“Niel oppa!” an urgent female voice stopped Niel from entering the cafeteria for lunch. He turned around, surprised to see an unfamiliar girl standing behind him.

“Do I know you?” he asked with as much sincerity as possible, not wanting to come off as rude. Niel saw her face fall for a second before she nodded vigorously.

“We have homeroom together; I sit in the front of the class!” Her fingers twiddled nervously around the heavy bag in her hands.

Niel smiled in an attempt to calm down her nerves. “Did you need something?” The girl blushed at his smile, cheeks and ears turning a dark pink. She suddenly bowed and held up the bag in her hands.

“P-Please accept my feelings!” The bag along with her arms were shaking like mad. Niel’s eyes widened; this wasn’t the first time this happened but he was still shocked nonetheless that girls would confess to him. He never saw himself as an insanely handsome human being, just good looking enough to be confident.

“Ah, so, about that…” he scratched the back of his neck nervously, darting his eyes around the empty hallway in search of a distraction. The moment his eyes landed on spiky blonde hair he let out a relieved sigh. “L.Joe hyung is calling for me! I’m sorry!” he bowed quickly and ran towards the shorter male, yanking his arm and pulling him down the hallway, away from the cafeteria.

“YAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” the older shouted. Niel let go of him as soon as the duo ran out of the building and into the courtyard.

“Thanks for helping me out, hyung!” Niel smiled despite trying to catch his breath.

“I didn’t do anything.” L.Joe grumbled, turning away before he started staring at Niel’s blinding smile. “What happened anyway? Why were you running away?”

“A girl confessed to me.” The latter admitted. L.Joe immediately turned to him, eyes flat in a judging glare. His nose twitched in irritation and his cheeks suddenly were burning.

“Did you accept?” he demanded. Niel shook his head, much to L.Joe’s relief. “Good.” He mumbled.

“I technically didn’t reject her either, now that I think about it…” the younger trailed off, head tilting toward the sky, lost in thought. And suddenly L.Joe was back to being irritated.

“Idiot!” he accused. “What if she thinks you like her now?!”

“What’s it to you if Niel has a lady lover by his side?” Chunji’s voice came seemingly out of nowhere before an arm was sliding across L.Joe’s back. The eldest of the three leaned against the blond, smiling at Niel before turning to smirk at the blonde. “After skipping a whole week why are you showing your face now, huh punk?” L.Joe glowered silently as his best friend ruffled his hair, wanting nothing more than to escape the situation and crawl back into his bed.

“You’ve been doing the homework I set by your door, right hyung?” Niel asked, the situation of his potential lover forgotten.

“Did you come just to make Niel’s life difficult? Or did you miss him?