Minho POV

I sigh as I sit on the floor of the almost empty room, Jinki's resignation in my hand. Hastily I jump up as the door to the office opens.

"Don't look like that. I'm packing the last of my things and then I'm out of here." Says Jinki as he walks over to the desk.

There are still some papers, pens and an unopened package there. I wonder if my birthday present is in it, after all it's only five months away!

"I am not even looking." But my eyes slide uncertainly back and forth between Jinki and the floor.

The silence between us is different. It is not like usual, it is strange and suffocating. I don't like this silence, it reminds me of the silence between my parents when they separated. Maybe there's no hostility in the air yet, but I don't want us to part ways like this. I just want to understand why.

"Why did you do it?" I ask quietly, my gaze turned straight down.

I don't know if I really want to know. All is well again between Taemin and me, but Jinki's behaviour makes no sense to me. We've been best friends since childhood, why would he hurt me like that? 

"You know why." He says, fixing his gaze on me.

"Because of the bet? Are you serious?" I ask him, upset at his answer.

"Is it so bad if you don't win?"

"Am I serious? Are you serious?" he snarls at me and I take a step back.

Jinki has never snapped at me, shouted at me or been mean to me in any other way. I don't know this side of him. But why am I surprised? He has this side to him, otherwise he would never have given Taemin my notebook.

His shoulders slump and his gaze softens as he realises I'm slightly startled. Now he can't look me in the eye.

"Dude! I'm just trying to look out for you!" I can see his fists are clenched.

"By destroying my chance at love?" I ask without understanding.

"The chance at love? The one true great love you mean? The love you've felt a hundred times before? The love that only exists in fairy tales?"

I have to swallow. His words hurt me more than what the burglars at Home Alone had to go through at the hands of the little boy.

"Well...I just have a lot of love to give..." I say miserably, but I understand what he means.

"Remember back in kindergarten when the love of your life, Yoona, left you because you couldn't tell left from right?"

"I mean, that's kind of hard..." I look at my hands and make an L with my left hand. If she knew I could differentiate it very well today, she certainly wouldn't have left me.

"The point is that I baked you sand cakes! Yes, you had a stomach ache the next day, but did you have heartache? No!" he says with a still serious tone.

"Well, the stomach and the heart are very close to each other..." is the only thing I can think of to say.

"And when Sooyoung left you for that Hollywood snob? That's when I snuck into the cargo hold of the plane, released Lee Sooman and caused chaos. You were all over the news and celebrated as a monkey liberator! You had so many interviews that you didn't have time to suffer from the break up." With each word he gets a little louder.

"Where is the little one anyway?" I ask, but Jinki was apparently not finished yet.

"And when your parents separated, I would like to emphasise, publicly! That's when I gave up my university studies to stay with you! I looked after you because you can't! I gave up everything for you!"

Ouch.

"I thought you understood then. Love is not for everyone. Everyone you've been with has taken advantage of you. But I've always been by your side." Now he's getting quieter, softer.

Double ouch.

Jinki is right. He distracted me, got me new jobs, watched movies with me... Whenever I was in a bad place, he was there for me.

"Jinki..." is all I can say. Did he really do that just to take care of me? Choi Minho you're not a man. You're a manchild. I remember everything very well, and I remember that Jinki was by my side every time.

"The truth is that I've been making you sand cakes since we were kids. But again and again you get distracted. Again and again you look at sandcastles, or sand animals. But this time I won't bake you anything. Don't come to me as soon as it turns out he's only with you because you're rich. It wouldn't be the first time." The unopened package lands crashing in his box.

Jinki is right but...

"Taemin is different..." I say, because that is also the complete truth. He is not interested in my money, my fame or any luxury. He is interested in me, and sincerely so. When Jinki meets him he will see it too.

My friend frantically grabs the last things from the table. H