The next day when So Eun got up to go to school, Daehyun was already out.

She grabbed a toast listlessly and met up with the five other BAP boys to go to school together. Daehyun must have woke up much earlier than her to make such an early escape. He must hate her, huh?

The thought of it made her tummy churn uncomfortably and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling.

*Stop it.* she shook her head. *You never once behaved like this for a guy, it's pathetic.*

But then again, she had never loved a guy before either.

She didn't even realize it but they had already reached school and were walking through the gates. She craned her neck to try look above the crowd, her eyes darting here and there to see if she could catch that solemn pair of eyes and soft chocolate brown hair. No, Daehyun wasn't anywhere to be found.

So Eun slumped and trudged on with the rest of the BAP boys to get her books from her locker. She was horrified to find that she was lagging behind in reivising her work and missed a few assignments which were assigned. It wasn't like her at all.

"Don't worry about it. I never listen to what the teacher says all the time and I don't catch whatever assignment they assign either." Yongguk slung an arm around So Eun's shoulder. "You're just turning into someone like me."

"Now THAT's comforting." Zelo murmured, laughing.

Yongguk let the maknae without getting angry because he knew So Eun was down. The rest of the boys knew she was down too but they didn't know why she was that way. Even if they had practically lived with this girl for the past nearly eighteen years...So Eun was still a girl.

Girls were hard to understand, period. So they chose not to ask at all.

"I'll have to rush that essay out during break then." So Eun murmured, shaking her head in disappointment at her tardiness. "Go to lunch without me." she dragged her feet towards the classroom to get started on her essay.

Jongup sighed softly and scratched his head. "What is happening exactly?" he murmured in confusion. "She's acting like she never did before."

Himchan nodded and looked over at Youngjae. "Yah, you're the closest to her out of all of us. Do you know why she's acting like this? And Daehyun as well, he's missing. Is Daehyun the reason why So Eun is like this?"

Youngjae just shrugged, sighing. "Yes and no."

Yes because Daehyun's reaction to her confession was heart breaking.

No because it was So Eun's own fault for falling in the first place.

A whole week passed like that.

With Daehyun avoiding So Eun so much that sometimes he ditched classes, and So Eun looking like a zombie, going to school and back home while dragging her feet. She chose to bury herself in school work to try to cover that pain in her heart and she studied nonstop.

She even got a 92 in History, which actually showed how much she studied. The rest of her subjects were all a hundred percent, not a mark less.

But even with results as such, So Eun wasn't happy.

The BAP boys tried cheering her up again and again but she would always tell them that she wanted to go home to study, as if she hadn't done that enough. There was nothing that could make her smile again except for Daehyun willing to talk to her again.

It was honestly harsh on both sides. Daehyun didn't want to avoid her and he knew she cried in bed at night, but he was desperate. He had that naive thought that maybe he could make her fall OUT of love with him in one month before her birthday.

Just one month. 30 short days.

If he failed, Kim So Eun was going to be taken away from the five other boys who loved her, her amazingly kind parents, her peers and her other friends. She was going to be taken away from him again.

The thought haunted him and kept him out of her line of sight, even though he secretly followed her everywhere she went to make sure no trouble gets in her way.

It continued on until Daehyun couldn't stand how miserable So Eun was and decided he had to do something about it. Talk to her, make sense to her. Just, not as Jung Daehyun.

So Eun had gone for a walk in the park even though it was cold that night. But the cold kept her more awake than ever and she put her hands on her cheeks to warm them. She sat at the same bench and stared at her house, zoning out quickly.

Daehyun watched her from the distance and frowned. "Babo, she didn't even bring a jacket with her..." he muttered.

He trudged over to her and pulled down his light blue beanie and black mask. He was wearing a tribal printed sweater and black pants. He cleared his throat loudly, waiting for her to notice him.

She was so into her thoughts that she didn't react.

Daehyun frowned and cleared his throat again. "AHEM."

So Eun jumped in surprise. Her eyes widened when she saw him and a small smile broke on her face, the first time in days. "Hi masked man." her voice sounded rough. "Come sit." she patted the bench.

Daehyun moved over to sit beside her, eying her silently. So Eun touched her puffy eyes consciously and laughed. "I look like a mess don't I?" she murmured. "No wonder he doesn't like me."

Daehyun cringed, her words like a stab to his heart. No, she got it all wrong. The only reason why he was doing all this was not because he didn't love her, but he loved her too much.

"You know, masked man." So Eun sighed softly, bringing her legs on the bench and hugging her knees. "I got my heart broken." she murmured. "I fell in love with this guy for the first time in my life, and I got my heart broken. How tragic."

Daehyun lowered his gaze, torn.

"If only I could choose who to love, you know." So Eun stared out into the distance. "Love is always described as a feeling from the heart, but really the heart is just a muscle. It's the chemical reactions in the brain that causes one to fall in love. I'm not bragging, but I'm second in school. I'm supposed to be smart, so isn't my brain supposed to be wiser? Why did it choose to fall in love with him?" she laughed bitterly.

