Chaima’s whole body was shaking. She swiftly looked around with watery eyes and noticed everyone was staring at her. The tiny Shindae was holding Chaima, trying to comfort her much taller friend awkwardly. Chaima heard her mutter some comforting words while she felt her her big hair. “It’ll be okay, we’re going to fix this, it’s okay…” Shindae muttered, looking around as well. The bystanders were still in a semi-circle around the duo. Jimin saw Jungkook walk over to the group with a confused face. Before he could reach the group, he was already escorted away by Jimin, who quickly rushed over to his friend and whispered some things into his ear. Yuni was still in tears, sniffling loudly. Chaima’s eyes met Hyejoon’s who suddenly decided to barge over to the duo, leaving Hyejoon in the arms of another classmate.
“Oh ,” Chaima mumbled softly before wiggling her body so that Shindae would let her go. Hyejoon stood in front of her more quickly than Chaima expected.
“I don’t know what went wrong here and I don’t know what you did to create this situation but I sure as hell know that you’re going to fix this or else I’ll deal with you personally.”
Hyejoon waved a little finger in front of Chaima’s face before barging off again and dragging the still crying Yuni to their homeroom.
“Well… We should go to our own homeroom…” Shindae mumbled, still a bit flustered by the sudden outburst of their new friend.
“That was a legit threat, though,” Chaima said a little worried, grabbing her schoolbag from the floor.
“Don’t take it too seriously, she is just annoyed right now,” Shindae tried to wave her friends worries away but her words didn’t sound convincing.  Neither Chaima nor Shindae knew how to handle this situation so they just quietly moved to their homeroom on the third floor. Here, Jin, Baeri and Yoongi were already sat at their usual spots. Chaima thudded on her chair, placed her face on her desk and closed her eyes. The cold desk touching her right cheek calmed her down slightly and she sighed deeply.
“So, you aren’t going to say anything to me?” Baeri asked, sounding offended. Chaima opened one eye to meet her friend’s eyes. Baeri was sitting on her direct right. Jin, who was sitting behind Baeri, looked confused. “What’s going on?” he said with his soft voice.
“Oh, haven’t you heard? Thanks to my best friend my cousin is being sent off to Japan to a boarding school,” Baeri said, emphasising the words “best friend” with lots of sarcasm.
“Don’t fight,” Shindae demanded, who thudded on her own chair on Chaima’s left, turning a quarter turn, so that she was facing her friends. Yoongi sat on his own desk directly behind Shindae; Hoseok was less interested in their situation and kept his eyes on his phone, typing with occasional pauses.
“Do you even know what she caused?” Baeri said offended, waving her arm in anger.
“Yes, but I don’t want us to fight as well. Let’s please figure out a way to fix this instead of making a big thing out of this,” Shindae replied calmly while looking at her nails and folding her legs.
Baeri got even more annoyed when she saw Shindae’s careless behaviour.
“You know what, Shindae; we don’t always have to listen to you, you know. You’re not our boss,” Baeri sneered at the girl. The latter looked up and raised one eyebrow, predicting a bad situation coming up.
“Listen sweetie, I understand you’re upset right now but you better drop that attitude of yours right about now,” Shindae warned her friend with her honey-sweet voice.
Before Baeri could reply, their teacher walked in and started announcements.

