-- 

He patiently waits as the girl in front of him unloads the bags from the car. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he traces the tip of his shoes across the concrete and lets his mind wander a little.

What's happening to him - it can't be normal, can it?

"Yah, Kwang Min! Can you go up with these bags? I have to find the others, I don't really know where they disappeared to but I need someone else to help out as well. If you see any of the others inside, can you send them out?"

Picking up a few bags, he nods at his sister and trudges into the building. Once inside, he makes his way into the elevator and up to the floor that Skye is in. As he waits in the lift, his heart slowly beats faster, and he gulps, shuffling his weight around in order to calm his nerves. What is going wrong with him?! He never used to be this jittery before...

The doors ping open, and he steps out of the lift with his heavy load. He gives a polite bow to a nurse as she walks into the elevator as he deserts it, before he continues walking down the white corridor. Stopping just outside the ward, he places his bags down and smoothes down his shirt, before raising his hand to knock the door.

His hand is just inches away from the wood when - "What are you doing here?"

Shocked, Kwang Min freezes outside the door, wondering at how Skye sensed him outside her door. She couldn't have seen him, could she? Well, unless she could see through closed doors and walls, that is. Casting a doubful look at his feet, he briefly wonders if she can recognise his tread. Confused, he stares at the door, pondering whether or not to answer her.

"Oh, me?" The boy outside the door stiffens as someone else speaks, his eyes now glued to the wood. So there’s someone else inside – she couldn’t be talking to him. But that voice - he knows that voice...

"Me, I'm just visiting my old friend in hospital after she hurt herself. It's what best friends do, isn't it?" 

As the voice continues, Kwang Min hurriedly slots himself into the alcove just behind the door, where he can listen in on the conversation inside the ward without looking too weird to the nurses. Crouching down, he pretends to be tying his shoelaces while tuning his ears so that he can hear every word.

"We aren't best friends, and you know that," Skye says, her voice low and deadly. Kwang Min has never heard her speak in this tone before.

The other person is confident as she replies, "We used to be. And that's almost the same thing. Anyway, how have you been doing?"

"It's not the same thing!" Skye exclaims, and then she pauses as if to catch her breath. When she speaks again, her voice is calmer. "I've been fine, no thanks to you."

"Me?" the other voice asks innocently. "But what did I ever do to you?"

Silence.

"Oh, come on, Skye! We're such good friends! I was so excited to see you after such a long time!"

"There's a reason why I cut off all contact with you," Skye enunciates slowly, her voice only slightly shaking.

"That was a really mean thing to do," the other girl tells her, sounding hurt. "But I decided to forgive you for it! I mean, I don't want to forsake our friendship, right?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Imagine my surprise, and delight," the other girl continues, as if Skye hadn't said anything, "when I saw you at the Jo's house! I was perfectly thrilled!"

"Well, it's a small world, after all," Skye says bitterly.

Kwang Min lets out a short breath, his mind whirring. Exactly what is going on here?

"- and I was just so happy to see that you were getting along with my good friends here!" the other girl was saying then.

Skye keeps silent now, refusing to say any more.

"- oh, and Skye! I'll be back tomorrow to visit you - we can chat more, then! Love you heaps, Bestie!"

From outside, footsteps are heard coming closer to the door. Kwang Min shrinks towards the wall, hoping that the door doesn't open fully so that he isn't caught. 

"Jin Ae," Skye says then, sounding tired.

"What?"

"Don't talk to me anymore. Leave me alone," she sounds angry then.

"What are you talking about?! I know you're glad to see me again. Don't talk nonsense in this state; I'm sure you're just tired. Go have a nap, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

With that, Jin Ae flounces out the door, missing the boy hidden behind it by an inch as she throws it open. A wide smile on her face, she dances down the hallway and around the corner at the end. Sighing, Kwang Min stays frozen for a few moments more, trying to get his thoughts together.

Skye, and Jin Ae? Best friends...? Since when?!

Shaking his head, he slowly stands up and grabs the bags he placed outside. He irons his expression into a casual smile as he shoulders open the door to the ward and strolls in.

“Skye!” he calls out cheerily, deliberately turning his body away from the bed to arrange his bags of sweets on the table in the ward. He pretends he doesn’t notice the hunched figure on the bed abruptly straighten and wipe her face.

When he turns back to her, he sees an easy smile on her face. “How are you?”

Sitting down across from her, he studies her face carefully. Her smile seems genuine – her eyes shine as they normally do, but that could be due to the tears she was shedding prior to his entry. But she seems truly happy to see him, as she gives him an update on her condition – she’s doing well.

Just then, she motions to the many bags on the table. As the sunlight streaming through the curtains catches her face, he notices that her nose is red.

“What are all of those?” she asks.

Kwang Min forces a smile onto his face, deciding then and there that he won’t disclose to Skye that he overheard her conversation with Jin Ae. He’s sure she has a reason for not telling her friends. And although he feels hurt by the knowledge that she’s withholding something from him, he decides to trust her on this.

For now.

Besides, she’s already hurting about it, and he’ll only make it worse by confronting her about it right now. She’s supposed to be recovering from her injury, and giving her emotional trauma isn’t exactly a good way to be helping her do that.

