“I think I just took the biggest L on that chem paper.”

“No, you didn’t.” I shake my head at Mina, that girl was the best at Chemistry.

“Why am I even majoring in science?” She groaned. “These classes are so hard.”

“You’re the one that wants to be a chemical engineer.” Reol tsked as he stared at her, “You probably didn’t even take the L.”

I huffed. Thank god, I’m not taking chem. That was Mina and Tara, they were the ones good at it. I never excelled  at chemistry back in high school, hence I avoided it as much as I could when I got to university.

Mina muttered nonsense under her breath, letting go of all her stressful thoughts, as she began walking out, tugging at the handles of her bag and the books in her arms.

I had art class again today, and I saw Lay there as well. He was with his usual group of friends, joking and laughing about. He seems so friendly and bright when he’s speaking to people, but when he’s not, it’s weird. He becomes so closed off and dark. As soon as a smile is wiped off his face, it’s like he becomes a whole different person.

I didn’t speak to him at all, but our eyes caught each other’s a few times in class and in the halls, and he knew and understood my silent thank you, because honestly, I didn’t really want to go and start a conversation with him, it seemed weird to do so.

When all classes were done for the day, Reol, Tara, Mina and I had decided to head to a nearby cafe in hopes of engulfing ourselves into sweets and hopefully cheering up a somber mooded Mina.

“I thought that chem paper was easy.” Tara said as we took our seats, gazing at the menus. “What element did you end up using?”

“Chloride, we had to find the percent mass, right?” Mina asked.

Tara nodded, her silk strands bouncing on her shoulders. “Yeah, the only confusing part was converting it back to the mole ratio, because you had to do a couple step equations for that.”

As they conversed deeply into their discussion about science, I began ordering all the sweets I could possibly crave. Reol ordered a medium dark black coffee, typical, with a side of a cheese danish. I settled for a slice of strawberry cake, my favorite, and a mocha latte.

“How are things going with you and Soojin?” I asked once the waiter had left.

He sighed a bit, “We’re still...not talking. I don’t know, god I don’t know what she wants. Does she still want to stay friends or does she want to get back together?”

I looked at him, giving him a comforting look. “Well, do you know what you want, Reol?”

“I want her. I just want her, Neha.” He ruffled his hair, running his fingers through it. “But I just, I don’t think us being in a relationship is healthy right now, after everything that’s happened.”

It was true, Reol was going through heavy relationship problems, as him and Soojin had broken up a few weeks ago. They began liking each other since freshmen year of uni and started dating ever since, but recently, these two hit a bump in their relationship, as a new male friend in Soojin’s life had begun all the ruckus of problems.

I, along with Tara and Mina were simply upset. Although Soojin had also grown close to us, while being with Reol, I just feel as if running to another man right after Reol and her had gotten into a huge fight simply wasn’t right, because it broke Reol, a lot. And that made us all furious at her, because Reol really does love her, a lot.

But who am I to judge, right? If she truly does love the other man, then she should be with him and end things with Reol completely. It hurts me inside to see my best friend suffer like this, waiting patiently for her, hoping she’d come back to him.

Truth is, I doubt she would.

The subject of the conversation was immediately diverted as the girls also joined in on our conversation, while we all began discussing horse births. I really don’t know what we talk about sometimes.

Just then, a sudden voice brought us away from our loud laughter, as we all jerked our head to the side to see Lay standing by the counter as he orders a drink from the cashier.

We all turn to Tara, giving her a knowing look as she shakes her head at us, a small blush creeping up to her cheeks. Jus at the moment, Reol and Mina  look at each other, somewhat speaking telepathically, and before I could even question it, Reol speaks up, waving his hands.

“Hey Lay!” Reol shouts out, causing the latter to turn his head, while Tara’s eyes widen in horror.

“Stop! What are you doing?!” She whispered in a harsh tone. I couldn’t help but laugh a little, best friends will always try and hook you up with your crush, that’s a fact.

Although none of us really hang out with Lay, We all spoke to him before in a friendly manner, Reol would probably be the best definition of ‘friends’ with Lay, because although Mina and I spoke to him many times, we didn’t exactly know Lay that well to call him our friend.

But nonetheless, he smiled as he pulled out a chair-directly beside me.

“Hey guys.” He shot a grin. “How’s sophomore year of college? Easy, right?”

Mina shook her head. “I think I just failed chem.”

He laughed, and I couldn’t help but feel as if a heartbeat skipped over or something. What was that?

“Well, chemistry was quite easy, although it really isn’t my area. If you guys are ever struggling in math. Let me know.” He spoke with a soft tone.

Mina had a gleeful expression. “Well, Tara here is struggling in math right now.”

Lies. I couldn’t help but hide a snicker, out of all of us, Tara had to be the best at math, it was her specialty. She always excelled in it, while I struggled my way through.

Lay smiled brightly at Tara, as the girl lowered her eyes, blushing. “Well Tara, if you ever do need help, just hit me up anytime.”

I could hear Mina squeal softly, and I couldn’t help but smile a bit. He seems so typical today, a bit different from the mysterious aura he was giving off last night.

We talked a bit more casual conversations, and laughed a lot as Lay began telling funny stories, or cracking humourous jokes here and there. He really knew how to make people laugh and enjoy his presence. It wasn’t until our drinks and food were long finished when Reol spoke up.

“Lay, how come you weren’t at the Lips last night? You usually are.” He asked, giving a side smile at Tara, who gestured for him to quit it, although we all knew she was dying to know inside.

“I was around the area actually.” He said softly, eyes glancing over at me. “But I had a few things I was occupied with.”

I looked over at him, catching his gaze, I really hope he doesn’t tell them he caught me walking in that part of town. Reol, Mina, and Tara won’t leave me alone about my safety if they found out. I learned my lesson though, never stepping foot on that area ever again.

