I can't sleep.

What happened ten hours ago, couldn't be eased up during my shower. My mind was (and still is) so filled of it, that my hands became all wrinkly, from staying in the water for too long. I couldn't really eat much at the dinner table, and I could barely pay attention to what was happening on the television, either. Umma picked up my behaviour very quickly, since I wasn't responding to her much, but I just told her that I was tired from my day out. She smiled a little, and then went to ask me about it, but I couldn't tell her much, without feeling awkward about thinking of Seyong.

Seyong...ugh, stupid Seyong.

"I like you."

Grabbing a fistful of my hair, I frown.

Those three words are haunting me, and I can't do anything, except replay the whole scene over, and over, in my mind.

Letting out a huff, I grab my phone to have another quick peek at the time, and when I see it read 3:03am, my frown deepens. Argh, I've been turning and tossing around in my bed since 10pm, wondering what to do about this. And the more I think about it, the worst I feel, because I now know the real reason to why he had suddenly become such a pain in the to me. I mean, as much as I don't want to believe it, everything links back to this being the only reason why he would suddenly act like that, from out of nowhere.

Thinking about this just makes me squirm even more, because that means that he's liked me this whole time, when I was trying to chase after Gunwoo, which means that—

"He was talking about me all along—" I stop my mumbling, and then bury my head back into my pillow; "Oh God."

I'm still too shocked by this, because it's just too weird!

This piece of information is so crazy, that it scares me, because of how much sense it makes, to know why he reacted the way he did, around certain people.

Like how he would always randomly appear, whenever I would be talking to Gunwoo. Heck, he never let us speak to each other one-on-one for more than two seconds! Or his random dislike for Yukwon, or how he would give Zico this weird pointed look, whenever we would high-five each other. Then there was the time when he had that other weird look, when I told him not to think anything more about our blackout-kiss, and then the way he reacted, to me telling him about my feelings for Gunwoo, and around Daehyun, and—

I let out a groan, "Ugh, this is too much for me!"

Picking up my phone once more, I then dial in my best friend's number. The phone rings for a while, and just as I’m about to hang up, it’s eventually answered by an extremely sleepy voice. Under any normal circumstances, I would be feeling extra guilty for waking her up in the middle of the night, but I think I'm too nervous right now to worry about that.

Actually, I wouldn't even be awake at this hour to wake her up.

"Minah," I gently say, somewhat surprised that she picked up. "Are you awake?"

As soon as those words leave my mouth, I instantly give myself a mental slap in the face.

"Hyeri-yah," comes Minah's tired voice. "It's three in the morning, why aren't you sleeping, like a normal person?"

"Because I'm—" I bite my lip, "I'm kind of...scared. And I feel weird, and worried, and...I don't know, I'm so confused, and it's all his fault!"

"Hmm?" hums Minah, as she lets out a small yawn. "Who's making you lose sleep...?"

"Seyong," I blurt out, with creased eyebrows. "Seyong told me that he likes me, and I don't know what to do, because it's weird and—Minah, please help me!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, he said what?" she questions, now sounding wide-awake.

I let out a groan, not wanting to repeat myself; "Minah!"

"I know what you mean, I'm just really surprised!" she says, and then adds; "But wow, I didn't think he would actually tell you, it's no wonder you can't sleep." 

It's quiet for a few seconds, and then I realise something. "Wait, what do you mean by that?" I probe, feeling suspicious.

"Oh, I asked him about it when you were playing that pepero game with Gunwoo," she tells me.

So if Minah asked him then, then did she know that he—?

"Hyeri-yah, it's really obvious that he likes you," she says. "I just never said anything to you about it, because I thought you already knew, and yeah?"

"Well, he was always a little extra touchy, but I didn't think it was serious!" I grumble. "Does anyone else know?"

"Mm..." she ponders for a bit. "Well there's me, and Chaejin. Oh, and I think Junkyu does, as well. But I'm not so sure about everyone else."

The image of Chaejin's cheeky smile appears in my head, and I can't help but narrow my eyes.

