In spite of the adrenaline that was urging for her to do the deed, she halted all movements upon hearing a raised voice.

It caused her eyes to subconsciously widen out of shock- and even Park Chorong herself didn’t know she could reach such a level of volume.

Yet, before she knew it herself, she had already shrieked out a loud ‘STOP!’, to which Yoon Bomi complied almost immediately.

Although Chorong was the initial victim of their current situation, she was far too kind-hearted to witness yet another first-degree burn to the face.

On the other hand, Yoon Bomi, being the ruthless individual who hated abandoning an execution halfway through, she couldn’t help but to frown in both confusion and frustration; she had no idea why the girl was pleading for mercy when those men deserved to be punished, but she didn’t need to know.

The hand that was twitching for violence obediently ceased its movement the second she caught sight of Park Chorong’s trembling pupils.

After taking in a few deep breaths to disperse her fury, the scary-looking female replaced her attack with a mere swear word and lowered her hand.

Her actions caused Chorong to let out a shaky sigh while placing a palm above her pounding chest, extremely relieved yet surprised to know that Bomi was actually submitting to her words. She had honestly prepared herself for the worst-case scenario, but it seemed like she had been overthinking.

“You’re goddamn lucky she’s nicer than me.” the delinquent growled unhappily as she took a couple of steps to the side, sticking herself close to her crush. “I better hear a ‘thank you’ and a decent apology from you b*tches, or else I’m going to reconsider my kindness.”

“Y-Yes! Of course!” the unharmed man instantly bowed 90° before the girls, throwing away his entire sense of pride for the sake of his unharmed face. “I’m really sorry for what we’ve said earlier, and t-thank you for your mercy! P-Please forgive us!”

Staring at the crown of the man’s head, Chorong blinked rapidly before turning to fellow schoolmate, flustered by the sudden turn of events.

This was definitely a first, and she had no idea on what to do next.

Bomi, however, was already yawning from boredom.

“Well? Was that good enough, Chorong-ah?”

“H-Huh?”

“Want him to get on his knees?”

“N-No, of course not! He has apologised already, so let’s just let them go…”

“Seriously? I mean, if you say so…”

Yoon Bomi was obviously dissatisfied, but she respected Chorong’s decision nevertheless.

She proceeded to snap her head back towards the two strangers, glaring at them one last time.

“Alright, you heard the lady. Get your asses outta here- and you,” she pointed straight at the man’s face, “don’t forget to take that trash away with you.”

She didn’t need to repeat herself twice, for the men could be seen fleeing the scene with the uninjured dragging away the one still hissing in pain.

Chorong stared at their backsides before letting out another soft sigh, soon turning to the girl who’s currently observing the spilt drink on the ground, nudging the empty cup slightly with her foot; she followed her action with a groan, causing the timid one to look at her in confusion while she stared back at her apologetically.

“, that was actually your hot coco.” Bomi pouted sadly, “I’m sorry, Chorong-ah. Let me go quickly fetch another one for you.”

“No, it’s fine…” Chorong shook her head, not wanting for the girl to spend more money on her- but to no avail.

“Come on, I can’t let you leave empty-handed.”

The stubborn one was about to head towards the café’s entrance again before she abruptly stopped herself, her face expressing intense contemplation.

Chorong merely stared at the girl’s frowning brows, unable to predict what was going on in her mind… though she didn’t remain ignorant for long.

Because in a blink of an eye, she found herself flinching from Bomi’s sudden touch, the girl’s left hand gripped around her soft hand.

The tough-looking female was now grinning at her warmly, matching the growing temperature within Chorong’s flushed cheeks.

Bomi’s fingers were now wrapped delicately around the girl’s palm, though it wasn’t reciprocated.

“You know what, let’s go chill inside for a bit.” she chuckled with her husky voice, “We’ve still got a bit of time left to kill, and there’s no way am I going to let that sort of a thing happen to you again. You’re so goddamn pretty, who knows what kind of weirdo you’re going to attract next.”

Whether if it was out of fear or shyness, it successfully made Park Chorong’s heart skip a beat.

Her mind was in too big of a haze to think properly, hence she ultimately allowed herself to be led into the café, her hand ever so slightly grasping back.

It caused the other girl’s pulse rate to discreetly match up to her crush’s, but thankfully she was capable of controlling her facial expressions.

… But little did they know, two pairs of eyes were watching their every move.

“You’re really immersed in your friend’s love life, huh.”

“Well, with you willingly tagging along, I’d say the same thing right back at you.”

Son Naeun scoffed playfully before grabbing hold of the brim of her baseball cap, adjusting carefully so that her lengthy hair were still hidden underneath.

Jung Eunji smirked as she took a sip of her iced tea, soon shifting her gaze towards the oblivious duo.

They were seated in a distant table within the same café, currently undercover for the sake of spying on their friends.

“I don’t know about you, Naeun-ah, but I’m pretty surprised about their current progress.”

“I mean, even though Chorong-unnie still looks as if she’s on the verge of fainting any second now, it is astonishing to see her face your friend properly.”

“Who knows, maybe she’ll even fall for Bomi’s charms by the end of this date.”

Naeun suddenly paused and looked at Eunji weirdly.

Eunji sensed it and followed suit to meet her eyes, tilting her head slightly. “What?”

“You consider this a ‘date’?” the younger raised an eyebrow before carefully sipping on her hot Americano.

“Uh… they’re spending time together after school, privately, at a location that’s commonly filled with couples. If this ain’t a date, then what is?”

“I mean, if that’s the case then it means we’re currently on a date, too.”

Upon hearing those words, Jung Eunji flashed out another one of her playful grins, having thought of a witty comeback right away.

She placed an elbow onto the table and supported her chin, slightly leaning forward to deliver the following lines with a cheeky wink:

“Then who knows, maybe you’ll end up falling for my charms by the end of our ‘date’.”