A/N: Words in italic indicate Bomi's own thoughts and/or a flashback.

---

 

Her thoughts were swimming furiously in the endless cavern that was her mind, drowning her deeper and deeper until her chest felt like it was filled with water. Suddenly it was harder to breathe. She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled through her nose, hoping that it would be successful in calming her nerves down.

 

"Bomi, calm down, it's just a note," is being chanted continuously in her head, hoping it would stop her beating heart ramming into her ribcage. The tense was killing her; she thought if she stalled even longer, she'll end up face flat on the ground from a heart attack.

 

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she slowly walked up to locker E3112. With the note in her hand, Bomi brought it to the slit of the locker and dropped the note inside.

 

She couldn't believe that she managed to find some courage in herself to do so. She felt please, but a small chuckle broke her out of her thoughts. Turning her head slightly to the left, her eyes was met with the owner of the locker: Do Kyungsoo.

 

"I couldn't help but wonder why I found you standing in front of my locker, Bomi. So I watched from afar," he started to say while pointing at a corner that stated where he was before confronting the girl. Bomi followed where his slim fingers were pointed at, and she wanted to mentally slap herself in the face for not scanning her surroundings. "And then I seen you put a small note into my locker," he continued on. "If you have something to say to me, you can say it to me right now since I'm here."

 

A warning sign flashed in her head with the letters big and bold: DANGER! She needed to get out of there because for some reason, it felt like she couldn't breathe again. When she was thinking out her plan thoroughly in her head the night before, she didn't expect to be caught in the act, especially by the guy she fell head over heels for in the beginning of the school year when he transferred from the states.

 

Words weren't exactly spilling from , more like soft whimpers that made Kyungsoo give her a confused expression.

 

"Uh, are you alri-," Kyungsoo managed to say before being cut off by his friend, Chanyeol's, voice trailing off down the hall. He turned to wave at him and notices the smaller boy accompanying him, another of his friend, Baekhyun. Turning back around to face Bomi again, he was slightly shocked when she wasn't standing right next to him. A second she was there, and then next, poof.

 

"Hey. Why were you talking to Bomi?" Baekhyun asked.

 

"I don't know actually? We were talking and then all of sudden she was gone."

 

"Well okay then, let's go. It's Friday and I don't want to be stuck in this hell hole even longer than I'm required to be," Chanyeol basically yells out, his deep voice booming through the empty halls. The school bell rang just minutes before, signaling the ending of another week filled with countless work that just seems to pile up more and more as the days go by.

 

"The guys are meeting us at Chanyeol's place. His parents won't be home so we get the whole house to ourselves."

 

Kyungsoo knew what this meant. Just another typical Friday with the boys that consist of the 3 B's: booze, babes, and buds. Well, 2 out of 3 wasn't bad. Kyungsoo wasn't one to pay attention to the girls his friends brought over to their Friday night hang-outs, and he had no intention to do so today. Hopefully he can convince the others not bring any girls over.

 

---

 

Bomi ran. She ran until her tiny legs couldn't no more. At this point it didn't matter where she was heading, all she wanted to do was get out of there as fast as she could. She almost rammed into someone when she was turning a corner. Fortunately the person managed to step back a second before Bomi could crash into her, but adding to Bomi's misfortune, she ended up face flat on the ground. Why does it feel like déjà vu?

 

"Holy crap Bomi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Watch where you're going next time, you almost ran into me!"

 

Bomi didn't need to lift her head up to know who's voice that belong to. Her voice was baby-like and sweet but it was mixed with a high-pitched shriek. She could already imagine her giving Bomi a deadly glare that would not fit well with her baby-like face.

 

Slowly peeling herself off the ground, she stood up and wiped off any dirt that may have gotten stuck on her uniform before shifting her eyes onto the girl that waited patiently for Bomi to speak. “Sorry Chorong. I just, uh, well you see..”

 

“You did it didn’t you?” Her eyes always had little sparkles in her eyes but Bomi could see it glistening in anticipation as she paused for her to answer her question. To Chorong’s dismay, Bomi stayed silent. She could feel her cheeks flushing into a bright pink and felt like her lungs were lacking of oxygen. Why does it feel like I have lost the ability to breathe properly today? The only thing she managed to do was nod her head leisurely in response.

 

“Care to explain what happened? Oh and don’t leave out any details, I want to know everything,” the baby-faced squealed. She knew about the younger girl’s crush on a certain transfer student long before. Actually she knew it right away when Bomi couldn’t keep her eyes off of him when he walked up inside the cafeteria for lunch.

 

He was alone; Bomi formed a conclusion that the boy was shy. It’s not easy to come to a new school and expect to make new friends right away. His eyes is what caught Bomi’s attention immediately when he strolled right next to her and Chorong in the lunch queue.

 

He was standing behind Bomi and she was having the hardest time maintaining her sanity because the boy was “so cute and oh my god his eyes are huge as chocopie, and there’s basically stars inside his eyes because it’s twinkling. I could stare at—wait did I say chocopie? I guess I’m really hungry if I comparing his eyes to chocopie. I need to be more poetic. His eyes are twinkling so I should compare his eyes to the moon, right? It only make sense to,” quoted word-for-word by the girl herself. Chorong couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the younger, especially since he was standing 3 feet away from her and she wasn’t completely sure if Bomi whispering her immediate affection towards him was soft enough to be even considered as whispering.

