I just stared at him with my eyes wide. Byunghun looked at me and smiled. Changjo looked at both of us and said, “I didn’t know you guys even knew each other.” One of his friends said, “But… but you never liked someone before.” I quickly got up from my seat, all of the guys staring at me. “I… I’m going to go back to my classroom.” Then I quickly got out of the classroom but Byunghun came outside and grabbed my arm.

“Does it bother you?” I looked at him and he asked me again, “Does it bother you that I like you?” I looked down and said, “You don’t even know me that well.” Byunghun chuckled and said, “It’s not like I’m in love with you. It’s the small stuff you do that makes me like you.” I didn’t know what to say so I just ran away from him back to my classroom.

When I went back inside to my classroom, almost everyone asked me what had happened. “Nothing happened.” I told them. I didn’t like how they were so nosy. “Where did he take you? How do you know him? Why does he keep coming here for you?” I closed my eyes out of frustration and moved myself away from them. They weren’t helping me at all.

Honestly, I didn’t know why I ran away from him in the first place. It wasn’t like I didn’t like him, in fact I was captivated by him too. I was probably just scared after hearing all these rumors about him. About how he’s a bad influence, it made me feel like I was a joke to him so I didn’t want to take him seriously. But at the same time, the Byunghun that I saw in my eyes weren’t what I heard.

-----

I followed Yoonmi to the library again and I went to my usual corner. Yoonmi had asked me why I wouldn’t sit with them and I just told her that I didn’t want to be in the way. When I sat down in my usual corner, I wondered whether Byunghun was going to come or not. I proceeded on to do my homework, trying to focus.

Someone came down and sat next to me and I looked up to see Byunghun. He didn’t look at me and he simply opened his notebook and began to write stuff down. I was guessing he was finishing his music notes. I ignored him and continued to do my homework.

When I finished, I put everything back into my bags and looked over at Byunghun who was looking through a book. I saw the front page and it had Yiruma written on it. “Hey, isn’t Yiruma the pianist you showed me yesterday at the music store?” Byunghun looked at me and smiled. “Yeah, the music sheets to all his songs.” I then asked, “Do you know how to play his songs?” Byunghun pursed his lips and said, “I’m working on Kiss the Rain.” I nodded and said, “I like River Flows in You, the song you showed me. You should learn that song and play it for me.” I smiled at him. He chuckled and said, “I don’t play the piano for just anyone.”

I got up and went to find Yoonmi but she was gone. I sighed out of disappointment. I looked outside and saw that it was almost dark and I debated whether to call my mom or not. Instead, I decided to just walk home since it wasn’t too dark anyway.

I was halfway home when I heard a group of guys behind me. I turned around but they seemed to be minding their own business so I just ignored them and kept walking. “Hey, what high school do you go to?” One of the guys came up to me and asked. I furrowed my eyebrows and just ignored him. “What, are you scared of me or something? I’m just trying to make friends.” I tried to walk faster but he kept up with my pace. “Come on, let’s be friends. How old are you?” I shouted at him, “Stop following me!” He smirked and grabbed my arm. “Okay then, what’s your name?” I tried to throw his arm away but he held on tight. “Let go!” I shouted at him but he just laughed and his friends came up to us.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm and yanked it off me. “Who the —“ was all he said before Byunghun threw a punch across his face. One of the guy’s friends threw a punch towards Byunghun which he smoothly dodged. I grabbed Byunghun’s arm and tried to pull him away from them. “Don’t fight…” I told him and Byunghun turned to look at me. But when he did, one of the guys walked up to him and grabbed his neck. My eyes widened and I grabbed the guy’s arm and bit him as hard as I can. He yelped in pain and let go immediately. I grabbed Byunghun’s arm and began to run to my house.

Byunghun stopped running at one point and said, “They’re not following us, you know.” I looked at him and started to walk too. “Did you follow me?!” Byunghun scratched his head and said, “I saw you leave the library by yourself and it was dark so I got worried… sorry, I’ll just leave now then.” I smiled and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. “Might as well walk me all the way home.” Byunghun just smiled.

“Hey, why did you stop me from beating up those guys?” I looked at Byunghun and sighed. “Because… if you fight, then word will go around and the kids at school will talk about you again.” Byunghun scoffed and looked up at the sky. “I only fight when I have to.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean?” Byunghun looked down at me and said, “To protect someone.” I blinked and said, “Oh…” Byunghun started to chuckle and asked, “You’ve heard rumors about me… so why didn’t you just run away from me when you could’ve?” I sighed and looked straight ahead. “Because my first impression of you wasn’t based on what I heard about you.” After that, we didn’t really talk again. It was just our usual silence again.

