CHAPTER NINE; TAKING OFFERS.

"So let's meet again in another life"

A knock sounded through Somi's office and she looked up, her hands pausing over the keyboard of her laptop. 

"Come in" She chimed and the door opened to reveal Jooheon poking his head into the room.

"It's Heonie" Kihyun sang and Somi smiled as Jooheon looked at her in relief.

"Thank god this is your office, I thought I might not have listened to Hyunwoo properly"

"You found me though" Somi pointed out with a smile and Jooheon nodded, looking around Somi's office again.

"You realise that you can come in, right Jooheon?" Somi rose an eyebrow at the male. Jooheon jumped momentarily before entering the room and shutting the door behind him. Jooheon sat on the other side of Somi's desk and she smiled again as she closed the lid of her laptop to concentrate on Jooheon.

"So, how did it go?" She asked him and Jooheon blinked, wiping his hands on his pants as he slowly nodded his head.

"I suppose it went alright" Jooheon's shoulders bobbed and Somi's head tilted to the side.

"Alright?" She blinked and Jooheon nodded.

"We talked about things," Jooheon told her and so Somi nodded back to him.

"That's good to know, do you feel like you've sorted things out then?" She questioned and Jooheon shrugged uncertainly as his head bobbed.

"I still have to prove myself to him," He told her and Somi stopped moving from side to side in her chair to scrunch her face up at him.

"What?" She frowned.

"I have to prove to Hyunwoo that I'm sorry for what was said and done in high school" He explained and Somi sat up straight.

"Jooheon what did he say to you in there-"

"It's fine Somi" Jooheon cut her off, waving a hand at her as he crossed one leg over the other.

"There were a lot of things I said and did in high school," Jooheon spoke again before Somi could argue with him, "surprisingly, what I said and did to you wasn't the worst of it, you were the first person I pushed away and each time I had a new target, I got angrier and I did something more horrible than I did to the last person. I called you disgusting and shamed you, but I punched Minhyuk in the face when he tried to say you couldn't have done more than you did" He smiled bitterly and Somi sunk in her seat, fingers curling on her desk as she bit down on her lip.

"So Hyunwoo's not wrong, I need to work hard to prove I've changed and that I really am remorseful for the things I've done"

"Well then," Somi came to terms with the fact that Jooheon was right, "I hope that you can sincerely work hard to prove yourself then" Somi nodded with a smile.

"Thank you" Jooheon nodded.

"You've got me barracking for you from the sidelines, you can take that as my attempt to prove my worth too"

"What do you want to prove your worth for?" He asked her and Somi shrugged her shoulders.

"For not trying harder and being more stubborn when we were younger" She answered honestly.

"Huh?"

"When you pushed me away, I should have gripped on and pulled instead, I shouldn't have let you walk out of my life just because we were both in pain thinking the other person would never get it"

"We were both stubborn, just for different reasons to the ones we have now"

------------

"Oh wow" Hoseok had stopped in his place, unable to move as he looked at the woman who smiled at him, albeit it being shy and awkward, it was still a smile that matched her humour.

"What? Didn't think I would take you up on your offer?" Somi tilted her head challengingly and Hoseok shook his head, blinking himself back into reality.

"No, I just didn't think I would be seeing you so soon," Hoseok told her and Somi hummed.

"A few things have been going on lately, it made me realise I should take up the offer coming from an old friend if I have the chance to do so," She told him and Hoseok nodded.

"Have you signed up?" He asked and Somi nodded.

"Yeah, I did online last night" She answered and Hoseok nodded.

"Awesome," He looked around and checked the time on his watch, "I don't have any sessions booked for the next hour and a bit, do you wanna do this together or would you prefer to do this on your own?" Hoseok asked Somi, who hummed, not having to think about what her answer would be.

"Together would be good" She nodded and Hoseok smiled, waving for Somi to follow him further into the gym.

"You can put your bag in there," He pointed to the row of shelves on the wall and Somi put her bag away, "let's get started with a warm-up then" Somi nodded again and followed Hoseok over to the treadmills.

