"What you did put in it?"

Aera looked at the bottle of lemonade, which Seojun liked so much and was holding out towards him, with curious eyes before looking at him with offence. "Yah, when have I given you something that hurt you?" She complained, raising the plastic bottle, threatening the younger one with it, the taller one laughed before taking the object in her hands, not passing up the opportunity to brush his fingers with hers.

"What is the reason for such a humble act on part of the princess towards the ogre, Sinag?" The girl smiled sideways, taking the straps of her backpack with some force.

"You still remember my favorite pizza, and you sent me one last night, I guess that made me think I should do the same". She shrugged, Seojun smiled. "Thank you, Seojun".

And the truth was that he wasn't going to do it, he didn't even have in mind spending that tenner that he had in his pocket, but when Seojun was walking through a park looking for his sister, he saw Suho, when he saw him in that park with that disheveled girl, both having a coffee, he just watched closely, he had only planned to go home once Gowon arrived, but when he heard how the boy told Aera to fix things another day, something inside him raged.

Aera was not a bad girl, she was intelligent, sweet and fun in several ways, as well as talented, perhaps Suho was not cheating on her, however, he knew that they had problems, at least, at that moment, but that Suho preferred to leave with another girl rather than fixing things in their relationship made him see that he was still the same stupid boy as always.

Maybe he had good grades and was always in the first places, but intelligence was more than a number marked on a piece of paper. And Seojun used to think that Suho knew that, but it was clear that at that moment, he highly doubt it.

And yet you wanted to walk away Seojun, the story would be different if you had thought differently.

"Yes, well, if you read the note... You owe me eight dollars".

The girl looked at him, laughing a little before nodding, tilting her head with an innocent smile. "And you owe me three".

***

Aera and Seojun were walking side by side towards their classroom, they had sports in the first hour, so they had to go and leave their things in the classroom first, they had both gone to the classroom together since they had met at the entrance, so they didn't see the need to separate.

The boy had promised to bring her the cell phone the next day since he had forgotten it, he had hidden it from his nosy sister, and when he didn't see it next to his on his nightstand, he didn't remember it. Aera simply accepted that, she didn't mind not having it anyway, she wasn't a big fan of that device, besides, it helped her not to get too distracted, and now more than anything, she needed to have all her concentration on those sketches that her mother had left her in charge.

Which were still disgusting.

Her mother had given her a word " jackets " Aera's head could not think of many shapes or designs of jackets, she had created one, however, it had been three days since that great attempt, she had not achieved anything and her mother wanted, at least , four jackets and the name of what the collection would be, and it was almost time for her mother to return, she had to hurry.

Seojun held Aera before she stumbled when she saw someone hit her shoulder, looking to the side, they both noticed Jukyeong walking with a strange pose, Aera's eyes looked at her for a second before ignoring her, clenching her jaw a little, she walked in to the living room, without saying a word, her eyes rested on Suho for a second before looking away as if nothing had happened when she heard Seojun leave his bag on his table. "Should we go change now?"

The girl looked at him, nodding, Seojun smiled, taking a step back, leaving room for the girl to pass, and with a small bow, he pointed the way, as if he were a knight letting the princess pass. She looked at him with an amused smile before walking past him and prodding his forehead with her finger, leaving the room with a smile.

Seojun's eyes moved to Suho, who was looking at him with seriousness and almost impression on his features. He gave him a cocky smile, which made the boy even more upset.

He had waited for her in the classroom to talk, weren't they going to fix things?

***

Aera had lost in dodgeball, as always, she was smart and creative but she sucked at sports, even basketball, a sport that both Suho and Seojun liked to play, she had tried it once, it went wrong, so she kept the art, they kept the sport.

Aera's eyes landed on the boys' team, who were in the other corner of the field, noticing how they moved away a little, leaving only two boys in the place, throwing the ball at each other with force, the annoyance could feel. She could see it in the way they both seemed to want to hit each other with the ball.