Baeri ignored her friends for the rest of the day. Jin told Chaima and Shindae that he would attend to her for that day and keep her company before a big fight would occur. The two didn’t join their usual hang out during break time, just like Hyejoon and Yuni.
“I guess everyone officially hates me right now,” Chaima whined when she sat down on their bench and lit a cigarette. Hoseok hummed in reply, sat down next to her but kept his eyes on his phone.
“Well thank you, best friend, for those calming words,” Chaima said sarcastically, slightly offended that her best friend didn’t even bother to comfort her in any sort of way.
“Yeah,” Hoseok replied, obviously not paying attention to anything she said. Chaima lifted her hands in the air like she gave up. Shindae shook her head and sat down on Chaima’s other side. Jimin and Jungkook walked over to them, talking among each other.
“So, is it true?” Jimin asked as soon as they arrived at their friends, “Did you really send Saenan away to Japan?”
“Well, I didn’t do it myself…” Chaima stuttered, trying to clear her name slightly. “So who was your accomplice in this,” Jimin said, eyeing Shindae. The latter instantly raised her hands, “I am not a part of this,” resulting Chaima looking at her friend with big eyes.
Jungkook didn’t look amused. “Can anyone tell me what happened, though because this oaf just told me a sensational story and I’m pretty sure that half of it is true. Your dad isn’t the principal, right?” he asked urgently, pointing at Jimin.
Yoongi lifted Shindae off the bench, sat down on her spot and tugged her on his lap. “Let me give you a short recap,” he said while doing so.
“Chaima’s father is indeed the principal of this school. He wanted to call Saenan’s parents to praise her on her extraordinary grades and wanted to hand her a reward for this. To invite them to the ceremony, he called them up and explained the situation. He even praised her amazing work in Creative Writing. Apparently, Saenan lied to her parents and told them she was following Psychology cause they forbid her to do any subject that were “useless” for her future. So, I understand things kind of escalated from there,” Yoongi explained shortly. Jungkook nodded in response, “she really enjoyed Creative Writing,” he said sadly.
“We’re going to fix it, right babe?” Shindae said cheerfully, turning around to meet her boyfriend’s eyes. He hummed in reply, but wasn’t really paying attention. His eyes were focussed on Hoseok’s phone; who showed him a chat conversation. When Shindae tried to look at what the boys were reading; Hoseok quickly put his phone in his pocket.
“How are we going to fix this, though,” Chaima said defeated. “We’ll figure something out,” Shindae said cheerfully.  Jimin and Jungkook didn’t look convinced and kept to themselves for the rest of the break. They quickly left for their next classes before the bell was even done ringing.
Chaima sighed; she wished this day would be over already.

