“OMG IS THAT BAMBAM?!”

“DAFUQ ARE WE DOING?”

Dahyun started side stepping in slow motion around a bush as Chaeyoung followed quickly, flustered.

“We can’t let him see us!”

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes at her friend’s comical spy movie maneuvers.
“Who cares if he sees us? Plus aren’t your moves making you more obvious?! You might as well dress as a disco ahjumma and walk up to him right now!” 

“That is strangely…specific,” Dahyun noted, “I wonder where you got that idea from…”

“Who is he on a date with anyways?”

“I can’t tell, from the distance.” 

Chaeyoung face-palmed. “EXACTLY. WHY ARE WE EVEN DOING THIS THAT FAR AWAY??? SMTown Café is like next to the truck two street lights away!!!”

“FINE FINE FINE!!!” The tofu cut Chaeyoung short and marched head on to the café.

Dahyun suddenly stopped and seemed to backpedal. Chaeyoung followed, confused.
Too late, she’s seen her.

“What….wait isn’t that Jihyo sunbae?” Chaeyoung gasped.

Dahyun covered her face. Chaeyoung did not need to see this.

“Why is she not with Sungjoon oppa right now?? I thought they went to do something together…”

Suddenly, Jihyo started making her way out of the place with two drinks and some food and groceries. 
Dahyun semi-flailed as she pushed Chaeyoung against a wall on the corner of the café.

Jihyo seemed to walk past in the speed of an ant with groceries, at least in the eyes of Dahyun. Although her eyes were half-closed as she prayed for this to be over.

Chaeyoung seemed annoyed too, but less so when she remembered this reminded her of the latest episode of “Descendents of the Sun”…

“Unnie!”

The little rascals ran to her as soon as she opened the door. I quickly went forward to help her with her groceries, but she seemed used to this level of multi-tasking. It did not stop her from muttering a just audible “Thanks” and flashing me a warm smile though.

Somehow, Jihyo got her sisters glued to M! Countdown performances and quickly joined me in unpacking the groceries.
“Thanks for helping me look after my dongsaengs at such a short notice. I would have asked Bambam if not for his date…since he at least knows my sisters already.”

“It’s okay, we get along pretty well now. Right Jiyoon, Jihyun?”

The two little girls continued watching TV while giving me a brief thumbs up.

“I can tell,” Jihyo laughed, before grabbing a tissue, “Look at me.”

“Huh?”

I turned to see her taking a step closer to me. Slowly, she raised her hand and began to wipe something from my face, her eyes gazing intently at mine.

I stood there, awkwardly rooted to the ground.

“You got crayon on your face :)”

Chaeyoung peered at Bambam and the mystery lady from behind a potted plant. 
She was never the nosy type. That’s Dahyun’s role. But with Dahyun offering to buy her drinks, she had no other choice but to take a look into this “date.”

Okay, maybe Chaeyoung was a little bit nosy.
Only for specific things.
She had seen couples on dates before.

But never involving someone she knows.
Like she knew couples but it was not like she stalked their dates.
Okay, she’s not that close to Bambam. But she knows him.
From school. So it counts?

As Chaeyoung tried to self-justify her actions, she suddenly saw Bambam reach his hand forward to the mystery girl.

“Noona, you got some cream on your lips.”

“!!!”

Chaeyoung got a semi-heart attack.
WHAT IS THIS? SECRET GARDEN??

As her inner fangirl flailed, Bambam only reached for some napkins and passed it to the girl.

Okay, no more flailing.

“A coffee milk please and an iced latte!”

Dahyun waited as the boy at the cashier took her order and called it to the other boy at the machines. She slowly walked away until she suddenly heard the word “Jihyo.”

“Do you do this often?”

I asked Jihyo as I placed the block of tofu on the chopping board.

“I do cook sometimes at home, but usually only during the weekend dinners. Mum suddenly had to work extra hours for an upcoming project…”
Jihyo skillfully tossed some kimchi in a bowl of sauce with plastic gloves on.

“Taste test?”
she said, picking up a few pieces.

I inched over and swallowed the piece of spicy fermented cabbage before making weird faces at her.

“What…?”

“Just joking, you sure you only cook sometimes?” I laughed at her falling for my act before reaching for more kimchi.
The kimchi master slapped me lightly on the arm.

“Ya...sunbae,” she snapped, before gesturing across the table, “Put some gloves on.”

“Aye aye ma’am…Or should I say, Kimchi-Hyo?”

She shot me an unamused look so I quickly and dutifully pulled some plastic gloves on before stealing a couple more slices of cabbage.
“You still haven’t answered my question yet, master chef-nim.”

