The following Wednesday came by then. Nothing much happened during the week in between; we merely stayed together at lunch breaks, visited the flower shop every other day, going to karaoke twice in the process.
I did improve, as Emma said. Taehyung gave me a recommendation of songs that are favorable for karaoke, so I would listen to them and try to memorize their beats while doing my daily stretches. 
Emma took an even greater liking to me and would enjoy the time we spend together, either at the dark room of the karaoke, or while watering the chrysanthemums that we planted; the stalk had already started appearing by then, promising near results.
As for that day, I went to college as usual, then headed to the laboratory as break time was announced started.
Expectedly, I found Taehyung in front of the door, only he was standing, his paper bag in hand.
“Oh, h-hi.”
“Hello.” I walked closer to him. “Why didn’t you enter already?” 
“Well,” he got a hand out of his pocket to mess with his long locks a tad. “I, uh, didn’t have time to have breakfast today, so..um, you can come along to a nearby restaurant, i-if you’d like, that is.” I couldn’t know the reason behind his obsession with indirect invitations. I accepted either way; it was still a break to spend with him, and the place wasn’t far away either.
“Alright.” His eyes grew a tad wider.
“You are coming?” I nodded with a slight smile. “Okay, just follow me then.”
We walked in silence towards a back entry that I had never known existed until that day. We walked for a couple of minutes after that before reaching the supposed destination; it was quite a vast restaurant, the decor unfamiliar.
Yellow painted walls on which were hanged red hamayas, mythical traditional masks could be seen as well. There were silver chopsticks on the tables, which the customers used to bring noodles to their mouths, all while slurping the soup as well.
The Japanese flags and Taehyung’s words confirmed my doubts.
“This is a Ramen shop. Even though they aren’t Korean based, the dishes here are still phenomenal.”
“Ramen bowls are indeed healthy, providing a variety of vegetables, complex carbohydrates as well as fat and protein chosen by the client’s will.” He frowned at that, then lightly shook his hand.
“Anyhow, would you like to have their special?”
“I.. I still am full, but I will just order the smallest bowl then.” Declared I, following Taehyung to a table, then sat across each other. 
“Oh, by the way, my other friend, he works here.” I lifted my head in understanding. “But I am positive that you won’t get along so well.”
“Oh really? Why is t-“
“Welcome back, dude! Long time no-“ the voice coming from behind stopped abruptly, previous to steps’ sounds getting nearer and nearer to me “Ooooo, so you are the ‘new friend’, huh.” 
The owner finally showed himself; he looked like a new adult such as Taehyung and I are, wearing a white coat and a chef’s hat. His eyes' slant was noticeable,  but their orbs were grey blue, as well as his hair. His braced teeth were wide at display as his thin lips curved upwards. I am quite positive that he is half eastern Asian. 
“She is, Hester.” 
“You must be the waiter then.” He smiled “Nice to meet you.” In a split second, the apparently called ‘Hester’ opened his mouth ajar.
“Wait, what?! I am no waiter! I’m the head chef here!” a corner of Taehyung’s mouth curved up.
“Either way, bring us the menu.” The other’s eyes rolled back.
“I am NOT the one to do that, geez.” He looked disgustingly at Taehyung, for a reason “Plus, we still didn’t get to introduce each other, right?” he turned to me.
“Yes, of cours-“
“She knows your name already, bea-“ Hester cut the latter off by clearing his throat.
“I am Hester Marson, the head chef of the ‘noodles and soup in the scoop’ infamous restaurant!” declared he cheerfully as he extended his thin hand at me. 
I vacillated for a bit before shaking it rapidly.
“I am Sivilla Conveva.” The new acquaintance smiled, then cupped his chin while eying me, to my bewilderment.
“Yeah, I thought it’d be a cooler one, but shy is fine too! Add to that cutene-“ 
“Hester, go on, she’s disturbed. ” Why would I be disturbed, I wondered.
“Boo, you’re no fun.” He grimaced at the other male again “Whatever, what are you getting?”
“One big special, and a small one too.” 
“I’ll make them myself, pouring all of my passion, love, and talent in them, so it’ll be super good!” the chef formed a circle with his thumb and index, then kissed it away, before hastily entering an iron door behind us.
