Desire

3. Not over it

As the days passed, Eunwoo found herself growing closer to Seungmin, and eventually Felix and Jisung too.

The more time she spent with them, the more she realized they weren't just Hyunjin's "sidekicks" as she'd once thought. They were funny, genuine, and often managed to pull her out of the brooding cloud that seemed to follow her.

One afternoon, as she and Felix were headed to their business class, Eunwoo leaned over with a mischievous grin. "Think we could skip today?"

Felix chuckled, shaking his head. "I can't. I actually care about my grades, believe it or not."

"Hey, I care about mine too!" Eunwoo protested, faking an innocent look.

Felix raised an eyebrow, giving her a playful shove. "Right, and I'm sure you're just dying to learn about business analytics."

"Go to class, Euna" Seungmin teased, reaching over to flick her forehead.

"Ow! Stop calling me Euna!" she grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

Felix smirked, shrugging. "Why not? Eunwoo sounds like a guy's name or something. Euna has a better ring to it."

"Yeah, well, it's my name and I like it," she argued, folding her arms.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, grinning. "Of course, you like it. Sharing a name with the Cha Eunwoo?"

"Oh, shut up! It's not because of him," she huffed, crossing her arms and turning her nose up.

Felix snickered. "Whatever you say, Euna. We all know you're just secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him someday."

They laughed as they made their way down the hall, and for a moment, Eunwoo felt a warmth spread through her chest.

It felt strange to be part of a group again, laughing and joking without constantly feeling the weight of whispers or sideways glances. Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung had a way of making her feel comfortable, even if they sometimes drove her a little crazy.

Slowly, Eunwoo was starting to remember what it felt like to have friends who genuinely cared.

As they settled into their seats in an empty class, Felix leaned over with a conspiratorial grin, his voice barely a whisper. "So... you joining us after school? Jisung found this spot where we can just hang out and chill."

Eunwoo rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Funny you think I'd actually be willing to join."

"Come on, for us?" Jisung chimed in, his eyes wide with a faux-puppy-dog look.

She snorted, crossing her arms. "As much as I appreciate you guys, we're not exactly at the 'willingly spend extra time together' level if it means including a certain someone. No offense, of course."

Seungmin shook his head, sighing. "You're so annoying. I swear, you and Changbin would get along perfectly."

Felix's face lit up. "Right? Changbin or—wait, no, Minho. Yeah, definitely Minho!" He waggled his eyebrows at her, smirking.

"Minho?" Eunwoo raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance as she gave Felix a light shove. "Never heard of him"

"Oh, come on! The Lee Minho?" Jisung leaned in, looking at her in disbelief.

She grinned, playing dumb. "The actor? Yeah, I know him. He's kind of hot, sure."

Seungmin slapped a hand over his face, groaning. "Not the actor, Eunwoo!"

"Wait, from XO, Kitty?" she asked, her eyes widening in mock surprise.

Felix threw his hands up, laughing in exasperation. "Oh my gosh, why is it so hard to talk to you? Our Lee Minho. He graduated last year."