The six of them immediately got up, clearly worried.

“Um. Annyeong…haseyo?” She greeted them quietly, supporting herself on the doorframe. Seeing their faces droop disappointedly, she tried again. “Annyeong,” she smiled tentatively.

“Annyeong, Da Eun-ah,” they greeted her, relieved even though fatigue darkened their voices.

She hesitated before bowing her head. “Mianhae. Jeongmal mianhae,” she whispered. “If it wasn’t for me, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Don’t say that,” Hyunseung told her, taking a step forward. “It’s not your fault. Not at all,” he said firmly. There was no hesitation on his part as he pulled her into a gentle hug, careful of her tender ribs. Despite his caution, she staggered and nearly fell as her weight shifted to her right leg. “Ooh,” he winced, holding her up. “Mianhae,” he apologized unabashedly.Not really, he thought, using her unsteadiness as an excuse to keep holding her.

“If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine,” Yoseob confessed uncomfortably. “I should have given the diary back to you as soon as I had the chance. Mianhae, Da Eun.” He took out the little black book and handed it over.

“How… how did you get it, anyway?” Da Eun asked, curious as she took it from him.

“You nearly knocked me over on Friday,” Yoseob told her, grinning.

“Huh?” She uttered eloquently.

“You were running down the stairs, and when you ran into me, you dropped this,” he explained.

She flushed. Hyunseung thought she would start talking nonsense about pity and not really being her friend, but thankfully, she stayed silent and just uttered a small “Oh.”

There was a slightly awkward silence on the boys’ part, and Dongwoon tried not to glare at his hyung’s arms around Da Eun.

“Well, uh, since we never got the chance to have lunch-” Doojoon began.

“Yeah, I’m starving!” Gikwang exclaimed a little loudly.

Yoseob stared at him with an eyebrow raised. “Me… too?”

“No really, I am,” he said defensively.

“As I was saying,” Doojoon interrupted. “Should we go have a big celebratory dinner for everything that didn’t happen today? I, for one, am happy about that.”

Da Eun flinched as he spoke. Trembling, she tried not to imagine what could’ve ended up happening if luck hadn’t been so completely on their side. Her gaze was drawn like a magnet to Junhyung’s, wide-eyed and scared.

Her long lashes and liquid pupils, incomparable even to Hyunseung’s, almost undid him. Looking away, he coughed slightly and started walking down the hall. “Mm. Let’s go. Da Eun needs to eat.”

Da Eun’s eyes smiled as she heard his concern. Her lips curved minutely and she wondered why his curtness was suddenly so endearing, when at first it had been intolerable. Maybe it was because now, she knew that he cared, though she hoped nothing like the day’s events would ever come close to happening again.

The five boys remaining followed her gaze to where it rested on Junhyung, and there was a collective air of disappointment. Hyunseung’s arms tightened slightly around Da Eun before he let go. Why was it always Junhyung? He was always so reserved, so apathetic; what was it about him that girls were attracted to? Worse, as far as Hyunseung knew, Junhyung hadn’t even broken out his killer smirk yet. He sighed. Girls always went for the bad boy.

Seeing the tension in Dongwoon and Hyunseung thrum, Doojoon tried to salvage the situation. “Come on!” He called over his shoulder as he stood up, again shooing Yoseob and Gikwang in front of him.

Da Eun tried to follow, but she’d forgotten about her injury. In a moment, she was falling, off balance. In the same moment, two pairs of arms went around her and held her up.

Dongwoon and Hyunseung stared at each other, the latter silently daring his dongseng to challenge him, uncharacteristically serious. Da Eun gulped nervously and tried to stand by herself, but their arms weren’t budging. “Guys, stop… whatever you’re doing.” When she got no reaction, she tried another tactic. “Guys, I’m hungry,” she said weakly, trying to sound as feminine as possible.

Both guys looked at her, and she in a surprised breath as she was suddenly in Hyunseung’s arms. “Come on, Woonie.” Da Eun let out a breath. The dangerous moment was over.

“Mm. Coming; I’m driving, right? I’ll run ahead and start the car,” Dongwoon said.

“The Ferrari? No way will we all fit in there.”

“Doojoon hyung also drove here; the Prius. But my seats fold down more-”

Right on cue, Da Eun yawned and turned her face towards Hyunseung’s chest, laying her head on his shoulder. He hesitated. “Well… I guess Da Eun could just go with you and we could meet up there…”

“Should we ask her?” Dongwoon shook Da Eun’s arm gently, but she had already fallen asleep.

“Aigoo… She must be really tired.” Hyunseung sighed. “What with all the trauma you guys put her through… Babos.”

Dongwoon didn’t answer. He knew he was a babo and he was ashamed of it. “I’ll just take her then,” he murmured, slipping his arms around her.

“Careful,” Hyunseung cautioned him, transferring Da Eun’s weight to his dongseng. “Drive slowly; we’ll wait for you.”

“Araso. I’ll see you guys in a little bit!”

***

Hyunseung barely stopped his fingernail’s demise between his teeth. His anxiety was visible, while Junhyung’s was not. In fact, he seemed to be totally unconcerned with the matter. He lolled lazily, sprawled on the couch; the side of the booth in its three-seater entirety was taken up by him as he rocked out to his music.

The other four sat crammed into the opposite side, obviously discontented with the state of things. Hyunseung sat wedged in the relative center, with Gikwang having squeezed in first, then Yoseob, then him, and then, in the least cramped position (though he risked falling out), Doojoon. But of course he claimed possession of that spot solely for the purpose of hooking the attention of every single girl he cared to land his eyes on. Not that they needed much hooking.

“Yah,” Hyunseung finally snapped at Junhyung. “You, how can you still be so calm? After what happened today-“ He broke off. “Are you even listening? Yah, Yong Junhyung!”

Oblivious, Junhyung paid no attention, music blasting in his ears.

Doojoon stopped Hyunseung when he got ready to rip into his dongseng. “Seungie, calm down. We just got here!”

“It’s been twenty minutes!”

“It’s been two.”

Yoseob snickered at Hyunseung’s flush and half-hearted excuses. Elbowing Gikwang, he whispered: “Hyung’s all jealous of Woonie.”

Clueless, Gikwang looked at Hyunseung. “Really?” He looked back at Yoseob. “Wae?”

Yoseob nudged him again in disbelief. “’Cause of Da Eun, babo!”

Still confused, the dongseng looked at Doojoon. “Doojoon hyung?”

“No, Hy-“ Yoseob gave up midway through his explanation. “Never mind.”

Beside them, Hyunseung tried to think about food. Meat! Meat would distract him. He wondered if Da Eun liked meat…