(An excerpt from The Lunch Box)

IV

It was a sunny day when the boy and the girl were running around the field they were so used to playing on. Unbeknownst to her, the girl was to discover something that was going to devastate her.

“Bo Mi-ya, didn’t your oppa say we should stop playing now? Come on, aren’t you forgetting that we’re not kids anymore? Let’s get you home!” the boy complained, panting.

“Come on, Donggeun-ah, you’re just saying that because you’re it!” Bo Mi stuck out her tongue.

Donggeun’s palm met his face. “Seriously, let’s go,”

Bo Mi stopped running and walked to him. “Fine, fine, kaja, kaja, you whiney baby,” she punched the arm of her best friend.

“Who you callin’ a whiney baby, huh?” Donggeun poked her side while they walked. The girl yelped and told him to stop, but as far as the slight offense had taken itself, the boy knew his best friend had to be punished accordingly.

“Okay, okay! You’re no whiney baby! Stop! Ah! Hey! Stop!” she giggled, using her hands as a shield.

In fairness to him, Donggeun stopped. “Good. Now let’s go.” And the two docilely walked out of the vacant lot where they would play. They talked about random matters; topic after topic, and then the boy realized he had to tell her something.

Their best buddies relationship was actually marred by one thing. Though they were still very young, both shared mutual romantic feelings for each other although both didn’t know that they felt the same way. In actuality the girl was the first one to be fascinated by the guy’s existence; when she first met him he was listless yet smug, awkward yet playful, and she was utterly magnetized by him. But when they had become friends, soon enough, became the best ones, Bo Mi knew she couldn’t possibly like this guy. He was very far from her ideal man, she knew this, and positively resolved that whatever feelings she primarily had for him that were going to course into something romantic were going to be dumped straight in the junk. She saw him in a platonic way after that, and so did he, but one day, Bo Mi realized that her feelings deviated from her better judgment.

She realized she likes him.

Wrong. That was wrong in so many levels. She suppressed her feelings; she was still young and stupid, after all, and she couldn’t trust her feelings. Bo Mi knew that, in fact she was that wise. But the more she tried to stop herself from yelling right at her best friend’s face that she likes him, the more her heart beat, and the harder everything got.

As to the boy’s case, he was in this crisis between liking and not liking his best friend. He realized this one day when she ran her hands through his hair saying, “Donggeun-ah, you look really ugly in that. Look at your hair!” that was when he apprehended that there was no one that could possibly fill that longing in his heart other than his best friend who stood by him all along.

 Liking her was easy, telling her was hard.

It was after the silent moment that was spent in Bo Mi’s inaudible humming at Donggeun’s noisy thoughts when he hatched the news to her. How Bo Mi took it was another story.

“Oh goshdarn it, Bo Mi. Stop thinking about it!” Lee Bo Mi ruffled her hair in fury, and even banged her head on the table several times.

Her older brother, who happened to pass by the kitchen table, was startled at the sudden paroxysm that seemed to have no apparent cause. “Ya! Bo Mi! What’s the matter?!” Changsub, the second oldest among the three siblings, asked.

Bo Mi settled her chin on the glass surface of the table. Heaving a sigh, she let her silence speak for her answer.

Changsub did not know what the matter was yet. However he did know that whatever was affecting his sister this negatively, sure had firm roots. “How…was your day, sis?” he croaked, finding that the only thing best to say as of the moment.

She sighed again. Too tired and agitated to formulate a proper reply she settled for, “Long story.”

“Oh she saw him, alright,” answered in behalf of the youngest was another voice, and the eldest walked into the kitchen; a trace of irritation was present in Minhyuk’s face and voice. “In fact they’re classmates,”

“Who…” Changsub darted his gaze from his sis’ face to his hyung’s. As soon as the wavelengths of their thoughts matched he immediately closed his mouth. “Oh.” he was a little hesitant, since he didn’t want his sister to be reminded of a bitter chapter in her past, but he knew she had to face this. “So how’s…he?”

“The jerkface dares call himself by another name,” she rolled her eyes.

