"Minhyo-ya, joahaeyo." the girl whispered. Minho just looked at her, his eyes widening.

"But I thought we're friends and all!" Minho reasoned out. The girl just stared back at him. Her misty eyes piercing his soul. Then, tears started to trickle down her face.

"I did my best to hide this feelings, Minho-ya."

"Kim Haneul, you're my best friend. I don't want to ruin our friendship. Couples don't last forever but friendship does..." his voice trailed off. He cupped Haneul's face and wiped off the fresh tears.

"But-"

"Mianhatda, Haneul-ah." he whispered. "I just don't like you the way you like me. It's just... we're not meant to be together. Let's just stay as friends."

At that moment, Haneul's world was crashing at her very eyes. She finally got to confess to her bestfriend, Minho. She wasn't prepared for the rejection, though.

"I have to go. I'm sorry." Minho kissed her forehead and whispered more apologies. He turned and walked away. Haneul sobbed.

"Wae? I thought you liked me back. I thought all these years... Everything I did... I thought you knew from the very start. Did I expect too much?"

She cried harder.

"Uljimayo." a voice spoke from the trees. Haneul's head snapped to the direction of the voice. She wiped her tears.

"Who's there?"

Then, a familiar man stepped out of the shadows. He beamed at her. His jet black hair was slicked up, a bit up to the side. He was wearing a white top inside his red blazer.

"Uljimayo." he said once again.

"K-Kim J-Jongin? What are you doing here?" she asked, a tone of confusion on her voce.

"This is my school, too?" he replied with sarcasm. He paused. "Why are you crying, Haneul-ah?"

Haneul turned her back on him. She cleared . Then, she faced him again and shook her head. She grinned.

"I wasn't crying!"

"Aww, come on. Don't lie to me!" Jongin groaned. After a few seconds, his eyes suddenly lit up. Haneul furrowed her eyebrows.

"Ya, mwoya?" she barked. Jongin offered his hands.

"Let's visit the haunted house near the lake!" Jongin said excitedly. He almost quealed. Haneul blinked a couple of times before her brain fully absorbed it.

"Mworago?!"

"Ne~ let's go there! It's nearly 3PM. It's still early. It wouldn't be scary!"

"Whoa. That rhymed." she commented with a chuckle. Jongin nudged her.

"What?" she asked.

"Let's go?"

"Aniyo."

"Haneul-ah, jebalyo?" Jongin pleaded, giving her a puppy look.

"How did you do that-"

"I promise you, Haneul. I'm gonna make you forget about Minho for a while." he cut her off. He stared at her and smiled. Haneul's heart started to beat fast. It was almost palpitating. His gaze, his smile and his touch seemed to be enitrely different than Minho's. For the first time, she felt special.

They strolled around the lake. They were almost halfway the lakeside.Jongin threw some pebbles into the water. Then, he suddenly stopped on his tracks.

"Haneul-ah." he cocked his head on her direction.

"Ne?"

"I'm gonna show you the moves that I learned in my dance class."

He started to do some dance movements. There's no doubt to it. Kim Jongin is a fantastic dancer. His moves are way better than the other kids at school do. His hands and feet coordinate so well. When he dances, it looks so effortless.

"Wow." she whispered. "Than's awesome."

"There's another one! I can rap, too!" he boasted. He rapped a certain song. It made Haneul think of Minho again. Aside from Minho's good looks and wit, he knows how to rap. Actually, he excels in that aspect. He's a great rapper. Though only few people knew about this, Minho still practices once in a while in front of her. After his performance, she'd criticize him, saying his good and bad points.

She was yet again on the verge of cying. The fact that Minho, her bestfriend that she secretly liked for almost five years, ha sjust rejected her feelings still hasn't sank in. A certain feeling embraced her whole being at the moment. Her heart almost stopped beating the time Minho was about to tell her his answer. She didn't prepare herself for the worst. She just killed time imagining her in Minho's arms. She couldn't help but smile when she thought of that. Now, that didn't stand a chance. She felt miserable. She didn't realize how her life revolved around him.

