the bed and sat up. Wonwoo sat on the floor, this time facing you, his eyes shining with victory from behind the lens of his glasses with a small but controlled smile displayed on his lips.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

You clenched your teeth, your hands crumpling the sheets of your bed. “Everything.”

“For what exactly?” he said, stressing the last word.

“For saying what I said earlier…and acting spoiled and unreasonable during the date.”

“Oh,” he said leaning back. “A full apology. All that…ignoring me for a month…came down to this?” The smile he had grew as he raised his hand and motioned for you to move near him. You dropped on your stomach and inched your way towards him just as he reached out to you and patted your head lightly. “You know, you really have to work on that.”

“On what?”

“Apologizing without throwing a tantrum. And ignoring me for so long.”

You scoffed and rested your head on top of your wrists allowing him to continue patting your head. His hand on your head was light and his fingers against your hair were careful, almost lulling you to sleep.

"Physical affection. And it’s still going. This is rare,” you noted. “You must’ve missed me a lot.”

“Want me to stop?” he asked, lifting his hand from your head only for you to put it back on.

“No. Keep going.”

Growing up with him, he’s always acted like a big brother and a dear friend. Scolding you when you do something wrong, protecting and comforting you when needed. Fights with him always happen and will happen but his existence has undeniably become an irreplaceable treasure in your life, and all this was something you’ve realized in the weeks that passed.

You looked at him and saw a content smile painted on his lips though his eyes seemed to look faraway. “What is it?” you asked. “What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing,” he said as he lifted his hand from your head. He looked at you a bit longer before the corner of his lips quirked up. “You do know you have to apologize to Hyein too, right?”

“What??”

“Y/n. You know you were being rude to her. You are rude sometimes but not to that extent.”

You scowled and rolled on the bed away from him while he let out a small laugh. “So much for thinking nice of you,” you muttered under your breath.

“If it’s too difficult then I could go with you. Or maybe I’ll ask Jeonghan.”

“No! And why do we have to meet? Can’t I just send her a text message or something?”

“That’s not exactly sincere,” he said. “Besides, you don’t even have her number.”

“I could ask Jeonghan.”

“Y/n,” Wonwoo started.

“Fine. I’ll apologize sincerely so stop nagging me already.”

“Are you yelling at me again?”

The teasing tone in his voice made it almost impossible for you not to thrash your feet against the bed again and you had to remind yourself he would be nagging more if you did. You groaned in defeat. “No, I’m not.”

“Good. So,” he said and you heard him shift, “how’s life at school?”

“It’s fine,“ you immediately answered, happy about the topic change. "I did alright during the exam. Film club’s been fun too. We’re starting another one this week. Maybe a short film or a music video and I’m actually really excited. It’ll be my first project as an official member,” you said facing Wonwoo but with his back now facing you, it was hard to tell how he thinks of it.

“You know that I really don’t have a dream, right?” you continued. “But I’m really liking film so far. Takes my mind off things. Although, there’s not much going on. School’s a lot more peaceful. No problems. No additional stress.”

“You sound pretty serious about the film club.”

“I guess,” you agreed and inched closer. “Wanna see the video I did for the last exam?”

“I’ve seen it. Mingyu showed me.” Wonwoo took a glance at you with uninterested eyes. “He showed me every version you sent him.”

“Hey. I wanted to show you first but the thing happened,” you shrugged. “Speaking of…what happened with you and Hyein? Are you guys…”

“Oh. I…” Wonwoo rested his head against the edge of the bed, his finger marking the same page he’s been on since earlier. “I got rejected.”

“You confessed??”

Wonwoo’s eyes darted to the floor. “She knew.”

“So, you kinda confessed?”

Wonwoo just heaved a sigh and nodded, adjusting the glasses on his face.

“Oh. Okay,” you said dropping the subject. You scratched the sheets with your fingers, studying the pattern printed on it. Silence hung in the room but instead of the prickling fragile one that developed in the past month, it was back to the comfortable calm that has long grown between you two. “Thanks,” you said finally breaking the silence.

“For?”

“For annoying me to death this whole time. You know…not giving up and all.”

“Of course,” he laughed, messing your hair good. “If I didn’t, how were we supposed to make up?”

You looked at him through the stray hair that covered your face and found yourself studying every detail of his smile; the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes; the way his nose scrunches up; it’s a look you’ve missed so much, something you’ve longed to see for the weeks that passed and maybe something you’ve taken for granted to always exist.

“Your eyes look like half-moons.“

“Half-moons?”

“Thin half-moons,” you confirmed, your voice sounding far off. Your eyes wandered to his lashes that were so short, one wouldn’t easily see it and the way his round glasses fit him perfectly. Your eyes finally met his and you can almost see your reflection in them until you realized that he was staring back with a soft smile on his lips.

