Woohyun’s POV

For the rest of the day, I was worried and Hoya’s words kept ringing in my mind. What was he talking about? Does he have a crush on Kasumi as well? How come I didn’t know about this?

When did he start liking her?

I thought about how close he was with her for the past few weeks. He was always trying to get close to her. And today, at lunch, when he kept frowning and giving me disapproval looks . . . was it because he was mad that everyone supported me and no one knew about his feelings for her?

The bell rang, interrupting my train of thoughts, signaling for a short break before the next class started, which meant I could use this time to escape to the toilet to think carefully about his words.

When I walked out, I froze.

Hoya was talking to Kasumi by her locker. She was smiling as they talked. Suddenly I felt my heart dropping when Hoya pinned her against the locker and grasped her chin to tilt her head up to meet his. My heart fell even further when he leaned down and kissed her on the lips, placing his hands on her waist, pulling her closer against him.

The worst part was, she was responding to the kiss.

Clenching a tight fist, I turned the other way and walked back to my class, ignoring the aching pain that was growing in my heart.

I bumped into Myungsoo on the way and he noticed my face expression. “Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked. “Oh yeah, did you confess to Kasumi?”

“I don’t like her,” I said bitterly.

He scoffed. “Don’t lie.”

I shrugged miserably. “What use is that now, Myungsoo ah?” I asked bitingly. “I mean, Hoya got to her first.”

“B – Bwoh?!”

I walked back to class and sighed as I took my seat. Next to me, Sunggyu raised a quizzical eyebrow at me but I ignored him. I didn’t want to deal with him. I didn’t want to tell him what I saw earlier.

I did tell Hoya I didn’t like her, so that was technically permission to let him chase after her as well.

But how was I supposed to know that he likes her too?!

After school, I quickly walked without waiting for the others because I couldn’t face Hoya without feeling regret. I sighed heavily once I was in my room and exhaustedly flopped down in my bed, staring up to my ceiling.

Ding dong!

Crap, I forgot Kasumi was coming over for tutoring.

I can’t escape them, can I?

I got up, loosening my tie, ing the top button, as I made my way down the stairs to the front door. I opened the door to see Kasumi — with Changmin. Right, she was with Changmin earlier.

“Hi,” I greeted them.

Kasumi smiled at me before she turned to Changmin. “Okay, you can go now, Changmin Oppa,” she said to him.

He laughed good-naturedly and put his arms around her shoulder. “Why are you so eager to push me away?” he wanted to know.

“I’ve had enough of seeing you.”

Changmin raised an eyebrow although he was smiling. “Oh? Then I guess this means you won’t be needing a ride back home later,” he teased.

Her eyes widened. “Aish! Anniyo! Mianhae, Oppa!”

He ruffled her hair playfully with an affectionate smile playing on his lips. “Too late,” he said in a light manner. “Have fun walking home.” He turned and walked back to his car. But then he turned back and winked before getting into his car and driving off until we couldn’t see his car anymore.

Kasumi shook her head but she was smiling. “Silly Oppa,” she fondly remarked before she turned to me with that same bright smile. She held her books up. “Kaja!”

I chuckled, shaking my head. I can see why even Hoya would be interested in her. I led her to my room, as usual, and we got down to work. I kept looking over to her to see how she’s reacting, with Hoya being her boyfriend now.

We’re friends, but I wonder if she’ll tell me about it.

Kasumi had this faint blush on her cheeks. I wonder if it was because of Hoya, or because of Changmin. I wonder where the two of them went earlier.

After an hour, I decided we should take a break for at least ten minutes. She had been working hard again and it kind of worried me to see her so dedicated until she doesn’t seem to care about anything else. What if she’s so hard-working like this at home that she forgets to take care of herself?

“Let’s take a break,” I told her. “You’ve done enough for now.”

She knew better than to argue (believe me, she tried. I had to take her book away from her in order for her to take a break), so she nodded and we walked downstairs to make some snacks for ourselves.

We went inside the kitchen. She went to the cupboard and took out the cookie jar and then two cups while I got the carton of milk and a plate out. I poured the milk while she placed some cookies on the plate. We were never too old for cookies and milk, just like how Santa Claus was never too old for it.

Heh.

“What did you and sunbae do after school?” I asked.

She just smiled and shrugged. “We hanged out together,” she replied vaguely. “Then we went to visit the others and hanged out with them too.”

“How did you meet them?”

“Changmin Oppa had known me since I was a baby, so he introduced them to me.”

“So it’s like you’ve known Changmin sunbae all your life?”

“Well, Yunho Oppa too, but I was closer to Changmin Oppa,” she replied, nodding. “I got to know the others along the way.” She was smiling, as if she was thinking about all the kind of memories she had with them.

After we finished our snacks we went back to my room to continue the tutoring lesson. About half an hour later, I looked at her and laughed. Her eyes were drooping and her head was nodding off slightly, her work gradually slowing down.

She was sleepy.

But at the sound of my laugh, she jolted up and tilted her head over to me and blinked at me. “Deh?”

I pointed to my bed. I knew she was tired; it was obvious. I was used to it. Every time she came over for tutoring, we would do work for an hour or more. Then we would take at least ten to fifteen minutes of break before continuing for another half an hour or hour and that was when she would start getting tired, so she would fall asleep. I’d let her sleep for an hour before she would wake up and go home.

Kasumi smiled sheepishly and nodded her head. She closed her book, packed it in her bag, and then clambered onto my bed, snuggling inside to sleep. I hesitated before I walked over to her and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, Kasumi,” I whispered lightly into her ears. I went to turn the lights off.

Through the darkness, I could see that she was smiling softly. I went back to my desk and took my laptop out. I went onto Facebook and saw that my friends were friends with Kasumi o