"We'll keep it simple for today I reckon and then we can work on what you want to work on in the future-" Hoseok told her as he chose what setting her treadmill was to be on. "-how often do you exercise?" He asked her and Somi cleared .

"Did I tell you that I like exercising? I was sure I said I was thinking about starting to exercise" Hoseok snorted and Somi smiled bashfully.

"We won't do anything complicated then Somi" Hosoek nodded and Somi sighed in relief.

"Thank god, because I'm not going to do too well at this," She told him and Hoseok slapped her arm.

"Don't crush your own potential before you even try." He told her off and Somi brushed him off.

"Don't be so sure Hoseok, I'm not what I used to be"

"That's fine, I'm not going to make you roll around in mud again" He assured Somi and the woman laughed at the memories his comment brought back to the forefront of her mind.

"I was gonna say, I would much rather not roll around in any mud" She answered and they both laughed. Looking at Hoseok, he hadn't changed much, just grew into the figure of a man that loved to keep healthy. But everything else seemed the same, his face, his personality and his attitude hadn't changed from the young man she had once known, as an adult, he hadn't seemed to lose any of his values.

"You never did like the mud that much anyway" Somi snorted and Hoseok sighed in agreement.

"Because white was my favourite colour and you were all so rough and tough, it got my clothes dirty all the time," Hoseok's tone of voice told Somi that Hoseok could still feel the irritation of his mother every time that she had to turn his clothes back to white.

"You also never told me how things between you and Kwangshik," Somi said on a serious note. She remembered how in love the pair had been, even when they faced prejudice from their peers in the schoolyard. Somi also knew that Kwanghik was what was keeping Hoseok sane after Kihyun disappeared.

"Kwangshik? We broke up almost three years ago now? He was honest and told me he didn't see me in that same light anymore, so I let him go" Hoseok told Somi honestly, smiling sadly as he looked at her.

"Oh Hoseok, I'm sorry I even mentioned him-" Somi's eyes widened and Hoseok waved her embarrassment off.

"Don't be, I've moved on since then and there is actually a girl that I've been talking to over the past couple of weeks"

"That's great. I still shouldn't have brought it up so casually though" Somi frowned and Hoseok chuckled.

"Don't sweat it, he was a prominent part of my life then, how could you not ask about him if we're going to talk about those times?" Hoseok asked her instead and Somi shrugged her shoulders.

"You haven't told me what you're up to though, you came here to see me and I don't even know what my old friend is up to" Hoseok pointed out, adjusting the speed on Somi's treadmill so that she was jogging instead of walking.

"Well-" Somi tried to start off but she looked down at her feet instead. "I recently quit my part-time job to start at a new one"

"Oh nice, where do you work now?" Hoseok was clearly finding it easier than Somi was to talk and Somi puffed her cheeks out.

"I'm a photographer for Sun's fashion and modelling agency," She told Hoseok who smiled at the information.

"That's awesome, how did you find your way there?" He asked her and Somi took a few steps in silence before she told Hoseok.

"Hyunwoo bumped into me one day and offered me a job, so I ended up taking it" She explained and Hoseok nodded.

"I see, so you're working for Hyunwoo now?"

"Yes, both Changkyun and I are working under him"

"Changkyun too?" Hoseok asked and Somi nodded, deciding to jump into the full story that had been the last few weeks of her life, spilling it all out for Hoseok to listen to as they worked through a routine together.

------------

"How do you move on from doing everything with someone to doing it all on your own? Because I still feel extremely lonely" Somi asked Hoseok, who didn't hide that he was offended by Somi's question. Somi swallowed the lump in and Hoseok sighed, looking away

"How could you be? He's still by your side every day" Hoseok pointed out to her and Somi nodded, knowing that Hoseok was avoiding her original question, some topics were still too sensitive for Hoseok, Somi could understand that and knew that she had to be cautious from then on.

