Eunha slipped into her ripped jeans and tucked her baggy yellow t-shirt. Quickly tied her hair up to a ponytail and ran down the stairs. Lilly's mother was flipping the last waffle onto Eunha's plate, spilling the maple syrup over it. There was an awkward silence filling the room after her arrival at the breakfast table.

That was until a little pup decided to show his presence.

"Morning Chopa!" Lilly yelled out to her pup. The pup instead of going to his owner jumped onto Eunha's lap and began his small barks of salutation.

"Hello Chopa, it's nice to see you." Eunha giggled while rubbing the corgi's ear. After a while, the pup jumped off her lap and went towards his breakfast.

Lilly cleared her throat to grab Eunha's attention. She changed her depressed expression and smiled brightly like her brother.

Speaking of her brother, he steps into the household as if on cue. He had several small cuts on his perfect skin and a bloody knuckle. Eunha knew better than to step into a family issue, but she was friends with all of them.

"Hello, family. Eunha." He waves off to his family.

He washes his hands and splashes the freezing water on his face. It was a routine in the Johnson household. Heejin casually went out to find the first aid box and her mother was asking questions about his whereabouts.

Nothing new here.

As soon as the questioning was over, he turned his attention towards Eunha.

"How are you Eunha?"

"I'm okay Henry."

"How about home?"

"I got scolded for bringing fewer amounts of groceries."

"Hmm." Eunha knew Henry well enough to call him brother. Henry and her brother had been very close friends, even though Euhna's brother had been a few years older than him. She knew well about his behavior but rarely did he come home with bloody knuckles. Just out of curiosity, she asked him.

"Henry, what happened?" Lilly's mother stopped all cooking and left. She's had enough of the fights Henry encounters and left not being to endure it any longer. Lilly sat next to Eunha to hear the story.

"Why do you ask?"

There was a pause in time.

Eunha pursed her lips and continued, "You rarely get bloody knuckles."

Henry let out a deep sigh followed by a slight chuckle.

"An innocent girl was being harassed near our neighborhood, close by to Eric's. That bastard deserved every last bit." Hoseok clenched his hands tighter, staring at his prized scars.

There was no response from the two girls as Lilly's phone began to blow up immediately. She leaned over and as soon as possible, she grabbed her phone and left the table. Her back faced her brother's and quickly typed away to avoid confrontation.

That wasn't going to work.

"Is it Jackson?" Henry asked his younger sister.

Her head snapped at the call of his name.

She was caught.

Henry chuckled and patted his sister's back. "No worries Lilly, it's okay. Just don't do anything funny." Lilly grinned and hugged her brother as a sign of thanks.

Eunha throat began to clench at the beautiful sight. She remembered her brother looking out for her. He always gave her a piggyback ride, played tea party with her, and whenever she was hurt mentally or physically; he'd tell her stories and sing a song to help her sleep. He'd tell her she was the prettiest in the whole galaxy. He made her feel special. Those days were gone now and forever.

Now, she had no one to help her when she was hurt. No one to sing to her when she couldn't sleep. No one to tell she was special. She was lonely.

Without them telling to, the sly tears slipped. She noticed when there was a droplet on her hand and those droplets continued falling. Not another word, she slipped out of the house with her belongings and ran.

She ran.

and ran.

and ran.

She ran until she reached Eric's house and rang the doorbell several times. Streams of tears continuously threatening to fall.

A few minutes went by until there was an answer. A groggy Eric looked up to a crying girl at his door. For a moment he was confused to see Eunha crying at his doorstep.

Is the book really that bad?

Without a moment to spare Eunha threw her body at him. She hugged him tight, afraid to let go...because if she did her world would crumble and disappear into the wind. Her tears spilled onto Eric's shoulder, making his white shirt darker. The two stood there at the entrance to his house. Eric brought his arms together and hugged Eunha back, rubbing to soothe her pain. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know what happened to her, but he knew it was best to stay out of it until she was comfortable to speak.

"Shhh...it's okay." He brought her closer and hugged her tighter.

"Let it all out. Don't worry about it." He whispered softly in her ear.

For the first time, Eunha stopped her crying. Things like this cause her to cry for hours on end, but he, Eric, changed it otherwise. She felt comfort in his words. His words didn't sound emotionless, he filled them with assurance.

Eunha completely stopped and whispered a weak 'thank you'.

That's when she realized she was hugging a boy.

More specifically her crush.

She pushed herself off embarrassed by her sudden reactions upon arrival. Her cheeks tinted a light pink as she turned away.

But

It wasn't only her that turned pink.

Eric shut the door aggressively behind Eunha and signaled her to follow him. Eunha felt as if Eric had a second personality. He was kind and comforting, but now he seemed scary and aggressive. Eunha didn't know what to interpret from it.

She followed him to his room and took a seat on his bed. Eric left immediately, only to come back in a few minutes with two cups of tea. He gave one to Eunha and took the seat next to her.

"Eric?" He didn't turn to her but only responded.

"Hmm."

"Sorry about your-" Eric lifted his hand to stop her from talking.

"No need. Let's just focus on the project and forget this ever happened." He went to retrieve his book.

"O-ok," Eunha mumbled and began to open her book.