Even though it had already dawned, the climate was very cold and Wonho put on his gray cardigan over a tank top before going down to the park where they were waiting for him.

Nerves were consuming him: he had no idea what his two friends would want at that hour in the morning, but it must have been important if they had gone there to speak in person.

The flip-flops he wore clattered against the asphalt and didn’t protect him from the remains of the rain that covered the lawn that surrounded the park, so he soaked his feet and the bottom of his sweatpants. However, that was the last of his worries.

He spotted Minhyuk sitting on the seat of the old swing, and Hyungwon on a wooden bench a few yards away from the redhead, with his back to Hoseok.

The brunette approached cautiously towards Hyungwon and stood beside him. The taller one kept his gaze fixed on the slide whose red paint was beginning to peel off; he had noticed Wonho's presence, but he was too focused on his thoughts to greet him. The seriousness of his expression only served to frighten Hoseok even more, and he squeezed his fists covered in cold sweat before speaking.

“What... what’s the matter? Why are you guys here?”

He only received a sigh in response; the dark haired boy turned his tired eyes towards Minhyuk and raised an arm covered by a black sweatshirt to rub his frown in an attempt to calm his headache.

“Go talk to him.” Wonho opened his mouth with the intention of asking him what the hell was happening, but Hyungwon interrupted him, finally looking him in the eyes. “He has something to tell you.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds until Hoseok slowly turned his neck towards Minhyuk. The cold air poured down his nostrils, coming out in a vaporous form from his mouth, and the sun peeping from the distant buildings momentarily blinded him: Minhyuk rocked slightly on the swing without taking his eyes off his feet, and the morning light made his hair shine more than ever.

With a sigh, Wonho began to approach his friend with whom so many experiences he had lived in his college years and with which he had made funny memories that he would never forget. Minhyuk always smiled and made him laugh, but when he stopped in front of him and noticed his expression, he knew something was not right.

He had a feeling that, from that day, their friendship would never be the same again.

At last, Minhyuk seemed to notice his presence and raised his haggard eyes to him; he gave him a smile that was quickly erased, as if he felt guilty for smiling at him. He lowered his face again and bit his lip, clinging tightly to the chains of the swing.

"Hi," Wonho said with a small smile, taking a seat on the swing next to him.

“Hi...” responded the redhead with a muted tone of voice. After the murmur, no other word came out of his mouth.

“What's wrong? Where’s the Minhyuk that talks the hind legs off a donkey?” Wonho teased, hoping to break the silence that had settled between them and that was beginning to drown him. The bitter laughter he received in return worried him even more. “Hey... what do you have to tell me?” he asked at last, trying to hide his nervousness and praying that nothing bad had happened.

Minhyuk looked up at the orange sky before deciding to speak.

"Promise me you won’t be mad at me," he said without looking at him. His voice had trembled at the request, and his knuckles turned white from the strength with which he clung to the swing. “Promise me... you won’t stop being my friend.”

Wonho's entire body tensed and he frowned, trying to find a clue in Minhyuk's face that told him where he wanted to go with all that. But nothing.

“I promise.”

Wonho thought that whatever he had done, no matter how bad it was, it wouldn’t hurt their friendship. However, his heart twisted at the possibility of not being able to keep his promise: what could he have done to make him promise that he would still be his friend after telling him?

His answer reassured Minhyuk a little, who smiled slightly before letting out a shaky breath.

"I... did some things," he confessed, not daring to make eye contact. “This morning I called Hyungwon, I needed to tell someone about it, but... he said I had to tell you. He said it would be worse if I kept quiet and that... I would lose you," he went on agitatedly. His eyes were red with tears and he was tremendously ashamed before him.

“What did you do?” Wonho asked, almost afraid to know the answer. When Minhyuk finally looked into his eyes, he knew that what he had really done was something so serious that it could even endanger their friendship.

“Do you remember TaeHa?”

“TaeHa?” Hoseok repeated confused: that name was kind of familiar. Suddenly, he remembered who he was talking about. “You mean Hyungwon’s ex-girlfriend?”

