I paced around with arms crossed and my heart beating loudly in my ears. Jaehyo was going to be here any moment and take me to the place his friends were partying at. Never in my life have I been to a party and mingle with people I do not even know. What were you even supposed to do at a party? Obviously there is going to be alcohol, so people will get drunk but other than that… I exhaled and stopped pacing. I need to just tell him that I can’t go because I needed to wake up early tomorrow for… My shoulders slumped as I tried to think of an excuse. I snapped my fingers, I’m leaving to visit my parents—no, my mom. I nodded and felt a bit relaxed. Just as I took a seat on the ground, a knock was present on the door. Clearing my throat, I walked to the door and exhaled before opening it. With a twist, the door latched open and Jaehyo stood before me with a smile on his face.

“Hey,” he waved, “you ready?”
“Um, actually,” I slightly shuffled my feet back, “I don’t think I can go because I need to wake up early tomorrow. I haven’t seen my mom for a while now so I think it’s best that I go visit her.” I explained in almost one breath.
Jaehyo raised a brow at me, “Really?”
I nodded, hoping he would take the bait.
“Well, I guess if you can’t go then… I’ll stay here with you.” He took a step in, which I quickly reacted to by stepping before him. Jaehyo chuckled, “I can’t come in?”
“Y-You can, but just not right now.” I avoided looking at him, which he brought his face to my level.
“If you’re nervous about what to do at the party, don’t be.” He nearly whispered, “It’s just a small get-together.” The trickling of his breath lightly touched my cheek, “Come with me, won’t you?”

As if he had casted a spell on me, I found myself nodding to his request. It was strange yet his words sounded sincere that my unconscious mind had agreed. Though I couldn’t see it, I knew that he had smiled.
“Now then, we should get going.” Jaehyo stepped to the side and offered me his hand. “What do you say?”
As hesitant as I was, I took hold of his hand without a second thought and walked through the door. What exactly was I doing? I don’t know, but there was gut-feeling that told me to follow through with this. Maybe if I were to allow myself to become more occupied with Jaehyo, then I would be able to move on from him. It’s been too long since my heart had felt whole because of someone—and this time, Jaehyo was the one to fill it up.

“Have you ate anything for dinner?” Jaehyo asked as we walked down the sidewalk, passing by stores and people. I nodded in response, which he proceeded to continue talking, “Don’t tell me you ate ramen again,”
I shook my head, “I stopped by the grocery store after my last class to buy some stuff,”
“Good,” he swung our hands, which I hadn’t noticed that we were still holding hands. As if he had read my mind, Jaehyo cleared his throat, “J-Just in case I lose you while walking.” I smiled and accepted his reason. Jaehyo smiled back at me, “Looks like you’re slowly becoming more comfortable with me.”
“Well…” I tried to come up with an answer that wouldn’t give away anything, but my mind was blank. Jaehyo laughed and swung our hands even more.


We arrived to Jaehyo’s friend’s house within minutes.  We walked into the lobby of the luxurious apartment building; Jaehyo lead us towards an elevator which was fortunately waiting for us on our floor. We entered the rather large metal room. Jaehyo pushed a button and we waited as it took us to the designated floor. The metal doors opened and I followed Jaehyo out. He stopped before a door and knocked on it. A voice called out from the other side of the door and within seconds a person appeared before us. Strange as it was, I had a feeling like I had seen the person before. What with his classy look and confident stance.

“You’re late,” his deep-toned voice disappointedly said.
Jaehyo gave the man a small smile, “Sorry, but I brought someone with me.”
The man shifted his gaze from Jaehyo to me and slightly cocked his head to the side. His eyes were fixated on me for a couple of seconds before he moved his attention back to Jaehyo, “Who is this; your girlfriend?”
Jaehyo laughed, “I wish; she’s a friend of mine that I go to college with,”
“I see,” he nodded and took a step back, “well come in. We were getting impatient waiting for you.”
Jaehyo chuckled and clutched his hand around mine as we walked into the apartment. Of course, it looked nothing like mine. The room was wider and there were furniture present rather than having nothing but wooden floors. I felt almost out of place.

“Jaehyo,” a familiar voice called out, “late as usual.”
“Hana,” Jaehyo replied which I stiffened to. My eyes were quick to locate Hana and immediately I regretted it. She looked right at me and our eyes made contact. My heart shrunk and I no longer felt the need to be here. My body tensed and my feet felt like they were ten pounds heavier. It wasn’t like I hated Hana, I just didn’t like the looks I would get from her. It were as if I stole something from her and she wanted to get rid of me.
“Um,” I parted my lips. Jaehyo looked back at me and scrunched his brows. I looked into his eyes and hoped he read the panic. Rather than doing what I wanted—which was to leave—Jaehyo tightened his grasp around my wrist and forced me to walk towards his friends.
“Who is this?” A male asked, gazing from Jaehyo to me.
“Jaehyo’s friend,” Hana replied sharply, which she proceeded to ask her own question. “What is she doing here anyways? Didn’t Jihoon tell you this is a reunion for friends?”
I furrowed my brows and lightly tugged on Jaehyo’s hand which he ignored as we took a seat on the couch. Jaehyo scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously, “Well, yes, Jihoon told me this was a reunion, but she wasn’t doing anything so I thought I’d bring her along to get to know you guys.”
“Jaehyo: the guy who rarely brings a girl when we hang out.” the  dark red-hair male put his hands before him as if reading from a banner, “You can’t tell me she isn’t your girlfriend—or you guys are friends with benefits, right?”
I nearly choked on air at his comment and jerked my hand from Jaehyo.

