She heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the classroom. That was one major test finished, but there was more on the way. She shook her head, not wanting to dwell on that.

Looking through the small window at the door, So-eun spotted Soo-ah across the room. She was among the few who were still answering the test, or looking over their answers until the time ran out. So-eun had already read through her own several times, with about thirty minutes to spare, and decided to turn in her answer sheet. Now she had thirty minutes to wait for Soo-ah.

She tightened her grip on her bag, pulling it closer to her body as she stepped farther from the door and leaned against the wall across the hall. A few seconds pass and a group of three arrived, hanging around by the door as well. One of them, she recognized, was Wonwoo.

He saw her too and excused himself from his friends to walk over to her.

"Exam?" he asked, "There isn't supposed to be a class here at this time."

So-eun nodded. "Yeah. My friend's still inside," she said, "What's your next class?"

"You wouldn't be interested in it," he said.

She shrugged. "I wasn't asking if I would be, though."

"Right." He glanced down to the watch on his arm then looked back up at her. "If you're just that curious, I'll give you an answer. It's Music Theory."

"Oh, that's... interesting," she said, nodding, "You're a Music major, right?" She wasn't sure if he had already mentioned it to her.

Wonwoo nodded. "Can't imagine myself doing anything else," he said.

"I'm sure it isn't your only talent," she assured him.

He shot her a smile, one that brought an unexpected bout of butterflies in her stomach. "I'm glad you think that."

She smiled back awkwardly, opening her mouth to say somehing else, when the school bell rang and Soo-ah emerged from the room.

"Whoo! I made it out alive!" the girl cheered, hooking her arm around So-eun's. So-eun looked up at Wonwoo apologetically.

"Uh, I'll see you around," he muttered before following his classmates file into the classroom. She nodded in response, though he didn't see.

Facing her friend, she felt fearful of the knowing smile that was spread across the girl's lips. "Who was that?" Soo-ah asked. There was that glint in her eyes that So-eun recognized from years ago. It was the same one from when she had figured out how she felt for Junhong.

"He's a friend. We went to high school with him," she replied, choosing her words carefully.

"Oh, okay." Soo-ah shrugged then bean dragging her off to the direction of the food court. "So, how do you think you did on the exam?"

So-eun glanced back at her friend, looking for anything that seemed off. It seemed rather unusual of the girl to not ask any more questions, but she looked nothing out of the ordinary. Satisfied that it really had been her friend who changed the topic, she gave an answer.

It was when they were both already settled in their seats at the cafeteria, lunch trays half empty, when the girl brought him up again.

"So, are tou two dating?"

So-eun's kimbap meal almost went into the wrong pipe. Fortunately, she was able to calm herself and swallow her food properly. She shook her head. "We're just friends," she assured Soo-ah, but she felt her heart sink as she said the words.

Soo-ah raised an eyebrow. "I only asked if you two were dating, not that if you two were together," she said, looking very much calm and composed as opposed to Se-eun. "With your reaction, I'll assume that you like him."

"I... I don't."

"Are you just hanging out with him to get your mind off of Junhong, then?"

"What does he have to do with anything?"

Soo-ah was quiet for a moment, tilting her head to the side a if analyzing her friend. "I still think you should give him a second chance," she finally said.

"There's no reason for me to do that. I don't like him anymore."

"And you like that Wonwoo guy now."

"I told you-"

"We've been friends for years, So-eun," the girl cut in, "I've seen that look you had when you were talking to him. You like him."

They were quiet as So-eun tried to gather her thoughts. She hadn't really thought of how she felt about Wonwoo before. All she knew was that she liked being around him, despite having just recently met him.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"I would ask you what I should do," she said, leaning her elbows on the table, "But I'm already certain your advice would be biased."

"Then don't do anything." Soo-ah shrugged. "Whatever will be will be. Don't rush into it."

So-eun nodded.

"Anyway, do you have notes in Chemistry? I think I spaced out a couple of times."

~~~~~~~~

a/n:

it's kinda short but i'm on a short one-week break from school, and it was my birthday recently (i'm 18 now but it honestly doesn't feel any different), so i decided a quick update would be good. i hope you enjoyed 😊