"I guess it isn't up for me to choose." she commented blandly. "You know, I already knew he was in love with someone else. And he loves that someone else a lot, more than I can imagine. But even knowing so, I somehow managed to fall in love with him, or maybe I had already fallen before that. I don't know." she shrugged. "All I know is that he doesn't love me back and it hurts, because now he won't eve talk to me."

So Eun looked at Daehyun and pouted. "He's mean isn't he?" she huffed. "I mean he's the one who broke my heart, but why is he avoiding me instead? I just want to be friends, it's not like I'm forcing him to like me back. He's acting like I'm some sort of disease and he's bent on avoiding me."

So Eun sighed. "Maybe the idea of me loving him is extremely horrifying."

Daehyun shook his head to himself. No way.

So Eun glanced at him and pressed her lips together in a firm line. "Sorry, I must be boring you. You just came over to sit and I'm pouring all unwanted information in your direction. Thanks for listening." she smiled at him. She stared at him for a bit and twisted her lips. "Just curious, have you ever loved anyone? Romantically?"

Daehyun met her eyes and he gave a nod.

So Eun's eyes widened and she clasped her hands together. "Really? That's wonderful. That girl must be amazing." she murmured. "Did you open your mouth to talk to her then?"

Daehyun nodded again, chuckling softly.

So Eun punched his shoulders lightly and harrumphed. "Ayeee...and you won't even spare me a word? I thought we were friends." she complained. She kicked at the dirt for a while before looking at him again. "Are you still in love with her?"

Daehyun gazed at her tenderly and nodded.

"You love her a lot don't you?" So Eun smiled. "I can tell the way your eyes went glossy all of a sudden. That's sweet." she laughed once. "You know, I actually had a crush on you before. Just a tinsy bit one."

Daehyun's eyes widened. What? Even when he's wrapped up like this and the only thing she could see was his eyes?

"I know it's shocking." So Eun laughed softly. "But you give me a safe vibe even though you never said a word and I don't know you. But then again...you already have someone you love." she raised her brows at him. "Imagine if I fell for you for real, I'd have my heart broken as well."

"Why do I always fall for the guys who already love someone else?" So Eun bit her lip. "Imagine if I confessed to you," she looked at Daehyun and chuckled softly. "Maybe you won't appear in my life again, avoiding me like him."

Daehyun sighed softly. She didn't understand.

Daehyun looked at her and made a gesture to answer a phone and So Eun blinked at him in confusion. "You want to call someone?"

Daehyun shook his head and made a phone with his fingers again. "You want my phone?" So Eun asked.

He nodded in relief. So Eun pulled out her phone and saw a few text messages by the BAP boys and her parents, worriedly asking where she was. She had to go home soon. She ignored them and passed her phone to Daehyun.

Daehyun opened a new text message and typed some things, saving the message as a draft. He stood up and looked at her, patting her head once as he passed her phone back to her.

With that, he strode off without a backward glance.

So Eun blinked and she opened the draft message he had typed.

Don't be sad, everything happens for a reason.

It didn't clear anything up, not clarifying anything or whatever it was....but So Eun felt comforted by his words. A reason? It was nice to think that Daehyun was avoiding her because of some unknown reason instead of just being disgusted.

-----

"Childhood pictures, childhood pictures." So Eun coughed when she pulled out an old photobook from her cupboard, sending dust flying everywhere.

She waved the dust away, spluttering. "I must remember to clean here sometime." she muttered.

The teacher had made them look for their childhood pictures and they were to bring the pictures to school the next day. So Eun wondered how Daehyun was going to handle that because no way he was going to have any childhood pictures back in the Silla period.

Apparently they were supposed to write essays on their childhood dreams and how they had changed from then to now, and childhood pictures were supposed to do the trick.

So Eun wiped away the dust from the front of the photobook, flipping it open carefully.

The first picture was her as a baby, still pink and looking like a guinea pig. Her mother was holding on to her with a bright smile on her face while her father looked like he won the lottery. So Eun smiled.

The next few pictures were her as a baby, growing up to a toddler. She wore pretty pink dresses and she always wore a headband. How adorable.

And then there were group pictures with the other BAP boys. So Eun laughed at one picture where Yongguk was caught picking his nose. He had been leader-like ever since he was young, commanding them to play which games and setting the rules in the sandbox.

So Eun flipped casually through the album and reached a photo where she was crying. She was learning how to ride a bike when she was five when she fell down and scraped her knee.

"I look so ugly crying." So Eun mused. She was about to close the book when she noticed something in the back of the picture.

So Eun froze and she quickly opened it again to the last picture. She remembered the scene when she fell, a man had helped her up and comforted her before her parents turned up, and he promptly disappeared. So Eun never noticed much about him then because the pain had taken up all her attention.

But apparently the man didn't go far, because he was captured in the back of the picture, hiding behind a tree and peeking out at her.

She never remembered him, but now she knew who he was.

"Daehyun." So Eun gasped. "It's him!"