“Guess not,” the male leaned back, “I’m Yukwon by the way.” He stuck his hand out for me to shake, which I hesitantly obliged to. “I feel like I’ve seen your face somewhere before.” He said as we pulled our hands away. “Did you used to work a coffee shop?”
“Ah right,” Jaehyo cleared his throat, “remember when me, you, and Jihoon decide to visit that coffee shop near the other high school?” Yukwon nodded in response. “She’s the girl Jihoon tried hit on.” Jihoon snickered as he walked back into the room.
Yukwon’s eyes widened and he started to laugh. “That’s right! You were that cute barista who had a cold personality.”
I frowned at his comment, though I guess it was true.

“So you guys know her?” Hana asked, “Even before, huh?”
Yukwon nodded, “Well sort of; she never told us her name—except for Jaehyo, it seems.” He looked over at Jaehyo, “I would have never thought you would actually go for her, especially since you said you weren’t interested in her.”
“But that was when he was with Hana, wasn’t it?” Jihoon questioned, though the answer was clearly floating in the air. “I should have taken my chance to ask for her number.” He snapped his fingers, which he quickly turned to look at me. His facial expression changed to an enticing one and he his lower lip, “Seems like you’re not seeing anyone, so why don’t we exchange numbers?”
Yukwon clucked his tongue and smacked Jihoon’s head, “Are you blind? Jaehyo clearly his mark on this girl.”
“Ah, well…” Jaehyo scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

I was surprised these guys could talk about me when I was sitting in the same room as them. It was almost as if my existence was invisible to them. Hana cleared loudly, catching the attention of the boys which they quickly stopped talking.
“Anyways,” she began, “with the addition of her, I guess we can just carry on as normal.”

For the rest of the time, each one of them talked about what was happening in their life. First, Jihoon talked about how his dad had been pressuring him to become this great man so he could lead his father’s company. He hated the pressure because he was still in high school and was trying to pass his classes, but the pressure of his father was getting to him. He wanted to show his father that he can become a great man and leader, if his father would stop expecting so much from him. Next was Yukwon; Yukwon was attending Seoul University and is content about it, but he felt that the career he’s studying isn’t for him. He tried to talk about it with his parents, but they do not seem to understand his feelings. They told him to just keep studying because it’ll pay off. Then, Jaehyo was next.

“You guys know that my decision to attend my current college was something my parents did not want me to do,” he began, “they told me I needed to go to a better college which would benefit me more, but I didn’t. In the end, they said I could go there on one condition: study in field of business. I agreed to it though I did not want to study it. Every week I would get a phone call from my father and he’d ask me things I don’t even understand. Of course, his questions contained materials that I was supposed to know from studying. Sometimes, I wish I could tell him that this is my life and I want to lead it my way, but I know he’d be upset by it. I don’t really know what to do but just put up with it.” He paused and exhaled, “Alright, well, it’s your turn Hana.”
Hana sighed, “I guess I’m opposite from the three of you because I just got promoted to chief of supervisor in my company. Though I guess it isn’t much of a surprise since I’ve told Jaehyo about it already.”
“Of course,” Yukwon sang, “you would have told Jaehyo already. The childhood friends strikes again!”

“I’m so hungry,” Jihoon sat back and patted his stomach.
“You cooked?” Jaehyo asked.
“As if,” Jihoon laughed, “I had Yukwon buy some food for us.” He replied, “How about the ladies go and prepare the food for us huh?”
Hana clucked her tongue but obliged. I was hesitant but Jaehyo urged me to go with a smile. I followed Hana towards Jihoon’s large kitchen and towards the bag of sitting on top of the counter. She cleared , “I’ll prepare these; you can go back.”
“It’s okay,”
“Jaehyo isn’t someone you should be busying yourself with.” She looked at me with a hand on her hip. “He’s a guy who doesn’t need someone that will bring him down when he’s trying to prove something to his dad.” She began to take plastic containers out of the bag, “Also, Jaehyo and I have done private things with each other so if you think he’s going to be your first, think again. It’s rare for him to even fall in love with someone else.”
“I could… care less,” I answered, “Jaehyo isn’t in love with you anymore so I don’t see how you would care if he’s moved on with his feelings.”

“You think he loves you?” She scoffed, “He’s only using you because you’re smart at math. There would be no reason for him to even bother himself with you.”
I clenched my fist, “He only thinks of you as a friend, but it seems you haven’t gotten over him—or you’re just clinging to him because of me.” I said out of annoyance.
“You think you’re smart,”
I shook my head, “It’s logical and you make it easy to see.”
She scoffed and parted her lips, but suddenly stopped and slightly took a step back.

“Hana,” Jaehyo’s voice called from behind. I turned around and was surprised to see him standing just a few a feet away from me. With a sigh, I walked past him and towards the exit of the place. As I slipped on my shoes, Jaehyo called my name but I ignored him and turned to his friends.
“Thanks for being nice,” I gave a faint smile, “but I already ate, so I’ll just be heading home.” Twisting the knob, I opened the door and left the place. Standing before the elevator door, I heard the closing of Jihoon’s door and Jaehyo’s voice. Impatient, I pushed on the elevator button to make the elevator come quicker, but it seemed to not be on my side and took its time. Jaehyo was quickly by my side and grabbed my arm.

“Don’t go,”
“Sorry, I don’t feel comfortable being around someone who is always trying to create conflict.”
“She didn’t mean it—”
I sighed, “Look, I get it that she’s your childhood friend, but it’s clear—crystal clear—that she hates me and she’s still in love with you.” I jerked my arm but he doesn’t let go.
“Sorry,” Jaehyo exhaled, “I… I’ll walk you home.”
 

author's note; sorry for all the cheesy-ness haha! thanks for reading!!