“You didn’t leave?” Gummi asked, surprised. But Shinwoo didn’t answer the question and instead proceeded to pull Choa somewhere they would have privacy.

“Should we go save her or…?” Minsun asked Gummi unsurely. Gummi knew what was going down, and she knew she had to get Hanni back to the dorm before she could hear their conversation. “No, let’s go. I’m sure he just needs to talk to her about the club project thing they were having an argument about earlier this week” Gummi made up.

Minsun stared at Gummi before catching on “Oh…right! Yeah we shouldn’t interrupt, let’s go” Minsun finally said, grabbing one of Hanni’s hands before pulling her back to the dorm.

Usually Choa would be yelling at Shinwoo as he pulled her somewhere, usually she would have whipped her hand away, but for some reason she didn’t. She followed him without a word, and she assumed it was because she was feeling guilty; that quietness all changed once Shinwoo started yelling at her.

“You think I’m stupid?” Shinwoo asked angrily. “Uhmm… no… I mean your rank in chrome high was pretty good” Choa said, internally cursing herself for making a joke in this very moment.

“Do you find this funny? You think it’s funny when everyone knows what’s going on but you’re the only one left out? Do you?” he yelled, making Choa begin to get angry. “Look, don’t you think you’re overreacting just a bit? All I did was try to get you to like a girl who is WAY out of your league by the way, I don’t even know why she likes you!” Choa spat.

Shinwoo scoffed at her reply “overreacting? Like not talking to someone and cutting relations with them over one little kiss!? I wonder who does that!” Shinwoo replied, making Choa’s blood boil even more, “and hm, I don’t know why she would like me, maybe it’s for the same reason why you still like me!” he continued.

“You’re so full of it Shinwoo! Yeah, you’re right, maybe I elongated the silence between us, but what you did that night really hurt me! Do you still not understand why? Of course you don’t, because you only cared about your own selfish wants!” Choa raged.

“How the hell would you know if I understood or not when you never even let me properly apologize to you? You just ignored me like I was someone you could easily throw away, did you ever think about how that hurt me?” he replied.

Choa’s heart felt heavy, she felt like the world was spinning, it was too late for this kind of heated argument “I- I…” she didn’t know what to reply so she decided to change the subject “You should have at least paid more attention to her” Choa finally said.

“What?” Shinwoo asked, confused. “Hanni, do you know how rude you were being while you were staring at me? She genuinely likes you and yet you couldn’t even pretend to pay attention to her?” Choa mentioned.

“No she doesn’t, you genuinely like me, not her. She doesn’t even know me” Shinwoo retorted, making Choa become speechless again.

“quit- quit flattering yourself Shinwoo, I don’t like you!” Choa yelled. “This- this didn’t have to be this big of a deal” Choa brushed her hands over her face in frustration at the after math of it all.

“Didn’t you know I wouldn’t like it? Don’t tell me you felt that what you were doing was okay, because I know you didn’t. You know that I like you and that nothing is going to change that.” Choa looked at Shinwoo while he spoke about his feelings for her, her head only fealt heavier and her heart only beating faster as he continued “I see you, and my mind goes blank, I don’t see you and all I’m thinking about is you" he continued, Choa had this sudden urge and she slowly felt herself get lost in her feelings as the seconds went by. "If that could easily change then wouldn’t two months of not seeing your face change that all? But it didn’t Choa, it-” Shinwoo was then cut off by a sudden kiss planted on his lips. He felt his heartbeat stop in that very moment when he felt both Choa’s lips and nose touch his.

“There, now we’re even” Choa cooly said once she detached her lips from his. , , what did I just do she freaked out as she looked at Shinwoo’s shocked expression ok, I’m going to run away, I’m so out of here Choa spun herself on her heel and was ready to make a run for it until Shinwoo spun her back around to face him. He placed his hands firmly on each side of her shoulders so that she wouldn’t easily escape. “W-what was that” Shinwoo asked seriously through a heavy breath.

“Uhh” Choa’s eyes wandered “I- I just told you, it’s to make us even. Do you like how it feels to be cut off so suddenly by something that could mean so much to a person?” Choa cursed herself for the words that slipped from .
Shinwoo’s eyes gazed through her for a moment, he looked to be in deep thought “Was- was that kiss… your first one?” he suddenly asked nervously.

