The next morning, Jieun woke up extremely tired and exhausted. She had dark panda eyes from the lack of sleep, and her skin didn't glow as it did before. All night, she couldn't help but think about what had happened yesterday in the afternoon. Her mind was filled with his touch, his heat, his kiss—

A warm feeling rose in her chest as her cheeks turned into a delicate shade of red.

"Mm…" Minah, who was sleeping on the next bed, let out small moans. Then, she opened one eye and noticed that Jieun was lying down on the bed, eyes wide open. She gently lifted her body to get up. "Good morning, Jieun…"

"Good morning," Jieun whispered. Her fingers touched her lips. She began to wonder how it'd feel to have Jiyong kiss her lips right now. Morning kisses always sweet to be exaggerated as sweet and cute in the dramas, and she had always rolled her eyes at the scene in the past (kissing Chanyeol in the morning wasn't the best idea). Now, whenever she thought of Jiyong waking up besides her and giving her a good morning kiss, her face would burn with a passion. 

Minah stared at Jieun for a long time. She knew that something was different. Jieun's skin glowed in a way that Minah never thought would glow before. The way she smiled at the ceiling and touched her lips in such a gentle way aroused suspicion in Minah's chest.

And when Minah was curious, she was going to do anything she could to get answers.

"So, did anything happen yesterday?" Minah asked, slipping on her sandals. "You didn't talk much last night at dinner when the three of us were together."

By three, Minah had meant the teenagers. The adults had dinner elsewhere, and that might've been a good thing for Minah if Jiho hadn't been focusing on pleasing Jieun throughout the entire night. It only made her feel that she was the third-wheel in the group, and she was sure that she was one.

Jieun pressed her lips and sat up. She hesitated in revealing Minah what had happened. If anything, Minah had one of the loudest mouths and she was terrible at keeping secrets. At school, when she used to be under Chanyeol's regimes, she was known to be a huge tattle-tale. She had always reported to Chanyeol about who had betrayed who and what had happened between certain people. 

But maybe she's changed, Jieun thought. She remembered all those times where Minah had tried to help Jieun get Jiyong's attention. There was a possibility that Minah might've supported the relationship.

Jieun bit her lip and shyly look away. "I-It's not anything big…"

Oh, it's huge, Minah realized, noticing how flustered Jieun had gotten. Minah began to grin. She scurried over to Jieun's bed, resting on the side and grabbing Jieun's hand in such an enthusiastic manner. "Come on! Tell me!"

Another thought quickly occurred in Jieun's head: Would Jiyong let others find out?

Minah pouted. "You don't want to tell me? Am I not your friend yet?" She let out a fake sigh. "I guess Jiho is so much important than me, hm? Maybe you'll tell him, but not me."

Jieun bit her tongue. The thought of talking to Jiho never crossed her mind. Now that she was thinking about it, she wasn't sure if it would be okay to talk to a boy about her situation. First off, would he understand? She thought that it'd be nice to get a small insight from a boy's perspective, but…

Telling this to a girl might be better, Jieun thought. She took a deep breath. Then, giving Minah a small squeeze, she looked at her straight in the eye with a red face.

"I kissed Jiyong."

Minah's face dropped. She paled and released her hand from Jieun's. 

"You what?"

Jieun wasn't surprised; she had expected such a reaction.

"I kissed Jiyong," she repeated. She paused for a brief moment. "We kissed."

Minah pressed her lips. She could only think of how Jiho would feel if he had heard about this news. She was glad that she managed to make Jieun spill out the details before Jiho got the chance to hear it.

"Um, when you mean that you kiss, does that mean from forehead or hand or—"

"Lip to lip," Jieun answered. She blushed even more than she had been. "His lips touched mine, and my lips touched his…"

"Who started it?"

"I did. Then Jiyong kissed me back."

"Wait, wait, wait," Minah said, raising her hand. "Is that even legal?"

"I-I don't know," Jieun stuttered. "I wasn't really thinking about age when we kissed. I don't think he was thinking about that either."

Minah sighed and pulled up her tablet. "Hold up, let me research that." She took a few minutes typing in the simple question. "Okay, so according to the internet, the age of consent is thirteen in Korea—"

"So it's okay, right?" Jieun asked slowly. "Since I allowed him to do that?"

Minah shook her head. "No, well, yeah, but—" She took a deep breath. "Why did you kiss him?"

Jieun looked away. "I wanted him to kiss me and to notice that I wasn't a kid."

"But we're still kids," Minah mumbled. She rested her hand on top of Jieun's. "I don't know if it's right or wrong, but you need to think about what'd going on. Remember that girl Changmin talked about and how it made Jiyong look miserable? She's still out there, and she still affects him."

