25th☀

Sarang

There were four more days until the talent show. I was getting myself busy with practices that would extend until the dead mornings of the next day. My body would ache and I would feel tired at school because of the lack of sleep but I wanted to show everybody that I was willing to work hard so I wouldn't show them a dance that needed more work. 

Hansol once told me—because he noticed how tired I looked in school—not to overwork myself because it wouldn't be healthy for me. He said it with so much worry and concern that it made my mind wonder again. Was he slowly showing back signs or did I imagine them again?

You know, the thing about crushes is that even if you know that was the truth—the happily ever after to it all—you just can't accept it. Because, if you did, you're scared that it might have been a lie and you've just given yourself the biggest false hopes that you're left nothing but broken.

Shaking my head, I concentrated on the music playing and let the beat take over my body. It didn't matter if I was blasting loud music at ten at night; nobody was home anyway. Dad was going to pull an all-nighter tonight so I was left at home alone.

Maybe it'd be nice if I called Mijoo over for a sleepover. But it was too late for that now. She would be asleep by now. Knowing that she's an early sleeper, she would be knocked dead right now and wouldn't even hear the vibration of her phone.

The music continued to play and I let all other thoughts melt away from my head. I continued to dance to the beat, gracefully perfecting all the moves. 

Wonwoo

Wonwoo stayed up again. Ever since the kiss he got from Mijoo from two days ago, he couldn't sleep properly. Only because whenever he tried to sleep, the image of him and Mijoo locking lips alone in the music room during the late hours of after school continued to replay in his mind and Wonwoo was convinced he would die from a heart explosion. 

He sat in the pitch darkness of his room on his bed with cross legs and touched his lips, smiling like an idiot once again. He continued to replay what Mijoo had said that day.

"Um, sorry..."

"Mijoo, did you just—"

"Yeah, um, I don't know what took over me. But that's my answer to your confession, in case you're wondering."

Wonwoo rolled around his bed like a kid who finally had his own bed after sharing it with his older brother for years. Wonwoo was tempted to scream in happiness but he reprimanded himself from waking up his family members. But he was still glad. His crush—now girlfriend—liked him back. 

Wonwoo was bursting in joy. He was so scared before, now it was as if all those fears of his never existed. He thought he pushed himself into the friend zone island too much that he wouldn't be able to leave from it. What he didn't know was that someone was already pulling him out of that island and that was Mijoo herself. 

Of course, it wasn't like anything has changed. Mijoo liked a type of relationship that resembled best friends just being close to each other. Of course, there were a few changes made such as Wonwoo finally being able to hold her in his arms without wondering if she'd find it weird or if he was being too obvious. 

Sarang hadn't found out about their relationship yet. Mijoo was too scared to tell her. Wonwoo understood why. She was always the type to keep her relationships a low profile. 

But tomorrow at school, both of them would tell Sarang. Wonwoo wanted to tell at least Hansol because they've been real close lately. Ever since the trip to Jeju, both boys felt like they were more than just friends. They were like brothers.

Wonwoo tried to fall asleep. He couldn't wait to see Mijoo tomorrow. Despite Mijoo being her usual self by teasing him as usual, Wonwoo couldn't help but show how much he loved her. 

☀

The next day, Wonwoo was up early—even beating the alarm he set on his phone. He couldn't help it—he was actually excited to go to school. Wonwoo began the day with his everyday routine and after breakfast, he was already rushing to catch the bus that would drop by a stop nearby his school. 

On the bus, Wonwoo took a seat on the row with two seats every row. By the time he sat down, he was already on his phone, checking if Mijoo had texted him. But there was nothing. Wonwoo wasn't surprised. She wasn't exactly a morning person. Well, she was, but only when she wakes up because of the blaring sunlight. 

Wonwoo shook his head and ended up smiling to himself after he had plugged in his earpieces and played music from his phone. He wanted to rest just a little but he could barely close his eyes. He was too excited. And it was only his third day with her!

"Can I take a seat here?" a voice asked all of a sudden. It was a feminine voice. "There are no other seats except the one next to yours."

Wonwoo was about to say no to the girl—for some reason, he was being kind of clingy towards Mijoo, i.e., he wouldn't even want a girl to sit next to him—but when he turned to see who it was, a smile rested on his lips. "Mijoo!"

"Yah, pabo." She knocked him on his forehead. "I asked whether or not I can sit here and what was your answer? Your answer was my name instead. Tsk."

Wonwoo immediately pulled his school bag out of the way and patted it, signalling her to take a seat. "You know you can always take a seat next to me."

"Hmm. It's so funny how you're so cheesy after I told you I like you too. Maybe I shouldn't have—"

"No, no! Wait! I can change. Hold on." Wonwoo cleared his throat and looked at Mijoo with his cute smile. "Hi, Mijoo."

Mijoo was unconvinced. "What's the difference, exactly?"

Wonwoo only let out a cute smile as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Nothing much, apparently."

Mijoo wasn't complaining. She low-key liked it whenever Wonwoo acted this sweet around her. With her heart beating just as loud, she rested her head on top of his as well. 

Sarang 

When Mijoo arrived in school, she arrived with Wonwoo. At first, I didn't find any suspicion in that seeing that they were just best friends. But when Mijoo and Wonwoo were lightly bickering over who should tell me first—and I had no idea what they were talking about in the first place—I grew more curious. 

"Guys," I said, trying to stop their bickering for a moment, "just tell me what's up. Both of you. At the same time."

