“Annyeong!” Kyungsoo greeted happily as he entered their classroom.

“Annyeong!” Sehun, and Seyoon greeted him.

“Where’s Chanyeol and Baekhyun?” asked Sehun.

“They’re probably on their way here. I knocked on their door this morning. If I didn’t knock it, Baekhyun was probably still sleeping right now. Our dorm head said that there will be a surprised inspection of rooms for sanitary purposes. You know how Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s room looked like. They probably took a night to clean their messy room,” said Kyungsoo.

Lay, Xiumin, and Chanyeol entered the room. All of them yawned at the same time and their faces showed their lack of sleep last night.

“Good morning Seyoon~” Chanyeol greeted with his lowest energetic mode ever before he sat beside Sehun at the back and shoved his head to his desk, entering into a morning nap.

“If only there are no surprise inspections today, we’re not like this,” said Xiumin who were also staying at the dorm with Lay and Luhan.

“By the way Seyoon, Luhan said that I give this to you,” said Lay as he gave Seyoon a box of Chinese sweets.

“It’s not that we’re interfering in Luhan’s personal affairs with you, but we really hope that you consider his sincerity to you. Although he’s been surrounded by a lot of girls, he never ask anyone out. In fact, we were surprise that he ask you out. I think he’s really sincere,” said Xiumin.

Seyoon grabbed the box from Lay’s hand. Lay and Xiumin smiled at her. “If you have anything you want to know about Luhan, just ask us. We’re friends since we are young. That’s why I am betting my whole life just to prove that he’s a really nice guy,” said Xiumin.

“Well, I hope what you are saying is true. We don’t want Seyoon to be involved in another trouble just because of some random guy,” said Kyungsoo.

“Another trouble?” asked Lay and Seyoon.

“Remember what happened when we were in third year middle school? We’re just concerned that it might happen again,” said Sehun.

“Oh that. Thanks for your concerns but I don’t think that would happen again. Besides, I am different now than I was before. I think I could handle myself better,” she replied to Kyungsoo and Sehun.

“May we know what kind of incident it was?” asked Xiumin.

“It’s a long story. Besides, I don’t think Seyoon wants to remember it,” said Kyungsoo as he looked at Seyoon. Both Lay and Xiumin looked at Seyoon as if they really wanted to know what happened.

Indeed, it was not really a good memory for Seyoon and her friends. But for her, she still wanted to remember it clearly and vividly for she wanted that feeling of being protected and cared of. She wanted to remember that feeling of being important. Because that’s the time when she found out how she was important to her friends, especially to Kai. And maybe that was the time when she realized who she really liked.

 

~*~

“Why Seyoon, why? Why did you decided to join the glee club and the home economics club? And yet you didn’t even consider joining the music club. Why?” pleaded Chanyeol.

“Sorry. Even though the music club is interesting, I really don’t know how to play any instruments. Besides, rock music is not really my thing. But I listened to it,” said Seyoon as she tried to calm Chanyeol who was begging her for days to be one of the vocalists of their band.

“That’s just how it is Chanyeol. Just accept the fact that she choose other clubs, right Seyoon? So, let’s go home. I have some questions regarding our assignment,” said Kai to Seyoon.

“Ah, I’m sorry Kai. I couldn’t go with you. Kyungsoo and I have a meeting in our club. We might stay here a little longer. About our assignment, here, have my notebook. I already answered the first three questions. Just look for the pattern on how I answered it, it might help you. And, don’t worry, I think I can go home alone” said Seyoon to Kai.

Kai was shocked for a moment. Normally she would say, “Alright, let’s go!” enthusiastically. Or, he expected her to answer, “Alright. I’m sorry Kyungsoo but can you tell our club that I have more important things to do. Let’s go Kai!” Or at least, maybe she could have told him, “I have a club meeting. Is it alright if you wait for me here? After we’re done, we can go together.” But none of those were said by her. Instead, she wanted him to leave her. And she said that she could go home alone. Kai let out a deep sigh. ‘She really changed a lot after a month. She’s now more mature than before,’ he thought.

“That’s just how it is Kai. Just accept the fact that Seyoon already has some commitments regarding her extra-curricular activities. Just go home,” teased Chanyeol.

“Tsk. Alright, I’ll just go ahead. Are you sure you’re okay going home alone?” he asked her again, hoping that she might change her mind.

But all she did was to reply with a big smile and an affirmative, “Yes!”

“Okay, we have to go now. Let’s go Seyoon,” said Kyungsoo.

“Okay. Bye! See you guys tomorrow!” she said to them as she left together with Kyungsoo to the school building.