 

Chorong stretched out her neck to grab a glimpse of the boy Bomi was speaking about with such fondness. The boy was on the short-side if you compared him to the other male students that attend their school, but standing right next to Bomi, she had to admit they were somewhat the perfect size for one another. She looked up to glance at his eyes to see if Bomi’s rambles over the boy’s eyes were true, and she was surprised because they were definitely huge. As dumb as it may sound, she could see why Bomi compared his eyes to chocopie. His irises were a similar tint of brown that could easily be resembled to a chocopie. Which reminds her to buy some on the way home; she recently ran out of the snack cake and because of Bomi, had a sudden craving for them.

 

She scanned down to his lips. It was cute, shaped like a heart and without noticing it, the edges of Chorong’s lips pulled up into a smile. Bomi was right. The boy was cute.

 

After the duo paid for their lunches, they sat down at their usual spot in the cafeteria. The two quietly observed the chocopie boy, that’s their nickname for him, while grabbing a few meat to wrap in lettuce and stuff into their mouths once in a while.

 

He sat by himself on a table, eating his lunch in a timid manner. Bomi had to restrain herself from standing up from her seat to rush over to the boy because it looked like he was in the African Savanna filled with hungry lions, and he was a baby gazelle—their class was learning about Africa for world history, which is Bomi’s favorite class.

 

Suddenly a bunch of boys surrounded him. Bomi thought the boys were going to pounce on him any second, just like those lions in her imagination, but strangely they just sat down with him and bam! they were instantly talking like they knew each other for years.

 

"I did it," Bomi flatly said.

 

"Go on." The elder extending her hands out to move them in a swishing motion back-and-forth to explain that she wants her to continue on with her story.

 

"It was going as I planned, but then he suddenly popped out of no where! I swear I thought my soul floated away and my body was unfortunately left there to suffer the embarrassment. He saw that I dropped the note into his locker and then he wanted to know what I wanted to talk to him about that’s so important that I have to leave a note. I couldn't even form complete and coherent sentences, like I lost the ability to speak! Chorong, it was humiliating! I don't think I can show my face to him again."

 

Chorong had to find all of her willpower to not smack the back of the younger's head. It was just another one of her long monologues and she couldn't help but think how ridiculous she sounds.

 

She breathed out a heavy sigh. "Look Bomi, I'm pretty sure you didn't humiliate in front of Kyungsoo. You might of made him think that you have the ability to speak like a four year old, but you definitely did not humiliate yourself like a fool. Cheer up."

 

“Wow thanks Chorong. I feel so much better now,” Bomi said in a drastic way. Obviously she was not amuse by the older girl’s words.

 

“Did he even look at the note?”

 

“Uhm…. Well I don’t really know. I ran away before he could even interrogate me with questions that I would be too scared to answer. Right when he turned his head to face his friends—oh my god Baekhyun and Chanyeol was walking our way—and then I dashed out of the building. Oh god what if he looked at the note in front of his friends and they saw it too? If Baekhyun and Chanyeol saw it, then they’ll definitely tell their other friends! Those two have the biggest mouth in the school.”

 

Bomi was pacing back and forth by the time she was finished speaking, like she was trying to figure out a plan on how she was able to survive the next 3 years of high school. No surprise here that she had already freaked herself out on something that might not be true. She doesn’t know whether her crush saw her note, and she definitely does not know if he showed it to the two dumbos.

 

“Please calm down Bomi, and breathe. By the way you’re acting right now, I’m afraid I’ll have to start planning for my best friend’s funeral because you seriously look a little pale. It’s just a note. Not. a. big. deal.” Chorong found it necessary to enunciate her last four words to prove her point. The worst that could happen is Kyungsoo rejecting her note. “Look, let’s go now. I’m tired and I just want to go home. You can come over my house if you want. My parents won’t be home."

 

"Where did they go?"

 

"I don't know. Something about some couples retreat to a spa.” The older shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Alright. I need a distraction right now and I don’t think staying home in my bed for the rest of the day would help me not think about that note.”

 

“That’s the spirit!” Chorong wrapped her right arm around Bomi’s shoulders and dragged her so she could start walking to the entrance of the school. “We can spend the rest of the day in my bed, while watching that new drama on tv, it’s called It’s Okay, That’s Love, and guess who’s in it? Jo Insung! He looked so handsome in the teaser for the drama.”

 

---

 

The two girls walked into the Park’s house. Her house was bigger than Bomi’s and much more extravagant that her’s. She always prefer hanging out at her best friend’s house more than her own. It was like living in a castle; a more smaller and modern-like castle. The garage was empty so Bomi concluded that Chorong’s parents had already left to the spa.

 

“Park Chanyeol, are you home?” Chorong yelled out. Her words bouncing off the walls and giving out a soft echo.

 

A few seconds later, her younger brother popped out and was standing at the top of the wooden stairs. “Noona! I’m home. I brought some friends if you don’t mind since mom and dad are not home—oh hi Bomi!”

 

Bomi raised her hand to wave back, giving him a shy wave.

 

“That’s fine. Who’s your friends? The usual bunch?”

 

“Yeah the usual: Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehun, Joonmyun, and Kyungsoo,” her younger brother responded. Hearing their names being called out, the boys walked out of Chanyeol’s bedroom to greet the girls downstairs. In unison, they said hello and went back. Sehun and Jongin were in the middle of destroying each other in another round of COD: Ghost, and the loser had to start the fire for the grill that they would be using for dinner tonight. They were planning to have a barbecue later on. But Kyungsoo remained where he stood. He stared at Bomi and the girl had the hardest time not to look back into his eyes. They were haunting her.

 

“Hi Bomi,” Kyungsoo called out to her, and then he his heels and walked back into Chanyeol’s room with the rest of the boys.

