Hanbin and Eunbyeol were walking back to Eunbyeol's home after school on Friday to cross-tutor their brothers.

"Eunbyeol-ah, say someone you meet in high school asks you out. Will you go out with them?" He bit his lips while he awaited her response.

"I haven't really thought about that. I don't think I know anyone well enough yet to go on a date with them."

"Say... if it was Jay Sunbae?" What Chaeyeon said the other day definitely bothered Hanbin a bit.

"Um..." She paused to think. "That's going to feel a bit awkward. I don't know. I don't think I'm ready to date anyone yet."

"Would you tell me if you liked someone?"

"Probably?"

"Probably?" He repeated incredulously. "I thought we were best friends. Shouldn't we tell each other everything?"

"Haha why are you getting angry? I don't even know what liking someone feels like. I can't possibly tell you about a feeling I don't know about. Why are you suddenly asking me this? Do you like someone?"

"No!" He quickly denied.

"But you're going to tell me if you get a girlfriend, right?"

"You will be the first to know if I get myself a girlfriend."

"Do you think we can still hang out like this if you have a girlfriend?" Eunbyeol wondered before coming to her own conclusion. "Probably not, right?"

"Why can't we?" Hanbin was slightly aggravated.

"Well, don't girlfriends always get jealous of their boyfriend's girl best friend? And then they force the boyfriend to choose between them."

"Chaeyeon talks too much about K-dramas in front of you."

"But dramas do reflect real-life situations. If you have a girlfriend, she should be your first priority."

"You will always be my first priority."

"You won't be able to say that if you have a girlfriend, Bin-ah. You're saying that because you don't have one yet. 'Always' is a big, big word to use."

"So are you going to start ignoring me when you find yourself a boyfriend and he doesn't like us hanging out together?"

"Of course I'm not going to ignore you... It's just... Let's stop talking about this. This conversation is getting a bit overheated. We'll talk about this when you actually have a girlfriend, okay?"

Hanbin had never lost his temper in front of Eunbyeol (anyone, really), but he felt his blood boil for a moment. He remained quiet to calm himself down for the rest of their walk. When they reached Eunbyeol's house, he stopped at the gate. Eunbyeol noticed his sudden halt, so she turned around to look at Hanbin with a small pout.

"Sorry, Byeol. I must have been out of my mind." He went up to her and pulled her into a hug, All the tension they had vanished along with it.

"Let's go in now." Eunbyeol reached out her hand to hold Hanbin's, and they went into her house together.

.

In Gunwook's room, Hanbin was helping Gunwook with math.

"Hyung, I don't get how you substitute this into x."

No response.

"Hyung??" Gunwook looked at Hanbin, whose mind had been drifting to who knows where.

"Oh sorry, what were you saying?"

"Are you okay, Hyung? Something seems to be bothering you today."

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

"It's always a good idea to get your thoughts off your chest. I'm quite a good listener."

Hanbin let out a huge sigh. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go on."

"If your future girlfriend has a guy best friend, like me to your sister, would you be fine with it?"

"Of course not!"

"Why not?

"I don't think there would be a guy in this world that would be fine with their girlfriend having a guy "best friend "who obviously likes her."

"What do you mean? Wait, what? You know I like your sister?"

"Hyung, it's pretty obvious. Even Yujin knows."

"WHAT?"

"We're not stupid, okay."

"So everyone knows, except your sister."

"She's only smart academically. But why is this suddenly bothering you?"

"I don't know, but lately I can't stop thinking about what's going to happen if Eunbyeol gets herself a boyfriend. It's probably the change in the environment that's making me realise that I can't possibly be in every single part of her life, and she will eventually develop relationships with other people outside our mutual social circle. People often think that Eunbyeol needs me, and maybe that was what I unconsciously assumed too. But that was such an arrogant thought. Now thinking about it, it feels like I need her more than she needs me."

"Wow, can't believe Noona is making you feel this insecure. But you do know there's a solution to this, right?"

"What?"

"Make her your girlfriend."

"You're all saying this as if it's an easy thing to do."