She was cut off her trance when Jongin's face was just suddenly an inch from hers. She blinked a couple of times to ascertain what was happening. She backed off.

"What was that?" she asked. Her voice was tinted with panic.

"You weren't listening to everything that I said for the past 5 minutes." he replied with a roll of his eyes. He heaved a sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's just-"

"Hajima. Jebal. I don't wanna hear those words. Just don't say it."

He made his way to the front of the old house. Just seeing it sent shivers to their spine. Haneul gestured for him to go inside first. He gulped.

"Aww, you're such a baby, Haneul. You're older than me yet you're making me go inside a haunted house first." he said, mockingly.

"Mwo?! You're just younger by three months, you know!" she told him.

"Together, then?" he lent his hand to her and smiled sincerely. His smile made Haneul's heart beat rapidly again. Never in her wildest dreams that Jongin would give her this kind of feeling. It made her forget the things that hurt. She took his hand. His hand was cold. It must be because of the cold, autumn weather.

The large, wooden door creaked open. Haneul gasped.

"Did you just open the door?" she muttered. He shook his head a couple of times.

"We're, like, a meter away from the door. How will I open that?" he asked back. His voice was trembling slightly.

It was an old, traditional Korean house. Rumors said that a young maiden was tortured there for a month. Everything was in a topsy-turvy manner when they came inside. The walls of the lair were full of leafy vines. Dried leaves were scattered on the coarse floor. At the heart of the house was an oak tree. The cool breeze blew her hair from her face. Then, a tiny rustle of the leaves made the hair on the nape of their neck stand on its ends. It was as if someone was just walking behind them.

"What was that?" Jongin asked his hand grasping Haneul's tighter than ever. She broke off from his grasp and walked towards the other side of the vicinity while Jongin just stayed where he was.

"Is anyone here?" she called.

"Don't walk to far, okay?" he shouted as he placed his hand on the bark of the oak tree.

"Is anyone- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed. He ran to her. Haneul was sitting helplessly on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Are you alright?"

"My foot. It got sparined."

He his back and lowered his back.

"Get on."

He helped her to get on his back. He started to make his way out of the house.

"I can walk on my own." she said.

"This shouldn't have happen if I didn't let you walk there alone." he muttered.

"Aniyo. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have walked there in the first place."

Then, it started to rain. He broke into a run. Haneul held on to Jongin's jacket tighter.

"We must get home fast. You'd get soaked." he said as he ran faster.

A silhoutte of a man waas slowly clearing to their view. He was holding an umbrella. Haneul would never forget that silhoutte.

"Minho..." she whispered. She squinted to confirm it.

"Ya!" he called and ran to their direction.

"Choi Minho," Jongin breathed. He paused to catch his breath. "What are you doing here?"

"What happened to Haneul?" Minho asked, ignoring Jongin's question.

"I just sprained my ankle. No biggies." Haneul replied in a small voice. She couldn't even look at him in the eye.

"I'll get you home. Let's go." Minho declared.

"Ani. She's not going with you." Jongin said fiercely.

"Gaja, Kim Haneul."

Minho forced her to climb down Jongin's back. Jongin moved away from him just in time before she falls off. It caught Minho of guard.

"I repeat, Minho hyung.  She's. Not. Going. With. You. Unless she wants to." Jongin almost grownled, his voice drowned by the heave rain. He looked at her expectantly. His eyes were almost pleading for her to not go with him.

"I'm perfectly fine, Minho. Jongin and I must go. We'd get colds." she told him, her face was blank.

"Mwo?" Minho widened his eyes. "You're still going with him?"

"You heard her. Goodbye, Minho hyung." Jongin waved and started to jog away.

"You're just doing this because you're mad, Haneul!" Minho hissed.

After a couple of minutes, Haneul burst into sobs. She buried her face on Jongin's neck. He was running again. He only stopped when they finally arrived at the front of Haneul's house.

The next day, Haneul was dropped off by her mother to school.