Were Seojun and Suho upset? Of course, the same reason haunted them, Aera . Seojun shouldn't care, of course not, it was their relationship, but something his mother taught him was not to disrespect women, and he only thought of Suho dating another girl, after telling his girlfriend that he was busy, for Seojun, that was horrible disrespect, lying was horrible disrespect.

Much more so if you lied to someone who would trust you blindly.

And Suho was upset by the boy's presence in that place, in his life, in his girlfriend's life, Seojun was getting closer to Aera in a way that he didn't like, he didn't know the reason, but he didn't want him to get involved in his affairs, or approach her just to annoy him, lately, that was the only thing he did, annoy.

Although Seojun and her had been very good friends in the past, Suho knew that Seojun did not make those moves with her just to regain a friendship, which he never lost by the way, he knew that there was something much stronger behind it, there always was. And that was what he wanted to avoid.

Aera watched as Seojun was eliminated with a strong blow to the leg, and how, after giving a look of annoyance to Suho in front of him, his attention fell on her, smiling a little and then starting to walk towards her, Aera's eyes did not move away from him until she felt something lightly hit her legs. Looking down, she saw a ball fall between her legs. When she looked for the owner of it, her eyes could only see how Jukyeong ran towards her, stopping at the same time as Seojun stood in front of her.

Aera stood up from the ground, with the ball in her hands, ready to hand it to her, that was before Seojun stopped her, placing a hand on it. "Hey... We've seen each other before, right?" Jukyeong denied and laughed a little nervously, trying to take the ball, which Seojun did not allow. "Of course, you're the girl he almost killed that night, well... The other girl". He looked over his shoulder, noticing Aera avoiding Jukyeong's gaze.

Seojun tried to connect the dots at that moment, he knew Aera more than anyone and he knew that Aera never, ever looked away from someone, not even if she felt intimidated, unless she really wanted to avoid that person, that confused him, he thought about their conversation the day before, however, he couldn't do much before he saw how Aera pushed his hand to stretch her arms, so she could hand the ball to Jukyeong, which she must have done with too much force, because the girl stumbled and fell on hee butt to the ground.

Aera opened her eyes, ready to help her up, however, she couldn't do much before Seojun grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, hugging her. He turned his back to the other boys, closing his eyes when he felt the blow on his head, if it weren't for Aera reaching right up to his neck, their heads would have collided due to the rebound of it.

"Oh, Seojun..." The boy opened his eyes slowly when he heard Aera's soft voice, lowering his gaze, he fixed his eyes on hers, noticing even the smallest detail of her beautiful brown iris. "Are you okay?"

Seojun nodded slowly, without taking his eyes off hers, the girl was going to say something else before her body was abruptly pulled away from Seojun's, her arm was pulled with some force, making her walk away from the field, the "Uh" from the others made Aera look at the one who was carrying her arm in his hands. Suho.

She decided, tiredly, to walk behind Suho, knowing that sooner or later they were going to have to talk, although she really hoped it would be another way, or last night. Once they both reached the roof, the boy let go of Aera, sighing as he looked at the horizon, trying to calm his mind. "Stay away from Seojun".

"Excuse me?"

"He's trying to annoy me, stay away from him, Aera". Suho turned around, noticing how she had sat on a bench in the place, his girlfriend was looking at him in disbelief, as if he had said something stupid. "Seojun is not someone you should--"

"No, stop there". The girl stopped him, that was something she was not going to allow. "Seojun used to be your friend. And mine too". And it was true, they had been since before they started dating, she was not going to allow herself to walk away from someone who had been an important person in her life because of a fit of jealousy. "Don't start behaving that way. Seojun has nothing to do here, he is not the problem".

"It has nothing to do with it? Aera stop being so innocent, since he came back it seems like he's a stupid flea attached to you". Suho complained, looking at her with annoyance, expressing what he felt. "It wouldn't bother me, it wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the fact that you don't seem to remember everything he told us that night before he left".

What he said when you were present Suho.

"Stop...”