“Really? Oh…”

“And here’s a plot twist,” Minhyuk sat on the chair adjacent to Bo Mi. “They’re partners in a Science activity,”

Changsub, half-jokingly, put his hand on his sister’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

Bo Mi swatted off his hand. “Oh, oppa, what I’m feeling right now is way worse than fever.”

The other just smiled thinly. “Can you handle it?”

“I’ve no choice.”

“So hyung,” Changsub turned to Minhyuk. “What are we going to do with the guy who hurt our little sister?”

Bo Mi shook her head with a reproachful look on her face before her other oppa could even respond. “Geez, it’s nothing, really. I can handle this. I’m not like the frail Bo Mi before,”

Still dubious but nonetheless chose to believe, the other two just agreed. “Whatever you say, sis.”

“Does Sungjae know about this, though?” Changsub asked.

She shook her head glumly.

“Do you have a plan of telling him?”

Bo Mi responded with neither a nod nor a shake of the head. Rising from her seat she gestured that the “meeting” was adjourned. “Past is past, never discuss.” She said with finality and went upstairs without another word. With this reply, the oppas both knew that Bo Mi is stronger now, however she may have to get through a test to prove her strength.

The day of the making of the project came, and getting up from her bed that morning was exceptionally unbearable for Lee Bo Mi. Apparently this is the trouble she goes through every morning, but today the difficulty had increased tenfold. Thinking of what lay ahead of her she wanted to play charade—say that she had a fever, whatnot, any acceptable, desperate alibi so that she would not have to show up for the damned project.

But just like any other day, this one had to start.

“Kimchi soup for our baby, who is going to have a long day,” her Minhyuk-oppa smiled tenderly at her as he placed the bowl on the dining table, knowing that nothing could stop this day. He seemed pretty with that pink-and-yellow apron on him.

Changsub got down from the flight of stairs. “Good morn hyung; good morn, Bo Mi,” here he ruffled his sister’s hair as he walked past her. He then settled on his seat. “Ready?”

He noticed that she looked like death. “I don’t appear to have any choice, do I?” with those dark circles on her eyes—yep, she definitely looked like death.

The siblings proceeded with their breakfast then, and Bo Mi prepared for the day. In the middle of the day she sorted to go knowing that her partner for the activity would be waiting for her.

Meanwhile as the lass was going through all this trouble the lad was trying his hardest to keep it together. He never admitted it to himself, but he knew he was tensed. He can never hide that fact. Having prepared his things he went out of the house to get to their rendezvous point.

However, things did not go as planned.

“What…” Bo Mi’s partner mouthed, when they saw them approaching. “…Is he doing here?”

“Howdyyy!” Yook Sungjae waved blithely at him. Bo Mi was looking like a walking brick. “My partner and I are already done with the project and Bo Mi here asked me if I could accompany her here today so…I hope you don’t mind, new classmate?”

He felt an annoying sting pass through his system, but it would be rude if he exhibited this. Studying the situation, he concluded that he did not have any choice but to welcome the unwelcomed party, he just nodded his head and assented, much to Bo Mi’s internal bliss, “No problem. Let’s go.”

Too bad, he wanted to have Bo Mi to himself today.

***

프니엘: For some reason, when I realize that our plane is already hovering over the Korean atmosphere my heart rate goes twice faster than it usually is. The descent happens just when I’ve just woken up from a deep sleep because I was really tired the last night.

“Okayyyyy pile out in neat file everyone,” Leader Kwang instructs as we’re done getting our hand-carries from the compartment above the seats. I don’t know why, but for the first time ever since our group debuted, I’m really excited about coming back home. We head for the exit carefully, and go down the plane.

“Looks good on you,” I compliment Ilhoon, on his newly-bought clothes.

He looks down for a second and then looks at me. “You really think so?”

“Sure I do.”

As usual, while we’re walking across the airport it’s like we’re walking across a fashion runway, as there are several cameras being pointed at us and snap, snap, snap, and I know—our fans who aren’t here right now will still know what we wore for this day. Everyone loves airport fashion.