“Well I had some practice in boarding school.”

“They teach culinary in boarding schools too?” I wondered out loud. I did look at  Jihyo’s Facebook profile before and knew she went to some all-girls’ boarding middle school. Actually, that sounded just like the place where they would teach a girl to cook.

“Living alone for almost ten years also help,” Jihyo muttered before grabbing some cuts of beef from the fridge.

“…TEN YEARS?”

I gasped, doing the maths in my head, “You started boarding in elementary school?!”

“Well my mum and dad started a business around the time and got busy, they still are,” she explained, “But when their business was still young and things were uncertain, it just made more sense to send their daughter to a boarding school.”

“What about Jiyoon and Jihyun?” I chimed in, “Are your parents going to send them to a boarding school too?”

“Probably not, since I am 10 and 12 years older than them,” she replied, “It is not like nobody’s home to look after them. Plus a day school experience is better.”

I had a newfound appreciation for the all-rounded abilities of Jihyo. “I can’t vouch for boarding schools, since I have never been to one…but you turned out great. I mean look at you, you are literally wifey material right now...”

“OWW!”

I was taken aback by the loud cry and so were the girls. Jihyo flinched at a small cut on her finger.

“I guess I am not.”

“Noona, do you want to get more food.”

“Want to go see a movie after?”

Chaeyoung felt herself burning as she watched Bambam dish out K-Drama line after K-Drama line.
Suddenly, a thought came to her mind.

“What if Sungjoon oppa said something like that?”

Chaeyoung melted with her face flat on the table at the thought.

I quickly rushed over to take a look at her cut but she quickly pulled away.

“I’m fine sunbae. I’m fine.”

“It looks pretty…bloody though.”

“No, I just need…”

“PORORO!!!”

I looked down to see Jiyoon and Jihyun by my side, a box of PORORO band-aids in hand. These kids really have been raised well and I knew exactly by who. Patting them on their heads with my gloveless hand, I quickly opened the box and pulled out a band-aid.

“I can do it myself!” Jihyo protested sidestepping away from me, “It’s nothing!”

“Quiet down, future student president! Let the plebs do the work,” I smiled and took her hand.
Slowly, I placed the band-aid around her finger. “You do a lot of things already. You should let others help you, sometimes.”

Dahyun spun around and raced back to her table. Chaeyoung was being weird and spazzing on the table but Dahyun was too flustered to deal with this. She turned to see Bambam from afar, waving goodbye to the girl who was heading out. Once she was gone, he looked defeated. Seemed like his borrowing of her “K-Drama One Liners of the Decade” book last week didn’t work.

Shortly, the boy who tapped Dahyun’s shoulder walked over and placed two glasses on the table. He judgingly gazed at the squirming Chaeyoung and the haha-you-totally-don’t-know-me-and-I’m-covering-my-face-with-my-hair-Dahyun. 

 #YOUDONTKNOWMEYOUDONTKNOWME

He rolled his eyes and walked away, grunting a perfectly audible “Girls.”

Dahyun threw a death glare at the waiter with “MARK” written on the back of his staff t-shirt. “Seems like only guys in K-Dramas have game or can pull off such game.”

“Or he has to be the guy you like…” Chaeyoung chirped in sweetly, slowly rising from her fan girl slumber.

Bonus Scene

“Oh right, I forgot! I got you a drink!”

Jihyo quickly spun around and grabbed one of the coffees from her takeout box.

“Ahh, thanks!” I grinned, taking a much needed long sip…

“ARGHHH~”

“???”

“It’s SOOOO SWEET,” I coughed. Jihyo took it from me and tried a sip.
 

Her face twitched as she nodded in agreement.

“How did Doyoung oppa mess it up so much?”

“Who is Doyoung oppa?”

Jihyo stared strangely at me for asking the question. “What? You suddenly got really interested in my life outside of school, haven’t you?”

“Just wondering who is the oppa who tried to give me diabetes…”

Mark made his way behind the counter as Jaehyun continued to tease Doyoung.

“You like her. Don't you? Don’t you?”

“No I don’t!”

“I shipped you two but I never thought you would do that!” Jaehyun laughed as he pointed at the half empty bottle of syrup.

Doyoung slightly fidgeted and said something about “lots of orders today” before going to the storage room.

Mark thought Jaehyun hyung either had a keen eye, or a vivid imagination. Either way, Jaehyun should probably get a girlfriend and stop imagining the possibilities of Doyoung hyung’s love life.

 #GetALifeHyung