Driving home, Chaima couldn’t get her mind off what happened. She was determined to go home and talk to her father; he must have some way to get her back. While driving past Shindae’s house, she was reminded of her friend. Shindae was always there for her, trying to fix things for and with her. Hoseok on the other hand, acted very strange lately, confusing her completely. Why was he so silent today? And why was he so absorbed in his phone lately? I thought we were friends again, however our friendship has been like a rollercoaster ride lately… Chaima finally took a left, entering her own drive way. Her house was quite the opposite of Shindae’s. Although it was still large, it was a tad bit smaller than the white mansion. The square villa was built with sand-coloured bricks and was three stories high. The window frames were painted white and in the middle there was a big green door. On each side of the door the walls made a slight curve, giving the illusion that the house was heart-shaped. Like Shindae’s mansion, the villa was placed on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by high trees and other fields. Chaima drove to the small garage on the left side and parked her small blue car inside, next to her father’s jeep. She sighed deeply before grabbing her schoolbag from the passenger seat and getting out of her car. Walking up to the front door she heard footsteps on the white gravel path leading around the house. She stopped to see who it was. An equally tall, slightly chubby woman with blonde hair came around the corner. She was wearing gardener’s gloves and a sunhat. Her sunglasses were dangling on the tip of her nose and she was holding a basket filled with red and green apples.
“Oh, hi sweetie!” her mother greeted her. “Hi mom,” Chaima said with a pout, grabbing an apple from the basket and taking a bite.
“What’s wrong sweetie,” her mother asked concerned when she saw her daughter’s expression.
“Everyone’s mad at me,” Chaima whined as they walked inside their home. The hallway’s brown walls carried many pictures of Chaima and her little brother Chaehwa throughout the years. If you looked up, you could see the open corridors of the second and third floor. Her little brother’s door was slightly open, with loud music coming out of the room. Her mother walked straight through the door on the left leading towards the kitchen. “Why is that?” she asked, slightly uninterested while she dropped her heavy basket on the black counter.
Chaima thudded on a black barstool in the middle of the kitchen and leaned on the white counter of the cooking island with her elbows, supporting her head while continuing eating her apple. “Cause of dad.”
“What do you mean because of dad?” her mother asked as she started to wash and sort the apples, with her back turned to Chaima.
“Because I gave him the number of Saenan’s parents and now she’s being sent off to Japan like a criminal and everyone blames me,” Chaima whined once more, ending her explanation with a deep sigh.
“Well that girl chose to lie to her parents, so it isn’t your fault,” her mother said simply, still washing apples.
“Mooooom,” Chaima whined childishly, “You don’t get it. The whole friend group blames me for giving dad the number.”
“I understand, sweetie,” she replied, not paying attention at all. Chaima grunted with annoyance and grumpily stomped off, still chewing her apple. She walked up the wooden stairs and headed over to her dad’s office at the second floor.  She knocked shortly before opening the door and barging in. Her father sat behind a hardwood desk with a laptop in front of him. He was wearing reading glasses and the light coming from the window made his bald head shine slightly. He looked up as he saw his daughter barge in and thud on one of the fauteuils near the window. The room had many bookshelves with files and boxes. The study looked very old-fashioned compared to the modern interior of the other rooms in the villa. Her dad was also a bit old-fashioned, so it suited well.
“Can I help you,” her father said with a strict tone, glaring as his daughter, who interrupted him rudely in his work, over his reading glasses.
“Thanks to you, everybody hates me, dad,” Chaima whined once more, pouting. Maybe if she begged and pleaded long enough, he’d help her to get Saenan back and everything will be alright.
“It’s not my fault the girl lied and created this situation for herself. We lost a good student,” he simply said, focussing back on his laptop. Chaima stood up and walked over to the desk, throwing the last bit of apple in the trash bin next to it. “But, dad,” she started but her father wouldn’t let her finish.
“Please, leave. I’m busy arranging things for next week’s ceremony,” he interrupted her. Disappointed, she grabbed her schoolbag once more and moved to the third floor where her room was. The moment she passed her little brothers room; his door open wider. Her little brother, Chaehwa, had short black hair and mischievous eyes. He was in the middle of puberty and started to grow a lot more these days. Thankfully, Chaima was still taller than the small brat.
“Hello liferuiner,” he laughed. She flung her schoolbag towards his direction, trying to hit him. “Shut up, brat!” she yelped walking off to her own room once again and slamming the door. She dropped her bag one last time and shrugged off the school uniform’s blazer, dropping it on the floor as well. The tall girl shuffled over to her bed before dropping herself on it carelessly, face down. Her face was buried in a mixture of pillows and blankets. For a couple of minutes, Chaima enjoyed the peace and quiet she finally had for the first time that day. Suddenly, she heard the door open but didn’t feel like budging. “Go away, Chaehwa,” she mumbled, expecting her little brother to be barging in like he always did. This was not the case, however.
“I’m not Chaehwa. Your mother told me you would be here, so…” a raspy voice said, coming from the door.
Chaima instantly sat up, recognizing the voice. When she turned around she saw a tall boy stand in the doorway, his thick dark brown wavy hair styled in a dapper cut, smiling crookedly at her.
“Seobin!” she yelped, fixing her skirt, hoping he didn’t see anything embarrassing. She quickly looked around her room for other embarrassing stuff she needed to hide from the charming boy. He chuckled slightly, but didn’t move an inch. “I didn’t want to disturb you,” he said kindly, “your mother told me it was okay.”
“Yes, yes it’s fine,” Chaima mumbled, feeling her cheeks turning red. She hadn’t spoken much with the boy lately and felt a bit embarrassed seeing him. He still didn’t walk into his room. He’s quite well mannered, waiting for me to give him permission to walk in… “How about we go to the game room?” she proposed, standing up from her bed. “Sure,” he smiled in response.
“Uhm, let me change first,” Chaima said plucking her school uniform’s blouse. “Right, I’ll just wait here,” he nodded, backing of more into the hallways and leaning against the wooden balustrade.
She smiled shortly before slamming the door in his face. Mouthing an “OMG” she frantically started searching for her phone. When she finally found it on the bottom of her bag she texted Shindae.

