Hyukjae’s face lit up upon seeing her smile at him. He saw her carrying a heavy load of bread along with her school bag hanging on one side of her shoulder. 
She was trying to put the bag of bread inside her bag but he said, “It looks like you have a lot of things inside your bag. The bread will get squeezed if you put it inside too.”

Dara scratched her head and said, “Really? I was trying to preserve the warmth of it by putting it inside but you’re right, It’s going to get squeezed.”

Hyukjae walked closer to her and grabbed her bag of bread. He said, “If you just close the opening like this… maybe it’ll work.” as he folded the opening of the bag to avoid the cold air getting in. He politely gave the bag back to her and added, “You always buy bread. Is that your favorite?”

“No. It’s actually my little brother’s favorite. He always looks for this.”

“Oh? You have a little brother?”

“Yes. He’s 13 years old.”

“Very young.”

“Yeah. He’s getting that teenager syndrome already. Nagging me to buy these.” ,she said then gave an awkward laugh.

“I always see you around here. Do you live around this block?”

“No. I just go here on purpose.”

“Only for the bread?”

“Only for the bread.”

They both laughed. She added, “I ride a bus in a station near this area.”

“Ohh…”

She shyly asked, “Is… is this… Do you usually take this path to go home?”

“Yes. That’s why we happen to always see each other like now.” ,he said then chuckled shyly after too.

“Yes. By the way, it’s nice to see you again but I have to go now. I might miss the bus. Our maknae must be hungry.”

“Okay. You take care!”

“Bye bye!” She waved her hand and scrammed from the bakery.

While she was already far away from where he was standing, he thought, “Damn it. I forgot to ask her name.” and hit his head with his palm. He murmured, “I should’ve planned these things better. I haven’t even got her number. Aish!”

Thinking that she might not buy again, he felt like he lost a chance of seeing her again forever. Disappointed, he plugged his earphones to listen to music again instead. Surprisingly, the music was working already as if it stopped specifically just for him to know that she was there.
He said, “Ohhh? The universe is still considerate to me, I guess. I’ll take that as a good sign.”

Thus, he continued to walk his way home but with a lessened weight in her heart for not getting details from her aside from the information he got that she had a 13 year old little brother. Because of what happened in his mp4, he had high hopes about their connection, promising himself that if he saw her again, he’ll do better.

He had a good feeling that it would go well next time so the day after that afternoon, he waited and loitered around the bakery to wait for her to come by again after class, but this day was different from yesterday. The rain was pouring hard so he thought that she might not go there this time because of the bad weather. Still, he waited just in case.

Meanwhile, as Hyukjae waits for her, Dara was inside her campus waiting for the rain to stop along with the other students who also forgot to bring their umbrella.
She felt so unlucky because above all the days she had to forget it, it had to be today when she needed it the most. 
The weather was indeed unpredictable. One day it’s sunny, the next day it’s raining.

She thought of things to do to kill time. She didn’t check her phone for the whole day so unconsciously, she browsed through her inbox to look for his messages. If she were to be honest, she wasn’t actually expecting to see one after ignoring him for another week, but she smiled when she saw his name on his inbox again.

There were messages sent to her earlier this afternoon saying, “It’s raining hard. Did you bring an umbrella?” and “If you don’t have one, we can share mine. Let’s go home together? ^^”

She wanted to type in a message but was frozen on the sight of the blinking typing cursor on her phone. She looked around her and suddenly thought that if she agreed to go home with him, these students around her would see them too. She didn’t like gaining attention in a wrong way, like appearing to be dating a famous trainee for fame or befriending him to use him.
She didn’t want to be bashed just like that in her school. She wanted a peaceful life at the given time she has in school. Hence, she didn’t reply again.

The rain lasted for hours and some of the students with her had someone to pick them up and people around her were gone one by one. She actually thought of an idea to just run her way to the station when the rain was less harsh but she also thought that she would appear unpresentable and stupid when she rode a bus soaking wet.
There were still a few students left with her anyway so she stayed with them until the rain stopped.

It was almost dark when she walked her way towards the gate of their campus to go out with the other students who got stuck with her. When they were already approaching the gate, she heard the students mumbling words and whispering to each other as if there’s a commotion going on.
Her eyes wandered around to see whatever they’re talking about and saw Donghae beyond the gate looking at the students going out.

Her eyes widened after seeing him. She thought, “Did he go here for me? Oh no. This is not good. Why does he have to go here? How does he know I’m still here? Oh my… Oh my…”

She panicked and turned around to go back inside the campus and hide from him. But because she was the only one who walked the opposite way among the few students going out, he was able to easily spot her.

He shouted, “Little noona! I saw you!”

She pretended she didn’t hear so she kept walking. Until Donghae called out her name, “Sandara!”

Her schoolmates gushed at the fact that Donghae knows someone from their school. They squealed louder when he went inside and pulled Dara. They even stopped on their tracks to watch the scene.

Donghae said in a slightly upset manner, “Why do you keep avoiding me?”

Dara faced his direction but could not look him straight in the eyes when she answered, “I’m not avoiding you.”

“Lies.”

“It’s true.”

“I came here to give you back your bento box.”

They heard the students’ whispers become louder when they found out that her lunch box was with Donghae. It gave them the thought that they were eating lunch together for him to have hers. And because of this incident, Dara thought, “It’s happening. This is bad. The situation I was avoiding is now happening.”

She heard one of the students talk and say, “Are they dating?”

To which she answered right away to avoid a worse scenario, “No. We’re not. It’s not what you think.”

Donghae appealed, “What do you mean ‘no’? You went to my hou—”

Dara hurriedly covered Donghae’s mouth and said, “It’s just lunch. It didn’t mean anything.”