"Yes, but it's not the same, I don't have you and I don't have the others" Somi observed in response and Hoseok scoffed, smiling at Somi.

"Is that you're way of telling me you want me back in your life?" Hoseok asked Somi and she nodded her head immediately, ignoring the way her cheeks flushed.

"Maybe" She answered and Hoseok pushed her forward.

"Did I say the situps were done? Keep going" He ordered and Somi's smile dropped into a frown as she grumbled.

"You're not so nice when you're in trainer mode, you know that?" She told him, pulling herself up then going back down.

"We can get you another trainer if you would like? Would a female make you feel more comfortable?" Hoseok told her professionally and Somi grumbled again.

"Shut up I'm trying to count"

"If you lose count we're starting again," Hoseok told her and Somi pulled a face.

"No, you said we weren't going to do anything hard today!"

"Well I'm not so nice when I'm in trainer mode, give me ten more"

------------

"You can't tell anyone," The young boy put his finger over the little girl's lips in a silencing action, "no matter what" The young girls face nestled into the hand that rested against her cheek as she nodded. Her wide eyes pierced into the boys with fear as she realised just what it was that she was seeing. She was glad that she had Hoseok here to help her face something so scary.

"Not even my mummy or daddy, and certainly not your mummy or daddy. My parents will cry if you told them what you could see" He continued, taking his hands away from her face, little Somi gasped, her eyes wide as worry touched them and she leant closer to Hoseok's small body desperately.

"They would?" She asked as her bottom lip trembled and Hoseok was quick to answer with a gesture to himself.

"Of course! Look at how you made me feel, they're grown-ups, they will feel worse than me if you told them" Hoseok nodded and Somi shook her head.

"I don't want to make aunty and uncle cry"

"Then we can't tell them your secret" Hoseok shrugged his shoulders.

"I won't tell anyone then" Somi agreed with him by firmly nodding her head.

"And I'll keep your secret safe" Hoseok promised her and Somi's eyes went wide with glee.

"Oh thank you Hoseok!" She exclaimed, wrapping her short arms around Hoseok in a tight hug.

"Anything for my little sister"

"What are the others like now?" Hoseok asked her as they walked out of the gym. Hoseok had proven to be extremely interested in the lives of his old friends. Somi's lips pulled into a smile and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, Changkyun is Changkyun. He is still shy and keeps to himself, he doesn't really talk to me much though if I'm being honest. Hyunwoo," Somi stopped to think about her long time friend and now boss as she looked up at the sky, "he's grown up. He's more responsible, he manages the company well and has a good vision for the place. He's a bit clumsy and his jokes are still bad, but he's good" Somi nodded and Hoseok hummed, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

"What about Jooheon? You said you've seen him too" Hoseok pointed out and Somi sighed.

"I don't know. He seems to be the same bright person he always was, but it seems there's a lot I don't know about. Changkyun doesn't want to see him, he brings up how sorry he is to me a lot and now he's trying to prove to Hyunwoo that he's a changed man" Hoseok nodded in understanding.

"And Kihyun? What's it like with him?" Hoseok asked after a moment of silence. Somi looked away from the setting sun and to her car, where Kihyun was waiting for her in the passenger's seat, smiling as he watched them walk towards the vehicle.

"Well," Somi tried to speak, but ended up not saying anything. Any thoughts she had made it sound like she hated the presence of her oldest friend, which was far from the truth. Somi bit down on her bottom lip and Hoseok looked at her when she remained silent.

"It's different?" He questioned and Somi nodded, looking at Kihyun as he waved at her

"I don't hate him, I never could," She started by defending herself and Hoseok raised an eyebrow as Somi turned to look at him. He could see that he was bringing raw emotions out of Somi and he almost felt bad for asking her about their deceased friend, "I'm lucky, in a way, to still have him around, to know he's there, watching over us. But god it hurts, no matter how good of a day we've had, by the time you lay in bed and try to go to sleep, it's just a reminder of what you could have had. His spirit is a reminder that he isn't there in the flesh, that I'm the only one that knows he's there and we're not actually growing up together" She laughed bitterly and Hoseok looked at Somi, not hiding that he was pitying her for what she saw on a day to day basis.