 

The two girls walked upstairs to go to Chorong's bedroom, but to Bomi's dismay, they had to pass Chanyeol's. Bomi tried to keep her head straight and not peak inside but for some reason, she turned her head right when they were passing the door of the younger brother's bedroom. She expected to see the boys huddle around the flat-screen television, fighting over who's turn it was going to be next, what she didn't expect was locking eyes with Kyungsoo, and the smirk that formed on his lips.

 

Bomi directed her gaze to Chorong, but it seemed like the elder didn't notice what had just happened. She was too busy talking about that drama that she was talking about earlier. What was it called again?

 

"We should call the girls to come over," Chorong suggested, probably hoping to even out the playing field. Since her brother brought over friends and they were going to barbeque later on, they're going to need back-up so the two won't be stuck with the dishes later on.

 

"Sounds good. I'll text the others if they want to."

 

"While you're at it, can you ask one of them buy chocopie. I have a sudden cravings for some. Chanyeol freaking ate them all yesterday. That fatass."

 

Bomi created a group message with her other friends: "Hey mates, y'all want to hang out at Chorong's house? Come over and we'll barbecue tonight. Chorong's parents are not home and her mom marinated meat for her and her brother to eat. Oh and can someone buy some chocopie on your way here, it's for Chorong."

 

Hayoung: Heading there soon! I'm almost finished with my homework.

 

Eunji: Why are you doing homework on a Friday night? That's why God invented weekends, so we can fool around until it's Sunday night and stay up late to finish all of the assignments we neglected to do over the pass two days.

 

Eunji: I'm coming now. I can't stay home; I might end up doing my homework.

 

Naeun: Eunji, meet up with me. We can walk to her house together.

 

Eunji: Meet me at the corner shop. We'll have to pick up chocopie for the older one.

 

Naeun: Alright. I'm almost there. Be there in 5.

 

Chorong: Yah! I'm included in this group chat! I can see everything.

 

Eunji: Where's Namjoo?

 

Bomi: Someone spam her phone. She's probably sleeping right now.

 

Eunji: Haha, she's always taking a nap. She's like a cat. Cat nap.

 

Namjoo: Hardy har har guys.

 

Namjoo: Chorong! Bomi! I'm outside. Let me in.

 

Hayoung: I'm outside too.

 

Eunji: Finally here! Can't believe Namjoo beat us here.

 

Naeun: Let us in now or we'll eat all the chocopie.

 

Chorong jumped out of her bed to go fetch the girls, leaving Bomi all alone. She thought of going downstairs with her but she didn't want to pass Chorong's little—actually he's not little, he's 185 centimeters tall so calling him little would be an understatement—brother's room again.

 

She laid on Chorong's bed, waiting for the girls to come upstairs while staring up to the ceiling. Thoughts of today's events kept replaying in her head. She had no idea whether he read the note or not.

 

It didn't seem like he read it, right? He acted pretty...normal? He would of said something by now. Unless he did.. and he thinks it's funny, that I'm a complete joke! He probably showed it to his friends and they're laughing in Chanyeol's room right now. Ughhh I'm done. I'm completely done. I'm going have to move away' maybe to the country, and change my name to something cool, probably like Jungmi—yeah Jungmi, I always liked that name—and-

 

A knock on the door broke Bomi out of her train of thought. She quickly sat up when she saw who was standing near the door frame, Kyungsoo.

 

"Hey." His voice was husky, and Bomi melted.

 

"Hey, uh, Kyungsoo," she managed to croak out.

 

"Soooooo.. I lost a bet with Sehun, and now I have to start the fire for the grill."

 

"Oh. By yourself? None of them are going to help you out?"

 

"Well, that's actually the reason why I came here. I was hoping you can be of assistance?" He had a small smile on his face that would make Bomi scream because the second most favorite thing that she loved about Kyungsoo was his heart-shaped smile; his eyes is the first.

 

He stared at her waiting for her answer. How could I say no to him?

 

Bomi had no idea how to start a fire. All she could do was listen and obey every instruction Kyungsoo spoke out as he cleaned the grill. He said something about grabbing some lighter fluid, a lighter and paper, but Bomi was barely paying attention to what the chocopie boy was saying. She was too immerse to the sound of the boy's voice.

 

When Bomi finally gathered all of the supplies that Kyungsoo listed down, she stood back and watched the boy start the fire. Unlike Bomi Kyungsoo knew what he was doing; the boys must do this often. He had the fire burning in less that 2 minutes.

 

"Call the others to come down. I'm going to start grilling," Kyungsoo said.

 

The girls and boys were altogether in the backyard. They were enjoying each other's company while stuffing their faces with bulgogi that was wrapped deliciously with crunchy lettuce.

 

The group decided to play a variety of games to pass the time as they ate. There was a game of chance where the unlucky people—there was 12 of them in total so they decided to have 4 people suffer—had to drink fish sauce while the rest had refreshing coca cola.

 

They even split into two teams for the multiplication game, even decided to mix their groups so it wasn't girls versus boys. The Park siblings decided to be captains and face one-on-one with each; typical brother-sister rivalry, nothing new here.

 

On Park Chorong's team: Oh Hayoung, Kim Joonmyun, Yoon Bomi, Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun.

 

On Park Chanyeol's team: Byun Baekhyun, Jung Eunji, Do Kyungsoo, Son Naeun and Kim Namjoo.

 

This game got really heated. It was mostly because of the siblings continuous bickering while the rest just stood back and watch them go at each other's throats. The Park's are known for how competitive they are as well as their fiery personalities. There were words being thrown at each other such as "you could never beat me in anything" and "says you, you're always second-best." The game lasted up to 10 rounds with the score 6:4.