So that's why he was always asking me if I liked Seyong or not, and was always trying to force us together, or something! I thought he was just mocking at how we were always arguing. And as for Junkyu? I guess he's always had a keen eye, for...a lot of things.

"Minah, what do I do?" I wail, but making sure that it’s not too loud to wake up umma.

"Well," she casually begins. "Do you like him?"

I think for a bit, "No?"

There's a slight pause. "Hold on, why do you sound unsure?" she queries.

I frown, and then let out a sigh. "It's because I don't know!" I answer, feeling the frustrating confusion take over me. "It's just so out of nowhere, and ugh!"

"So...if you don't know, then...does that mean you could possibly like him too?" she cautiously asks.

With wide eyes, I then begin to shake my head, suddenly feeling all flustered. "No!" I blurt out, "That's too weird!"

Ugh, this whole thing is weird...

Minah giggles at this, and I feel embarrassed. "Hyeri-yah, go to sleep, and get some rest," she kindly advises. "I think after some sleep, your mind will be a little clearer in how you want to handle this."

I exhale, and then eventually agree, seeing as the time now read 3:40am. "Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow," I mumble.

"Yes, you certainly will," she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. "Anyway, don't panic too much about this, you'll find your answer soon, and everything will be okay."

"Thanks," I softly say. "And I'm really sorry for waking you up."

"You should be!" she jokes, with some laughter. "Just kidding; you can always make it up to me, with some frozen yoghurt?"

"Frozen yoghurt it is," I agree, without hesitation.

Saying our goodbyes, we then hang up, and I go back to tossing and turning, until I'm tired enough to finally fall asleep.

———————————————

When I open my eyes, they immediately close back together. It really isn't a good idea to get only three hours of sleep, because all I want to do now is stay in bed, and get another twelve hours or so. My door suddenly opens, and in comes my mother, ushering me to get out of bed. And at the mention of school, I'm instantly reminded of Seyong, and the scary feelings come flooding back to me again.

I don't want to see him right now, it's too awkward!

Burying my head a little more underneath my covers, I let out a small cry. "Umma," I quietly begin. "I'm feeling really sick today, can I have the day off?"

"Omo, what's wrong?" she asks, with concern. I then feel her hand straightaway rest on my forehead; "Hmm, your temperature seems fine, though?"

I force out a small cough. "My head just really hurts," I tiredly say, but skip out on the part on whose making it hurt. And then, in my most pleading voice, I ask her once more; "Please, just today?"

She frowns, but then hesitantly ends up agreeing with a sigh. "Alright, but just today though, okay?" she sternly says. "I'm worried about you missing out on something important in school, but your health comes first."

I weakly thank her, as she then leaves the room for me to 'rest'.

And as soon as I'm sure that her footsteps are nowhere near my door, I let out a sigh.

Sorry Minah, but I won't be coming to school today.

Or the next day.

Or the day after that.

Maybe I should just skip this whole week, so that I won’t have to see him until next year?

I'm on a roll with that idea, because Monday flies by, and so does Tuesday. The first day was basically me rolling around in my dilemma, wondering what the heck I should do. That didn’t go too well, so then I tried a different approach the next day, by thinking with my head, but something happened, and I ended up watching a random drama on the TV, with some ice cream. That didn’t work either, because when I switched on the television, the main guy character had taken the lead girl character by surprise, with a confession.

Which made me think of Seyong all over again, and when I looked down at my bowl of ice cream, I couldn’t bear to eat the rest of it, because it made me think of Daehyun, therefore somehow taking me back to that stupid monkey boy.

I also managed to skip out on Wednesday, using the excuse of a really painful cramp, even though umma was getting really annoyed at me skipping school.

Ugh, what should do I do?

Skimming through the text messages and missed calls from Minah, asking me where I am, makes me let out a sigh. “What other excuse can I use to stay at home for tomorrow?” I mumble, to myself.

The sudden sound of the doorbell ringing makes me turn my attention towards the door.

Umma just left for the shops, she can’t already be back now, can she?

Tiptoeing over to the front door, I peek through the curtains of the window, to see who it is.

And I’m not so sure how to feel, at the sight of Gunwoo standing there...

Just what is he doing here?