"He still looks exactly the same, when you think of him now, do you stop and think of a man growing into his life as an adult?" Somi asked Hoseok honestly and the man shook his head.

"I remember him as he was when he left" He replied truthfully and Somi smiled, though her eyes sparkled with moisture.

"That's exactly what I see, the exact same boy that he was before he died, we're not growing old together and looking at him, knowing he never even made it through puberty? It's stupid but it hurts. And then he spends time away from me and I get scared he's never coming back, and all I want is to be able to see that young boy in front of me again" Somi spoke how she felt and Hoseok ut a hand on her shoulder as they got closer to her car.

"Maybe what you see isn't always a good thing," He said sadly and Somi couldn't look at Kihyun when she agreed.

"Look Somi, all of us wish he never died, we all want him to still be alive. And I've struggled with coming to terms with it, trust me I have-" Hoseok squeezed Somi's shoulder and she looked up at him. "-and as painful as it will be, maybe always having Kihyun by your side isn't what you need in order for you to grieve. I don't know if you've had much time to do that, have you?" Hoseok asked her and Somi shrugged her shoulders, looking to Kihyun and smiling when he waved again.

"He's just always been there, like he was never gone" Somi explained and Hoseok frowned.

"I don't mean to sound rude Somi when I say this to you. But maybe this isn't the way to be, I don't think always having Kihyun there is a way for you to come to terms with his death like the rest of us have, because like you said, it's like he never left. But he's also not really here Somi" They were standing in front of Somi's car now. There was no doubt that if he tried to listen, Kihyun would hear that they were talking about him, and Somi couldn't let that weigh Kihyun down.

"Maybe, I'll think about things," Somi told him and Hoseok patted her shoulder.

"Call me sometime, maybe you need to go out with real people more often" He advised and Somi nodded as Hoseok stepped back, waving at her.

"Bye Somi, it was good to have you today," He told her and Somi waved as well.

"Thanks, Hoseok, I'll come again soon"

"Good, call me," He told her with a point of his finger and a smile before walking away. Somi watched him, sighing just as heavily as the weight pressing down on her shoulders. Somi threw her bag into the backseat and got in the car, starting it up as Kihyun linked at her.

"That was a slow walk to the car, what were you talking about?" He asked her and Somi's shoulders bobbed in response.

"Just some things" She muttered.

------------

The music was loud but he had gotten used to it, just like he had gotten used to the people in the club stumbling around and aiming for his attention when he stepped away from the stage to take a break. With a wave of his hand and a smile, Hyungwon politely declined drinks and girls asking for a drink as he approached the bar, simply wanting some water to soothe his dry throat.

"Aye, look who it is!" Hyungwon looked to his right, a rather inked man was approaching him and Hyungwon rose an eyebrow at the sight of him slumping onto the bar as he smiled up at Hyungwon.

"Dude, long time no see. This must be fate man, you know I've been trying to get in touch, to just say that I'm sorry for what happened back in high school and-"

"Sorry? I don't think I know you?" Hyungwon scrunched up his face and the other mans face dropped.

"Aw, what? Dude, it's me. Lee Jooheon from high school!" Jooheon jabbed a finger at his own chest and Hyungwon's face became blank as Jooheon smiled at him stupidly.

"I think you've got the wrong person," Hyungwon told him and Jooheon laughed.

"Really? How could you not remember me? We were best friends man" Jooheon playfully punched Hyungwon, but Hyungwon moved away and created more distance between them.

"I apologize for my poor memory. But it's just so hard to remember things I don't care about." Jooheon's face dropped again, this time even through the alcohol in his system, he was able to see the distant vibe Hyungwon was holding onto. Jooheon cleared his throat, stood up as best as he could on his own. Then he bowed, making sure he spoke up as loud as he needed to in order to be heard over the music.

