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the following week, the hallways of their school were crowded. most of the people taking up the space were girls. they were loud, screaming at the top of their lungs when the four friends stepped into school. they were crowding over someone in particular - kim sunwoo - while his other three friends were crushed by the amount of people.

"yo! easy! bro, there's a person right here!" eric huffed out as he struggled to escape the crowd around them. finally breathing the fresh air, he paused and realised that his friends were still stuck. squeezing himself through, he pulled minju out and proceeded to look for the other. "ah there you are- wait! you caused this, go back in there!" eric yelped and pushed sunwoo back into the crowd of fangirls. eric took hold of hayoon's arm and tugged her out, which the girl thanked him genuinely while catching her breath. "bye sunwoo! enjoy!" the other three ran off to their classroom, leaving sunwoo behind.

after the finale winning goal sunwoo had accomplished, they knew that sunwoo's reputation in school would hit the roof - and they were absolutely right after witnessing the crowd swarming sunwoo.

-

it was break time and because someone was getting popular, the four friends decided to hide at the rooftop. eric and minju offered to buy the food, leaving sunwoo and hayoon alone. the boy scooted closer, linking his arm with hers as he fidgeted around.

"you seem nervous," hayoon pointed out. "ah," he cracked a small smile before turning around to face her properly. "you can't tell this to anyone," sunwoo lifted out his pinky finger in which hayoon automatically linked hers with his. "actually, i think i like jung areum and i'll confess to her today," his words trailed off as her mind spun.

jung areum? the sweet and likeable girl in school? there was no way hayoon would win against areum and hayoon was not the kind to dislike someone who had done nothing wrong to her. jung areum was a real-life angel, she could be on par with jacob bae, a friend of her brother's.

hayoon sighed inwardly. "that's great, sunwoo," she managed to show a smile to him, patting him arm that was around hers. fortunately, their two friends returned with packed food. "what's good, guys! they had bbq chicken on the menu today!" eric exclaimed, hurrying over to the mat they had placed on the floor.

-

later that day, hayoon strolled around the hallways during class with an excuse of going to the toilet. she needed to clear her mind as she aimlessly walked through the empty corridor. the door to the girls' bathroom swung open revealing a girl too familiar - jung areum. "oh hi hayoon," the girl waved, smiling kindly at her. hayoon managed to muster up a small smile as she waved back before she tried to take a step away. "wait," areum took hold of her arm. "you're sunwoo's friend, aren't you?" areum still had a smile on her face and hayoon swore she saw a tingle of sparkle in her eyes when she mentioned her male friend. nodding a little, hayoon turned to face her.

"is sunwoo nice?" her voice was small but hayoon could still make out the words. hayoon paused as she looked at the girl in front of her. she portrayed a neat appearance and overall she seemed kind. could she like sunwoo too? "he's more than nice, areum," hayoon smiled a hidden bitter smile. "that's good. thanks hayoon. see you around," with that, the angelic girl went on her way, leaving hayoon alone once again.

-

sunwoo had some confession duty so hayoon walked home all alone. her feelings might have gotten to her as she desperately tried to brush off the overwhelming emotions. her feet took her to a nearby park instead of home as she sat on one of the benches under the shade of a tree.

"hi areum, i've liked you for some time," hayoon overheard a familiar voice. shifting around, she spotted the two people she dreaded to see the most at the moments. parts of herself wanted to run away but she did not want to be caught by the two. with her head down, hayoon clamped her hands over her ears as she shut her eyes tight in hopes that she could stop hearing sunwoo's confession to areum.

"hayoon," a hand caressed her hair. looking up, she instantly dived into the person's embrace. no matter who it was, as long as it was not kim sunwoo, she was fine with it. ji changmin stared down at the sobbing girl in shock. he hesitated before wrapping his arms around her petite self, attempting to calm the girl down. after seeing the same guy from the soccer match not far away from them, changmin understood why hayoon was like that at the moment.

it took changmin a few minutes to completely calm hayoon down as they stood in one another's embrace. "hi changmin, i'm so sorry for this," hayoon mumbled as she started to pull herself away from his hug. the two sat on the bench and the newly couple from before was long gone. "are you okay, hayoon?" changmin asked, concerned that she was crying all alone in the park. she nodded, smiling a little at him as she squeezed his hand lightly.

"hayoon, let me court you," his words left the girl stunned. "i know i can make you happy and i will try my best," changmin mumbled. he was unsure if it was the right time because the girl was crying over another man.

"will you let me try?" his gaze fell on the girl and she looked vulnerable with her tear-stained face. it just made him want to protect her more.