 

"I told you! Second-best as always," Chorong roared out loud, making sure to rub another victory in her little brother's face.

 

"Shut up noona! You had Hayoung on your team! It's not like you were the reason your team won," Chanyeol countered. His ears were turning red, which was a sign that he was furious with his team's lost.

 

"Doesn't matter little brother, at the end my team still won." Chorong knew how to push Chanyeol's buttons, and calling her not-so little brother "little" was something he hated.

 

When the Park siblings finally cooled down and was force to say sorry to each with a hug, they moved on to a new game was suggested by Baekhyun: never have I ever. He was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen and he happened to find the stash of Chanyeol and Chorong's father's alcohol.

 

Baekhyun pulled the 2 bottles of vodka to place on the table for everyone to see. There was a smug look on his face that screamed can't wait to get all you guys -faced drunk. Eunji willingly helped him in passing out the shot glasses to everyone and fill their glass right after. Those two were the best when it came to drinking. They can hold their liquor down.

 

Bomi read the labels on the bottles: Smirnoff and Grey Goose. Looks like I'm sleeping over tonight.

 

"Okay is everyone's glass filled?" Baekhyun looked around the table to make sure everyone's glass was indeed full. Clapping his hands together, he continued. "I'm starting them game! First one: "Never have I ever.. kissed someone of the opposite before. Not including family members!"

 

The guys snickered at the boy's words. They knew it was targeted for the youngest in their group, Sehun. They never stopped bugging him over the fact he hadn't kiss a girl. It's mainly because he hadn't been in a relationship before so there wasn't anything wrong not experiencing his first kiss yet.

 

The rest of the boys downed their shot while Sehun sat back for this round. The girls also gulping the vodka down, the burning feeling lingering on their throats a second later, except for the youngest in their group.

 

"Hold up, Sehun and Hayoung hadn't have their first kiss! You know what that means?" Baekhyun arched his eyebrows, and everyone knew where this was going.

 

"Kiss!" The older one's yelled in unison.

 

"No way," Sehun and Hayoung shouted simutaneously, their heads frantically shaking from left to right.

 

But it didn't stop the older kids from forcing the two younger ones to do said action. The non-stop teasing was growing louder and louder. The words "kiss her!" and "what are you waiting for!" were too much for Hayoung. The rest of the teases were muted out of the younger girl's ears. She always wanted her first kiss to be special. What girl wouldn't? It's her first kiss for heaven's sake!

 

She sat in her chair quietly staring down at the vodka in her glass. She always hated to be in the center of attention; always standing off to the side because she didn't want beady eyes landing on her.  But now she was in the middle of her friend's crazy antics.

 

"Come on Sehun," Jongin whispered in Sehun's ear. "Just do it. We all know you like Hayoung."

 

Sehun couldn't hide his face drastically turning into a shade of crimson as he heard Jongin's words. His upper eyelids rose to open his eyes wider in disbelief. He thought no one knew.

 

"How did you—"

 

"Save it Sehun. You were so obvious. I saw the way you look at her." Jongin nodded his head towards the direction of where Hayoung sat. Sehun noticed the girl seemed very uncomfortable from the turn of events. "It's not like you were ever discreet about it. Even now, it shows on your face."

 

Out of the six in their group, Sehun considered to be the closest with Jongin. It's because they were both the same age and they shared a lot in common such as their interest in dancing. Sehun should of known that his best friend would of caught on.

 

Jongin leaned in closer to make sure Sehun heard his words. "Here's your chance dude."

 

Hearing those words, Sehun was somewhat hesitant. He wasn't sure if he should listen to his friends words and kiss the girl, but Jongin was right, he has a chance to do so.

 

Sehun wasn't sure what he was doing. He's usually one that likes to plan out his every move, but tonight he decided to go against his usual ways. A second he's sitting down next to Jongin staring at Hayoung from across the table, and then the next he's grabbing the back of the girl's head to crash his lips upon her.

 

The loud cheers from the others were tuned out, the only thing Hayoung could hear was her own heartbeat ringing in her ears. Their lips molding together perfectly as Sehun deepen the kiss. Her mind went blank, the only thoughts occupying it was that Sehun kissed her and Sehun was still kissing her.

 

"Ahem! Okay kids, enough! You two can make out later, can we please continue the game," Eunji hissed. A completely disgusted look was shown on her face.

 

"Looks like someone is jealous," Baekhyun teased. "If you wanted a kiss, all you got to do is ask?" He flashed his signature cheesy grin and wiggled his eyebrows towards the girl. He always enjoyed making Eunji's life a living hell.

 

Eunji could only roll his eyes when hearing the boy's obnoxious choice of words. "Okay my turn. Uh Hayoung can you please get off Sehun's lap, and Sehun, can you please go back to your seat.”

 

"Moving on. Never have I ever fooled around in a sibling's room."

 

No one drank this round. No one, expect Chorong.

 

"Noona! What the hell! You fooled around in my bedroom?" Everyone laughed. The thoughts of sweet ol' Chorong, the one who says that she takes love serious and hooking up was disgusting, had a fling with someone. "Who was he?"

 

She smirked towards the blonde that was sitting next to her brother.

 

"JOONMYUN?!"

 

---

 

The moon was shining bright that night, illuminating the backyard with its beauty. There was no clouds out tonight and Bomi couldn't be even more thankful. She found comfort in staring at the night sky. Just looking up at moon could keep her at ease, especially when the moon was full, because when she looked up at it being surrounded by the thousands of stars, it reminded her of him.