"I'm sorry for then, and I'm sorry for wasting your time again now" He slurred, but his words hit their target and as he walked away, Hyungwon watched his back. Hyungwon let out a deep sigh off irritation, looking away from Jooheon's back before he was tempted to follow Jooheon and give him a piece of his mind. 

He doesn't deserve the satisfaction.

Hyungwon forced himself to stay standing at the bar, tightly gripping the bottle of water he had been given. He was afraid if he moved that he was going to unconsciously take himself in the direction that Jooheon had gone, and he didn't want to put himself through those hard times anymore.

You've grown up and you've moved on to better things. You don't need that sort of people in your life anymore.

Hyungwon worked hard to convince himself of these things. For a moment it felt just as hard as it did on the day of their graduation, when he had to tell himself to just focus on him and his parents and ignore the desire to congratulate his old friends on their accomplishment, because he knew how badly they all wanted to leave their school. He winced and pinched the bridge of his nose as his eyes squeezed shut, trying to push those memories to the back of his mind where he wouldn't waste his time thinking about them.

"Are you alright man?" Hyungwon flinched, he thought Jooheon was back again until he opened his eyes and looked at the bartender who was leaning over the bar to look at Hyungwon.

"Yeah, I just have a headache" Hyungwon nodded and the bartender clucked his tongue.

"One of those shifts again? Go out and grab some medication while you can man, there's still a few hours to go" The bartender advised. Not wanting to look like a stubborn idiot, Hyungwon's head bobbed in agreement and he turned away from the bar, mentally telling himself which direction to go despite what his feet were wanting to do. He walked in the right direction and found himself behind the backdoors of the club. There were a couple of bartenders loitering around on their break, all of whom greeted Hyungwon when they passed him. He gave nods and small greetings back.

Hyungwon unlocked his locker and went in search of the painkillers that he kept in there, sticking his head in and closing his eyes again. He quickly opened them when images of a young group of people that included himself flashed to the front of his mind. Hyungwon shook his head and snatched up the painkillers. He drank them down with his water and sighed, letting his head fall back so that he was looking at the ceiling. He raised his hand in front of his face to look at the time and realised he only had five minutes of his break left. His arm dropped back down, and though he knew he needed to head back out to the floor, he didn't move. All he could think about were the things that he didn't want to be thinking about.

He knew the rest of the night was going to be harder with the knowledge that Jooheon was out on the floor.

------------

"Stop complaining, it's a nice sunny day out, this is gonna be great," Hyunwoo told Changkyun who groaned.

"It's too early in the morning" He answered and Hyunwoo glared at him.

"You're the model of this shoot" He pointed out, but that didn't change Changkyun's mind as he took the box out of the car and made his way into the building. Keys jingled behind Hyunwoo, who automatically turned around with something to say. But he froze, words leaving him when he was faced with someone he didn't expect to be seeing. Minhyuk rose an eyebrow at Hyunwoo, unable to move as he realised who he was looking at.

"Oh sorry-" Hyunwoo shook his head and bowed. "-I thought you were someone else, didn't mean to creep you out," Hyunwoo told him when Minhyuk said nothing. Hyunwoo continued unpacking his car and Minhyuk swallowed, sighing loudly. Changkyun came back to the car, stopping behind Hyunwoo as he looked at Minhyuk, unable to even blink as the two stared at each other.

"What the-why are you right behind me?" Hyunwoo snapped at Changkyun, bringing him back to life. He looked at what Changkyun was looking at, or who rather, and swallowed thickly when he saw the same man still looking at him.

"Maybe, is it actually you Minhyuk?" Hyunwoo asked after a moment of hesitation and Minhyuk nodded.

"That's me" He confirmed.

"Why are you here? I mean no offence" Hyunwoo coughed.

"I'm going to work" Minhyuk answered tensely and Hyunwoo nodded.

"Oh, where's that?" He asked as an attempt to continue the conversation, Changkyun pointed across the road and Minhyuk nodded as Hyunwoo looked across the road.

