When Monday came Sungkyu was hesitant to go to school. He thought about faking diarrhea, but he knew his father would catch on. He thought of injuring his ankle “accidentally”, but was quickly repulsed by the sheer stupidity and cowardice that had seemed to gotten ahold of him. He felt like swearing too, but bit his lip, This is not me…
 

After taking a deep breath, Sungkyu got ready as usual and headed out. As soon as he stepped out his house, he managed to see Mina a short distance away. He walked slowly with the intent of not meeting up with her, but Mina looked back.

“Sungkyu!”

Sungkyu let out a deep sigh, regretting the moment he stepped out his home.

Sungkyu caught up and greeted her with an uneasy smile. “Hi.”

With thoughts of confusion caused by Friday’s events, Sungkyu couldn’t think of much else to say.

They kept walking toward school, but Sungkyu held a heaviness in his heart that just wouldn’t leave him. It was a rather bright morning that day, but that didn’t cheer him at all.

At the school gate, Nayeon met up with the pair, and Hoya joined them momentarily as well. The whole situation felt awkward for Sungkyu. He was quiet and his hands were clammy. His eyes then managed to steal a glance at Nayeon without her noticing. She was wearing glasses, a new sight he never would have imagined. The sight constricted his breathing to say the least. And although it was freezing outside, Sungkyu started sweating somewhat profusely. As he wiped the sweat off his forehead, he caught whiff of Hoya stealing glances at Mina. Swear words clouded his head.

This is getting to me, isn’t it? the poor boy thought.

Sungkyu managed to hold onto his sanity though, at least until lunch. At lunch they all sat together but it was more quiet than usual. Sungkyu took a bite of the sandwich his dad had made for him and his eyes looked up, just enough to lock eyes with Mina who smiled at him. That smile tossed him into confusion, did Hoya ask her out or not? He then, without much thought, glimpsed at Nayeon. His chest started pounding like crazy. At the right angle, she looked like a completely different girl, a more charming and innocent girl, his type of girl. That thought scared him.

Hoya noticed Sungkyu looking at Nayeon, “Sungkyu says you look cute with your new glasses.”

Nayeon blushed a little.

“I didn’t say that,” Sungkyu said.

“Your eyes said it,” Hoya chuckled.

“Your eyesight got that bad, Nayeon?” Mina asked.

Nayeon clicked her tongue, “Yeah, my mom took me to get them this weekend. They make me look a bit nerdy…”

“Sungkyu thinks you look cute though,” Hoya remarked.

“Oh, shut up,” Gyujiji replied.

Mina, who sat beside Nayeon, gestured at her to borrow the glasses. She put it on, tucking her hair behind her ears, drawing the boys’ attention.

“It looks good,” they both told her.

At that, Nayeon took the glasses off Mina, putting them back on. “I heard using someone’s glasses for too long will mess up your vision.”

Lunch then seemed to pass by fairly quickly and Sungkyu was glad that their friendship was not the train wreck he thought it would be. For their next class, history, the teacher paired up the students to complete an assignment. Hoya was paired up with Mina, and Sungkyu with Nayeon. Sungkyu’s peace was shaken by the pairing of Hoya and Mina.
Will he ask her out here? Or was Nayeon just messing with me? he questioned.

The teacher noticed Sungkyu zoning off, so he scolded him for it and told him to focus on the assigned reading so they could finish the accompanying worksheet after. Nayeon smiled at Sungkyu’s misfortune.

You’re thinking too much, aren’t you? she wrote on her worksheet.

Sungkyu read it, but chose not to answer. He began to read his portion. It was for naught though, his mind was muddled with distracting thoughts of Mina kissing Hoya. He was becoming a mess and the walls of text he read through just made his head hurt. He peered at his worksheet, looking over the questions, yet the questions managed to get the best of him.

“I don’t get it…” he mumbled.

Nayeon noticed, “You need help with a problem? Tell me which one.”

