The hallway was bursting with noises and random yelling as students started flooding in from their last class. Song Jihyo narrowed her eyes as she maneuvered past all the students with ease, her eyes flaring with determination to escape the last person on earth she ever wanted to see. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be the case when her sensitive ears picked up what obviously was his voice calling out for her.

"Noona! Jihyo noona! Please wait for me!” Behind the large crowds of students, a particularly tall and lanky boy was desperately trying to catch his noona’s attention as he tried to fight past the crowds that were blocking his way. Jihyo pretended not to hear it as she hastened her pace, rounding the corner and almost breaking into a run until she was sure she had finally lost him and threw him off the path.

The fifth year breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the Great Hall, legs automatically carrying her towards the Ravenclaw table and she flopped unceremoniously onto the seat. Youngjee, whose class ended earlier that day, looked at her friend with a raised brow.

“What happened? You looked as if you were being chased by a troll. Is Dongwook pestering you again?” remarked Youngjee casually as she took a bite of her food, as if it was common occurrence for her.

“What do you think?” Jihyo gave a dirty look before starting to pile all the food onto her plate. Youngjee laughed despite Jihyo’s misery, and only stopped when an elbow struck her sharply in the arm.

“Oh look, Dongwook saw you and he’s waving all the way from the Slytherin’s table,” jested Youngjee as she waved back at the lanky fourth year.

“Stop doing that. He’s going to think he still has a chance at getting it with me,” Jihyo scowled at her friend, and purposely avoided looking towards the Slytherin’s table from across her. Everywhere but there.

“I think he’s not bad. Why don’t you try dating him? Might work out.”

“Don’t make me dump the food on you.” Jihyo glared and chewed on her food so viciously that it scared off the other younger students seated near them. “If you like him so much, you can have all of him from head to toe.”

Youngjee scoffed, not intimidated at all. “I know, you’re still waiting for—” Her sentence was cut short when the captain of the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team suddenly stopped by their table.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation but...” the captain held a book out to Jihyo, “...you dropped your book along the hallway, Jihyo-yah.”

Jihyo’s face flushed in embarrassment as she took over the book, murmuring a “thank you” while she stared at the book. “How did you know it’s—”

“You scribbled your name all over the first page,” he chuckled. “Don’t lose your stuff all over the place again, I’ll see you later during our joint quidditch practice.” With that he gave a smile and waved before walking over to join his friends by the Great Hall entrance. Jihyo stared at his retreating figure till Youngjee spoke up.

“He’s gone, you can stop staring now.” Youngjee shook her head as if her friend was hopeless beyond help. “How long have you been trying to get into his pants? Seems like forever to me...”

“Youngjee...”

“It’s the truth, well... maybe not the getting into his pants part even though you’ll do that eventually, but you know what I mean anyway,” Youngjee took a sip of her orange juice before continuing, “Sixth year Gryffindor and captain of the Quidditch team, popular guy isn’t he? Aren’t you afraid he’ll get taken up by other girls?”

“He’s not mine and I can’t control who he dates. Beside it’s none of my business.” Jihyo spoke as calmly as she possibly could, but her gaze betrayed her.

“You’re the worst liar I’ve ever came across.” Youngjee snorted, shaking her head at her friend. Jihyo kept quiet, for she had nothing to say when it was the truth.

-

Hovering high above the ground on her broom, Jihyo kept her eyes trained as she searched around the field for the snitch. It may be just a friendly practice match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, but that didn’t mean she could take it easy. It usually wouldn’t take long for her to spot the flying golden ball, but out of all thing, Dongwook had to be on the stands and cheering for her with the sonorus spell.

As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough for her, he was even using those strikingly bright colored poms poms.

Jihyo wished she could fly off to the stand and strangle him till he quiet down, but restrained herself and tried to mute him in her mind. Out of a sudden, something whizzed past her. Realizing it was the snitch, she immediately chased after it, the Gryffindor’s seeker following closely before her.

It was a close save, as she barely captured the flying ball in her hand and almost fell off her broom, but somehow she managed to stabilize herself before she did any damage to her own self. The capture of the snitch meant that it was the end of their joint quidditch practice as she flew down to the ground, smiling at all those who came to commend her for doing a great job, including those from the Gryffindor team. Though none of that could compared to the happiness she felt when Jongkook came over.

“Good job, Jihyo. I think we need to train more if we want to beat the Ravenclaw team,” praised Jongkook.

“By the way, your ultimate fan is coming straight for you, might want to watch out for him,” he chuckled and pointed towards the direction where Dongwook is running at an incredible speed towards them. Jihyo cursed under her breath and moved slightly so that she was standing slightly behind Jongkook.

