Minji scoffs at Kyungwoo. "You're kidding me, right?" she asks, bluntly, "What happened to saying 'I have someone else.'?" "But you know that I say that to every—" he began.

"Doesn't matter; besides, you should probably
talk to Bang Ye-seul."
"Who?"
"She came and talked with me." Minji explains,
"She said you should call her."

Ahram and the others come rushing out as well to confront the two. "Can you guys please tell us what is going on?" Jarim asks, "I do not want another stupid fight in our circle." Minji yanks her arm out of Kyungwoo's hold and continues to go on her way. "Kyungwoo," Jooyoung replies, "we need the truth now." Kyungwoo turns to look at his friends and then to Ji-ho. 'Damn it.' he thought.

In the school courtyard, during their next passing time, Kyungwoo starts to explain everything to the crew. "That's it?!" Kyungmin exclaims. "Like you could do any better, Kyungmin." Jin Hee replies, "At least Kyungwoo isn't acting like Minji." "I'm sure she had her reason to end things with Kyungwoo." Byung Hoon adds, "She wouldn't just end things without a reason."

"Were you even listening to Kyungwoo?" Ahram asks,
"He just explained everything and here you are defending
Minji's ."
"Hey," Byung Hoon retorts, "I'm not trying to defend for
anyone's here; I'm just saying that Minji doesn't
seem like the type of person to tell people her secrets."

Jooyoung turns his attention away from the conversation and looks at Jarim as she does the same back. "Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" Jooyoung whispers. "No." Jarim replies, sternly, "Anything that you come up will create a bigger gap in their friendship now." "But they're not even friends anymore, Jarim." he backfires. "Same deal; I don't think we need any ideas from you."

"Did something bad happen at school, Minji?" her omma asks, knocking on the bedroom door, "Can you open up and let's have a talk?" Minji, who is lying on her bed, attempts to block out all noises by trying to sleep her day away. 'I am never going back there.' she thought to herself, 'I'm never going back.' "I'll try again later, Minji." her omma replies, "If you need anything, just come out yourself."

Right after school, the whole crew. except for Ji-ho, decide to head for Minji's place in secret. Upon arrival, Minji's omma answers the door. "What is everyone doing here?" she asks, "Could it be—" "We are worried about Minji, imo." Jarim explains, "Is she home by chance?" Minji's omma lets out a heavy sigh and says, "Minji isn't ready to talk with anyone right now; I don't know what had happened at school but I'm sure that when she's ready to talk, we'll talk." "Please, imo." Ahram begs, "We really need to see her."

"I'm sorry, Ahram. There is nothing that
I can do to get her out of her bedroom."

Eventually driving them out of their property, Ahram pulls out her phone and began to dial for Minji. The ringer goes straight to voice mail. "Damn it!!" she exclaims. "Ahram," Jin Hee replies, "calm down for a sec." "How can I calm down now?" Ahram replies, "Minji isn't answering her phone and we'll never know about her side." "How about Kyungwoo here or we can text Ji-ho give it a try?" Byunghoon suggests.

"Minji...." Jarim speaks, on her cell.

Everyone turns to Jarim and sees that she is able to get a hold of Minji instantly.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, "You gave us a fright leaving
school like that."

"I know you guys are still outside my house." Minji replies,
"I'm not ready to talk with anyone at this moment."

"How about I come back tomorrow by myself?" Jarim suggests,
"Is that okay with you?"

Minji hesitates to answer Jarim back.

"I promise that it's only me." Jarim says, while giving everyone
her typical death stare.

"I'll give you a time to come tomorrow." Minji replies, "See you then."

Ending the call, Jarim looks at everyone especially Kyungwoo and asks, "Do you really like Minji?" "Jarim—" "If you don't like Minji," she interrupts, "then give way to Ji-ho; she doesn't need to have this happen to her." "Jarim," Jooyoung replies, "I'm sure Kyungwoo has his reasons to reject Minji before."

"Make your decision now, Lee Kyungwoo." Jarim snaps,
"Either you act up and tell Minji that you are serious or let Ji-ho
be her boyfriend and you stay away from them."

