Jae sat at a table in the next building, not bothering to even eat as he was mad, and he never liked to eat when he was mad. Instead, he decided to distract himself by doing his biology lab write up. He couldn't bring himself to focus on the work before him, even less so when he heard the voice of Andrea.

   Prepared that she had come to go for another round, he soured up. His lips twisting and his brows furrowed. But then he noticed she was on the phone and sat down a few tables away from him, it seemed as if she didn't even see him there. So, he opted to turn back to his notes. That, however, did not go according to plan. In fact, after she had hung up, he approached her, like the stupid idiot he was.

   "What do you want?" She spat, arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at him.

   He sat down and she rolled her eyes. "Why do you hate me? What have I done?"

   "Why do you think that? Why would I hate you?"

   "Maybe because every time you look at me you immediately give me a dirty look and challenge every word I say? I don't understand, why are you so critical of me?"

   "Do I need to explain myself?" She asked, an eyebrow raising. "And I don't hate you."

   "Then? Please help me understand things here. Why are you so bitter towards me?"

   She frowned. "Honestly, I don't feel like I owe you anything."

   He ignored her remark. "I want to know why you hate me. Did I ever do anything to you? If I did, I'm sorry, I don't think I ever meant it. If I hurt Cat, I'm sorry about that too."

   "It's not what you've done, Jae, it's what you're planning on doing." Andrea grimaced.

   Jae frowned. "What am I planning on doing? I swear, there's nothing."

   "It's what you might do. I'm not going to let you hurt Cat, not again. Not after what happened with Philip."

   "Why would you think that?"

   Andrea huffed, "Because you two are jumping into a relationship way too fast! You're being reckless and stupid. This isn't the way to go about a relationship, especially not after having gone through a completely obliterating one."

   Jae didn't fully understand the situation but he knew enough. "Do you want to know the truth?" He asked, settling in his seat, thinking he should tell her as it was for the best, and maybe Andrea wouldn't hate him so much.

   "What your intentions are with Cat? Yeah, I want to know what didn't let you wait."

   "My parents." Jae began, taking Andrea's water bottle and fidgeting around with it. "I told them I had a girlfriend and they came to visit me. Here I am, having to ask Cat to be my fake girlfriend until my parents go back Korea so that I'm not forced into a relationship with a girl that I hate. It was originally only supposed to be for two weeks but then my parents decided it would be fun to torment me for another three months."

   Andrea kept silent.

   He took a deep breath, "I told Cat she could walk away. I told her I didn't expect her to go with it until Christmas because it wasn't what I planned and... and she stayed. She agreed to help me out. And I'm very grateful to her because she didn't even hesitate... And maybe to you it might seem like something so stupid but to me it's my freedom. Cat represents my rebellion from my parents expectation and I really would've never really started to show them that I have my own life if Cat didn't agree."

   The brunette blinked. "Is that really it?"

   "Yes." Jae nodded. "She's my friend and she's helped me out a lot. I wouldn't do something to make her feel bad or hurt her. She's actually one of the only friends I've made in a long time. It's nice to finally have someone to talk to. We haven't kissed, we haven't done anything remotely couple-like. We're friends, and that's all I want."

   Unexpectedly, Andrea extended her hand. "Then, we should call a truce. If you do hurt her, however, I will not hesitate to break your legs."

   Her menacing expression was enough to convince him that she was willing to go through with her threat if the need arose. He took her hand and they shook on it, proceeding to talk a bit about themselves and get to know each other. After Andrea had badgered him about the reason he had had no friends, he admitted that it was because he found it very hard to socialize, especially because he was afraid his English was not the best and people would make fun of him. He also told her that he hadn't had the best experiences in first year after a 'friend' of his plagiarized off of him and he was put on academic probation. Since none of them had class for the rest of they day, they were able to talk things through properly and even have dinner together at a nearby place.

   "Jae!" Catalina called as she skipped towards him. "How was class?" It was Thursday evening and the group of friends were still hanging out in the library, chatting and actually getting some work done.

   He turned on the spinning chair and waved at her. "Hey," he greeted as she sat down next to him, "it went well, and yours?"

   She smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "They were giving out free candy!" She said before she pulled out a few chocolates from her bag. She gave some to her friends before handing a handful to Jae. "Because you're so sweet." She winked at him.

   Immediately, a blush spread on his cheeks and he looked away from her, back down to his notes. "Yeah, whatever," he grumbled.

   "Aw, Jae-Jae," Catalina pouted, "why are you being so cold?"

   Jae shot her a glare. "I'm not. This is just how I am."

   Catalina blew a raspberry. "Fine, well, I was going to tell you some great news, but you don't seem to want to hear them."