Wonwoo and Mijoo exchanged glances before their bickering finally stopped. It seemed like it was a big deal because Mijoo and Wonwoo both inhaled deep breaths. For five seconds straight. Any more of that breathing and they would be hyperventilating. 

Then, the truth finally came out of their mouths, but only in a whisper, "We're dating."

At first, I thought I was still in a dream. Like everything around me wasn't actually there and that what Mijoo and Wonwoo had just told me came to be part of my imagination instead. Because, after shipping them for the longest, this was what I expected to hear from only in my dream. 

"What?" I cleaned my ears then pinched myself. Yup, the pain was real enough to convince me that I wasn't in a dream. "Did I hear that correctly?"

Wonwoo was the one grinning widely. "I guess your ship ended up sailing, huh?"

Nope. I didn't hear that wrongly. I was just about to exclaim about how happy I was when Mijoo clasped her hand over my mouth. "Hey!" 

"Sorry, Sarang, but we're keeping a low profile," Mijoo whispered to my ear. Then, she let me go. 

"So you're just telling a few people?" I asked her. "Like who?"

"Well, the people who came on the trip in Jeju, basically. The end," Mijoo answered, shrugging with a sweet smile on her lips. "I don't exactly want everyone in this class to know about us. They don't exactly have a right to since we're not all that close."

"That's true," I agreed. Just because we were all in the same class does not mean we know everyone's stories. Who knows? Some of the kids in the class might be suffering from something and I wouldn't even know what. "Wait, even Hansol?"

Wonwoo answered, "Yeah. We're all friends now, after all."

My cheeks flushed red again. 

"What's with the face?" Mijoo asked, her voice teasing. She obviously knew what the face was about.

"Uhh..." I forced myself not to smile again, but it was hard when Hansol just entered the room. But I still wasn't going to tell the couple that I was smiling like an idiot because I was imagining that Hansol and I would be dating in the future and the four of us could go on double dates and everything. 

"Hey guys," Hansol greeted after he had placed his bag down on his seat. 

I smiled at him like a happy idiot and greeted back, "Hi, Hansol!"

"Guess what, Hansol?" Wonwoo began, wearing a big grin on his face as he threw an arm over him. 

"I don't know whether to be here when he tells him or not," Mijoo said, shaking her head a little but I saw that she was smiling.

I held onto her wrist and grinned. "Come on. Do it together. Isn't that a better option?"

Mijoo looked at me, incredulous about my suggestion. Instead of walking away, she decided to stay. But she wasn't paying attention to the boys's conversation. Instead of that, she asked me, "Have you been preparing well for the talent show?"

I nodded in return. "I have! How about you? How's your singing? I heard you practiced with Wonwoo everyday after school."

At the mention of that, Mijoo's cheeks flushed red. As if something magical happened to them on one normal day when they were staying back. "Y-yeah, it's been fine. I'm currently under the process of getting used to performing in front of a crowd."

"The talent show is in three days. Are you still in that process?" I asked, slightly worried for her sake. She's come so far. I didn't want to see her running off by the time her name was called and she had to be on stage.

"Don't worry," Mijoo said, as if she was able to sense my concern, "I'm getting better. At least I won't run away. Trust me. Wonwoo has got that message into my brain already."

"No way!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, catching the attention of not only Mijoo and I, but the entire class. I came to realize that it was Hansol—who now had a hand over his mouth—was the one who shouted. "Oops. Sorry."

Mijoo looked up to search for Wonwoo's face, as if to ask him if the cause of Hansol's scream was because of the news he had for him. 

Wonwoo answered with a nod. 

Wow. Did the two suddenly gained telepathy communication after getting together? Now I want to do that with my other half, which I'm still hoping will be Hansol. One can never fight off her imaginations of her and her crush. 

After recovering from a sudden attention stealer of the entire class, Hansol cooled down and slapped Wonwoo's arm and scream whispered, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Wonwoo held his hands up in defense. "Ask the girl next to me. She wanted to keep it a secret."

Upon hearing this, my face slowly fell. "Even from me?"

"I didn't know how to tell you guys," Mijoo answered with a quick shrug. 

"Like this! Hey guys! I'm actually dating Jeon Wonwoo now! Surprise! How hard is it to say that?" I asked them, making sure to keep my voice low so that no one else overhears. 

Mijoo rolled her eyes but she did it with a smile on. "Oh, come on. Sarang, you know me better than anyone. Would you ever really hear me say that?"

I gave it a thought for a while. "Well, that's actually true."

"See?"

Hansol was poking Wonwoo's sides and Wonwoo reacted by moving to the side a little more to avoid his deadly fingers. Hansol teased, "I remember just a few weeks ago, you were telling me about how you would never escape that friend zone island. And I remember when you were staring at Yejun hyung and Mijoo out by the veranda with a very jealous fa—"

"Okay, no need to tell them that, Hansol." Wonwoo clasped his huge hand over Hansol's mouth. 

Mijoo raised an eyebrow before she burst out in laughter. "You what? Jeon Wonwoo, tell me the story. I can't believe this. How long have you had this crush on me, exactly?"

"Not gonna tell you. You'd think I'm pathetic."

"Oh, come on. We're together now. What's there to be pathetic about?"

"Actually," I interjected all of a sudden, "Wonwoo ever confessed to be about his feelings about you. Remember when we were out by the park? With Namu?"

"No way..." Mijoo gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth.

