Hyemi was napping on the couch with Tofu when the loud thud of the front door woke her up.

“Honey! I’m home!” Haechan trotted in. “I bought us dinner.” he held up a plastic bag and grinned at the girl. 

“Hi, my dear husband, how was work today?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes and Haechan stopped unpacking the food, looking at her like she grew a second head. “What?” she asked and caressed Tofu’s cheek.

“I mean, you never play along. I got surprised.” 

“It’s your lucky day. What did you buy?” she stood up and walked to the kitchen, peeking inside the bag. “Oooh, Chinese. Marvelous.”

“Who the hell are you Miss? Why are you looking like my friend and what did you do to her?”

“You act like I’m some kind of boring freak.”

“You are!” Haechan snapped. “Hyemi!” he called her name as his eyes turned teary.

Hyemi froze and grabbed his shoulders. “Haechan-ah? What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?” she examined his body and cupped his face. “Are you crying?”

Haechan pulled her into his embrace and hugged her so tight she had to let out a few coughs. He buried his face into the crook of her neck as he cried out loudly. “It’s so good to see you being happy, I forgot how beautiful was your sincere smile and nowadays I see it more and more. I love you so much!”

“Yah, you’re making me cringe. Stop.” she patted his back but felt tears dangerously prick her eyes too.  “What’s with you? You already had your day.”

His day. Haechan was always the emotional type, even when he was a kid, and he found a great solution to bear with life. In every two or three months he has his day, as he calls it. The day is a random day on which he lets his emotions get the best of him as he pours his heart out to his friends. He would bawl like a baby and talk out his frustration. A man should also cry once in a while, he said. It’s mostly because of his family, school or whatever childish stuff, but sometimes… Sometimes it’s more serious.

Hyemi’s heart clenched as she patted Haechan’s back to comfort him. She was aware that her friends have been walking on eggshells around her for years, but she didn’t realize until now, that they might bottled up their feelings for her sake.

 A few minutes later Haechan stopped sobbing and went to Johnny’s bathroom to freshen up. He even changed into one of Johnny’s hoodies and sweatpants, while Hyemi took out plates and glasses. Nari and Johnny were working, so it was just the two of them, and Tofu. 

Hyemi was enjoying the taste of her meal when her phone buzzed. She stood up abruptly and ran to the couch to check it, Haechan keeping a close eye on her. Hyemi plopped down the couch and unlocked her phone, giggling when saw what was in the message and wrote a reply right away.

“Who’s that lucky bastard you run so fast to reply?” Haechan asked as he was pouring a glass of water for himself. “Tell Park Nari I hate her.”

“Not Nari, it’s Jung Jaehyun.” she answered curtly. 

Haechan flooded the table with the water, his mouth hanging open. “Jeffrey? You’re that close already?” he inquired.

“I tell you something if you promise you won’t tell Johnny.”

“Sounds fishy.” he arched an eyebrow, leaning against the fridge. 

Hyemi rolled her eyes. “It’s not. It’s just… weird, I guess. And I don’t want Johnny jump to conclusions.”

Haechan wiped the overflowed water with a kitchen towel, then walked towards Hyemi. “Okay, tell me.”

“A few days ago, I almost had a panic attack, and he was just… Like, caressing my back and telling me to breath. I was somewhere far away in my head but I heard his voice clearly, and it stopped. He told me it wasn’t even that bad. It lasted only for a few minutes.”

“He’s a ing genius! I’ve always known. Jeffrey!” Haechan clapped. “He shouldn’t be studying business. He’s a healer, a shaman.” he grabbed her hands, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “We should bring him to the woods or you know what? The mountains, to a temple! I ing buy him an alpaca.” 

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No! I’m truly impressed!” he shook his hands defensively. “Nari and I can’t help you, we always have to wait it out. Johnny’s the only one who can do something to stop it in ten minutes.”

“Right? It’s unbelievable.”

“Do you like him?”

“Yes.” she answered too quickly and could see the cocky grin on Haechan’s face grow wider. “Wait, what? I mean, I like him as a friend. Don’t give me that face. Stop!”

“Hyemi, baby. Let’s be honest with each other. You two have been spending half your days together, the other half you can’t stop texting each other. It’s natural you start having feelings for each other. You’re pretty, he’s handsome. It’s okay.”

“No!” she raised her voice. “It’s not!”

“Why?”

She fell silent and averted her gaze. Tofu jumped onto her lap, letting out a soft meow as he looked up at Hyemi, asking for attention. She scratched his ears. “It’s just not right.”

Haechan sighed and closed his eyes, massaging his temples. There was no point pressuring Hyemi. She was way too adamant. She has to realize on her own that one day she has to move on and let other people in. Until then, he just hoped someone would like her that much that he’s willing to wait and fight for her. And if that man happens to be Jung Jaehyun, their one and only Jeffrey, then he would be more than happy. Until then, he won’t ever pressure her.