A dejected look appeared on Jieun's face. "I know, but—"

"No, you don't know," Minah snapped, narrowing her eyes. "If you knew, you wouldn't have done such a thing." When she noticed that Jieun wanted to cry, she sighed. "Look, from now on, I don't know what kind of relationship you have with Jiyong and how things are going to work out. Are you two even dating?"

Jieun blinked her eyes. "I-I don't think so…"

Minah's eyes widened. "You don't know, and you still kissed?"

"H-He said that it was a mistake!" Jieun exclaimed. "He said that kissing me was a mistake and he told me to go." She looked at Minah. "What does that make us?"

"I don't know," Minah said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've never been in that type of situation." She looked at the clock. "Well, I doubt that we'll see Jiyong any time soon. Changmin said that he reserved a restaurant for dinner, so in the meanwhile, we have free time. Jiyong is probably going to walk around or be alone."

Jieun glanced at the door. "But I kind of want to see him right now…"

"No," Minah said quickly. "You shouldn't see him until dinner time. At dinner, we'll see how he acts around you. If he acts normal, then things are good. If he acts a bit strange, then things change."

Jieun wanted to protest, but she was slowly understanding what Minah was trying to tell her. She let out a small sigh and sulked. She nodded her head, causing Minah to relax her shoulders a bit.

"Okay, fine," Jieun agreed. "I'm going to go and take a shower first… Excuse me."

She got up from the bed and grabbed her clothes. As she was about to leave, Minah turned to stop her for a brief moment.

"Um, Jieun?" Minah called out. Jieun turned around and faced Minah, who seemed worried. "Please don't mention any of this to Jiho."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Like, the part where you kissed Jiyong? Don't tell him that."

"Why not?"

Because he'll get hurt. "Boys don't understand girl's stuff. It's complicated for them. Leave it to me, the expert!"

Jieun studied Minah for a few more minutes. Then, she nodded her head, once again obeying Minah's request. As she was about to enter the bathroom, she stopped and poked her head out the door.

"Hey, Minah?" Jieun called softly.

"Hm?" she answered back.

"I'm glad that out of all the people at school, you're the one who became my friend," Jieun said quietly. "Thank you."

Minah subconsciously smiled. "Well, I used to have a lot of friends before, but I'm glad to have you as my closest friend, too."

* * *

Jiho smiled as he waited outside of Jieun's and Minah's room. He looked down at his watch, then checked in a nearby mirror in the hall to see if his hair was neatly combed. He knew that the group wouldn't be able to see Jiyong for the next couple of hours. If he managed to get rid of Minah, then he would be all alone with Jieun.

Then it'd be like a date, he thought. He grinned foolishly. His heart raced in anticipation, eagerly waiting for the door to be opened.

When the door swung open, he looked up with a bright expression. He pulled out the small red rose that he secretly took from the main lobby. As he was about to give the rose to the fair lady, he stopped and noticed that the first person to step out of the door wasn't Jieun. Instead, Minah appeared before his eyes, her eyes slightly wide with surprise.

Jiho grunted and hid the flower behind his back again. Minah frowned, disappointed that the flower wasn't for her. 

What was I expecting? she asked herself. Of course the flower wasn't for her. Did she forgot who Jiho liked in the first place?

"How cheesy," Minah retorted.

Jiho glared at her. "Where's Jieun?"

"Relax, she's going to come out in a few minutes," she told him in a lazy voice. She closed the door behind her and crossed her arms. She looked at Jiho's outfit, which consisted of a simple polo shirt and some brown shorts. "So are you two going on a date?"

He blushed. "More or less."

"Did she agree?"

"Not exactly, but it's okay if it's just friends hanging out."

"Great!" Minah flashed him a smile. "Then I can join, right?"

He looked up, shocked. "Hell no!"

"Why not?"

"Because—"

The door swung open again. Jiho quickly faced the door, then his face slightly red. Jieun came out of the room with her hair slightly wet, with her skin glowing from taking a refreshing bath.

"Minah, I can't find your hair dryer," Jieun said in a whiny voice.

"I told you that it's on top of the drawer," Minah said.

"I couldn't find it," she weakly repeated. It took her a few more minutes to realize that Jiho was with them. "Oh, hi Jiho. Did you have a good dream?"

Jiho wasn't sure if it was a good time to pull out the rose. "Y-Yeah. Um, you should go back and d-dry your hair… You'll catch a cold…"

"In the middle of summer?" Minah asked. She scoffed. "It's fine, Jieun. Your hair will dry under the sun if we go outside." She glanced at Jiho. "Or maybe not, depending on wherever Jiho is taking you on a da—"

"Minah!" Jiho shouted, interrupted her. Minah could only smirk as he scowled at her.

"Da?" Jieun repeated curiously.

