the walk was a bit silent, as they didn't talk much.

"the school year ends next week, i am relieved." changkyun spoke, breaking the silence.

"yep, and then the next school year starts in a month." shownu added on. "i'm kinda sad i'm graduating next year."

"how about you y/n, are you excited that you'll go to the same school as us, your cool friends?" jooheon asked, looking behind him.

"huh? oh, y-yes definitely!" she replied, looking up from the ground and smiled. "i'll be seeing you guys more often, which is very nice."

y/n thought about what he said. i wasn't mistaken when he called them my friends, right? she thought.

"we arrived at your destination, ms. chae y/n!" shownu playfully joked, gesturing his hands as if she was walking out of a car.

"thank you!" she giggled, walking by him and bowing. y/n started to walk to her front porch, but stopped her steps. turning around, she still saw the boys watching at her.

"jooheon," she called out.

"yes y/n?" jooheon slightly walked in front of the others.

"did you say that you guys were my friends?"

"of course, why?"

she started to smile, then ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"thank you, thank you." she kept on repeating, hugging, and crying at the same time. jooheon hugged her back and looked at the others for possible help. the others walked to the two and joined the hug.

"thank you so much for today, and i'm sorry about what happened earlier." she let go from the hug and slowly started to walk to the front door.

"it's our pleasure to talk with you, chae y/n." shownu replied. "we need a little distraction from all this training, and you've done a very great job at it."

she smiled as she put in the code to unlock the door. when the door opened, she bowed once more, then closed it behind her. the boys finally sighed in relief.

"well, minhyuk," shownu said, as the boys started to walk home. "do you finally have all the answers to your questions?"

"not all, but most of them you can say. i'm writing all of this in my diary."

"you're keeping track of all this?" jooheon asked.

minhyuk nodded. "of course i am! this is the closest i'm getting to the real world."

kihyun still had that unfamiliar feeling inside of him. what happened at the coffee shop would be a mystery to him. shaking his head, he tried to erase those thoughts from his brain.

~ time skips ~

"goodnight!" shownu announced, turning off the lights. everyone settled themselves into their beds, as they all felt tired and having the need to sleep.

after some time, jooheon checked if the others were still awake. after the coast was clear, he got his phone and started to text someone.

are you still up y/n? he texted. he got a quick response, which surprised him.

yes, why? she replied.

: i was just wondering if you're doing fine now

: of course i am, thanks

: before you go, i have a question

: what is it?

: how would you describe a friend?

: friends, huh?

: well, they're people you know you can trust

: they also stay faithful to you

: and they accept you for who you are

: so, what you said earlier, wasn't nonsense?

: absolutely not!

: why would i say such a silly thing?

: is it a problem?

: no, not at all!

: i just wanted to verify if i misheard something

: oh, well i'm glad i answered your question!

: y/n, it's getting late now. you should start sleeping soon!

: i wish i could, but i'm currently studying for my math exam tomorrow

: i need to do good on it, or my dad will yell at me

: well, i wish you the best of luck tomorrow on your exam. fighting! :)

: yes, thank you!

: it's no problem, good night, y/n!

: goodnight, jooheon!

jooheon smiled, reading the conversation they just had. he was relieved that she was doing alright after what happened earlier. he was also confused about why she asked about them being her friends since it was so unnatural for him.

"jooheon? why are you still up?"