Hyemi was sitting at Distribution Channel Management, the only class none of her friends attended. The lecture hasn’t started yet so she was scrolling through Instagram, waiting for the professor to arrive. A few students passed her, saying hi and she greeted them, one or two even stopped to ask how she was, props to Hendery and Yangyang. She didn’t really befriend other people but she was on talking terms with a few, still she didn’t hang out with them. 

Unlike Nari or Johnny, who have a few friends beside their close circle. Nari would hang out with girls from her major, she would go out and drink or party with them. Johnny too has his share of friends. And Lee Haechan. Well, since he’s the uncrowned party king, the whole campus knew Lee Haechan and he hangs out with a lots of different people. Hyemi envied Haechan. He envied him because back then he was so fragile and shy and he became this brazen and unabashed man. 

As for her… She was brazen back then and now she just wanted to live her life unnoticed, in peace within her safe bubble. Yes, with an eye-catching pink hair but that’s not the point. She has her reasons for that too.

“Hey Hyemi!” a pretty, brown haired girl casually sat beside her. “Mind if I sit next to you?”

“It’s okay. Hi.” she smiled in return. If she remembered well her name was something like Chaewon or Chaeyeon, still it was safer to avoid calling her by her name. 

The girl nodded and put her bag beside her legs after taking out her laptop. “I hope Prof. Jo’s in a good mood. I really don’t want to ruin my day with his stupid pop quizzes.” she groaned in irritation.

“Yeah.” Hyemi agreed. “Like, he purposely puts in questions we didn’t even talk about. He just wants us to fail.”

“That son of a .” she groaned and furrowed her brows then in a blink of an eye she changed to a dashing smile. “I like your shirt.” she complimented and the other girl thanked her shyly.

Hyemi wasn’t good with the girl type of small talks since Nari and she have known each other since forever and they skipped that part. They still do. They don’t compliment each other out of the blue, they don’t share what makeup products they’ve purchased recently, they rarely talk about boys or so. The fact that Hyemi’s first ever friend was Johnny put a mark on her personality. Especially since they were the bickering kind of friends for ten years. Nari too was more of a tomboy kind of girl, personality wise. Haechan once joked that Hyemi and Nari were like boys when they were talking. This happened after Haechan had overheard how Nari shared the story about her getting laid. 

“Do you know Lucas?” Nari asked while they were eating ice cream, lying on the couch in Haechan’s house.

“Big ears, big nose, big Lucas?”

“Yeah. He’s a fashion design major at Sungkyunkwan University. I think Simon knows him too since they both know Shiwoo.”

“Yeah, Simon and Shiwoo modeled for him when they were freshmen.”

“Anyway, I ed him.”

“Wow. Is he true to his nickname?” she snickered.

“God, he’s huge.” Nari sighed and scooped another spoonful of ice cream “I want him as my regular buddy, but the guy is so sweet he asked me out on a date and no Hyemi, I don’t want dates. I just want rough . Like we were panting after he finished and first words that came out of his mouth was, hey do you want to go to the movies and have dinner?” she mimicked Lucas’ low voice then groaned and threw back her head. 

“Tell him then.” the other girl suggested nonchalantly. 

“I don’t even want to tell him, I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to make points I just want him to choke me while…”

“Seriously Park, aren’t you ashamed a little bit?” Haechan butted in. He opened a can of Dr. Pepper and walked closer to the girls.

“Why would I?” 

 “You talk like a boy.” he stated and Hyemi giggled.

“I mean, I’m not making it a secret that I’m not really searching for a soulmate.” she shrugged.

“A girl. You’re a girl, Park.” Haechan nodded and clicked his tongue. 

“Good, because you’re a boy so we make a good pair of friends, you little .”

“Simon hyung would brush your mouth with soap if he heard you talk like that.” he retorted, Nari glaring back at him. 

“Fortunately, he’s not my boyfriend and Hyemi’s being a good little girl for Simon, right?” she turned and patted Hyemi’s head with a saccharin smile. 

“Right.” she nodded and offered ice cream to Haechan. “Strawberry.”

“Can I ask you something?” Chaewon or Chaeyeon turned to Hyemi. She nodded. “You spend a lot of time with Jung Jaehyun. Are you guys dating?”

She was taken aback by the question. The semester’s just started a few weeks ago and she wouldn’t say she had spent that much time with Jaehyun outside campus. They had almost the same schedule and would hang out sometimes but most of the times Johnny, Nari and Haechan would be there. They’re only alone when they study and have lunch without the others. She cleared and hoped her foundation covered her growing blush.

“No, we aren’t.”

“But are guys have a thing going on? I mean do you like him or does he like you? Dates? Flings?”

