“Junhong, Junhong, listen to me,” you speak up to fill the bone-chilling silence, “Thank you, really. I appreciate it.”

“No biggie,” he replies, “I was just in the neighborhood anyway.”

“But your house is a number of bus stops away! You didn’t have to come all this way, really. You must be tired. You should go home now, okay, before it gets dark.”

“All right,” he says in a quiet voice, “I guess I’ll be going now.”

“Okay then.” You watch him walks down the road and cry out, “Be careful!”

“Yeah, be careful!” Youngjae shouts as well.

Junhong waves without looking back, plodding until he’s out of view. 

“I don’t like that chap,” Youngjae commented, leading the way into the gate.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” you protested, “Junhong may look like he’s been out in the wild, but he’s super nice. Trust me.”

“Yeah?” Youngjae smirks. “Well well, don’t we both have bad judgement when it comes to other people?”

“Whatever you mean by that,” you remark. You do a little twirl and knock into Daehyun, who is standing in front of the door, arms folded.

“Where have you been?” he asks, his tone sharp.

“Nowhere,” you reply, a little bit too quickly. 

Daehyun shot a look at Youngjae. Youngjae shrugs.

“Don’t keep anything a secret from me,” Daehyun says.

“Relax, man,” Youngjae says, “There’s nothing going on. Hyunae said so herself.”

“I don’t believe it. I don’t like it when the two of you are having a hush-hush.”

“I swear we’re not up to anything. Okay? I met Hyunae on my way here so she hitchhiked, but that’s all.”

“Yeah. What Youngjae oppa said,” you chimed in.

Daehyun looks at you and Youngjae sternly. He finally lets out a sigh, opens the door reluctantly, and announces, “Dinner’s ready.”

“You guys go ahead. I’m going to the toilet first,” you say as you run to the bathroom.

You look at your reflection on the mirror while you wash your hands. You remember the bag with Daehyun’s present in the compartment of Youngjae’s motorbike. You make a mental note to remind him to hide it at home. You feel excited just thinking about the surprise you and Youngjae are going to throw for Daehyun’s birthday. You quickly dry your hands and head out to the dining room, but a stringent voice stops your steps. 

“You two have been hanging out together a lot, aren’t you?” It’s Daehyun oppa’s.

“What? Are you jealous?” you hear a tinge of playfulness in Youngjae’s voice.

“Youngjae. I’ve reminded you countless times before. Hyunae is not just any girl. She’s my little sister.”

“Daehyun, really--”

“I’ve also reminded you of what might happen if she got hurt, right?”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you, man?”

“Nothing.”

You wait for a moment, but no one says anything. You are about to walk in to them, when suddenly Daehyun speaks up again.

“You two are the only people I have left. If both of you start lying to me, I don’t know if I could go on anymore.”

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