Three months.

That's how long it has been since the day Jo Jonghwan had cut off his friendship with Anh Nguyen. Nonetheless, Jonghwan could honestly say that his heart is on the road to healing. In those three months, he had written a handful of songs, and even managed to perform a few at a local musician's concert. Things were finally starting to look up for him. Sure, there were still days where he would have no other choice but to sit next to her in class, and that was when he wallowed in self-pity (not that he ever showed it, of course). The end of the school year though was a relief to Jonghwan, who was already tired of sitting next to her every day being reminded that he had lost.

It was a nice, and cool first week of June and Jonghwan had spent most of his morning at the quiet, homely library in his town. His friends were currently AWOL. Rokhyun was out of town for vacation with his family, Hyukjin was abroad for the final round of a singing competition he was participating in, and Chanyong unsurprisingly had managed to score himself a date. So of course, reading a book sounded better than spending his time at home, listening to his mother complain about how he should get himself a girlfriend as he slowly died inside.

But it seems that even the day didn't want to have mercy on him as his plan to read an entire book by the end of the day was ruined by the fact that he had to take the long route around the entire town just to get to the library because of an unannounced road construction. Then, an entire hour was spent trying to look for a book that actually seemed interesting enough to read. By the time lunch came around, he decided to take a break, only to realize that he was barely a few pages past the middle of the novel. Yawning, he sets down '10 Steps to Living a Successful Life' on the table, and gets up, before a familiar figure rounds to corner with her nose in a book as per usual. Stopping in surprise, he tenses up.

“Oh, uh...Anh,” Jonghwan says rather forcibly once he recovers from his mini-shock attack. He attempted to sound cold and distant like the first time he acted around her before they ever became friends.

“Jonghwan,” Anh replies bluntly.

They share a moment of silence with each other, just acknowledging each others' presence. Taking a few steps forward, Anh decides to sit down on the chair across from where he was sitting at on the table, and places the book she was reading laid out in front of her. Not to seem rude, Jonghwan followed her in sitting down, but quickly hid the cover of the book he was reading underneath his sweater that was folded next to him. Pushing her glasses up, Anh decides to get straight to the point, “I'd like to speak with you, Jonghwan,”

Her sudden proposal makes him feel fidgety as he tries to find the words to say, “I was about to return this book,” Of course, he says this only because he wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible.

“I promise it'll only take a few minutes,” She reassures him rather lifelessly, her cold eyes locking into his own. Because of her hard gaze, he found himself unable to move, as if he were being restrained by a simple look. After giving her a tiny nod to continue on with what she was going to say, he patiently waits as se gathers up her thoughts. However, after a few minutes of silence, it seemed like she didn't know where to start, and the silence was starting to bother him. Propping his head up with his hand, he glances down at the book she was reading, only to find out it was another guide to solving math problems quickly and easily. There were a few papers sticking out with her handwriting on them, and he noticed that they were math problems. He scans her work, focusing on the first question:

Byul works at a local market, and is in charge of the fruit stand. One day, the storage shed burned down in a fire and she decides to rebuild it. She begins by buying twelve-

“I don't regret choosing Wonwoo over you,”

Upon hearing this, Jonghwan nearly faceplants onto the table as his elbow slides out from underneath him. Luckiy, he quickly recovers, frustration and annoyance mixing and keeping him in place. Inside, he really wants to yell at her and ask what she was doing here talking to him if she didn't regret her choice, but he held back and instead says, “I see. Well, congratulations... I guess,” Jesus Christ, if she didn't have anything better to say, she might as well not have bothered talking to him.

“Wonwoo tells me that if a person makes the right choice, they won't regret that outcome,”

“And do you think it's wise listening to Wonwoo?” Jonghwan asked, smirking to himself as he raised a questioning brow. Personally, he didn't think that Wonwoo was the brightest person on the planet compared to some, but either way, Anh didn't react to the bait. Her eyes shifted over to the side, focusing on the shelf to the left. Letting out a sigh, she looked back up at him, voice stern, “If I had to choose between losing you as a friend and losing Wonwoo, my choice would be the same a hundred times over,”

Silenced by her words, Jonghwan sat there wordlessly, unable to believe what he had just heard. In what kind of sick, twisted world would there be any reason for her to think that he wanted to hear this? Sure, he's had many sleepless nights where he wondered why he chose Wonwoo over him, but to hear it from her like that was astonishing. After all, Jonghwan had more in common with Anh that Wonwoo did, and there were still many differences between the two of them to not feel like they were dating themselves. Jonghwan was a studious student, and passionate musician, while Wonwoo was jealous, possessive, and just managed to get by. In the end, Jonghwan usually just settles his mental battles to the fact that compared to him, he was a lot colder, and distant than Wonwoo was. Wonwoo was warmth, and a boy with a large heart and innocence. Leaning back in his chair, Jonghwan tried to hide the hurt in his voice, “I understand, but if you could just ex-”

“Jonghwan,” she interrupts, redirecting her eyes back up to his and locks gazes. Her voice doesn't show any sign of hindrance for she never pleaded. Anh would never lower herself to that point, but she would ask politely. This was her way of requesting him to shut up nicely. Taking this hint, Jonghwan closes his mouth, and returns to glaring at her math problems.