“Jongkook oppa...” Jihyo paused, but continued on in desperate when she saw that Dongwook was getting closer to them. “Can you help me? I...”

Jongkook seemed to understand what she was saying despite the fact that she never got to finish it. His hand reached over to grab hers, fingers intertwining together just as Dongwook came to a stop in front of them.

“Jihyo noona, you were so awesome out there!” exclaimed Dongwook as he waved excitedly. Jongkook chuckled wholeheartedly while Jihyo had an awkward smile on. It wasn’t until some time before Dongwook finally realized his sunbaes’ hands were linked together.

“Hyung and noona... are together?” There was a confused look on Dongwook’s face and Jihyo could understand why. She could feel her palm getting clammy and wondered if Jongkook felt it.

“Yes, we are.” Jongkook answered with a smile on his face after seeing Jihyo’s blank face and knew she was spacing out again. “I’d really appreciate it if you could stop chasing after her, alright?” He joked, and patted Dongwook’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Ahh... really? I thought...” Dongwook seemed uncertain about something, but stopped himself and flashed a smile instead.

“Congrats, Jongkook hyung and Jihyo noona, but I still can be your favorite dongsaeng right, noona?” Both guys looked at Jihyo for her response, but upon her unresponsive reply, Jongkook had to do something.

“Jihyo?” Jongkook released his hand and put his arm around her waist instead. Only then did Jihyo snap back to reality from her reverie when she felt his touch.

“Oh yes, of course... you’re my favorite dongsaeng...” Jihyo trailed off, getting distracted again when all she could think of was how Jongkook’s arm was around her waist as if they were a really a couple, and how scary it was to feel comfortable with it because it wasn’t real.

“That’s good then! I’ll let you two have your moment, see you later hyung and noona.” Before Jihyo could react Dongwook had already ran off, and she sighed a breath of relief. She attempted to distance herself from Jongkook, but he pulled her back and wrapped his arm around her even tighter.

“Dongwook’s a smart fellow, he doesn’t believe we’re really dating,” Jongkook explained when Jihyo gave him a baffled look. “He’s still watching us.”

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.” Jihyo bit her lips as they walked off from the field and towards where their respective house lockers were.

“Silly girl. Why are you being so polite with me? That’s what friends are for, right?”

Friends.

“...you’re right.” It was a bitter smile and she hoped he didn’t notice anything wrong with it. Then again, why would he?

-

“Song Jihyo! What a good friend you are!” That first thing Jihyo heard right in the early morning, and she literally choked on her scrambled eggs when Youngjee hit her hard on her back.

“Yah! Are you trying to murder your friend here?” said Jihyo irritably after she managed to stop coughing, giving her most annoyed glare at Youngjee who didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. “And what the heck are you talking about?”

“Stop pretending, why didn’t you tell me you and Jongkook are together! Some best friend you are.” Youngjee muttered, shaking her head as she took her seat beside Jihyo.

“Oh, you found out?”

Youngjee stared incredibly at how Jihyo spoke as if it was something she should have expected.

“What do you mean ‘oh you found out’? I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it and I had to know through your Quidditch teammates. They were all gossiping about how Jongkook went protective over you that day during the joint Quidditch practice.” Youngjee huffed, and then suddenly lapsed into a silence. She spoke up a brief moment later. “Are you guys really dating?”

Always the observant one. Jihyo thought to herself, and contemplated whether she should tell her friend the truth. Just when she was having difficulty deciding, Jongkook appeared just in time.

“Can I borrow Jihyo for a short while? I’ll return her to you in one piece.” Even his laugh sounded melodious and Jihyo could feel her cheeks flushing when he grabbed her hand, gently pulling her out of the Great Hall with him before Youngjee could even react to the whole situation.

“I guess Youngjee found out and thought we’re really dating?” asked Jongkook once they were out of sight from others. Jihyo nodded her head awkwardly.

“I’m sorry–”

“How many times are you going to apologize to me, Jihyo-yah? I just need to ask you something. Do you like Dongwook?”

Jihyo stared blankly at Jongkook, thinking she had heard the wrong thing, but his questioning gaze didn’t seem to be the case.

“Of course not!” Jihyo exclaimed, but shook her head immediately when she realized her action. “I mean... I don’t hate Dongwook, but I just don’t like him that way.”

Because you’re the only one I like.

“That settled it then.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll continue to pretend we’re dating, until Dongwook backs off entirely.”

“Why–”

“I told you before, he’s a smart guy. He doesn’t believe we’re really dating.”