“I- I don’t know” Choas said, pulling herself away but it only made him bring her closer to him “but you had a boyfriend before” Shinwoo mentioned quietly, Choa rolled her eyes in response “Okay fine, it was my first kiss but I don’t care about those kinds of things anyways so you don’t have to feel bad like you stole my innocence or some ” Choa said, becoming aggressive again; it was her default defense mechanism.

“Choa I’m sorry…” he said, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace.

“Aish, I said I don’t care!” Choa whined, but that didn’t loosen his tight grasp on her.

“Shinwoo it’s late, will you let go of me so we can go back to the dorm and sleep” Choa said after a whole minute had passed with her still in Shinwoo’s arms. “I won’t be able to sleep” he replied, making Choa groan and pull him away “well that’s too bad for you, isn’t it?” she said, putting her hand in his and dragging him back to the dorm. His gaze stayed on her troubled expression the whole way back to the dorm. He was still trying to take in everything that had happened, it all just seemed so surreal to him. The two of them weren’t even on talking terms, but now? Now what were they?

“Well… goodnight” Choa said once she was in front of her room door, she tried to release her hand from his to grab her keys but his hand only tightened around hers, making her heart sink a little.

“Where are we?” Shinwoo asked softly as he looked into her eyes with a serious look on his face.

Choa looked down, trying to avoid his gaze and his question. “We’re… at our dorm… in front of my room door…” Choa replied awkwardly, making Shinwoo smile at her “You’re being silly, you’re only like this when you’re nervous” he said, pinching her cheek.

“I’m gonna vomit” Choa said, even though what she really meant was that she was going to go crazy from all the back flips her heart was going through. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, goodnight” Shinwoo pulled Choa closer to him and placed a kiss on her forehead, only making her heart beat faster than it already was, if that was even possible.

Choa just nodded awkwardly once he pulled her away. Once he finally let go of her hand, she quickly dug her hands into her purse, grabbed her keys, and proceeded to clumsily open her door. She quietly closed it behind her, and once it was closed her back slid against it as she fell to the floor. “Did I just set myself up with Shinwoo?” she whispered to herself, smacking her head in frustration.

“So much for getting over him.”

“So, how’d it go?” Baro asked Gummi as she poured herself some coffee with tired half closed eyelids in their dorms kitchen. Gummi yawned before she replied, she was about to tell him it went well until she remembered the sudden interruption that occurred “I- I don’t really know actually… well…? Or maybe really bad?” Gummi said, squinting her eyes. “You’re making no sense,” Baro laughed.

“Yeah…well… it depends on what Shinwoo had said to Choa later that night when he dragged her away from all of us” Gummi explained. “Oh… yeah, it went bad for sure” Baro said confidently with a chuckle. “You’re probably right” Gummi sighed before she took a sip from her coffee.

“So since Gummi is your new best friend there’s no use for Sandeul and I anymore right?” Jinyoung said, suddenly walking through the kitchen doors. Gummi nervously looked at Baro, not because she was scared, but because she thought he might be; the expression on his face said otherwise.

“Common Jinyoung” Baro said, standing up from his seat. “Don’t bring Sandeul into this because he couldn’t care less, it’s only you who’s making a big deal about me finally not being rude to these girls for no good reason. Why can’t we all just be civil with each other?” Baro defended.

“Civil? That’s fine, but you’re practically dating Gummi at this point, you’re no better than Shinwoo” Jinyoung spat. Baro scoffed at Jinyoung “you’re so dramatic Jinyoung… I know you know that your hate is now completely uncalled for. When are you going to stop this bull?” Baro said, finally raising his voice.

Jinyoung was fuming now, “Because! Ellin hates me, Shinwoo hates me, Gongchan hates me, and in fact everyone hates me but I was happy that at least I had you and Sandeul but clearly not. Can you blame me for getting mad at you for hanging out with people who want to throw me off a cliff?” Jinyoung yelled back. Gummi unconsciously nodded. 

“Can you blame them for hating you? Why don’t you think about that question first,” Baro said, patting Jinyoung on the shoulder before angrily leaving the room. He slammed the door behind him and when he turned around to walk to his dorm, he saw Ellin standing there, against the wall looking to have been eavesdropping.