"Yeah..." Minhyuk said with a certain melancholy. Hyungwon had started dating TaeHa in their college’s second year; she was a very reserved girl, a bit strange in Hoseok's eyes, but for his best friend she was perfect. They never separated and they did everything together, it was something worth admiring. Even Jooheon once commented that if they continued like that, they would end up merging into one person.

Minhyuk was convinced that the couple wouldn’t last, he repeated it every week between jokes and laughter. But a year passed, and their relationship was still as strong as the first week.

“What's up with her?” Wonho asked, not understanding what TaeHa had to do with the whole thing.

“I hated her.” The simplicity with which he said that surprised Hoseok. Although the redhead had a smile on his lips, his words were full of bitterness.

“But why? She was a good girl, she-”

"Because of her, he left us aside, Wonho," Minhyuk interrupted him, looking into his eyes. “He left his friends... for a girl," he concluded in a trembling voice, turning his neck to Hyungwon, who was watching him from the bench with wide eyes: from his stunned expression, it was obvious that he didn’t know that part of the story. “I had to do something, I was afraid that he’d forget about his friends..." he went on agitated, looking again at the brunette.

Wonho began to understand everything and his heart stirred with anguish. Hyungwon and TaeHa had broken up from one day to the next; the only explanation that his best friend gave them about it was that, apparently, she had found another boy she liked best. TaeHa changed her university and they didn’t hear anything from her again.

Did Minhyuk... have something to do with their separation?

"You..." Hoseok murmured at the horrible thought that had crossed his mind.

"I got her to leave, thanks to that we were able to be together again," Minhyuk insisted, as if what he had done had been for the good of all. Wonho couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and turned his gaze to Hyungwon, who was clenching his fists and refusing to look up from his knees. “Everything was going fine again... and then Changkyun arrived.”

The mere mention of his name was enough to make Hoseok's body tense. His guts stirred, his heart rose to his throat and his face froze at the words that came out of Minhyuk's mouth below.

“I was afraid again.”

No.

“Being you, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to worry about...”

Don’t…

“But you were still together. And I... I had to do something.”

The fear was evident in Minhyuk's voice, and he didn’t dare to face him as he spoke; he played with his hands, his eyes were red and his whole body trembled, but Wonho didn’t pay attention to him.

The only thing he could think about was Changkyun: just imagining the suffering he must have been through all alone tore him apart. And he had been completely oblivious to all that situation.

He had no idea what Minhyuk had done to him, and he felt a tremendous desire to hit him and scream at him. And yet, he didn’t have strength for any of those options. Minhyuk was like his brother, a good person, someone who always helped others. He just couldn’t believe that he... God.

“Why?” Wonho muttered with suppressed rage.

Minhyuk raised his head and, with a fearful movement, raised his hand to touch his arm, clinging to his cardigan almost desperately.

"Please... don’t hate me," he pleaded with a thin voice. Wonho breathed deeply and blinked numerous times in an attempt to get rid of the stinging of his eyes, wondering how they had come to this painful situation. Without saying a word and without even looking at him, he withdrew the hand with which he held his jacket languidly. Minhyuk dropped his arm on his own lap, trying to shallow in the best possible way the painful rejection.

Silence flooded them, and the only thing that was heard in the environment was the chirping of birds in the leafy trees of the park.

Wonho was right... their friendship would change from that day on.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard approaching them and they stopped right in front of Minhyuk. The redhead looked up and gasped when Hyungwon grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the swing.

“What did you do to TaeHa?” he asked without releasing the garment: his voice was strangely calm, denoting that he was really mad. Minhyuk swallowed and looked away, but returned to fix his gaze on Hyungwon when he shook him with little delicacy. “What the did you do to her?!” he repeated, unable to hide his anger anymore. “Did you talk to your friends to threaten her, is that it? You did the same you did with Changkyun, huh?”

That was enough for tears to overflow from Minhyuk's eyes; Hyungwon loosened his grip and tried to calm his breathing, but still didn’t let go.

