Eunhye woke up with Wonwoo beside her. For a second, his sharp eyes made her mistake him for Zico and she almost kicked him off her bed. When she realized that it was Wonwoo, she felt guilty when she realized a really tiny part of her was wishing he was someone else. Her head felt like it was going to split in half for all the things she thought about the whole afternoon, trying to make sense of what Zico's feelings meant for her and what she would do about it.

She had already decided she was fine living without Zico as long as Wonwoo was with her. But why does looking at Wonwoo feel so..

"He loves you, doesn't he?"

Tears formed in Eunhye's eyes when he said that and she clutched at his shirt, hiding her face from him. She did not expect him to say that with full conviction, as if he had finally figured things out on his own. It was inevitable. Wonwoo was too smart for his own good. She did not answer him but she did not correct him, either, or denied it like she usually did before.

"Eunhye."

She refused to look at him. Tears streamed down her eyes and Wonwoo almost screamed in frustration. He had been right, after all. Instead, he took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. Of all people, he should have realized her best friend was in love with her. He already suspected it. He felt it. She said he was wrong. It turned out she was the one who was mistaken.

"I'm sorry," she croaked.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, a chill running down his spine. "Unless you love him back the same way, why would you be sorry?"

"No, I don't," she said hastily. She even shook her head to emphasize her answer. "Not like that. I-I'm sorry for not telling you. You were starting to like him... and I've never met anyone who's as willing to accept my friends as you. I was afraid you'd hate them and hate me if you knew."

"Why would that make me hate you?" For someone as smart as her, she could sometimes be stupid. "Hey, look at me. I'll never hate you. They're a part of you before we even met, so who am I to disapprove of them? Your friends love you, so why would I hate them?"

"I hate Jiho," she spat.

"Do you?"

"He lied to me all these years. Twelve years and he was just pretending the whole time. I thought he was someone I could trust but all this time he had been..." She could not even say it out loud. It felt so wrong.

"How is being in love with you lying to you?"

Eunhye sighed, frustrated that he could not understand what she meant. "He was supposed to be my friend. I told himalmost every single thing about everything. I looked to him for his advice but it turns out he just manipulated me into breaking up with those guys I dated. He made me believe he only saw me as a friend."

"Are you sure?" Wonwoo asked. It was not easy for him to say the words, but he pushed himself to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. She used to be good at doing that, herself, but whenever her beliefs and principles were questioned, she refused to listen to anything else other than her own opinion. "Did you ever think it's possible that you believed he saw you just a friend because you wanted it that way? Did he not ever show you his true feelings? Or maybe you chose not to see them?"

She fell silent. That was what she had been mulling over ever since she knew it.

"What if you actually knew what he felt all along and just chose to believe it was nothing because you wanted to keep him around? Or because you're scared of the consequences if you stepped out of the line? Aren't you just angry because it meant YOU had been hurting HIM this whole time?"

"Why are you taking his side?!"

"I'm not," he argued. "I'm just trying to show you what could be the logic behind it. Do you think I'm happy to know another guy's in love with you the way I am?!"

She swallowed dryly.

Wonwoo did not want to be in Zico's shoes right now. He could not imagine himself being in love with the same girl for over a decade, watching on the sidelines as she dated and fell in love with other guys who could never love her the way he did, knowing she would never feel the same way about him, and that he had no other choice but to hide how he felt so as not to lose her as a friend.

"Think about it," Wonwoo said to her. "What if he just contented himself in being able to be there when you needed him because that's the only thing he could do for you? Be there as a friend?"

"Then he should have kept it to his grave."

It was hard to crack her. Wonwoo considered knocking his head against hers to make her see reason. 

He heard part of their conversation that night but he was not going to tell her that. If he remembered correctly, Zico was indeed trying to get Eunhye to identify that what she felt for Wonwoo was real. Was he really turning Eunhye against Wonwoo, like she was suggesting?

