«how can I let you go»

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"Your boyfriend is very handsome, Yeeun."

With the way he was looking at Suho, the compliment was obviously not genuine. Wonbin

sounded as if he was mocking him, plus his eyes were fixated on Suho and Suho only. He clenched his jaw as Suho just stared at him instead of responding to the compliment.

"We should hang out sometime," turning his attention back to me, "I still have your number. You better still have mines," he said playfully in a threatening tone.

I nodded as I looked away from him. Wonbin didn't seem to notice my uncomfortableness and continued our conversation, "your boyfriend won't mind," he joked.

"No," Suho interrupted, "I do mind," he told him coldly. Wonbin's face reddened and he pulled his eyebrows together, "don't be so controlling," he laughed off.

Seojun suddenly dramatically stood up from his chair and held onto his book bag, "we have to go now," placing his hand gently on Suho's shoulder, "it's cold and we don't want to miss the bus."

I also stood up, smiling nervously at Wonbin as I tried walking past him, "it was nice seeing you," and I went straight to an impatient Seojun, while Suho was still staring at Wonbin.

"I'll see you later Yeeun," he waved goodbye and strolled over to his group of friends. Suho finally got up and looked at us both, who were already waiting by the door for him.

Suho peeked behind him as we walked out and made eye contact with Wonbin. He was whispering in his friends ear while repeatedly looking back at Suho.

"What a jerk," Suho mumbled as we wandered along the sidewalk. I nervously scanned my phone and looked for any angry text messages from my mother. I felt my heart nearly jump out of my chest as middle aged women walked past us.

"He gives me bad vibes," Seojun said, "something about him seems off," both him and Suho began chatting about how Wonbin has some evil in him, which they weren't wrong about because what kind of guy leads a girl on?

"He was trying to piss me off," Suho pointed out, "your boyfriend won't mind. So annoying," he mocked Wonbin's snarky remark. Seojun added, "I would've cursed him out if he was rude to me," spitting out insults towards my old classmate, "he is not even close to handsome! Why is he so cocky?"

Seojun then turned his attention to me, "how did you even like someone like him?" sounding disgusted in my choice of crushes. I spun around to face him, giving him an offended look, "he was much more different back then," somewhat defending him.

"Tsk tsk, you crush on the wrong guys," Seojun shook his head as he scolded me, "you should be going after guys who will treat you nicely."

Suho chuckled, "that's ironic coming from you," he turned his head to the side as Seojun shot him a look, chuckling silently while Seojun began bickering with him once again, "weren't you the same person who went after Yeeun knowing she's my girlfriend?"

" girlfriend," Suho corrected him. Seojun responded in a glare and continued, "so you're admitting it?"

Suho remained calm, "I didn't do anything wrong," glancing at him with a dull expression as he tried ignoring his antics. Seojun wasn't done interrogating him, "then why'd you invite her to your house, huh?"

I unzipped the small pocket of my book bag and took out my wired ear buds. Their quarrel was annoying me and I just wanted to block their voices out. I connected the ear buds to my phone and plugged them into my ears, playing a hard hitting song in order to avoid them.

I overheard muffled voices through my loud music, and eventually they got louder until I was pushed harshly. Irritated, my hands pulled out the earbuds and I spun around to face the two boys.

"What?" I yelled out. Seojun looked at me with a nonchalant expression, "where to now?" he asked curiously. All I could do was shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

As the boys just responded in silence, a smile slowly started forming on my face as I thought of the greatest place to visit, "let's go to a cat cafe!"

"I seriously hate this," Seojun leaned away from the excited cat coming closer and closer to him. I laughed at his displeasure and pet the cat passing by.

Suho only watched them and took small sips of his cup of coffee, meanwhile Seojun tried his best not to interact with any of them, "we couldn't have gone to the park? Why'd you choose this place?" he asked me in an irritated tone.

I glanced at him, "because I've been wanting to go here for such a long time," smiling at him as I thought back to all of the plans I made for myself before starting high school, "but I never had anyone to come with."

Seojun rested his back on the wooden chair and motioned his head to a black cat staring at me, "you should've dressed up as that for Halloween," giving a soft smile.

"I had no plans on going out," shaking my head at his suggestion, "what's the point of dressing up if I was just going to stay home all day?"

My eyes shot down to my phone as it lit up with a text message on my screen. I thought of the worst and began thinking my mother found out I skipped school, "oh my gosh," my voice muttered as I quickly reached out for my phone.

However it wasn't a text message from my mother, it was from Kang Wonbin.