Sungkyu pointed at the sixth question. Nayeon leaned forward to look at the question. Sungkyu was arrested by the sight of her. Her rich, ebony hair cascaded down and its rich berries and cream scent filled Sungkyu’s nostril. It was almost intoxicating, but Sungkyu felt warm inside as he breathed in the scent. He couldn’t help breathe it in.

Nayeon’s voice interrupted his admiration, “This is a pretty easy question…”

“Huh? Yeah I think you’re pretty…” Sungkyu said under his breath.

Nayeon quickly returned to reading her portion, hiding the sight of her blushing cheeks. Sungkyu, on the other hand, realized what he had said and began questioning himself along with his intelligence. His eyes then began to wander off again, he glanced at Nayeon and became taken aback by how she looked like with the glasses on.

What’s wrong with me? he asked himself, rubbing his eyes. I think I need to stay away from her. I hate this. Why her?

His eyes then led his view across the room where Mina sat, staring back at him. The sight shook him up, did she notice him staring at Nayeon? He looked away, without so much as a smile, and he got to work on his history problems.

School went on peacefully the rest of the week, until Friday. Friday the 20th was the last day of school before vacation and five days remained before Christmas. That Friday heralded a day of snow, but it was not enough for school to be cancelled. Sungkyu nearly missed school on account of a slight fever he received the night before, but he pulled through and his father gave him the okay to go to school. Sungkyu still felt an awkward tension lodged in his heart whenever the thought of Mina being alone with Hoya rose up, so that was reason enough for him to go.

As Sungkyu hustled out of his pajamas into his uniform, he caught glimpse of a rather fancy looking car parked outside his house. He scurried down the stairs and opened the door to leave home, allowing a blast of cold air to bid him “good morning”. He paused for a bit, making sure his scarlet muffler kept his neck warm. His eyes peered into the fancy car’s window, curious about who was in there. It carried a familiar look to it, where had he seen it before? Sungkyu had to rush for class though, so off he went. After taking only a few steps, the car honked at him, stopping right next to him. The window lowered, allowing Sungkyu to see who it was. It was Nayeon, who offered a lift.

“I thought the car looked familiar!” Sungkyu said.

“You like it? I chose it…” Nayeon told him.

Sungkyu came in and appreciated the heating, he couldn’t help but smile. He looked around the car’s fancy intrerior, couldn’t help but admire the luxury. The car then began to move.

“So…have you thought of what you will do after graduation?”

Sungkyu was distracted, admiring the leather seats as he pinched it with his fingers.

“I could get you a job at my dad’s company if you want. You’ll get a low position, but I’m sure you’ll climb up the ladder in no time. A couple of years, maybe?”

Nayeeon’s words finally reached him. Thoughts of an unknown future began to suffocate him. He hadn’t put much thought into it, always living in the present moment.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t know…I rather think about it later.”
Nayeon’s visage seemed to sadden, “Please consider it. Don’t be a bum…”

She took of her glasses and began to wipe away some smudges that had muddled her vision. Sungkyu stared and he felt his chest constrain as soon as Naeyon put them back on. She put them on slowly, taking the utmost care of them. Sungkyu quickly turned his eyes away, not wanting her to notice. The car ride continued with an air of awkwardness filling the car. The driver looked at the mirror, at Sungkyu’s reflection that looked away from Nayeon as if to avoid her, and smiled.

Soon enough the car stopped at the school’s front gate and Sungkyu rushed out of the car, leaving Nayeon behind. That ticked Nayeon off.

Inside school, the first person he met was Hoya. Hoya had a different look in his eyes, a sense of tension was gravitating around him as he locked eyes with his best friend.

“Hey,” he told Sungkyu.

“Hi.”
The two then walked to class together. Mina greeted them with a grand smile as soon as they came in. Nayeon would enter shortly after and glare at Sungkyu. Sungkyu had no idea why. His naiveté was almost cute.

