The first person I bumped into school the next day was Wooyoung. He was walking with another senior who I've seen once or twice around school. I think his name was Changbin. But when Wooyoung saw me, he sidestepped around Changbin and jogged over to the bus I had just gotten off.

It was an odd morning. I boarded the earliest bus I could get onto, without Soobin or Yeonjun, or even Kai. It wasn't like I was avoiding them on purpose, I just wasn't in the mood to talk to them. To be the recipient of their pitiful glances, frowns and questions I couldn't answer.

'Are you feeling better now? Are you alright?'

No, and no.

So I really appreciated it when Wooyoung bumped his shoulder against mine with a grin on his face. He didn't seem concerned at all.

Thank God.

"Hey, you usually this early?"

"Never," I answered, "I was up early today. You?"

"Yeah, I'm an early riser."

Ironically, he tilted his head back slightly and let out the biggest yawn. I laughed.

"Wow... That's a big one."

"Embarrassing. You didn't see that."

Changbin joined us, he gave me a cool nod as I bowed and said hello. The three of us headed towards the school building together. I was surprised at how quiet the two of them were. Usually when Soobin and Yeonjun walked together, they would be talking each others' ears off, about the game that they both play. Or about the soccer. Sometimes it would be about their teachers or classmates. Either way, their energy matched.

So did Wooyoung and Changbin's. Watching the two seniors walk side by side together in comfortable silence made me think of Kai, for some reason. They were quiet and didn't say anything at all, but the silence wasn't awkward at all. I figured that they must be close. Maybe even best friends.

You know you're best friends if the silence shared drapes over both of you like a comforter. Cozy. Safe.

"Soojin?" Wooyoung cut me from my thoughts just as we were about to enter the school building. We stopped just to the side of the door, and Changbin waved us goodbye as he continued on indoors.

"Yeah?"

"Have you..." he pushed his glasses up. "Have you spoken to... Taehyun?"

I wasn't expecting that.

"Taehyun? Why?"

There was a shift in his expression. It seemed like he had revealed something he probably shouldn't have and was trying to figure a way out of it. Too late.

"Tell me?"

Wooyoung scratched his nape shyly, his eyes darting here and there as he tried to figure out what he wanted me to know.

"Hey," I laughed, nudging his arm with my elbow. "Don't beat around the bush."

He let out a quiet, exasperated cry. "Agh, alright, so he was worried about you. But I don't think he wanted you to know."

"Oh, what?"

"He's quite obviously into you, but you know him too. He's a bit awkward."

... What?!

Wooyoung must've read my thoughts and flushed cheeks because he smacked his hand on his forehead.

Nah...

"It was a hunch, but not baseless either." Wooyoung quickly added. "He asked me if I saw you after the awards ceremony, and later he asked if I've heard from you. He just kept asking about you, so I assumed he would've reached out. Anyway, he probably should've asked Yeonjun instead since you're much closer, right? Just keep an eye out for him."

Keep an eye out for him I did. But whatever anticipation I think I was supposed to have towards Taehyun dissolved away just like that by lunchtime. When we met eyes in the cafeteria, he looked away before looking back at me, seemingly surprised to see that I was still looking at him. When I offered him a smile and a wave, he grinned and nodded his head politely.

I didn't think much of that at all. Taehyun and I have always been polite and kind to each other. Wooyoung was probably overspeculating and trying to make something out of nothing too special.

I didn't even bother telling Kai about what Wooyoung had said. That was easy to do, because Kai seemed to have gotten himself busy with extracurriculars of his own, and boy, I knew he was regretting it because of how much he was complaining to me about it.

The winter holidays was fast approaching, and the school's winter festival was one of the biggest charity fundraisers of the year. Participating in any of the fundraising booths always looked good on your record. Soobin was always pretty involved with a paper crafts booth that used to be managed by some of the math teachers. I think Yeonjun helped out with some of the outdoor sporting activities, and this year, Kai told me he was cash boy for the bake sale.

"WAIT, THE BAKE SALE?"

"YEAH."

I grabbed his school tie and he fake choked. Idiot.

"How?!"

He was enjoying my disbelief a little too much, so I tightened my grip. This time, he was actually choking.

"My mother and my sisters." He scowled and rubbed his neck after I released him. "Remember how they are the legends of Myeongun Highschool's bake sale?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And? Although my sister already graduated, she's still on the bake sale committee. So is my mother, she's still the president. So they've just put my name down as cash boy."

"Wait, that's so lucky."

"I know, right? But why is it so much work?!"

"Hey, stop that. You're so lucky! The bake sale is the most popular booth. But wait... does this mean we can't hang out during the festival anymore?"

When Kai's expression fell, so did my anticipation and excitement for the festival. That was so unfair. Kai and I always hung out with each other and went to different booths together. We went together every year since we were in Myeongun middle school.

"That's no biggie." Kai answered. The school bell rang for last period, so we had to get going to our last class soon. "Just go with your other friends."

"Other friends?"

Yeonjun's name was the first to pop up in my head. But when I texted him about it after class, he told me he was going to be busy that day too.

I wasn't sure if I was close enough with Jisu yet, so I didn't ask her.

It was then I realised, did I even have any friends aside from Kai? He was in all of my classes except for gym, but he was always bringing different friends to our lunch table, whereas I only had Yeonjun and the mathletes team for a little while.

Now that mathletes was over, was I still friends with them? Wooyoung, Chaeryeong and Taehyun? Or even Arin?

On my way home, I held my breath as I sent a message to our old chat room.

Hey guys, anyone going to the festival and wanna go together?

It was seen by Yeonjun immediately. But he never replied.

My message was left unread by the others until after dinner. The others must've had cram school to attend.

Turns out, Arin was attending the paper crafts booth with Soobin, but asked me to definitely drop by and say hi. Chaeryeong was going with a few of her girl friends but wanted to hang out if we were all going. It was the same with Wooyoung. Taehyun didn't reply.

The pent-up social anxieties I didn't realise I had was eating away at me slowly. What if none of them actually wanted to spend time with me, and was only saying these things so I wouldn't feel bad? After all, I was still inferior to them.

My phone pinged right before I called it a day and headed to bed.

Thinking it was Kai, I picked it up and opened the text immediately.

But it wasn't Kai. It was Taehyun.

When and where did you want to meet at the festival? :)