PEOPLE SAY at some point in their lives, humans go back to being a child.

Jeon Jeongguk is afraid of something. Something that might happen during the interview. That something remained uncertain, and it drives him insane. He had to check if everything is okay.

Everything went in slow motion once he stepped in the eatery. He stood near the entrance for a moment. Like a lost kid in the woods, he grasped the scenery. It seems too crowded, too loud for him. Everyone's talking in their seats, waiters walking there and here, and there's a small dog running around a certain space. It made the young lad question if he's in the right place.

At last, Jeongguk found the one he was looking for.

Seoyeon's eyes are twinkling with mirth, and the crescent shape on her lips is genuine. It's beautiful. Her little laughs contribute on its gracefulness. She's beautiful. But the sad part is her smile is not meant for him.

The faint curve that crept on his own lips slowly fades away as the sight of the older guy burdened his eyes. His world pauses, unintentionally disregarding the waiter who asked him if he likes a table for two. He solely focuses on his bestfriend and his former. Looking at them, he could tell that they will make a good couple. Both of them have a stable job, plus the little similarity of their personalities— which is too dry that it makes them funny.

He then looks down and sees himself. He marveled his eyes from his shoes up to his torso. Jaggerpants in a grand restaurant? No wonder some people have their eyes on him. A half suppressed laugh broke out of his lips, shaming his ownself for showing up in a place like this.

He took a step back and was ready to leave them behind, quietly. They look fine. But another glimpse of her bright smile drew him back to his place. What if it's gone after this?

"You didn't attend the vigil, even for once, hyung. Though it lasted for a week."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You told me in a text that you're bedridden."

"I know."

"One of those days, I went to a store to buy coffees for the visitors."

"What's the connection, Jeongguk?"

"It puzzles me, hyung . . . How come I saw you there when you claim you're bedridden?"

He clenched his fists not because of fury, but because of his attempt to suppress the overwhelming bewilderment that is forming inside him. Is this the right thing to do? Memories taught him that it's not a good idea for the two adults to become closer. Jeongguk is afraid that Yoonki might become the sole reason of Seoyeon's tears in the future. He can't afford to let that happen.

And that left him no choice.

Jeongguk is a human too, and this is the point where he ought to act like a child.

"It's better to start the interview, right?" Yoonki's chuckles rung in his ears as he walks towards them. Hearing it after a long time, it felt uncomfortable.

"No, hyung." Jeongguk said, gently lifting his bestfriend's wrist. Yoonki's small laughter died out as he averted his gaze from Seoyeon to him, truly surprised that he got to see him once again. "We got something to do." The young lad added.

Poets say eyes are the window to the soul. But their eyes are great actors. None of them can read each other's mind, they have no idea what one another is thinking.

"I apologize. There must have been a misunderstanding." Seoyeon professed between nervous laughter, slapping the latter's hand on her wrist. Her forced smile made her eyes almost disappear. She leaned her head closer to the younger, "What are you doing?" She whispered with gritted teeth before going back to her old position, remaining smiling. The heck.

Jeongguk ignored her question despite the clearness of her voice. "There's an emergency at home. She has to go with me." He himself is surprised that he's able to lie continuously without stuttering.

"You're . . . living together?" Yoonki's eyes looking back and forth between her and Jeongguk show how puzzled he has become.

"No, no! Only next to each other." Seoyeon corrected, looking back at the younger. Her raised eyebrow and sharp gaze speak to him in behalf, asking him if he's out of his mind. What the heck is he saying?

Yoonki glanced sideways and hid his lips with the back of his hand, concealing his uncontrollable laughter as he finally understands what is happening. Jeongguk is lucky enough that Yoonki is not slow witted.

This kid. I thought he has a girlfriend.

"It's okay. Just send me the questions through email, I'll answer it truthfully."

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Seoyeon is sometimes comparable to a time bomb.

They exited the restaurant silently.

They rode a bus silently.

They got to their neighborhood silently.

Both of them remained quiet until they reached Seoyeon's gate. The sudden stop of her footsteps made the latter bounced on his shoes, doubling the pace of his heart rate.

Like a time bomb, the young lady knows when to explode. The only difference is that she does it little by little. Jeongguk knows he has messed up.

Seoyeon turned around, not surprised to see him with hunched back, eyes glued on the roughened surface of the ground. "We got something to do? Emergency? What? . . . Is it the English tutorial?" Her calm voice opposes her withering look. The younger lowered his head more.

The older scoffed with her hands against her hips, as her eyes scrolled skyward. She looks at the stars above in attempt to find something that will lighten the mood somehow. But nothing is helpful. "Aigoo. You're so loud back there." She looks down, observing the guilty visage of the latter. She inhale and then blew the hair strands that blocked her face in annoyance.

"I'm sorry." Jeongguk muttered. He tried to look back at her, but her sharp gaze kept him stiff.

"As you should be." Seoyeon added to his words as she glared daggers. "What's wrong with you?"

That question.

It's the hardest of them all.

Jeongguk would rather be shouted at until his ears fell off, than to answer that question. What do I say? He questioned himself. Tell her that she might be wasting her beautiful smiles to a wrong person? People may call it an exaggeration, but he finds it difficult to tell the truth since he has no idea if his point of view is right in the first place. He himself knows that he made the stupidest decision ever, and that he should have let them continue the interview.