"I- I'm sorry," Minhyuk whined as best he could. “I'm really sorry, I just- I didn’t want to…”

They watched each other for a few seconds until Hyungwon finally let him go with a cry of frustration, rubbing his forehead trying to calm down and, meanwhile, Minhyuk's legs wobbled, having to sit back on the swing to avoid falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry..." he muttered again, hugging himself. He didn’t dare look at Wonho, didn’t want to see the disappointment in his face. The brunette stared at nothing without knowing what to say or what to think: he had promised that he’d still be his friend no matter what... but that was too much. He had hurt his friends without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he had hurt his Changkyun...

"I think the one you owe a bigger apology to is Changkyun," Hyungwon said after a while, when he managed to calm down a bit. Minhyuk nodded weakly, wiping the tears with the back of his hand: his expression denoted guilt, and it wasn’t fake. With a sigh, Hyungwon turned around and started to walk away, but stopped immediately when he noticed the presence of someone else.

Changkyun was standing by the bench, wearing the clothes that Wonho had lent him the day before, his wide eyes hiding behind his glasses.

“Changkyun?” Hoseok muttered when he saw him too.

Since when he was there?

Then, Wonho got up from the swing and walked determinedly towards him; he dug his nails into his palms to suppress the need to run and embrace him with all his strength.

Once in front of him, he hesitated a few seconds what to do; the dark haired boy was staring at Minhyuk and, although his face was apparently calm, his entire body trembled. Wonho began to raise his fingers to caress his cheeks and get him to look at him, but Changkyun stepped away and walked towards the swings, also avoiding Hyungwon in the process.

He slowed his steps to stop completely, being right in front of Minhyuk, the person who had relived his horrible days of high school. The redhead had a hard time watching Changkyun more than two seconds in the face without crying again.

“Changkyun... I- I'm sorry,” he said haltingly, “I know you may think I'm not being serious, but I'm really sorry.” The pianist listened in silence to his apologies and studied his face in search of sincerity or lies behind his words. The scrutiny made Minhyuk nervous, because the blankness he faced gave him no clue about Changkyun's emotions: was he angry? was he sad?... did he hate him? “I don’t expect you to forgive me," he went on agitatedly, "but I just want you to know-”

“No.”

Changkyun's sudden response surprised everyone. Time passed and the only one who reacted was Wonho, who approached the little boy with great care and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Changkyun...”

The black haired boy ignored him and clenched his fists, making a tremendous effort to keep looking at Minhyuk; he breathed deeply and finally continued talking.

“I can’t forgive you.”

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

On that September day, the sky was clear. Changkyun stopped walking momentarily in order to inspire the fresh air and observe the clouds that were flying away, giving the leading role to the shining sun of the morning.

It was hot.

For the first time in a long time, the little boy stripped off his big, old brown jacket and let his thin arms -only covered by a loose black T-shirt- see the light of day. He tied the garment to his waist and, after letting out a long sigh, he pressed his briefcase against his chest and continued his way across the campus.

Suddenly, he noticed that a large hand was ruffling his hair and he couldn’t hide his smile as he turned and saw that it was Hyunwoo. He was dressed in his usual sports clothes and looked at him with an affable smile: judging by his tired appearance and the aroma of post-workout shampoo that his wet hair gave off, he must have come from the showers of the stadium.

“What kind of greeting is that?” Changkyun complained as he ran his fingers through his hair, walking beside his big friend. Hyunwoo just smiled at him before speaking.

“How come you’re early again? As far as I know, you don’t have classes until later.”

Changkyun shrugged.

"I have to practice for my recital next week," he explained, waving his folder full of sheet music in the air. Hyunwoo nodded thoughtfully and, ignoring again the complaints of the shorter, returned to ruffle his hair with little delicacy.

When he finally managed to get away from the big boy's hands laughing, they continued their way talking about trivial issues, which included the number of sit-ups that Hyunwoo had done in the training. Suddenly, Changkyun noticed someone's arm around him and turned to his left.