We hop on in the car, one by one, and our first destination is the company. When we get there I take a look at Sungjae, who only shows his usual aura, and I can’t help but wonder how it is like to miss your best friend for five days. Sure, they’ve had a misunderstanding, an inevitable separation for two years, but how will it be like—being Se Na’s best friend? That you have someone who is like your other half? How does it feel like to be on Sungjae’s shoes?

“You missed Se Na?” I ask, while we’re walking across the ground floor.

He looks at me. “I did.”

“Me too.” I say honestly. And then when I look down on the floor while walking, I hear again in my ears the loud, rapid beating of my heart and then I realize, I’m excited. Really excited.

A slightly sharp force hits me on the hip and I flinch, as Sungjae giggles. “Hyung has a crush on Se Na, Hyung has a crush on Se Naaaaa,”

I roll my eyes, but I’m laughing. That just sounds true in itself. “Give me a break, Sungjae,”

He just laughs, and we continue to tread the way to the meeting room. While we’re at it someone suddenly comes down the stairs, and when we turn our heads at the sharp tapping sounds that cuts through the air, there is our muse—oh what a beautiful creature—trotting down the stairs while smoothly gliding her hand on the handrails, letting out a huge, “JAE!”

It’s an adorable sight that the moment the tip of her shoe touches the tile under the last step of the stairs, she flings her arms around his neck.

Sungjae looks like he’s sinking his face into her red locks (which seem brighter and fierier now compared to the last time I saw them) and laughs while he’s at it. “How have you been, Se Na?”

“I was fiiiiine!” she cheers happily, and draws out, but when I stare at her for the fraction of a second I think that something is amiss, but I easily fling that thought into ignorance. It’s just my imagination. She hugs him again, now tighter. We start to flock around them. Se Na whispers this slightly prolonged ‘Jae’ on her best friend’s ear. I wonder if this is how Se Na would always welcome him back.

“So how were you here, Se Na?” Minhyuk-hyung queries.

She lets herself linger to her Sungjae’s torso for a while. “It was a little dull without you guys, but I managed,” and with one, final squeeze on Sungjae she embraces Minhyuk-hyung. “I missed you, oppa,”

“Hmmpff,” Minhyuk-hyung grunts, biting down his lower lip, squishing her. “I missed you too, sweetie,”

Se Na laughs when they separate, and she hugs the rest of us. As I am the last one to be hugged, she hesitates a little, and everyone lets out a yeeee when our arms, at first, are awkwardly left hanging in the air.

“Oh for crying out loud,” Se Na snorts, and laughs. Her arms are around my torso and so are mine, on hers. “Donggeuni-oppa,”

I think it’s the first time that she’s called me by my real name ever since we met. At the sound of “Donggeuni-oppa” I feel some sort of estranged with her, because I am her personal ‘Penpen’, or ‘Penpennie’. But then on the second thought, I find this kind of nice, cute, even, because the name Donggeun is for people who are close to my heart. Though Se Na has stationed herself a little bit too close to my heart with that ‘Penpen’ nickname, I kind of hope, inside me, that she will call me ‘Donggeuni’ someday, not out of show, but out of fondness, and dashed with ‘-oppa’, with an entirely different connotation—I could vaguely picture the two of us walking in the sunset with her arm hooked around mine.

Geez, I’m really taking this to new heights, am I not?

“Se Na-ya,” I just smile, betraying no sign of my internal bliss. Yonghyun-hyung tells us to hurry up for the meeting. Everybody interjects rogers, and we go to the conference room. “Kaja,” I say to her.

Se Na nods. But much to her surprise, I take the liberty of taking her hand with no one noticing, and no one ever does. I don’t know how she finds this funny but she stifles a feathery chortle and just allows this holding of our hands. As a matter of fact she tugs me to walk faster. I am a little confused whether she’s pleased with this or she just tolerates me, though.

When we’re in the conference room we sit beside each other, and a few minutes later, the director, the writers, and our managers orient us on the schedule of the filming; we’ll be resuming tomorrow, and we should expect uninterrupted filming days for the weeks that will follow. We’re a little behind schedule so we should hurry up.

