"Choose," Sungjong nudged on, finally courageous enough.

With Taegi, they were resting in the only shaded patch in the school yard, waiting for Sungyeol to get off class. He continued pulling at the roots of the grass at his feet, and looked over to see the same art book still clapsed in her hands exposing an autumn leaf marking the page she was up to. Taegi only responded after she finished scribbling something onto the page.

"What were you saying again?"

He eyed her suspiciously, "Sungyeol hyung, or..." and then nodded in the direction of the guy who seemed to be aware of them both from behind the tinted glass windows of the edifice across the turf. The shadowed figure took one last fleeting glance at the two on the field before tucking his chair in and leaving the classroom.

Taegi didn’t need to look twice to know who it was Sungjong was talking about.

"Oh, don't mind him, he's just..."

Taegi tried to find the right words. She noticed Myungsoo had been following her around the campus lately, and that had stirred some gossip amongst her group. But she knew he had no bad intentions, so it would be nice if she could clear his name. Sungjong, always the nosy one, seemed like a good start.

"...always worried about me," Taegi finished. 

Not the best way to word it, but not a lie, either. They were probably all just very surprised Kim Myungsoo had actually listened to Taegi when she told him to start coming to his lectures again. After all, their relationship was not one they could disclose comfortably without attracting attention. Lying to your friends into believing you couldn't stay in the dorms at the campus because you were anything but living under the same roof as the 'quiet kid', the 'mysterious kid', in school wasn't exactly the easiest secret to keep.

Well, quiet and mysterious only to the rest of the population.

He was such a sweetheart to Taegi.

Taegi continued to etch away into her art book.

"But, he's scary."

"Sungjong, that's not very nice."

But the younger boy only shook his head more, flinging his fringe back and forth over his eyebrows which were already knitting over in lines of confusion. "So I was right! This is very bad, Taegi-ah.”

“What is it this time?”

“I mean, you can't possibly go out with the both of them! So, choose."

Taegi stopped altogether and closed her book now, unable to maintain her peace. So this was where the conversation was headed. "Don’t be silly, Sungjong."

"Come on, I already know~" Taegi wasn't amused. The boy always had his methods of digging the truth out of her in the past, but she wasn't going to let him get away with it this time. This was truly confidential.

"If you know, then why are you still asking?"

"Because I want to hear you say it."

Taegi stood up, purposely ignoring him, and brushed off the flowery petals that collected on her shoulders during the free period she spent in the yard with her classmate.

Sungjong persisted. "If it makes you feel better, I'll keep it a secret, I swear!"

But Taegi didn't stir. Instead, she gave him a reassuring smile before catching Sungyeol's approaching figure as he emerged from between the demountables. Quickly tending to the boy who was now with his puppy eyes by her side, Taegi vowed to never see the day she was going to have to leave the any of her two best friends.

"Sungjong, don't worry," Taegi clutched the covers of her art book, which seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, against her chest. "I’m not choosing anyone over anyone."

But who knew destiny would beat Taegi to it--now that promise was as good as unsworn.

--`,-{@}-`,--`,-{@}-`,-`-,-`-,--

a/n: a very short filler chapter to make up for all those false updates! I hope my non-linear structure isn't confusing you; I felt like I needed Sungjongie to appear soon ^__^