After saying that, Jarim pulls Jooyoung by the arm and drags him along with her, in hopes that Kyungwoo will make his own decisions. "Let's go, Ahram." Jin Hee replies, "I'm hungry right now." "Who wants chicken?" Ahram asks. "We'll come along." Kyungmin replies, "Right, Byung Hoon?" "Yes, I've been craving chicken." he confesses. One by one, everyone began leaving except for Kyungwoo.

'Either you act up and tell Minji that you are serious...
or let Ji-ho be her boyfriend and you stay away from them.'

Later that evening, Minji's omma once again knocks on her daughter's bedroom door and replies, "Minji-ah, your friend is still outside; did you want me to let him in?" Upon hearing this, Minji quickly sit up on her bed, takes a peek outside her window and still sees Kyungwoo in front of her gate. 'Is he crazy?' she thought, 'Everyone else has left.' "Minji?" her omma asks, "Did you hear what I said?" "I'll go out and talk with him." Minji replies, "Give me a minute." She grabs a beige colored cardigan off her chair to cover herself from the cold weather, puts on long black socks before slipping her feet into her house slippers, grabs her cellphone and heads out to confront Kyungwoo.

"Why are you still here?" she asks, approaching the gate, "It's already late, Lee Kyungwoo." He does not answer. "Lee Kyungwoo," Minji replies, "if you're not going to tell me, then I'm going to—" "Do you like Seo Ji-ho?" he asks, cutting her off, "Do you like Seo Ji-ho as much as you did for me?" Minji scoffs his rhetorical question.

"If my answer is yes, what would you do?"
"I would leave you alone forever." Kyungwoo replies.
"And if my answer is no....?" she asks.
"Then please accept me as a friend again and I'll
stop my foolishness."

Hesitant to give him an answer, Minji began to step back from the gate. "Minji..." "Go home, Kyungwoo." she replies, before turning away, "It's—" Right before her eye, Kyungwoo dashes through the gate, pulls her arm back and immediately puts his arms around Minji, initiating a sudden backhug of desperation. "Please don't act cold towards me, Yang Minji." Kyungwoo confesses, "I promise that I'll change myself." "K-Kyungwoo....L-let go of—" "I know I've done things that aren't forgiveable in your eyes." he continues, tighten the hug, "I know that I've hurt your feelings more than once without realizing it."

Minji pulls herself out of Kyungwoo's grasp and immediately slaps him across the face. "Snap out of it!" she exclaims, "Deep down, I know I will never be that special someone to you Lee Kyungwoo." "Minji..." he replies. "I will never be the Jarim in your life." Minji continues, "So stop acting like you're the victim in this situation." As she attempts to walk away, Minji's body began to weaken from the recent outlash of frustration and stress towards Kyungwoo, causing her to black out instantly.

"Has she been eating lately?" asks the doctor. "I would ask her to eat but she refuses to eat." Minji's omma explains, "I don't know what's going on with her." Waiting outside of the hospital room, Kyungwoo is sitting on the bench. Jooyoung and Jarim finally arrive and confronts him. "What happened, Kyungwoo?" Jooyoung asks, "Why is Minji at the hospital?" He doesn't answer. The doctor comes out of the room and takes his leave as Minji's omma follows after him. "Imo," Jarim replies, walking up to her, "how is she?"

"Minji will have to stay here overnight." she explains,
"The doctor said she is experiencing malnutrition."
"Malnutrition?" Jarim asks.

Minji's omma nods. Meanwhile, Kyungwoo's omma comes up to the group and directly looks at her son. "Where were you all day?" she asks, "I've been calling you and you wouldn't pick up." Kyungwoo, again, does not answer. "I can speak in his case." Jooyoung replies, butting in. "Jooyoung," she replies, "I can understand what you're doing but I don't need you to protect Kyungwoo all the time." "Imo—" Jarim speaks.

"He's been standing in front of my house." Minji's omma explains,
"He never left the front gate."
"Kyungwoo..." Jooyoung replies.
"You son of a—" Jarim says.