I grinned like a cheeky child that was about to watch his prank go according as plan. "Yeah. While you were gone, I asked Wonwoo if he liked you and he replied with a yes. How sweet, no?"

Wonwoo's cheeks were the same colour as of tteokbokki sauce. "Sarang!"

"What?" I asked innocently. "Some things are just meant to be opened up after you have professed your love to each other. No more secrets, am I right?"

Well, true to that, I have openly disclosed a few things for the two after acting like some kind of double-agent for them. Now, who knows? I might even know when Wonwoo will propose to her. Just kidding. We're still in junior year—not even senior year yet. It was still too early for us to think about that. 

If only we could go on and on about endless discussions about literally anything. Too bad, the teacher had arrived and everyone was forced to head back to their seats and wait for the class to finally begin. 

☀

"Hey, Sarang! Wait up!" a voice yelled behind me as I was about to pass through the front gates of our school. 

I halted in my step and turned around, trying to figure out who was calling to me. I spotted a few of my classmates but I doubted that any of them were calling me. Then I continued to search for the culprit. 

When I was about to give up on searching, Hansol suddenly stepped into my view with his quirky cute smile and gave me a wave. "Hey, Sarang! Where are you heading?"

"I was about to head home to practice," I answered. "What about you?"

"I was supposed to head out to the cyber cafe with Wonwoo but he had other plans such as helping Mijoo prepare for the talent show," he answered, sighing sadly. "I'm left alone, as usual."

"Oh, come on. You have Yejun and Myeong oppa, right? You could have went to Love + Flour and hang with them," I told him with a smile. I found his contagious so I was caught smiling all the same. 

"I know. But they'd be too busy working. I'd be left to entertain myself by probably counting how many chocolate chips were on my muffin or something," Hansol said, taking steps forward until he was found standing next to me. "Let's go somewhere instead. You can practice later, am I right?"

Of course, I wouldn't need to think about it again. Practice could wait. Hansol was asking me to go somewhere with him. Now, cue all those imaginations I've imagined endlessly about. 

"Sure," I answered with a smile, "where do you want to go?"

"I was thinking the noodle shop?" he suggested. He patted his flat stomach and I swore I could actually hear some sort of thump noise coming out of it when he was tapping. "I'm kinda hungry."

"Noodle shop it is!" I said out loud, not minding the weird stares I was given by the other schoolmates of mine. "Which noodle shop will it be, Choi Hansol?" 

As we walked out of school, Hansol made a sharp left turn, pointing down the street, showing the shops that were lined horizontally. We walked past different shops with many consisting of stationary shops until Hansol gently tugged onto my wrist and we made another sharp turn until we found ourselves in a wide alleyway that revealed a beautiful hidden restaurant.

"Up there," Hansol said as he pointed at the second floor, "is where they sell the best noodles I've ever tasted. I've never been there with anyone else but my parents. You're the first."

The first? Wow. I was honoured to be the first other person. Does that mean anything special, I wonder. 

"Come on." He tugged on the hem of my sleeves, motioning to follow him as we climbed up the wooden stairs to the head to the second floor. 

The moment Hansol pulled the wooden slide doors open, we were greeted by the warm steam of food that were being cooked, mainly noodles. It was warmer inside the shop than outside, so we quickly headed on in and searched for an empty table. 

The kind ahjumma asked us what we would like to have and Hansol—suddenly being a handsome gentleman—ordered two bowls of warm bucket wheat noodles. Since the restaurant did not serve any fizzy sodas—since the ahjumma thought it was very unhealthy for just anyone's health—we just decided to drink warm water. 

"That's all, right?" the ahjumma asked with a heavy Busan accent. 

"Yes," Hansol replied seconds after he finally understood what she meant. 

The ahjumma nodded and went to place our orders. A noodle shop probably wasn't the best places to have a date in, but who was I kidding? Hansol taking me out on a date? I don't even know if he likes me. 

"So," Hansol said, breaking the silence between us, "how's your practices going?"

"They're going fine. I'm working as hard as ever just so I can show everyone what I've got on that day," I told him with much confidence. "I also can't wait to see Mijoo sing."

"We already saw her sing. She was amazing," Hansol said, grinning. 

"She was," I said, sighing as I reminisced the trip to Jeju. It sure was one enjoyable trip. One with many scenes pulled out especially from a Korean drama. "It's still hard to accept the fact that those two are dating, although I've always imagined it before."

"Wonwoo was an obvious freak. I wonder why Mijoo never really noticed his actions," Hansol wondered. 

"Mijoo's usually quick to catch on to things such as a change in the way someone acts. What could be—" I paused and let out a gasp of realization. 

Hansol shot up from his cup of warm water. "What? Is something wrong?"

"How could I have been so blind all this while?" I mumbled to myself, the bigger realization seeping in.

Hansol was only left confused. "Sarang, what's wrong? Seriously?"

"Hansol! Did you not realize it before?" I asked in a much louder voice—of course, it was unable to beat the sounds of pots raising, clacking of utensils and the sound of mandus being fried from nearby—with my eyes widened. 

"Realize what, exactly?" Hansol was clueless. That already answered my question. 

"Look, back during our trip in Jeju, there were events. Events of both Mijoo and Wonwoo. I was too blind to notice it!" That, or I was busy chasing after my own fantasy of Hansol and I. A girl could always dream. 

"Then tell me all about it. I seem to be just as blind," Hansol said with a hint of tease in his voice. 