"Da…Da…Dance!" Jiho lied. "I was planning to dance with you…"

Jieun tilted her head. "Here? Now?"

"No, that's not, well, um…" Minah snickered, while Jiho gave her a hostile look. "Stop laughing, Minah!"

As Jieun kept tilting her head in confusion, her eyes noticed the single rose behind Jiho's back. She raised her eyebrows, wondering why the roses looked so familiar.

"Isn't that flower from the main lobby?" Jieun asked, pointing at the flower.

Jiho looked back and gasped. "Y-Yeah. Um, Jieun! These are—"

"You shouldn't steal, Jiho," Jieun said, frowning at him. "I know that they're pretty, but you should return it. Flowers can be expensive."

"Oh, you shouldn't say that Jieun!" Minah exclaimed. "He specifically got them because he was going to give it to y—"

"Minah!" Jiho interrupted again. "Can you stop?" He turned to Jieun with his heart sinking in his chest. "I'm sorry for stealing this rose. I'll put it back."

Jieun smiled. "Well, at least you know it's wrong. Come on, let's go."

She walked away, heading to the elevator first. As she distanced herself from the two, Minah glanced at Jiho. The first thing she noticed was the way Jiho's shoulder sank and the bitter expression displayed on his face. 

Maybe I went too far? Minah wondered, biting her bottom lip. "Jiho, I—"

"Enough," Jiho said tiredly. He gave her a look of disappointment. "Sometimes I wish that you never joined our group in the first place. Maybe you would've been better off with Chanyeol's gang."

Minah dropped her jaws. She couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. She tried to think that it was because he was upset at her for ruining his chances to go on a date with Jieun, but she couldn't forgive him for saying such a thing.

"Excuse me?" Minah asked, offended. She scrunched her nose and stepped in front of him. "If it wasn't for me, you two wouldn't even be on this trip!" She scoffed. "You know, I can be forgiven and get a little 'thank you' from a girl who I used to bully, but I can't seem to get anything or do anything to my childhood friend. I've apologized, I know I was wrong, and I do nearly everything to make it up to you, but you don't even appreciate it!" She let out a furious groan. "I even prevent you from getting hurt, but you don't even acknowledge me!"

"Me? Getting hurt?" Jiho laughed. "Nothing can hurt me! As long as I have Jieun, I'm fine."

"That's the point! You don't have—" Minah abruptly stopped as she stared at his eyes. She pitied him; he was boldly gazing down at her, clueless of what was really going on. She was tempted to reveal that Jieun had kissed Jiyong, but she resisted. She let out a shaky sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "You know what? Forget it. Let's just forget about all this and go join Jieun."

"Fine," Jiho said. "That's fine with me."

"Good," Minah replied. She kept quiet for a minute, as if she was hesitating. "Yeah, this is good…"

"Guys, the elevator is going to open!" Jieun told them. The two looked at her, nodding their head. They went up to her just as the elevator doors opened.

"So," Minah said, standing next to Jieun, "what are we doing today?"

Jieun smiled. "We're going to just walk around."

Minah frowned. "That's it?"

"Well, Jiyong won't see us until dinner time at that fancy restaurant Changmin reserved for us. Until then, I just thought we'd go around and buy some souvenirs."

"Ugh, shopping," Jiho grunted. He looked at Jieun. "Well, if it's with you, I'm okay with that."

Jieun kept smiling, but her eyes clearly showed that she was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He only smiled gently and patted her head. "You don't need to know right now."

"Okay…? I hope you return the rose, though—"

"Yeah, yeah. I know…"

* * *

This is awkward as hell, Changmin thought, glancing at everyone at the dinner table. He sipped his glass of wine, his eyes constantly going from the kids, who sat at one side of the table, then to the adults, who say across from the teenagers.

For the first few minutes, Changmin was glad that Minah was sitting closest to him. Amongst the group, Minah was the only one who could strike up a conversation, whether it was only her talking or encouraging others to speak a few words. It made it easier for Changmin to show his charismatic side, which he wanted to boast about in front of Jiyong.

Unfortunately for him, Jiyong refused to look up. He was gazing down at his steak, chewing and cutting the meat into smaller pieces. Changmin wondered if it was because Jieun was sitting across from him. If Jiyong looked up, the first thing he would see would be Jieun, and knowing that he kissed her, it would be awkward.

Jieun, too, was awaiting for some kind of response from Jiyong. She kept staring at him, and her eyes would briefly leave to cut her steak. She was waiting for him to make eye contact with her, to give her some kind of signal that would reveal their relationship.

