Minseok whistled along the tune of Baby Don’t Cry while exiting KNUA's coffee shop, having just delivered coffee beans. The song had been stuck in his head ever since he heard it on the radio. Looking around him, he observed the swarm of students, some rushing to their next class, others walking nonchalantly, without a care in the world. That was when he caught a glimpse of a familiar petite girl, lazily walking across the courtyard towards an empty bench. On instinct, he approached the unaware girl.

Just as Hayoon sat down, she felt a shadow cast over her. Lifting her head, she was more than surprised to find Minseok standing in front of her. Scooting to the side, she patted the empty space next to her, signalling the older male to sit down.

“Delivering beans?”

“Yep.” The male responded, making himself comfortable. “How’s things going?”

Hayoon shrugged her shoulders, squinting her eyes at the sun shining high in the sky. Kicking her legs in the air, she blew a raspberry before finally answering the question.

“It’s ok I suppose.”

“Just ok?” Minseok mused, lifting a brow. “Thought you’ve been having fun teasing my best friend.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Hayoon stuttered.

“There’s on fooling me Go Hayoon.” Minseok smirked. “I saw and heard what happened at the picnic; including the kiss on the forehead. Granted, I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide in it when I heard Kyungsoo pathetic confession. Like, seriously what was that.”

“I wasn’t teasing him,” Hayoon protested, but seeing Minseok’s knowing stare she exhaled in defeat. “Ok fine, maybe a little bit. But so were you!”

“I’m the best friend, so I have the right to in such situations. You on the other hand, are making him run in circles. Especially after the stunt you pulled in your last visit.”

“What stunt.” The girl frowned, almost offended at the accusation.

“Showing up with your ex boyfriend and talking about the song he wrote for you.”

“You’re the one who picked that radio station,” Hayoon countered. “And the song was written after I broke up with him.”

“Either way his head is up in the clouds these day. Sometimes he gets this really constipated look on his face too. I suspect that happens when he recalls his drunken monologue and failure of a love confession,” Minseok sighed. “Thank goodness Irene’s around to prevent the kitchen from catching on fire.”

Hayoon bit her lip and pushed her hands against her cheeks, feeling them burning up from how much she was blushing. She had not told anyone else about what had happened between her and drunk Kyungsoo, much less even considered his rambling to be a love confession. Therefore, hearing it said so directly by Minseok was sending her in a rollercoaster of emotions. Blinking rapidly, she pinched her cheeks to snap herself back to reality. Deciding that it was time to turn the tables, she latched onto the opportunity to shift the attention away from herself and back on the older male who was enjoying teasing her just a little bit too much.

“Speaking of Irene,” Hayoon quipped. “She had her own little drunken monologue if I recall correctly.”

Sensing where the direction was going, Minseok fidgeted in his seat, his eyes looking everywhere but Hayoon.

“And she certainly looked very comfortable snuggling so close to you,” Hayoon continued. “You looked like you were quite enjoying the skinship yourself.”

“Yah don’t make me sound like a ert!” Minseok protested.

“Just saying.” Hayoon shrugged her shoulders. “She kind of indirectly confessed to you. So question is, what are you going to do next?”

“Mind your own business.”

Ignoring him, Hayoon tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“This reminds me, she once admitted to being jealous of how you gave me preferential treatment. It would appear that she feels rather neglected.”

“No…” Minseok gasped.

“Oh yes, so you might want to rethink how you behave around her, unless you want her to get the wrong impression,” Hayoon pressed on. “But please do me a favour and keep me out of this. I’ve been dragged into enough relationship drama to last me a lifetime. Just go and claim her as yours.”

Minseok’s jaws snapped open and shut, uttering no sound, his eyes widening as a blush crept along his cheeks. He suddenly immensely regretted teasing the girl and feared the inevitable day that she and Kyungsoo would team up together. They would most certainly be invincible, no one would be able to stand in their way.

“Yo Minseok why are you blushing like a tomato in front of shortie,” Sehun quipped in an annoyingly nasal voice, Jongin walking next to him.

Minseok and Hayoon both turned their heads towards the two tall males as they came to a halt in front of them. Jongin pushed Hayoon further in to make space for himself to sit while Sehun simply dropped his bag on the ground and sat down on both Hayoon and Jongin’s legs, earning grunts of pain and protest from both of them.

“Should we be weary of any impure intentions you may have towards our shortie?” Sehun continued, ignoring Hayoon’s fingers that were poking him in the ribs. “Though I suppose we won’t need to do much, Kyungsoo will take it upon himself to remove any rivalry by poisoning your food.”

Recovering from Hayoon’s teasing, Minseok raised his arm and firmly smacked Sehun in the head, showing no hint of remorse upon hearing Sehun’s cries of pain.

“This is physical harassment!” Sehun yelped.

“Maybe you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut then,” Minseok responded while standing up. “Well then I need to head back to Dear Me. You people behave yourselves and be good students.”

Waving a stern finger at them, Minseok paused when his eyes land