Ellin cleared “Uhh… Hi” she said awkwardly. Baro just nodded before he proceeded to leave.

“Jinyoung, don’t you think it’s time now…” Gummi suddenly said, breaking the silence that came after Baro left.

Jinyoung just stared at her for a moment “Time for what Gummi?” Jinyoung said, annoyed. Gummi was the last person he wanted to talk to.

“Time to reveal what’s been going on and why you so easily become a coward in so many situations?”

“…What?” Jinyoung asked, confused and completely taken aback by Gummi’s words.

“Nothing” Gummi sighed, before she stood up and headed to the door. She suddenly stopped once Jinyoung was beside her “I just had wished you were the guy in the journal” Gummi said before she left the room.

Jinyoung turned around and watched her leave, his face scrunched in confusion. After a few moments, his eyes opened wide “she couldn’t have…how?”

“You two what!?” Minsun yelled, it was 11AM and Choa had just gotten up. Right then, Gummi opened the twins room door that was already unlocked. “I heard yelling, what’s going on now?” Gummi asked curiously.

“Tell her Choa, tell her what you just told me. You’re going to freak Gummi!” Minsun exclaimed.

“Oh right, what the hell happened with Shinwoo yesterday” Gummi asked curiously.

“Yeah… about that… he somehow found out it was a set-up, I’m assuming Minsun’s annoying boyfriend told him, and then we had this heated arugment and…”

“and like normal heated arguments, they ended up kissing!” Minsun interrupted.

“Wait… what!?” Gummi asked in shock “slow down, what happened? Who kissed whom? Did he interrupt you again with a kiss? Is this some sort of ritual now?” Gummi asked, clenching her fist.

“No…I did” Choa clarified, making Gummi’s eyes open wide “eh? Wait… you kissed him? But the whole point of this set-up was so you two could be friends” Gummi reminded.

“Yeah I know! But clearly instead of setting Shinwoo up with Hanni I ended up setting him up with myself!” Choa cried.

“Boohoo, you made up with the guy you’re in love with, cry me a river Choa” Minsun said, rolling her eyes.

“Minsun’s just jealous her and Gongchan haven’t even kissed yet” Gummi laughed. “Ha- that’s what you guys think” Minsun said, immediately putting her hands on .

Choa and Gummi's eyebrows furrowed as they starred at her in disbelief. “You two already kissed!?” Choa yelled.

Minsun immediately gave in “Uhh…we kissed like… during you and Shinwoo’s first fight…or was it the second one? Anyways, it just kind of happened…” Minsun said, biting her lip.

“How did you not tell us?!” Gummi yelled.

“Because… everything was a mess and I didn’t want to just be like “hi I kissed Gongchan yesterday, and how’s your day going?”” Minsun defended, “it wasn’t even a kiss, it was more like a dumb peck. We forgot about it the next day” Minsun tried to calm.

“It’s funny how I’m more shocked you didn’t tell us than the fact that you two have kissed. I’m not even slightly shocked about that” Choa laughed, “but anyways, what do I do? He kissed my forehead goodnight last night and I almost suffocated. It was… too much, and I can’t take it back now! I can’t ignore him anymore, I have to deal with my feeling now!” Choa said, shoving a pillow in her face before she screamed. "Hanni is going to hate my guts!"

"Oh, don't worry about Hanni, she's not like that at all. She's really cool, i think she got turned off by Shinwoo yesterday anyway" Gummi reasurred.

“I don’t know Choa, how about you two just go steady already? Seriously this was so unnecessarily dragged on, I swear if you guys aren’t together by the end of the weekend, I’m going out with him!” Minsun scolded.

“Ha, you should focus on Gongchan instead” Gummi said, reminding Minsun about something “Do I even have a choice? I promised I’d do anything for him if he didn’t tell Shinwoo! And Shinwoo ended up finding out anyway!” Minsun groaned.

“Wait, but didn’t Gongchan tell Shinwoo?” Gummi asked, confused. “No, he wouldn’t tell him. Didn’t you just hear me? I promised him I’d do anything if he didn’t. I am 100% percent sure it was Baro who told him” Minsun reasoned.

