"No" she replied instantly. I pouted up at her, making my chocolate brown eyes stand out as my bottom lip became puffier along with my pale cheeks. She stared down at me and shook her head while smiling. Making her earrings chime and wavy brown hair fall over her shoulders even more than before.

        "But Nakoudo~!" I whined, grabbing her hands and shaking them, making her small frame shake as well. I heard Junior cough from behind her but I didn't have time for jealous boyfriends right now.

        "Bam, you know begging and puppy dog eyes don't work on me." She laughed when I groaned more, pulling on her arms.

        "But why won't you?" I finally let go when her overprotective boyfriend stood behind her and held her around the waist, stopping her from moving. She looked like she knew he was going to do that, heck, I knew that he was going to do that. I saw her move her bracelet covered arm up to pat his head. I know it's wrong for me to be mad at them right now but I couldn't help it. I wanted that.

        "I told you, I can't see your red string! I promise you that I'm not lying." Her eyes turned a dark shade of red and she looked around. I knew she was looking at the several, invisible, red strings all except mine at least.

        "Bambam, I don't see anything on you, I promise." Her eyes turned back to the usual brown when she looked straight at me. "The person you're going to fall in love with is probably another Matchmaker, I can't see a Matchmaker's string. Not even my own." I glared at the couple, Junior was still hugging her from behind, I saw him hug her tighter when she said that, and she wasn't making any move to push him away. She stood there, probably leaning against him, comfortably in his arms.

        "Maybe, I just don't have one and you have to make me one! Maybe, there's someone out there that doesn't have a string either, and we need you to connect us together!" I wasn't going to give up, Nakoudo will help me with my string, she helped everyone else.

        "Sorry Bambam, but there's a string for everyone, I know it. Plus, I can't make one. Don't worry though. You'll find someone." She smiled at me. I saw Junior whisper something into her ear. She shook her head and he whispered something else. She kept shaking her head. I guessed that he was asking her if they could leave now.

        I sighed and looked around the small food court. I came and interrupted their date, but this has been bothering me for a long time. She untangled Mark and Jackson's, and she fixed Jaebum and Youngjae's strings. Her own string even untangled its-self so I was the only one that was single in our little group. I looked at the couple again and Junior was glaring at me. I took that hint and stood up, he wanted to continue their date. In the corner of my eye, I saw Nakoudo scold him for being rude.

        I walked home in silence, I asked Mark and Jackson to drive me there because I really wanted to talk to Nakoudo but I didn't know that she would be here with someone. I looked up at the sky and thought about tomorrow. We would be going back to school and the weekend would be over. I would go back to being the 7th wheeler again. Maybe I could call in sick, but Nakoudo would know and confront me about it. I could just plain out ditch, but then everyone would confront me about it.

        Being single . There are so many sayings that tell me that being single lets me be free and independent, but I'm not the independent type. I want someone to lean on, my whole life it had been Nakoudo, but she had someone else now. I sighed in realization that I was being left behind. It hurts to know that they try to break away from their couple-time activities to hang out with me, but even then I feel like an extra. I looked back down when I felt the familiar feel of stepping on grass. I didn't know I walked to the park.

        "Hey watch out!" A voice called for me a little too late. When I looked up I saw a ball coming at my face as fast as a car, I tired to dodge it but it still hit my left cheek, causing my head to turn and tears to rise. I hissed in pain and cupped my cheek. If I didn't get this taken care of soon, it'll be really noticeable and Nakoudo would scold me like the mother bird she is. I stood and stumbled for a moment before trying to make my way home.

        "Hey!" I turned around to see a really tall person coming towards me with my wallet and phone. I grumbled to myself, how did I not notice they were gone? "You dropped these, I'm sorry about hitting your face earlier, I should have waited for you to pass." His voice was gentle and it didn't match his height at all. I looked up at his face with one eye, I was covering the other one with my hand.

        "Do you live far from here? I live right over there." I looked in the direction he was pointing. I nodded quietly, feeling intimidated by the large man.

        "Do you wanna stop by my house so you could, at least, get something cold on the way home?" I nodded again and he took my free arm, dragging me across the road. My phone and wallet were still in his other hand. When he opened the door a woman immediately came up to us and began scolding him when she saw my cheek.

        "Kim, Yugyeom, what have you done to this poor boy? He has such a pretty face and you went and damaged it! How could you! Come in quickly! Get an ice-pack for him! Wrap it in cloth so it won't be too cold and give him frostbite!" She continued to shout commands while dragging me over to a couch to lay me down. The tall man, Yugyeom, ran around the kitchen.

        "I-i'm fine really" I tried to protest but the overly-kind woman shushed me, telling me that it's all her brother's fault and that I needed to rest now. She didn't even know me and she was so concerned. Yugyeom came back with an ice pack wrapped in a white cloth. When the lady took it from him she immediately pressed it against my cheek. I winced a little at the cold but got used to it.