To: Shindae
Guess who is in my freaking house right now

She threw the phone on her bed before moving to her big closet. She grabbed a sleeveless, short flow-y dress. The white dress with red and pink flowers had a low cut and many layers of fabric. She twirled a little in front of her mirror and tried to fix her hair slightly. She sighed deeply as she noticed her crazy curly hair was untameable and decided to put it on a bun on top of her head. Knowing she was overdressed for a casual meet up with a very, very handsome guy, she opened the door again. Seobin was leaning with her arms on the balustrade, looking down at the hallway of the house.
When he heard her open the door, he turned around. Eyeing her for a couple of seconds, he began to smile widely. She noticed he has a small mole underneath his left eye. “You look lovely,” he said softly, stepping towards her.
“Let’s go to the game room,” she said quickly, moving towards the last door on the third floor, glancing down at the door of her father’s study. If he knew she’d be alone with a boy in his own house, he’d personally throw the boy off their roof. When she opened the door, a room which looked like a living room was revealed. A big TV was stuck to the left wall and many game stations were placed on a table underneath it. On the right side there was a pinball machine and a dartboard stuck on the wall.
“This looks great,” Seobin said, looking around the room. Chaima nodded and walked over to the brown L-shaped couch. She thudded down in the corner and the TV. Seobin slowly walked over to the large couch as well, looking unsure on which spot he should take. He decided to sit next to Chaima, leaving enough space between them but didn’t sit too far away from her either.
“So, why did you come anyways?” Chaima tried to hide her curiosity but casually flicking between channels on the TV.
“I wanted to ask you something, actually,” Seobin replied with his raspy voice, giving Chaima shivers down her spine. She tried to avoid eye contact with the handsome guy; he made her very nervous.
“Oh?” she tried to sound casual but she was nervously twirling the remote in her hands and which her nervousness away. Seobin noticed the girl’s behaviour and placed one his hand on hers.
Chaima flinched slightly when his hand touched hers and looked at him. “Don’t be nervous, silly,” he whispered. She smiled awkwardly in response.
“I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to dinner with me,” he said with a slight smile. Chaima felt her stomach turn a little bit. Even though her emotions and feelings were all over the place and she was quite confused about what she really wanted, she felt somehow comfortable with Seobin. She smiled and nodded quickly. “I’d like that.”
“You seem a little out of it today, are you okay?” he asked worried, noticing the sadness which couldn’t be hidden by her smile as he squeezed her hand.
“I’m just a little sad. Things aren’t going well for me these days…” she mumbled, looking away.
Seobin tried to make eye contact with the latter, but her sad gaze was focussed on the television again. He grabbed her chin with his long fingers and turned her towards him again.
“Let me brighten your days, then,” he said with a husky voice before placing his thick lips on hers. Chaima was completely surprised by the sudden kiss, but the attention and love Seobin gave her was exactly what she needed right now. Swinging her arms around his neck, she returned the handsome boy’s kiss. Her stomach was filled with tiny butterflies, fluttering around like there was no tomorrow.
When Seobin pulled back after a couple of moments, he smiled widely. “I hope you understand that I sincerely like you a lot, Chaima.”
Chaima blushed, not knowing how to respond.
“Do you want to go to dinner tonight? Or another day?” he proposed, brushing a loose strand of her hair out of her face.
“Can we go today?” she whispered, smiling.
“Sure, why not,” he smiled back.
“Let me get my purse and phone!” Chaima said excitedly and jumped up from the couch. She almost ran towards her room, with Seobin following her. Once in her room, he still didn’t enter, being the polite guy he is. She grabbed a small purse from the chair and plucked her phone off the bed.  She noticed that she had two missed calls from Shindae and two text messages. She smiled slightly and shoved the phone in her purse. Shindae would have to wait right now.
“Ready? Bring a jacket, please. It might be cold later tonight,” Seobin said caringly. The butterflies still fluttered in her tummy as he kept showing his kind side. She couldn’t believe that this guy was so crazy about her, and even if she wouldn’t admit it, she was very charmed by him as well. Still, someone’s name would be stuck in the back of her head, reminding her of her feelings for that person.

Hoseok.

