I walked through the halls of the school. It was quiet; there weren’t a lot of people here yet because it was so early. There were a few whispers as I walked by, but overall nobody paid any attention to me. I guess the whole target thing has started to become less popular.

Even though I was barely awake, I didn’t regret my decision to come to school early. It was all a part of my plan to avoid Kris. Although I still haven’t figured out a way to avoid him during class...

As I walked down the hall, I ran into Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Xiumin, who were standing by one of the vending machines. Chanyeol noticed me and waved.

“Morning Ji Eun!” he exclaimed cheerily. Baekhyun and Xiumin waved, but didn’t say anything. They both looked half asleep.

“Morning everyone!” I said, walking over to them. Just at that moment, Kyungsoo appeared as well. When he saw me, he froze, hesitating a little before continuing towards us.

Chanyeol noticed this. “Is something wrong?” he asked, looking between the two of us. He seemed to sense some uneasiness between us.

“No, nothing’s wrong.” Kyungsoo replied quietly. “Ji Eun, can we talk for a second?”

“Oh, sure.” I said, thrown off by his sudden request. We walked over to an empty stairwell. He seemed very nervous about something.

“I...I can’t continue being your fake boyfriend anymore.” he admitted. “I think that things have gotten too awkward between us now. But I still want to be your friend...if that’s alright with you.”

I really shouldn’t be that surprised. After what happened during our date yesterday, there’s no way we can pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. To be honest, I was actually a bit relieved.

“Of course. I still want to be friends as well.” He smiled at that.

“Good.” he said. “Homeroom is starting soon, so I have to go. See you later!” He hurried off to class.

I should probably go to class as well, even though I really don’t want to deal with Kris yet...

I turned around to walk up the stairs, only to bump into someone who had been standing right behind me.

“Oh! Sorry-” I looked up at the person, my heart almost leaping out of my chest when I saw who it was.

Kris gave me a smirk. “Good morning babe. I saw you talking with your boyfriend. Is something wrong?”

Despite the fact that I was still rattled, I scowled up at him. “None of your business Kris. Just leave me alone.” I was about to push past him, but he grabbed my arm, preventing me from leaving.

“Why are you so angry? Did you guys break up or something?” I stayed silent. “What, you guys are over already? Wow, that was fast.” He smirked.

I glared at him angrily. “Yeah, we’re not dating anymore!” I yelled, trying to pull out of his grip. It’s because of him that I hurt Kyungsoo!

He looked surprised at first, then he grinned. “Does that mean I can have you now?” he asked.

I stared at him, trying to formulate a response. It wasn’t working. Thankfully, the bell rung at that moment. We both looked at each other.

“Crap, we’re late!” Kris cried, grabbing my hand and pulling me along as we ran towards class.

I blushed. We’re holding hands!

When I held hands with Kyungsoo, it was nice. But it was nothing compared to what I felt when holding hands with Kris. His touch made my heart start to pound once again, and I felt slightly out of breath. The warmth from his hands seemed to spread up my arm and throughout my body.

Holding hands with him....feels so nice...

I snapped out of my thoughts. This is exactly why I need to avoid him! Being around him isn’t helping me at all! I can’t fall for him!

We managed to make it to class on time. We rushed to our seats just at the teacher walked in. Kris smiled at me. I smiled back, but as soon as I realized what I was doing, I quickly looked away. I can’t be nice to him. I have to ignore him!

He didn’t try to talk to me for the whole class, but as soon as the lunch bell rang, he turned to me and gave me a warm smile that made me feel slightly light-headed. “Want to eat lunch with me?” he asked pleasantly.

“Sorry, I’d rather eat with my friends.” I answered, grabbing my lunch and attempting to go sit with Chanyeol and Xiumin. But Kris stood in my way.

“Well I would rather have you hang out with me.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the classroom. I tried to pull my hand away, but I couldn’t; he was way stronger than me. He simply dragged me further down the hall, ignoring my constant objections. He led me up to the school roof, where he finally released me and sat down, pulling out his lunch.

“Come on, sit down.” he insisted, patting the spot beside him. I considered just running away. Would he catch me? As if he read my mind, he said, “If you leave, I’m just going to drag you back again.” I pouted angrily, and he laughed. “Come on, just sit. I’m not going to do anything to you, I promise.”

I sat down reluctantly, making sure not to sit too close to him. But he scooted over next to me anyways. I decided to ignore that, and took out my lunch.

“Is that kimbap?” he asked me. I nodded. “It looks good. Did you make it?”

“Yeah, I did.” I answered. I hesitated a bit before asking, “Uh...do you want a piece?”

“Sure!” he said enthusiastically, grabbing one and popping it into his mouth. I held my breath, waiting for the verdict.

His face broke out into a huge smile. “It’s delicious! Wow, you must be a really good cook.”

I blushed and looked away, not wanting him to see how happy I was to hear that.

He moved a bit closer to me. “You know, I really like girls who know how to cook.” he whispered to me. I looked at him, trying to figure out if he was just teasing me again. He looked completely serious.

That face, those eyes, that voice...My face and hands grew warmer. Does he even know how crazy he makes me?

“You’re blushing again.” he said. He leaned in even more, so that his face was right in front of mine. He stared deeply into my eyes.

“Do you....like me?”

My heart stopped. Did he really just ask me that? Oh no, what do I say? I need to say no. Otherwise he’s going to win. I can’t lose!

I pushed him away and stood up. “O-Of course not!” I cried. “I’ll never like you. Even if I was your target for the rest of my life, I would never like you!”

He looked up at me. “So the only reason you hate me is because I made you my target?”

I wavered. Is that really the only reason I hate him? I really don’t want him to win, but other than that, do I really hate him?

No. That’s not it. It’s because he’s played around with other girls before. Making them fall for him and then breaking their hearts is all just a game to him. I would never like a guy that does those kinds of things!

When I didn’t answer, he continued, “Fine. Then you don’t have to be my target anymore.”

Wait, what? “But, don’t you want to win?” I asked tentatively. Why would he just give up?

He smiled. “I don’t care about that anymore.” he said.

“Because...I want to date you for real.”