"I thought if my daughter could speak with him, then he would leave; however—" Kyungwoo stands up from the bench and immediately kneels down in front of everyone. "Kyungwoo-ah," his omma asks, "why are you on your knees?" "I would like to apologize." Kyungwoo confesses, keeping his head low, "I've done things that caused her to hate me forever. I've done things that are considered childish. I've done things that caused us to be apart." Minji's omma kneels before Kyungwoo and pulls him into a warm hug. "I should apologize on behalf of Minji." she replies, "My daughter is stubborn as ever; she'll never tell anyone how she feels because she's afraid of the outcome." Pulling away from the hug, Minji's omma helps Kyungwoo off his knees and immediately suggests that everyone else head back home as she'll be the one staying to keep eyes on Minji's condition.

The next day Jooyoung, Jarim and Kyungwoo announces the bad news to the friend group. "Did imo tell you when we can visit Minji?" Ahram asks, "I, too, should probably apologizes to her for what I said yesterday." "Not at all." Jarim explains, "Minji hasn't woken up since last night." "I wonder if she's waiting for her knight in shining armour to come and give her a kiss." Jin Hee teases.

"EW??!!" they all exclaims.
"What?"
"Ain't nobody is crazy enough to think like that, Jin Hee." Byung Hoon replies.
"Yeah." Kyungmin replies, "That's only in fairy tales."

"Has anyone seen Ji-ho?" Jooyoung asks, "I was hoping to tell him about Minji." "Not at all." Ahram replies, "I wonder if he's skipping school." "I'm right here." Ji-ho replies, approaching them. They all fall silent. "Where's Minji?" he asks, "Is she here today?" No one answers until Kyungwoo says, "She's in the hospital."

"Why is she in the hospital?"
"Her mother said she is experiencing malnutrition." Jarim explains,
"The doctor is having her stay at the hospital until further notice."

The school bell officially rings; everyone leave the circle but Kyungwoo is stopped by Bang Yeseul at the door. "I need to talk with you." she replies.

"You're free to go home." said one of the nurses, "Remember to not starve yourself too much; you're still young." "I understand." Minji replies, "I'll do my best." Minji's omma pays the bill at the front desk and the two eventually head home.

"I like you, Lee Kyungwoo." Yeseul replies, "Would you—" "No." he says, sternly, "I am not interested in you."

"Why?"
"I don't know what Minji said to you, but I'm
not going to accept your confession."

As he attempts to walk away from her, Yeseul exclaims, "You rejected Yang Minji before too; why are you acting like you—" "Yes, I like her." Kyungwoo backfires, "Is that a problem for you?" Yeseul is speechless by his words. 'No.' she thought to herself, 'That's not how this is suppose to be.' "You're lying, Kyungwoo." she replies, "I don't believe you." Kyungwoo shook his head and heads back to his classroom, leaving the girl alone.

Immediately after school, Jarim kept her promise to Minji and heads over to her place. "How are you feeling?" Jarim asks, as soon as she sat down in the living room with Minji. "The doctor said I just need to eat more." Minji replies, "Nothing too serious." "Good." "I'm glad Minji has a friend like you, Jarim-ah." Minji's omma replies, setting down two glasses of water on the coffee table, "I'll leave you two here to talk." Minji's omma eventually leave the room, heading into the kitchen.

"I heard that Kyungwoo was—"
"I told him to go home, Jarim." Minji replies,
"He wouldn't leave until he get an answer."
"What answer?" she asks.

Minji hesitates. "I promise to not tell anyone." Jarim replies, "It'll only be you and me." "Kyungwoo asked if I liked Ji-ho as much as I liked him." Minji replies. 'That bastard.' Jarim thought, 'I told him one simple plan and he ed it up.' "I don't know how or why he came to that conclusion but—"

"Who do you like more, Kyungwoo or Ji-ho?"

Again, Minji hesitates. "You still like Kyungwoo, don't ya?" Jarim asks. "N-No!" Minji stutters, "I-I d-do not like K-Kyungwoo; don't be ridiculous." Jarim lets out a heavy sigh.