During lunch, Sungkyu felt the sudden urge to answer nature’s call so to the bathroom he went. Nayeon was with Hoya and Mina, so he felt it was safe to go… When he came back he saw Nayeon was not there, but most importantly, he noticed a tension that existed between Mina and Hoya. That bothered him deeply. He sat down, continuing to munch on his lunch. It was a quiet moment, only to be interrupted by Nayeon who boisterously pulled her chair to sit in it. It was intentional, she sensed the weird atmosphere and hated it.

Lunch finished, and during the intermission between classes, Sungkyu noticed Mina speaking to Nayeon, wondering what their discussion was all about- it seemed somewhat serious. Sungkyu did not want to eavesdrop though.

Afterschool, Hoya was the first to leave and Sungkyu got an urge to walk home with Mina but was stopped by Nayeon.

“I need to borrow him for a bit,” she told Mina.

Mina was perplexed, “You need help with homework? I could help you if you want. Sungkyu wouldn’t be of much help…”

Nayeon grinned, while Sungkyu in turn felt slighted.

“I know, I just need to tell him something really quickly…”

“I could wait for you two if you want, if it’ll be quick. Sungkyu’s dad wouldn’t want him to slip on the wet sidewalks…”

“You could go, I ain’t that clumsy,” Sungkyu rebutted.

Mina left after Sungkyu tapped her shoulder.

“What do you need?” he told Nayeon as the two began walking slowly.

Her words were spoken delicately as she stared at the floor, “Would you like to spend Christmas with me?”

Sungkyu was blunt, “I’m sorry, I can’t. My dad and I spend that day together celebrating two birthdays…”

She looked up, locking eyes with him, “I don’t think that’ll happen this year…”

“Waddya’ mean?”

“My dad always holds a big party for his workers on that day, and I overheard he personally invited your father by phone. Your father’s response was ecstatic.”

“What?”

“Yeah, my dad took quite a liking to yours, and his situation warmed him up to him. My dad knows how it feels to be down on your luck…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Why?” Nayeon rebutted.

“Can we invite Mina and Hoya?”

“NO!”

Sungkyu was taken aback by her quick response, “Why not? It wouldn’t be fair to them, right?”

Nayeon scoffed, “Why do you have to invite them? Besides, it’s not like they’ll be able to go.”

Sungkyu was puzzled, “What do you mean.”

After taking a deep sigh, with a reluctant look, Nayeon responded, “Because they’re going on a date together…”
Sungkyu was shocked. He was at a loss for words.

Nayeon continued, “Mina told me Hoya asked her out for a Christmas date today. She asked for my opinion, and I told her to go for it.”
Sungkyu’s anger was sparked, “Why’d you say that?!”

The students around looked back at him. Sungkyu noticed, and he quickly felt embarrassed.

Nayeon rolled her eyes, “Because, why not? It’s not like they need your permission or anything.”

“Are you stupid? Our friendship won’t be the same if they go out.”

“Oh, stop being so childish. When a guy like a girl, he asks her out, it’s freaking natural.”
Sungkyu’s frustration was evident, “But…”
“But who cares about that, let them be. Now, are we going out together on Christmas or what?”

Sungkyu felt dizzy, he paid no attention to Nayeon’s request. He just kept walking forward.

Nayeon tugged on his sleeve. Sungkyu stopped to look at her, with a face resembling one who had seen the devil himself.

“I’m serious. Please think about it…”

Sungkyu heard Nayeon’s words, but he simply went home without saying a word. Later that night, Sungkyu asked his father why he accepted the invitation.

“Well, I owe him a lot. He gave me a job when no one else would, and he also told me you would spend the day with his daughter… I thought it would be fine to let the children have some fun. We’ll go to mass in the morning like always though.”

Sungkyu was frustrated, “But mom’s birthday.”
His father Dongwoo smiled, “I’m sure she’s happy in heaven, knowing her son got quite the catch.”

Sungkyu was unsure as how to feel to his father’s response. Nayeon was beautiful, he had known that, but thoughts of Mina going out with someone bothered him. He left his father without saying a word in response.