A sigh could be heard.
“Excuse him, he’s always like this; boisterous and probing.” I didn’t really notice that, but I nodded nonetheless.
“Is he older than us?”
“Well, older than you, but younger than me.” I tilted my head in puzzlement. “You know that I failed twice, right? That makes me at least two years older than you. As for him, he is one year younger than me, making him older than you.” I lifted my head with an ‘o’ shaped mouth before nodding. 
“By the by, you have never told me your birthday’s date.”  He his lips in.
“Right. It’s on the 30th of December.” I nodded. “And you?”
“31st of August.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that far ago.” I shook my head again, previous to short silence. “We forgot to tell each other about a lot of things actually. 
“Now that you mention it, we do indeed.”
“We didn’t even share contact info.” My brows knit at that.
“I’ve only shared it with mother, but I guess that it wouldn’t be problematic to share it with you.” He was a true friend, so why would it be?
We exchanged phone numbers.
“Um, Sivilla?” I diverted my eyes from the phone to him “What should I register your name as?”
“…Sivilla if you’d like.” He pouted for a reason.
“Okay, here we go!” 
“That was hasty.” As Hester put the plates in front of us, a fascinating smell overshadowed all of the others. The ‘special’ contained noodles and soup, along with chopped beef, paris mushrooms, fresh scallions, zucchini, finely made tempura and a poached egg.
“Enjoy! Also, try to have all of the proteins in one bite, you will love it.” It was an odd request, but I agreed to it nonetheless.
I took the chopsticks between my fingers, then lifted the noodles to my mouth before carefully blowing on it, then finally had the bite.
“How is it?”
“Spicy, sweet, nutty.”
“Bingo!” It was indeed a quite peculiar taste. “I will recompense you by sitting with you then!” I nodded at the chef slightly before taking yet another bite, whilst Taehyung scoffed.
“Just don’t forget your customers.” He shook his hand.
“The others take care of them, I just give the recipes, instructions, and help when needed.” I nodded again. “I heard you’re a science junior.”
“Yes I am.” Responded I, trying to minimize my answers and invest more time into relishing the dish. Every single bite brought an extremely nice feeling to my tongue as it savored the different flavors and enjoyed the various textures; crunchy, chewy, mushy, and even more.
“I used to like science when I was a kid, but I gave it up by middle school.” 
“Well,” Taehyung paused as he swallowed before continuing “you do seem happy with what you’ve studied as well as your job.” The other one pouted in thought.
“Yeah, pretty much. I’m grateful my mother approved to it at the end too, and I even made good friends and stuff..” he stopped talking  for a second “Woah, you finished that fast.”my eyes grew wider in embarrassment.
“O-oh, yes, it was so delectable I couldn’t resist.” I didn’t want to meet eyes with the laughing Hester so I looked unintentionally at Taehyung. He was smiling. It wasn’t a smile I saw him show much, only twice before then; when I asked him to become my friend, and after talking about the rumors' origins  and I didn’t know why, so I asked. “W-why are you smiling?” the beam became a grin. Then, he pushed his own bowl towards me.
“We can share what’s left.” My jaws clutched in further timidity. And I didn’t even know why, but I hid my eyes with my palm, dim steam filling the insides of my glasses in result.
“I don’t need it, but you do-“
“I don’t have that big of an appetite, go on.” The aroma of the soup encouraged me even more to accept the offer. 
“Alright.” And so did I.
Hester laughed faintly, previous to standing up fully and pushing the chair back in place.
“I have to go now. See you again.” I waved back with the chopstick in my hand, then diverted my concentration back to the ramen.
Before having the bite, a thought came to my mind.
“Taehyung, I should pay for this bowl as well.” 
“I’m paying for yours, let alone mine.”
“But that was my order.” He shook his head “Em, please let m-“ he shook his head twice. “But I...” 
“Just eat.”  

