They’d always been that pair — the best friends everyone teased for acting like a couple but swore they weren’t. “The only ones who don’t know they’re in love are them,” their friends would say. Jungwon would roll his eyes, she’d change the topic, and life would go on — because denial was easier than admitting the truth.

Until the quiz bee.

She lost — for the first time. Watching her force a smile through disappointment, something in Jungwon shifted. When he pulled her aside to comfort her, he realized the ache in his chest wasn’t sympathy — it was love. Quiet, certain, and terrifying. The kind that whispered, I want to be the one who stays.

But she didn’t know that.

A week ago, she started avoiding him — suddenly, harshly, desperately. Because she realized it too. The jealousy hit her like a storm when she saw him laughing with another girl, and in panic, she thought that distance might kill the feeling before it bloomed. It didn’t.

Tonight, during their friend group’s birthday celebration, everything felt off. They usually sat beside each other, but this time, she chose a seat far away. And even worse — she kept drinking. She never drank much, but tonight, glass after glass, her cheeks flushed red.

Jungwon couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed the last shot from her hand. “You’re drunk,” he said gently, standing up and gathering her things. “Let’s get you home.”

Their friends called after them, worried, “Take care of her, Jungwon”

In the car, she slumped against the window, mumbling incoherent words — words that made his heart pound, because even through the haze of alcohol and rain, he swore he heard her whisper his name like it meant something.