“How many chapters are there so far, anyway?” Changsub-hyung asks.

The noona-writer answers. “So far there are six. The author sends it to us in installment, you see; but no worries—we’ve already constructed the script for the fourth and fifth chapters. Although, I think it’d be better if the author would hurry up with the story because we need to see the whole story, so we’ll just go all the way with the taping,”

“Maybe the author’s busy?” Ilhoon jests.

Noona just smiles at this.

“Why don’t you email her, and tell her to hurry up?” I speak in recommendation. “Have you done that before?”

“Well we have,” she answers. “But that was still back during the fourth chapter which was three weeks ago...right, Se Na?”

Se Na makes a face at a grinning Ilhoon across the table. When her name is called she looks at the writer and nods. “Ah? Uh, yes, but she didn’t reply, did she?”

“She sent the chapter immediately as an answer.”

Se Na looks at me. “What was her username again?”

“P…” I recall. “pna502?”

“Oh,” Se Na maintains a pokerface. “Don’t worry, she’s good with deadlines. She was never late in submitting the chapters. Give her a deadline so you’ll push her into working,”

The head writer nods at another writer who’s sitting beside her, who is doing something on his laptop. “Send her an email.”

“Now?” the other asks.

“Yes.”

“A—ah, wait,” Se Na stiffens.

Noona gives her a questioning look.

Our muse keeps agape, and her lips wiggle as if trying to form words, but all everything comes out in chokes. “I-uh-don’t you think-I mean—” It’s like she’s having trouble what to say. “W-where are the stylists?”

Noona seems wondering at this for a moment, but she answers easily, “Well they’re excluded in the meeting. Why?”

“N-nothing, nothing,” my seatmate leans back on her chair carefully. “I just wanted to tell Soori-eonni that I dyed my hair again,”

“You did?” I ask in second notion.

She just nods her head. We continue the discussion for a while, about how we’re going to film the next chapters, a brief synopsis on the chapters we haven’t read, with the director-nim and the head writer-noona as the ones presiding over the meeting. While we’re at it Sungjae takes a peek at the assistant-writer’s laptop while the former composes the email to pna502.

“And…send!” assistant writer-hyung smiles as he hits the enter key. “I was clear with that, right?” he turns to Sungjae.

“Yes, hyung. Is she going to answer?”

“We’ll just see. I’m pretty sure she’ll read it,”

“So you sent it?” head writer-noona asks them.

“Yep. I composed it quite imperatively.”

And then the meeting is disrupted when Se Na’s phone rings. Apparently this abashes her, because she forgot to silence her phone before this meeting. When everyone looks at her with neutral gazes, she bows several times. “Oops. I’m so sorry,”

“Hyung, I think you missent the email to Se Na,” Hyunsik-hyung jokes, which everyone assents to with a hearty laugh. Se Na just grins at this joke, as she’s reading what her phone has received.

Everyone continues discussing. While they’re at it I observe Se Na, while she scrolls through her phone and there’s an expression on her face that seems a little familiar to me. I try to recall where I’ve seen this, and I then I remember, because the backdrop supports it—I saw that expression the day we have had a meeting about which fan fic was going to be chosen for our mini-series, and it was The Lunch Box. Se Na seems a little tensed, I don’t know why, I just sense it, so as to ease her I ask, “What was that?”

Turning her head without peeling her eyes off the screen of her phone she answers, “E-eh…ah?”

“What was that?” I say again. I lean a little to see what’s consuming all her attention but faster than light, she locks her screen and conceals her phone.

“You-you’re asking what that w-was? Oh, nothing, just a message,” she clears, and it’s obvious that she’s a little defensive.

“Really?”

“Really!”

I try to think of what could really fluster her like that. Nothing comes to mind, although…it’s kind of funny because it really is coincidental. “Email?” I guess.

For some reason she hesitates bobbing her head. Looking to the left side, she’s thinking of something that I don’t know, and decides, “Uh, yeah. I had a recent project, you see. Someone made me proofread his thesis work because he had no time,”

“Are you done with it?”

