"You're lying."

"I'm not. I'm telling you, Hyunwoo proposed to me."

Byunghun snorted. "Stop lying, Jieun. I know you're delusional, but not to this extent."

Jieun glared at him. "I'm not lying, Byunghun! I'm serious!" She frantically took out the journal. "See? Look, look! I wrote it in the journal!"

"Wow, how desperate."

"Well, I'm sorry that you didn't propose to Sohyun."

Byunghun turned bright red. "W-We're only in high school!"

"Excuses. Lame," Jieun said, sticking her tongue out. She handed the book to Byunghun. "Anyway, take it."

"It's our last entry, right?" Byunghun asked, opening the book. "What should I talk about? All of you guys talked about your romance laugh." He paused at Eunji's entry. "Well, most of us, at least."

"Why don't you talk about your romance life, too?" Jieun asked.

"Pft. I already have a successful romance life," Byunghun said. "Besides, I can't take Sohyun out on a date these days. She's busy, and so am I."

"It must to have a girlfriend who's a first year."

"Not really. We don't see each other often, but when we do see each other, we make the most of it," Byunghun said shyly. He chuckled a little while he stretched the back of his neck.

The two continued to walk to school together until they heard a voice from behind. Byunghun immediately recognized the person who was calling for him. His heart skipped a beat as he turned around, beaming when he saw Sohyun waving to him. She ran towards him, throwing her arms wide open until she threw herself onto him. The two exchanged a tight hug, causing Jieun to look at them with a little bit of envy.

"You guys are so lovey-dovey," Jieun mumbled.

"Oh, I forgot to say 'hello.' Hello!" Sohyun exclaimed, turning to Jieun.

Jieun smiled at her. "Aw, you're too good for Byunghun! You're so cute and nice!"

"I'm cute and nice, too," Byunghun said.

She stuck her tongue at him. "Bleh! You wish you were nice and cute." She looked away and smiled. "Oh, there's Hyunwoo at the gates! Hyunwoo~!"

Without saying goodbye to the couple, Jieun ran straight towards Hyunwoo, doing exactly as Sohyun did to Byunghun. However, Hyunwoo had successfully dodged her, causing Jieun to pout. Byunghun and Sohyun watched her from afar, noticing that she kept trying to hug Hyunwoo, who continued to dodge her. Eventually, Hyunwoo poked his finger at her forehead, calming her down as she cried out in pain. The duo saw Hyunwoo open his mouth, probably scolding her as Jieun continued to pout.

"I don't get it. Why does she like him so much?" Sohyun asked Byunghun.

"I don't get it, either. I never really understood how her head worked," he replied. He looked back at her. "Anyway, are you busy?"

"Yeah. As the captain, I have to attend a couple of meetings here and there. It's exhausting, but it's a lot of fun, too," Sohyun said. "Oh, right. This." She reached down into her bag and handed him two tickets. "We got our first game coming up! Will you come?"

"O-Of course!" he exclaimed, stuttering over his words. "When is it?"

"In a few days. I meant to give it to you before, but it totally slipped my mind," Sohyun said. "I've been so focused on practicing, that's why."

"Do you have any more tickets? I was hoping to invite my friends," Byunghun said.

"Unfortunately, no. Each member was only able to get two tickets. If anyone else wants a ticket, they'll have to buy it," she explained.

"Makes sense," he said, nodding his head. "Who should I bring?"

"Anyone is fine," she said. "It's on Friday night, anyway."

"I'll talk to my friends and see who can come," he told her. He looked at her and smiled. "Good luck!"

She smiled and held his hand. "Thanks, Byunghun! You're the best!"

"Sorry, can't go."

Byunghun stared at all his friends with wide eyes.

"What do you mean you can't go?" he asked. "You all can't go?"

"Myungsoo is tutoring me. I can't skip again," Dasom said. "My mom will kill me."

"I got a date with Chanyeol," Junhee said.

"I'm going over to Hyunwoo's house. He doesn't know it, but it's a surprise," Jieun said, grinning.

"I'm joining Dasom that night to get tutored by Myungsoo. I want good grades," Taemin added.

"What about you, Eunji?" Byunghun asked.

"I'm already going to be there. I volunteered to help out with refreshments there. The coach for the boy's basketball team asked me to help out the girl's basketball team tonight. I don't need a ticket," Eunji said.

"Well, who can I invite?" the basketball boy wondered out loud.

"What about someone from the basketball team?" suggested Eunji.

"Someone from the…" Byunghun snapped his fingers. "Daehyun! Where's Daehyun?"

"He's still moping around," Jieun said. She leaned close to Eunji. "How harshly did you reject him? He's devastated."

"He seemed fine when I said I wanted to be friends with him," Eunji muttered. "I didn't mean to crush his spirits or anything."

"I'll be back. I'm going to fine Dae—" As soon as Byunghun got up from the table, the door opened. He saw Daehyun walking in, almost zombified. "Daehyun! Perfect timing!"