"Hey," a simple greeting from him. I just stared at his text and felt uneasy about answering him. A part of me was afraid that he was going to lead me on again, but another part of me thought that maybe, just maybe, he wanted to be on good terms.

I finally typed back, "hi"

It wasn't long before he immediately responded. I could've just blocked him, or simply ignore him but I decided to open his message "we should hang out someday," he said.

I sighed and chewed on my fingernails, "oh sorry i can't im busy studying for the college exams"

"your bf wont let you hang out with me?? ㅠ_ㅠ"

I nearly gagged at his message. He really wants to hang out, huh? Seojun somehow noticed my reactions and bobbed his head, "what's wrong?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I immediately told him. Seojun snatched my phone out of my hands and squinted his eyes as he read our messages out loud, "woah," he gasped.

I reached out to retrieve my phone but he pushed my hands away, "he's a weird guy," laughing as he finally returned my phone. I glared at him before typing a message back, "no im just busy"

"come on lets hang out"

"sneak out your house like you used to whenever we would go to the park"

"your annoying," was all I could say. I should've just ignored him like any sane person would, but I thought of it as too rude. It would be nice to catch up with him, and he's not with Sohye anymore so it's not like I should still have a grudge on him.

"ill meet you at your house at midnight"

A panicked feeling overtook my body. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but there was no way I would be prepared to meet with him. What if I just breakdown and mention what he's done? Or fall for him again?

For the entirety of the time with Seojun and Suho, I was too focused on Wonbin. I could barely speak let alone look at them because all I could think of was Wonbin.

Even when I arrived home, I completely forgot about the fear of my mom finding out I skipped school. Thankfully she never found out, but it was weird I didn't even think of excuses I would give her once I stepped foot in the house.

I kept my eyes fixated on my window. Waiting for him to knock like he always used to whenever we would go on our walks. I found myself growing impatient as the time finally hit twelve.

A loud thump caused me to jump up from my bed. I turned my head and saw a smiling Wonbin shivering in his hoodie. My hands reached out to slide the window open and he immediately peeked his head inside, "you look warm," he joked.

I was already covered in a long black jacket with a pink beanie wrapped around my head, "you shouldn't have worn a hoodie," my voice softly spoke. I turned to reach for another one of my jackets but was pulled away, "it's fine. I can handle the cold," Wonbin told me.

I just nodded as he smiled at me. I swung my legs over my window and gently hopped off, but felt a pair of hands grab my waist once I landed. My eyes looked up and there was Wonbin staring at me.

"Didn't want you to fall," he muttered. I looked away as my heart began beating faster and faster. Wonbin leaned his face closer to mines and his grip on me tightened, "I missed you Yeeun."

My face reddened at his words, and I glanced back at him. I felt seventeen again as our eyes locked onto each other. Wonbin caressed my cheek slowly as he frowned, "I hope we can start over."

All of that pain and anger I felt when Wonbin told me he was with Sohye returned. I pushed him away from me gently and crossed my arms, "I don't know if we should," my voice spat out.

Wonbin glanced down at the ground, squeezing his eyes shut before speaking, "I was young and stupid," he explained, "but I promise you I'm not like that anymore," he cried out.

"But you don't under-," I tried telling him my reasons as to why I don't want to pick off where we left off, however he desperately cut me off, "shouldn't you choosing to come out here and meet me say enough?" he raised his voice, "Sohye was a mistake."

I stayed silent and allowed him to release his feelings. Even though it should've been me, I was the one hurting. Not him.

"Yeeun," he walked closer to me, "we're both mature now. We understand what we want in life and I want to try again with you," he quietly begged, "you can't give me just one chance?"

"No," I told him sternly. Wonbin held onto my arms and lowered his eyebrows, "don't be like that. I know you want to try again," he said in a low voice.

My eyes trailed down to his hands, which were holding onto me. A bunch of old memories came back and I found myself feeling guilty for treating him like this when he clearly has shown regret for his actions.

"This is your only chance Wonbin," I told him as my eyes glanced back up at him. The corner of mouths lifted and he then rested his head onto my shoulder.

We stayed like that for a few seconds. I felt a great sense of comfort I needed at this very moment. Being close to Wonbin like this again made me feel happy.

Wonbin slid his arms around my waist and pulled me close to his body. I stood not knowing how exactly to respond and let him continue what he was doing.

He lifted his head and met my eyes. I kept glancing down at his lips and felt butterflies in my stomach. I can tell he was waiting for me to make the first move, and with no self control, I pressed my lips onto his.

Heat rose to my cheeks as Wonbin massaged his hands up and down my back, and I rested my arm over his neck. The moment I have been lingering for made me completely forgot about the cold, it was just us two. Together again.