Next Thursday came, so I, as usual, planned to go to the abandoned laboratory to spend time with Taehyung.  It was a cold day, and the library would’ve provided more heat than the laboratory would, but I didn’t mind; I avoided solitude rather than cold, and I appreciated the fact that Taehyung did make me do such a thing; before, I would have undoubtedly chosen to be solitary , let alone in an empty place with heat too. And unconsciously, I smiled at the thought. Only, the expression vanished shortly after.
“Heeey, you!” a group of girls blocked the hallways. There were five to be exact, and they didn’t look to be of good intentions. One of the females, the one that called to me that is, had a quite familiar figure.
I avoided any eye contact with any of them, and walked carefully.
“Don’t you hear us?” a blond one shouted.
“Poor deaf gir-“
“She isn’t.” the familiar raven haired girl declared, to which the others were silenced. “Don’t you remember me?” I didn’t answer, neither move. “Paulo fan? From the library?” oh, right.
Cautiously, I looked her in the eyes.
“I do.”
“Well, apparently, you don’t like befriending girls at all.” She took a step towards me “That’s ‘cuz you can’t be their toy. But it’s a whole other story with boys, huh?” a brunet at the back whistled.
“Right, and who’s toy?”
“TAEHYUNG’S.” the other four answered in unison, then hysterically laughed.
“…What are you saying?”  my wary words made her eyes widen.
“Do not” she poked me with an index “play dumb with me.”
“Yeah, we won’t be nice if you do so.”
“We’re not asking to be your friends this time.” …
“I am here to..” the apparent leader hummed in thought “let’s say, collect dirt.”
“For what reason?”
“None of your concern.” Said a girl with a weird accent.
 “The point is, you and Taehyung seem to come to this area a little too much.” 
‘She knows about our friendship?’
“Bet they get too freaky in there.” My brows gravely knit at that.
“Totally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard some ‘noises’ during class.” They laughed yet again.
“You know, you look like your typical college nerd.”
“Yeah, expensive bag, pricey glasses, turtleneck, and a book freak.”
“She even got the tidy braid damn it!” 
“Right, Amie?” the girl in front of me chuckled as she caressed my hair trail.
“But I am sure that she’s just a ; Taehyung’s .” Befuddlement struck me hard at the last word. 
“..wha..”
“Don’t cut me off!” I felt a strong sting on my scalp as Amie pulled my braided hair forcefully. “I was saying, he probably g-“ the girl stopped talking, then smirked as the sound of steps behind us was heard “And here starts the show.”
Curious, I turned around to see the person as well, and to my gratitude; it was Taehyung.
Although, he didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in the scene. Steps leisure, eyes droopy, he walked forward as if he couldn’t care less, neglecting not only me, but all of us.
“Where are you going?” said a brunet at the back, stopping  him from continuing forward.
“Beat it.” Said he as he looked her in the eyes, which actually made her tense a tad.
“Kim Taehyung, the idiotic .” He finally turned to us, yet only acknowledged Amie.
“Tell me something new.” The latter scoffed.
“Whatever.” She let go of my hair “I was just having fun with ‘Sivilla’ out here. You wouldn’t mind if we played with your toy for a while, now would you?” what did she mean by toy? I wanted to ask so morbidly, but Taehyung’s glare stopped me from doing so.
He only had looked at me in that way the first time we met, so why was he looking at me like that?
“Who? Her?” he chuckled “I don’t have time for pleasantries, let me go.”
“Ow my heart,” she faked a sob then turned to me “he’s saying that you’re a stranger to him!” 
…Stranger.
Yes, that was it, stranger.
He looked at me as if I were a stranger too, and he even told me to pretend not to know him either in front of other students.
“Boohoo, cheap move!” uttered the dress wearing girl from the back.
“Anyways, I was just about to tell her about a.. theory, per say, that I had.” Taehyung his cheeks in, tauntingly, then nodded.
“Sure, miss scientist.”
“So, I was saying that you probably got done with getting rejected by everyone in this college-“
“Was the other way around for you, I believe.” Even an ‘attendant’ of hers snorted.
“You get too ashamed so you make up l-lies? y.” She bit the inside of her cheek “Anyways, so you probably got you an easy toy.”
“Right. That’s all true.” Silence “Now let me go on my way.”
“Explain why you come here first.”