"The school" Hyunwoo breathed out and Minhyuk hummed.

"You work with kids now?"

"Yes, that's what I just said" Minhyuk's head bobbed.

"But you always hated them" Hyunwoo pointed out to him and Minhyuk shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, now I like them" He smiled in discomfort and Hyunwoo nodded, looking at Changkyun who just watched the interaction between the two of them in silence.

"Changkyun!" A feminine voice yelled out and they all looked to the door as Somi came stumbling out, almost tripping down the last steps. She rushed over and took Changkyun by his arm.

"You have to get upstairs right now. Minah is going insane over last minute touch-ups on the outfits and she is driving us all crazy" She told him in a hurry, pulling Changkyun back into the building.

"That's..." Minhyuk trailed off, not wanting to say it and Hyunwoo nodded.

"Yeah, Han Somi, hasn't changed much right?" He chuckled at the thought but Minhyuk didn't share in the laughter with him. Minhyuk looked down at the watch on his wrist, a deep sigh came out of him and he smiled at Hyunwoo.

"I best be going now" He gestured across the road to the school he worked at and Hyunwoo looked over, quickly nodding his head.

"Oh, yeah" He cleared his throat and Minhyuk bowed.

"It was good to see you Minhyuk" Hyunwoo scratched the back of his head as Minhyuk bowed again and hurried across the road. He didn't feel like it was fair. Why did they have each other when he was alone? Why were they talking to each other when no one was talking to him? And why was Hyunwoo so nice after all this time?

------------

"Wait, what happened?" Somi's face dropped and her eyes were wide as she gawked at Hyunwoo.

"Yeah, you completely missed him. He was standing there when you came out to drag Changkyun inside" Hyunwoo explained to Somi, who looked away as puzzlement touched her eyes.

"I didn't even see him?"

"I guess not?" Hyunwoo shrugged his shoulders and Somi sighed, looking away. She felt bad, having unintentionally ignored Minhyuk after not having seen him in so long, it was rude and naive of her.

"Oh" Somi muttered and Hyunwoo gave Somi a pat on the back.

"Don't sweat it too much, he wasn't the happiest he could have been to see us" Hyunwoo informed her and Somi nodded.

"Sushi's here!" Someone exclaimed and Somi looked up as Hyunwoo's hand dropped from her back and Changkyun swallowed hungrily.

"Finally" Hyunwoo sighed in relief, feeling stressed that his credit card had taken a road trip that he wasn't included in.

"Your card, boss" Solar bowed to Hyunwoo like he was royalty when Hyunwoo approached her to collect his card back.

"You coming to eat?" Minah asked right in Somi's ear. Somi jumped, not even realising that she had zoned out. She looked at Minah and realised that Changkyun had already walked away and sat on the ground with the other team members that ate their lunch hungrily.

"oh, yeah" Somi nodded as he rubbed her arm through the sleeves of her shirt. It was warm out and naturally, her arms were heating up under the sun that shone down on the rooftop, making her arms plead with her to roll her sleeves up. But she was stubborn and sat on the cement without touching her sleeves, letting her body continue you to heat up under the heat of the sun and the company of body heat surrounding her.

It was normal for Somi to keep to herself as she ate. She settled comfortably on watching her team talk and mingle with each other, smiling when something funny was said or when she saw delight touch someone's features. Somi was one of the first people to finish eating her lunch.  She packed up her area and disposed of her rubbish quietly. The others followed not long later, sitting again to talk about the shoot so far as they let the food settle in their stomachs. Somi looked at the leftover food tucked away in a container, there was nowhere cold to hide it and no one else was touching it.

That was when the school bell could be heard ringing across the road. It was only moments later that kids could be heard laughing and cheering as they finally were released into the outdoors.

"Is it that time already?" Someone asked and Somi blinked as she looked at the leftover sushi. She didn't know how the idea came to her, but Somi took the leftovers and made her way to the door, confusing Hyunwoo as he watched her do this.