Because Donghae’s mouth was covered, she saw sadness in him even only through his eyes. She was surprised by what she said as well. She was trying hard to avoid any negative backlash from her schoolmates but disregarded what he actually felt. She didn’t know what to say because just by looking at his eyes, she knew she screwed up.
She reflected on what she said and realized that she just stepped on his heart for saying that her visit to his house didn’t mean anything when he seemed to value that moment a lot.

Through her words, he thought that they were not on the same page. He was offended so he slowly grabbed her hand covering his mouth with both hands and gently put it down. 
It was revealed to her that he now had a serious look on his face. 

He said, “Well then, here’s your lunch box. Thanks by the way.” as he gave it to her and walked away.

When Donghae left, the students also moved their ways to go to their homes. Apparently, they just stayed there to gossip. Therefore, when his visit was done, Dara was just left standing there.

It was very obvious that he was hurt. Dara felt sorry but didn’t know how to tell him as to why she was avoiding him because then he would know that she failed an audition and might ridicule her for that. Even if it didn’t seem like a thing he would do, she still felt like he’d look down on her if he knew. All these thoughts entered her mind only after knowing that he was famous.
Clearly, she was doing everything an intimidated person does and she couldn’t find any excuse or alibi for her behavior aside from that known fact.

She pondered upon sending an apology message to him that night but ended up not sending one. It was her self-consciousness to blame. Unknowingly, Donghae waited for her to message her that night but nothing came. He let out a sigh for he only became more disappointed for expecting a message or a call when all’s been said and done earlier.

He felt like a fool for chasing her when everything meant nothing to her in the end. He thought she felt the same way too by her actions but he was embarrassed to know that he got it all wrong. He was even humiliated in front of her schoolmates. He hated how she treats him when there are people around. She’s sweet one day and then cold the next day.
Because she was ignoring him for quite some time, he began to think that he was the only one invested with the ‘thing’ he thought they both had. 
For that reason, he chose to stop whatever he’s doing.  
 
He thought it would be that easy to forget about her but he was wrong. No matter how he tried to be nonchalant about it, he could admit that he was still deeply affected by it.
 
He woke up in a bad mood the next day and acted like it the whole morning which shocked his family members because he usually bids them a cheerful goodbye before going to school. But this day, he just went out without saying anything.

He was walking his way to the bus station while typing something on his phone as his reply to Hyesun who just sent her a message, asking if he was available this afternoon to have dinner somewhere with the friend she’s talking about.
He realized that it was an offer he was declining before because he already reserved himself when he met Dara. But because Dara was pushing him away, he thought it would be nice to have other friends. 

He then replied, “Okay. I’m free.”

“Wow. What made you agree this time? ㅋㅋㅋ”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“I’m just surprised. Okay! See you later! ^^”

He was still in a bad mood but he tried his best to release the negative energy in him the whole day in school so he’d meet a new friend with the right mood. He didn’t want to close his doors to meeting new people just because he lost one.  
 
He was being dramatic the whole morning when Minah from another class noticed it. She talked to him in their school's cafeteria during lunch time while he was eating his lunch quietly at a table with his few classmates.

His classmates elbowed each other’s arm when they saw her walk her way out of her seat just to talk to Donghae.
She said, “Oppa, are you not feeling well?”

He looked up and saw her standing in front of their table. He replied, “I’m okay. Why?”

“You seemed to not be feeling well.”

“No. I’m okay.”

She replied smiling, “If that’s so, well… see you at practice later.” then walked away.

He was then reminded that he had to attend the practice. He also remembered that he just agreed to go with Hyesun after school. Because there would be a conflict in his schedule, he called out to Minah, “Ah, Minah!”

Minah looked back immediately upon hearing her name being mentioned by him. She excitedly responded, “Ye?”

“I think I will skip practice this afternoon.”

“Why?”

“You’re right. I’m not feeling well. I’d take a break just this once to rest at home.”

“Oh…” She was saddened to hear that they wouldn’t be able to bond today but didn’t let it show. She still replied with a smile, saying, “Sure! Please get well soon.”

He just nodded and ignored her after. He carried on eating his lunch while his classmates beside him were giggling at his actions towards Minah. They thought that he acted coldly but he wasn’t aware. They were laughing after getting a secondhand embarrassment for how Minah approached her only for her to get a nod in response in the end. Donghae didn’t know the reason for why they were laughing so he just kept on eating, being the clueless guy that he was.
Evidently, everyone in their class already knows about it but him.

The day was almost finished and he failed to improve his mood. He also couldn’t act normal or happy, otherwise, he had to attend the practice so he had to keep an act that he was unwell until the classes are over for him to be believable.

His mission on pretending to be sick on the other hand was successful. He went home early that day and went to the restaurant in Myeongdong as informed by Hyesun. He arrived at the area with an indisposed spirit, like he was apathetic to everything after what happened yesterday. He was not in a mood to even indulge into love or make sparks fly in meeting a new person. He just completely lost it all of a sudden.

He opened the door of the restaurant with a dispassionate disposition and immediately saw Hyukjae laughing with Hyesun.
He pointed to him and said, “Oh! Why are you here?”

Hyukjae and Hyesun looked at him at the same time with fresh smiles on their faces.
Hyesun said, “Ah, you’re here now.” She tapped Hyukjae’s back and continued, “I happened to pass by the same road where he was. I met him in front of a bakery so I asked him to join. The more, the merrier, I guess?” 
 
Because his best friend is now around, he could already feel his mood change gradually. He chuckled and said, “And you just dragged him into this?” 
 
She laughed and replied, “That seems to be what happened.”

Hyukjae said, “I'm just here for the free meal.” 
 
Donghae smiled widely at last. He joyfully asked, “Was this your treat?” 
 
She replied, “I'll only treat Hyukja