"I want to talk to your teacher." her mother stated as she wheeled toward the school parking lot.

Then, they made their way to Haneul's classroom. There were already a few kids inside but her teacher hasn't arrived yet. After a few minutes, Mr. Byun arrived and started to talk business with her mother. They continued discussing some serious matters and left for the Principal's office. Haneul just shrugged it off. She sat on her chair and doodled on her notepad.

"What's with your mom? I heard her talking to Mr. Byun." Kibum, her classmate, asked.

"Ne, nado. I heard her things like transfer, Seoul and Dad. Their a bit far to me. It's just an earshot." Chanyeol added.

"Mollayeo. Maybe they're talking about Mr. Byun's daughter or son." Haneul replied.

"But Mr. Byun doesn't have a family. He's just by himself." Jieun said.

"Chinjaya? Mr. Byun's living by himself? Maybe I could sneak in his house some time." Chanyeol grinned widely. "Then, when he's sleeping, I'd take photos of him secretly. I'll watch him take a bath. I'll watch him eat. I'll watch him everyday!"

"Chanyeol!" Kris shouted. "Stop that. It's disgusting."

"Yeah, Kris is right. Stop that. As if Mr. Byun wouldn't notice you with your height." Tao laughed.

"Maybe you're the one who's gonna transfer, Haneul-ah." Hyuna snickered.

A day passed and Haneul's tranfer that her mother filed was approved. She spent a week hanging out with her friends. They made more memories. Jongin and Kibum even arranged a party for her. They assigned jobs for everyone. The party went on without any flaws. As for Haneul, it would be happier and more memorbal if only Minho was there.

Minho, on the other hand, was frustrated. He didn't know what to do. His life was miserable without her. He realized his feelings for her, too. He wanted to be with her every time. He also couldn't bear the pang of jealousy that he feels whenever Haneul and Jongin are together. He must tell her everything before she leaves for Seoul.

He ran to Haneul's house. His eyesight was blurred by the tears that wanted to escape his eyes. He ran faster. He skidded to a halt in front of the house. He knocked on the door a couple of times.

"KIM HANEUL!" he shouted.

A lady from the house across the street emerged.

"They headed for the train station, boy!"she called.

He said his thanks to the lady. His eyes darted to a motorcycle. He didn't have any options left. He rode on it, started the engine and left. He remembered two years back. Haneul thought him how to ride a mini scooter. He never told her that he'd swore to himself to never ride a motorcycle.

He once saw his older brother die in a motorcycle accident. After that, he swore to himself to never ride one again. For Minho, if riding a motorcycle would save his relationship with Haneul, he'd be more willing to do it, even for a thousand times.

He finaly stopped at the train station. He searched for her. After a few minutes of searching and yelling frantically, he saw her. Her small frame was standing beside a post. She was looking up and was about to board the train.

"Haneul!" he shouted and ran to her direction. She stopped and whirled her head to fins the owner of the voice. 

"Minho, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking away.

"I'm sorry, Haneullie. I've been such an idiot."

"Mworago?"

He hugged her tight. This was what he wanted in the first place. He would do everything to make this last.

"I love you, Kim Haneul. I'm sorry I haven't realized it earlier. I've been a fool. The past week's events made me realize how much I want you... how much important you are to me." he whispered and buried his face on her neck.

Then, he kneeled in front of her and held her hands tightly.

"Omo, Minho-ya, stand up! Many people will see you!" she hissed.

"Tell me you still love me first." Minho said, looking up at her face.

"Yeah, yeah. I still love you! Just stand up, okay?"

"You're just saying that to escape humiliation."

"Aniyo, Minho-ya." she replied quietly. "You're the person that I love, arachi?" she added and his face. He stood up. He hugged her again and kissed her forehead. She hugged him back and smiled.

Then, the train started to move.

"Haneul!" her mom called.

"I'll get back to you, Mom! I'll be there tomorrow morning! I promise!" she shouted.

"I'll take care of your daughter, Mrs. Kim!" Minho said with a laugh.