“Yes, ready,” Chaima said quickly as she removed her semi best friend’s face from her mind.
She turned around to meet Seobin’s eyes and smiled. He held out his hand for her to hold. In her euphoria of this situation, she totally forgot something important; her extremely strict dad on the second floor and her demonic brother on the third. If any of them saw her walking hand in hand with a boy, they’d give her all sorts of hell. Chaima grabbed Seobin’s hand and dragged him into her room.
Bewildered, he glanced over his shoulder, to see what made her suddenly change her behaviour.
“What’s wrong?” he asked slightly laughing at Chaima’s serious face.
“My dad will skin you alive if he sees me with a boy and my brother will bully me forever,” Chaima said with a serious tone, waving her finger in his face, “We need to be real quiet and careful okay? You just walk outside and I’ll go say goodbye to mom.”
“But your mother said it was fine,” Seobin said, confused.
“Yeah, well… Let’s just say my dad isn’t as a free spirit as my mom is,” Chaima mumbled as she grabbed his hand once again and dragging him quietly towards the hallway again. Tiptoeing, they passed her brothers room. Chaima almost felt like running instead of tiptoeing. She didn’t want to be caught with this boy just yet…
Finally reaching the hallway, she pushed Seobin towards the door and motioned for him to leave the house first. She quickly walked to the kitchen, popped her head in only and quickly searched for her mom. To her surprise, her dad was sitting in the kitchen as well.
“Ah, Chaima. Is that nice boy still here?” her mom asked her while she was still busy cutting up apples for apple pies she was going to sell in her little bakery in town.
“Boy?” her dad said instantly, looking up from his tablet pc.
“Yeah, there was this really tall and handsome boy at the door, asking for our daughter,” her mother answered cheekily. Before her dad could respond, Chaima quickly interrupted.
“I’m going out for a while, I won’t be eating at home, bye.” She closed the door and ran off to the front door, pretending she didn’t hear her father call her name. Seobin was already sitting in his black sports car, waiting for her.
She ran down the small stairs and got into his car.
As they drove towards the city centre, Chaima couldn’t help but stare at Seobin’s handsome features. He was wearing a greyish blue dress shirt on top of a pair of chino’s. Chaima noticed that the colour of his shirt matched pretty well with her purse and for some reason this made a blush creep upon her cheeks. She shifted in her seat, trying to shake off the warm feeling by glancing out of the window. “Where are we headed though?” Chaima asked, wringing her hands nervously.

Seobin eyed her momentarily, his eyebrow quirked with a faint amused grin, before focusing on the road in front of him again. “Yeah, about that,” he began as he switched lanes until they were driving towards the edge of the city. “We’re going to have some fun.” Chaima frowned at the man next to her, feeling the familiar blush of earlier appear on her cheeks again. “What kind of fun are we talking about here?” she asked warily and slowly crossed her arms in front of her chest, for some reason beginning to feel self-conscious. Seobin laughed at this and made a left, skilfully turned the wheel and finally turned off the ignition. Chaima looked around, and realized that they were surrounded by other cars. “A parking lot,” Chaima frowned at their surroundings before she looked at Seobin, demanding an explanation. The man, however, just grinned at her and stepped out of his car, leaving Chaima more confused and frustrated than she already was. Quickly collecting her things, she slid out of the car and scurried after Seobin with occasional curses escaping her lips because she never liked to move at that fast of a pace. “Seobin!” she called after the man, sighed exasperated when she had finally reached him. “About time,” Seobin laughed and wrapped an arm around the tall girl’s shoulders. Chaima just sneered but chose to follow along anyway, as she didn’t want to get lost in the mass that began to surround them. After a few minutes, Chaima began to recognise a faint change in the air. She took a deep breath and soon realized that it was ocean air that began to mingle with polluted air of the city, eventually fully taking over and filling her lungs with nothing but cleanness. Seobin noticed the hint of a smile appearing on the girl’s lips and felt one of his own tug on his fuller ones. Gradually, people began to join them until the whole of the sidewalk was filled, surprising Chaima because of the constant flow of people.

