The week after                

Monday

Youngwoon approached school with a heavy heart, he kept wondering how his ‘first’ interaction with Lee Sungmin would be, he wondered if the younger would outright ignore him. As he was walking with his head lowered his heart leapt with a sudden anxiousness when he heard someone running towards him. He looked up in hopes that it was Sungmin, that he had heard his message and that he had reconsidered giving them up.

Instead he saw a girl stopping right in front of him, bowing while reaching for him a pink envelope. “Youngwoon-ssi, please go out with me!” she almost shouted. Youngwoon felt slightly taken aback because he remembered that same girl had been standing by the gates the previous Monday, she was the girl Sungmin had ‘fooled’. Youngwoon bit his lips before replying. “Thank you for your feelings, but I am sorry, I am not going to accept confessions anymore.”

The girl looked up at him dejected. “W-why?” the girl stuttered with a small voice, she was on the verge of tears and Youngwoon felt bad towards her. “Because I started this, I lost someone precious. I wanted to know if I could find love in one week time, but by doing that I lost someone precious, so I am not accepting confessions anymore. I am sorry.” Youngwoon bowed to her and bypassed the girl.

As he looked at the school, he took in a deep breath and marched to his first class. He was distracted all morning and twice he had been scolded by teachers. He had tried to focus after that but the moment the bell signaling the start of lunch break sounded he felt another wave of anxiousness. Heechul and Jongwoon had tried to cheer him up, but the three of them felt worried when they saw Kyuhyun arriving alone.

“Where is Min?” Heechul asked with a confused tone. Kyuhyun shook his head. “He treated me like usual, he even made me egg rolls, but he said he would have lunch alone because he wanted to finish composing the song for the school festival. everytime i tried to talk to him about what happened he would act as if last week never happened.”

The four friends couldn’t help but feel gloomy. They sat at their usual table but somehow it was annoying how everybody seemed to be looking at them and whispering behind their back. They were probably talking bad about Youngwoon and Sungmin and wondering why Youngwoon had no new girlfriend.

After they finished eating Heechul slammed the table. “I refuse to accept this.” He thundered. He looked determined at his friends. “The plan is to get Youngwoon to forget who Sungmin is, so let’s pretend he doesn’t know. Jongwoon, go pester Sungmin. Now.” He ordered and the other three looked at him slightly startled. “Now, you stupid turtle!” he pushed Jongwoon out of the table, “You two” he pointed at Youngwoon and Kyuhyun “Go stud math at the library. I will refine this plan of ours, I made this mess and I will fix it, I promise.”

For the rest of the break Kyuhyun and Youngwoon kept on studying while Jongwoon kept helping Sungmin at the music room and Heechul went off searching for help to solve the matter. By the end of the day Youngwoon got back home with a new resolution, he would not look sad, he would not only keep thinking about Sungmin, he would try his best to avoid the younger like the plague, so by Sunday he would not have big voids in his memory regarding him. Yet like a love sick idiot Youngwoon picked up a small notebook and wrote there every little glimpse he had of the younger. He didn’t want voids in his notes about Sungmin.

Tuesday

Youngwoon had managed to focus better in class, but he felt annoyed that there were still girls coming after him, asking him out, he was starting to feel like a broken record telling them off. The whispers and gossips were also annoying, but he managed to hold back snarls every time he heard any speculation about what happened between him and Sungmin.

At lunch break though, Kyuhyun had managed to stop Sungmin from going to the rooftop alone, instead the younger kept asking how the composition was going and if Jongwoon had helped or not. There were some people at the corridor when the two parties met, Jongwoon called over the two younger friends and happily skipped to them, Sungmin greeted him with a smile, Heechul also approached and greeted him, Youngwoon also stopped by and greeted the younger. “Sungmin-ssi, take care not to get infected by Jongwoon’s weirdness. Why won’t you eat with us today?” he invited, Sungmin smiled slightly forced but refused politely. Heechul flailed his hand and refused to let Sungmin go away alone.

The five of them sat on the table but in a slightly different fashion. Kyuhyun and Jongwoon sat each beside Sungmin and the three of them kept discussing about the song for the festival, the couple raised the idea of the three of them going on stage together, Sungmin could very well play the piano live on stage with them. On the other hand, at the other side of the table Heechul and Youngwoon kept talking about the latest releases on games while they ate.

When the break was half way through Jongwoon, Kyuhyun and Sungmin excused themselves to the music room, Youngwoon and Heechul greeted them goodbye like it was the old days. With that the bad whispers had died away slightly and the day had been an almost success. The problem was that Youngwoon still had club activities. He was nervous and he tried his best not to look around searching for Sungmin like an idiot. He jumped into the water and did his first lap, when Seoyeon was telling him his time he carefully looked at the benches and felt his heart drop to his stomach because Sungmin was not there.