“But Seyoon are you sure you’re okay to go home alone? I mean, it might already be dark when we finish,” said the concerned Kyungsoo.

“Actually I am still a little afraid. But I don’t want Kai to worry about me too much. I don’t want him to think that I can’t handle myself and that I’m being too dependent on him. Besides, I have to learn how to commute on my own,” said Seyoon.

“Well, although it’s a good idea to be independent. Sometimes, it is not wrong that we depend to someone else especially when we know that that someone was the person we trusted the most,” said Kyungsoo.

Seyoon nodded at him and smiled. “I would take that advice. Thank you!”

“Always,” replied Kyungsoo.

The two didn’t know that someone was observing them from one of the windows above. He observed as Kai and his friends left first. A smile formed in his face when he saw Seyoon and Kyungsoo stayed behind.

---

“Ahh!” Kai grunted as he stared at his assignment. No matter how hard he looked or stared at his notebook, he couldn’t understand anything from it. ‘It is better if Seyoon is here. She can explain better than this notes of her’ he thought. He returned to his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. “Stupid extra-curricular activies…” he muttered silently.

Suddenly, there was a knock coming from his door. “Kai…” her mother called her.

“Come in,” he said as he sat on his bed.

“Are you doing your homework? Here, I bring snacks for you,” her mom said as she laid the plate on the desk. “Oh, why are the notes here more neat than the other?” her mom asked as she saw the two open notebooks on top of Kai’s desk.

“The other is not mine. Guess which one?” Kai jokingly said.

“Of course, the neat one is not yours. Is this Seyoon’s?”

“Yes.”

“As expected. But isn’t she coming here? Aren’t you going to study together?” her mom asked.

“No. She’s busy in some extra-curricular activities. I borrowed her notebook for reference,” he said as he lay again in his bed.

“Oh. Well, do your best in finishing your homework,” her mom said as she grabbed the tray, ready to leave the room.

“Mom!” Kai called.

“Yes?” her mom peeked again inside.

“I just want to ask something.”

“About what?”

“Uhh…” Kai was hesitant to ask at first but then he decided that the right person to ask for advice would be his mom. “Well, I noticed that Seyoon changed lately.”

“Changed? What do you mean change?”

“Well, the way she speaks and she’s becoming more independent now compared to what she was before,” Kai said to his mom.

“Oh. Ahh…well, generally you are already in the age where changes really happen rapidly. Does she sound more mature than before?” she asked. Kai just nodded at her. “It’s just natural. Besides, they say that girls mature faster than the boys. My son, you and Seyoon are already on the stage where unusual things occur not only physically but also emotionally and psychologically as well. In fact, this is mostly the time when people of your age depends more on their feelings and instinct rather than their brains. They tend to be more aggressive and more emotional than before. This is also probably the time when you’re feeling changes especially to someone in the opposite gender. But believe me; no matter what you feel right now, you must think first if it was really true or just the result of sudden rush inside your body.”

“I’m just asking why she became more independent now and more mature. I’m not saying that I have feelings for her,” Kai denied intensely.

“Haha…I know. I’m just saying this to you. Even if it is not Seyoon that you like, even if it is some other girls, I’m just saying, you must think of it carefully before you make a move. As for Seyoon, it is just natural for her to become more independent now. She’s been here for quite a while. She probably adjusted well here that’s why she’s more comfortable now. I understand what you feel. You’re probably concerned for her. It’s just natural. After all, now you are like siblings. She probably thinks of you as an older brother. And if she really matured now, she’s probably thinking that not all the time she could depend on you. That’s why she’s probably trying to show you that she could do things by herself.”

Kai just nodded at her, satisfied with the enlightenment his mother gave him. As expected, mothers know best. If he probably didn’t ask his mom now, his head would burst anytime soon. If it was true that Seyoon just wanted to be independent and not always depend on him, then probably he should trust her that she could really do things on her own now. Maybe the feelings he has for Seyoon was that of a brother-like feeling. Maybe he was too concerned because he treated Seyoon as his sister. Maybe it’s just like that. Maybe…

---

“Are you sure you don’t want me to send you home? It’s okay for me,” Kyungsoo insisted to Seyoon.

“No, I’m really okay. Besides, all I have to do is to ride a bus and just walk a short distance to our house. It’s nothing to be scared of,” she replied, trying to look as confident as she was.

“Alright. Well I am going the opposite way. I’ll just see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” she said as the two waved each other goodbye.

‘It is not something to be afraid of,’ Seyoon thought as she walked towards the bus stop. It was not too far from the main entrance of the school. Besides, there are still a few students at this hour. But the path towards the bus stop wasn’t well-lit. The light flickered every now and then.

