Irina stretched her arms. "Yeah, that sounds good."
She stood up first, the others following behind her.
As they walked, Seolhyo glanced at Jinkyung. "What about Lee Daegyu and Kim Jisung?"
Jinkyung tapped her chin.
"Daegyu said he's on his way… but Jisung…I forgot about him."
Seolhyo chuckle. "Lol you guys are too much! haha!"
Irina, however, just stared up at the sky with a sigh. "Ah… on such a nice day like this… leaving my boyfriend behind and going out with Park Dong and Ji Suwon…"
Flick.
"Ow!!" Irina spun around, glaring. "Why'd you flick me?!"
Park Dong scoffed, crossing his arms.
"What's wrong with hanging out with us?"
"Don't hit me! You don't even have muscles!"
"W-what?! Who said I don't have muscles?! You saw that?!"
-
At some restaurant sitting at the table, Hai-an pushed a forkful of spaghetti toward Kwangwoon.
"Ah~."
Kwangwoon stared at the fork… then leaned forward, letting her feed him.
Hai-an's cheeks warmed. "Hehe… isn't this more delicious?"
Kwangwoon picked up a piece of fried samgyeopsal from his plate and held it out to her.
"Try this."
She leaned in and bit the meat off the fork, her lips brushing on it. "Mmm… yeah. I should've ordered that too."
Kwangwoon laughed lightly seeing Hai-an dejected from her choice. "Hahaha"
But inside, guilt was coming to him.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
After they finished eating, the two wandered into a narrow alley known for being a smoking spot for high schoolers.
Clouds of cigarette smoke drifted lazily in the air.
Kwangwoon leaned back against the brick wall, a cigarette between his fingers, eyes subtly scanning the crowd. Hai-an stood beside him, hands behind her back, taking in the atmosphere.
"This place…" he murmured.
"Hm?" Hai-an turned to him.
"It reminds me of the place where I first saw you. "He nodded toward the far end of the alley.
"Over there… wasn't it behind the Bear Arcade?"
Hai-an blinked then smiled brightly. "Oh? You remember that? I thought you'd totally forgotten. That makes me really happy."
Kwangwoon inhaled deeply from his cigarette."…You get happy over anything."
Hai-an tilted her head. "Oppa, why aren't you on a date with your girlfriend today? It's the weekend."
Kwangwoon stiffened.
"I… didn't have any plans," he said, pretending to sound casual.
But inwardly
Damn it… are there guys from our school around here? Being here in Suwon are making me nervous… I should've gone toward Bundang. What if we run into someone's I know...
Hai-an silently watch him glance around nervously.
"…Are you worried we'll run into someone you know?"
Kwangwoon froze.
She muttered quietly."…Are you nervous being with me?"
He didn't answer.
He only looked away, cigarette trembling faintly between his fingers.
"I'm honestly… nervous."
Kwangwoon froze for a moment.
Hai-an's voice was barely above a whisper.
She kept her eyes forward as she continued, "I'm worried she'll notice… I mean, I'm even in the same grade as her. She's really different from me. She's friends with a lot of people, she's always bright, and a good personality…"
She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, shoulders tensing.
"I'm more scared of her getting hurt than me getting blamed. But even then"
She let out a shaky exhale. "I keep contacting you. Even though I know I shouldn't. I don't know why I'm doing this…"
Beside her, Kwangwoon desperately tried to light his cigarette just to have something to focus on.
But hearing her say that… the lighter wouldn't even spark.
His thoughts spiraled.
Rina… is always so energetic.
And I like that about her.
But sometimes… that energy can be exhausting.
Sometimes its hard to even keep up with her.
But when im with Ian… it's different.
I wish i can split myself into two different person.
He reached out and gently patted the top of her head.
"I like it too," he admitted quietly. "That's why… I'm meeting you."
His voice dropped even lower. "I actually had a date planned today."
Hai-an's eyes widened her happiness was instant, blooming across her face so quickly her mouth trembled from trying to hold back a smile.
