Luckily for Samdong, Shinhwa Academy was having a week off from school in early November as a break, so he could go after Jieun.

Unfortunately for Suzy, this meant a whole week at home with her wretched family. Her week was filled with complaints from Madam and Paul.

"Go do the laundry!"

"Beer."

"Mow the lawn."

"Beer."

"Rake the leaves."

"Beer."

"Clean the house, will you? How can you live in such a pigsty?"

"Beer."

She caved in to all their demands and worked full day shifts at The Mug for that week. Suzy also got a second job at the library. She could finally fulfill Madam's two paychecks a week policy. All the while, Eunjung relaxed at home during the day and partied hard on a nightly basis. Timmy and Jimmy played their X-box and hung out with each other. 

Suzy used her spare time to catch up on the load of homework she was assigned over the break, get ahead on some long term projects, and study for her classes. She still had to maintain her 4.0 GPA.

But all that time, she had not received one word from Samdong. Not even a quick text informing her of what happened after he left. It was Thursday of the weeklong break when she ran into Wooyoung as she was entering The Mug for work that day.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in forever." Suzy smiled at her good friend.

"Yeah. How have you been?" Wooyoung replied good-naturedly.

"Good... I guess. Recovering a little from the party still." She added, setting up the cash register and turning on the open sign for the cafe. Her boss cheerfully waved at her from the kitchen. "Are you.. okay?"

"I'm fine." Wooyoung looked away sadly before sitting down at a table. "Cappucino?" 

"Yeah. I'll get that for you." Suzy returned with his order. "Wooyoung.. I know you're not okay."

"I can't help it. I still like her. I even messed with my best friend's girl." Suzy sat down, relieved there were no other customers yet.

"Don't worry. I messed with my best friend's guy. We're in the same boat here. Except.. it's all my fault. I'm so sorry for everything. I shouldn't have kissed Samdong that day." 

Wooyoung gave her a sad smile. "Well, it kind of gave me an excuse to kiss her though. So, not a total loss?"

The two chuckled together.

"So now what do we do?" Suzy asked. "You lost your girl. I lost my guy. They're happy together. I think we should probably leave them alone from now on."

"Agreed. I'm never making that mistake again. Samdong punches hard!" Wooyoung said. They laughed again. The door opened and Taec walked into the coffee shop.

"Hey guys." He nodded at them and joined their table. "I'll take an iced coffee, thanks." Suzy left to get it and returned.

"So what's up, Taec? How's your break been so far?" Suzy began.

"It's been good. Boring. The whole gang should get together tomorrow at my house. I know Samdong and Jieun are gone but that doesn't mean we should all fall apart."

Wooyoung nodded in agreement. "You're right." Normally, Suzy only stuck around for Jieun and Samdong, but her and Wooyoung had become closer and she enjoyed the rest of the crew's company so it wouldn't be too awkward.

"I'll text you guys." Taec said before paying and leaving. Wooyoung and Suzy chatted a little more before he left and she continued to work.

* * *

That night, Suzy rode her bike home and crept into the house as quietly as she could. If anyone heard her, she knew that she'd have to do a million more chores before going to bed. As silently as possible, Suzy pulled down the ladder to her attic room and breathed a sigh of relief when no one called her name. She put her bag down and checked her phone.

> Taec: Hey Suzy :) So I invited the crew to come to my house tomorrow night. Can you make it?

> Suzy: Yeah definitely! Sounds fun :)

> Taec: Haha good. So what's up?

> Suzy: Nothing much. Just got home from work. You?

> Taec: Just been doing some thinking..

> Suzy: What about?

> Taec: Life in general. You ever feel like you're not doing something important?

Suzy looked thoughtfully at her phone. Since when was this kid so deep? She texted back and they ended up having a deep conversation late into the night. Before she fell asleep, she checked again to see if Samdong had texted her. 

He hadn't.

* * *

Friday night soon came and Suzy went straight from work to Taec's house. She hadn't bothered asking Madam because she knew Madam would assume she was working late that night. 

Taec smiled widely when he opened the door. Suzy noticed his handsome features, but she knew that she would never have romantic feelings for him. He was too much of the best friend type.

She joined Wooyoung and the whole group watched a movie together, a weekly tradition by now. Suzy noticed that Taec chose to sit on her other side and kept 'accidentally' brushing against her hand.

After that day, Taec texted her everyday. She didn't mind it because she enjoyed talking to him. Taec started to replace Jieun as Suzy's best friend and Suzy truly needed that void to be filled. Normally, Suzy was a loner, but she hated the feeling of being completely alone.

* * *

Monday after the long break was hard to adjust to, but Suzy felt renewed from the days off of school. Taec met her at her locker this time and the two began to talk about the classes they had that day. The hallways got suddenly quiet and Taec and Suzy looked at where everyone was looking.

It was like deja vu when Suzy got her makeover. Only this time, it was Samdong.

~ ~ ~

I've been replying to comments via the new reply option. Have you guys been getting them?