“No, Baro wouldn’t do that. I’m sure of it, we can trust him,” Gummi said confidently, making the twins give her a suspicious look. “What?”

“You trust him now? Looks like someone has some boy problems themselves” Minsun giggled.

“It’s not like that, okay?” Gummi defended. “Whatever you say Gummi” Minsun sang.

Choa later went to the kitchen to drink some milk. She was too lazy to make herself an actual breakfast. She opened the fridge and grabbed the milk carton she had bought. It had a little sticky note on it with her and Minsun’s name written on it so that no one else would use it.

Choa then closed the fridge door only to be startled by Shinwoo standing behind it, almost dropping the milk carton that was in her hands. “Hi” he smiled, but she just stared at him blankly. She then turned around to face the opposite direction. She clumsily opened every cupboard in search for the cups; her mind was completely blank so she had forgotten which cupboard they were in. Shinwoo laughed at her and went to the only cupboard that remained unopened that Choa was now standing in front of too.

She looked at him as he reached over her to open the cupboard. She looked away when she could see a little part of his stomach being exposed. He grabbed the cup and then placed it in front of her, but Choa didn’t notice since her face was looking in the opposite direction of the counter. “Choa” Shinwoo called, making Choa snap out of her thoughts. “Oh… thanks” Choa said, trying to act cool. “D-do you want some?” Choa offered. She bit her lip for stuttering, “you are not nervous, you are not nervous, you are not nervous” she repeated in her head until she remembered the kiss she planted on him last nigh “no I’m definitely nervous” she cried inside.

“Sure” Shinwoo accepted with a warm smile, but Choa was too scared to even look at his face. This was a completely different Choa that Shinwoo had ever seen. Choa was usually able to keep it cool and would be shooting snarky remarks by now, but she wasn’t; it began to worry him.

Choa held the cup out to him, there hands touched in the process of him grabbing it from her hands, making Choa quickly pull her hand away. “Choa, why are you acting like this?” Shinwoo finally said.

“Like what? Like a high school freshmen that has a crush on her twelfth grade senior? “ Choa sighed, suddenly laughing at herself. “I guess it’s cause I like you. There, are you happy?” Choa suddenly confessed, taking Shinwoo by surprised. A bright smile appeared on his face “Yes, I am very happy” he replied.

“Yeah well… congratulations. You know not every boy get’s to be liked by me” Choa said, flattering herself. “I know” Shinwoo laughed, “I guess I’m just really lucky then” Shinwoo said, making Choa blush “Aish, don’t say corny stuff like that, people will hear!” Choa scolded. “So what? They’re going to eventually find out we’re dating” Shinwoo smiled, grabbing one of Choa’s hands.

Choa quickly pulled her hand away “D-dating?” Choa repeated, a little shocked by his sudden declaration. “We haven’t even went on a date…” Choa said, laughing awkwardly. “Actually Shinwoo… I still need time… what happened last night is a little too much to take in right now… one minute we’re going at each others throats and the other minute everything is magically solved… it just doesn’t feel right” Choa confessed, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Shinwoo nodded in understanding of Choa’s feelings, “I get it, you can take all the time that you want as long as you don’t try setting me up with another girl again” Shinwoo joked, trying to make Choa a little less tense.

“I won’t” Choa reassured, “do you wanna maybe watch a movie sometime then?” Choa offered, taking Shinwoo by surprise by her sudden invitation. “You mean just me and you?” Shinwoo asked hopefully, “Yeah… or we can drag Gongchan and Minsun with us?” Choa proposed.

“No, no, no. The two of us is good” Shinwoo smiled, “plus, Gongchan and Minsun are in that pretend “I hate you” stage and it’s giving me a headache” Shinwoo mentioned. “You too? All Minsun does is talk about him all night, I wish I roomed with Gummi instead” Choa sighed.

“Gongchan talks about her before class, after class, basically 24/7 it’s driving me nuts” Shinwoo revealed, making Choa genuinely laugh. It made him feel a sigh of relief release from inside of him to finally see her laugh like she use to with him. He had been yearning for that burstful laughter from her all summer and felt glad to see it again, something he thought was nearly impossible a day ago.