Then she suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry," she murmured into his chest.
Kwangwoon's face flushed bright red.
He didn't push her away just awkwardly placed a hand on her head again, patting, trying to calm both her and himself.
"Let's… go get something to drink," he muttered.
"Yeah…" she breathed.
They started walking together down the alley, Hai-an's arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
Kwangwoon rested his arm over her shoulder that made the two of them look unmistakably like a couple.
Inside the accessories shop, Irina practically bounced from shelf to shelf.
"Hey hey hey!! Isn't this cute?!"
She shoved a ring toward Jinkyung a tiny chicken perched on top.
She showed her middle finger where she put it. "Look, it's a chicken ring! LOL."
Jinkyung chuckle. "You should use that as a couple ring."
Seolhyo laughed so hard as she showed the earring she was holding a quirky pair with a heart on top and a giant circle dangling under it.
"Hey," she said, lifting it for them to see, "if we gave this to Seol Minsu, it would be hilarious Lol."
Irina burst out laughing. "People would be even more terrified of him!"
"HAHAHA"
Meanwhile, the three of us stood off to the side.
Park Dong crossed his arms, exhaling loudly. "Ughhh… I'm bored. How long are we just gonna keep watching them? Wasn't it 'Lets go to Cannoa?' "
Suwon shrugged. "So what? It's not like we have anything better to do."
I pointed a thumb at myself with a smug grin."Lol, don't compare me to the two of you single losers. I'm on a date with Seolhyo."
Park Dong snapped his head toward me, eyes blazing. "Shut up! or Im gonna wipe that smug off on your face"
"Your just single punk"
Suwon grinned wickedly at Park Dong. "Stop pretending you're annoyed. You're like being with Irina. Why are you even talking about?"
Park Dong's face instantly flushed red. "I said it's not like that, you bastard! If you keep running that mouth I'll expose you as a porn artist, got it?!"
Suwon immediately dropped the smug and bowed jokingly. "Hyungnim please, anything but that."
The girls suddenly turned toward us.
"Seojin, come here!" Seolhyo raise her hand and gesture me to come to her.
"Hey! Hey! You two! Come here for a sec!" Irina and Jinkyung called Park Dong and Suwon over, already giggling suspiciously.
We approached…and instantly regretted it.
A few minutes later, Seolhyo stood in front of me, proudly adjusting a bright red ribbon headband on my head.
As if that wasn't enough, she clipped on a pair of giant dangling donut earrings pink frosting, sprinkles, the whole thing.
They bounced every time I moved.
Park Dong and Suwon weren't spared either. Park Dong wore a blue ribbon headband and mismatched sparkly star earrings, while Suwon had a purple ribbon headband and tiny rubber duck earrings hanging like a curse.
Seolhyo burst out laughing, actually wiping tears from her eyes as she flicked the donut earrings. "Hehehe Seojin, this looks SO good on you. You should wear it every day."
I didn't say anything just smiled at her.
Maybe a little too long.
"W–why are you looking at me like that…?"Her ears were turning red.
Irina leaned toward Park Dong, poking the dangling star on his ear. "Awww~ our little DONGIE is sooo pretty. Hahahaha!"
Park Dong slapped her hand away, face already heating up. "Take it off. I'm giving you ten seconds, Irina. Ten."
Irina laughed so hard a single tear slid down. "Nooo, you've got princess vibes today. You're a princess now. PRINCESS DONG."
Park Dong looked like he might actually explode."...You wanna freakin' die?"
Jinkyung doubled over at the sight of the three of us. "Oh my god look at you guys. Are you three a couple or something? How long's it been? Have you three kissed at the same time? LOOOL."
"PUHAHAHA"
Suwon tried to act cool but the frog clip kept wobbling when he moved.
Irina pointed at him. "You look like a sad kindergarten kid."
Meanwhile, I reached over and placed a matching ribbon headband on Seolhyo's head same color, same bow.
I laughed softly. "It looks great to you."
Her face flushed and laughed softly too.