Changmin glanced at Jiho, who was sitting in between the girls. He was beginning to understand that there was some sort of complicated relationship between the four. The way Jiho kept glancing at Jieun and glaring at Jiyong made Changmin wonder if Jiho liked her. No, Changmin knew that Jiho liked Jieun, but he was trying to figure out if he liked her in a romantic way or as a brotherly affection.

Then what's this girl's role? Changmin wondered, looking at Minah. She kept talking, smiling, and acted as if she was in her own world or in the center of attention. She didn't really seem to be so involved with the other three, but he did notice that occasionally she would roll her eyes at Jiho, who would be staring at Jieun, who would be looking at Jiyong, who would refuse to look up. How complicated.

"Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Changmin asked. He looked at Jiyong. "Anything particular happen yesterday?"

Jiyong remained calm, while Jieun coughed nervously. With her cheeks turning pink, she looked up at Changmin with wide eyes, fearing that he knew about what happened.

Don't be afraid, little girl, Changmin thought, keeping his eyes on Jiyong. My goal isn't to trouble you. It's to trouble him.

"We had some good time yesterday," Kyuhyun said. He smirked and playfully elbowed his boss. "Right, sir?"

Changmin stared at him, giving him the look to back off. Kyuhyun pressed his lips together and looked away, understanding his situation. Changmin cleared his throat, then look at Jiyong carefully.

"Jiyong? Want to tell me how your day was yesterday?" Changmin asked. "After all, you didn't do a lot of talking today."

Jiyong let out a sigh. He glanced to the side, then went back to eating his steak. Jieun slightly pouted at his reaction.

He's tough, Changmin thought, frowning. Maybe that kiss didn't mean anything?

"Jiyong, what did you do yesterday?" Minah asked him, joining Changmin. She wasn't interested in breaking Jiyong down, but she was interested in hearing his thoughts. "I heard that you were with a girl."

Jieun choked on her apple cider. She used a napkin to cover . She looked at Minah with a worried expression, but Minah pretended not to notice.

"Nothing much happened," Jiyong said casually.

"Was she hot?" Jiho asked. He quickly looked at Jieun. "N-Not like I'm interested in other girls. I prefer the cute type."

"Not really," Jiyong answered. "There was no ual appeal whatsoever."

Jieun's heart drop. She looked down at her body, feeling dejected. Jiho began to mentally panic, thinking that it was his fault for making her feel down.

How naive, Minah and Changmin thought in unison, shaking their heads at Jiho.

"So it really meant nothing to you?" Jieun asked, looking down at her steak.

"I told you, it was a mistake," Jiyong reminded her sternly. 

Jieun pouted. She wanted to cry. Her vision blurred and she only took a deep, shaky breath before stuffing another piece of steak in .

"I didn't know you were that kind of person, Jiyong," Jiho said. "Well, then again, you're a weird man. It makes sense that you played a girl."

"I didn't play her," Jiyong said.

"So you seduced her?" Minah asked teasingly.

"I didn't do that, either."

"Then you must've enticed her," Changmin said. 

"I didn't do any of that." Jiyong shot a glare at Changmin. "Changmin, if you keep encouraging this conversation to go on, then I'm going to get really mad."

Changmin frowned. "Fine, fine. Whatever."

The group began to eat in silence. The awkward atmosphere returned to the table. Changmin wondered if it was a good idea to reserve the entire restaurant for the group. He would've preferred hearing some chatters here and there from other tables. The silence was getting to him, making him feel like he had made a mistake.

Jiyong paused, then noticed that he was running low on wine. He glanced around the table, trying to find the wine bottle. The fancy bottle stood in closer to Jieun, standing next to her. He reached for the bottle, but Jieun mistook his action for reaching for her hair. She flinched, but Jiyong remained his eyes glued on the bottle.

"Relax," he whispered when Minah started talking again. "I just want some more wine."

"O-Oh," Jieun mumbled. "Here, let me pour it for you."

"No, it's okay—"

"I insist."

"Jieun, no—"

His fingers brushed against her hand when he tried to grab ahold of the bottle. Like reflex, he jerked his hand back. His elbow knocked the glass of wine, causing it to fall and shatter. The feet of the chair scraped across the floor. He lost his balance, tipped over, and fell backwards.

The loud thud and the glass crashing to the ground echoed in the room, earning heads to turn at his direction. Everyone saw Jiyong's eyes wide with shock, his fingers slightly trembling. He looked up at the table, but mores specifically, he stared into Jieun's deep brown eyes. She stared back at him, shocked at his behavior when his fingers had glided across hers.

Something tingled in Jieun. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt excited. She felt the urge to touch him more, to see how else he would react. His reaction pleased her—knowing that he was bothered by their kiss delighted her.

Because if he was bothered, that meant that the kiss didn't mean nothing—it wasn't a mistake. Things were changing. Their relationship was changing.

They were changing.