I told him the whole story, though I did omit the bits about my racing heart and my inability to stop looking at Luhan; some things, I’d rather keep to myself. I didn’t look at Baekhyun at all when I talked, knowing that I would lose my nerve. To his credit, he didn’t interrupt, but there was a twinkle in his eyes when I finally stopped and found the courage to look at him.

“Well,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Looks like I’ll be fulfilling my promise sooner than I thought.”

“Promise?” I gave him a clueless look. “What promise?”

Baekhyun frowned. “Forgotten already? Does everything I say mean that little to you?”

The memories came rushing back. I remembered the day I agreed to help Baekhyun win his girl, and after that, the promise that he made to thank me. I rubbed my arms, partly because I was feeling uncomfortable, and partly because the impending rain had brought along a cold breeze to precede the ruthless pelting raindrops.

“No, I remember now. It’s just that, well, how exactly are going to help me? It’s just a crush anyway,” I added with a shrug. “It comes and goes.”

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at me, leaning forwards until his face was just inches from mine. Involuntarily, I inched back, startled by the intense look he had in his eyes. “You don’t really mean that, do you, Yoora? I saw how you looked at him. Are you really willing to let him slip out of your grasp, without even trying in the first place?”

I averted my gaze to the floor, not answering.

“Are you really willing to let some other girl be with him and have your heart crushed?”

He hit a spot with that. My fingers curled around the edge of the wooden bench and I slowly raised my head to look at Luhan. He was still in the arcade, across from the bench Baekhyun and I sat on. He was standing by the entrance, flocked by a few girls who jabbered excitedly at him. He smiled politely and entertained them.

 Baekhyun was following the direction of my gaze. There was a smirk on his face. “I guess not.” He jumped from his seat. “Looks like we’ll be having double lessons from now on,” he said happily.

“Double?”

“I’m going to teach you how to win his heart of course. We can be each other’s love coaches.” He smiled and took off the jacket he was wearing. Then, he dropped them onto my shoulders. “You’re gonna need that if you keep shivering. Come on.”

I stared up at him with a smile and slipped my arms into the sleeves. Baekhyun always gave me his jacket if he thought I was cold. “You know, you should do that when you’re around Soojin. Just make sure that the weather’s cold enough so that she actually needs a jacket.”

Baekhyun smiled and waited as I straightened up the jacket. He reached out and grabbed my hand. “This is the way, right?’ he asked as we plunged into the thick crowd, all trying to hurry home before the rain started its downpour. He kept a firm grip on me to keep me from being swept away.

I nodded with a laugh. “Yup. You got full marks, Baek.”

“Yoora?”

I looked up from the books I was arranging and smiled when I saw that it was Soojin who had called me. She was standing at the end of the shelves, peering at me. Her face broke into a smile when she saw that she had the right person and began to slowly pick her way through the scattered books.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I watched her helplessly, rendered incapable of offering her a hand by the books surrounding my feet. I was standing in the middle of five stacks of books, all as tall as my knees and impossibly heavy to lift.

“Some boys had a fight back here and one of them knocked the shelf. I just stacked them up and was in the middle of arranging them,” I explained, shoving the book I had in my hand into the half-empty shelf.

Soojin scrunched her nose. “They better get punished for this.”

“Oh, they’re in the hands of the principal now.” I picked up another book from the stack closest to me, blowing off the layer of dust that had settled on the hard cover. Dust particles billowed around us, creating a white mist before settling onto the floor. I shoved it into the shelf with the other one. “So, why are you here?”

I bent to pick up another book, and as I straightened, I noticed the nervous look in Soojin’s eyes. She looked restless, wringing her hands before brushing them against the skirt, only to repeat the process again.

“I’m sorry if I’m going to seem rude,” she began, pausing for a while to cough and clear , “but I’m just really curious. Are you and Baekhyun dating?”

Oh bingo. You’re in for the win, Baek.

I smiled at her, letting the moment stretch for a while as I tried to keep my voice in check. I had to keep myself from showing too much excitement. “No,” I finally said. “We’re not.”

It wasn’t obvious, but I saw the tense muscles ease and her shoulders sag. There was a gleam to her eyes now, and she quickly tried to hide the smile that was quickly spreading onto her face by bending down and picking up one of the books.

“Why do you ask?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering, since I always see you two together and all. Here, let me help. We can get these done faster.”

I smiled inwardly as I let her help me arrange the books. Soojin seemed to have gathered quite the energy since receiving the go ahead for Baekhyun, and worked with the vigour and enthusiasm I never expected to find in a person rearranging books. With two people doing the job, the task became much easier; we finished in twenty minutes. I stood back, admiring the neatly arranged books and nodding in satisfaction.

“Well?” I asked, turning to Soojin. “I have some other things to do. Are you staying here?”

“No, I –I’m going home with Baekhyun.”

I nodded and shooed her away

Since I no longer had the obligation to report to Baekhyun the progress of the mission, I decided that it was safe to let this conversation between Soojin and me to be left unsaid. After all, Baekhyun was going to know anyway. Maybe not now, but soon, when one of them finally raked up the nerve to confess.

Author's note: Another chapter updated! Since this one's pretty short I figured I might as well just update it now. Have fun reading :)