“Oh... but... I don’t want to trouble you... so if–”

“It’s okay with me, Jihyo... if you’re okay with it too.”

“But what if you have someone you like... then wouldn’t this affect your chance...”

“...it won’t affect anything.” Jongkook reassured and patted on Jihyo’s head.

“Believe me, alright? This will be a secret between the two of us only.” At this, Jihyo could only nod her head at him. What she didn’t miss, was the fact that he didn’t deny that he had someone he liked, and suddenly her heart felt heavier than she could carry.

“Come on, it’s time for me to return you to Youngjee,” he chuckled and grasped Jihyo’s hand in his so naturally that she didn’t notice until they were back in the Great Hall.

“Jihyo yah, I can’t go if you don’t release my hand.” There was amusement written on his face and Jihyo quickly let go of his hand in embarrassment.

“I’ll see you later,” he remarked, and pinched her cheeks affectionately before leaving.

“Eyy, are you guys doing such cheesy stuff in front of me on purpose?” Youngjee’s voice alerted Jihyo of her friend’s presence and she laughed despite the weird feeling in her stomach.

“Maybe.”

If only these were all real.

-

“Are you cold?” Jihyo turned and looked up slightly at Jongkook, giving him a bright smile before shaking her head.

“I wore enough clothing this time round,” she replied, knowing that he was going to bring up the incident of her almost getting a frostbite because she was too lazy to run back to her dormitory to get more clothes.

“Hm.” Jongkook seemed satisfied with the answer for now and Jihyo shifted her attention back to the various shops as they strolled through Hogsmeade. Her eyes literally lit up at the sight of the colorful candies on Honeydukes’ display window before prancing into the shop like a little girl. Jongkook followed her in after chuckling to himself.

“Jongkook oppa, can you get this for me?” Jihyo pleaded and pointed to the shelf filled full with bags of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. “I forgot to bring my money with me...”

Looking at Jihyo’s pouting face, there was no way Jongkook could possibly say no to her even though he personally wasn’t fond of sweet stuff.

“Why are you always so absentminded?” He sighed and grabbed two bags of the sweets. Jihyo squealed with delight and in the heat of moment, tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek. She could feel her face getting hot when she realized what she had just did, and whizzed away to another part of the shop instantly. Jongkook only smiled to himself before going off to purchase the sweets.

Even though they had been ‘dating’ for a few months now, Jihyo clearly knew that it was all just for show and that they weren’t really together. That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the time she get to spend with him.

“Spacing out again, Jihyo?” Jongkook’s voice broke her thoughts and she smiled sheepishly at him.

“I was just thinking,” she insisted, before taking over the sweets in his hand with glee. “I’ll pay you back when we get back to the castle.”

“You don’t have to.”

“But–” A cold gush of wind blew past them the moment they exited from the shop and Jihyo sneezed.

“I thought you said you wore enough?” Jongkook reproached, a frown adorning his face.

“I did– ah-choo!” Jihyo sniffed, as Jongkook took off his own scarf and wrapped it around Jihyo’s neck instead.

“Next time wear two layers of what you normally wear or you’re not allowed to go outdoors.”

“What? Two layers? I’ll look as round as a puffskein! I’ll be okay, you don’t even wear this much during Quidditch match in the winter season.”

“It’s different.”

“I don’t see any difference.”

“There is.”

“There isn’t.

“Stop being so stubborn!”

“Stubborn?” Jihyo looked at him in disbelief. Who was he to decide how much she wanted to wear? And now he was raising his voice at her just because she didn’t want to comply to his request?

“Kim Jongkook! In case you forgot, we’re not–” Before she could finish saying she was suddenly enveloped in an embrace, her face tucked into the crook of his shoulder. She could feel his body heat radiating from him and snuggled closer without thinking much.

“I’m sorry, and I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. I was... just worried about you falling sick.”

Jihyo could sense that he was sincere about it and nodded her head, but otherwise kept silent while enjoying the warmth from him in the cold weather.

Oppa, stop being so nice to me. I’m sinking in deeper than I could ever imagine and there is no way I can get myself out of it.

-

That night as Jihyo lay in her bed, she couldn’t get herself to sleep– a myriad of mixed emotions keeping her wide awake. Suddenly the side of her bed sunk in and she immediately knew it was Youngjee before she even spoke.

“I know you’re not asleep yet. Thinking about someone?” Youngjee remarked bluntly, and then sighed. Jihyo frowned and turned around to face her friend.

“Why are you sighing?”

“I’m worried for you, Jihyo.” The frown on Jihyo’s face deepened. Youngjee continued on, “You guys aren’t really dating, am I right?”