        My cheek felt numb and she took the ice away for a while to scold Yugyeom more. He apologized to her and explained to her what happened. I saw her nod in understanding before looking at me again. "Hello, what is your name?" She held out her hand. I sat up and shook it shyly.

        "Bambam." My short reply came. They both nodded and I stood up when Yugyeom finally handed me my belongings. "Thank you for taking care of me, I should leave now. Thank you again." I said when I reached the door.

        "Think nothing of it young one, it was all Yugyeom's fault, be careful on the way home!" She waved me off like she's known me for years. I noticed that she called me 'young one' when I couldn't have been more than a few years younger than her. Shaking my head, I thought about them the whole way home. They are really kind people, I'm surprised that I got out, I was expecting the whole thing to be a trap. I checked my phone and wallet and saw that nothing was where it shouldn't. Such nice people, I repeated to myself.

        When I got home I pulled out my backpack and attempted to finish my weekend homework. I ended up wondering about what Nakoudo said. My lover might be a Matchmaker. I've heard that they are all kind and loving like Nakoudo is... She and Junior never fight, or at least, I have never seen them fight. Sure the part at the mall could be considered an argument, but it was because Junior wanted to spend time with her.

        Giving up on my homework, I laid in bed and thought about everything, especially the fact that I was acting like a 13-year-old middle schooler. I was a Senior complaining about my love life. I puffed out my cheeks while flipping over to hug the pillow.

        I thought back to the time when it was just me and Nakoudo, we would do everything together and tell each other secrets. We still share secrets, but she's probably at Junior's house right now cuddling. Realization hit me when I noticed I was acting like a neglected ex-boyfriend. Another memory emerged.

        I remembered the time when I thought that I liked Nakoudo, she couldn't see the strings then, since we were 7 and she wasn't able to see them till 10, but she said that she knew we were supposed to be with someone else, her mother told her so. I laughed at the memory and sent her a small text about it. I knew that she would see it but wouldn't answer till later. It was worth sending, though, I wanted to mess with Junior, knowing that he would probably get jealous over the fact that Nakoudo and I were such close friends and I used to like her.

        Surprisingly, my phone vibrated, telling me that Nakoudo replied. 'Not cool, he's mad. At you.' I couldn't help but laugh, he wouldn't do anything.

        'Don't worry, tell him what you said back to me, it'll be all better' She didn't reply after that but I'm sure nothing major happened. I fell asleep in a much better mood than I woke up.

        I was slouching in my seat on the bleachers, waiting for class to start as kids filed into the media center. This was the only class that I didn't have with anyone I knew. Sure it's halfway into the first semester but I didn't feel like making friends with anyone in dance. Thankfully, the late bell rang and we could start warm-ups and practices.

       I was stretching when my teacher called attention. Still stretching my arms out, I walked over to the front where a familiar face was smiling nervously next to my teacher.

        "Class, this is Kim Yugyeom," the name clicked in my mind, "he is new to this school and he as decided to join this class for his elective. Please treat him warmly," Yeah right, this class is full of cliques, "and he needs someone to show him around the school, any volunteers?" I looked around the room and saw that no one raised their hands. I wanted to laugh but my name was suddenly called.

        "Bambam, please show him around school" The teacher stated. I nodded obediently and stood in front of the taller man.

        "Nice to see you again." his gentle voice greeted. My mind took a while to realize that he was the guy from yesterday. Mentally slapping myself, I nodded and smiled back at him.

        "Yeah, thanks again for yesterday." He nodded and I remembered what I was told to do. "Here, let me see your schedule." I held out my hand. I looked at the teachers and room numbers. "We have next period, and the last 2 periods together. Hold on," I handed him back his schedule and walked over to the teacher to ask her if we could leave so I could show him his classes. She nodded and returned to helping another student.

        "Okay, so, let's go find your other classes," I said walking out the door with him behind me. It felt weird having someone taller than me be lost. Surprisingly, we were able to talk the whole time, whether it was about school or random stuff that popped up in our heads. When we finished, it was already time for second period.

        "So when did you move here?" I asked curiously.

        "Last week, my sister brought me in, telling me that this school would be perfect. But she couldn't enroll me till now." He shrugged. I nodded.

        "How's your cheek?" He asked. I gently pressed down on the slight purple area.

        "Nothing too bad, you sister really helped me out back there. It would have been a lot worse if you didn't take me to your house." I let my hand fall back to my side, stopping when we reached the door. He raised his eyebrow and me. "Just a quick warning, my friends are very..." I paused trying to look for the right word. "open and protective. They are probably going to flip when they see my cheek, you did not do it okay?" I looked up at him while he nodded.

        "Okay, well then, welcome," I said and opened the door to the crazy classroom.