The next few days passed by fast, you didn’t even noticed that it was already the second week of school. All traces of awkwardness have dissolved and vanished from you and Soeun, all thanks to Wooshin’s noisy self. Hanging out with them from morning, lunch, and even after school has been a natural thing by now that you’d catch yourself looking forward to meeting them every day. 

You still miss your old friends of course but being with new people, it was like being on an adventure every day, especially since there were less unnecessary attention and hate and more freedom to breathe and actually enjoy school.

Well, that could’ve happened more if not for the amount of homework the teachers has been giving everyone. Because of this, there wasn’t even enough time to meet and play with Wonwoo and the others. Still, it wasn’t that bad. Once you get through this, you’re going to play to your heart’s content.

“So we’ll continue this after school then?” Soeun asked.

“Sure!” Your attention shifted to your phone when it rang, Wonwoo’s name flashing on the screen. "Hello Mr. Jeon. What’s up?”

You heard him scoff. “Jun, Gyu, Sol and Chan are coming over tonight. Do you want us to stop by later? We’re buying food before going to my house.”

“Oh it’s that time already?”

“…you forgot didn’t you?”

“Hey. There were no fixed dates!” you protested. “Anyway, no, it’s fine. I have this thing later with my groupmates.”

“You do? …so, you’re not coming over?”

“Y/N, let’s go! They just refilled the sweet bread section!” Wonwoo heard a guy’s voice calling you.

“Really?” you asked before going back to Wonwoo. “I am, I am. Hey I have to go before the bread vanishes! See you later!” and the line went off.

Wonwoo stared at your name on his phone before the screen went dark. Attending the same school and classes together and having the same circle of friends for years, he was used to having you beside him most of the time. Quite literally, the only people that talks and hangs out with you at school are him and his friends. And so having that conversation made him feel strange. Really strange.

“Wonwoo, you coming?”

Wonwoo looked up and nodded, making his way back to the room with his classmate. Well, at least you’re still going. After days of barely having time to see each other, today was finally the day he’ll be spending time with you and his friends.

“Is Y/N coming?” Hansol asked, pouring the last bag of popcorn on a bowl.

“Yeah. Although, she said she has a thing with her groupmates.”

Jun raised an eyebrow. “She has a what-now?”

“I’m hooooooome!” you called out as you pushed the door open. You trudged towards the couch and dropped your bag before sitting down on the floor with Chan. “I'm exhausted. What are we watching?”

“You’ll see,” Wonwoo replies. “Why are you late anyway? Your classes ended hours ago.”

You grabbed a handful of popcorn as soon as Hansol placed it in front of you before sitting next to you. “I told you I had a thing after class. We kinda lost track of time playing after sooo…eh.”

Wonwoo watched as you made yourself comfy, still trying to process what you just said. For the second time today, he felt weirded out by you. While he knew that you found a new friend, he would’ve never thought that the day would come where you would go out and play with other people and actually have fun. He saw it happen once, a forced one at that, and you went home as grumpy as the Grinch was about Christmas. Never happened again and he was thankful for that.

“Alright. I’m dimming the lights,” Mingyu announced before sitting on the couch with Jun and Wonwoo.

The first few seconds of the movie played and you knew; it was a horror film. You turned to Wonwoo and glared. “WHY ARE WE WATCHING THIS?”

Wonwoo grinned, making you face the TV screen again. “Cause it’s fun.”

You huffed. It's not that you were scared of ghosts. It’s just that you’re a very jumpy person; the slightest abrupt noise will make you jump in surprise. You hated it so much that you once asked Wonwoo to scare you randomly for a week to make it go away. Obviously, it didn’t.

You heard the music build up, a shiver running down your spine. “Mingyu, give me your blanket,” you said, grabbing the blanket before he can even answer.

You glanced at Chan and pulled the hem of his shirt. You urged him to sit closer to you and did the same to Hansol but he was already transfixed by the scene on the screen, you had to call his attention twice. After securing the blanket over you and Chan (Hansol said it was too hot), you tried to watch the movie in silence.

BAM!

You flinched at the sound effect, holding back a yelp. You heard a snigger behind you and found the three of them being annoying and grinning at you. You glared at them before turning back to the screen, hugging your side of the blanket tightly. “You’ll pay for this,” you muttered.

By the middle of the movie, you were so sick of getting startled that you started distracting yourself by distracting Chan. You poked his leg. Nothing. His shoulder. Nothing. His arm. Still nothing. You started poking his cheek and that’s when he smiled, amused with your behavior. “Eeeyy noona, please stop. I’m trying to watch.”