"Kyungwoo doesn't like me anymore."
"Eh?"
"Ahram talked with Kyungwoo yesterday." Jarim explains,
"And he told her about his feelings for you."

'But he was helping Ji-Ho the whole time.' Minji thought, 'How could he have feelings for me?' "Ahram told Kyungwoo that you knew about his crush on me." she continues, "And that's when—" "I don't believe that Kyungwoo would like me after rejecting my confession." Minji retorts, "I ended things with him for my own sake to heal from the pain."

"Minji..."
"I want things between me and him to end."
"But—" Jarim says.
"He can chase me 'til the day we all graduate
from high school and go our separate ways." Minji replies,
"But I will not yield for him; I am done."

Minji gets up from the couch and heads for the staircase as both Jarim and Minji's omma watch her leave in silence.

Fast forward to later that evening, Minji lays on her bed and ponders about her situation. 'Am I going crazy?' she thought to herself, 'Kyungwoo and Ji-ho having a crush on me, Bang Yeseul liking Kyungwoo...ugh!!' Just then, her phone popped up a text message from Yeseul. Minji grabs it off her desk and began to read the text:

Yeseul: hey! wtf is wrong with Kyungwoo?
what do you mean? :Minji
i told him about you :Minji
Yeseul: sure you did~
Yeseul: i talked with him today but he
freakin' turned down my confession

'Said the girl who jinxed herself about not telling him her feelings.' Minji thought.

Yeseul: can you talk with him again?
Yeseul: and this time, tell him that i'm a nice girl
i'll tell you something, Yeseul :Minji
Kyungwoo isn't the type to fall in love easily :Minji
you're gonna have to come up with something yourself :Minji
Yeseul: like what?
you gotta make him jealous :Minji
Yeseul: Jealous?
that's all :Minji
good night :Minji

In a hurry, Minji shuts down her phone and heads off for bed, not worrying about a thing.

The next morning, Minji gets herself ready for school as usual. Her omma makes a simple wrapped sandwich for Minji's breakfast and reminds her to eat regularly when at school right before she heads out of the house. Minji agrees to her mother's terms and walks out with her breakfast to school. Halfway to school, she crosses paths with Jo Seungmin and his crew. "Where are you going today?" he asks, as they all circle around her. "None of your business." Minji replies, standing her ground, "Aren't you going to be late?" "Late to where?" one of his friends asks, "We have to finish some business first."

"What are you talking about?"
"Where's your boyfriend?" another asks.
"What boyfriend?" she asks.

"You don't remember?" Seungmin asks, cockly, "That bastard who shoved me the other day." "He's not my boyfriend." Minji replies, "He's just a friend." Seungmin forms a sly smirk on his face and immediately grabs a hold of Minji's arm, pulling her close to him. "What are you—" "If he's not your boyfriend," Seungmin replies, tighten his hold, "then would you like me to be your boyfriend?" Being quick-minded, Minji kicks Seungmin in the shin as she always did for Kyungwoo, shoves her breakfast in his face and makes a dash for it before getting caught by Seungmin's friends.

Meanwhile, nearby, Kyungwoo is making his way to school as well. All of a sudden, he catches a glimpse of Minji, and like magic, he manages to grab the handle of her backpack so cleanly that it pulls her up against his own body. "Why are you running so early in the morning?" Kyungwoo asks. 'Crap!' she thought. As soon as Kyungwoo lets go, Minji turns to face him but catches Seungmin and his mens in the distance. '!' "We gotta go, Kyungwoo." Minji replies, not making eye contact with him, "We got company." "What do you mean by that?" he asks. "I ran into—" "Well well well," Seungmin shouts, "isn't it Lee Gang?" Kyungwoo turns his head behind and sees Jo Seungmin himself from afar. "Where's that little friend of yours?!" he asks, "Did she run into you by chance?"

"No." Kyungwoo answers, firmly as he pulls
Minji close, "She must've ran home after seeing
your ugly ."