“Hey, I heard there is another victim from the nearby school,” she heard some students who were also walking towards the bus stop.

“Really? That’s sad. I wonder who is doing all of those things? I just felt sorry for the victim,” someone replied.

“Right. I heard that the suspect mostly targets middle school girls because they were mostly defenseless,” the other replied.

Seyoon didn’t want to hear more of it as she ran fast towards the bus stop. What she didn’t know was someone was observing her ever since she left the school building. If it wasn’t for the presence of a lot of students, he probably got near her by now.

~*~

 

Lay, Xiumin, Chanyeol, Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Seyoon were already at the cafeteria when Baekhyun and Luhan arrived. But instead of sitting on their table, Luhan sat on the table just right beside their table.

“What are you doing there?” Xiumin asked him.

“Well, as much as I wanted to eat with you guys, I think you must ask Seyoon first if it is alright for me to sit there with you. I don’t want her to be intimidated by me. She might leave when I sit there,” said Luhan.

Seyoon closed her eyes with a seemingly angry facial expression but she tried hard to suppress it. ‘This guy is making me guilty. Tsk,’ she thought. “It’s alright. You can sit here if you want. I don’t own this table anyway. And…” she let out a deep sigh. “I won’t leave.”

With that, Luhan smiled, grabbed his bag, and sat on the empty seat beside Chanyeol. Chanyeol already made sure that he was sitting beside Seyoon so that Luhan won’t have a chance to sit beside her. Chanyeol stared at him with a sulking face as Luhan sat beside him.

Just when they were about to eat their lunch, someone went near them. “Is there still a vacant seat for me?” asked Kai.

Sehun pointed the empty seat beside him. Kai sat opposite of Luhan. He stared at Luhan as he sat on his vacant seat.

“What brought you here? I thought you have some ‘THINGS’ to do?” Luhan teased, not wanting Kai to know that he already knew his secret.

“Well, this is where I originally eat. And they are my friends. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong joining them ‘AGAIN’ for lunch,” Kai emphasized.

“Whatever. Okay, since we are all complete, I’ll be the one to buy our drinks. Don’t worry. For a week of sitting with you guys, I already know the drinks that you like. Oh!” Luhan looked at Kai. “I don’t know the flavor of juice that you like.”

“You don’t have to worry. Since I’ve been gone for a long time, I’ll be the one to buy your drinks,” said Kai as he stood up and grabbed the purse from his bag.

“Kai!” Luhan called him. “I don’t think you know Seyoon’s preferred juice flavor.”

“Huh?” Seyoon looked at Luhan with her eyebrows met furiously.

‘How would I not know? I am the one who introduced it to her. Of course, it is persimmon juice. Or maybe she already…’ Kai thought.

“I think she like apple juice,” Luhan said to him.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked at each other. Since when does she change her preference? This guy was saying nonsense, they thought.

 “Alright,” Kai replied gloomily. Before Seyoon even made a protest, he already left towards the vending machine.

When Kai left, Seyoon looked at Luhan angrily. “What?” Luhan asked her.

“Don’t decide things for me. You’re starting to intimidate me now,” she said coldly to him.

“Sorry...I just thought that you might be fed up drinking the same flavor of juice every day.”

“No. And never will be,” she said as she stood up walking towards the vending machine. She went near Kai, who was already pressing the buttons one by one based on the flavor of juice his friends like.

Before Kai even pressed the apple juice option, Seyoon held his hand. “I prefer persimmon juice,” she said as she pressed the persimmon juice option herself.

“I never thought you still like that flavor after all this years,” Kai said to her.

Seyoon’s eyes widened as she felt her cheeks feeling hotter. “I…I can’t help it. The flavor already lingers in my taste buds. My taste bud would reject other flavor,” she said, trying to look cold and emotionless. Although inside, she was feeling embarrassed thinking that Kai might misinterpret her, knowing that he was the one who introduced the flavor to her a few years ago.

“Well you have to thank me for introducing that to you,” he teased with a pleasant smile. Seyoon felt her heart beating rapidly when she saw his smile. It was the smile that made her heart beat a few years ago when she visited Kai in his dance practice.

‘Why are you giving me that smile?’ she thought. “What are you saying?” she said embarrassedly as she grabbed the can and quickly went back to their lunch table. Kai couldn’t contain the smile on his lips as it got wider, reaching the tips of his ears. It’s been a while since he teased Seyoon. He felt as if a weight was lifted from his heart. And it felt good…