 

The group has been playing the same game for awhile, learning new things about each other as another round of "never have I ever" passed, each round being even more personal as the ones before.

 

They learned that Naeun once skinny dipped as a punishment for losing at a game of poker when she was 9 years old. It was an all-girl summer camp so she didn't really mind stripping down her clothes and jumping into the icy lake late at night while the other girls watched. She did mind when the girls thought it was funny to run off with all her clothes, only to find her shoes still there when she came out of the waters.

 

They learned that Baekhyun had way too many drinks at a party, so when he was making out with a random girl, he pulled away and puked all over her dress. He doesn't remember much because of the alcohol—he claimed to have drank a lot—but he did remember getting slapped across the face. The rest went black after that.

 

"I remember that party. You were so -faced drunk, you were going around the house singing Gee in front of everyone's face. Then you got up on the table and started dancing. that was hilarious!" Jongin couldn't stop laughing as he recalled the memory. It took awhile for him to settle down so Baekhyun started hitting on his head to make him to stop.

 

They learned that Jongin and Sehun once sneaked into a club using fake IDs that they bought from someone at school. They learned that Eunji tried to steal a bracelet from Tiffany's & Co but was caught immediately when the alarms went off. They learned that Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Bomi and Eunji thought someone of the same was attractive.

 

They decided to end the game after one more round because most of them were this close in losing consciousness. Hayoung was already leaning her head on Sehun's shoulder (somewhere along the way Sehun managed to convince Naeun to switch seats with him), she wasn't used to having so much alcohol in her system. She's not one to drink alcohol, period. The only ones that still seemed stable were Baekhyun and Eunji. They weren't keeping count on how much they drank but Bomi was pretty sure that the duo drank around the same amount. They kept downing shot after shot.

 

"Since it's the last round, it has to be good. I'll do the honors." Baekhyun giggled. He was type to get a little too happy and a little too friendly when he was drunk. His voice also goes up an octave higher. He paused for a few seconds, leaning his head slightly to the left as if he was able to think of something good to say if he did so. He clapped his hands together loudly, startling the sleepy Hayoung. "I've got it! Okay, never have I ever had feelings for someone at this table."

 

Baekhyun was the first to drink, with Eunji following his actions. Naeun and Jongin looked at each other before downing their shots as well—everyone knew that they had feelings for one another, but none of them had the guts to confess. Hayoung was about to reach her own drink but Sehun grabbed it before she could and poured it in his mouth, and then swallowing his own drink right after. Joonmyun thought what Sehun did for Hayoung was cool so he did the same, one more glass in Chorong's system and she would be puking out all the meat and chocopie she had earlier. Chanyeol and Namjoo decided to be bold and take a love shot with one another, locking their arms together and quaffed their last glass of vodka before letting out a hearty chuckle.

 

Bomi could only keep her head down. She slowly brought her own glass to her lips. No one was staring at her since everyone's attention was still towards Chanyeol and Namjoo; this was her chance to take her shot before anyone could catch her, so she quickly gulped her alcohol down.

 

---

 

Bomi woke up in the Park's living room. Her head was pounding from last night's events; it felt like a woodpecker was repeatedly tapping on the side of her head. She doesn't remember how she got herself on the couch last night, but honestly she doesn't remember half of the night.

 

Slowly raising her head up, she was surprised to see her friends spread out on the floor. It seems Baekhyun's wish of getting everyone -faced drunk came true. Fortunately he could hold his liquor down and didn't throw up in the backyard. Chanyeol and Chorong's parents wouldn't be too happy about that.

 

The boys were on one side and the girl's on the other. Bomi noted that no one was too drunk to do anything stupid last night, but she did notice Sehun and Hayoung were laying a bit too close to each other.

 

She scanned her eyes around the room until she found the wall clock: 11:50; it was 10 until noon.

 

Her stomach let out a growl. Might as well start breakfast I suppose.

 

Bomi tiptoed around her friends, jumping over a giant Chanyeol tangled in between Joonmyun and Chorong, probably to keep those two separated. She was almost out when she accidentally bumped into Namjoo with her foot on her way out. The younger girl shifted in her sleep, opening her eyes slightly then closing them shortly after. Bomi waited to continue on to the kitchen until she finally she heard the little snores.

 

She opened the fridge when she got to the kitchen. There was eggs, milk and butter in the fridge. Opening the cabinets, she found flour. With the ingredients that she gathered, she decided to make some pancakes for breakfast. Bomi made sure she brought out enough ingredients that she needs to make pancakes for the others as well.

 

When she finally had all the ingredients stirred altogether, she heated a pan and started pouring on the batter one by one. The pancakes weren't perfectly shape—Bomi never considered herself skilled in cooking—but it was decent, and most importantly, edible.

 

The stacks of pancakes were set in the middle of the dining table, plates distributed all around with a glass of orange juice on the side. Now all she had to do was wait for the others to wake up; she didn’t want to eat by herself.

 

Another noise came from her tummy, and all she could do was put her head down as she waited.

 

“Why don’t you wake up the others if you’re hungry?”

 

“Kyu- kyungsoo. Erm, good, uh, morning. I was just- just waiting for them. I don’t want to wake them up. I know they must be tired.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head with a slight grin on his face. “How about some bacon?”

 

“Bacon?” Bomi questioned. There was a puzzle look on Bomi’s face and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

“Yeah bacon. How about we cook some bacon while we wait for the others. If they haven’t woken up by then, we’ll wake them up ourselves.” He held out a pack of bacon in his hand and made his way towards the stove, heating up a pan he found in the cabinets. The sizzling of bacon was loud, bringing Bomi’s attention to Kyungsoo. His back was facing her. Bomi noted how narrow his shoulders were, how it slumped forward as he hovered over the heated pan. They were cute in her opinion, but anything to do with Kyungsoo was cute to her.