“How did you–” Jihyo stopped when she realized she had said the wrong thing, but realized it didn’t matter anymore since Youngjee already knew.

“Yes, you’re right. We aren’t really dating. He’s just helping me from Dongwook’s relentless pursuing.” There was a seemingly choking sensation when she said that out loud, but nevertheless tried her hardest to put on a smile as if she didn’t mind it.

“This might seem cruel but you shouldn’t have go along with his plan. You’re only torturing yourself more with that.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you...”

“There are some things that you can’t help but do it despite the pain you’ll get in return...”

“Confess to him.”

“What?” Jihyo sat up on her bed and stared at her friend. “He doesn’t–”

“I said, confess to him. If he doesn’t like you, then stop falling in deeper in love with him. Do you know every time I see you looking at him, your expression tells me you’re a step closer to beyond help. You’re my best friend, of course I wish things would end up happy for you, but if it doesn’t, then stop sinking in further.”

Jihyo went silent for short while before speaking again. “Do you know something I don’t know?”

“Just do what I said, okay?” Youngjee cleverly avoided her question, and left before Jihyo could force any answer out from her. She had a feeling it was not something she would want to know.

-

Leaning against the wall, Jihyo could feel her heart beating nervously as she waited near the main staircase. She knew that Jongkook would have to take the stair to his morning class that day, and she didn’t want to approach him in the Great Hall with all the students there, so this was the best bet. Shortly after, she could recognize his muscular frame from his group of friends easily but before she could take another step forward, a girl in the same Gryffindor attire came up to him and hooked her arm through his. What truly shocked her was that he let her be, and none of his friends was surprised about it.

Jihyo smiled bitterly to herself, and now understood why Youngjee refused to answer her last night. She wanted to run away before they could see her, but changed her mind halfway and went up to him instead.

“Jihyo? Anything the matter?” Jihyo couldn’t comprehend why he wasn’t flustered at all even though she saw him with the girl, but then soon realized it was because he treated her as friends, and that was probably why he didn’t see the need to hide it from her.

“I need to talk to you... alone.” She tried to keep her face emotionless and hoped it wouldn’t betray her. Despite the confused look, Jongkook agreed and told his friends to go to class first. Jihyo took a peek at the girl subtly, but all she saw was her curious expression before she went off with the others.

“Something urgent?” Jongkook’s voice snapped Jihyo back to reality as she tried to remain poker-faced.

“Can we stop this fake dating?”

“Why–”

“I’m... tired of this. I’m not someone who can keep up with the act for so long. I really appreciate your help, oppa, but I believe it will be better for both of us. Don’t worry about Dongwook, I don’t think he’ll pester me anymore.” When Jihyo was done speaking, Jongkook was relatively quiet and seemed to be in deep thoughts. Jihyo couldn’t understand what was going through his head while she waited for his reply.

“If it bothers you so much... I guess we’ll stop with the plan.” For a moment Jihyo thought she saw hurt in his eyes, but convinced herself that she probably saw wrongly.

“If you need help, feel free to come to me any time, okay?” He left before Jihyo could come up with a reply. She thought it felt so painful as if he was really breaking up with her, but they were never really dating in the first place and that hurts even more.

-

“I can’t believe Gryffindor lost to Slytherin during yesterday’s quidditch match. They won two match in a row and there is no way our house will win the cup now. It’s a foul play, I swear.” Youngjee exclaimed, not caring that they were in the Great Hall and there were Slytherins present too.

“You’re just feeling sore about losing the bet and having to pay.” Jihyo scoffed and kindly pointed out for her friend.

“That too!”

“We can still get the cup if we win the next match by 400 points.”

Youngjee looked at Jihyo sarcastically. “Yeah sure, ask your teammates to score 250 points more than them before you go on catching the snitch then.”

“I will, don’t you worry.” Jihyo laughed and Youngjee gave a pointed look.

“Did you hear though? Rumors were spreading that Slytherin played dirty. I’m not even surprised. One of their members made the Gryffindor’s captain broke his wrist just the day before and they had to replace him. As a result they lost the match.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Youngjee raised her eyebrows. “Still not over him even though it’s been months, aren’t you?”

“You–”

“Jihyo unnie?” Both Jihyo and Youngjee paused and looked up at the younger girl in question. “You’re Song Jihyo unnie, right?”

“...yes?” Jihyo answered with doubt for she didn’t know her well, but she certainly recognized her as the girl who was with Jongkook and suddenly she felt her anger rising for no reason.

“There’s something I need to tell you, unnie.” Jihyo hesitated. She didn’t want anything to do with this girl, and already stayed clear of his path but why was she still looking for her?

