Two weeks. Two long and exhausting weeks.

   Aside from the fight, it was nearing the end of the semester and the projects were stacking up. The university stress was at its highest, and it wasn't what Catalina needed at the moment.

   Jae hadn't sat with them during lunch; he'd been hanging around Iris for the majority of his time. Catalina guessed that Madeline, Andrea and Daniel knew the fake dating was up. After the fight that Sunday, they started to notice that Catalina tensed at the mention of him, that Jae barely talked to them when they were around Catalina. It's like things went back to the way they were when he wasn't their friend.

   That Monday afternoon was bright and sunny, but the cold autumn breeze still caused shivers to all who wandered outside. The wind blew fallen leaves around campus, gathering them in corners and by doors, under benches and in the crevices of tree trunks.

   Catalina held her books close to her chest as she hurried through the campus to get to the cafeteria. The cold nipped at her nose and cheeks, her thick denim jacket useless at keeping her warm.

   The door groaned as she pulled it open. She waddled into the building and shivered, gripping her books tighter. She brought one hand to her mouth to blow warm air into it, opened the second set of doors, rounded the corner and spotted Iris.

   Catalina lifted her hand, ready to wave but paused midway. Her eyes landed on Iris's companion. Immediately, she recognized the boy's backpack.

   Jae.

   She hid behind the corner and pushed herself against the wall. Did Jae dye his hair? Since when was it black and teased like that?

   Catalina took a deep breath. She couldn't keep hiding from Jae and he couldn't keep hiding from her. So what he confessed? So what she was back to dating her ex? They could still be friends, right?

   "Babe." A hand grabbed her wrist..

   Catalina jumped and gasped. "What the hell, Philip?" She drew her hand to her chest. "You nearly killed me."

   A smile grew on his lips and his dimples surfaced. "Sorry." He pulled her into a hug. "What did you want to eat?" He pulled away from the hug and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before tugging her towards the cafeteria.

   Catalina's throat swelled and shivers ran down her spine as they approached Jae and Iris. Philip's question had gone over her head. Jae was leaning against a pillar, his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be immersed in his talk with Iris. Catalina didn't know how he knew she was passing, or why he even turned his head, but their eyes locked, unbeknownst to Philip.

———•———

   Jae clenched his jaw and narrowed his gaze at the passing couple.

   "What is it? You look like you're gonna kill someone." Iris tilted her head.

   He saw Philip laughing at something Catalina said and he tensed. Iris followed his gaze and finally saw what he was looking at before she looked back at him.

   "You know," she tittered, "jealousy doesn't look good on you, baby."

   Jae finally flicked his gaze towards Iris and rolled his eyes.

   "It looks hot." She nudged his shoulder, smiling widely as if she'd made the joke of the century.

   "Don't tease me, I'm not in the mood," he nearly growled.

   She shot him a wink. "That's not what you said yesterday," she teased as she stuck out her tongue.

   "Iris, I swear." He gave her a death glare and pushed himself off the wall before walking towards the cafeteria. "Let's just go eat before you say some other stupid crap."

   Iris laughed and followed after him. "So, you coming on next Friday?"

   Jae scoffed. "No, thanks."

   "Come on, baby." Iris pouted. "It's a party. It'll help you get your mind off her."

   "I don't need to do that because I don't care." He rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans.

   "Sure, sweetie, because you're not affected by their relationship at all. Keep telling yourself that, babe. It's totally healthy."

   "Oh, shut up." Jae frowned. "I got better things to do than go to a party."

   "What? Like study? Bo-ring!" She stuck out her tongue. "Think of it as an exam jam, or de-stresser. Like the therapy dogs and crafts they want us to do."

   "Dogs are a million times better, actually."

   "Well yeah, but—it's a party. Come on, baby, for me?"

   "No." Jae rolled his eyes and searched through the shelf's and vendors of the cafeteria.

   It didn't take long for them to get something to eat, Jae settled on a cup of instant noodles and Iris bought a burger. Amongst the dense crowd of students, they spotted Andrea sitting down at a table in the back of the cafeteria. They made their way towards her. For the past two weeks, Jae found it easier to hang with Iris, she wasn't insisting on knowing every detail of the 'break up', nor had she been nagging him for taking up smoking again. In fact, it worked out pretty well since he didn't want to show his face to Catalina after the confession, hell he didn't even want to be within fifty feet of her.