Well, it did seem like Hansol had all the time so I just decided to go on story-telling mode. "I can't recall all the solid details, but I remember certain times when Mijoo wasn't surprised at Wonwoo's actions. Like, if he seemed to look like he stepped out of the norm of what friends would usually do, she seemed okay with it. And remember the night of the storm?"

"The one that was really bad that the electricity was cut off?" asked Hansol, fiddling around with his spoon. 

"Yes, that one."

Before I could continue my story-telling, we were interrupted by our arrival of orders. The noodles looked really good and they were still pipping hot. The broth looked cleaned and the ingredients inside them looked delicious. The steam came out of the noodles, showing off its glory and great taste to those who were going to chomp on it. 

"What about that storm?" It was Hansol who refreshed my memory about the story I was going on about. If it weren't for him, I would have forgotten all I was talking about due to the noodles in front of me. 

"Well," I began after chomping on to some noodles, "she said she wanted to check on how the guys were doing. It almost sounded like she wanted some type of protection from someone."

"And that meaning Wonwoo?"

"Exactly! It makes sense, doesn't it? Mijoo is a girl who is bipolar to her feelings. One time, she says she's over him. The next, she says she doesn't know anymore about her feelings, but that really means, 'I actually still like him but I'm too scared to admit it and I don't know what to do about it'. So it's hard to say when exactly her feelings started developing," I explained. 

Hansol's mouth was full of noodles, but he still attempted to talk, "So she's a girl who hides her true feelings most of the times?"

"I guess you can say that. She's never sure, sometimes. She always thinks of two ways, you know? The good and the bad. Always. I've never seen her so sure about something before. This is a very big improvement," I went on, stuffing my mouth with delicious noodles. I would definitely be coming back here often. 

"That's a wide range of thoughts then," Hansol noted, chuckling lightly. Not too hard or he would have choked on his noodles. This coming from first-hand experiences.

"I still say it's because of all the skin ship Wonwoo has given her. The few brushes of hands. The slight hugs. Oh, let's not forget that the night of the storm, she was fast asleep in his arms on the couch," I enumerated all of the events. "Gosh, I should have been the first one to realize it!"

"Why weren't you one of the first to realize it?" he asked, slurping up a noodle strand. 

I paused. There was one reason why I wasn't staring closely at someone else's story, while it was happening. And I didn't even know where I got the confidence from. Wherever it came from, it drove me to saying, "Because I was caught up in a story of my own."

Mijoo

Yejun-ppa: Hey Mijoo. 

Yejun-ppa: I know it's kinda late, but can we meet up right now? I'll be waiting across Love + Flour. There's a bench hugging a tree and I thought it'd be nice to talk there. 

Mijoo: Sure. 

Mijoo: Be there soon. First, I gotta plop some sleeping pills into my dad's coffee so he won't notice me sneaking out of the house. 

Yejun-ppa: What? You're going to sneak out of the house? In that case, then it's okay. You shouldn't be going anywhere without your parents's approval.

Mijoo: HAHAHAH WHY SO SERIOUS?

Mijoo: Chill, oppa. It's fine with my dad. I was kidding with the pills. See ya in a jiffy then!

Yejun-ppa: Oh my gosh, I nearly had a heart attack there. 

Yejun-ppa: And okay. See ya when you're here. 

☀

Mijoo slowly approached the tree that was opposite of Love + Flour and spotted a silhouette standing near it, lightly kicking peddles as he waited. As it was dark out—and the only source of light was from a single streetlight that was a few meters away—Mijoo had to make out his appearances. 

He was wearing a dark coloured jacket over some faded jeans. His hoodie was over his head but Mijoo could still make out the white apron clung around his waist. There was no mistaking that apron as the one and only apron from Love + Flour. 

Mijoo grinned as she sneaked behind him like a predator hunting its pray. In one swift motion, Mijoo's hands rested on top of his high shoulders and she screamed out, "Boo!"

Yejun let out a manly scream and swatted his arms messily as he moved away a few meters from where Mijoo was standing—laughing and snickering until her very last breath. Yejun cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pocket of his jacket. "Very funny, Kwon Mijoo."

"You should have seen your face!" She was still laughing hysterically, as if there was no stop in it. "I wish I had it recorded!"

Yejun fought the urge to roll his eyes but felt the corner of his lips slowly stretching upwards. He looked away and stuttered, "Yah, it's not that funny, okay? As it is late, I will make it quick."

Mijoo rubbed a single tear out of her eyes and finally calmed down. Her face was hot from laughing so much so she started fanning its burning state. "Sure, go on. What is this all about that you had to meet me at this time of night?"

Yejun hesitated a little but he wouldn't let today scare him just as well. He turned to face her directly and closed both his fists and eyes as he blurted out, "I like you!"

Mijoo's smiley face soon faded as she asked him once again, "What?"

She was afraid that she heard him wrongly. She wished she did. 

Yejun opened one eye. Then the other. He inhaled a sharp breath and repeated, "I like you."

Mijoo didn't hear wrongly for sure. She fought back a sigh or even the words of rejection she had prepared to say in her mind. She wanted to see what else he wanted to say before he couldn't. 

"I know, it's out of the blue and me confessing to you like this"—he motioned around the two of them—"is probably not the best idea yet. But, I will be sincere about my feelings."

Mijoo wish he wouldn't. She wanted to stop him before he would get deeply hurt, but there was a voice telling her not to ruin this planned-out moment for him. Because, unlike her, someone else was fighting hard with themselves to actually confess about their feelings. That takes courage. She'd rather reject him after he had finally said everything that has to be said. 

