Jungkook's POV:

"Hey Alice." I smiled, staring at the sleepy mess on the iPad in front of me.

"Hey." She mumbled, yawning. "Why'd you call me up so early?"

"I don't know." I pouted. "I'm graduating today."

"I know." She grinned lazily. "I'm so proud of you. My little Kookie, all grown up."

"Don't call me that." I grumbled. 

"I just wanna squish your cheeks, you're so cute." She cooed. "How's Busan? Are you parents alright?"

"They're fine." I picked at my fingernails. "I'm happy to be back here."

"You look happy." She tied her hair up in a messy bun. "I wish you could train there, so you would be this happy all the time."

"Me too." I sighed. "I miss my friends so much."

"Speaking of friends." She perked up. "How's Jihye?"

"She's doing good." I said quietly. "She seems different now."

"How so?" 

"I'm not sure." I shrugged. "There's just something about her that feels different."

"People change." She said nonchalantly. "You guys are still cool right?"

"Maybe, maybe not." I ran a hand through my hair. "Let's talk about something else."

"Ok." She sighed resignedly. "Ooh, I know. When are you going to give me that sweater of yours?"

"Hm?" I scratched my head. "Which one?"

"You know, the navy-blue one." She grinned. "You promised you would give it to me, as a birthday gift."

"I um, accidentally may have given it to someone else." I coughed.

"What?" She looked at me sadly. "Why?"

"Uh..." I looked around, thinking of an excuse.  Well, I gave it to Jihye, even though I had promised I would give it to you. You don't mind, do you? She's a friend, and she was cold. I don't need to lie. But-

"Jungkooooook." She whined. "You're doing that thing where you just stop talking because you're thinking too hard about something."

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Sorry." 

"No big deal." She smiled sweetly. "I'll just steal one of your other sweaters."

"Sure." I chuckled. "You can take anything except the olive ones."

"Huh?" She cocked her head to one side. "Why not olive?"

"Because it's my favorite color."  

Jihye's POV:

"Congratulations to the class of 2014 for graduating! We wish them all the luck in the world!"

Cheers filled the auditorium as everyone yelled and screamed, some cursing at the teachers while some cried out of pure joy. I stood quietly, observing them with a slight smile. This was the last time I was going to see these people. 

I sighed deeply. My days of being a school student were over.

My eyes caught Jungkook's as I looked around. He gave me an idiotic smirk, and my mind shot back to the day of our math test. God, that seemed like such a long time ago. 

"Reminiscing?" Tae stood beside me.

"I guess." I sighed.

"Jungkook misses you."

I snorted. "Is that right?"

"He does." He looked down at his shoes. "You should've seen him during his trainee days. It was terrible."

Guilt stung at my heart sharply. I bit my lip and looked at Jungkook again, who was getting his pictures taken by Jin. 

"I didn't want to cut him off, you know." I played with my sweater. It was the one he had given me yesterday. 

"Then why did you stop talking to him?"

"You tell me how easy it is to see someone who you like in love with another person." I scoffed. 

"He doesn't love Alice." Tae blew at his bangs. "He likes her."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "They're perfect for each other."

"You're better for him." He said quietly.

"Really?" My voice was filled with sarcasm. "How so?"

Tae smiled. "You remember when he sang at the one awards show in your school? Back when you guys disliked each other?"

"Yeah." I scratched my head. "How do you know that?"

"Hyerin told me." He posed for a fan camera. "She also said that he looked at you throughout the entire performance, right?"

"Uh-huh." I could still picture his eyes, gazing at me softly as the two of us had sung.

"He still does that." Tae took my fingers and played with them. "Before every performance, he always looks to his right, as if searching for someone."

"That doesn't mean anything." I mumbled.

"He would stay awake entire nights watching the videos from his birthday, when you guys were together." Tae closed his eyes. "Doesn't that mean anything?"

"You're overestimating how much I matter to him."

"You're underestimating your impact on his life." Tae folded his arms. "Stop doubting yourself, Jihye. Learn to trust."

"Tae, if you're wondering where your business is, it's not here." I snapped at him. "Let me deal with this on my own."

"I'm just looking out for my friend." He leaned back against the wall. "The rest is up to you."

Hoseok called him away right then, leaving me all by myself. I rocked back and forth on my feet. Did he really miss me that much? Why should he? 

