I'm sorry for this bad chapter (눈_눈) Idk.

"I see. So they both are trying to protect you from the other."

I stared up to the sky and let out a long, tired sigh. After catching up to me, Jinyoung convinced me to go outside with him to the back of the school where the two of us could chat in private. He sent a text to Namsoo not to allow Jaehyun or Baro to leave the library so that there wouldn't be any distributions between and because I wasn’t in the mood to see either of them.

I had just finished explaining the situation between me and the idiots, while excluding a few details that I felt Jinyoung really didn't need to know about.

"I see how this could be a burden to you." He leaned into the bench and jutted out his bottom lip. The two of us were sitting at the football stands, which was completely empty. Mainly because we weren't exactly allowed to be here during school hours and because nobody really goes to the football field during their free period.

But since Jinyoung was co-captain of the soccer team, and was also manager of the football team during football season (he sprained his leg a week before try-outs so he couldn’t play), he had the rights to be here because the all coaches love him. Not to mention that he was all the teachers favorite only because of his high grades and polite attitude. This kid is a star in this school.

"It's really annoying," I muttered, "They're both treating me like a little kid."

"I don't blame them. You do have a baby face." Jinyoung laughed at the annoyed look I shot at him. "It's true though. Even I would want to protect if you if I didn't already have my hands full with Gongchan and Namsoo."

"Since when did you have to protect Namsoo?"

"Well..." Jinyoung never finished his sentence, his eyes wandering away from mine. A small tint of red covered his cheeks and I felt almost bad for Gongchan. His precious Jinyoung is growing up.

"Look," Jinyoung said, "I don't think you need to be so harsh on Baro and Jaehyun. Sure, they might be a bit of a hassle to deal with but they're only doing it because they care about you. Friends like those are hard to find."

I remained silent for a while. I didn't need Jinyoung to tell me that those two are only doing it because ‘they care’. To be honest, I could really care less about why they are doing it. Its still annoying as hell and I didn't want to have to deal with it at all.

“Maybe you should try to get each other to be friends. Once they realize the other is all that bad of a person, they’ll probably won’t hound you anymore.”

“As if.”

Jinyoung laughed again. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and shot me a wide grin, that it made me see why Namsoo and Gongchan had a thing for him. “Give them some time. They’ve only been around each other for a week that they’re probably not used to seeing you so close with another person. Give them a few more days and I’m sure that they’ll calm down eventually.”

I gave Jinyoung a skeptical look and Jinyoung just patted my shoulder. “Trust me.”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, “It’s a little weird that those two are so clingy to me.”

“They must really want to be your friend. That, or they’re both in love with you.”

“Shut up.”

--

I don’t remember the last time I was so glad for the weekend. The idea of being away from school for two days made so much stress fall off of my shoulders. Both Jaehyun and Baro haven’t tried contacting me since the library incident and I figured they were just waiting for me to cool down a bit before trying to talk to me again. I thank them for that.

The only thing I had to worry about was my mother. Her cooking nonsense has quickly updated to cleaning. And although it was much better than having her cook 30 different dishes in a day, it was still an annoyance to see her mop the same spot for 30 minutes straight.

I tried convincing her to take a break from all the cleaning, but she wouldn't listen. The only room that she wouldn't clean was her bedroom. She still hasn't stepped foot inside there since my father left.

"Mom, you've been wiping the table for the past 20 minutes. I think it's clean now."

"Oh Sandeul, dear." My mother looked up from her concentration on the kitchen table to look at me. "You can't imagine the amount of germs hanging around. Wiping something once isn't going to kill them all you know."

"But-"

"Instead of just standing there and nagging at me, why don't you go clean your room?"

"You already cleaned it today. Four times, as a matter of fact."

My mother rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning the table. "Then go out and do something. You've been stuck in the house this past week. It's unhealthy for you to be inside all the time."

I continued to watched as my mother wiped the table. My presence must have eventually became a bother to her, because my mother suddenly grabbed me by the sleeve and dragged me to the front door.

"I said for you to go out." She opened the door and practically tossed me out of the apartment. "Now listen to your mother and make sure you look both ways before crossing the street, honey. Have fun!" Before I could even manage a thought, the door was slammed in my face and was standing alone in the building hallway.

I reached up and grabbed ahold of the door handle, but when I tried opening it, it was locked. "You got to be kidding me?" I muttered to myself. Was I really just kicked out of my own apartment?

I get that I've been hassling my mother about all her cleaning recently, but I didn't think I was that bad that she really had to kick me out.

I slammed my fist against the door a couple of times, hoping that my mother would have a change of heart and let me back in. But after 10 minutes of banging with no response, I completely gave up.

There was nowhere for me to go. I was in no mood to see either Baro or Jaehyun, and they were really the only choices I had left. Well, there is Shinwoo, but I’m not that desperate to go to him out of all people. Am I?

--

I guess I was that desperate. I blinked while Shinwoo just stared at me with a hard glare. The two of us were sitting on his living room couch and, although I’ve been here plenty of times before, it couldn’t be anymore awkward. Maybe it was because his mom was pampering me so much since the moment I stepped foot in his house.