   "Jae?" The corn chip slipped from Daniel's grasp before it reached his lips. His jaw dropped upon seeing Jae in a black leather jacket and change in style.

   The rest of the table looked up at him. Madeline stared equally as shocked, but Andrea had her arms crossed over her chest. The subsequent silence of the group was drowned out by the chatter of the students in the cafeteria.

   The light above them flickered and Iris took a seat next to Andrea. "Guys! Have you seen?"

   Andrea turned to her, a frown on her face. "What?" She grumbled, unimpressed.

   "Your hair! What happened? What did you do?" Daniel finally spoke, his initial shock subsiding.

   Jae slung his bag off his shoulders and shrugged. "Thought I could use a change."

   "What do you think? I did a great job, didn't I?" Iris grinned while she picked up a fry. "He looks like your typical bad boy and I'm digging it."

   Daniel looked over at Iris and picked up his bag of chips again. "You did that to him?"

   Iris grimaced and leaned unto the table, sending Daniel a glare. "You make it sound like I forced him to wear Crocs and short-shorts."

   "But, but," Daniel mumbled, "what about soft boi Jae? What about the cute lil' bean? What've you done to him?"

   Jae echoed some of Daniel's words in confusion but he didn't get any clarification from any of his friends.

   "Why didn't he do your extreme makeover?" Andrea asked as she set her fork down.

   "You kidding me? There's no way I trust him with anything near my hair, not even a plastic fork." Iris scoffed. "If you don't like it, I'm not here to make you guys happy."

   "No, Iris, you did great!" Madeline sighed as she looked Jae over while he sat down at the end of the table. "I didn't think you could get any hotter but here you are with that bad boy look." She looked at him with hearts in her eyes. "Honestly, Cat is sleeping on you. She better snatch you up for real. I ain't about this fake dating thing no more."

   Jae slipped out of his black leather jacket and snapped the chopsticks apart, wood cracking. "It's too late for that."

   Madeline's lips pursed. "Why? Did you find someone?" Then her eyes widened and she sat up straight. "Is that why you two fought and you've been m.i.a. for, like, weeks? You've found someone? Oh, god, who? Why didn't you tell us?" Madeline was basically at the edge of her seat. She reached out towards Jae and took the chopsticks from his hand.

   Daniel slurped on his soft drink, glancing between Jae and Madeline.

   Andrea looked over at Iris and noticed she looked intrigued, her head on her hand and a sly smile on her lips, as if curious to what Jae could come up with. "Did you two—? You guys aren't actually—?"

   Iris raised an eyebrow. She stifled a laugh and shook her head. "What? As handsome and soft as Jae may be—"

   "Soft?" Jae interrupted her. "What does that mean?"

   Iris ignored Jae's question and shrugged. "I'm aromantic so, no thanks."

   Daniel splurt his drink at Iris, not meaning to. He doubled over and began to cough out the ginger ale in his trachea.

   "Ew!" Iris yelped and immediately stood. "What the hell?"

   "Oh god, I'm so sorry." Daniel stood as well as he steadied his coughing fit. The other three helped him with their napkins. He reached over the table, handing her the handful of napkins. "I'm so, so, sorry."

   Iris took the napkins and cleaned herself off before she burst into laughter, lightening the mood up instantly and causing everyone to laugh along. "It's okay, Danny." She managed between giggles. "Don't worry about it."

   "But honestly, I'm so sorry." His laughs died and he handed her another napkin.

   "Did I surprise you that much?" She asked, tucking her chair in.

   He shook his head. "I just, I didn't expect it. But you know, it's cool."

   Iris gave another laugh before she excused herself to go to the washroom and properly clean up. The rest of them cleaned up the remaining mess before they got back to their conversation.

   "Wait, so you knew all this time?" Madeline asked. "And you didn't tell us?"

   Jae rolled his eyes and snatched the chopsticks back from her. "My soup's getting cold, and yeah." He sighed and mixed the noodles. "She told me at the party while you were drowning yourselves in booze. I didn't even know what it was at first, but then she explained it."

   "That's why it didn't matter to you if you got close, woah," Madeline sat back in her seat, her mouth slightly agape.

   "And that's why you told Cat there wasn't anything between you two." Andrea added. "Well, that makes sense now."

   "Wait." Daniel cleared his throat, as it still ached from his near choking experience. "So she ain't into, like, anyone?"