Small stalls accompanied by elderly folk that sold all kinds of foods that made Chaima’s mouth water. The smile on her lips only continued to grow the further they walked into the crowd and the girl spotted more and more snacks she couldn’t wait to eat. “I didn’t know there was this kind of thing here,” Chaima let out an airy sound of admiration as she scanned every stall and what magical dishes it contained. Seobin laughed and followed the girl as they went. “That might be because you hardly ever leave that tight little comfort zone your friends have created for you.” At this, Chaima stopped walking and gaped at the man. “Uhm excuse me, but those are my friends you’re insulting,” she belted and shrugged the man’s arm from her shoulders. Seobin stepped in again, letting out a husky chuckle. “I’m not insulting anyone,” Seobin smiled and sensually ran his thumb over her lower lip, “I’m just stating an observation.” Chaima, however, scowled as she simply evaded his touch and began walking away towards the edge of the road that bordered the beach. Seobin slightly narrowed his eyes at this before he moved them along her frame and couldn’t help but bite his lower lip at the sight. He knew he had hurt her in a way but he felt like the girl needed a long look at the harsh reality they were living in. He let out a sigh before he followed after her and wrapped his muscular arms around her waist. Chaima jumped at the contact but, even though she was annoyed with the man, she felt herself sink into the man’s touch. “I didn’t mean it like that~” he cooed, making a shudder jolt down Chaima’s spine when she felt his voice reverberate through his chest onto her back, and placed an innocent kiss on her nape.

 The tall girl sighed when she felt Seobin’s arms tighten around her, and dared to carefully place her hands over his bare lower arms. Instantly, the girl felt the protruding veins that ran under his skin and the infamous blush began creeping up her neck again until it had comfortably settled on her cheeks, playing a pretty pink on her fair skin. She already knew that Seobin hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but she couldn’t really deny the fact that it was true. She always had that tight group of friends – aside from Yuni, Saenan and Hyejoon who came in later – whom always assured her of a steady position in their life. It was them against the world; always had been, always would be, that is just how she knew it. And yet, now she had messed up with Saenan, everyone except for Shindae and Yoongi seemed to be so against her and acted like she wasn’t there.

And then there was Seobin.

The man that had come into her life and made her feel confused on so many levels of emotions. He was there for her now when no one else was; held her when no one else did; spoke to her when no one else did. “Whatever,” she muttered defeated, a hint of a smile on her lips, and tried to move out of the man’s arms but Seobin didn’t allow her to leave – only turn until she was facing him. He pinned her tighter against the metal railing and sweetly bumped his nose against hers. “Don’t be angry with me,” he muttered against her lips and moved one of his hands down her arm until he could entwine his fingers with hers. Chaima took her lower lip between her teeth, taking in a sharp breath when she felt this. “I’m not,” she mumbled and tried to move away again, but Seobin was sticking to her like glue so she had nowhere to go. “Are you sure?” he asked, grazing his lips against Chaima’s. She didn’t know how it happened but suddenly, the face she saw in front of hers was someone else than the man that was feeling her up at that point. Seobin’s brown hair began to darken until it was raven and covered his forehead; his manly features softened into delicate curves as the bushy eyebrows thinned. The thick lips that drove Chaima mad shaped into smaller ones, completing the picture of her best friend. Instantly, she duck away, releasing herself from Seobin’s grip surprisingly easily and stepped away to collect herself. Why the hell did that happen! The girl thought to herself and even knocked herself in the head for good measure, trying to lose Hoseok’s face. “You okay?” Seobin asked surprised at the girl’s behaviour. “Yeah, totally fine!” Chaima exclaimed a little too cheery and her heels to mingle with the crowd again. “Come on, there’s food with my name waiting for me!” she added and forced a smile on her face before walking away.

Strolling over the boardwalk of the boulevard, the duo stopped at small food stalls to try out different types of food. Chaima found out that Seobin wasn’t really a fan of seafood, as she forced him to eat a skewer with squids and shrimps. He grimaced with every bite but smiled whenever she looked at him. At a tourist shop, Seobin bought Chaima hairpin with a sea star on it, forcing her to put it in instantly. Once the night fell, it started getting colder. The leather jacket didn’t really keep her warm and there wasn’t anywhere they could sit inside to warm up so they decided to go to the city for one last drink. After their short ride, Seobin smoothly parked his car at a familiar parking lot.
“Are we going to The Beach?” Chaima asked while getting out of the car.
“No,” he replied simply, “I wanted to go to that small bar around the corner, with the green and purple chairs inside. It’s pretty cool.”
“I’ve never been there; it’s new right?” Chaima asked excitedly. Seobin nodded in response as he flung his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “Let’s go?”
The pair walked past some stores which were already closed. When they walked past The Beach, Chaima casually glanced in. She saw three familiar figures inside.