-----

The next day at school, Changjo began talking to me more. He tried to get to know me more, as well as add in a couple questions about Byunghun. Before recess, Changjo said, “You should come with me to Byunghun hyung’s class during recess.” I thought about it and said, “It’s okay… I’m not comfortable in there.” Changjo chuckled and said, “I’m uncomfortable in here.” Then we both started laughing.

We had a substitute for the class after recess so Changjo and I talked more. Out of curiosity, I asked him, “How did you start hanging out with Byunghun?” Changjo looked at me and put on a small smile. “I was getting bullied one day after school and Byunghun hyung came and helped me.” I smiled and said, “He saved me yesterday.” Changjo smiled and said, “The rumors about him are completely misleading.” I sighed and said, “I can tell…” Changjo chuckled and said, “But the guys were right yesterday, it’s surprising that Byunghun hyung likes you. He’s honestly never liked anyone before.” I looked at Changjo and said, “It seems like he’s been around a lot of girls though.” Changjo shook his head and said, “He’s only been in relationships because the girls were demanding. He broke it off with all of them.” I blinked and looked down at my hands. “Why me though?” Changjo sighed and said, “That’s the same question we all asked. You guys are so different.” I just stayed silent. Changjo added, “I’m kind of excited to see how he treats someone he actually likes though.” I looked at Changjo and said, “It’s probably not a big change.” Changjo shrugged, “All the guys made a bet.”

During lunch, I was eating with Yoonmi when my phone started to vibrate. I checked my phone and saw a text message from Byunghun. Come to my classroom. I frowned and replied, No, I want to stay in my classroom. I closed my phone and put it back into my pocket and continued to eat with Yoonmi. After a little while, I heard the door to our classroom open so I turned around and saw Byunghun walk in. My eyes widened as he grabbed a chair and sat down next to me. I looked at everyone who was staring at us. “What are you doing here?” Byunghun said to me, “If my classroom’s uncomfortable for you, then I’ll come to you.” Was he serious? “But all your friends are in your classroom.” Byunghun smirked and said, “So? You’re here.” When he said that, I couldn’t help but smile.

“But everyone’s staring at us.” Byunghun chuckled and said, “What do you want me to do about it?” I poked at my food and said, “I can just go to your classroom…” Byunghun ignored me and looked up at my classmates. Frightened, all of my classmates went back to their own business. I chuckled and said, “Or you could do that…” Then Byunghun and I started laughing.

I looked over at Yoonmi and said, “Sorry, do you want me to—“ Yoonmi shook her head and got up. “I’ll just go eat with Jiyoon and them.” Then she left the classroom and I looked at Byunghun. “You scared my friend away.” Byunghun just smiled at me. “So what are you doing after school?” I looked at him and said, “I don’t know, probably go to the library again.” Byunghun pouted and said, “Ditch your friend and play with me.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “And do what?” Byunghun shrugged, “Not knowing what to do is the fun part.” I laughed and said, “Okay then.”

-----

When the bell rang, indicating that school was over, I walked out of my classroom and saw Byunghun waiting for me. He smiled when he saw me and said, “Let’s go.” I asked him, “How did you get here so quickly?” Byunghun said, “I left class early. It’s not like they care about what I do.” I just smiled. “So what are we going to do?” Byunghun looked at me and smiled, “Let’s just go to my house.”

My phone started ringing and I saw that Yoonmi was calling me. “Hello?” Yoonmi asked, “Hey, where’d you go? Let’s go to the library.” I looked up at Byunghun and back down. “I can’t go today, sorry.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Byunghun form a smile.

When we got to Byunghun’s house, I sat down on his couch as he went inside his room to change. He came outside wearing sweats and a sweater. He threw me a sweater and sweats and said, “You should change too.” I nodded and got up to go to the restroom. His clothes were too big on me but they were still comfortable.

“So… what do you want to do?” I asked Byunghun. He looked at me and said, “Make me food. I’m hungry.” I laughed and said, “I can’t cook.” He sighed and asked, “What can you make?” I thought about it and said, “Ramen.” This made Byunghun laugh as he said, “I guess that works.” So we both got up and went to the kitchen. Byunghun sat down as he watched me make him food. I turned off the heat and brought the pot over to the table. “Sorry I don’t know how to make anything.” Byunghun just smiled and said, “It’s okay. I like ramen anyways.”

He got his chopsticks and pulled the noodles out of the pot and blew on it. The steam blew at my face making me fringe. Byunghun started to laugh and blew more into his noodles. “Stop!” Byunghun laughed and said, “Sorry, your face was just…” I frowned as he ate his ramen. He looked up at me and smiled. “This is really good.” I laughed and said, “I didn’t even do anything to it. It’s just ramen.” He smiled and grabbed more. “Just because you made it for me.” A small smile formed on my face.

