So, you remember when I said I wouldn’t get tangled up with Bobby?

Remember that?

Well–, 

I have had a change of heart. A big change. 

He convinced me to come to this stupid bar outing in exchange for handling Skull Pounder and his obsession of revenge. Now, I didn’t agree with the deal because I was scared of Skull Pounder– oh, no –I agreed because somehow, every time Skull Pounder shows up, so does Hanbin. And I didn’t want to have to run into him anymore. Life keeps playing games and I’m not into it. 

I lean back into my chair and when I look up to see the many other faces present, I find the small group I am with conversing… and, thankfully leaving me out. 

“Surprise!”

I flinched at the sudden chorus of voices and spun around in my chair. The sight I am met with left me in utter confusion. “Mino and…?”

He marched forward, lifted me to my feet, and pulled me into a crushing hug. “It’s been a while.”

Uh– yeah, no kidding. I didn’t even know what to say. 

Looking over his shoulder, I catch the rest of the familiar faces. His whole crew from high school was also here– Seungyoon, Seunghoon, Jinwoo, Taehyun, and… Woochan?

“Grab a chair,” Sanghee urges with a smile.

Soon, our company of a few have truly turned into a party. 

Subtly, Suah leans closer to me. “I didn’t know you had so many friends.”

“That’s insulting, Suah.” But, I could understand where that thought stems from. 

Looking up, I find Woochan staring at me. Hard. What? Do I have something on my face? Or did she want to punch my face? If the latter is the case, she’s gonna have to get into line and wait her damn turn. We’re all about being polite. 

Looking away and down at the drink that Sanghee ordered for me, I try to decide whether or not it’s a good choice to drink on a Wednesday night. It wouldn’t be really professional to talk to the children at my internship having been guilty of drinking on a Wednesday night. 

Woochan suddenly moves to stand up from the table. 

“Where are you going?” Mino asks.

“Bathroom,” she responds. “Wanna join, Jiwoo?”

I snapped my head up. Why me? “I don’t have to go.”

“You should go now before the lines get long,” she further reasons. Calmly, I might add. 

“I can’t use the bathroom on command,” I answer blankly. Besides, there is like no one here– let me repeat my previous statement, it’s cause it’s a Wednesday night.

She shoots me a look and I’m wondering if that’s supposed to convince me to come with her. Who goes with someone they know may turn out to be unpleasant. To be honest, I don’t know much about Woochan… other than what I learned in high school and what I heard over the years from when I was dating Hanbin. So, there’s no trust there. How do I trust that she won’t somehow hurt me?

Breathing out, I stand up anyway.

She wasn’t budging and it was starting to get awkward.

Trailing behind her, she comes to a stop beside the door to make sure I step in first. Once I do, she closes the door behind her and locks it. 

“Save your energy, someone is already planning to beat me up.”

“What?” she retorts.

I end up staring at her. “This isn’t a confrontation,” I suddenly realize. 

“No?”

“Oh… then, what is it?”

“It’s about Hanbin.”

I sigh heavily. But, she doesn’t take that as a hint that I didn’t want to talk about him. 

“It’s a shame,” she comments. 

I stand there, now kinda wanting to pee. It’ll be a reason for escape. “What is?”

“That you two broke up.”

“It wasn’t like it was recent.” Why is she bringing it up now?

Woochan diverts her eyes away from my own. “I’m sorry.”

I fall silent. Suddenly, confused. “Woochan, what is… this?” I motion at the current situation while hoping she’ll explain. I initially thought this meeting was going to turn hostile so why is she apologizing?

“Well, breaking up always hurts and I found myself caring about you two after getting regular updates from Mino and I just wanted to let you know.”

“I’m fine,” I reply before adding, “But, thank you.”

She offers a small smile.

“What about you? How is it going with Mino?” I gladly direct the attention away from me.

Her smile widens. “Good… and I think he’s actually starting to believe that I truly like him.”

“I would hope so. It’s been a year since you’ve confessed.”

The both of us gro