nine;

“Do you want to walk home today?”

It was the nth time that week that Daniel had offered but he had already anticipated the girl’s response. Like the many other attempts, Eunseo would politely decline, hints of guilt lingering as she tells him that she had already made plans. Yet patiently, Daniel would send her a reassuring smile that rids the female of any wrongfulness, for the time being, knowing quite well that she was just throwing out mindless excuses not wanting to be with anyone for the time being.

“You can’t say no.” He quickly adds this time. Daniel hadn’t missed it. He, along with their other friends has noticed how Eunseo’s dark circles have been darker than ever, she barely woke up for the first period, coming late four out of five times. The group of friends already had known briefly that Eunseo had a history of having a hard time waking up in the morning, coming late to almost everything possible, that they had even deemed her middle name: Park Late Eunseo. But as things were worsening, Daniel had made it a concern when he asked the girl if she had any problems at home and every time she would laugh and waved him off, saying she was just a deep sleeper. Yet he didn't believe her. After reading all the signs, the boy had suspicions it was the total opposite. But all he could do was sigh and watch over her, even noticing that she had stopped stealing other people’s food at lunch. 

And that was a major concern in their books.

He closely watches as the girl hesitate, the two continue walking and as if she had read his mind, she turns around, giving the boy a small reassuring smile and patting his shoulder.

“I’m fine Daniel.” He frowns. Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes nowadays but he’s too lost in his thoughts to realise she had already left, a few steps ahead and he sighs in his spot not knowing what to do.

“Did she reject you again?” He frowns, whipping his attention the female who teasingly pops her head from behind the locker before fully reaching the boy. 

“What do I do Jiyeon?” Daniel frustratedly ruffles his hair. 

“It’s okay, she’s been like that to me too. Just give her some time. Besides she’s not alone so it’s fine.” She nonchalantly says, watching her best friend reach the gates where a taller male warmly welcomes her with a fond pat on the head. Daniel’s frown looks like it had been permanently tattooed as of the moment.

“Is it Seungwoo?” He says without thinking, his words might have come out more abruptly that he would’ve liked.

Jiyeon turns to him with surprised eyes before returning to her usual calm state.

“Oh, so you do know him? Yeah probably. She’s been telling me it’s nice to get away from school problems. Looks like she didn’t even bother telling him. Aren’t they cute?” Jiyeon carefully watches as Daniel doesn’t take his eyes off the pair in the distance.

“10,000 won that she likes him. I mean the two were basically inseparable back in the day apparently” She adds, testing out the waters even further. Jiyeon wasn’t dumb either, she had seen all the signs and easily connected the dots faster than those activity pages for little kids. Daniel was an open book and the only one who couldn’t read was her best friend, Eunseo. Perhaps he needed an extra push, and that was exactly what Jiyeon was trying to do. A really big push.

Daniel whips his head back to Jiyeon with an unreadable expression before quickly excusing himself.

“I have to go, see you tomorrow Jiyeon.” Before rushing off. Jiyeon just shakes her head watching him leave also.

“They’re both such idiots.” She sighs, heading off to practice herself.

# # #

Sighing.

Eunseo had never liked sighing often, but lately, she found herself doing it as if it was second nature. With only a week and a half until the assignment, everyone had been frantically finishing off and cleaning their pieces, while Eunseo sat back on the side lines, without much to do besides extra cleaning duties giving as punishment from her little contact with Sera's face (something she did not regret till this very moment). She had clearly been aware of her friend's concerns about her but knowing that everyone was probably flustered busy and had things to do in preparation for the upcoming assessment, the brunette decided not to bother anyone with her problems and upheld a front, not a very solid one but it would do for the time being.

Yet nothing got passed them, especially the ash-brown male who had bothered her more persistently than usual. But she knew it was all out of concern more than anything. Eunseo felt a guilty pit brewing in her stomach but much like everyone he was no exception as she pushes him away to practice half the time telling him she’s fine.

But she was a very big overstatement. The girl had already been having sleeping problems for as long as she can remember and this just made everything worse. The rumors that spread like wildfire, the strange, judgemental stares and most of all not being able to dance had taken an exhausting toll on her thus making her lose a majority of her sleep, ending with a restless night of tossing and turning and the next day running through the streets late and half-awake.

It wasn’t a good routine but Park Eunseo was absolutely exhausted. 

Snapping out of her thoughts and realising she was going to once again let out a deep sigh, she instead in a breath, inhaling the cool air of the night for a change and it manages to make her feel refreshed even it was just for a minute. The wind blew, letting long brown hair flow with it and she closed her eyes as if for a moment, nothing really mattered. 

“Eunseo!” Her eyes fluttered open as she naturally turns to the direction where her name was called. Eyes lighting up, Eunseo gives a relief smile and waves at the boy who’s frantically running towards her from across the street.

“Careful there! What’s with the