Yejun continued, "At first, you were just someone pretty. I didn't know you that well, but I thought you were pretty. I thought that these feelings for you were something that will come and go. Turns out I was wrong. Everyday, the more I saw you, the more I got to know you, the more I fell for you."

Mijoo held her breath for a second. This was how it always went. A confession that was slowly build. 

"I guess I've said enough for you to understand. But, Kwon Mijoo, why is your expression like that?" Yejun asked, leaning down and closer to Mijoo's face to examine her closely. 

"Oppa," Mijoo called evenly, slightly scared all the same, "can I give you my answer now?"

Yejun was surprised, as if he never thought far enough to anticipate an answer from her. Though, he didn't seem to disagree with the idea. "Of course. What do you say about my confession, Kwon Mijoo?"

Mijoo gave him a few more seconds before she finally answered, "I'm sorry, oppa. I'm already dating someone else."

"What?" Yejun sounded so surprised that even his voice was slightly raised. His eyes were widened just as well. 

Mijoo sadly nodded. "Yeah..."

Even if it wasn't obvious, Mijoo could see the way Yejun's hands curl into fists as he asked her, "Who is the lucky bastard?"

"It's Wonwoo."

Yejun's fists were shaking by now but Mijoo pretended not to notice them. They kept on shaking until he finally released them. 

When Mijoo looked up to check on him, she noticed his red and teary eyes. She wanted to comment about them out of worry but she knew he was already feeling horrible so she decided not to. "Oppa, I'm afraid."

His eyes snapped back to her, softening once they did. "Of what?"

"I will probably sound selfish but I'm afraid of us becoming awkward because of feelings that cannot be accepted," she answered, her eyes immediately hitting the concrete ground, even if she couldn't see them properly in the dark. 

Yejun's eyes softened once again as he awkwardly lifted his arms up. After a few more seconds of hesitation, he slowly pulled her into a warm embrace as he whispered, "Don't be. I understand. You two are a perfect match—probably far better than you and me."

Mijoo couldn't help but feel her heart tear at his words. How could someone say such a thing so calmly, as if they were totally okay? "I'm so sorry."

"Mijoo, you can't possibly apologize for that," he pointed out.

"I can and I should. I broke your heart. The least I can do is apologize. Can't I?"

"I'm not saying you can't," he said with soft pats on her back. "I just don't want to hear an apology. I understand that you and me—we weren't destined to be together after all. I learned that my feelings were really come and go. There were times where it felt like you liked me back too but it turned out the heart is always stronger than the mind. When the mind throws an illusion you thought is real your way, your heart can differentiate the feelings of it. I'm happy as long as you're happy."

"I'm sorry again," she repeated. 

"Why?" He couldn't help but question. 

Mijoo slowly stepped back to give them a small gap so that she could look up and meet his eyes. "Because my cousin and I have broken your heart."

"You can't possibly apologize for the past just as well. What has happened has happened. What has been done has been done. You can't change it anymore," he explained. 

"Oppa, I look up to you."

"Of course you do. You're shorter than me so you always have to look up when you talk to me."

At that moment, the tense and emotional atmosphere was no more. Mijoo laughed and smacked his arm, rolling her eyes playfully. "Gosh, not in that way! I mean, I really look up to you and respect you. Because you're so mature about love even if you're left broken and hurt."

"We all have to learn to move on," he answered with confidence and a wide smile. 

"That's unfortunately true for all of us," Mijoo said in return, pulling the sleeves of her jacket lower so that it covered half of her hands. She looked across the nearly dead and dark streets and noticed the other source of lights coming from Love + Flour. "Can I get you anything at Love + Flour?"

Yejun turned his attention towards her, his eyebrows arching. "That's a line I would usually say to my customers, Mijoo."

"Yes, and now, you are my customer. I feel kind of bad, okay? So I want to treat you to something in Love + Flour."

Yejun smiled in return as he stood closer to Mijoo, towering over her short height. "That sounds good. Come on. I already have something I want to buy."

"You're just like Wonwoo and his strawberry milk," Mijoo mumbled mostly to herself as she followed behind Yejun as he guided her across the street. 

Inside Love + Flour, Mijoo didn't fail to smell the fresh scent of bread and other sweet dough-made food. Myeong was there by the counter with a manga book in his firm hands. When he looked up from it, he was surprised to see Mijoo with Yejun.

"Is that the very special meeting you had to attend?" Myeong asked Yejun teasingly as he slowly dropped the manga book.

Yejun's fair skin was slightly coated with the colour of light red as he ignored Myeong and went straight to the inner part of the bakery. He picked up something and handed it to Myeong afterwards. "Mijoo's paying."

"What's this? Is it your day one?" Myeong still didn't stop even when he was taping away on the screen of the computer to input the sold item. 

"Of course not, hyung. Mijoo's with Wonwoo," Yejun said.

Mijoo's eyes widened. Yejun was not supposed to say that. "Oppa!"

Yejun took seconds to register the reason why Mijoo was so jumpy. "Oh no. I'm so sorry Mijoo! I didn't mean to tell him, I swear!"

"It's okay," Mijoo answered, awkwardly scratching the back of her ear when she noticed Myeong's weird smile. She ignored his teasing eyes and paid the exact amount for Yejun's wanted bread.

