1.1

After her conversation with Wonwoo, Areum walked back to class, and she apologized to the rest of the group. They ended up forgiving her. The guys ended up going to the arcade, but they didn't invite Areum. They didn't trust her, not yet.

For two weeks, Areum always waited for Wonwoo in the morning to pick her up, but he never showed up. I guess he wasn't ready to go back to their old routine yet. She ended up taking the bus to school.

Today was Friday, and Areum found herself standing in front of Wonwoo's locker, hesitating. She had thought about this for days, what to say or do to show him that she meant what she said—that she would do anything to fix their friendship, no matter how long it took.

Wonwoo and Areum didn't spend every moment together like they did before, they started small. Areum would text him sometimes, and they would share a short conversation between classes. Wonwoo had stopped avoiding her entirely, but there was still a wall between them.

When Wonwoo showed up, he looked at her, his expression unreadable. He didn't speak right away, he waited for her to say something first.

His heart still did backflips whenever he saw her, she still makes him nervous, it's just that he couldn't show her how much he loved her. He was scared.

"Hi," she greeted, her voice quiet. "Can we talk before the guys join you?"

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Sure, what's up?"

"I miss you," she began. "I want to fix this. I'm not asking for things to be the same as before, but I want to try."

Wonwoo stared at her for a long time, his eyes softening just slightly. "I miss you too, but I'm not sure. I can't forget how it felt when you chose him over me."

Her heart ached as she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "I know... I'm sorry..."

Wonwoo stared at her for a moment, his heart breaking, before he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"How about you come over today and we study together?"

Areum's heart skipped a beat. "Really?"

"Yeah." He nodded, still kind of hesitant. "I guess we should actually start talking so we could trust each other again."

"Yeah, we should."

After school, Wonwoo and Areum drove together to his place. She was hit with the familiar smell of his mom's cooking as soon as she walked in. They ate together with Wonwoo's family before heading upstairs to his room.

They sat down at his desk, their books and notes scattered everywhere, but they weren't really paying attention to the notes in front of them. Every now and then, their eyes would meet, and then they'd quickly turn away.

"I never should've let you go," Wonwoo blurted out of nowhere.

"Huh?" She looked at him, startled.

He rubbed his temples, clearly frustrated with himself. "I should've fought harder. I should've made you see what you were doing. I could've tried harder to make you understand."

Areum shook her head gently. "What? No. This isn't your fault, I was the one who pushed you away. You tried, and I didn't listen, and I regret it every single day."

Wonwoo glanced up at her, his eyes softening, and his heart beating so fast. "I don't want to get hurt again, Areum," he said softly. "I don't want to give you everything and watch you walk away again. You have no idea how much it broke me."

But Areum knew.

She knew how she broke him.

Because the moment he walked away from her, she never left. She wanted to pull him back and apologize to him, but Hajoon appeared right in front of her before she could chase him. Her best friend.

While Hajoon was talking about something stupid—because he never really talked about anything important—her eyes followed Wonwoo. She watched as he got inside his car, she watched as he slammed the wheel over and over again, she watched as he cried his eyes out, for ten minutes straight.

Areum hated herself so much.

She was surprised Wonwoo forgave her, and the other guys too, because she never really forgave herself.

"I won't walk away," she promised. "I won't leave you ever again, and I'll make sure you always know that."

There was a long pause, before Wonwoo's shoulders slumped as he let out a long sigh. "Okay," he said quietly. "We'll take it slow."

And for the first time in weeks, or even months, Areum felt like she could breathe again. She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but she needed to rebuild their friendship.

Wonwoo stole glances at her every now and then, and she had a huge grin on her face that never disappeared, which made his heart beat faster. He couldn't stay mad anymore, he was in love with the girl.

They didn't talk about Hajoon or the past. Instead, they did what they always do together—they studied, and cracked a few jokes every now and then.

Slowly, but surely, it felt like they were finding their way back to each other.