"Good morning," Kihyun greeted him with a too-broad smile: he seemed too happy, and that wasn’t a good sign.

"Hey..." Changkyun started to say a little surprised, slowing his pace until he stopped. "Didn’t you say you had to go buy something before coming to class?" he asked, remembering how the pink haired boy had left the residence almost running, proclaiming that he needed to buy something in the supermarket.

"Oh, of course I bought it," he answered with a sly expression. Then, he took his backpack off his shoulders and opened it, showing the contents to his two friends. Changkyun frowned when he saw that there were several boxes of eggs inside.

“What are you going to do with that?” Hyunwoo asked crossing his arms.

"I'm just going to impart some divine justice," he explained resolutely, closing the backpack again.

Changkyun was speechless and, before he could say anything, his roommate left them behind, whistling a song with enthusiasm.

Hyunwoo sighed and shook his head, unaware of what his friend had in mind, and too tired to try to find out. But Changkyun did know what he planned to do, and it wasn’t a good idea.

With a hurried goodbye, the dark haired one left Hyunwoo almost running and followed Kihyun, who had already entered the faculty with the intention of starting up his evil plans.

His idea of 'divine justice' was throwing eggs at the fourth year people who had done the same to him more than a month ago; it had been inevitable that Kihyun and Hyunwoo find out what happened, as Hyungwon himself told them everything. However, he omitted the fact that Minhyuk had been behind everything. Of course, the pink haired felt that a week of expulsion and Wonho’s threats to stay away from him hadn’t been enough punishment for these people and had planned his own revenge.

As much as Changkyun resented them, throwing eggs at them was too much.

He climbed the stairs in a hurry and stopped in the middle of the corridor of the first-year classrooms, breathing hard and looking everywhere. However, when he heard screams coming from the upper floors, he knew it was too late.

“Eat this, you s! Let’s see if… Hey! Don’t run away!” Kihyun's screamed before chasing the people along the corridors.

A long sigh escaped from between Changkyun's thin lips and he collapsed on one of the benches in the hall, laying aside his briefcase and resting his head on the white, rough wall. He noticed the students who passed him, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved: nobody looked at him or pointed at him anymore, and nobody spoke behind his back.

Everything came back to normal again.

Now, practically the whole campus knew that Wonho, the most popular and handsome guy in college, dated the huge-glassed, little first-year boy. It looked like the plot of a romantic cliché novel for teenagers.

Changkyun smiled at that thought and wondered what Hoseok was doing; it was Thursday, he would probably be in the health and maternity club. Maybe after school he could go find a gift for him: after all, they would soon be celebrating a hundred days together.

A coughing at his side made him leave his reverie and turned his gaze towards Minhyuk, who looked at him with a smile that made him tense.

"Hello," he greeted shyly. The redhead used to be very cheerful, but since what happened a month ago, he was in very low spirits. Wonho, Hyungwon and Jooheon had stopped spending so much time with him, only the necessary, and that made him feel very bad.

The one who should feel guilty was Minhyuk and not him, but he couldn’t help it: being the cause of separation from a group of friends wasn’t pleasant at all.

“How are you?” the older boy asked, playing with his hands when he saw that Changkyun had no intention of greeting him.

"I’m fine, I guess," he replied with a shrug. He felt very uncomfortable in that situation: Minhyuk had already tried several times to approach him friendly, and on all occasions, Changkyun hadn’t yielded.

Minhyuk sat down next to him and, immediately, Changkyun looked away to the opposite side and picked up his briefcase, holding it tightly in his lap. The seconds passed, and neither of them said anything; There came a point at which Changkyun considered getting up and leaving the place..

“It’d be awesome... to hear you play one day.”

His sudden confession surprised Changkyun, who turned to him, watching inwardly as a smile formed on his lips.

Wonho's smile shone like the sun, but Minhyuk's could completely blind you. He had never noticed that it was so pretty.

Suddenly, he wanted to forgive him, wanted to give him a chance and try to be his friend. He wasn’t even angry with him, the only feeling that Minhyuk inspired him was pity. But it wasn’t that easy.

