"Hyuk Jae, what's the answer on the board?" the teacher asked him. Hyuk Jae stood up from his seat.

"Teacher, I have a question first" he said. Chang Wook sitting behind him pa.s.sed his hand across his face. He looked over at Mi Jin, she was three rows away from him and at the front, while he was close to the back. Mi Jin looked at Chang Wook, they knew what was going to happen but the teacher still fell for it.

"Yes. What is it?" she asked.

"I don't understand anything. Can you explain it from the beginning?" Hyuk Jae asked. The cla.s.s erupted in laughter.

"I don't even know why I bother with you" the teacher said "Hyuk Jae. Outside" all the teachers have made Hyuk Jae stand outside at least twice a week but he's not stupid. Although he isn't as good as Chang Wook or Mi Jin, he does his work and barely pa.s.ses his exams, but he's not a completely lost cause. He only has interests in baseball. Though he's going to take over the family business, he wants to enjoy his youth while he still can.

During lunch Chang Wook would often spend it in the library or watching Hyuk Jae and the others playing basketball in the gym. He was often joined in the bleachers by girls just watching Hyuk Jae. He was indeed popular.

What he didn't know was that he was popular too. All the girls called Hyuk Jae and Chang Wook "The Dynamic Duo" while one of them was always energetic and always making jokes, the other was quiet but had an aura to him that naturally attracted people to him.

"What are you reading today?" Hyuk Jae asked Chang Wook after the fun workout.

"Another book" Chang Wook said.

"Well, no s.h.i.+t" Hyuk laughed. He sat down next to Chang Wook and on the other side of the gym, he noticed Mi Jin. She was there since the beginning, so she saw how he was embarra.s.singly beaten by the other team "Noooo!" he said hitting his head. Chang Wook looked at him confused.

"What's wrong with you?" Chang Wook asked him.

"Mi Jin was here" Hyuk Jae said. Chang Wook quickly looked up and noticed Mi Jin waving at him…at them. He waved back and so did Hyuk Jae "I wasn't cool at all" he said.

Chang Wook looked over at the girls on his side of the bleachers They were looking at Hyuk Jae like they were looking at an idol "Don't worry, you were cool" Chang Wook rea.s.sured him. He continued reading his book when Hyuk Jae said something he wasn't expecting.

"I'm going to confess today" Hyuk Jae said with a determined look on his face. Chang Wook dropped his book. His heart started beating at an alarmingly quick speed "You're pretty clumsy today" Hyuk Jae got up and handed Chang Wook his book back.

"Are you sure?" Chang Wook asked him "It's the first day of cla.s.s. Should you try to woo her first, then confess?"

"Dude, if she doesn't know my feelings, then she will never see me as a guy. I will always be just a friend" Hyuk Jae walked towards Mi Jin and asked her if she could go outside with him for a minute. He needed to talk to her about something important.

Mi Jin looked over to Chang Wook. She felt the air wasn't as friendly as before, as if he had something serious to talk with her about. She looked over at Chang Wook and noticed he had a pained expression. Did he and Hyuk Jae have an argument. She and Chang Wook locked eyes but he quickly looked back down at his book.

The words in the book started to blur together as he bit down on his lower lip. He looked back up but Mi Jin and Hyuk Jae where no longer there.

In the back of the gym Hyuk Jae confessed his feelings for her. He liked her since the moment he saw her. Mi JIn found it kind of funny that the same way he liked her, she liked Chang Wook. She fell for Chang Wook the moment she first laid eyes on him.

Mi Jin looked down as tears started to run down her eyes. Hyuk Jae didn't know how to react. Did these tears mean she liked him too and she was happy that he confessed? Or did they mean she didn't like him at all, and he just ruined their friends.h.i.+p?

"You don't need to answer me right now. I just wanted to let you know about my feelings before some other guy came and s.n.a.t.c.hed you away" Hyuk Jae smiled at her "I've waited for you for a long time, I don't mind waiting a little more"

Mi Jin looked up at him and without warning he planted a kiss on her cheek. He stuck his tongue out and winked at her "One thing I can promise you is that I will always stop your tears" he said. Mi Jin noticed that she had stopped crying. Although she didn't like him like that, she had to admit that what he did was kind of cool.