"So, Wonwoo and Mijoo, huh? I expected you to end up with him anyway." Myeong laughed, the sound of it ringing around the empty bakery.

"This is so embarrassing," Mijoo whispered to herself, digging for strands of her hair to cover up her face. 

"I'm so sorry, Mijoo! It slipped off my tongue, I swear!" Yejun continued to apologize. 

Myeong was just there, still laughing heartily as if there was no tomorrow. "I can't believe Yejun failed to steal your heart away! So what if you're in a science school and super smart? So what if you're handsome, really tall and has a perfect body built? You can't even steal Mijoo's heart away!"

"Like you're one to talk! You crept her out when you tried!" Yejun fired back, sticking his tongue out before he turned back to Mijoo. "I'm seriously really sorry, Mijoo. I didn't mean—it was an accidental slip. What can I do?"

"Well, I don't see what's wrong with Myeong oppa knowing just as well," Mijoo said through gritted teeth. Her eyes narrowed at Myeong. "You better not tell anyone about this, Myeong oppa or you're dead meat, I will promise you that."

"Why so violent? We should celebrate!" Myeong jeered. 

Yejun rolled his eyes at him. "You're being delusional. What's there to celebrate about?"

"Your rejection!" Myeong let out another hearty laugh.

"What's with all the noise down here?"

All three of them stopped at the voice that had interrupted their conversation. When they all turned their head to the direction of the voice, they all slightly eased up. 

"Mr. Cheon!" Mijoo cheerfully greeted while the other two boys awkwardly rubbed the nape of their necks whilst looking elsewhere. 

"Mijoo! What are you doing here at this time of night?" Mr. Cheon asked, nearing the white counter where three of them hung around. "And what are you two boys doing slacking off? Get to work!"

"Boss, there are no customers right now," Myeong stated.

"Do you think I'm blind? Of course I know that! I'm telling you to go be productive right now instead of just standing there and reading a manga," Mr. Cheon told the two boys.

"I'm on my break, Boss," Yejun replied timidly.

"Oh, you are? And what are you doing on your break? Staring out of the window?"

"Actually, Boss, Yejun here stepped out for a moment to confess to someone but that someone unfortunately rejected him," Myeong said knowingly. 

Note to self: must drop a few eternal sleeping pills in Myeong oppa's morning coffee. 

"Is that so?" Mr. Cheon looked surprised. "Well, don't you worry, Yejun! There are plenty of fishes in the sea. You'll find a better girl some day, somewhere else. How about Mijoo? She's pretty and nice. She's a great girl."

Myeong ended up laughing heartily once again.

The only thing Mijoo could do was slowly sink into her jacket. 

Yejun kept a steady smile on his face as he shook his head. "No, Boss. Maybe someone else. Mijoo's too good for me."

"Is that so?" Mr. Cheon had an amused face on that it reminded Mijoo about his age. "Then, good luck in finding a good girl you'll like! Definitely not my daughter. She's so picky about guys. When I told her about you, she was so grumpy and saying how you weren't her style. Pfft, what does she know, am I right?"

Mijoo couldn't help but giggle. She found Mr. Cheon amusing as always. "I should head home now, Mr. Cheon. Tell Sarang I said hi. I'll be off then. Bye Myeong oppa, bye Yejun oppa!"

"I'll walk you home," Yejun offered, flashing a toothy grin. 

"What? But you have work! You can't go around using random excuses to not work," Mijoo answered, frowning deeply. 

"It's okay, Mijoo. Yejun here is on his break anyway. I can't see you leave the bakery and walking home alone at this time of night." Mr. Cheon patted Yejun's tough back. That was when Mijoo remembered that he was a swimmer. "Go on, Yejun. Walk her home."

"But Mr. Cheon—"

Mijoo couldn't complete her sentence. Mr. Cheon had already pushed Yejun towards her. Yejun awkwardly towered her, his chest touching her shoulder. Yejun didn't want to argue with his boss—because in all honesty, he was slightly scared of him—so he gently dragged Mijoo out of the bakery. 

Once outside, a cold breeze circled them. It was nice to Mijoo but Yejun felt a little cold. 

Mijoo couldn't help but giggle at him. "Feeling a little cold?"

Yejun's head craned to the side to look at her then noticed the way his hands wrapped around his body to provide himself with warmth. "Um, no."

Mijoo lightly nudged him with her shoulder and smiled. "Don't lie. I can see through you and your actions. Want to borrow my jacket?"

"I'm already wearing one. I don't need to use a jacket," Yejun answered bravely, but Mijoo could see him shivering under his jacket. 

She didn't wait for another no. Mijoo just removed her jacket and handed it to him. "Even if it's small, you can still use it. At least you'll feel warmer."

Yejun stared at the jacket Mijoo held in front of him before embarrassingly taking it from her. He was a lot larger than she was, so the jacket only could provide warmth for half of his body. "I'm sorry."

"No, I should be. You're walking me home after I rejected you. I feel guilty." Mijoo's head was lowered as she slowed down from walking on the empty street. It wasn't fully empty, of course. Mijoo could see a few middle aged men walking into bars nearby or simply a soju tent that was set up by the streets. 

"You don't have to be," Yejun answered. 

"Don't you feel heart broken every time you see me? Or me just acting like we're friends? Or just simply walking with me?" 

"I do, but I don't let it affect me. And I don't mind us acting as friends—we are friends. The pain will pass and I'd rather let my feelings be hurt then let it go numb rather than waiting for it to go numb while ignoring you. So don't feel guilty of anything. Nothing will hurt more than you acting like I'm a stranger just because you've rejected me," Yejun said, patting lightly the top of Mijoo's head. 