Changkyun tightened his lips and nodded; he felt that there was nothing else to say, only time would decide if a friendship would be possible between them. Someone was approaching them, and when they saw that it was Hyungwon, Minhyuk got up from the bench, looking at Changkyun with a guilty expression before leaving.

When their paths crossed, Hyungwon gave a warning look at the one who had been one of his best friends in the past and sat next to Changkyun with a mix of anger and sadness on his face.

He breathed in closing his eyes, staying quiet for a few seconds, until finally he turned to the little boy, with one of his sleepy smiles decorating his lips.

“What’s up, Changkyunnie? Did you sleep well?”

"Yeah..." he said, feeling how his body had relaxed after the encounter with Minhyuk, "but I see that you didn’t," he went on with a smile as Hyungwon stuck a long yawn.

"Not enough, that's for sure," he replied rubbing one eye wearily. Changkyun wondered how many hours Hyungwon could sleep if they let him. “So... how’s everything with Wonho?” he asked, leaning back, watching him with great interest. “Do you have something planned?”

“Planned?” Changkyun repeated confused.

"You know, for your hundred-day anniversary," Hyungwon said, as if it was obvious. Changkyun opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. “You don’t have to ask me why I know about it, Wonho didn’t stop talking about the same thing since last week. I think he has prepared a surprise for you," he added with a mischievous smile.

Wonho has prepared something for me? But I... I still don’t know what to give him. I haven’t prepared anything...

The panic must have been obvious on his face, since Hyungwon giggled and patted his shoulder.

“You haven’t prepared anything, right?”

Feeling very embarrassed, Changkyun shook his head weakly and gained a sigh in reply.

“But…!” said the pianist a little more altered. “I... wanted to give him something," he continued, lowering his voice, playing with the rings of his folder.

“Need some help?” Hyungwon asked crossing his arms.

"No..." Changkyun murmured without looking directly at him; the older boy raised an eyebrow without believing him. “Well, maybe…”

Hyungwon rubbed his chin, exaggerating his thoughtful gesture; his eyes fell on Changkyun's clothes, analyzing him up and down. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his full lips when an idea crossed his mind.

"I think… there’s something that might work,” he muttered without losing his smile. Changkyun cringed on the spot when his friend caught one of the sleeves of his old brown jacket -which he still wore around his waist- between his thin fingers. “But we'll have to make some changes.”

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

"I- I don’t know if I can do it," Changkyun complained, leaning back against the wall behind which he and Hyungwon were hiding.

"Yes, you can," replied the taller one, peeking around the corner and checking that Wonho hadn’t left his club's classroom yet. Changkyun sighed and closed his eyes, trying to calm down; he raised a hand to his face to rub it, but Hyungwon hurried to grab it to avoid it. “Don’t even think about it, you'll ruin all my work.”

Changkyun clicked his tongue in annoyance, remembering the hours he had spent in the bathroom of the residence in which Hyungwon lived to put the damn makeup on. He would never have imagined how hard it was to put on the eyeliner.

He was wearing a product on his hair that made the black strands of his fringe fall gracefully on his forehead, a little wavy and messy. In Hyungwon's words, it gave him a casual look. And his clothes... were completely opposite to his usual style: he wore a leather jacket decorated with patches that they had bought yesterday, and the black jeans were so tight that it was probably that, if he were to crouch, they would rip off on a little appropriate spot. Some beige boots, whose laces were clumsily tied, finished off the complex.

“Are you sure... that Wonho will like it?” Changkyun asked hesitantly.

"A hundred percent sure, we've been preparing for a week," Hyungwon said. Although he still wasn’t entirely convinced, the sound of a door opening and the voices of the club members echoing in the hallway caused his heart to beat nervously and look at the tallest without knowing what to do.

"Finally," Hyungwon sighed impatiently. “Okay, if you do what I've taught you, everything will go smoothly," he said, placing his hands on his shoulders. Then, he pushed him out of their hiding place and gestured with his mouth 'fighting'.