She felt interrogated and she didn’t like it. She shifted in her seat and the girl might have noticed her flinch because she shook her hands defensively and blabbered. 

“I’m just asking this because I kinda have a crush on him, but I don’t want to in if you guys have a thing for each other. But yeah, if you don’t mind and don’t have a crush on him then I probably make a move cuz he’s so hot and so nice.”

Hyemi felt a weird lump in , making it difficult to speak up. “We’re just friends.” she reassured more like herself than the girl who nodded with a huge grin. 

“Great! Then maybe you can be my wingman.” she nudged Hyemi and wiggled her eyebrows. 

Hyemi was saved when Professor Jo finally entered the room and ordered everyone to be quiet so he can start the lecture. 

Nari unlocked her phone while she was chilling on the couch, to check the hundreds of messages the others had sent in their group chat. Haechan was going crazy, sending memes and ridiculous posts from various sites. Johnny would add in his two cents every now and then, while Jaehyun reacted with gifs and emojis. She looked over her shoulder at Hyemi who was peacefully sitting on the other end of the couch, Tofu curled up beside her.

“Yah!” she called. “Why aren’t you replying to any of our messages?”

Hyemi looked up from the notes she was reading and raised an eyebrow. “What messages?”

Nari snorted. “Seriously? These messages.” she shoved her phone in her face and a lightbulb lit above Hyemi’s head.

“Ah, I muted the conversation.” she said nonchalantly. “My phone just wouldn’t stop chiming and it was always Haechan and his nonsense.”

“You’re seriously the worst.” Nari let out a chuckle and crawled beside her friend.

Just then, Hyemi’s phone vibrated and she immediately checked the notification. A smile plastered on her face as she typed her reply to the message, then put her phone down and turned her attention back on her notes. Nari watched her in awe.

“And whose messages are you so quick to reply to?”

Her eyes didn’t leave her notes as she replied absentmindedly. “Jaehyun asked if I wanted to go to a restaurant nearby tomorrow. We’re having lunch together after our class.”

“As expected, Jung Jaehyun.” Nari nodded.

The other girl put down her notes again, finally giving up studying. “What do you mean?”

“Do you like him?”

“Of course, we’re friends.” she nodded innocently. 

Nari rolled her eyes dramatically. How can she be so dense? “I mean, do you like him as a man?”

“Why are people asking me that?”

“Who asked you beside me? You don’t even talk to people.” Nari deadpanned. 

“Okay, first, ouch. Second.”   She shrugged. “That brown haired business major girl.” she just not going to mention Haechan since Nari would go crazy with her ideas.

Nari looked at her incredulously. “Elaborate. There’s like a hundred brown haired business major in school.”

“Erm. The pretty one? With big eyelashes?” Hyemi watched Nari getting more and more irritated by her lack of descriptive skills. “She always wears a scrunchie on her wrist.”

Nari tapped her chin and looked up the ceiling, deep in thoughts. “You mean Suji? Choi Suji?”

So her name was neither Chaewon or Chaeyeon. Hyemi shrugged again. “I guess.”

“So, what did you say? Do you like him or not?”

“I…” she started but her phone vibrated again and she took it as an excuse to dodge the question. She opened the message and gasped, a blush quickly making its way on her cheeks.

“What? What did he say?” the other arched her eyebrows.

Hyemi’s eyes were glued to the screen as she gulped. “He sent me a selfie.”

Nari snatched the phone out of her hands and glanced at the said picture. He wrote some stupid nonsense along with the picture but Nari couldn’t care less about that. On the other hand, she found the selfie really likeable. “Holy !” Nari exclaimed. “He too knows he’s fine as hell. Daaaamn girl.” she chuckled and gave Hyemi her phone back.

“How am I supposed to reply to that?”

“I don’t know.” she shrugged and leaned back on the couch, stretching her arms and letting out a yawn. “Something like, I would your dimples and your cute little nose.”

Hyemi groaned at her friend. She could have used a bit of mental support from her. It was enough struggle to handle Lee Haechan and his remarks, she didn’t need Park Nari too. “No wonder you’re still single.” 

Nari chose to ignore her comment as she spoke up. “Hey, I might have a new crush.” she wiggled her eyebrows and shifted even closer to Hyemi. Tofu stood up and walked over her with light steps then sat on Nari’s lap, letting out a mewl. She cupped his face, asking what did he want and the cat meowed at her. She brushed their noses together and pecked his head.

“Please tell me it’s not Tofu.” Hyemi watched their interaction and laughed.

“Do you know the Japanese transfer? Nakamoto Yuta?”

She thought for a while, tapping her chin. She wasn’t really familiar with the students in their department, not to mention other departments. She had a few acquaintances here and there, but mostly she pref