   He looked over at her while Madeline, Daniel and Andrea dropped whatever they were doing to listen to whatever she had to say.

   "My mom agreed! I can go!" She wrapped an arm around him.

   Jae remained silent for a while and then he removed her arm from his shoulders. "I'm not going anymore."

   She furrowed her brows, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"

   "I've been thinking about it and...well... I don't think it was proper of me asking you to go. So instead, I was thinking we stay and all of us hang out."

   Catalina blinked. "When did you decide this? Did Andrea influence you?" Catalina and Andrea were still bitter towards each other even though it had been three days.

   "Yesterday, and no. I decided it by myself."

   Slowly and hesitantly, she nodded before bringing another smile to her face. "So we have to hang out lots, starting tomorrow! Okay? That way, we can make the most of our reading week, how about it?"

   A smile stretched his lips and he nodded, "Yeah."

   Daniel grinned. "So, tomorrow, party at my place?"

   Madeline cheered! She clapped her hands repeatedly, earning glares from busy students. "Awesome! It's gonna be so much fun!"

   "Wait," Andrea asked, "Party or get together?"

   "Get together, actually. Just the five of us. That way, we'll be able to chill and be in good company."

   "And your parents won't kill you," Catalina smugly added, leaning her head unto Jae's shoulder. Catalina was always a confident girl and for the longest time after her break up with her ex boyfriend, she's become shy and reserved. That's why all the dares started in the first place. She was hoping her confidence would get better and better, and it did. Slowly, it did.

   Jae tried not to be fazed by the careless action but he could feel his heart beating a little faster than usual. He cleared his throat and tried to focus on his homework.

   "Cat?" The whole table looked up to see a blonde boy.

   "Philip?" She stared at the man with a strange expression between pain and curiosity.

   Jae stared at Philip, frown on his face.

   Philip smiled, taking a seat at one side of the table. "How are you? I haven't seen you for a while now..."

   "Weren't you on the exchange trip?" Catalina questioned, her posture changing from relaxed and cheery to stiff and almost afraid.

   Jae had never seen her so different. He'd always seen her as a confident and smiling girl, never had she looked so grave.

   Philip laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah, I was. But, it's over now. I came back a few days ago...and I just saw you here with...?"

   "Jae." Jae extended his hand out to greet him.

   Philip took it and tension bubbled at the table.

   "Nice to meet you Jae."

   Jae did not so much as smile before he packed his things and turned to Philip. "Well, Cat and I are going to grab dinner. So...we're going on ahead."

   Catalina turned to Jae, a questioning look in her eyes.

   "Come on, babygirl." She could tell he was embarrassed to call her such a nickname but she appreciated his effort.

   Trying to hold in her laugh. She nodded and stood, taking his hand. "It was nice to see you again Philip, but as Jae say, we have to get going. I'll see you around, okay?"

   Philip nodded, waving them goodbye and trying to start a conversation with Daniel.

   "Babygirl?" Catalina repeated once they were outside of the library. "Seriously?"

   "Stop," Jae grumbled, "it was the first thing that came to mind. Plus, Philip's a jerk, I didn't want him thinking you were free for him to take. Not that he shouldn't respect you by yourself."

   "Ha!" She scoffed, "As if I'd take back that stupid idiot."

   Jae smiled again, looking away so she wouldn't catch him. "From what I've heard, you better not take him back."

   Catalina pouted. "I'm not that stupid."

   "Whatever you say, babygirl," Jae teased and he actually earned a blush from her. Not that she let him see for long as she covered her face with her hand.

   "You're embarrassing me!" She whined and he pulled her down the hallway towards the parking lot. "Wait, are we actually going somewhere?"

   Jae nodded. "Well, of course, why not?"

   She shrugged, leaning closer to him. "What are we gonna eat, Jae-bae?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "Get it? Jae and bae together? Huh? Huh? God, I'm so funny."

   Jae rolled his eyes and led her to the car after they had left the building. They hadn't noticed they were still holding hands until they reached the car and he had to take his keys out of his pocket. "Sorry," he apologized as a blush spread on his cheeks.

   "No worries, Jae-Jae. And if we ever see Philip again, you can act like we're together. I mean, that's literally what we've been doing for the past month and a half. You can call me babygirl, I find it cute."

   "Kinky," he muttered.

   "Hey! You're the one who called me that! If anyone's kinky here it's you," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "And I am not going to call you 'daddy' if that's what you're hoping for."

   "Ew, no way. Shut up." He shuddered. "God, no!"

   Laughing, Catalina entered the car looking down at her hand ever so often. Maybe, just maybe, when they were holding hands, she had felt safe and it made her feel a tad bit more confident. Plus, Jae's nickname did make her smile.