Baeri took another sip from her vanilla milkshake. Hyejoon was cleaning up the counter a bit and after finishing, she leaned on the counter, facing her friends who were sitting on two barstools.
“So Yoongi got you the job, huh?” Jin asked Hyejoon.
“Yes, it’s mostly for in the weekends but I wanted to work extra to get some more money for a trip with Saenan. I guess I won’t need that anymore right now, though,” Hyejoon explained, defeated. Baeri sighed deeply. “I miss my cousin, man.”
Jin carefully placed his right hand on Baeri’s lower back and rubbed softly, trying to comfort her.
“I miss her too,” Hyejoon said softly, placing a hand on Baeri’s. However, Baeri wasn’t looking at anything near the three. Hyejoon’s expression changed quickly as she followed Baeri’s eyes and noticed what the short girl was looking at. A tall boy and an equally tall girl strolled slowly passed the café. Walking together in an embrace that screamed affection, the girl looked inside as well. As Baeri and Chaima’s eyes met, the short girl jumped off her barstool and sprinted towards the door. She flung the door open and shouted Chaima’s name loudly.

Hearing Baeri shout her name with that much anger gave Chaima shivers down her spine. The duo turned around to look at the heavy breathing girl.
“Why are you casually strolling around with your new boyfriend instead of getting my cousin back?” Baeri shouted. Chaima stared at her with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. She felt Seobin’s hand squeezed her hip, trying to get her attention. “What’s going on?” he whispered.
“I-, I don’t know what to do, Baeri,” Chaima stuttered, trying to find a way to calm her friend down. She didn’t expect her to be this mad at her, and seeing the tears welling up in Baeri’s eyes broke her heart.
“Don’t you care?” Baeri was close to bursting out in tears. Chaima wanted to hug her, her friend of three years. Chaima stepped closer, reaching out her hand towards Baeri. At that point Jin came outside as well. “What’s going on here,” he said strictly.
“N-nothing, I-,” Chaima kept stuttering, totally overwhelmed.
“I think it’s better if you two don’t see each other for a while,” Jin said wisely, folding his arm around Baeri’s shoulder and escorting her inside again.
Chaima felt like her muscles were about to fail on her. Seobin’s hands on her waist were the only thing keeping her on her feet. Before she knew it, the tears started rolling down her cheeks.
“Come, let me take you home instead,” Seobin whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Chaima barely noticed how he helped her into the car and drove her home. Once at her house, he asked her for her keys and opened the door for her. Walking with her upstairs, to her room, he put her on her bed.
“I’ll leave you alone now, okay?” his hands resting on her shoulders, looking into her sad eyes. Chaima didn’t want him to leave; she needed someone around her. She shook her head. “Please, stay,” she muttered. Seobin took his shoes off and hung his jacket over her chair. He comfortably sat down on Chaima’s bed, leaning with his back against the wall. He motioned for her to come closer. Chaima crawled over and lay down in his arms, resting her head on his chest. Her tears kept rolling down her cheeks. Seobin’s right hand rested on her hip as he her hair with this other. She couldn’t feel safer at this point after everything that happened. She wanted to forget it all, and sleep safely in Seobin’s arms.

The next morning Chaima woke up in an empty bed. She rubbed her eyes a little, stretching before looking around to look for the man who was with her before she fell asleep. On her desk, she noticed her notepad was opened which used to be in her schoolbag. She scurried over to her desk, flicking a strand of hair out of her face.

 

Dear Chaima,

I’m really sorry that our night had to end like this. It seems like you have some issues going on right now and I hope you realize that you can call me any time.
Aside from what happened; I had a lovely evening and I hope we can do this again sometime.

Yours truly,
Seobin

Chaima stared at the notebook and smiled a little. She was in awe by the kindness of this boy. She couldn’t believe he stayed with her until she fell asleep, while he could’ve left sooner if he wanted to. She ripped the paper out of the notebook and pinned it on her memo board. Glancing at her clock hanging on the wall, she noticed she was almost late. The tall girl quickly took a shower and got ready for school.

