*Sunjung's POV*

Confused. That's what you were. Confused out of your mind, actually. 

You didn't even know what to do. 

You sat on the toilet in the locked stall, your head in your hands. 

You were warm, and your heart still beat uncontrollably. 

You wondered if Ren liked you or not. 

He said he did, but everything else he said made it sound like he liked you. 

Aigo, why were boys so confusing?

They said one thing, but then another thing comes out of their mouths. 

It was crazy and confusing. 

You finally got out of the stall after ten minutes. 
Wiping your tears with the back of you hand, you stood up and straightened your uniform. 

Breathing out a calming sigh, you blinked, and unlocked the stall. 

Stepping out, you saw Jae outside the door. 

It scared the hell out of you, and you clutched your heart. 

"Oh, Jae, it's just you," you said, breathing shallowly. 

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry," he replied, and then noticed your puffy eyes. "Why were you crying?" 

"Ani, I wasn't crying," you lied. 

Jae stood up. 

"Don't lie to me, I've know you since we were little. I know you a lot better than you know yourself." 

You pouted and said, "Ani. I'm not crying."

Jae stared into your eyes. 

"Did Ren make you cry?" he asked softly. 

"Ani! I'm not crying!" You objected, and balled your hands into a tight fist. 

Jae raised an eyebrow. 

"Really?" he asked. 

"Ne!" you said loudly.

"Don't lie." Jae snarled. 

"I'm not lying!" you repeated. 

"Yes you are! Your eyes are red and puffy, for goodness sake!" Jae argued. 

You pouted. 

"Ani, ani, ani! I'm telling you that I wasn't crying," you argued back. 

"Please," Jae rolled his eyes. "I know how stubborn you are. You cried."
You frowned. 

"I. Did. Not. Cry." You said it with firmness and he looked at you, not believing a word. "I didn't cry!" you repeated yourself. 

Jae took your arm tightly. 

Great. 

Why do all the guys in the whole world want to grip your arm and squeeze it? 

Didn't they know you were prone to injuries?

Goodness. 

Boys are pabos. 

"Come with me!" he turned, and pulled you with him as he ran. 

"Jae! Stop! I can't, I'm gonna trip!" you ran behind him awkwardly. 

Finally, he stopped in a grassy area with no one there. 

You crashed into his back. 

"Ouch..." you rubbed your aching nose. "Jae, what's going on?"

Jae didn't reply. 

"Jae?" you repeated. 

"Mianhae." he said. 

You narrowed your eyes. 

"Jae, you're confusing me, what are you trying to say?" you said stubbornly, placing your free hand on your hip. 

"Did you know? I've liked you for so long..." Jae whispered so quietly, you strained to hear. 

When you processed it in your mind, you didn't reply. 

"I know I had girlfriends...but I couldn't get my mind off of you..." he continued. 

You thought he was tearing up. 

"Jae..." you slowly said. 

"And when I decide to come back, when my parents could finally move back, I see you again. You're as pretty as ever. Prettier than I could have ever imagined. Prettier than those years ago." 

"Kamsahamnida..." you said quietly. Dread filled your stomach. 

You didn't want to lose Jae as a friend, but you knew that your friendship with him couldn't be the same after this. 

"Yet, I come back, my heart is only for you. But I see, it's so clear, that you like that Ren guy. And then he looks like he likes you too." Jae said, his voice hoarse and uneven. 

"..." You didn't say anything. 

Did it really look like Ren liked you?

You perked up, but then realized that right now wasn't the time to be happy. 

"I knew I should've asked you out those years ago..." he paused. "Yet, I was so scared. I was so scared that our friendship would be shattered, torn to pieces..." 

He suddenly turned to face you.

You looked at him with clear eyes and he looked at you back. 

"I knew you liked me," he said. You felt embarrassment rising. 

"Oh, really?" you said, not daring to meet his gaze. 

"Yeah." Jae said, his voice deep. 

There was silence for a moment. 

"I just wanted to ask if you still liked me," he said slowly, but with so much seriousness. 

You looked up at him. 

His eyes showed hope, small hope. 

You felt your heart break, and you hoarsely said, "Jae... I'm so sorry... That was so long ago," 

Jae looked at you, wincing, his eyes showing sadness and he frowned. 

"I admit, I did like you, but you never asked me out, so when you moved away, I gave up on you..." you said quietly, refusing to look at his face. Instead, you looked at the ground. 
Jae finally released your hand from his grip. 

"And then I went on with life," This time, you finally looked at him, tears b your eyes. "But Jae, do you have any idea how hard it was? Because you left, I've distanced myself with most people. Now, I find myself only trusting Nayoung. It's been so long. I've changed so much, my feelings have changed. Jae, I'm not the same person you knew. The me that liked you has left, so, so long ago." 