Inside the gym Hyuk Jae was talking to Wook like nothing happened.

"The weather was so nice outside" Hyuk Jae said with a smile. Chang Wook was scared to ask how it went. If he asked and Hyuk Jae said Mi Jin said yes, Chang Wook knew the world would crumble under him. If Hyuk Jae said Mi Jin said no, a part of him would be happy but he'd have to console his friend, something that he couldn't do since the girl he liked was also the girl his best friend liked.

Hyuk Jae noticed Chang Wook's gaze, he knew his friend was curious to know what happened but didn't want to intrude "She didn't say anything, so I told her I'd wait" Hyuk Jae said.

Chang Wook was relieved. Neither of the two scenarios happened "Does that mean we can all still walk home together?" Chang Wook asked. Hyuk Jae put his arm around Chang Wook's neck and started to mess his hair.

"Who do you think I am?" Hyuk Jae asked him "I'm not that petty. She's our friend. Even if she said no, I'll still continue to like her, but I'll respect her decision but if she says yes, don't worry Chang Wook, we won't abandon you. We'll still hang out"

That's what Chang Wook was worried about. If the girl he liked said yes to the boy that liked her, he'd have to see them together, he'd have to act like he was alright when he really wasn't.

Back at home Chang Wook was greeted by his grandmother. She knew Chang Wook well enough to understand his expressions. Right now, he wasn't happy at all and at his age, it must be girl trouble.

"Want so apples?" Soo Ryun asked her grandson. Chang Wook shook his head and headed upstairs. She followed him with a plate of apples that she cut into little bunnies. She opened his bedroom door with all the force in the world and scared her grandson in the process. She wasn't going to let him be sad. If he was sad, he'd end up crying and if he cries he'll end up feeling sorry for himself.

"Grandma, you almost gave me a heart attack" he said.

"I'm the only one that gets to worry about heart attacks in this family" she told him "Wook, I want you to listen to what I have to say"

"We come across a lot of people in our lives, people that we'll end up falling in love with and they will fall for you but sometimes the universe will keep you apart because it knows that you aren't right for each other, because just around the corner there will be someone so much better waiting for you"

Chang Wook didn't understand where all of this was coming from "Are you trying to give me relations.h.i.+p advice?" he asked her "You don't have to worry about it grandma, I'm not dating anyone"

"Unrequited love is the worst kind of all" she said. Chang Wook widened his eyes "They say if you smoke, you'll die 30 years early, if you drink it'd be 10 but if you love someone that doesn't love you back, you'll die every day"

"Whoever the girl is, she's a fool for not liking you"

Chang Wook's grandmother left the plate of apples in his room and walked out. As night arrived there was a knock in Chang Wook's window. It was Mi Jin.

"Do you have a minute?" she asked him. He nodded. He went out the window and sat with her on the roof.

"Hyuk Jae confessed to me" Mi Jin said. Chang Wook nodded "What do you think I should do?" she hoped that Chang Wook would tell her he liked her or maybe that they'd have a romantic moment where she would be able to confess her feelings for him.

"I can't answer that. To date someone or not date someone, that's your decision. No one can make it for you" Chang Wook told her.

Mi Jin hoped that he would say something different, that he would tell her not to do it, but it was so like him to avoid messing with other people's problems.

"Hyuk Jae is so frivolous. I can't imagine myself dating him. He's my friend but being with him 24/7 will be tiring"

"It's not like you're going to marry him, you guys will just be dating" Chang Wook told her. He felt that he just encouraged her to go out with his friend.

"But don't you date someone with the intention of marriage?" Mi Jin asked him. Chang Wook didn't think that far ahead. One thing was seeing the girl he liked go out with his best friend, but another thing was seeing them married. His heart ached just imagining it.

Chang Wook looked down "You're already thinking of having a future with him even though you haven't even said yes?" he asked. Mi Jin wanted to see if Chang Wook would say anything, anything at all that would give her a sign that he liked her, anything, a glimmer of hope but he didn't show anything.

She got up and chuckled "Yeah. I'm a huge overthinker" she said "Well, I'll see you at school. Goodnight" On her way home she cried. Chang Wook on the other hand went to the garage and started hitting the punching bag his dad had put up. Surprisingly it made him feel better, but not enough to make him not want to cry.