 

Seeing Kyungsoo stand over a hot stove, cooking breakfast, made her blush madly. This was always something she fantasized whenever she thought of the boy late at night. How he would be a perfect gentleman to his significant other, prepare her breakfast in the early morning while she continues to stay in dreamland, then he’ll wake her up gently with a few butterfly kisses starting from her collarbones, making his way onto her neck and finally connecting their lips together to kiss her good morning. They’ll stay in bed for a few more minutes but then he’ll convince her to get up so they can continue enjoying each other’s company while eating the delicious breakfast that he prepared. Every morning would be the same, every morning would be perfect, and Bomi just wish she could be that girl that would be with Kyungsoo.

 

---

 

Every one started to wake up one after another. The smell of the bacon made its way to the living room, floating under their noses and slowly waking them up from their slumber. Most of them had a minor headache from last night’s activity. The only ones still trying to recover from a massive hangover was the two that drank the most, Baekhyun and Eunji.

 

The group ate their breakfast at their own pace, hoping not to throw up whatever they put in their mouth. As soon as everyone was finished, they contributed in helping out with the dishes, then said goodbye to one another and headed home.

 

Bomi left first. She wanted to hurry home and sleep off the headache that still lingered.

 

“Hey wait! Bomi wait up,” a deep voice called out to her. She didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. She knew that voice all too well.

 

The boy caught up to her seconds later. He stopped in his place to catch his breath, Bomi did too.

 

“I was thinking, you know that exam that we have on Friday?” Bomi knew what exam he was talking about. It was the end-of-the-semester exam that they indicated what they know, what they learned. As for Bomi, it was more like what she forgot and what she needs to study again so she doesn’t bomb this exam. It covered the basic subjects: math, science, and english. Three subjects that she’s hopeless in.

 

Noticing that the boy was still staring at her, waiting for her answer, she slowly shook her head in response.

 

“Well I was thinking if you wanted to study together.”

 

“Together?” As in him? And me? Together?

 

“Yeah. We’ll study at the library tomorrow. I need to brush up on science. Mr. Lee is nice and all, but he as a teacher. I have a feeling I might fail the science part in the exam so I need to go over everything that we learned in science as much as possible.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay? Alright then! See you tomorrow. Let’s study at noon, sharp. I’ll be waiting. Every minute you’re late, you’ll owe me something.” He scurried off into the opposite direction, waving his hand above his head to bid Bomi goodbye before turning around to catch up with his friends. She watched him walk away, her eyes locked on his figure, until he turned a corner and disappeared.

-

 

Bomi woke up late for her study session at the library. She stayed up late going over pointless formulas for math because even if she had a hard time in all three subjects, math was her arch enemy. Everytime she tried to solve one of the exercises in her textbook, she could never get the answer (all the answers were in the back of the book). The examples were no help either.

 

She quickly got ready while packing all of her necessities that she will be needing for today. She was almost out the door when her phone vibrated.

 

Text Message: Kyungsoo ◕◡◕

 

You’re late. It’s been 10 minutes, you owe me.

 

Bomi ran to the library, making her now 17 minutes late for her study session with Kyungsoo. He was waiting in front of the building reading his science textbook. She slowly approached him, she wasn’t sure if the boy was mad that she wasn’t on time. He looked up and greeted her with a smile.

 

“Finally you’re here. Let’s hurry up and get inside, a lot of people from school are here so hopefully there’s still a table for us to use.”

 

Kyungsoo was right. It seems like everyone in their grade was here, jamming as much information in their heads that they could. The library tables were filled with students, four on each table, with all their learning materials spread across. A look of frustration etched upon their faces. No one usually takes these exams seriously until the last minute, and that includes Bomi.

 

The two eventually found an empty table, setting down their textbooks, and taking a seat across from each other. They decided to start off with english, a subject Kyungsoo gladly accept in helping Bomi with. Growing up in the states, english was a subject he never had a problem with. Unlike Bomi, who thought it was pointless to learn a language she had no interest in. It’s not like I’m going to travel to America anytime soon.

 

It took awhile, but Bomi began to understand the language. She had a difficult time structuring sentences, still confused when to use commas, but by time with Kyungsoo’s help, she got the hang of it. She also finally understood the difference between there, their, and they’re.

 

After completing the exercises that their teacher gave them to study (they were similar to the ones that will be on the exam), they decided study on their own. Bomi really need to study for math and Kyungsoo was still struggling with science.

 

---

 

Time passed quickly while they studied. They didn’t notice the other students leaving, they were too immerse in the world of formulas and calculations. The librarian had to break them from their concentration by tapping their table and telling them that the library was closing soon. The two packed their belongings quietly, only breaking the silence once they were outside of the building.

 

“You know, you were late by 17 minutes,” Kyungsoo spoke out. His head was face forward, not looking at her as he talked. Bomi could barely see his face; the only source of light was the moon and the light post a few feet away from where they were standing that seemed to need a change of light bulb anytime soon.

 

“I know. I woke up late.” Bomi looked down at her phone. It was 8:03 pm. Her mom should be calling her in a little while.

 

“You owe me.” His voice was toneless. She wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘owe me.’ What can Do Kyungsoo want from me?

 

“And how can I repay you exactly?”

 

He turned his head towards her. They were now face-to-face with a few inches apart and Bomi forgot how to breathe again. “Let me take 17 minutes out of your time.”