You frowned. These guys were totally no fun. You glanced back at the screen in time to see a normal scene playing. Though you hated these types of movies, there’s just this natural curiosity with you and stories. Also, at the very least, you could talk about how stupid it is for the characters to run after the killers and into their own deaths, which is exactly what was happening right now. You watched as the main character continued towards the empty train tracks, the music building up again, a heavy aura seemingly creeping from behind you when

“AHHH!!”

Something made contact with your shoulders making you curl and bury yourself behind Chan’s back, all your nerves acting as if they were electrified. Seconds passed when you finally realized what happened. You sat back up and started hitting Wonwoo’s leg who was doubled over with laughter.

“You! Evil! Little! Piece of!” you repeatedly smacked his leg. You glared at him again, watching as he tried calming himself, Mingyu and Jun way ahead of him not wanting to suffer the same fate. It didn’t matter though. Wonwoo was still enjoying his success rather than feeling the pain of your anger.

The movie finally ended and Chan turned the lights back on.

“Are you staying over?” Hansol asked. It was kind of like their randomly scheduled tradition, hanging out on a Friday or Saturday and at times staying overnight.

“Please. Even from my house, I’m sure I’ll be hearing one of you snore. I have to be somewhere tomorrow anyway so, thanks but no.”

“You are?” Jun asked. "That's new. I thought you were a stay at home person."

“I’ll walk you home then.” Mingyu said as he stood up, dusting off his hands on his pants.

“Mingyu, my house is literally 23 steps from here. It’s cool.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo quipped. “She can handle herself.”

“I’m not talking to you,” you said not sparing him a glance when you took your bag.

“Oh come on.”

You turned to look back at him with a frown. “You’re not allowed to have breakfast at my place tomorrow Jeon Wonwoo.”

“I have Mingyu staying over so breakfast’s covered anyway.”

“I am?” Mingyu asks, Wonwoo immediately signaling him to keep quiet.

“I’m going!” you announced as you went out the door. “Good night you guys except Wonwoo!”

“Goodnight to you too cupcake!” he shouted back.

“You really don’t value your life huh?” Jun asked.

“What? It’s not like I do that to her all the time, especially now that she’s…busy,” Wonwoo said, the last word sounding a bit alien to him.

"Oh? What’s this?” Jun asks, leaning close to Wonwoo, a fake pout forming on his lips. “Is Jeon Wonu getting wonwy?” he bats his eyelashes.

Wonwoo looked Jun in the eye and pushed his face away from him with Hansol and Mingyu laughing at them. “I’m not lonely. I’m fine with her hanging out with her new found friends.”

“I didn’t say anything about her new friends though,” Jun muttered to himself.

“Awww. Wonwoo hyung is being supportive,” said Chan.

Wonwoo looked at Chan, not sure whether he meant it or if he was teasing. He shook his head and walked towards his room. “I’m sleeping first.”

Wonwoo plopped on his bed, exhaustion washing over him. It’s been a long day and there was just a lot that's been going on. For the past few days, you’ve been really busy, not coming over as much as before and not messaging him like you did during your first few days at school. It's like it was just yesterday when you were being annoying and clingy to him. Well technically, it's only been a couple of days. But this is the first time in years that you two separated and started leading different lives. It's only normal that he can't get used to it that fast, right?

He glanced at the picture frame on his table. It was the picture his mom took of you two during your high school graduation with his brother making a weird expression at the back.

He sighed and buried himself under the pillow. “I’m not lonely. I'm not lonely,” he chanted stubbornly. He was never the best with expressing himself with words but he wasn’t the best in lying either. Though he would never tell you this, at least not this early, he had to admit that he was in fact lonely and he misses you really bad.

"Alright so I'm going to write this part, then you and Wooshin can divide the work here."

"I'll write this one," you traced over a paragraph on the book, "since I feel more confident about this than the next half. Is that okay with you?" you asked Wooshin.

"Sure! I don't understand that part anyway so you take it," he grins.

"Okay but we need to get this done on Sunday so that we'll still have time to revise." Soeun explained. "I have to go to the rest room. Be right back!"

It was a chilly morning, a complete contrast to the sun shining brightly which meant a perfect day to be out or for some, to sleep in. Not in your case though. Weekdays just weren't enough for you, Soeun, and Wooshin to work on your project due Monday. That's why even though you planned to spend it leisurely, you had to sacrifice your Saturday to meet up with them and work.