“You will leave me be after that?” she nodded “The back entrance is this way.” He was at the verge of pushing the brunet blocking his way when Amie talked once more.
“And you go along with him, right, ‘little toy’?” the question was directed to me.
“I go to the laboratory, I don’t even know what you are blabbering about.” I acted as required, to which she puffed air out of .
“You have the key then? Show it to us.” I my lips.
“What if you would take it?”
“I might just take your whole bag.”
“That is burglary.” Declared Taehyung.
“Oh, so you’re showing care now?”  the male only scoffed, then was going to go back to the stairs when she yelled again. “Let’s see how you react when she gets hit then!”

What else could I have done?
Before her fist could reach my face, I parried it and pinched her s before pinning her down.  
Thankfully, Taehyung didn’t do a thing. As for her friends, they backed away.
“O-oh, let go of me incompetent ! You don’t know who I really a-“ I let her go, then hurriedly followed Taehyung to the front exit.
We walked hastily until we reached a safe place away from the university building.
He was panting slightly as he spoke first.
“Where did you learn that?”
“Self defense from mother.” 
“Makes sense.” He paused “Sorry, I just didn’t know what to do, so I pretended that I didn’t know you. It was the best option, candidly.” I nodded in understanding.
“I know, thank you very.” 
Silence, previous to him sitting on a platform before patting the place next to him, where I sat.
“I’m sorry you had to endure her behavior. She just.. has a sort of a complex.” He paused “She offered me a weird deal right after the infamous incident happened but I declined. And since then did the major rumors start.”
“Such a disgraceful person…”  he hummed.
“She has such a pitiful brain..fit for a wretch.” It gained a slight chuckle out of us both. “She can be threatening though, so avoid her as much as doable. Also, don’t come to the laboratory anymore, please.” My eyes grew bigger in dim confusion.
“B-but how are we going to see each oth-"
“We can meet after school, as always.” A sigh escaped my nostrils “Um, look.” I fixated my eyes on his “We need to be careful. We simply can not let you  become a target for them, so please, don’t be mad.” I nodded, lips in.
“As you say.” He showed me a thin-lined smile. 
He seemed to be vacillating and twitching for a tad, only to rapidly wrap an arm around me and get it back to his side.
It was quite surprising indeed, but I didn’t mind. Hugs are a physical form of support and that is what friends are for, right?

Past yet another week passed, making it the 16th  of November, the last Saturday before exams would start.
I went to the laboratory that day, trying to use my last opportunity to stay with Taehyung and talk to him as much as possible, for I wouldn’t be able to spend time  with him for both of the following weeks, neither any of the breaks. During tests, I tend to spend every tad of time to study, and nothing else.
As I informed him, he invited me to a hangout after lessons to stay together before the exam period. Certainly, I approved.
Thus, we met at the station, away from other students.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” He came closer to me, then put a leg against the wall behind us.
“Um, to be frank, an idea came across my mind, regarding the hangout.” I nodded in anticipation “But I don’t know whether you would approve though.”  He inhaled deeply before carrying on “We have only been going to the X area’s district, and I think that going to another place for a change would be great.” I drowned in thought for a bit. It was just one more barrier to break, and Taehyung thinks that it would be advantageous.
“Alright, I do feel the same.” I didn’t hesitate for as long as I did before.
“Okay then.” He looked away, then back at me “Oh, by the way, it’s a park near the neighborhood I live in, so it isn’t far away from the college, neither the foyer.” His fast pace of talking was indeed unexpected. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle, for a reason.
“I hope that it wouldn’t be of disappointment.” He scoffed.
“Don’t penalize me if it is, please.”

A few minutes passed until the train arrived to area D. We exited the station along with a few other people, and were greeted by a collection of enormous houses. Each had its own characteristics and style of architecture, but they all were undoubtedly deluxe. We walked further in.
“Is this the quarter you live in?” he nodded.
“It may look luxurious, yet it’s full of vile habitants.” 
“Excluding yourself.” Although I meant the words I said, he slightly grimaced.
“Maybe.”
Right then, an open park came in sight. 