" Stop defending him". The girl swallowed, looking away. "Yesterday, you went after him instead of fixing... Whatever happened to us and--"

"Was I the one who didn't want to fix things?" Aera was upset at that, she wasn't going to let it go, she literally heard him with a girl the night before. "Tell me Suho, what was so important that we couldn't talk about things last night?"

Suho seemed to react, the girl's eyes widened in amusement as she watched him look down for a second. "I was studying..."

"With Jukyeong? Oh, no, no... Jubal, I'm sure Jubal--"

"What are you talking about?" The girl raised an eyebrow, laughing sarcastically.

"What? Are you going to deny that you were with one of them last night? Were you on an outing with some girl and that's why you refused to fix things with me?" Aera stared at him, Suho looked next to her, denying. "Look at me." She ordered. "Look at me and tell me that you were studying or tell me the truth and tell me that you were with Jubal on a date".

"It wasn't a date..." This one murmured, giving Aera what she wanted, her incredulous expression made him come closer, earning the girl to move away immediately.

"No".

"I only asked her for a comic, it wasn't an outing with other intentions, I don't like Jubal, Aera...". The boy said, trying to take the girl's hands, she pushed them away in annoyance. "Aera, it wasn't--"

"No, but apparently "asking a girl for a comic" is more important than fixing things with your girlfriend, right?" Suho denied.

The girl was upset, and maybe she wouldn't be so upset if it weren't for the fact that he knew how proud she was and how much it cost her to apologize, and he knew that he had been wrong, of course, he knew that and still, he decided to let her hang the call that night.

"I didn't know you were going to call, I asked her for the comic before and she already--"

"Is this how it's going to be now? Is it going to depend on what Jubal says? If she says no, are you going to go with me and--"

The boy interrupted her, putting his lips on hers, leaving a slow but passionate kiss in which he sighed as he felt how she followed his movements. Suho's hands rested on his girlfriend's cheeks, once he decided to separate from her, his nose joined hers hands, rubbing her cheek affectionately. "No, it won't be like that. Sorry, forgive me, I'm so sorry, I never thought... It was stupid, it's my fault, it is... Sorry". The girl swallowed hard, looking down at him, feeling Suho lower his hands from her face, hugging her waist with them, the girl put her arms around his shoulders, thus creating the hug that Suho expected to receive with strength and warmth. "I love you... I really do, forgive me for not thought, it won't happen again, never again, I promise my Aera".

The girl nodded, still feeling that discomfort in her chest, knowing that something was not right.

***

"Little Sinag". Aera stopped when she saw Seojun standing in front of her with his typical cocky boy smile. "I have something for you".

The girl looked at him confused. "What is it?"

Seojun's eyes left hers for a second to look behind his back at an image that made his blood boil. Aera was going to turn around when she saw how the boy remained silent and his eyes seemed to darken, as if he were upset, before that happens, the boy quickly grabbed her face and turned it towards him.

"I just remembered that I left it in the classroom. Come on". He quickly moved behind the girl, pushing her by her shoulders so she could walk and get away from that unpleasant scene.

Because yes, once again, Seojun felt that helplessness in his system. Lee Suho was making him angry again.

The boy stopped once they ran into his group of friends. He smiled with excitement and relief knowing that his plan to keep Aera away was going to work. He didn't want the girl to see her boyfriend walking towards the bathrooms with the girl that caused her some insecurity.

"Chorong! Well, go and show her what I told you to show her, which is NOT near the bathrooms on the first floor". He pushed Aera towards the group of boys, who looked strangely at Seojun, but when he gave them a warning look, the group let out an "Ah" pretending that they knew what he was referring to, although in reality they didn't have idea of ​​what they had to do. "Good, take her".

"Hey, no, s--"

The girl couldn't finish, the group dragged her with them through the long corridors of the place while they went back to making their usual bustle, and as they heard, they avoided the bathrooms, or the entire first floor, at all costs.