Youngwoon gave his all to training, though he somehow still felt empty. Another day ended.

Wednesday

Fewer girls had still tried their luck, but whenever he saw one of them approaching he would pick up his phone and fake to be texting someone and instead of telling them ‘no’ he just tried his best to ignore them.

Classes had been easier to deal with since Heechul couldn’t stop bothering him asking, for the answers and his notes, while Jongwoon would keep on doodling Kyuhyun’s name on his notebook. Now that everybody knew the two were dating his weirdness was much more understandable and Youngwoon was happy for his friends.

At lunch break Sungmin didn’t sit with them, instead he had lunch with Seoyeon. Heechul had stepped on Youngwoon’s feet three times mumbling to him to freaking stop glaring at the two, but Youngwoon mumbled back that he was not, in absolute, glaring at them. He just thought Seoyeon was holding Sungmin’s arm way too tightly, so he was glaring at her. Heechul rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Youngwoon’s head. He sighed to himself though, wondering for the umpteenth time why he had not noticed how his friends had gravitated towards each other like that.

Heechul shot a paper ball at Jongwoon and shouted. “Can you two freaking stop feeding each other in front of me?!” that earned a few surprised stares at him, including from Seoyeon and Sungmin. Nevertheless Youngwoon laughed urging the couple to keep being lovey dovey because he shipped Yekyu with all his heart. “Hyung, go confess to Jungsoo already and stop being this prickly!” Jongwoon shot back giving Kyuhyun another portion of his own dessert. Heechul stood up annoyed and left the table. Youngwoon laughed again and followed his older friend shouting to the couple that he would try to prevent Heechul from gluing Jongwoon’s shoes in his locker again.

Wednesday ended without incidents.

Thursday

A sudden free period was something Youngwoon didn’t want. Especially when at the same time Kyuhyun’s class had PE class and Youngwoon could see them from his classroom window. He had tried to focus on Kyuhyun’s inability to play volleyball, but his eyes kept on darting to Sungmin. He kept watching as Sungmin jumped to block, as Sungmin jumped to serve, as Sungmin smiled whenever he scored, as Sungmin high fived his team mates or messed up Kyuhyun’s hair whenever the younger failed.

That free period was torture.

Youngwoon felt a female chest being pressed on his back and he stiffened startled. “Care to explain why you two broke up?” Seoyeon whispered in his ear before she sat on his desk crossing her legs and looking over the game going on at the open court.

“I don’t think it’s your business.” Youngwoon retorted trying to focus his eyes on Kyuhyun. “Sungmin shouldn’t wipe his sweat with his shirt, his abs are a crime.” She suddenly commented and Youngwoon’s head instantly moved so he could see for himself, Seoyeon laughed at his reaction. “It is my business because you clearly love each other. I hate to see you apart like this. Heechul asked me to keep Sungmin away from you as much as I could, but I don’t get why.”

Youngwoon sighed. “It’s a complicated matter, Seoyeon. This is something we have to endure for a while, but I hope later it will bring us closer again. Take him away from me, so I can snatch him back.”

Seoyeon frowned confused. “Youngwoon, are you aware that you are sounding stupid right now?” she asked quite annoyed. Youngwoon pushed her off his desk. “Go ask Heechul hyung. Tell him I gave permission for him to tell you. You really want us back together?” he retorted and she nodded. Youngwoon picked up his phone and wrote down something, he then showed it to her, the message read | I trust Seoyeon, so it’s ok.| after she read, he sent the message to Heechul.

At his table Heechul picked up his phone and then looked at them with a lost expression. “Go ask him.” Youngwoon urged. Seoyeon glanced one last time at Sungmin before she looked a Youngwoon for a moment. In silence she left him to his solitude to ask Heechul what the hell happened. After she was let in into the details of the problem she marched back at Youngwoon and asked. “Why do you remember me?! I thought we were friends!” she hit his head as she ranted.

Youngwoon pushed her away again. “Because you are annoying.” He answered but he had a feeling next Sunday he would end up forgetting who she is too.  

Later at the pool there was no sign of Sungmin again.

Friday

Youngwoon wondered why there were still girls trying to ask him out, it was really starting to get annoying. But other than that, morning classes were calm, though nobody noticed that Youngwoon and Seoyeon kept texting each other. At lunch break Kyuhyun had managed to once again bring Sungmin to their usual table, though once again they were clearly divided in two groups.