A tear chased down your cheek, and you wiped it off with your hand. 

Jae looked at you with hurt and pain. 

"I know..." he replied, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. "Please... just excuse me," He bowed quickly, and ran off, leaving you crying to yourself. 

Great. 

You cried twice today. 

How amazing. 
Good thing you wear waterproof makeup now. 

You'd look like a piece of trash if you didn't. 

Rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand, a familiar voice called your name.

"Sunjung?" You turned, and saw Ren. 

Not even thinking, you leaped towards him and buried your face in his chest, crying tears that seemed endless. 

"Sunjung? What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes wide with worry and concern. 

You said a muffled and garbled answer that no one could understand.

"What? Sunjung, speak clearly, what's wrong?" Ren looked at you, not caring that you were using his shirt as a tissue. 

"Reeeeeeen," you whined, and sniffled. 

Okay, so he caught you at the wrong moment. 

People said you were one of those cute criers, but honestly, you tend to get a little ugly if you cried too much. 

And today was definitely a day where you cried a little bit too much. 

Ren sighed, and through your hair. 

"Sunnie-ah, stop crying~" he sang softly. 

You managed to laugh a bit and Ren smiled. 

"Sunjung-ah, no more crying~" he continued. "Or else I'll tickle you, Sunjung-ah~" 

You immediately stopped crying, and started laughing in Ren's embrace. 

"Are you okay now?" he asked, looking down at you. 

You nodded. 

"Good," Ren said, still your hair. "You know, your hair smells nice. And it's soft too." 

"Kamsahamnida," you spoke, your face still buried in his chest. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ren asked, concerned. 

You nodded again. 

"I'm fine," you croaked, your voice hoarse. 

"What happened anyways?" Ren murmured. 

You told him everything, except for the parts that Jae had said about Ren liking you and stuff. 

It felt good to tell him what had happened.

Like a brick was lifted from your shoulders. 

"Really? He confessed?" Ren looked at you, confliction forming in his eyes. 

"Ne... Is something wrong?" you said. 

"Ani, ani, nothing's wrong," he said, waving it off, and turning back to look into your eyes. 

On days, you normally had small eyes, but there were those days where you had huge irises. 

And today was one of those days. 

Ren chuckled as he stared into yours. 

"I like big irises," he commented. 

You silently cursed to yourself on how you didn't normally have big irises and felt jealousy for all those other girls that did. 

"Well, do you feel better now?" Ren averted the conversation back to you. 

You nodded. 

"Good," Ren whispered, continuing to your hair gently.

It was silent between you two, but you knew that the distance between you two was smaller than before. 

*Ren's POV*

He saw you with that Jae guy and curiously watched you two. 

You couldn't hear what you or he was saying, so you watched his mouth. 

Nothing. 

You didn't understand anything and groaned that you didn't know how to read lips. 

Not that you'd ever want to read his lips...

Yet he noticed that you were crying. 

He didn't like it when you cried. 

Suddenly, all respect for Jae, even if it was a speck, disappeared. 

You didn't like anyone who made you cry. 

He wondered what that meant, but he often just shrugged it off. 

When he noticed that Jae ran off, he decided to approach you. 

"Sunjung," he called your name. You turned to face him, and he felt horrible. 

Your face was sad and your eyes were puffy and red. 

You ran into his chest and all he could do to try to calm you is say some words, your hair, and hug you.

He never really knew what to do when a girl -or anyone at that- was crying. 

You explained everything to him, and he cursed under his breath. 

The next time he saw Jae, he's totally beating him up. 
Yet, he knew that he wouldn't. 

Ren knew that Jae meant a lot to you. 

Even if you broke his heart, you still thought that Jae meant a lot to you. 

When you spoke so happily of him, jealousy sparked in him. 

He wondered why, but never found the answer, so he often shrugged it off. 

Yet, listening to you go on about how he made you cry, he felt so angry, so perturbed, so mad, and so sad that Jae would dare to that to you. 

He felt protective, possessive even, of you. 

He tried his hardest not to show it, and he's doing a pretty good job or so. 

When you were in his embrace, he tried hard not to do something that would make you cry.

He wanted to give you a quick kiss, a tiny peck on the cheek or something, but he knew that would upset you even more, so he restrained himself. 

He wondered why he wanted to do those things. 

Ren, dismissing these thoughts, just took a silent breath and hugged you. 

Oh goodness, even an innocent boy like him has desires....

It took all of his strength just to keep him from holding you tighter or doing something crazy.

He knew he liked you as a friend. 

Yet, why was he thinking so much of you? 
Why was he admiring you from far away?

Why did he want to know everything about you? 

Then, it finally clicked. 

He liked you. 

He liked you a whole lot.