"Did he say it on purpose? Or you provoked him into making a mistake and admitting it?" 

Eunhye's eyes widen. "What made you say that?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "If it was me, I'd rather keep the fact to myself to instead of losing the chance to be with you even just as a friend. Like you're doing to him now. I've known you for a short time but he knew you for twelve years. I'm sure he knew you'd be mad at him for saying it. So, why would he risk it?"

She gaped at him. How was he able to make more sense of her own situation than she could? How was he able to think clearly knowing someone else confessed to her despite knowing they were going out? Unable to find words at how amazed and in love she was with him, she pressed her lips against his.

He pulled away. "I'm trying to explain something here."

"Sorry," she muttered, hurt that he pushed her away like that. "I just... Why are you like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," she admitted. She could not find the right words. "Actlike my conscience? Give me clarity? It's like you came to my life to make up for everything I lack."

His face softened. He did not expect her to say that and he felt like someone squeezed his heart. He moved some of her locks away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He saw the tension leave her face, as well, and he felt a little relieved. He wiped the last of her tears and she looked at him with eyes filled with affection and wonder.

"What would I ever do without you?" she sighed.

"I don't know," he replied. "Probably date Zico-hyung?"

"Bleagh." She made a face as if he asked her to swallow one whole lemon fruit. He was not proud of it but Wonwoo's heart made a back flip when that disgusted face she made assured him that she was his alone. "Don't make me throw up on you."

"So you really never thought of him that way?"

Eunhye shook her head so hard he was afraid it would fall off her neck. "I have a distinct boundary for friend and lover. I really hate mixing things up."

Even with her relationships she organized them like all of her collections, according to their label. He should have known. Wonwoo pulled her closer to him, somehow to assure himself that she was not going anywhere.

"Stop crying because of other men, okay?" he said to her ear. "I don't want to have to punch people."

"I already did."

"You scared me there for a moment," Wonwoo said quietly. "When you said 'I'm sorry'. I thought you finally figured things out and decided to choose him instead of me. He's way better than me at almost everything--can you stop staring at my lips for a moment, please?"

"It's so distracting," she replied, defending herself. She looked at his eyes instead. "Sorry."

"I hate the thought of you crying," he went on. "Especially when I'm not there. And honestly, I am so mad at you right now for missing someone else when you have me right beside you. You have to talk to him and end this nonsense."

She winced. "I hate confrontations."

"It won't be a confrontation," he insisted. "It will be a discussion in a civilized manner. No punching, please. No, scratch that. Can you punch him for me? Like even harder than the last time?"

Eunhye burst out laughing. When her laughter died down, she felt bad imagining how it must be difficult for Wonwoo to be that understanding. She was sure she would not be able to do the same thing if the roles were reversed. Did that mean he loved her more than she loved him? One thing was for sure, though. Wonwoo was a better person than her.

"Maybe one day," she said. "Just not so soon. I still don't know what to tell him."

Wonwoo sighed. At least, he got through to her. "Fine."

"Now, can we stop talking about another man while we're in bed?"

**************

Wonwoo usually slept for half a day or more when he did not have anything to do. That was another reason why his roommates nicknamed him sloth. When he woke up, he checked his phone and it showed it was almost ten in the morning. He would have felt bad for sleeping in on someone else's house but his current landlord was still sleeping soundly beside him.

He inwardly winced when he realized her eyes were puffy. She had cried herself to sleep the previous day. She claimed she was not the crying type but Wonwoo insisted otherwise, given the times he saw her in tears. Wonwoo leaned in and kissed her eyes, wishing she did not find reason to shed tears any more.

Eunhye opened her eyes and found Wonwoo watching her sleep. She knew she always told him it was creepy, but she actually felt butterflies in her stomach. She was still sleepy and she wanted to hide her blushing cheeks from him so she her other side and just leaned against him in a cuddle. She felt him wrap an arm around her waist and she smiled