“Your mother called saying that you might come over,” my Aunt said as she placed a plate full of peeled fruits onto the coffee table, “So I made you a little snack.” She patted my the top of my head and then placed a quick kiss on the cheek before retreating back into the kitchen.

I picked up one of the grapes and popped it into my mouth, all while keeping my eyes locked on Shinwoo. Although Shinwoo always loves coming over to my apartment to be a nuisance, he hates it when I go over to his place. Maybe it’s because his mom always treats me like a royal prince whenever I’m over, but it’s not my fault that she loves her nephew so much. She’s probably already tired of Shinwoo that she needs somebody new to baby. I don't blame.

“What are you doing here?” Shinwoo muttered. He reached over to grab some fruits from the plate, but before he could, his mom called out from the kitchen.

“Shinwoo, you better not be eating you cousin’s food. Have some manners.”

Shinwoo growled and retreated his hand back to his side.

“My mom kicked me out. I had no where else to go,” I answered. I ignored the scoff that came from Shinwoo as I continued to eat the fruits right in his face.

“Why didn’t you go to Baro’s house or something? I have a girl coming over in an hour so we could study together. I don’t want you here killing my vibe.”

“Studying? On a Saturday?” It was my turn to scoff. Of course Shinwoo would lose his free day to relax for a girl who probably doesn’t even have an interest in him. And since when was Shinwoo so interested in studying anyways?

“Look,” I muttered. I made myself more comfortable on the couch and grabbed ahold of the television remote. “I promise I’ll leave you and your girl friend alone, as long as you leave me alone too. I’m not as thrilled that I’m here as you are.”

“Whatever. Just don’t talk.”

The spent the next hour watching mindless television while my Aunt constantly came over to check on me and ask if there was anything else I needed to make me feel more comfortable. Shinwoo changed from his sweats into some more suitable to wear and it wasn’t long before Shinwoo was kicking his mom out of the kitchen so that she wouldn’t embarrass her or anything.

“You too,” he said pointing at me. By now, I was warmly wrapped by a large blanket with a half a dozen pillows surrounding me while laying on the couch, all custody of my Aunt. “Go to my room or something. I don’t want Jungie to see you.”

I just laughed. There was no way in hell that I was going to leave this heavenly couch. Especially not after my Aunt just handed me a box of sweet jelly beans.

Before Shinwoo could kick me out, the doorbell rang and he was rushing to open it before anybody else did.

“Hey, I’m glad you made it,” I could hear Shinwoo say from the front door. A female voice responded but I couldn’t clearly hear what she said. “I’m sorry, but my room is too small for us to study in. The only place that’s good is the living room. But you don’t mind if my baby cousin stayed with us, right?”

I rolled my eyes at the term ‘baby cousin.’ We were only a year apart and he still treated me like a little brat.

But I’ll admit, I was a little curious to see the girl. I wanted to know who was stupid enough to agree on a study date with Shinwoo out of all people. He was a complete idiot and you didn’t need to see his grades to know that, you just knew by looking at him.

Eventually Shinwoo with the girl behind him. The girl was tall, almost as tall at Shinwoo, with long black hair and her face looked too familiar. When she looked at my direction, she froze, almost as if she was surprised to see me. And then it hit me.

It was Haejung.

-

Baro’s crush was standing beside Shinwoo with a look that I couldn’t quite read. She looked at me for a little longer before turning to Shinwoo with a nervous chuckle, “When you said baby cousin, I really thought you meant a baby.”

Shinwoo laughed. “He might not look like a baby, but he sure acts like one. Hold on, I’ll go get us something to drink.” Shinwoo left the livingroom to and to the kitchen, leaving me and Haejung alone.

I sat up from laying on the couch and eyed the girl standing not too far away from me.

“It’s been a while,” she said with another nervous chuckle. “How are you?”

I didn’t answer and continued to stare at her. I was wondering why the hell she was with Shinwoo when she and Baro were supposedly having a “thing” together. Sure, she could be just friends with Shinwoo. But Shinwoo only talks to girls he has a chance to get together with. He wouldn’t have paid Hyejung any attention if he knew that she and Baro were practically together.

It’s true that Haejung and Baro weren’t exactly a couple yet, but she did ask Baro to be her boyfriend not too long ago and Baro was even considering it.

“Do you remember me?” She asked.

I simply nodded my head.

Haejung looked a bit uncomfortable and she shifted her weight on her feet. “I didn’t know you were also cousins with Shinwoo. What a small world, right?” I let out an empty chuckle.

“Does Baro know you're here?”

Haejung froze for a moment. She shot me a confused look before asking, “Why should he knew where I am?”

“Aren’t you two together?” I asked. She was giving me a look like she had no idea what I was talking about.

“No,” she answered. “I mean, I did ask him out but he rejected me the next day. He said that he was in the middle of some mixed feelings about something else and that I was only going to confuse him more.”