“Uh, yes.”

“So what’d he email you for?”

“Just a word of thanks. And that he’s already deposited the payment. I told him that it’s no problem, really, that he doesn’t need to pay me, but he insisted.”

“Wow, you must be rich then.”

Shrugging, the literate just smiles. “Not really.” She inserts the phone back to her pocket, and we refocus our attention to the meeting going on. Something tells me that something is up, but I just fling that into nothing.

Se Na goes with us in going to the dorm, for Sungjae claimed that he has a gift for her. I didn’t say aloud that I had one too, but hey—that isn’t really necessary.

We’re putting our things back in the closets and while Se Na prepares the take-out food on the table. “Hyung, where’s the Stitch toy you bought for Se Na?” Sungjae asks.

I point to a corner in the room. “There. Where’s the hoodie you bought?”

“Here. Let’s give it to her?”

With one nod of the head, we get out of the room and Sungjae coos, “Se Na-yaaa,”

The younger one glances at us, and at the sight of the paper-bag her best friend is carrying, her face brightens up. “Yes?” (really, I’m the one carrying a huger item here and that’s the first one she notices.)

“For you,” my dongsaeng pushes the bag forward. She giddily receives it and hugs her bestie first, before opening it.

“Aww, you even bothered!”

He lets out this flattered ehehehe at that, and urges her, “Open it,”

She does. Carefully, she opens the bag and takes it out, and her happiness doubles. “Oh my goodness, Jae, this is so cute!!!”

“I know; I really looked for a purple one. I was about to buy you a jacket but I found this, so…yeah. You like it?”

Se Na’s smile is from ear to ear her eyes are disappearing. Wearing it quickly, she fixes the dress and flings her hairs that are stuck under the hood with both hands. She puts on the hood. Why, she does look like a cat. “I don’t know how to thank youuuuu. Aww, Jaejaeeee,” opening her arms again the best friends share a hug. “Thank youuuuuuu!”

“Hahaha, you’re welcome; anyway, Peniel-hyung has a gift for you too,” when they detach Sungjae tilts his head to my direction.

If only I could hide this thing, believe me, I would.

“You too?” the cat grins in question. “That? That’s for me?”

“Yeah…”I reply, and it’s more like a sigh. When I surrender Stitch to his rightful owner he blocks my view.

Pyo Se Na laughs heartily, sticking her cheek onto Stitch’s face, and hugs as if she would never let go. She manages to hug his neck, but it’s a miracle that she can still breathe. “Aigoo, this thing’s so cute!”

I walk closer to her and caress Stitch’s back. Peeking my head to the left where I can see her face, I say, “Although you, cat, are cuter than Stitch.” Wait a minute. Since when did I learn all this grease?

Se Na’s face mostly concealed so I don’t see whether she cringes or, hopefully, blushes. Nonetheless she chuckles. “I really like it, Donggeuni-oppa,” that name, again! The urge to put my heart on my chest and sigh is tempting, but I push it down. Oh my gosh, Se Na ‘feels’. “Thank youuuuu.”

“Sure, cat,” I say, managing to rub her head. I jokingly add, “Although, do you have nine lives?”

Which part here she interprets as something offensive, I have no idea, but for two seconds the smile disappears on her face as if a shadow had passed by. I’m about to ask what’s wrong but I’m given no chance. “Thanks,” she mutters, with finality, and since then I can’t shake off the feeling that I’ve said something wrong.

Not long after that we had all had a meal together, and Se Na still approaches me, but still, the “nine lives” joke still couldn’t get out of my mind. Like I’ve said something wrong, like that? Deciding to free myself from the worry I forget about it and just go on.

Though today, Se Na seems really, really tired.

The next day, we set to film the fourth chapter of the fan fiction and Se Na still seems tired. It’s like she’s carrying this enormous, invisible weight on her shoulders. When we’re on our breaks I could always catch her staring blankly into space, biting her lip like she’s frustrated about something, and her shoulders look hunched forward, like she’s surrendering. This is Se Na, I know, but with my eyes that have been sharpened by absence I wonder where the Se Na that we have left five days ago had gone. I want to ask Sungjae about this, but he’s going to tease me again, saying I look at Se Na with hawk-like observance and all—this discourages me, so I decide to just keep it to myself. Besides, I could be just imagining things.

