"Jiyul ah, remember when you used to tag along and watch the guys and I play basketball?" G.O mentioned as they sat in the living room couch. Jiyul nodded, not diverting her eyes from the television.

"And I'd buy you icecream afterwards." he remembered with a soft smile forming on his face.

"Let's break up." Jiyul simply said, not bothering to face him.

G.O flinched at the sound of those cold, piercing words that were brought up once more. But he quickly shook away the pain and forced a smile.

"Would you like to come along this Wednesday?" he asked.

Jiyul let out a sigh, not getting why her words just won't get through to him. Before she could answer, G.O spoke again.

"It's set then. Don't make any plans on Wednesday night, alright?" he beamed, heading to the kitchen to make themselves some snacks.

The next few days passed like this, with many one sided conversations. And at the end of G.O's reminiscing, those three dreadful words never failed to come up. 'Let's break up'. And each time, G.O would feign ignorance, changing the subject or simply walking away as if he hadn't hear them. But he did. And it was getting harder and harder each time to put up a smile. Yet it was the only thing he knew how to do.

Jiyul had moved her stuff out of their shared bedroom. She insisted on sleeping in the guest room. And even as she packed her stuff, she didn't take a single photo frame that held their picture. Not even the polaroids that she stuck on the wall beside their bed. At least she didn't take them down and throw them away, G.O thought to comfort himself as he stared at their happy faces in each photo each night before he forced himself to deal with the emptiness.

"Remember the time you got upset because you found a love letter from some girl in my pocket?" G.O brought up an incident and laughed to himself, like always.

"You were so mad, you promised you were going to kill that girl. But when you saw her in school the next day, you actually left the two of us alone because you were too intimidated."

As always, all he got from Jiyul was silence. But he continued, still amused by the memory. Jiyul was like a little puppy. The cute, tiny breeds that were awfully noisy. But their bark was always louder than their bite.

"I told you before that I hated girls that got jealous easily. But to be honest, now I really wish that would happened again..." he trailed off.

G.O was never good with expressing himself. He seldom showed his love the way Jiyul wished he would. He got a little better when they first got together. But as time passed and they got closer, he found it harder to express the love he felt for Jiyul. And the less he showed it, the more he forgot. G.O scoffed, as he sat in their bedroom alone. He found it so utterly stupid of himself to have taken his angel for granted. He laughed at himself, for all the times he found her enthusiasm annoying and the times he saw her concern as pointless nagging. Because now he wished he had all of that back. Even if they were ten times worse than before.

Wednesday approached fast...for everyone else, that is. For G.O and Jiyul, it felt like an eternity. For G.O, because he anticipated the arrival of the day so much. And for Jiyul, because she wanted so badly to get everything over and done with.

'Your class just ended, right? I'm alr waiting outside! ^^'

Jiyul would have smiled at that text. Especially with that cutesy smiley at the end. But all she knew was that it could be their last day together. And even though she appeared to have waited so long for this day, her heart still dreaded it.

"It's for the best..." she mumbled to herself, gathering courage as she exited the classroom. She remembered when they were still in highschool, and G.O would awkwardly wait outside her classroom for her summer classes to end. That was the farthest he got in showing he missed her.

"Going to meet your boyfriend?" Inyoung chirped, catching up with her.

"Yeah..." she replied, feeling weird at the sound of that title.

"You don't look that excited though." Inyoung stated, tilting her head as she analyzed Jiyul.

"I'm just tired from all the classes." she answered as the both of them approached the gates.

"Don't worry. I bet you'll be jumping with joy when you meet G.O." Inyoung teased.

"Of course." Jiyul trailed off when she saw G.O approaching from the sides.

They waved Inyoung goodbye with happy faces before they both entered the car. And almost instantly, Jiyul's smile vanished. G.O clenched his jaw, hurt to see how hard it was for Jiyul to even pretend to enjoy his presence.

"Why are you lying to Inyoung?" he asked, breaking the silence. Jiyul looked down with a sigh. She had hoped that he didn't overhear their conversation, but he did afterall.

"Are you not going to let her know what's really happening?" he questioned again.

"She doesn't need to know." she simply replied.

"So you're going to keep letting her think we're happy?"

Jiyul's heart sank at those words. She wasn't sure whey she kept lying to Inyoung either. She thought she just didn't want her to worry. But perhaps it was really because she wished it were real. She so badly wished that everything she had told Inyoung before were all real. About them still in a happy relationship, going on dates and herself being fully energized just with his presence.

"Well, I wish it were all true..." G.O muttered before starting the car.

Jiyul shut her eyes, letting her head rest against the window. It wasn't long before they arrived outside a restaurant.

"You meet the guys first. I'll go park the car." G.O suggested with a sweet smile. Without a word, Jiyul got out of the car and headed in. G.O saw that coming. But still, he couldn't help but hope for a different response.

Jiyul stepped inside, her eyes scanning the place for one of the guys. And in the far corner, she spotted a noisy group. That was definitely them. She approached, catching the attention of the maknae immediately.

"Jiyul noona!" he exclaimed, causing the rest of their heads to turn.

"Oh! Noona! Long time no see!" Chundung greeted.

"Noona, sit here." Joon waved his hand, motioning her to take the seat beside him. She obediently did so, returning the bright smiles they carried on their faces.

"We missed you. It's been so long." Joon cooed, earning agreeing nods from the rest of them.

"Yeah. I've been busy..." she hesitantly replied. She wasn't sure if there was a need to lie, since they probably knew she wasn't. Besides, she had no idea what secrets G.O shared with these guys. They probably already knew everything that's been happening.

"Where's hyung?" Chundung asked, looking around.

"He's parking the car. He'll be here in awhile."

Her eyes met with Seungho as she spoke, bringing her mind back to that night.

"I said Jiyul was a burden to you, G.O, not to anyone else and especially not to me!"
"Is that a confession?"
"If you think it is, it is."

She returned the small smile that Seungho gave, trying hard to put aside any awkwardness.

"Oh hyung is here."

They all turned to find G.O approaching with a gentle smile. He settled himself on the empty seat across from Jiyul.

"What were you guys talking about?" he curiously asked the bunch.

"Don't worry, hyung. You came before we could even start badmouthing you." Mir joked.

They started their random chattering as they ate, laughing at the silly jokes the younger ones made. Throughout dinner, G.O couldn't take his eyes off his lovely girlfriend. He didn't speak much, in fear of ruining the happy moment. It wasn't often that he saw Jiyul this cheerful. In fact, these days, he hasn't seen her smile at all. He envied the guys. They were still able to get that adorable laugh out of her, while all he brought her were tears and sighs of exasperation. From the corner of her eye, Jiyul could see how G.O was holding his tongue. She knew that look of self doubt. But she didn't want to let the scar in their relationship affect her time with the rest of the guys as well.

After dinner, they took a stroll to the usual basketball court the guys usually hung out.

"Who brought the ball?!" Joon suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone.Seungho gave him a smack on the head.

"You put it in my car just before we left! My car is parked there!" he yelled, frustrated with Joon's absent minded-ness. Jiyul laughed, amused by the their interactions. It wasn't difficult to see why G.O would rather hang out with them than her.

The brightly lit court was filled with their laughter and the shuffling sounds of their sneakers against the cement floor. Jiyul sat at the benches at the side, watching them pace around before the start of the match. All of a sudden, a voice called out from a distance.

"G.O oppa!"

Everyone's heads turned.

"Oh... Jaeyeon ah..." G.O spoke, his eyes darting towards Jiyul.

Just when she thought things could possibly take a turn.