   "Yup," Jae said before he slurped on the noodles.

   "So." Madeline tapped her fingers on the table. "If it isn't Iris, who're you seeing?"

   Jae grumbled. "No one. It's Cat."

   "What do you mean?" Andrea narrowed her eyes.

   Madeline, Andrea and Daniel all stared at Jae, causing him to set down his chopsticks. He could see by the look in their eyes that they wouldn't let him eat without a proper answer. Andrea looked pissed, she probably had guessed something along the way, but Madeline and Daniel seemed genuinely confused.

   Jae sighed. "I saw her with Philip."

   It looked as if time had stopped. Daniel, Madeline and Andrea seemed to be frozen on the spot. They didn't speak, they didn't move, they didn't so much as blink that it frightened Jae.

   "Guys?"

   "What the fuck?" Andrea shot up from her seat. "What the actual fuck is wrong with her?"

   "Wait," Madeline mumbled, "was it, like, you saw her near Philip and they were talking or did you see her with Philip?"

   "With." He deadpanned. "He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders."

   "Shit." Madeline sank in her chair.

   Andrea packed her things. "I'm gonna go talk some sense into her. Honestly, how could she—? I swear to god, I'm gonna—I don't even know what the hell is—I can't even—oh my god." She didn't care how she shoved her notes and textbooks in for some papers were ripped in the process and she was always one to keep pristine notes.

   Jae stood from his seat and stopped her, taking a hold of her wrist. "Don't. Just...don't."

   Andrea shook his hand off. "Really? Why the hell did she think it was alright to go back to him. No, you know what? You're right." She huffed and took her seat again. "Fuck it. I'm done with her. I'm done trying to help her. I'm not her fucking mom, she can do whatever she wants."

———•———

   Jae saw Catalina again that week. He'd caught her leaning against the wall while Philip was giving her a hug. He watched as Philip gave her a kiss on the cheek and he couldn't bear it any longer. Jae looked away, grimace on his face. He didn't like the green gaze he was shooting them, he didn't like seeing them in the same vicinity together.

   "Jae."

   His heart sank and he begged himself just to keep walking, to ignore her. There was no way he wanted to see Catalina, not after she'd been getting so close to Philip. It didn't do his poor heart any good.

   He'd always known that Catalina's lingering touch, kisses and giggles meant nothing more than friendship, but god, it hurt.

   Although Jae was scolding himself, he turned around. "Catalina."

   She gave him a smile. "Your hair...it looks nice."

   Philip wasn't around, he'd probably gone off to class or something.

   Jae nodded and turned his head over to where he heard a noise before he turned back to Catalina. "Yeah. I decided it was time, my roots were showing."

   "I love it."

   Her smile grew and it really didn't keep his raging heart any bit calm. The butterflies persisted and he had to look away. He cursed himself for melting at her sight.

   "Hey, uhm." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked so cute doing that. She looked shy and adorable. Oh god, this definitely was no help. "Wanna have lunch together? We haven't really hung out much lately... kind of missed ya."

   "I have to study." He thought he'd play the safe card and ignore her last comment; he didn't want to let it get to his head. "Exams are in two weeks and I have two papers due by next week."

   "Right." Her gaze fell. Her grip tightened around her backpack strap and she looked around. "Maybe during winter break? We could chill, or something?"

   "I'm heading to Korea."

   "Oh." Her lips pursed together. "When you come back? Maybe?"

   "Catalina..." He stared at her. "What're you trying to do? Hm?"

   Her brows knitted together. "What do you mean?" Her lips pursed together in that adorable fashion.

   He was fucking doomed, wasn't he? Her peach sparkling lipgloss glittered mockingly.

   "You know how I feel about you. I don't think it's a good idea that we...that we hang out." Not when he couldn't think about anything but her, not when he couldn't keep his eyes off hers, and definitely not when she was wearing that goddamn lipgloss. "You have a boyfriend and it should be left like that." Jae gave a small bow and prepared to leave.

   "So, you don't wanna be friends anymore?" She scoffed. "Really?" She looked about, minding her volume but not her salty tone. "You're just gonna throw away our friendship because your pride's a little bruised?"

   "I don't think I can be friends again just yet. Not until I sort out my feelings." He didn't want to start any fights with her, so he decided it best to turn and leave. He thought distance would be key to getting her out of his head and maybe that party Iris suggested, it was starting to seem awfully tempting.