Third person's POV (Point Of View)
Ha-ri rested her head on Ji-seo's lap, deep in sleep. Ji-seo brushed Ha-ri's hair away from her face, staring at her calm features.
"She looks so peaceful," she muttered with a small smile on her face. Min-ho stared at the sleeping girl before letting out a scoff.
"Yeah. If anyone sees her like this, they will think she's a calm, spirited girl, not knowing she's like a rabid dog," he said with a small smile.
"You guys were friends when you were younger, right?" Ji-seo asked before she could stop herself. Ha-ri has always told her that Min-ho and Taemin's childhood is a sensitive topic for both of them, and here she was asking him a childhood-related question.
Min-ho stayed silent, and Ji-seo figured he didn't want to talk about it. She immediately wanted to change the question to lift the awkward atmosphere she'd created, but she couldn't think of anything to say.
Just as she was about to say something, Min-ho spoke up, "Yeah, we were friends. She was so feisty as a kid, but she's worse now."
Ji-seo let out a giggle after hearing his words. "No way," she said, refusing to believe her best friend was like that as a kid.
"I'm not kidding. I remember one time when I accidentally ate her snacks, and she gave me a hard time because of that," Min-ho said, glaring at the sleeping girl.
"Well, that's your fault, so her reaction was justified," Ji-seo said, defending her friend. "Do you want to know what she did?" He asked, looking at Ji-seo with disbelief, wondering how she could be so defensive of this feisty girl.
"Okay, then. Tell me," Ji-seo said. "After I ate her snacks, thinking it was mine, she stomped towards me, and she was a chubby kid then, and she was a bit taller than me. So imagine what toddler me felt when I saw her approaching me with great speed." He explained, remembering that day.
Ji-seo laughed at his words, trying to imagine a chubby pea-sized Ha-ri. "And what happened next?" She asked, nudging him to continue.
He let out a small laugh, "Then Taemin jumped in between us and said that he also ate part of her snacks with me, and she ended up beating us both. She knew he didn't eat her snacks, but she still beat him up because he was defending me, and kept saying, "You didn't out of my snacks, but you will eat up the punches I'm giving you." And her punches actually hurt. I don't know how a little kid could punch someone like that," he said in between laughs.
"What was Taemin thinking? But that was a very cute thing for him to do," Ji-seo giggled. Min-ho stopped laughing and turned to Ji-seo, studying her features.
'Her mood seemed to have brightened by hearing Taemin's name. Are they a couple?' He said inwardly.
"Are you and Taemin a thing?" He asked before he could stop himself. Ji-seo stopped laughing and turned to him in confusion.
"No. We're just friends. Why did you say that?" She asked in confusion. Min-ho looked away from her face and stared at the stream ahead, "It's nothing, but you brightened up at the mention of his name."
"Oh, I just thought his actions were cute. Nothing more to that," Ji-seo explained. After explaining, her brows furrowed in confusion. 'Why am I explaining this to him anyway?'
"Oh, you guys are friends? That's nice. It's nice to see him making friends," he said with a relieved sigh. Ji-seo looked at him in confusion, 'What does he mean?'
"And you?" She asked. Min-ho looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was asking. "You don't have any friends. No offense," she quickly added.
Min-ho gave her a weak smile, "Is there any need to have one?" Ji-seo looked at him in shock, "You're joking. Of course, there's a need. You're in high school. You need to have at least one friend."
"And who made that a thing?" He asked. "Don't you feel lonely?" She asked softly. Hearing that, Min-ho thought deeply.
He feels lonely when he sits alone during lunch, he feels lonely during P.E classes when everyone would be hanging out with their friends, he feels lonely when he hears his classmates joke around, and he feels lonely during free periods in school, but he just pushes that feeling down by burying his head in books.
Ji-seo, noticing him silent, thought she had crossed a line by asking him that, "I'm so sorry I said that. I-" She began apologising, but Min-ho shut it down by shaking his head, "No, you're right. I do feel lonely," he said with his head bent low.
"Well, you can join us when we're hanging out!" Ji-seo offered with a smile on her face and a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Min-ho stared at her for a bit, studying her features.
"Cute," he muttered out loud before he could stop himself. "What?" Ji-seo asked, not hearing him properly. He quickly looked away from her and cleared his throat, his cheeks heating up.
"I said okay. But I won't quickly get comfortable with you guys. I have to settle in with the new change," he said, staring straight ahead. He just hoped that his cheeks weren't red; that would be so embarrassing.
Ji-seo's eyes widened in shock. "Really? Oh, that's good. Don't worry, I'll make sure you settle in quite well," she said with a huge smile on her face.
Min-ho couldn't help but look at her again, before letting out a light chuckle, "You are quite opposite from Ha-ri," he said, referring to her character.
"What do you mean?" Ji-seo asked. "You are silent when you meet new people, but when you get comfortable with them, then you are bubbly. As for Ha-ri, she's like an ambulance siren even when meeting people for the first time," he said with a smile.
"Hey, stop making fun of my friend," Ji-seo jokingly warned. Min-ho laughed, and Ji-seo stared at him in curiosity. He noticed her stare and raised a brow, "What?"
"Nothing. It's just this is the first time I've seen you break your shield. Your laugh is really nice," Ji-seo said with a smile.
Min-ho stayed silent, not knowing what to say after that. Ji-seo quickly panicked, "Oh, I'm so sorry."
"Oh, no, it's nothing. Don't apologise. It's the first time anyone has ever told me that, so I didn't know how to react to that. But thank you," he quickly said, calming her down.
Ji-seo was about to say something when she heard Taemin calling out to her. She turned and saw him standing where they came from with Mr Song and Dae.
"Hey, Ha-ri, help is here," she said, shaking her friend awake. Ha-ri woke up and looked at her friend in confusion, but noticed Dae standing with Taemin.
"Oh, Baby!" She exclaimed and got up and ran to him, "I was so scared. I thought I wouldn't leave here today," she cried into his arms. Dae smiled at her cuteness and crouched down, "Get on," he said. Ha-ri nodded her head cutely and got on his back and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
Taemin stared at the distance between Ji-seo and Min-ho, "Why are they too close?" He mutterred before making his way to Ji-seo.
Ji-seo got up and hugged him, "Our hero," she said into his arms. "How long have you been out here?" Mr Song asked.
"After dinner," Ji-seo quickly replied. "You three would be in trouble when we get back," he said firmly. "No, wait, Min-ho didn't follow us here. He came here a few minutes ago to help us get back to the camp, but we got lost," Ji-seo quickly explained, not wanting Min-ho to get in trouble when he was just trying to help them.
"He did a bad job saving us, by the way. So useless," Ha-ri said, glaring at Min-ho. "I guess Min-ho was right about you, Ha-ri. Who would have thought?" Ji-seo said, hinting at her earlier conversation with Min-ho.
A small smile appeared on Min-ho's face, and it caught Taemin's attention. 'They had a conversation together? And he even smiled when she brought it up again. What did they talk about?' Taemin said inwardly.
He crouched down, "Get on," he said to Ji-seo. Ji-seo looked at his back for a moment, "No, thank you. I can walk," she said, turning him down.
"And they say chivalry is dead," Taemin said, and rolled his eyes. He didn't get up from his position, showing Ji-seo that he won't go down without a fight.
Ji-seo, noticing his stubbornness, rolled her eyes and got on his back. After she got on his back, Taemin stood up and gave Min-ho a teasing grin, "I'm sure you can walk right?" He asked before walking off.
"Just friends, huh?" Min-ho said, staring at Ji-seo on Taemin's back. Even though she said they were just friends, for some reason, he didn't like that.