 

“What do you mean?” Bomi asked, not exactly understand his words.

 

“I mean, let’s go.” Kyungsoo grabbed Bomi’s hand and started running. She wasn’t sure where they were going, but she thought that there was no reason to ask Kyungsoo. She wanted to enjoy the moment.

 

Despite the time, the city was still alive. The streets were filled with noises bouncing off the tall buildings that hung over the duo as they squeezed their way through the sea of people. They continued to bump into others until Kyungsoo turned left into a small street that was less occupied. A few more blocks and then they entered a tiny coffee shop. She let go of the breath that she didn’t realize she was holding when Kyungsoo let go of her hand.

 

There was a bell above the door, signaling the employees their entrance into the shop. Besides the two men that stood behind the counter, the two of them were the only customers there. The strong aroma of ground coffee beans lingered in the air as they walked towards the counter to take a better look of the menu and the variety of pastries in the glass case. Bomi hunched over the glass case, a blueberry yogurt muffin catching her eye.

 

“Can I have two iced caramel macchiatos please,” Kyungsoo ordered out to the man that stepped forward to the register. Bomi looked up to see that the man was just slightly taller than Kyungsoo, and he had doe-like eyes similar to him. She looked down to the man’s name tag that read Luhan in bold, capital letters. He jotted down the orders down on their cups and gave it to the barista—a brunette that had a feminine complexion but a muscular body, named Minseok.

 

“And can I have one of those.” Kyungsoo pointed at the pastry, the muffin that Bomi was looking at. She sent a smile of gratitude to him.

 

When their orders were ready, they sat down at a table near the window.

 

Kyungsoo looked down at his watch. “It’s 8:16 right now. You owe me 17 minutes. I’ll set a timer; it starts now.”

 

“What do you want to do here?” Bomi motioned her hands towards the empty cafe. “There’s not exactly much to do here.”

 

“I don’t want to do anything. I want to talk.”

 

“Talk?” She picked up her iced caramel macchiato and began taking little sips of the drink. The strong flavor of coffee with pumps of sweet caramel satisfies her sugary palate. She looked up at Kyungsoo, still up the macchiato through her straw. “What do you want to talk about?”

 

“Let’s play a game,” Kyungsoo suggested after taking a piece of Bomi’s muffin and stuffing it into his mouth. Bomi had to tear her eyes from his lips, it was completely distracting her.

 

“Game? What kind of game?” Bomi asked, copying Kyungsoo by breaking a piece of the muffin as well.

 

“21 questions. You know how to play?”

 

Of course she knew how to play. She played this the first time she met Chorong, in their choir class. The teacher thought it was a grand idea to play 21 questions on their first day of class, just so everyone could get well acquainted with one another. Bomi scoffed at the idea of the game, but it’s not like she had any friends with her in this class so it wouldn’t hurt to participate and genuinely get to know someone. She didn’t want to be a loner all throughout the year in this class. The teacher set the timer on his phone to 5 minutes, so everyone would get some time to ask a fair amount of questions and then switch. Everyone was nice, Bomi thought, but when it was time to switch off to another person, and Bomi walked up to a girl with long brown hair and eyes with a baby face, she was immediately impress how well she connected with her.

 

It took awhile before Bomi swallowed and could answer with a nod.

 

“Mhm. I’ll start then. What do you usually order at a cafe?”

 

“Well, I actually order this.” She waved her drink around to emphasize what she meant. “I was surprise you ordered a drink that I like.”

 

“You come late to class with an iced caramel macchiato in your hand everyday. I kinda assumed that that was your favorite drink.”

 

Bomi giggled, embarrassed that he noticed the reason why she’s always tardy for school. In her defense, she believes that she can’t function well throughout the day without her daily dose of caffeine and sugar. It helps her stay awake.

 

“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. My turn. If you could be reincarnated as anyone, who would you want to be?”

 

“That’s easy. I want to be Jo Insung!”

 

She furrowed her eyebrows when hearing his answer. “The actor?”

 

“Yeah! He’s a great actor and a cool guy. Plus he’s tall, something I can never be.” Bomi chortled at Kyungsoo’s words.

 

“Hey! Don’t laugh! I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m average height. The other guys in our school are just freakishly tall.”

 

“Jo Insung is 186 cm. By your choice of words, he’s considered as freakishly tall. He’s also exceptionally handsome, which all the guys in our school are not, especially Baekhyun.”

 

“Except you of course,” Bomi quickly added, not even realizing that she spoke out her inner thoughts.

 

Kyungsoo smiled, “It’s my turn again. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?”

 

Bomi paused, thinking long and hard before answering. “My laugh.”

 

“Why?

 

She shrugged while taking a long sip of her macchiato. “I just don’t like it.”

 

Kyungsoo leaned back in his chair, not fully accepting the girl’s reason. He leaned his head to the right and stared at her. He considered her laugh as a disease; once you hear it, you would join in the laughter at once, even if the joke was mediocre—probably because it was told by Chanyeol. It was simply contagious, and Kyungsoo liked that about Bomi. “I like it.”

 

Bomi stayed silent, chewing slightly on her straw while Kyungsoo’s words replayed in her head on loop. He likes.. my laugh?

 

“I-is it my turn?”

 

Kyungsoo nodded.

 

“What’s one thing your friends don’t know about you?”

 

Kyungsoo leaned forward, placing his elbows on top of the table and his chin in his hands. “That I like someone.”

 

Bomi could hear her heart drop and smash into a million pieces. Huh, of course he would like someone.