“Don’t you think the story’s getting more interesting, hyung?” Hyunsik-hyung (who, by the way, unintentionally trolled us the other day) asks Eunkwang-hyung, who is sitting next to him.

Leader nods. “I know. How do you think this is going to end up?”

“I bet Bo Mi is going to end up with Peniel,” the other laughs. “He’s the only love interest around, I mean, duh.”

“But Sungjae…hey, look at the cliché drive of this. He could fall in love with Bo Mi! These three are obviously a love triangle!”

“What are you saying, hyung,” Changsub-hyung butts in. “Sungjae and Bo Mi are just platonic. Look at Sungjae there—he’s too childish and ignorant about everything. He’s practically clueless.”

“Have you read the sixth chapter, though? Sungjae made a move on Bo Mi,” Leader Kwang giggles. “It’s funny because what we have here in the set is almost as identical as the triad here in the fan-fic,”

“You’re in my earshot guys, don’t think I’m not hearing what you’re saying,” I say, coolly, not peeling my eyes off the screen of what I’m reading.

The three immediately chuckle at their silliness, but nevertheless go on with their discussion. “If I’m reading correctly,” Sik-hyung says, “Bo Mi and Donggeun—which is, Peniel, have a romantic history, right?”

“Right. And then it ended on a sour note.” Changsub-hyung says. “Because he left.”

“Whoa, good thing Se Na and Sungjae didn’t end up like that, don’t you think? Sungjae had to leave, right?” Sik-hyung tilted away a little from him in query.

“That’s an entirely different scenario. First off, Sungjae and Se Na are not romantically inclined. Second, Sungjae was separated from her because of training,”

“But back to The Lunch Box,” Eunkwang-hyung breaks, “Se Na—I mean, Bo Mi—has a new bestie now, which is Sungjae, and apparently this drives Peniel jealous,” I lose myself in the middle of my reading and I think it’s a few seconds later that I notice they’ve gone quiet. Wondering where they went I look up and turn my head to where they should be, and they’re still there—but they’re all looking at me with sly, really sly looks.

“What?” I say.

My hyungs then break into a barrel of laughs, finding something amusing which I don’t get. I ask again what the matter is, but they still laugh at me.

“Seriously, what’s so funny?” I ask, voice a tad higher.

Hyunsik-hyung is the first one to gather his breath and he replies, “It’s just that—oh my gosh, it’s so funny that you three in The Lunch Box almost make no difference between you three in real life,”

“Don’t worry Donggeun-ah,” Changsub-hyung giggles. “We ship you with Se Na!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“We all do!”

Involuntarily, my hand scratches my head. “But we’re not a love triangle, what are you saying,”

The three exchange malicious looks and then let out this hum of hmmm like they doubt the credibility of my statement. “Whatever you say, Donggeuni,” and they proceed with laughing, till they get tired.

Why, Sungjae, Se Na, and I are not a love triangle!

Even Sungjae ships me with Se Na, see? Who would see that as a love triangle?

In the middle of the filming of the fifth chapter which is two weeks later, Sungjae and Ilhoon seem to be burdened with something academic.

Namely?

Exam week.

“’Fraid so,” Ilhoon shrugs, in answer to Eunkwang-hyung’s question.

“How are we going to find time?” Sungjae sighs bleakly, nearby. I look at him for a long time and when he notices that I’m watching, he quickly walks to me and pleads, “Peniel-hyung!”

I almost squeak, “What?”

“Help me in my English subject!”

I’d gladly do so, unfortunately I’m also quite busy too, myself. “When…?”