"Wow, he looks terrible," Dasom said, widening her eyes.

"He's been like that for a couple of days," Taemin said nonchalantly. "I don't blame him, though."

"You must've been cruel," Junhee said to Eunji.

Eunji hid her face behind her hands. "Guys, come on…"

"Yeah. Like, what did you say to make him be like that?" Jieun asked.

"Don't make me the bad guy here! I only did what I thought was right!" Eunji exclaimed.

"Hey, Daehyun! Daehyun!" Byunghun turned to his friends. "I'll be back! I'm going to ask him if he wants to go."

He went to over to Daehyun, who plopped down in his desk. Byunghun grabbed a random chair and pulled it next to Daehyun, trying to grab his attention.

"Daehyun, are you free on this day?" Byunghun asked, showing him the ticket's date. Daehyun sighed and glanced at it. "I have tickets and none of my friends can go. Do you want to come?"

"No one in your group? Not even Eunji?" Daehyun asked, raising an eyebrow. "You should ask Eunji. She's always available."

"She's volunteering to help out, so she'll be there," Byunghun explained.

Daehyun sighed and asked himself, "Do I want to go to an event where I'll see the person who rejected me?"

"Yes," Byunghun said, answering for him.

Daehyun stared. "The answer is no, Byunghun. No."

"Come on, Daehyun! I have no one to invite except or you!" Byunghun cried out.

"But I don't want to go and see her," Daehyun said, emphasizing that he didn't really want to see Eunji at the moment.

"It's not like you're going to talk to her or anything," Byunghun pointed out. "Come on. Do this for me, please? My girlfriend really wants people to come. She's really good at basketball. You remember, don't you? You were in the co-ed team when that still existed."

Daehyun paused for a moment. Then, he let out a deep sigh.

"Fine," he said, grabbing a ticket from Byunghun. Byunghun grinned. "But this is only because I was former teammates with Sohyun! I'm not going there to check on Eunji, okay?"

"Sure, sure," Byunghun said, chuckling. "We'll go with that story."

After basketball practice, Byunghun decided to go and check on Sohyun. He quickly showered and ran outside to the basketball courts, where he was sure that the girls would be cleaning up. However, upon arriving, he noticed that Sohyun was alone with a cart full of basketballs.

She's still practicing? he wondered. He walked closer to her, but stopped when she groaned in frustration. The ball just wouldn't go into the basket. Maybe I should leave her alone.

He turned to leave, but stopped when he heard a loud thud. He quickly turned, noticing that she was on the ground, grabbing onto her wrist. She hissed in pain, causing her boyfriend to rush to her aid.

"Are you okay?" Byunghun asked worriedly.

Sohyun seemed surprised to see him, but nodded. "Yeah. I'm just practicing—"

"Let me see your wrist," Byunghun said quickly.

"It's fine. I—"

"Let me see it!" he demanded. Noticing that he was visibly upset, she handed him her wrist. He examined it, checking for any injuries. When he believed that she was fine, he sighed in relief. "Take care of yourself. You're an athlete."

"I know, I know," she said, pulling away her wrist. "It just hurts because I've been practicing too much. I've been tiring myself out. I'll be fine for the game," she assured him.

"Get some rest. Go home right now."

"I'm fine, Byunghun," she said, giggling. "The game is in a few days. I can't just sit around and do nothing."

"Resting doesn't mean doing nothing."

"I know," she mumbled. She paused, then gave him a faint smile. "Thank you for worrying, Byunghun, but you don't need to be so concerned. It's nothing big. I even went to the nurse and she said that it's probably because I've been overexerting myself."

"Well, still. I think you should go home and rest," Byunghun murmured. He felt his heart skip a beat when she reached over and his hair.

"Byunghun, please. I'm okay," she repeated. "It's not like I can avoid any minor injuries from practicing every single time. Life is unfair like that, but it's unfair for a good reason. If I get any injuries, I'll just find a way to overcome it as quickly as possible and get back up."

He frowned. "Still…"

"I'm okay, Byunghun," she said softly. "Trust me."

"I trust you, but that doesn't mean that I can't worry about you," he muttered back. He gazed into her eyes, noticing that the mood had become a bit more personal. He gently cupped her hand in his hands before kissing the back of her head. "Hey Sohyun."

"Yeah?" she whispered.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked in a low tone.

Sohyun turned bright red. "W-Wait. I'm sweaty and dirty right now. Don't—"

Without a moment of hesitation, Byunghun pulled her in and kissed her on the lips. He made a light peck on her lips so that she wouldn't have time to resist. When he parted, he noticed that she seemed extremely embarrassed. He made a soft smile.

"Sweaty or not, I don't care," he said in a husky voice.

"B-B-But—" He kissed again, silencing her. He chuckled lightly, causing her face to heat up. "You're so unfair, Byunghun!"

"Life is always unfair," he mimicked. "Sometimes, it's unfair for a good reason, too."