It was vast, grass covered the floor with a dim gleam, narrow white pavement walkways cutting through it. Numerous sorts of trees surrounded the area as a gate, while flowers added color to the place. A small number of people was there as well, but only few of them were children. Surprisingly, the little ones weren’t boisterous, neither as energetic as other ones are. They solely walked silently by the sides of their caretakers while walking their pets; either dogs, cats, even rabbits. We headed towards one of the several wooden gazebos dispersed around the park.
We sat on the chairs, finding comfort after so much time of standing in the train.
“Finally, some rest.” Taehyung paused to breathe in “Liking the place?”
“Yes,” I nodded “it has a good atmosphere to it, and it is quite calm in here.” He looked at the pinkish sky above, hands in his pockets, the corners of his mouth going up a tad.
“That is why I relish spending time here. Serene, tranquil, life sprouting.” 
I had always deemed Taehyung to be of a literary taste; he uses refined words quite often, also sees books as a necessary friend. His favorite subjects aren’t scientific either.
“Taehyung,” he diverted his eyes towards me “what are you willing to study next year?”
Silence.
“I would very much like to study law.”
“Why is that?” he looked away, appearing to be deep in thought, then answered.
“Lawyers are fascinating. They are like detectives for justice.” He crossed his legs “Attorneys put blood, sweat and tears into their job; defending the forceless, that is. They find their job satisfying and satisfactory to their needs and soul, they put their efforts in it too, and even if they become too exhausted, they push through their anguish and dreadfulness, all to reach the truth and liberate the client from shackles forcefully put on him.”
“You do seem mindful of the troubles, but also determined.” He hummed in approval, then he arose his hand to rub his eyes for a tad.
“It might have sounded too childish, even cringe worthy and silly, but I ju-“
“It didn’t. Your words were full of affection and admiration, that’s all.” He scrunched his nose.
“If you say so.” A sigh escaped his mouth, slight vapor as well “The problem is my uncle. I am not so positive about him giving me permission to.” Silence.
“Is he, by any chance..like mother?” he shook his head.
“Not exactly. He doesn’t really care about me either, but he just wants me to suffer.” Another sigh “He forces me to obey him. If I don’t do as told, he kicks me out of his house.” Befuddlement struck me.
“Why would he?” 
“A complex, probably.” I lifted my head with an ‘o’ shaped mouth. 
“I don’t want to be inquisitive, but would you mind telling me about it?” he nodded.
“Sure, I won’t.” he breathed in quite loudly “Grandfather was a strict single parent, so his orders were a must for my father and his twin; my uncle. He had a grand company, and his greatest obsession was to have a worthy heir of it, but uncle failed to satiate his satisfaction. Erm, to summarize, his life was pressured on by grandfather’s expectations, and was basically not the one who chose the path he went along, and that is what he wants to make me go through.” He sighed for the nth time before looking at me “And if I disobey, I get deprived from a peaceful life. It’s not like I would live that joyfully while obeying.”
“That is why you commit self harm?” he nodded.
“Although it’s rare. I only crave it when he makes me tense up.”
“That is..despicable. Why would he reflect his own issues back to you..”
“Not that he cared before-“ he cut himself off, then chuckled a bit. “I apologize if I talked too much, we essentially came here to enjoy peaceful time.”
“No, I feel helpful when you pour your thoughts to me, so continue, if you need to.” 
“I..” he shook his head “Maybe another time. I want to..relax, per say.” 

We spent some time talking about the books we read for that week, and had spontaneous chats about the pets we saw, and our favorite company animal. I have never had one, and did never want one either, but he said that he likes dogs much.
He accompanied me back home, even though his house was a few seconds away from the park.
“Did you have fun today?”
“You ask that too much.” He chuckled.
“Since I talked about my problems, I thought that you would get awkward with it.”
“Not at all.” I shook my head “I would like to know as much as possible about you, my friend, woes included.”
“ I see.” We stopped walking. “Um, it is indeed a shame that we wouldn’t meet for the next few days.”
“I apologize, but they will pass by eventually.” I smiled slightly, to which he nodded.
“I hope so.” I nodded “Alright, good bye then.” He waved at me.
“Good bye.”