 

“Oh,” was the only words that could come out of . Usually she would be curious when hearing that one of her friends like someone, annoying them with questions that would bring her one step closer in knowing who it is, but this time was different. She didn’t want to know who her crush liked; that would just make her even more upset.

 

“Yeah. I like her laugh,” Kyungsoo continued. “It’s beautiful.”

 

She looked out the window, not wanting to hear how great this girl was, how she was everything that Bomi wasn’t. She just wanted to change the subject. “It’s your turn.”

 

Kyungsoo could hear the change in Bomi’s tone, but decided to think of a new question to ask. “What was on that note that you slipped inside my locker on Friday?”

 

If Bomi felt uneasy hearing Kyungsoo's confession on liking another girl, then she felt very uncomfortable right now. She thought she dodged this incident back on Friday but now that Kyungsoo confronted her about it a second time, she wanted to leave. So he didn't read the note. That's.. a good thing.. He has no idea what I wrote. But he'll see it tomorrow.. That's a bad thing. I'm dead. I'm going to die of embarrassment tomorrow at school.

 

Kyungsoo waited for her to speak. She thought of lying but Bomi couldn't come up with any excuses at this point. There was no point in lying when he'll see it when he opens his locker, the pink note that had all her feelings about him written down on it. The idea of avoiding him for the rest of the school year seemed more convincing now.

 

Kyungsoo's phone began to beep out loud, declaring the end of the 17 minutes and Bomi couldn't be more happy. Luck was on her side this time, and this was a chance for her to get out—out of the cafe and out in answering Kyungsoo's question. So she ran, leaving a bewildered Kyungsoo alone in the tiny cafe.

 

---

 

Bomi woke up to the sound of her alarm, her favorite boy group’s recent song blaring out through the speakers of her phone. It was always set on 7:00 am, and you would think the 6 hours of sleep would be enough for her body, but she felt even more tired. She just wanted to go back to sleep and forget about the whole conversation with Kyungsoo. She just wanted to forget anything that had to do with Kyungsoo, period.

 

She rolled out of her bed slowly to begin preparing herself for school. It was Monday, and usually Bomi liked to dress up on Mondays because it helps her hate the day a little less. "If you look good, you feel good," she always says, but today she wasn't in the mood to spend half an hour applying makeup. She got dressed in her school uniform, pulled on her black Vans backpack over her shoulders, gathered all her heavy textbooks in her arms and headed to school.

 

It was probably the first time she was ever early for school this year, coffee-free. She headed towards her locker and quickly filled it up with her textbooks that she was holding; she was avoiding any encounters with Kyungsoo as possible. She close the door of her locker and there he was, staring at her with soft eyes.

 

"Oh—Kyungsoo, uh, why are you standing there? You almost gave me a heart attack?" Like he always do.

 

"Why'd you run away last night? I would of walked you home. A girl shouldn't be walking around the streets of Seoul by herself late at night."

 

"It's fine. I got home safely." Bomi started walking down the hall to her 1st period. She had english, and so did Kyungsoo. He caught up seconds later, walking on the side of Bomi as they headed to class together.

 

"I read the note, the one you left in my locker."

 

Bomi froze. "You did?"

 

"Yeah. 5 minutes ago actually." Digging in his pocket, he pulled out the note. Bomi averted her eyes upon seeing it. Her gaze landed on a poster—Oh look, the school's dance is coming up.

 

"So you know, huh?" Bomi asked, not looking away from the poster; she had no confidence to look at the boy right now.

 

"Yeah I know. I knew for awhile now actually."

 

She looked at him, her eyes wide from surprise.

 

"How?"

 

His lips curved upwards and his eyes lit up with mischief. "I didn't, I lied. I assumed, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I am now."

 

Oh. My. ing. God. Why.

 

"Now that I am one hundred percent sure, can we continue with our 21 questions game. We didn't get to finish and there was a question I wanted to ask you."

 

She couldn't find her will to speak, still a slightly dazed from her unexpected confession, so she nodded to tell Kyungsoo it was okay.

 

"Would you go on a date with me?"

 

She was completely caught off guard by his question. Date? Did he just ask me out on a date?! I thought he liked someone else?

 

"I'm sorry, but did you just ask me out on a date?" Bomi asked in disbelief.

 

"Yeah, a date." Kyungsoo cocked his head. "Is that weird? I thought since you liked me and I like you it would be okay. If you don't want to then that's fine. I was just hoping we could continue our date—well it wasn't actually a date but—"

 

"Yes."

 

"It was sorta like a date—wait did you say yes?"

 

A huge grin formed on her face. "Yes."

 

The first bell of class rang and they made their way to english class, walking side-by-side.

 

"Now, about the dance.." Kyungsoo proposed.

 

"Yes, I would love to go to the dance with you."

 

---

 

The two walked in class before the late bell rang. Bomi sat at her desk right next to Chorong, not breaking her stare on the boy until he sat down. The older girl followed her eyes to Kyungsoo in the front of the class and noticed the smile plastered on Bomi's face.

 

Leaning in, she whispered so she wouldn't be caught by the teacher, "So how was the study date?"

 

Bomi turned her head to face Chorong, the smile not yet gone. "It was perfect."

 

"Let me guess, you barely got any studying done," she accused with a condescending sneer.

 

The teacher cleared his throat indicating that he will be starting class now. They faced forward, keeping their eyes on the board. "I did study. I studied his eyes, his smile, the way his eyebrows scrunch up when he didn't understand something.."

 

Chorong shook her head. "Too bad that won't be on the exam on Wednesday."

 

Crap, I'm dead.