It was my turn to be confused. That wasn’t what Baro told me. According to him, he’s still considering her confession and is constantly asking me on my input, as if I was the one who needed to tell him what to do with his love life. He even told me he was going to say yes. Why on Earth would Baro lie to me about still considering her confession when he already rejected her a long time ago. It didn’t make any sense at all.

“Did Baro say something? Is that why you’re asking?” Haejung asked, taking me out of my thoughts.

“No,” I muttered. “He didn’t say anything.” I threw the blanket off of me and headed towards the front door. I walked past Shinwoo in the hallway and ignored his question of where I was going.

-

It wasn’t long until I found myself standing in front of Baro’s door. The door was opened after the 2nd knock and immediately I regretted coming all the way over here.

“Deullie!” Baro grabbed me into a hug and dragged me inside. “I’m so glad you’re not mad at me after what happened on Friday!”

I tried to get out of his grip, but he held on to me as if he hasn’t seen me in years and his life depended on it. “Let go of me,” I tried to say sternly, but Baro completely ignored me as he just tighten his grip.

“I thought you were going to stop talking to me and I got really depressed just thinking about that.”

“I’m not happy with you right now.”

Baro suddenly let go of me and his happy face was quickly replaced by a hurt expression.”You’re still mad at me? I promise I didn’t mean to be so annoying. It’s just that Jaehyun gets me so mad and whenever I see you with him I get even more mad-”

“I’m not mad about that.”

“Then what are you-”

“Why did you lie to me?”

Baro blinked and cocked his head to the side. He seemed genuinely confused and I didn’t blame him. He probably didn’t expect me to find out about his little ‘Haejung lie’ and so that thought wasn’t going to run through his head anytime soon.

“I saw Haejung recently,” I began. I made my way to his couch and sat down. Once again, the place looked completely empty and I assumed neither of Baro’s parents were here. “She told me that you rejected her a long time ago.”

“Oh, that.” Baro shifted his eyes away from me, completely trying to avoid any sort of eye contact. “About that-”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you keep acting as though you were still considering her confession? You made me stay up late listening to your constant rants about this girl even after you decided you didn’t want to be with her. Are you aware that you wasted so much of my time because of that?”

Baro bit his bottom lip and walked over to sit down beside me. He left a big gap between us, which was odd because Baro usually likes to sit really close. “I don’t know why I did that,” he mumbled. But then he looked at me and frowned. “But why do you care?”

“I had my time wasted listening about a girl that I don’t even care about.”

“That’s all?” Baro asked. He scoffed and looked away from me. “If didn’t know any better, I would have thought it was because you were jealous?”

“Jealous?” I repeated, this time scoffing myself. “Why on Earth would I be jealous? Maybe you were the one trying to get me jealous,” I muttered the last part to myself, but apparently Baro heard it.

It wasn’t only the fact that I wasted my time that pissed me off. It was the fact that Baro lied all this time. And what about those “dates” the two of them constantly went on, the ones Baro ditched me to go to? And that time she called at 5 ‘o'clock in the morning? And that time I bumped into at the fast food place and she was all touchy with him. I even recalled Baro calling her “babe.” What was that all about?

“Maybe I was.”

I turned my head to look at Baro and Baro was staring right back at me. He leaned in a little closer and I could feel myself backing up. “Maybe I was trying to get you jealous,” he mumbled. He reached over and gently grabbed my chin, pulling me forward so that our faces were just inches apart. “Maybe this whole time I wanted to get you to fall for me.” He was looking at me with such a serious face that I could already feel my face heating up.

I pushed Baro’s hand away from my face and scowled at him. “Stop doing that to me.”

Baro sat back into the couch. “Doing what?”

“That!” I finally snapped. “You’re always trying to fluster me. It’s annoying.”

Baro stared at me for a bit before letting out a long, tired sigh. He rub his eyes and face and let out another sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to annoy you so much.” Baro stood up and headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll get you something to drink.”

I watched as Baro left the room and then released a low sigh. I wasn’t really sure what the hell was going through Baro’s mind at the moment, but whatever it was really needed to stop. He was acting weirder than usual and I wasn’t sure how to feel about any of it.

Baro didn’t take too long in the kitchen and quickly returned with a glass of juice. He handed it to me and hesitantly sat down beside me again, a little closer than before. I took a sip from the drink before turning to look at Baro.

“Haejung told me something else,” I said, “She told me that the reason you rejected her was because you were going through some mixed feelings. What was that about?”

I wasn’t expecting the next thing to happen.

Baro suddenly grabbed my by the arm and pulled me off the couch. Luckily I didn’t spill the drink as he dragged me towards his front door. “I just remembered,” he stuttered, “I have to do something and I can’t have people over and-” He didn’t even finish his sentence before he was threw me out of his house and closing the door right in my face.

I stood on his front porch for a bit, trying to process everything that just happened into my mind. It was obvious that he was trying to hide something and the fact that he was hiding it from me made a little angry. So much for being his “best friend.”

And that’s when I also realized: I was still holding onto the glass full of juice.