Seojun looked over his shoulder once he saw how the girl disappeared from his sight along with the group of teenagers, deciding, the tall boy walked towards the bathrooms, knowing that he would find his target there. "You like to play with your girlfriend's trust, right?" Seojun said once he stopped behind Suho, putting his hands in his pocket as he tilted his head, a serious look was reflected in his eyes.

The other boy turned around, looking at Seojun with expressionless eyes. However, he was already annoyed enough with the taller one, which is why Seojun smiled a little, knowing that Suho was holding back his urge to punch him. "Was Aera the reason you came back here, Seojun?"

The black-haired guy raised an eyebrow, letting his head return to its normal state. "Why should I tell you? Are you worried that this is the case?"

"You seem too interested in everything that happens in our relationship, you were never interested before. Why now do you suddenly want to be so close to her?" Seojun laughed funny, he really found it funny that he was arguing about his intentions with Aera when he had literally rejected her the night before for going to meet another girl in a park. "Mind your own business and stop sticking your nose in my relationship, and Seojun..." Suho approached the boy, noticing how he looked at him almost superiorly. "Stay away from my girlfriend".

"Why can't she have a friend, who has been with her the longest, it should be emphasized, and you can even have dates in parks with your new friends, Suho? I don't see it very fair." Suho frowned upon hearing him say that, making Seojun smile, as if he had won some kind of game. "The one who decides whether she walks away or not is Aera, not you..." He pointed out, moving his shoulders, as a sign that he was going to have the last word in that conversation. "And I really hope she decides to walk away... I hope she decides to walk away from you, Lee Suho".

With that, he turned around, walking away from that place, Suho watched him turn a corner, disappearing from his sight, and that made him clutch his jacket tightly, looking at the ground helplessly.

Why did he have to get involved with us now? Why didn't he do it sooner?

***

"I'll go to the comic store, I'll return some volumes that the owner lent me. See you later?" Aera nodded, smiling at Suho after he said goodbye, leaving a small kiss on his cheek.

The brunette watched him walk away, thinking about whether it would be a good idea to do what she had in mind, she didn't want to be intrusive, of course not, much less did she want to seem like one of those people who are a little crazy in the head, she wanted to trust, however, her mind and heart would not be comfortable if she didn't do it.

"It smells like burning rubber here, ah, it's you" Seojun's voice made her look at him for a second, seeing how he moved his hand over her head, as if he were moving the smoke away from something, pushing him a little due to the reason for his actions, she heard him laugh gracefully before turning back her eyes on her boyfriend's back. Seojun noticed that, of course, making a face of displeasure, but he wasn't going to lie that it caused him some joy.

Keep doing things wrong and let me fix them.

"Shouldn't he take you home? It is dangerous for you to walk the streets alone at this hour". He put his hands in his pockets, tilting his head, also looking at Suho's back.

"It seems he has things to do". She murmured with some sadness in her tone, and Seojun didn't know what happened, but that made his chest hurt, even the girl's eyes looked dull and a little trembling, he didn't like that expression, for two reasons: one, Aera had such thin skin that when she had an unusual expression on her face, the wrinkles on her forehead were noticeable and she didn't look good, and two, her eyes had always been expressive because they were large, and seeing them without that usual happy glow, it made him feel strange.

No, he didn't like it. "If I ask you for help with something, would you help me?"

"Of course, my beautiful Sinag". He answered without hesitation before making a face and looking at the girl with open eyes. "Except if it involves committing a crime, I couldn't let you get into any trouble that I can't get you out of". This one said, his helmet still on his arm while he took his hand out of his pocket and put it on his hip, waiting for the girl's words.

Aera looked at Seojun, something inside her told her to ask him, because she knew that he, of all the people she knew, was the one who would least judge a topic like that. "Will you accompany me to follow Suho? I... I want to check something".

Seojun raised his eyebrows, looking back to where Suho had gone before turning back to the girl. "Do you want to know if he's is cheating on you? It is very likely that he is doing it". He shrugged his shoulders, looking at his motorcycle in the distance, feeling a blow on his arm, smiling knowing that he had eased the atmosphere between them a little.

He didn't like that Aera felt uncomfortable around