Mijoo was silent for a moment, flustered by his actions. She just smiled, but it was a little awkward then she slowly walked ahead again, waiting for Yejun to catch up. 

"So you're okay with me acting as if nothing ever happened between us?" Mijoo hesitantly asked. 

Yejun was looking around the area and was slightly distracted. But when he heard Mijoo's voice, he leaned down to hear her better. He was slightly surprised by the question, but he knew the answer to it well. "Of course. I'd rather wish you wouldn't change the way you see me."

Mijoo grinned. "Just like old times then?"

"Mijoo, what's with the face?"

"Oh, my gosh! A ghost! Yejun! Help!" Mijoo screamed, jumping around frantically whilst pointing behind him. 

Yejun jumped up as high as he could; let out a manly low scream before racing behind Mijoo to use her as some sort of shield. He looked around discreetly before noticing that there was nothing at all. He stood up straight and looked at Mijoo—who was laughing her soul out—with narrowed eyes. "That was a prank, wasn't it?"

Mijoo had her face covered but she was laughing her heart out. The eerily quiet atmosphere was now replaced with a loud and cheery one due to Mijoo's laugh. 

"It's not funny!" Yejun complained, looking away. His cheeks were already changing in colour. 

"It is!" she argued back, trying to gasp for air. "Did you see your reaction? Yah, does that mean that if there was ever a ghost, you'd use me as some sort of shield or sacrifice?"

Yejun shook his head to disagree. 

"That's a lie! You just did it!" Mijoo shouted back, rolling her eyes at him. "I thought you were manly! You showed your manly side that night when we didn't have power at the pension in Jeju! Now, what is this?"

"We're not in Jeju now!" Yejun argued back. 

"Oh, so it differs when you're in different places?" she teased. 

"N-no!" Yejun answered, looking away. "Come on. Let's get you home right now. Before any ghosts really appear."

Mijoo trailed behind him with a grin on her face. She was glad that nothing has changed and that they were still great friends. 

Sarang

It was the day of the talent show.

People entered the auditorium. The performers were getting ready with makeup and wardrobe. Others did last minute touches such as perfecting their act. I was a nervous wreck and I'm sure the others were too. Mijoo was next to me and she looked like she would pass out any second. 

"Are you doing okay?" I asked her in a whisper. 

Mijoo's grip on my hand tightened as she weakly nodded. "I think so. There's so many people out there. I'm honestly really scared."

"Don't worry, you'll do great. If you start feeling nervous, just let your mind fly back to the night at the veranda in Jeju and remember us. Okay?" I advised her with a smile. 

Mijoo inhaled another deep breath before she finally calmed down. "Yeah, I will. Thanks for that, Sarang. I'll try to remember that. How are you not nervous?"

"I am," I answered, "but I'm trying to let my mind concentrate on something else."

"Such as what?" Mijoo grinned as she leaned closer to ask in a whisper, "Hansol?"

"What?" My cheeks started to change in colour. Why were they so weak? They blushed so easily. "Mijoo!"

Mijoo only laughed in return. "Oh, when will you two ever date? No, when will you ever confess, hmm?"

"I don't know," I replied, turning away out of embarrassment. "I'm too scared."

"Maybe the other reason why you're too scared to confess isn't because you lack courage, but because you lack love. Because when you have love, you will have enough courage to confess," Mijoo said. 

Wow, she was suddenly really deep. What have she been reading these days? Poetry about love? 

"I'll be waiting for news about you too." Mijoo winked. "I have to do a vocal warm-up now. I'll be in somewhere quiet. I'll come back after I'm done, okay?"

"Okay, you do that." I checked my outfit once again. Seeing that it was in its proper place, I just sat down there wondering about what Mijoo said to me. Confessing to Hansol? I was too scared. It was something about Hansol that made me wait a little more than I should. Like I shouldn't really rush everything. 

Was it just me? 

I sat there, leaning against the wall, watching the other performers did what they had to. My phone that was located on my lap suddenly vibrated and I lifted it to my face. I saw a message from Hansol and my eyes immediately widened. 

Hansol: After the talent show, come meet me behind school! :)

Sarang: Why?

Hansol: Just come. :) 

Sarang: Okay then. See you after the talent show then!

Hansol: Hey

Sarang: Yeah?

Hansol: Good luck, okay? You'll do great. Wonwoo and I are sitting by the front row so if you ever need some type of reassurance, we're just somewhere in front of you :) 

Sarang: Aww, thanks for that. I have to get ready now. I think we're about to start soon.

Hansol: Okay! I'll see you after this then. Bye!

Sarang: Byeee~ 

Mijoo came back seconds before the first performers went up to the stage to perform. I had already forgot what number I was but I knew that the people in charge would remind me before so I just concentrated more on trying to remember the dance steps. 

Before I knew it, I was called up on stage. The amount of students that were inside the auditorium was making me dizzy but I concentrated on recalling all the dance moves I would be doing. 

My heart was beating heavily. I was nervous and I was sure my hands were shaking at this very moment. But the moment the music started to play, all those thoughts disappeared and my body proceeded to the first move of the dance. 

I've never felt so alive. Dancing in front of a crowd created a different atmosphere. I was no longer just in my room, randomly dancing to the songs that I loved to dance to. This time, I was able to show everybody that I was able to dance. I was doing what I loved doing the most. 