During the second break, Chaima and Shindae walked over to their usual spot. Yoongi and Hoseok followed them but weren’t really paying attention to the ladies. The boys were mumbling something they couldn’t hear and it worried Chaima. Shindae locked arms with the taller girl as the two moved closer to the bench.
“So, I’m still mad at you for not picking up your phone or replying to any of my text messages,” Shindae said coldly as they sat down next to each other. The small brunette flipped her hair over her shoulder and frowned at her friend. “Spill it!”
Chaima explained shortly about her wonderful evening with Seobin. She left out the part about how it ended however, leaving room for Shindae to respond.
“Wow! It seems like you had a wonderful date then! So you forgot all about you-know-who?” Shindae asked curiously, in a half whisper trying to prevent the two males from overhearing them. The males, however, didn’t seem to bother. They were too busy with Hoseok’s phone once again.
“It did end weird, though,” Chaima mumbled, also glancing over to the boys, trying to figure out what they were looking at.
“What do you mean weird?” Shindae demanded, snapping her fingers in the taller girl’s face to grasp her attention. Chaima focussed back on her friend who arched an eyebrow at her. The tall girl sighed deeply before telling the last part of her evening, and her little fight between her and Baeri. Shindae shook her head so violently that her long brown hair flicked all around hitting Chaima in the face. “Unbelievable,” she complained, “It’s not like we aren’t trying to figure out a way to get her back.”
“I suppose she doesn’t know since they don’t really hang out with any more…” Chaima said nudging her head towards the spot where the other half of their usual group was sitting at. A couple meters away on a different bench Jin, Baeri, Hyejoon, Jimin and Jungkook sat comfortably, chatting among each other. That side of their group didn’t really converse with them anymore ever since Saenan was sent away. Their faint looks towards the four spoke louder than words; they did not feel like talking to Chaima anymore.
“Guys, please,” Shindae snapped at Yoongi and Hoseok who were mumbling and laughing without the girls. “Pay attention! We need to find a way to fix this!”
Yoongi shrugged while leaning back on the railing of the bench. “I don’t really think there’s something we can do, honestly.”
Shindae’s expression changed from concern to anger. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Yoongi didn’t budge, not impressed by the poke in the ribs Shindae just gave him for his indifferent behaviour. Hoseok finally put his phone away and looked up at the trio. “I have to admit that I agree,” he agreed while shoving his phone in the inside pocket of his school uniform’s jacket. Shindae looked at the two boys with disbelief but Chaima didn’t even bother to ask them politely anymore. She was so done with everyone being against her instead of supporting her; after all they’ve been through.
“And why is that?” Chaima said with a slight snarl in her tone, standing up from the bench and stepping in front of the two boys who were still comfortably sat.  Hoseok looked at her with no sign of compassion. He ran a hand through his raven hair and sighed before standing up as well.
“Because it’s useless,” he said, sliding his hands in his pockets comfortably, his expression not changing one bit. Chaima frowned in disbelief. “Useless?  Care to elaborate on that, Jung Hoseok?” she demanded. Hoseok’s slim, long eyebrows frowned slightly. His expression enraged Chaima even more making her clench her hands into fists. He took his time before answering once again.
“You really think a bunch of teenagers are going to chance adult’s minds? About the way they raise their children? A decision they made as parents, with what’s right for their own child in mind? We stand no chance, no… Let me rephrase that; YOU stand no chance in changing anyone’s mind in this matter. Stop deceiving yourself and just bear with the consequences. I’m bored by this situation already.” His words were cold, harsh but mostly casual. He huffed at Chaima’s shocked face as his words translated into a more simple explanation in her mind: “Get over it; you ruined it, deal with it.” Hoseok sat back down on the bench and played with his phone again. Chaima’s anger reached its limit as she jumped forward and slapped his phone out of his hands. Yoongi’s quick reflexes caught the device in mid-air but no one seemed to care about it. Chaima’s hands were tightly grabbing onto Hoseok’s uniform, shaking him about.
“You selfish, apathetic, HORRIBLE boy!” she shrieked but Hoseok didn’t even more an inch to defend himself. A few curse words later he pushed the girl off him, having enough of her screams. Shindae and Yoongi watched with wide eyes at the duo before realizing they were about to fight on school grounds, resulting the both of them to jump up and pull the two away from each other. Yoongi took Chaima away, for she needed more force to be calmed down as Shindae placed her hands on the railing of the bench, hovering above Hoseok, staring angrily in his eyes. “That wasn’t wise, was it,” he mumbled as he w