The next few days were uneventful, jumping from school to work to art. She sat with Taehwan during their classes, and she was always entertained by his wit in his words and his art. It was great to see things from different points of view and grow her creativity.

On Saturday, she met up with Wooyoung outside the restaurant for lunch. He wore his usual grey hoodie, a style that she preferred. She reminded herself that it was a friendly date but when he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to let people walk past, her heart was like a drum. Pressed against his chest, she could smell his mint cologne and the woody scent. She held her breath, hoping he couldn't feel her heart. People zoomed by but it felt like time stopped for them.

"Let's go in," Wooyoung whispered, trying not to smile too much.

He moved away and they entered. The restaurant was packed with young people, but they managed to get a table on the side. Since the place was well known for their tteokbokki, the couple ordered that with cheese and some friend chicken.

When it came out, it was steaming deliciously. They dug in and Yoojin felt like she tasted heaven.

"So, how's the art academy?" Wooyoung asked.

She finished chewing a piece of chicken and answered. "It's really good – better than I expected. The teacher's so nice and really great with giving me ideas. This week, we did exercises on painting real life, and it was really cool. The teacher really liked my work, and so did Taehwan. I really love his art style. Here, this is what he painted for me."

Yoojin took out her phone and showed him the picture she took of his painting when they were partnered up. Wooyoung nodded slightly but his eyes were cautious.

"He painted that for you? Do you talk to him much?" Wooyoung asked.

The girl sighed at his tone.

"We were partners for this. He's really nice though and he's a cool guy. I do sit with him and talk to him because he's my friend," Yoojin stressed that last word.

Wooyoung just took a bite of his food. Sighing, Yoojin put a piece of fishcake in his bowl – his favourite.

The boy glared at her, his heart fluttering like an uncontrollable storm. "Don't do that."

"You don't do that," Yoojin replied childishly. "Don't be angry at me."

"I'm not angry. I'm just – I'm sorry. Let's just forget about that."

Wooyoung knew that she didn't want another Youngbin. So, they continued eating and talked about the latest Kdramas.

They finished not too long after. It was slightly more expensive than they were used to, but Wooyoung insisted that he would buy. He managed to persuade the boxing gym owner to let him work part time there, which involved a lot of cleaning.

Once they left the restaurant, they walked to the nearby arcade. As soon as they entered, Yoojin drifted to the past – playing air hockey with a competitive Sooho on his birthday and watching him cheer when he beat her at the shooting games. She visited him earlier that week. He was still lifeless. However, it was reassuring to know that he wasn't forgotten as she could find recent traces of Sieun there with the flowers.

When Wooyoung saw the look in her eyes, he bit his lip, cursing himself.

"I'm sorry, we can go somewhere else if you like," Wooyoung suggested.

Yoojin shook her head. The flashing lights shot colour everywhere. It wasn't too busy, but the noise level still resembled a club – with music, laughter and sound effects alerting people of winning or losing.

"It's fine. It's just that I came here with Sooho on his birthday," Yoojin explained. "Let's just do the games that I didn't do with him."

Wooyoung nodded and they started weaving through the maze of alluring machines. The boy stopped shortly; his focus zoomed in on the punching machine next to them.

"Sooho did that one," Yoojin commented.

"I know he would've done that one. That's why I need to beat him," Wooyoung said.

Yoojin mentally face palmed. Boys will be boys. But at least she wasn't feeling like she was missing Sooho now and she was enjoying the present. Wooyoung put in the coin and stretched his arms. He moved back and then punched the black target as hard as he could. It slammed back and the numbers started spinning. Yoojin held her breath for him.

949. It didn't beat the high score of 960.

"I need to do it again," Wooyoung persisted.

He cracked his neck and stepped back. Gritting his teeth, he launched himself at the padded thing. The whack sounded louder than last time.

951. So, Wooyoung tried again. Yoojin shook her head but found it cute how serious he was. He kept doing it over and over again.

On maybe the seventh or eighth turn, he finally got 962.

"Yay, now we can move on," Yoojin pretended to be bored.

"I'm sorry," Wooyoung pouted. "What do you wanna do next? I'll follow you – I'll follow you to the end of the world."

"Please don't follow me to the end of the world."

Wooyoung chuckled and they chose the next game. It was a basketball one and they challenged each other. As they played, a chubby guy walked a little too close to them. Wooyoung immediately put his arm around Yoojin protectively and she inched closer to him, gently holding the bottom of his soft hoodie. Returning to the game, Yoojin won the first round, but Wooyoung clearly dominated the next few.

They went around the whole arcade having a blast and, in the end, they chose bags of lollies as the prize. Ten bags as big as a tissue box – perfect for Yoojin. Being with Wooyoung, she felt at home again.

"Thank you for the date," Yoojin said when they reached her home.

She quickly covered her mouth, but Wooyoung pretended he didn't hear it.

"No problem. I had fun too," the boy said. "See you on Monday."

She waved goodbye and he swiftly left.

The school week was boring, and life carried on. Yoojin and Wooyoung's relationship was still platonic, but it would take a dive into more near the middle of the semester. As everyone was frantically preparing for midterms, Yoojin was working on her art project at the academy.

It was a late Friday night, and she was alone in the room as most of the students had escaped already. Her mind was flowing with inspiration, and she wanted to get the main part done. It was a piece on a large canvas with various mediums, including paint, oil pastel and pencil. As she worked, she hummed a tune.

"You going home yet?" Taehwan stood at the entrance.

"I thought you already left," Yoojin said without looking up.

"Nah, I was just saying bye to the others."

While the two mainly just hung out at the academy and after it, they texted a bit during the week. He was also a good tutor when Youngbin wasn't around. They were quite close, but Taehwan secretly had a crush on the very friendly girl. When he asked her to help him pack up together the other day, she said 'yes'. And last week, when he cut his hand, she bandaged it up for him.

Taehwan walked over and sat next to her, watching her touch up her painting.

"Why aren't you going home yet?" Yoojin asked without taking her eyes off her work.

The boy sighed. "I don't wanna go home. There's... issues. And I don't have any friends or siblings I can really talk to about it. Can we get drinks tonight?"

She finally looked at the boy. His black hair was still parted evenly, but his eyes were droopy. Yoojin nodded and finished up the last part.

Once they packed up, they walked out and headed for Yoojin's place since Taehwan insisted on walking her home to clear his head. On the way there, they passed a convenience store, and he pulled her down to sit on one of the red tables out the front. He opened up his bag, pulling out two bottles of soju. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I snuck it from my fridge at home, and my parents didn't even notice," Taehwan explained, twisting open the cap.

He chugged down nearly half the bottle in one go. Yoojin's eyes went wide. Taehwan let out a breath, tilting his head back. The sky was dark and already twinkling with tiny stars. It was still quite warm though and the silence was like drifting through the sea on low tide.

"You want some?" he offered the bottle to her.

"Just one sip," Yoojin agreed.

She took the bottle and drank hardly anything. Even though she didn't like alcohol that much and knew not to be peer-pressured, she didn't mind having a bit every so often. Taehwan took a few more gulps of the strong soju, ready to drink the night away with open emotions. 

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