"Jihye." Jungkook's voice startled me.

"Huh?" I looked to my side. "Oh, it's you."

He grinned. "Itsa me, Mario."

I chuckled softly. "Jin's influencing you, isn't he?"

"I suppose." He shrugged. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." I looked away. "Just wondering what things I'll pack for college."

"Don't overthink it." He munched on a cookie. "Pack whatever is going to offer you the most comfort."

"Hmm." I nodded, not knowing what to say to him.

"You remember the night I left?" He said suddenly.

"Vaguely." I lied.

"We never really talked about it, did we." He chuckled.

"There's nothing much to say." I bit my lip.

"I'm sorry." I felt his hand squeeze mine.

I closed my eyes. "Jungkook, not now."

"What?" He raised his voice. "I'm just apologizing!"

A few girls walked past us, shooting me dangerous glares. I looked down at my shoes, noticing that he was still maintaining a tight grasp on my hand.

"Let go." I whispered, pulling my hand away. 

"Please, Jihye." He groaned. "It's a been a year since we talked. What the hell happened?"

"It's a long story."

"I have plenty of time."

I sighed in frustration. This kid was relentless.

"Fine. But not here." I hissed. "Too many people."

"Let's go to the park then." He declared, grabbing my arm and pulling me with him.

Jin ought to teach this boy some manners.

"We're here." He announced.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell." I rolled my eyes.

"You know, you're being a real b-" He started, but I shot him a threatening look.

"Careful." I warned him.

"-mean person." He coughed. "Anyways, we're here now. So why don't you tell me what your ing problem is?"

"Me." I said quietly. "I'm my problem."

"What?"

"I'm a crazy person." I laughed. "That's why I walked out. Because I'm a ."

"Seriously?" He cried. "That's the great big secret?"

"Yeah." I continued to laugh. "I was there when you were yelling at me from the sidewalk, Jungkook. I was listening to you. But I just hid, like a coward."

"You did?" His voice tugged at my heart. He sounded like a little lost puppy.

"Mmhm." I looked at my shoes. "I hated myself for doing that, I really did. But it was the right thing to do."

"No it wasn't!" He yelled. "All this time, I wondered why the hell  just ing walked out. I blamed myself all this time, Jihye. I stayed awake at night, trying to make sense of why you wouldn't answer my calls anymore, but I couldn't! Just because you assumed that-"

"I know." I whispered, biting my lip. "You were right, Jungkook. I assume things. It's my fatal flaw. But please trust me, I knew what I was doing."

"Really?" He scoffed. "What were you trying to do? Protect me? Was it 'for my own good'?"

"A little." I picked at the stitches on my sweater. 

"I don't get it." He sighed. 

"Look, Jungkook." I began, inhaling deeply. "It was inevitable that we were going to lose contact with each other, no matter how much it . I've been through it before. I'm not someone who can wait for weeks and weeks without any sort of message or call, and I know talking to me everyday is something that is absolutely impossible for you to do. I would've resented you for ruining our friendship, and you would've hated me for being, well, a ."

He stared at me, completely silent. I kept talking.

"You missing my birthday made me realize this. If I hadn't walked away that day, things between us would have been a whole lot messier. That would have affected you, it would have affected your training and your career. I couldn't do that to you."

He didn't say anything. I bit my lip again, feeling the faint taste of blood in my mouth.

"That's..." His voice trailed off. "...that's why?"

"Yeah." I smiled sadly. "I'm really sorry."

"So what now?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm not a trainee anymore. Are you ever going to talk to me?"

"Some day, when you have time for other things besides practicing." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "When singing and dancing don't completely dominate your life."

"When I'm not a rookie anymore?" He looked at me, eyes faintly glimmering with hope.

"Sure." I smiled a little. 

"What should I do until then?" He sniffled. He seemed to sniffle a lot.

"Focus on your work." We started to walk, bumping shoulders with each other. "You need to practice a lot and work hard. Focus on doing that."

"Fair enough." He nodded. "I'll work really hard, and win many awards. And the moment I win my first award, I'm going to call you up."

"Go ahead." I smiled. "I'll even buy you ramen if you want."

"Deal." He held out his hand. I shook it, laughing like an idiot.

Jungkook's POV:

We talked to each other the whole day, catching up on our lives. It was weird, talking like friends again. It was like we were back to before I had left, when we would spend hours talking to each other on the phone late at night.