After he finished eating, he said, “I know what we can do.” I looked at him and asked, “What?” He sighed and said, “We have to change back to our normal clothes though.” I nodded and grabbed my clothes, changing back in the restroom. When I walked outside, he handed me my bag and said, “Let’s go.” I followed behind him as he took me somewhere. “I would appreciate it if you told me where we were going…” Byunghun just looked at me once and continued to walk.

We went inside a store that sold instruments. The worker came stood up behind the counter and Byunghun immediately bowed, “Ahnyounghasaeyo!” The worker smiled and said, “Oh, you came today! Is this your girlfriend?” Byunghun looked at me and back at him, smiling. “Not yet.” I looked at him and blinked. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a piano. “I’m going to teach you how to play piano.” He told me as he sat me down on the bench and opened up the piano. He sat down next to me and looked at me, smiling. “Have you ever played?” I shook my head.

Byunghun grabbed a book on top of the piano and opened it up. He pointed at different notes, telling me what it was and which key it was. I followed along pretty quickly, but then again I was using a beginner’s book. At one point, He placed his hands on top of mine, guiding me through the notes on the book. When he did, I felt my heartbeat accelerate. I looked at him as he helped me play and looking at him made my heart flutter. I was beginning to like him.

When we left the store, I felt a strong air of coldness hit my face and I shivered. Byunghun took off his scarf and wrapped it around me. “What about you…” Byunghun smiled and said, “I’d rather be cold than see you cold.” I blinked twice and looked away, trying to avoid my rapid heartbeat. We began to walk home and I tried to stuff my hands in my small pockets since they were turning into ice but it didn’t really help. Byunghun noticed and asked, “Do you have gloves?” I looked at him and said, “I’m fine.” Byunghun didn’t look convinced. He then took my hand and stuffed it into the pocket of his jacket along with his. I couldn’t deny the fact that his hand was really warm. We walked like that all the way to my house.

“Thanks for walking me home…again.” Byunghun smiled and said, “No need to thank me every day. I’ll walk you home tomorrow too.” I smiled and said, “I guess that means I’m spending time with you after school?” Byunghun smiled and said, “I guess so.” We stood there for a while in front of my house. I guess part of the reason was because I didn’t want to let go of his hand. I wasn’t sure why Byunghun just stayed there though. Gradually, I pulled my hand out of his pocket and said, “Well… I’ll see you tomorrow.” Byunghun smiled and nodded, “See you tomorrow. Don’t be late.” I chuckled and said, “I won’t.” Then I turned to my house as Byunghun started to walk down my hill. Then I realized I was still wearing his scarf. “Wait! Your scarf!” Byunghun smiled and said, “Just give it to me tomorrow!”

-----

At school the next day, Changjo asked me, “Were you with Byunghun hyung yesterday?” I looked at him and nodded. He shook his head and said, “He left us for you.” I smiled and said, “Sorry, I didn’t know.” Changjo chuckled and said, “Is that his scarf?” I looked in my bag and saw that his scarf was visible. “Oh… yeah.” Changjo scoffed and shook his head.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, I got up and left my classroom. Yoonmi ran up to me and asked, “Where are you going?” I looked at her and said, “Oh, I’m going to give this back to Byunghun…” Yoonmi looked at the scarf and asked, “Were you with him yesterday?” I bit my lip and nodded. She furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “Are you guys—“ I interrupted her and said, “Hey, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Then I walked away to Byunghun’s classroom.

When I went inside, I saw Byunghun texting someone. I grabbed a chair and brought it next to him and sat down. He put his phone away and looked at me, surprised. “Sungah?” I gave him his scarf and smiled. He looked at it and asked, “I was going to go to you right now; you didn’t have to come all the way here for this.”

My phone started to vibrate so I took it out and saw that Byunghun had texted me. I’m leaving now. I smiled and looked up at him. “I didn’t come here to return your scarf.” Byunghun asked, “Then why’d you come here? I thought you were uncomfortable in here.” I saw his friends start to come inside, surprised that I was here. “I guess I can deal with it if it means that I get to see you.” Byunghun furrowed his eyebrows, “Wait, what?” I let out a small laugh and said, “I came here because I missed you.”

A smile formed on Byunghun’s face. “And why did you miss me?” I stared at him, a smile still on my face. “Because I like you too.”

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A/N: I know this story might sound rushed but just a reminder: it's a short fic LOL.

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