“Youngwoon, what are you going to do tomorrow?” Seoyeon suddenly sat beside Youngwoon with her tray of food. “Cramming for our tests coming next weeks why?” he answered while he kept on playing a game with Kyuhyun’s psp.

“I wanted a group study for biology. What are you going to cram on?” she asked looking at Youngwoon, then at Heechul clearly stating she was questioning both then. “Math, I’ll study with Kyuhyun since next week he’ll start rehearsing for the school festival too.”

Heechul cleared his throat. “Is it only you wanting a group?” he asked slightly nonchalant. Seoyeon blinked. “Of course not, oppa is included in my package of course.” Yet the moment the words left and the way Youngwoon grinned quite evilly made her see there was a little bit more into Heechul’s sudden interest in group studies. At that point she understood why he had texted her to ask them to study together. Youngwoon was a sly raccoon.

“I think I can help you then, I am quite good in biology.” Heechul told her without looking at her, at that point Jongwoon meddled from the other side of the table.  “Don’t let your brother alone with him to study biology or he might be scared for the rest of his life.” Seoyeon laughed suddenly clinging to Youngwoon’s arm. All of them noticed how Sungmin’s expression darkened ever so slightly. “Who knows? He might be the one scaring Heechul.” Seoyeon said grinning at Sungmin. Heechul though spit his food at her comment, he looked at her wide eyed and blushing, he tried to open his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

“Seoyeon noona, you are scary.” Kyuhyun mumbled because he had never seen anyone leave Heechul in that state. She grinned at the younger then. “You just need to have the right connections, Kyu.” She retorted and then let go of Youngwoon to resume eating. A few moments later Jungsoo sat beside her with his own tray of food. “Why are you sitting here Yeonnie? I almost didn’t find you.”

“Just got us a biology tutor: Heechul-ssi.” She told her twin brother with a sweet innocent smile. “Oh really?” Jungsoo mumbled before he looked at Heechul and smiled. “Thanks for deciding to help us, you have the best grades in biology from our class.”

Heechul nodded, but didn’t say a thing. That had been the most entertaining lunch break in a while for the group of friends. If Youngwoon had used his connections earlier to get Heechul really busy with Jungsoo, he wouldn’t have had time to mess up his relationship with Sungmin.

Saturday

Early in the morning Kyuhyun, Jongwoon and Heechul showed up at Youngwoon’s place to help him set everything for the next week. They spent the morning fixing up photos back on Youngwoon’s wall, but most of them were of landscapes, pictures Youngwoon had once taken when they went off on vacation, other portion of photos were of Heechul and Jongwoon, mostly photos from their first year in high school when they first became friends, a time when Sungmin was not part of their group yet. In some of those pictures Kyuhyun would appear, there were also some photos of Seoyeon they had lent. They also placed some picture up Youngwoon’s ceiling, everything to try and fool Youngwoon’s mind when he would wake up.

The next step was set up a new notebook, one that started with the line. |My other diaries are with Kyuhyun because he decided that keeping them only on physical form would not be safe, so he is going to scan them and make me a digital record with everything.|

The first pages were filled with basic information on Jongwoon, Heechul and Seoyeon, they wanted to make sure that Youngwoon would have info on her in case she would be really added to the list of ‘friends’. A part of the notes written for her was a simple line. |She has a crush on Sungmin, Kyuhyun’s classmate and best friend.|

After lunch Heechul left to his study session with Seoyeon and Jungsoo, while Kyuhyun and Jongwoon stayed behind to make sure the diary would only mention Sungmin briefly, make him someone that is always around but without sounding that important.

“Is this going to work?” Youngwoon mumbled to himself when they had deemed the work done. Jongwoon put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed to show his support. “It will work. We will make it work. And don’t worry, we’ll make you cross paths with Sungmin so much next week that you won’t have any other choice but to fall in love with him again.” Youngwoon smiled at his friend.

When the night fell Youngwoon laid on his bed and kept looking at pictures he had taken of Sungmin through the week and stopped at something he had found from the week before, the picture he had taken of Sungmin that Friday when he fell asleep. He had put all those photos inside a locked folder, the password was |my_boyfriend|.

Sunday

Youngwoon woke up with a groan because of the sun, he looked at his ceiling and stared at a picture, he was in the middle of a group of five, the only face the knew was that of Kyuhyun. Youngwoon frowned feeling slightly disoriented as it always happened on Sundays. “My friends.” He mumbled as the usual agony of knowing part of his life had been lost to him settled. With heavy steps he walked to his desk and sat down on his chair, after a bit of hesitance he picked up his diary and got to know who those people were: Jongwoon, Heechul and Seoyeon.