“Yeah, I think dinner’s ready,” you let out a small laugh as you sat up on your bed.

Wonwoo cocked an eyebrow just as you heard your mom announcing dinner.

“See?”

“What now? You got ESP?” he asked standing up. “Come on.”

“You go ahead,” you nodded towards him and watched him head out of your room.

As soon as the door closed, your body turned heavy as you allowed yourself to breathe as though you haven’t been breathing for the last few minutes. You hurriedly combed your hair with your fingers, smoothing it down as much as you can along with your clothes. You took a quick glance at the mirror, making sure that you looked at least like a decent human before finally going out for dinner.

Your mom set the food down and sat in her seat while Wonwoo sat in his, throwing you a welcoming smile just as you got to yours.

“Did it work? Have you two made up now?” your mom asked excitedly.

Wonwoo laughed. “I don’t know how you knew but yes.”

Dinner commenced like it used to. Everything’s back to normal. You and Wonwoo were back to normal. But there was one thing that slightly wasn’t. You watched as Wonwoo chatted happily with your mom looking like he’s right at home, fitting quite perfectly in this warm picture.

“Sweetie, are you okay?”

Your eyes turned back on focus, realizing that you’ve been staring for a while now before finally, you smiled. “Starving.”

"5 minutes!”

You looked around the school yard filled with camera setups, lighting, and bags of costumes and props. In the middle was Soonyoung teaching a couple of dancers the moves he thought of from two days ago. A few steps from him, your team leader was directing Wonwoo, Jun, and some others on how to do their scenes. And right in front, Mingyu and Jeonghan were getting ready to film theirs.

Two days ago during the meeting, the team decided on doing a music video for midterms and somehow ended up on you volunteering on finding the actors and the choreographer. Not much talking even happened. Everyone was more than ready to help, even Jeonghan who insisted that his schedules did not matter as much as you needing help did.

And so, filming started. Soonyoung helped with choreography while the others helped in acting, even agreeing to film outside the agreed schedules. In turn, the more they showed up in your school, the more audience the filming got.

“Looks like you have some fans,” the director informed them one afternoon during break time. “It’s already after classes but there’s still a good number of students here.”

You scoffed without looking up from your laptop. “You should’ve seen the people in my old school whenever they’re together playing during breaks. Those guys?” you motioned at the students watching from a distance, “they’re just 25% of their usual audience.”

“We’re not that popular,” Jeonghan said.

“Said the guy that made most of his classmates enter the same college as him.”

“Like you’re any different,” Jeonghan laughed hitting Junhui’s shoulder.

“It’s worse when everyone’s together,” Soonyoung admitted.

“Being trolled by superficial popular kids. They don’t even know half the weirdness I go through when I’m with you guys,” you cried earning laughs from your team and your friends.

Filming ended for the day (with an even larger number of audience by the end of it) and everyone went home tired but looking forward to the next scheduled filming.

“I’m exhausted,” you said, dumping your bag on the floor before crashing on the bed.

Wonwoo stood at the door of his room with a hand on his hip. “Why do you always take the bed?”

“Cause I know how much you like the floor,” you laughed. You grabbed your laptop from your bag and started reviewing all the clips that were shot from today while Wonwoo settled on the floor next to you.

“Let’s watch Jeonghan’s part again,” he said scooting over, automatically bringing a smile on your face. “He’s great at acting but he’s just really clumsy sometimes.”

“I know,” you agreed, cutting the video just right for it to play on a loop before laying on your stomach to watch it comfortably.

Jeonghan moved towards the main character in a dance-y way not noticing the curb he was nearing. He spun to her side with a grand flourish when his foot slid off the curb.

“That’s it!” Wonwoo laughed pointing at Jeonghan’s face with his eyes turning wide as discs as he realized he was about to fall. “His face!”

You collapsed on the bed in laughter as the video played again and again. “Such a meme! His face is such a meme!” You gasped for air as you felt your stomach turning hard from laughter when you felt Wonwoo’s arm next to yours.

He looked like he was dying for air as he rested his head on his arm, still laughing hard with his eyes tightly shut. A few more small laughs escaped you both before Wonwoo turned to look at you, the smiles on your faces silently dying down with the laughter.

Again, his eyes just seemed so picturesque, it was hard to look away. His eyelids looked so soft and smooth, the curves of his eyes looked like a perfect arch, and his lashes were so short they looked really cute.

You heard someone call your name but it was muffled as though being said from the other side of a glass.

The corners of his eyes looked sharp, it looked like it could cut your finger when you heard your name again. Blinking, you saw your fingers hovering centimeters from his eye, you can almost feel the soft prickling of his lashes and his face was so close that all you can see reflected in his eyes was your own face now just inches from his.