“I’ve only got a week to prepare,” Sungjae groans. “Please! A session or two of tutorials will do,”

“Well, I…but…you shouldn’t rush when you study. You should have ample time in, say, to gobble it all up,”

Our conversation is interrupted when the door in the room opens, and Se Na comes in, humming, “Here’s a llama, there’s a llama, funny llama, fuzzy llama, llama, llama, duck,” and I think she’s got the lyrics wrong. “Donuts for everyone!” she announces, and puts it on the table. All of us get a piece. When Ilhoon comes across her she notices the glumness of his character. “Oppa, why the long face?”

“Exams.” My dongsaeng frowns.

“When?”

“Next week.”

“Oh. No worries,” she laughs. “You’ve still got a whole week to procrastinate,”

“Aw, come on! It’s not that easy, you know!” Ilhoon whines. “There’s a truckload of subjects to study and we barely have time! There’s filming and everything else in between!”

Se Na still regards this with much indifference. She doesn’t feel this worry, because first, she doesn’t go to school and, second, even if she does, she’s too damn smart to even open a book. Believe me, I know—Sungjae’s told me that Se Na was top of their class during elementary and, though out of school, she self-studies the lessons she’s supposed to learn. She could learn them quickly—in fact Se Na has even taught Sungjae on his lessons on Science once. “One way or another, you know you have to study.” She says.

Abruptly Sungjae is stricken with an idea, that he calls his BFF, “Se Na-ya,”

“Oh?”

“What do you say I sleep over at your place for a few nights? I need a place to study for the exams.”

Blinking for many a time, she just agrees. “Okay.”

“Oh—oh hell naw Sungjae, you two are not staying in a place together, alone.” Eunkwang-hyung suddenly intervenes, rising from his seat and putting himself in the middle of the two. “Sungjae, no. As your hyung, and, Se Na, as your oppa, I vehemently disagree with this arrangement,”

 Se Na looks up and her chest falls in a breath of exasperation, and I could read , what now?

“Why, hyung?” maknae asks.

“You aren’t seven years old! There should be an adult to look over you!”

The younger male repays him a bewildered look. “Hyung, Se Na and I have been together for ten years—”

“—that’s not the case. You, young man, are not to be left alone with a lady.”

I look at the other spectators, and we all exchange a look. Hyung was this conservative? Altogether, we shrug our shoulders.

“So you’re saying that there should be another one in the house?” says Se Na.

“Yes.”

“So you’re coming with us?”

“Ah, no; that’s a different matter. I can’t leave these guys here,” he turns his head to us for a moment.

“Then who? Jongwon-hyung?” Sungjae notions.

“He’s busy. Someone else,” by the looks of it, even Eunkwang-hyung doesn’t know the answer.

“Peniel-hyung!” Jung Ilhoon bursts. “Peniel-hyung volunteers!”

Turning my head slowly, I give Jung the evil eye, but he just clandestinely dances in his seat with a gigantic grin on his face, looking like the goofball he is.

“Why not Peniel?” Changsub-hyung seconds. I think it’s sincere but when I look at his face he’s also grinning in tease.

“I agree.” Minhyuk-hyung, too. “Besides he’s going to teach Sungjae in English, so, yeah… win-win.”

Really, guys. Really. I then catch Se Na looking at me with a blank look; I’m not sure what it’s out of, but she asks Eunkwang-hyung, “What about Ilhoon-oppa?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Ilhoon waves an adjourning hand. “Two Hanlim boys in one household are too much,”

“But are you sure that you can study hard here?” geez, Se Na talks like a mom. She must have gotten this maternal instinct from the way her best friend treats her.

“Sure I can. Watch me.”

“If you say so.” Our muse then glances at Sungjae. “No goofing in my home, okay. Study well.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Sungjae salutes. “Besides, I’ll have you teach me in Science.”

“And you really just have to drag me in…” she mumbles. “When do we start?”

“I’ll tell you,” he grins. “Peniel-hyung?”

“Yeah?” I answer.

“It’s alright for you to be our ‘proprietor’, right?” maknae makes these quotation marks with his fingers.

Well since Se Na and my favorite dongsaeng are the ones I’m with, no problem. “Sure.” I say, a hundred percent of agreement. Although, I’m quite afraid of something: I’ll have to be the third wheel again.

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