"Somi?" He asked the photographer.

"I'll be back shortly," She told the boss who was left with his mouth open, words on the tip of his tongue as Somi rushed down the stairs. Somi made her way out of the building and across the road, it was strange, a little creepy to see a woman standing at the gates to the school, peering into the yard as children played to their heart's content.

"Isn't it rude to stare like that?" Somi looked down to the young girl pulling a face at her and nodded in agreement to what she was asking.

"You're probably right, but I'm looking for someone important," She told the girl, hoping that hearing the person was important would make the girl want to help her.

"Who is it? Maybe I know them?" The little girl asked sweetly Somi smiled happily.

"Mr Lee, do you know him?" She asked and the girls head bobbed up and down adamantly.

"Of course I do! He's my teacher!" The girl said proudly and Somi beamed at her.

"Really?-" She gasped at the girl. "-do you think you could tell Mr Lee has a friend looking for him?"

"Ok" The child nodded happily and Somi's eyes widened as she watched the young girl run off. Somi bit down on her lip and fiddled with the container she was holding as Kihyun stood next to her, cautiously watching her every move.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Somi. Just because I want-"

"I want to do this" Somi cut Kihyun off and he didn't try and finish his sentence, keeping his eyes on her as she looked into the schoolyard.

"Why?" He asked her.

"Because, I want to at least see what he looks like now once" She whispered. That was when she saw him, following after the small girl in her bright yellow dress as she pointed to where Somi was standing straight as a pole at the fence line. Somi swallowed thickly, he was close enough for Somi to be able to tell that he was looking at her, and as the girl babbled to him, his eyes widened. He too was watching her cautiously, not really understanding why she was in front of him.

"See Mr Lee!" She pointed up at Somi as she blinked at Minhyuk who nodded.

"Thank you Haelee" He told the young girl, smiling with tight lips at the small girl. Haelee ran away and Somi gulped as Minhyuk followed her with his eyes, not yet looking back at Somi. Somi waited until he did turn his head to look at her, not finding the strength to speak now that Minhyuk was really in front of her.

"Hi Somi" Minhyuk breathed out, trying to smile as he nodded. Somi bowed her head back and flicked her hair out of her face as she looked back up at Minhyuk. He still looked youthful, the sun shone out of him rather than on him. Minhyuk had always been like that. Naturally, he embodied such a bright personality that it confused you where the sun really was, his bright hair only encouraged his bright aura and Somi found herself swallowing again.

"What are you doing here?" Minhyuk asked her and Somi blinked, snapping out of her thoughts to realise that she had just stood there staring at Minhyuk all that time.

"Oh," Somi cleared , "um, Hyunwoo said that he spoke to you earlier, I was too busy to realise you were out front. Sorry about that, I didn't say hello to you like I should have" Somi bowed again and Minhyuk nodded.

"It's fine, I understand," Minhyuk told her.

Of course, you would go out of your way for someone else like this.

"I also bought you some sushi, I wasn't sure if you have had lunch yet" Somi held the container in front of her face, unconsciously hiding behind her food to avoid some of the scrutinies in Minhyuk's eyes.

Extra much?

"Does it have cucumber in it?" He asked her and Somi lowered the container, peering at the sushi curiously.

"No?" She answered unsurely and Minhyuk sighed. He looked away as he pulled Somi closer by the shoulder, stunning her as she held the food between them, her eyes going wide in reaction to the tight hug Minhyuk was giving her.

Mwahahaha, did I have you believe that only one person would be returning this chapter?

Well surprise, we get to see a little bit of everyone in this chapter as well as new interactions. Minhyuk has officially had proper interactions with both Hyunwoo and Somi! Everyone's going to start seeing each other more often now, starting with that scene between Hyungwon and Jooheon. Does anyone have any thoughts about Hyungwon's attitude? I would love to hear them if you do :)

Thank you for subbing and tuning in for this update, I appreciate it greatly and I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter <3