“I think he’s a good guy.”

Jongin sighed, shifting on his seat. “Did you see the bruises on his face? And he said it himself that his fists work faster than his brain. That only means that he does not think rationally and that leads to a messy situation. People like him are troublemakers. Anyway, why are we talking about him?” He glanced at her who was sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

“Just because.”

They’re in the middle of watching a variety show at Jongin’s place. Jieun wrinkled her nose, eyeing the monitor. She pulled her legs under the blanket. After telling Jongin that Sehun said ‘thank you’ for the other night, they just started their conversation with Sehun as their topic. Jongin’s a hard guy to persuade and she could understand why.

Back in middle school, she was bullied a lot and because she was still very conscious about her appearance, she had low self-esteem. She was doing fine with her grades but back then, she used to depend on Jongin so much to the point that she couldn’t go to the cafeteria without him. Jongin was the one who protected her from all the bullies.

One day, Jisung who was known as one of the bad boys came to her rescue. She was beyond surprised because she thought that he’s the same as the people who were bullying her. Jisung’s the kind of guy who uses his fist to talk. Jongin had a bad feeling about him but Jieun insisted that he’s different from the others.

Jisung started hanging out with them and Jieun felt comfortable with him. She started helping him out with his assignments, projects and reports. There were times that she made them on her own and just gave it to Jisung for passing. Jieun thought that she’s doing the right thing but Jongin kept on telling her that he’s just using her.

Jongin was right; Jisung was just using her and she could still clearly remember his words as if she just heard them yesterday. Jongin confronted him one afternoon and Jieun happened to be there.

“Do you think I really like to be with her the whole time? Are you kidding me? Girls like her are easy to play with. You just need to give them small winks and smiles and they’ll be crawling towards you. They are easy to manipulate. Did you see what she did? She even made my reports on her own. I’d be crazy if I really want to hang out with her.”

Jongin was suspended for a week after that. Jisung was sent to the hospital with a messed up face. That was the first time that she saw Jongin use his fists like that and he was scary. Jieun never told her friend that she knew the real thing that happened with him and Jisung that afternoon. Jongin lied to her that he and Jisung got into a fight because of basketball.

“Crazy bastard. Jieun is a precious person to me. And I hate people like you – the ones who hurt her.”

Jongin’s words were stamped in her mind after that day. And she’s more than thankful that there’s a Jongin in her life.

She could understand why her friend’s anxious about Sehun.

Eyeing Jongin who was already dozing off, she started playing with the bracelet that he gave her. He had his on his right wrist. Being able to be this close to him…is enough. I don’t want this friendship to be ruined because of my feelings. I guess I’ll be his Tinkerbell forever. She pursed her lips into a thin line before standing up.

She pulled the blanket from her side and carefully tucked Jongin under it. His eyes slowly fluttered open. “Sleep. I’m going home. It’s already late,” she whispered and he stared at her for some seconds before nodding. “Good night Eun,” he muttered, closing his eyes. She smiled.

“Good night.”

She slipped into her own slippers and turned off the lights before getting out of the house. Sighing, she walked towards the stairs. It took her less than 3 minutes to reach their own unit. Her parents were still watching a drama when she got inside. “I’m thinking of hiring Jongin. He’s helped us in the shop before and he insisted on not getting paid. He just ate there for free,” Mr. Choi said, turning to his wife.

“I would be more than happy if he’s going to help us this time,” Mrs. Kang replied before glancing at Jieun when she noticed that her daughter was back. “Jieun, what do you think?”

Jieun shrugged. “I’m fine with anything. I’m going to my room.”

She could hear them discussing about their business before she closed the door behind her. Jieun sat in front of her desk and pulled her book from the side. Now…where is that notebook? She looked around, trying to find her pink Math notebook. She opened every drawer and she eventually found it under the other books lying on the floor. Oh? What is this?

She picked the Polaroid film that slipped from the pages of her notebook. Her eyes narrowed when she saw what was on it. Three to four year old Jieun and Jongin were both crying. They both had the same crying expression. She smiled. It’s the first time that she saw that picture. What is this doing in my notebook?

Jieun looked at the back of the picture and saw a familiar handwriting with the words – You look ugly when you cry so don’t ever cry again. I looked much cuter than you. Hahahaha!

Kim Jongin.

Keeping my feelings to myself is going to be hard…and you’re making it harder Kim Jongin.

Days passed by with her new routine – riding the bus on her own, meeting up with the flower boys in school, having lunch with them (except Jongin) and stealing glances at Sehun. The orange head has been actually very quiet for the past days. He always had this expressionless face and despite being called the ‘new flower boy’, girls were actually hesitating to talk to him. After his epic introduction, it’s not really a surprise why the students were keeping their distance. Sehun looked like he’s enjoying the space that he could have to himself.

“Is it okay to date chubby girls?”

“No.”

“That is ‘no way’”.

Jieun narrowed her eyes as she turned to the monitor of her laptop.

“Definitely. 120% ‘no way’”.

“. .”

Wow. These guys are something. She leaned back on her seat, arms crossed in front of her chest. When she decided to spend some time in the internet, a video caught her attention and she decided to look at it. And here she is, having mixed feelings while watching an interview with