“Honestly, I think Wonwoo is rubbing off on me. I've become rather selfish,” she crosses her arms and leans against them on the table. Taking a deep breath, she continues, “I've become rather selfish because while I don't reagret choosing Wonwoo over you, I'd be much happier having both of you rather than just having one of you,”

Shock runs through Jonghwan's system as his mind slowly processes what she just said. Did she just say that she wanted him too? Is that what she was saying? At this point, he really wasn't sure of what to say as Anh just looks at him unwaverinly as she awaits for him to react in any way or form. Eventually, she gives up waiting for some sort of answer from him and tucks a falling strand of hair behind her ear, “If it's okay with you, I'd like to renew my friendship with you, Jonghwan. Be like the people we were back then. Me not at least attempting to be friends with you again at least once in my life would be something that I'd regret, and I don't think I'd like that,”

The disbelief in Jonghwan's face has yet to start fading. Such an admittance like that was totally out of character for Anh. Sure, she had feelings of her own, but it was quite rare for her to actually show them, or even admit to them. That was exactly one of the main reasons why him and Wonwoo were running around the place when they were still trying to court the young girl. Right now, the only thing he could think of was that if the Anh Nguyen sitting in front of him was actually an imposter. Perhaps he might have fallen asleep from boredom while reading his novel and was currently fast asleep, and dreaming such a dream.

As if she could read his thoughts, Anh elaborates, “After thinking about it for a good three months, I've realized that my friends leave much to be desired when it comes to actual intellectual conversation. Wonwoo and Daoming are...well, you know. And Soonyoung and I don't really have many common interests that we can talk about, really,”

Quick, straight to the point, and efficient. Just like the Anh he used to know. Jonghwan wasn't going to lie though, he was somewhat a little happy over the fact that their separation had made an effect on her enough to actually sit and talk with him about how she didn't enjoy the gap between them (even though it was nowhere near as large as the one she left on his heart). But there was one thing that was holding him back from positively answering her question – and that's because he doesn't know how to be her friend. It seemed only yesterday that she was the girl that Wonwoo liked, and the next day, he found himself falling for her too. But now, he would have to start from the bottom to stabilize and reaffirm their shattered bond, and build it back up. Jonghwan wasn't quite sure how to do it, or if it was even worth it.

“I uh...have to return this book,”

A knot in Jonghwan's chest tightens as he watches her firm stance waver right in front of his eyes. Although her face was blank, he could see it in her eyes; the flash of hurt, sadness, and humiliation that passed through her gaze at his rejection. It was only there for a split second, but at least he had seen it was there. But it didn't take her very long to mask her feelings once again, “I see. Well, I guess I won't keep you then. Good bye...Jonghwan,”

“Take care, Anh,” he replies before standing up from his seat, bringing his belongings with him. Anh she didn't answer.

As Jonghwan walks away from the table, he could hear her rummaging through her bag followed by the light metallic tupping sound her pencil case made when she set it down on the table. Stopping in his tracks, he suddenly remembered something he had told her once, not too long ago. That there were only two types of people in the world: stupid people, and intelligent people. But standing here now, he wondered when he had crossed to the other side. Stopping about three aisles away from the table, still with his back turned to her, he says, “Anh...”

The sounds of papers rustling came to a halt as she stops moving to hear what he has to say. When he was sure he had caught her attention, he continues, “Your answer to the first problem...it's wrong,”

The corners of his mouth slightly tug upwards into a small smile as he vividly pictures her reaction to her wrong answer. He could see it now. Her eyebrows would furrow in confusion as she retraced her steps, finger sliding across her writing to make sure she was on the correct line. There was a moment of silence before he heard a little laugh, “Oh yeah, you're right,”

“You forgot to carry the four, and lost an X somewhere in the middle,” Jonghwan explained, “Of course, it's not like you to mess up on the first problem. I'm sure it was because of Wonwoo distracting you that you weren't in your right state of mind,”

By her silence, he took it as confirmation.

“You can't rush when you're rebuilding, Anh. Otherwise you'll miss even the tiniest little detail and end up getting it wrong in the end,” he said, peering over his shoulder. His eyebrows raised slightly when he realized that she was resting her chin on her hand and was watching him the entire time. That sweet smile he had fallen for played on her lips, which made him go crazy all over again. Finding the strength to smile back, he flashed her the cover of the book he was holding, “You've got to take things one step at a time. Think...baby steps,”

As er posture straightens, her smile grew slightly that made his heart race. She no longer looked like a puppy that had been kicked and dejected, “I see. Well thanks for telling me that. I'll be more careful next time,”

Rubbing the back of his neck shyly, he couldn't help but let the smile he had been holding back for so long appear on his face once more, “No problem. Good luck with your homework,”

“I'll see you around, yeah?” she asks, sounding a little bit hopeful.

“Of course,”

And once again, Jonghwan turns on his heel, walking towards the library exit to leave her at the table to finish working on her math problems. The moment he steps outside of the library, he looks up to the sky and realizes that the sky had darkened from a warm orange glow to a deep royal purple. But to Jonghwan, it seemed the world had just turned a little bit brighter.

---

i had my friend anh choose over her top two biases
and this was the result huehuehue