“Please, Jihyo unnie. It’s really something important.” The girl pleaded, as if sensing her hesitation towards her. Jihyo had no choice but to follow after the girl to somewhere that’s more hidden from rest of the student body.

“Jihyo unnie, can you get back together with Jongkook oppa?” Jihyo gaped at the girl, and was rendered speechless by her words. What on earth was she talking about?

“What?”

The girl sighed, as if disappointed by Jihyo’s reaction.

“Jongkook oppa really likes you, unnie. I can see it in his eyes and he’s always talking about you to me. He was so happy when you two started dating. I don’t know what happened, but after you two broke up he was really upset. It isn’t of him not to take care of himself. He gets so distracted nowadays and became a lot more quiet than before.”

“He... likes me?” Jihyo was stunned, and even though she had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, that was all she could say at the moment.

“Of course he likes you, unnie! How can you even doubt that? He doesn’t even allow people to talk bad about you and I’ve never seen him so protective over someone other than me since young... but it’s different because I’m his sister. You’re the first one.”

“Sister?”

“Yeah, sister. We’re siblings, didn’t he tell you that? I only transfered here this year.” Suddenly Jihyo could see the similar features she shared with him and almost wanted to hit herself for being so stupid.

“Jihyo unnie, even if you can’t get back together with him, can you at least tell him to take good care of himself? Beside... you’re the reason why he broke his wrist...” The girl trailed off and Jihyo looked at her puzzledly. Because of her?

“Me?”

“I’m not blaming you, unnie... but it’s the truth. Some Slytherins were saying something... um not so nice things about you and he got so angry that he ended up fighting with them. Luckily Jaesuk oppa appeared at the right timing to stop them.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know but he said he wanted to get some fresh air since early morning.” Jihyo thanked the girl and set off for the grounds immediately, rather overwhelmed by the turn of events. She wasn’t entirely sure if he would be there, but it was the only place he would often be when he wanted to be alone. Upon reaching, Jihyo’s paces slowed down when she saw him sitting against the tree and dozing off.

She walked towards him, careful not to make any noise to disturb him as she squatted down in front of him. Even when sleeping, there was a deep frown on his face. Before she knew it, her hand was already reaching out to try and smooth out the creases on his forehead.

“Jihyo...” Jongkook suddenly mumbled and Jihyo moved her hand away in shock, wondering if she had woken him up. He stirred a bit, but other than that his eyes remained closed and his breathing still even. Jihyo then realized he was probably talking in his sleep, but why was he calling out her name?

“I really like you... Jihyo ah...” Jihyo couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Even though she had heard it earlier on from his sister, but hearing it personally from him was a totally different feeling.

“I like you too, oppa.” Jihyo whispered, shifting over to sit by him. She didn’t know how long time had gone by, but she was contented just like that and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep too. The only thing she knew when she woke up was that Jongkook was staring, her head was comfortably resting on his shoulder and his scarf was around her instead.

“It might be spring already but the weather’s still cold. You need to learn how to take care of yourself.” Jongkook remarked, and turned his head away as he played with a random twig he found. “If you’re here to console me about our loss to the Slytherins... don’t.”

“I’m not here for that.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Your sister told me everything.” Jihyo sworn she heard him cursing under his breath.

“She likes to exaggerate things, don’t take her words too seriously.”

“But she’s not lying, isn’t she?” Jongkook went silent at that, before suddenly standing up.

“I’m going back. Don’t stay out here for too long.” He muttered, and started to walk off without giving a proper answer. Jihyo bit her lips and stood up as well, determined to settle everything once and for all.

“If I tell you that I like you, will you man up and tell me you like me too?” Jihyo raised her voice, eyes almost b with tears. “Because it hurts to like you that much and I’m telling you I hate it.”

Jongkook stood rooted on the ground when he heard that. The few minutes felt like eternity to Jihyo before he eventually turned back to her.

“Are you taking pity on me?” Jongkook gritted his teeth and Jihyo couldn’t believe after all that she had said, he still didn’t believe her and thought she was joking around with him.

“I’m not, damnit! Why can’t you–” She didn’t get to finish her sentence because she was suddenly assaulted with a kiss from him. Jihyo widened her eyes at him in surprise at first, but soon closed her eyes. The kiss was slow and gentle; his lips were a bit cold for being outdoor so long but it was soft, and most importantly, it felt right to be kissing him. When they finally pulled away from each other, Jongkook brushed her cheek tenderly before leaning his forehead against hers.

“I like you, Song Jihyo. I really do. Can we try dating again, for real this time round?” Jihyo smiled back at him, and instead of saying yes, she answered him with another kiss to his lips.