My eyes scanned around the crowd, mainly the front row. And there, I saw his eyes watching me. They were sparkling more today. It was as if I was in Jeju all over again. He was smiling and that made me smile in return. Never have I ever been happier. 

The moment the song ended and I was in my final position, I heard loud roars and claps. There were a few whistles just as well. I pushed away a few strands that fell onto my face and bowed, waving a the crowd. I bowed once more before I walked off the stage to re-enter the back stage. 

"Sarang! You were great!" Mijoo ran all the way towards me and gave me a bone-breaking hug. I nearly passed out from the lack of oxygen. 

"Kwon Mijoo, standby!" an overseer shouted.

"Oh, no." Mijoo was unstable again. 

I quickly held onto both of her hands and made her look at me in the eye. "Hey, you'll be okay. Just remember what I told you then sing."

Mijoo's uneven breathing slowly steadied and she nodded in return. "Okay. I can do this. Thanks, Sarang. I better head over there now."

"Good luck, Kwon Mijoo!" I shouted as she ran to where the overseer that had been searching for her was. 

Mijoo waved back and smiled before she disappeared to another area. 

I quickly went to another area to peek at the stage to watch Mijoo's performance. After the performers before her were done, I saw Mijoo standing alone on that stage with a microphone in her hands. She looked scared again but I caught her face expression changing. She probably spotted Wonwoo in the front row with Hansol. 

The music started the playing and I kept hoping Mijoo wouldn't miss a beat. Luckily, she didn't and she started singing; eyes tightly closed for the first few seconds. My eyes went towards the audience. They were captivated, I could tell. All I could do was smile. 

I was so proud of Mijoo. She has come so far to get to this point. After she was done with her song and re-entered backstage, I ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"You were great!" I gushed, crushing my best friend. 

"I can't breathe!" she complained, smacking me lightly, in hope I'd let go. 

"I can't help but hug you! I'm just so proud!" I went on. Eventually, I let her go. But that didn't mean I wouldn't stop hugging her later on. Of course, that was until Wonwoo steals her away from me to give her a kiss or something. I was definitely expecting a kiss to happen. 

The talent show went on until the very end. The moment it ended, all the performers went up on the stage to bow together one last time. Once the program had ended, students scurried out of the auditorium. 

Mijoo called me to join her but I told her I had to be somewhere else. I didn't specify where but I was sure she would get it once she met up with Wonwoo and realize that Hansol was also not with him. 

Quickly, I avoided the crowd—who were filled with students congratulating everybody else—as much as possible to head to the back of the school. 

It wasn't as far away as I thought. Before I knew it, I saw Hansol's back in a far distance. He was looking at the skies and I only understood why. Today was a bright and sunny day. No cloud in sight, therefore highlighting the bright blue skies. It was beautiful. 

"Hansol!" I called, nearing his figure with every step. 

However, Hansol did not turn around even if I called his name. 

With an eyebrow arching upwards, I continued to approach his back figure. "Hansol?"

When I was finally facing Hansol's back, he finally turned around, revealing a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I searched for his face and found him smiling at me. "You're here."

"Hansol, what's..." I was too speechless to continue to my sentence, in all honesty. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not, but it felt like I was. "Hansol?"

Hansol smiled, handing the flowers towards me. "These are for you."

I was about to ask a stupid question such as if this was him confessing to me but I realized that it was probably to congratulate me for a job well done in the talent show. I mean, why else would he give me flowers? Obviously, to congratulate me. 

I took it from his hands and smiled in return, but it wasn't a really happy one. I was slightly disappointed. "Thank you, Hansol. These flowers are beautiful."

Hansol smiled in return, tucking his hand into the pocket of his school uniform's pants. We fell into an awkward silence a few seconds later and all I did was stare at the bouquet of flowers in my hands. 

I was a fool to think that Hansol actually had feelings for me. All those moments of us together was just him acting as a great friends, I knew that now. Just as I was about to walk away to find Mijoo and Wonwoo, I felt a strong force pull my arm to turn me around and landed their lips on mine. 

I was in utter shock. It felt like I was dreaming but the lips planted on mine was vivid enough to tell me otherwise. My eyes that were widened at first slowly closed as my hands awkwardly froze in place. 

Once Hansol pulled back, he was still smiling. 

"Hansol..." I was still suffering the side effects of the kiss. That was my first kiss. Even while dating Sang Hyuk, I never had any thoughts of him kissing me nor did he ever tried to kiss me. Yet, here I was at the back of the school with the boy I like who just stole my first kiss. "Hansol, I like you."

"I know that," Hansol answered with a boyish grin that was undeniably hot. "And I like you back too."

My cheeks started to warm up and they started to turn red. Dropping my bouquet of flowers, I jumped into Hansol's arms and gave him a warm hug out of happiness. 

Hansol wrapped his arms around my small frame in return and I could feel his warm breath on my ear as he said, "Congratulations on performing at the talent show, Sarang. Or should I say, my girlfriend?"

THE END. 

~Author's Notes~ 

Wow, that was a super long chapter, wasn't it? Excluding the author notes, this chapter has 8801 words, if I'm not mistaken. 

Don't worry, we still have an epilogue to read! This is not the end just yet, despite it saying THE END in bold right there. I'll see you in the epilogue the ;) Expect a long author's note in that one. And as for the epilogue, I don't think it'll be as long as this one. It'll just have a moderate count of words. Until the epilogue then!