Reol turned his attention right at me, looking a little pleased. “I’m happy you thought reasonably for once and took a cab there last night. They found a body this morning on that part of downtown.”

My eyes widened, and I immediately had a sudden feeling that the body had something to do with the conversation I had overheard last night.

Lay gave me a look, raising a brow in my direction as he heard Reol’s words, I gave him a sorry smile, please just play along.

“Cab?” Lay asked, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. “Why? Does she usually not take a cab?”

He was definitely smirking!

Reol rolled his eyes as he nodded over at me, “She tends to attract danger, that one. She is the type of idiot to walk through downtown late at night.”

“But I didn’t!” I quickly objected. “I took a cab last night, so don’t worry, I was safe.”

“And not stupid, for once.” Mina shook her head.

I looked over at Lay who was already looking at me, his smirk growing bigger, as he shot me a questioning gaze, but he seemed to understand, so he let it slide, excusing himself from us, as he said he had an appointment to take care of.

Once he left, Tara softly giggled. “Guys, he was so cute the whole time!”

Reol and Mina rolled their eyes, laughing softly at her cuteness, while I shook my head. Lay? Cute?

Please. As if.

The week ended up passing by with a blur, as I juggled between school, homework, and sleep. Before I knew it, it was another Friday night, and I find myself sobbing as a child patient passes away, and Dr. Shepherd couldn’t save her.

Once the episode ended, I closed my laptop, coming to terms that I was really craving ice cream. It was a perfect night to eat it, where all the windows were open, letting in the warm breeze.

I walked out of my apartment, throwing on a pair of shorts and a light cardigan. I really loved warm nights like these, they were so calm and serene.

The convenience store wasn’t too far of a walk, only about a block away. The main streets were full of life on a Friday night like this, and I even waved to a couple of friends I happened to pass by.

I walked into the convenience store, going directly near towards the freezer where they kept all their ice cream. They all looked so good.

In the end, I chose a strawberry popsicle. I walked up towards the cash register, and as I paid for my strawberry popsicle, I caught a familiar figure, walking through the aisle with the corner of my eyes.

After grabbing my strawberry popsicle, I walked over towards the figure. He wore a white dress shirt that fit him perfectly, his sleeves were rolled up, revealing his defined veiny arms, I watched as he bent down a little, looking at a box of bandages.

“Lay.”

The said male, looked up, he raised his brows for a split second, before he gave me a small smile. “Hey Neha.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to sound casual. It wasn’t until he grabbed a box of bandages, is where I realized his hand.

“Lay, your hand...it’s bleeding.” I said, pointing towards his right hand,his entire fist seemed to be all bloody, and one could only wonder how he got that.

“Oh this?” He gestured to the box of bandages, “It’s okay, these bandages should do the trick.”

He looked at me for a moment from the side, but as he opened his mouth to speak once again, he winced a bit, using his other hand to cup the other side of his jaw. His eyes then landed to the packaged popsicle in my hand.

Without a second thought, he suddenly grabs it out of my hand, taking me by utter surprise as he places the cool froze treat on his face, sighing in content.

“That feels better.” He mutters under his breath, before opening his eyes once again to find mine.

I couldn’t help but force a small smile as he mimics one too. And as I look at his soft lips curve a little upward, just for a second, even for just a second, I could see why Tara must like him. He could be both cute, and mysterious.

“What happened?” I couldn’t help but mumble, looking at him a little distraught.

He shakes his head, clearly not wanting to speak about it. He then heads to the frozen aisle. “Sorry about your ice cream, let me buy you another one.”

After Lay purchases both the box of bandages and my ice cream, he takes the other one away from his face, and opens it, eating the rest.

It wasn’t until we walked out of the convenience store, where the street light shone directly under us, is when I see the soft small purple bruise placed below his jaw.

“Did you...get into a fight?” I blurted out.

He paused for a bit, taking a of his popsicle, and then nodding. “Some dumb s had me triggered. It’s okay though, they learnt their lesson.”

I looked at him in such a funny way, because honestly, I never expected Lay to be the fighting type. He seemed like the one to control his anger, and keep himself contained. I never imagined him to be the one to go around beating up guys.

He paused away from his popsicle, noticing my eyes on him. “What?”

I shake my head, realizing I had been staring a bit too long. I looked out into the streets, I really didn’t want to go home so soon, it gets lonely there, being alone all the time. It was a Friday night as well, yet all my friends were busy with other plans that had caught up with them. Tara was visiting her family, while Mara had to prepare for a huge project due on Monday, while Reol was helping his other friends break over a firewall that had been set up somewhere on something.

“Stay safe, Lay.” I say softly. “I’ll get going now.”

I began to turn around, ready to walk back home, when a soft but sudden hand lands on my shoulder, I turn around, looking up at Lay.

“Let me drive you home.”

I shake my head, “You really don’t ha-”

“No.” He cuts me off, a smirk on his lips. “I want to. Besides, we can’t have the same events from last week replay again now, can we?”

I bite back a grin, and as I do, Lay throws me a smug smile, almost carefree and soft, he stared into my eyes for a few seconds longer than he should have.

A bit too longer than he should have.

Lay is so cute sometimes~ I wonder what his actual personality could be like. I really pay attention to the weather here because I imagine Lay and Neha to have that kind of Summer love, you know? Fresh, free, and thrilling. Anywho, please comment and upvote if you liked the chapter :) Tell me your thoughts so far, what would you like to see in the next chapter? Even though it's not the weekend, I decided to post it anyways since I skipped classes today because I woke up with this odd stiff back. and Man did it hurt like a ;) Until then!

****Oh for those of you who may be confused (just in case) to take an L means to take a loss :)
 

xoxo