"I mean, it is pretty easy. You can literally just go up to her and tell her you like her."

"And if she rejects me?"

"Maybe she won't?"

"If she rejects me, I won't be able to stay as her best friend. I won't be able to walk to school with her every day. I won't be able to hold her hand again, make her smile, talk with her, study with her, or comfort her when she's sad. And how are we going to hang out as a group in school? I doubt I would even be able to come here and tutor you as if nothing had happened. And what am I going to tell our parents? 'Yeah, I confessed to Eunbyeol, but she rejected me, so we can't really hang out anymore.' It really isn't that easy, Gunwook."

"Okay, I don't really know what to say now. But are you sure Noona doesn't like you? Noona has never been so attached to someone before she met you."

"Well, she literally said to me that she doesn't know what liking someone feels like and that she isn't ready to date anyone yet."

"Noona really is a fool when it comes to love and relationships."

"Ya, don't call your Noona a fool." Hanbin poked Gunwook's temple.

"My goodness. Hyung, you are the fool - a fool for love. I can't with you. Can you now please tell me how to substitute this into x now?"

.

Meanwhile, in Eunbyeol's room, Eunbyeol was also preoccupied by the conversation she just had with Hanbin. The thought of Hanbin having a girlfriend made her heart ache for some reason, even though she knew it would eventually happen. She honestly thought he would start dating in middle school since he was so popular, but that never happened. Every time he received a confession from someone, he would reject them politely while trying his best not to make the person feel too dejected; that was how good of a person he was. He knew what had to be done, but he would always do it while taking care of others' feelings. He would definitely be an excellent boyfriend; he would make that girl feel loved and special and make her his first priority.

"Noona?" Yujin noticed that Eunbyeol was lost in thought. "Noona? Eunbyeol noona?"

"Ah yes? Sorry, Yujin, I was distracted."

"Are you okay? You don't look too well."

"I'm fine. There's just too much to think about now that high school has started."

"I see."

"Yujin-ah, has your brother ever mentioned that he likes someone?"

"Uh no, why?" It was true that Hanbin never mentioned it; he just made it too hard not to notice it.

"He was acting a bit weird just now, so I was just wondering if he was trying to tell me that. What type of girls do you think your brother likes?"

"Um... I'm not too sure, but maybe girls who are pretty, kind, and smart?" Yujin came up with three adjectives that best described Eunbyeol.

"Ahhh is that so?"

"Noona, what do you think of Hyung?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, not as a friend, but as a guy."

"Isn't that the same? Whether as a friend or as a guy, Hanbin is still Hanbin."

"..."

.

After tutoring, Eunbyeol and Hanbin went into the kitchen to help Mrs. Park. Gunwook pulled Yujin into his own bedroom to tell him about the conversation he had earlier with Hanbin.

"Ya, your brother admitted to me that he likes Noona."

"What?" Yujin's doe eyes widened.

"He's too afraid to tell Noona about how he feels though. You should have seen him just now. I've never seen Hanbin hyung like that before. Noona really is his weakness."

"Eunbyeol Noona was acting weird too."

"How?"

"She asked me if Hyung likes anyone and what type of girls he likes. I was like, 'I'm not sure, but I guess someone who's pretty, kind, and smart?'"

"Hahahaha she would have never known that you were talking about her."

"And so I just asked her what she thought of Hyung as a guy."

"You asked what?"

"I don't think she took the hint though. Guess what she said? She said, and I quote, "whether as a friend or as a guy, Hanbin is still Hanbin." I didn't know how to respond after that."

"As expected from our beloved Noona. If 'love and relationships' was a subject taught in school, she would have failed miserably."

"Do you think Noona likes Hyung though?"

"I wish I knew the answer. But I mean, even if she does like Hanbin Hyung, I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about it herself, which I think is the bigger problem."

"There really isn't much we can do." Yujin sighed.

"Let's just leave it to Hanbin Hyung."My intuition is telling me that things will eventually work out for them."

.

"곁에 머물러줄래
내게 약속해줄래
손 대면 날아갈까 부서질까
겁나 겁나 겁나"

Butterfly - BTS