"Jeongguk."

"Y-yeah?"

"Yeah?" Seoyeon sneered at his response. "Answer me. Do you have a problem with him? I thought the two of you were close to one another." Her voice is almost hard to make out due to her elongated pouty lips.

Jeongguk closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell with a deep sigh. He tried to compose words in his mind, but nothing is making out of it. As his lashes swept up, he finally managed to look his bestfriend in her eyes. From there, his world suddenly moves slower.

He stood there, trying to continue listening to her sermon. But he failed for he was completely drowned in mesmerisation. He stared at her for a moment. It was her eyes that captured his attention the most. Such doe-eyes before him gave him warmth. It's gentleness took over the harshness of her words.

He discovered the real problem at last.

"I was . . ."

"What?"

"I . . ."

"Answer me clearly!"

"I was jealous."

Seoyeon is dumbfounded. The redness of her ears is not the result of her anger, but the effect of the emotion she's unsure of. "Y-you were w-what?" Her eyes shot him a disgusted glance and mouth agape. Soon her gaze follows the young lad as he walked past her— on his way to his gate—, aiming to escape another problem he just created.

"Yah. Jeon Jeongguk!" She called his full name, indicating that the matter became more serious and ridiculous. "You're scaring me!" Her eyes went bigger than before. She crossed her arms against her chest. Her body is shivering, and it's not because of the cold.

Good job, Jeongguk. Good job. The young lad gave himself a quick slap, before proceeding to open his gate, leaving the older one frozen.

"Unbelievable." This abrupt, unexplained situation made the young lady speak in English. As Jeongguk disappeared from her sight, she wonders if she can sleep tonight.

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"How do you read the title again?"

"La vie en rose, meaning . . ." He wrote on a piece paper using a thin marker, showing it to the younger thereafter. "life in happy hues."

Yoonki closed his eyes, letting the music fill his mind without effort. It reminds him why he loved the sounds of notes, why he still kept the piano all this time. It's like he fell in love for the first time.

For the past few days, Jia has proven to him that she is indeed a fast learner, that every hour that he has spared with her is worth it. As the young lady played the end note of the piece, he gradually opened his eyes and saw the smile that crept on her face. They are currently sitting next to each other on the broad, dowdy piano stool. "Are you that proud?" He queried with a faint beam sneaking out of his lips.

"Maybe." She chortled, flipping the pages of the sheet music. "I think I found my new favorite piece."

"You say that every time." He simpered. He turned his face away, reaching something from his pocket. "Bear in mind, that's the easiest version of the song." Said he, withdrawing a box of cigarettes and a white lighter.

He was about to pull out a cancer stick when Jia spoke. "That's unhealthy." Said she, still anchored her attention on the sheet music.

Eyes retraced their path to the young lady, Yoonki once again simpered. Gently, he stopped her from playing by holding both of her hands, setting it aside as he closes the fallboard with his freehand. Up went her brows when confusion comes to her. "Why?" She asked. She was caught off guard.

With a sly grin tucking his lips, he placed the box of cigarettes and the fuse on top of the fallboard. "It sucks, right?"

Jia scoffed in disbelief. "What? I just told you it's unhealthy."

Yoonki unglued his eyes from her. As the hue of the wooden piano reminded him of the steak he ate few days, he recalled something unforgettable. "How's Jeongguk as a boyfriend?" His abrupt question caught the young lady off guard again.

"Oh . . . Well . . ." Jia swung her restless gaze, looking for answers— from the couch, the clock, the wall— yet she wasn't able to come up of flowery words. "He's sweet."

"Really? He's not the type of a guy who will storm in suddenly because jealousy?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Nothing." Yoonki tilted his head and shrugged his shoulder at once. He proceeded to pull out a cigarette in the time being. "I'm just curious." He smiled, putting the toxic stick between his lips. In hopes to taste the sweetness of smoke, Jia's fast movement caught him off guard this time.

With her palm, she slides the lighter on the flattened surface of the fallboard, pulling it away from him. Hereafter she grabbed the thin marker from the top of the piano and wrote something on the said fuse.

"Y.K.?" Yeonki had a hard time in pronouncing English alphabets that are freshly written on the lighter, yet he still managed to do so.

"Ask me why."

"Why?"

"Nothing." Jia mocked. "I just want a souvenir." Like magnets, Yoonki's eyes travelled and followed Jia behind while she stood and went near to his couch.

He pulled the cancer stick down from his lips and sniggered behind her back, as she crossed her legs on the floor and reached for her backpack that is sitting on the said couch. She put the marked lighter in its pocket, pulling something out of it in return. "Here. Have this instead." She kidded. She lifted her hand, showing off her one-week-old lollipop.

Yoonki hunched, smirking, as he lingered his eyes on her for the longest time. Words begun to fill his head, eager to escape his mouth, that he may or may not regret later.

"I have my guitar here. Do you want to—"

"Your full name is Yoon Jia."

"Mhm." She hummed, dusting off her guitar case. "Why?"

"Your father is Yoon Gunho." Yoonki speaks like nothing's wrong about it. "The murderer of your boyfriend's father."

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a/n i dedicate this to btsarmysocutie for appreciating this book. thank you so much, love! <3