Changkyun stood paralyzed in the middle of the corridor, watching the girls in the health and maternity club scan him as they passed by. His cheeks began to overheat because of the intensity with which he was being observed, even some girls stopped and began to whisper and giggle among themselves.

“Remember what I’ve taught you!” Hyungwon shouted in whispers, peeping from the corner of the wall.

Changkyun swallowed and, wiping the sweat from his hands on his trousers, he lifted his chin and started walking as Hyungwon had taught him. With confident steps and with one hand tucked in the back pocket of his jeans, he walked through the girls to go to the door with the paper star stuck on its surface.

Inside he was a bundle of nerves, but he managed to appear calm and self-confident as he approached his target.

Wonho stood at the door with his back to him, saying goodbye as always to the coordinator and wearing his green fluorescent apron tied on his back. The woman first saw Changkyun and stayed a few seconds spellbound watching him approach. Coughing, she patted Hoseok on the cheek and left, but not before glancing at the first-year boy whose change of look made him look like a completely different person.

Changkyun leaned on the wall with his arms crossed just behind Wonho; when the brunette turned around and finally saw him, he gasped startled, putting a hand on his heart.

“Ah, Changkyun, you scared me...”

His voice faded as soon as he realized the panorama before him and his eyes widened enormously. The black haired boy tried to hide his nervousness and ran a hand through his hair, his parched lips.

“What’s up…?” he greeted, dragging the words in the deepest voice he could. Wonho didn’t say anything, just stared at him with wide eyes. Changkyun panicked a little and blurted out the first thing that crossed his mind to complete the sentence, “…bro?”

At that, Changkyun face palmed his inner self for addressing him like he did with Jooheon. He’s your boyfriend, not your bro, you , he told himself, squeezing his eyes shut, and recovering his full of confidence pose.

"Chang... Changkyunnie," Wonho stammered in surprise. “What…?”

Changkyun noticed that Wonho's cheeks were beginning to flush and, why would he lie, that suited his self-esteem.

“Are you free?” he asked with more confidence, tilting his head slightly.

“Free…?” Hoseok repeated, still watching him self-absorbed. Changkyun nodded and the older boy reached into his apron pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Ah... wait, I have to check one thing.”

He tried to suppress a smile as he waited for Wonho to finish looking at his phone; he couldn’t believe it, Hyungwon's tactic was working. Now he just had to propose to him to go on a date and the plan would have been a success.

However, the sound of a camera made him raise his head surprised towards the source of the sound.

Hoseok held his mobile very close to his face, and had a smile from ear to ear. Still looking at the picture he had just taken, the brunette put a hand to his own cheek and bit his lip.

“How cute... Changkyunnie trying to look more mature.”

The little boy was speechless: he could feel all the blood in his body rise to his head, causing his cheeks to burn. Was he making fun of him?

"I need to put this photo in my room," Wonho continued. “No! I have to put it in MoMo Coffee so that everyone can see how adorable you are.”

"I- I'm not cute..." he managed to say with difficulty, clenching his fists hard.

"Oh, of course you are," he said in a childish voice, as if he were talking to a small child. That made him even more upset.

“I said I’m not!” he insisted, kicking the floor.

“Oh, stop! You're too cute!” Wonho exclaimed before wrapping him in a hug and swinging him in his arms in an exaggerated way.

Changkyun tried to get away from him, but Hoseok's arms were too strong and he couldn’t escape from the grip. He began to be breathless and continued to complain, being completely ignored by the smiling boy.

Hyungwon watched everything from a distance and smiled when Wonho stopped hugging him to his cheeks. Changkyun pouted and, after exchanging a few words, they melted into a sweet kiss.

It was then that Hyungwon turned around with a sigh and left, leaving the happy couple behind.

Those two still had a long way to go. And he was almost sure, no, he was completely sure that as many difficulties and problems they had to face, they would carry on, together.

His stupid best friend had been very lucky and probably had found the person with whom he would share the rest of his life.