Seungmin scoffs and immediately turn away the other direction. 'What the heck is going on?' Minji thought, 'Why did he stop talking?' "You flirting with Jo Seungmin now?" Kyungwoo asks, looking down at her, "What's up with your taste in men?" Minji shoves herself away from Kyungwoo and says, "Look at you; you're no different from Jo Seungmin himself." "And you're no different from Bang Yeseul." he backfires. In that moment, Jarim's words reminded her:

'You still like Kyungwoo, don't ya?'

"Then should I have told him that Ji-ho is my boyfriend?" Minji asks, ignoring her thought.

"What makes you think that'll do anything?"
"Well, he seems to think that Ji-ho and I are dating."

Kyungwoo sighs heavily and asks, "Well, do you like him?" "Huh?" she asks. "Do you like Seo Ji-ho?" "Not right now after what you two did." Minji confesses, looking away, "It'll take time for me to warm up to him again."

At school, Minji does her best to keep herself away from Kyungwoo and Ji-ho for the time being. Nearing the end of the day, Ahram then asks Minji a favor. "Why do I have to take your place in cleaning after school?" Minji asks. "Because I had to replace you yesterday." Ahram explains, "Besides, you're not doing it alone." Minji raises an eyebrow at her mischievous friend as she places the broom along the desk. "Who is the lucky winner?" Minji asks. "Seo Ji-ho and Lee Kyungwoo." she answers. 'Of course.' "Well, have fun." Ahram replies, before heading out of the classroom like everyone else.

Minji takes a hold of the broom and began to sweep the classroom. Ji-ho eventually comes inside with a mop and bucket in his hands; he places them near the entrance of the classroom, approaches Minji and says, "Let me sweep instead." Minji stops and looks at her classmate. "I can do it, Ji-ho." she replies, "You better start mopping and we can get out of here on time." Ji-ho takes the broom from her grasp. "Seo Ji-ho!" Minji exclaims, trying to take it back, "Give me the broom!" In that moment, Ji-ho took the opportunity to plant a kiss onto Minji's lips. Her eyes lit up with surprise. 'Seo Ji-ho just kissed me.' Pulling away from the kiss, Ji-ho looks into Minji's brown eyes and says, "I'm sorry for not approaching you in my own way." 'What the is going on?!' Minji thought, 'Please don't tell me that he's expecting me to forgive him for kissing me like that.' "Ji-ho...." "I'm not trying to convince you to like me immediately." he explains,

"But if I can show you the real me....will you reconsider your answer for me?'"
• • • • •
[ to be continued ]

► SIDE STORY

Kyungwoo drags Ji-ho to the courtyard during their lunch and asks, "Can you do a favor for me?" "I thought you weren't gonna talk to me." Ji-ho jokes, "Knowing that we're both courting Yang Minji." "It's not that." Kyungwoo replies, "Besides, she doesn't see me like that anymore." Ji-ho shrugs.

"Look, Ji-ho," he continues, "Minji ran into Jo Seungmin again."
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine; but she can't keep avoiding that
bastard everyday."
"And so...." Ji-ho asks.

Kyungwoo takes in a deep breath. 'If this is the only way to keep Minji away from Seungmin,' he thought to himself, 'then it'll be fine for me.' "I'm letting you care for Minji from now on." Ji-ho gives Kyungwoo a confused look. "Why me?" Ji-ho asks, "I don't even know if Minji is willing to still be friends with me." "Better than me." Kyungwoo says, "She won't take me back; she'll consider me a nuisance to her." Hesitant, Ji-ho began to ponder on this offer. 'I don't agree to this arrangement.' Ji-ho thought, 'Besides, I already know who Minji likes truly; he's just not seeing it himself.'

► END OF SIDE STORY

AUTHOR'S WORDS: what does ji-ho know that kyungwoo doesn't know? why is minji playing so hard? anyways, i'm having a feeling that a fourth and final chapter will be included to end this story once and for all. hopefully more drama/action in the next one; we'll see if ji-ho can truly keep his promise to kyungwoo...not hinting any betrayals or anything but we all need a big in this high school love story lol.

that's all for tonight :)