It felt nice.

"...So what's the secret to your flawless eyeliner?" She asked, turning to me. We were laying on the grass by the water, staring at the evening sky.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I lied, feeling embarrased. "The stylists do it for me."

"Aw, are you embarrased?" She pinched my cheek. "Don't be. Your make-up is like 200 times better than mine."

"Whatever." I crossed my arms, pouting. 

"Jungkook, the manly-man." She laughed.

"Hey, I am manly." I insisted. "Look at these arms, woman."

"Sure sure." She coughed, turning away. I smirked.

"Can't handle this?" I laughed smugly. 

"Please." She rolled her eyes. "Jimin's got much nicer arms than you do. Not to mention his perfect ."

"He does not!" I sat up, yelling at the top of my voice. "My is awesome!"

A couple of passer-bys gave me weird glances. I lay down on the grass again, covering my face with my hands.

"You're a devil woman." I hissed at her. "Making me say such things in a public park."

"You said it, not me." She laughed.

"Speaking of butts," I put my arms behind my head. "Who do you think is the most good-looking amongst us guys?"

"Oh, that's a tough one." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You each have your own charms."

"Like what?" I was curious to know what she thought of me.

"Ok, take Jin for example." She stretched her arms. "He's sweet and caring, and he is basically like the ideal man." She chuckled. "Namjoon has an adorable intelligent vibe to him, Yoongi seems badass and cute at the same time, Hoseok is like a ray of sunshine, Jimin is a cute, cuddly little puppy and Tae is...well, he's Tae." 

"You left me out." I poked her side.

"You're a brat, plain and simple." She pinched my cheek. 

"That's not a charm." I slapped her hand away. "Come on, what's unique about me?"

"Let's see." She wiggled her toes. "You know that feeling when it's really cold outside, and you're sitting on your bed with thick blankets, a cup of hot tea, watching a movie when you really should be doing homework?"

"I guess?" 

"That's you." She smiled contently. "Comfort, with a little stress."

"That's an interesting way to describe me." I said, placing my hand over hers.

She began to say something, but my phone started ringing all of a sudden.

"." I cursed. "I have to go. Our train leaves soon."

Her smile faded away when I said that. She got up and dusted the grass off of her clothes, before helping me up. A loose strand of hair fell across her face, and I somehow had the urge to tuck it back behind her ear. But I didn't.

"I don't really like goodbyes, so I won't say much." She mumbled.

"Same here." I ran a hand through my hair. "This is better than last time."

She looked down at her hands, picking on her fingernails. "I suppose so."

"Don't forget about my ramen." I grinned, trying to make her smile. "You said you'll buy me some."

I heard her sniff. Hair covered her face as her head hung low, and her ears were getting red. That was something that would happen when she was upset, her ears would always turn bright red.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." I heard her mumble, her voice quivering.

"Jihye-"

"You made it worse." She finally looked at me, tears streaming down her eyes. "Why did you talk to me? You made it worse!"

"I-"

"You love Alice." She said quietly. 

"I like her." I put my hand on her shoulder.

"You love her." She laughed sadly. "I'm so sorry, Jungkook. It's not your fault."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I gritted my teeth, feeling desperate. "Don't do this Jihye. Not again."

"Don't stop loving her." She whispered. "Don't ever leave her."

"Stop it." I closed my eyes, clenching my fists.

"I am not Alice." She said hurriedly, backing away from me. "Don't like me."

She was gone before I could react. I stared at her receding figure in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. 

My phone beeped then, notifying me of a message. It was a text from Alice.

"Hey. You're cute and I like you very very much. Brat. Haha." 

I stared at the message, unknown guilt stinging my heart, before typing in a quick "Me too" and turning my phone off.

I stuffed it in my pocket and started walking back home. As I thought about Jihye's hand on mine, as I desperately tried to figure out why she kept running away from me, one particular realization plagued my mind. 

I realized what that uneasy feeling was. The feeling when I saw her in the store, running a hand through her hair. The feeling when she smiled her crooked smile, her hair in her face, eyes crinkling up to form two crescents. The feeling when she held my hand or talked to me late at night. That feeling when she had kissed my cheek and buried her face in my neck, wrapping her arms around me.

I don't think I liked Alice anymore.