With Wonwoo, it was the complete opposite. His Saturday was completely free, hence, it was boring. Despite being told not to come over for breakfast, Wonwoo went to your place after the others went home only to find your mom alone in the house.

"Y/N? I thought she was out with you? She left an hour ago. She said she was meeting someone."

"That early?" Wonwoo mused before bowing. "I'll be going then Mrs. Kang."

Wonwoo walked back to his house and sat on the couch, staring sightlessly at the wall. Who were you with? Your mom even thought you were with him. Wonwoo laid on the couch and turned his attention to his phone, thinking if he should call you or not when it rang. He sat up and grabbed his phone. It was Jeonghan. "Hyung?"

"Jeon Wonwoo. Since when did Y/N got a boyfriend??"

Wonwoo frowned and stood up. "Since never?"

"Well, she looks like she has one now. We just saw her at a café and she's with a guy!"

"...what does he look like?"

"Why would I care? Wonwoo, my precious little sister is OUT. ON. A. DATE!"

Wonwoo facepalmed. "Hyung, she’s not your sister. And I was asking because maybe we know him from somewhere. And we're not sure if it's a date, okay? I mean, it's Y/N. If she's out with a guy, it would make sense if it was me or one of you, right?" Wonwoo said, now unconsciously pacing back and forth. "It's probably just someone she knows," he added though he wasn't sure himself. "Don't do anything weird. I'll just ask her about it later."

"I don't know... They look pretty friendly but okay. I'll be going then. Don't forget to ask her!"

"Alright, alright." Wonwoo hang up and sighed. His thoughts went back to when he called yesterday and how your mom thought that you were out with him today. Just who were you with exactly, he wondered.

Things were finally settled after lunch. You got home and dropped your bag on the floor, making yourself comfortable on the couch before turning the TV on. It was a rather quiet and peaceful afternoon since you had the house to yourself after your mom left to meet up with her friends. You stretched lazily, a yawn escaping from your lips when you heard the doorbell ring and a familiar voice called out.

"It's me."

"Come in."

You heard the door open and heard footsteps until you finally saw Wonwoo standing in front of you, a smile on his face.

You raised an eyebrow. What was he getting all smiley for?

Getting little response, he shrugged and sat beside you, resting his head on his palm. Though your eyes were fixed on the television screen, you could see him staring from the corner of your eye. "What?"

Wonwoo quietly lifted his feet on the couch and started nudging your leg with his foot. You took a breath and ignored him. You’re too exhausted to play.

“So. How was your day?” he asks.

“Wonwoo, you know how I hate small talk. What is it?”

“Well, you were out today right?”

“Yep.”

“Are you tired?”

“Kind of.”

He sighed. Clearly, you weren’t in the mood to talk. Though he’s curious as Jeonghan is, asking you about it would have to wait. “Okay.” He stretched and made himself comfortable on the couch. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Kay. Your pick but,” you turned, your eyes narrowed at him, “no horror.”

“No worries. Let’s go with something funny this time.”

Life probably would have been easier if Wonwoo just asked when he had the chance. For the rest of the day, his phone was bombarded with either calls or texts from the others, all asking about you. Right now, it’s Seungcheol.

“Ah hyung. If you want to know, just ask her! Honestly, why is this even an issue?”

“How are you not worried??”

“She’s fine. She’s not acting strange or anything. If she wants to tell us, she will!”

“Wonwoo, I’m just a concerned citizen. What if that guy is a jerk?”

“I’m hanging up. You’re the 4th one to call me today.”

Just then, Wonwoo heard another familiar voice. “Hyung!! Y/N is…y/n is –”

“Ah. He’s here.”

“Who is that?” he heard the voice ask.

“Wonwoo.”

“Gimme!”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes as he waited for the distressed person he just heard.

“Hyung! Is y/n really dating someone?”

Wonwoo sighed. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. Would you stop whining already?” Wonwoo shook his head. He can almost see the look on Mingyu’s face. “I’ll ask her when I see her. Okay??”

“Okay…”

“I’m hanging up for real.”

Wonwoo leaned back on his seat. If you knew how they are acting right now, you would’ve probably smacked them so hard. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

But tomorrow wasn’t the day either. For the whole day, you were busy and he was too. If it weren’t for the constant text messages he received asking if he asked you about it already, he probably would’ve forgotten about the whole thing.

“Tomorrow I swear!” Wonwoo groaned as he placed his phone down. Tomorrow, he’ll ask you himself. Tomorrow for sure.