“Those,” he answers, “are sweets. Geum Min and Min Woo decided to throw you a sweet party in your ward. Apparently they’ll help heal your ankle faster.”

Skye grins. “That’s sweet of them!”

Then she tilts her head. “Is something wrong?”

Kwang Min glances up, surprised. Opening his mouth, he tries to answer, but nothing comes out. Quickly, he closes it and gets a grip on himself.

“I could ask you the same question,” he says at last, meeting her gaze.

He watches as a multitude of emotions flicker across her face. She looks too stunned to reply, and her eyes are studying him closely, as if trying to solve a puzzle.

“You know,” he continues in a deliberately casual tone, “I just thought you looked a little worse for the wear today.”

She looks immensely relieved. “Oh, I – I was just feeling restless.”

“Well, it’s good that we’re coming here to take away your boredom now, then.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is,” she replies, and avoids his eyes.

Waiting for her to continue the conversation, Kwang Min keeps quiet. He’s not sure what he expects, really – he’s not sure whether he wants her to break down and tell him that what he heard earlier wasn’t just his imagination, that she and Jin Ae used to know each other… or whether he’s hoping that it was actually just his mind playing tricks on him.

The silence lengthens until the point that it becomes awkward, but he refuses to break it. Instead, he looks out the window, waiting for the others to come up. Every now and then, he sneaks a glance at her to see if he can see any trace of expression on her face. But her nose is buried stubbornly in her book every time he looks over, and although she doesn’t turn any of its pages, she doesn’t register any emotion on her face.

-- Geum Min

I hug my sister. “For once, you’re smart!”

“Yah!” I get a sharp whack in return for my efforts to praise her.

I shouldn’t have bothered, actually. I should have known that she’d just hit me. But hey, I was trying to be nice to her, for once in my life. She should have taken the compliment nicely! How rude of her to hit me for being nice to her…

Giggling, I playfully push her arm. “What you did with Kwang Min was truly genius.”

She grins at me as Young Min hustles between us. “What did she do?”

“I sent him up alone with a bunch of stuff, and now I misplaced the rest of you, so it’s taking me more time to unload the car!” Yoo Min replies, innocence written all over her wide puppy eyes.

I hastily translate. “She gave Kwang and Skye some alone time together.”

Young Min whistles, looking impressed. Just then, Min Woo emerges from nowhere, reaching past me for another bag of sweets. As he does so, his arm brushes mine, and I feel the smile slide off my face altogether at the sight of him. Anger radiates off him in waves, and his face seems to fall even more on seeing me. Biting my lip, I turn away from him and pick up a bag that I’d just put down. I hope he can’t see the expression on my face.

“Shall we go up now? I think we’ve given them enough time, don’t you think?” I hear him say, and Young Min agrees.

Yoo Min touches her fingers to my sleeve, but I ignore her signal that she’s worried about me. I give her a tight smile and nod towards the hospital. The boys have made off already, carrying most of the remaining treats. My twin and I follow them after locking the car door. Eomma drove us here then went inside to register us – she’s probably still there even now. The queues are that crazy.

“Yah, you two, hurry up!” my brother yells, and we pick up the pace so that we can catch the lift with them.

As I walk past Min Woo into the lift, I feel him stiffen. I keep my eyes trained firmly on the ground as I enter the lift, feeling my heart do a series of loops in my chest as I do so. Sometimes, I just don’t understand that muscle – how does it feel like it’s bouncing all around inside me, when it’s probably just stuck in one place?

And more importantly, why does the sight of Min Woo make it do acrobatics like that?

“Yah, Jo Geum Min, stop daydreaming already,” Young Min tells me.

As I jerk back to reality, I realize that we’ve reached our floor already. Like an idiot, I’ve been staring into space. I didn’t even get off the lift properly, which is probably why my brother got so frustrated. Mechanically, I move out of the lift and follow my sister down the corridor. I can almost feel Min Woo’s eyes on my back, but I refuse to acknowledge him. I badly need to sort out my feelings about all this, first.

Yoo Min gets through the door to the ward first. “We’re finally here, you guys!”

I traipse in after her, my eyes flying to my friend on the bed. She seems tired, but alright, although her eyes are slightly red-rimmed – it’s probably boredom. I leave my stuff on the table where Kwang Min has already put his stuff.

That’s when I notice him. He looks immensely disappointed with something, and I feel bad almost immediately. We probably ruined his moment with Skye, or something. Confused, I look at her, but she doesn’t seem to be feeling the same way. In fact, she looks almost too happy to see us.

Weird… were they in an awkward situation?

Well, I’m sure she’ll tell me later, whatever the matter is. I mean, we’re friends, and although we haven’t known each other long, I feel like I’ve known her forever already. I just know she’ll tell me what’s wrong – she tells me everything.

A/n: Hi again, I decided to update again because this is probably the last time I'll be so free for quite a while, and because I couldn't resist giving you this chapter to keep you on tenterhooks *evil laugh* wheeeeeeeeeeee tell me what you think! :D Thanks for reading!