I glued myself to the seat.

KEVIN WU JIAHENG, DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH? The question was written in my eyes and I was hoping for him to notice.

I couldn’t even here the tune of the music anymore. My head was blank, and I swear my brain had out the next second. I think I heard Chanyeol rapping to a song called Officially Missing You. Yeah. I think I’ve heard that song before.

It wasn’t long before I came back to reality, and I heard Lay saying, “Wow, Kris isn’t that bad.”

“I think the only time I’ve heard him sing was in the shower,” said Tao as he listened carefully.

The entire table was interrupted by the screech of my chair. It caused Kris to pause halfway through the song, just as I hopped off my chair. I was hoping no one else would notice my absence and maybe I could just slip out of there quietly. I snuck a glance over to Kris and I knew I saw his face turn a shade of confusion, and I heard Krystal calling after me, but I kept moving till I was out of the place.

Kris, you idiot.

I finally caught my breath when I reached outside. The night air was just enough for me. I breathed in deeply, when footsteps bounded after me. I felt something—someone—grab my hand.

No. I didn’t want to turn around and face it, not just yet. My lips were pursed tight, and as I was trying to free myself I bravely glanced behind me and saw another face.

“Whoa, hold on, there. Do you hate my face so much that you’re running?” Henry chuckled when he stared back at my widened eyes.

Weird enough, I started to smile.

“Oh, hah, you.” I heard myself sigh. “Wait, what’re you doing here?”

“Dinner with Donghae and Eunhyuk,” he said.

I looked around him. “Where are they?”

“They bailed.”

“Of course.”

He shrugged. “Anyways, I doubted Eunhyuk was going to pay, so they ditched me before the bill came. Finished up. Paid the bill myself. Decided to find the guys. Saw you. Now I’m just thinking of a way for payback.”

“I would really much like to help with that.”

He grinned. “Please.”

I laughed, then noticed that his brow was raised.

“So,” he said, “you on a date?” He extended the word ‘date’ for some reason.

“Yes,” I answered. “With six guys and two sisters, apparently.”

“I see that. You went out of the restaurant in a hurry, though.”

“Please. I barely even got in like this,” I said as I waved at my disheveled outfit that made me look as if I was going for a hayride.

“I’m guessing you’re not in a good mood right now,” he said.

I thought about it. “Well, I was.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

I chuckled. “What, you wanna be by psych doctor?”

“Be happy to,” he said with a bow. “Now. What’s up?”

My smile slowly faded without realizing it.

“I want to slap an SM trainee in the face. Is that allowed?” I asked him.

He gave it a thought, pursing his lips. “Actually, no. When I was a trainee I couldn't even have scratch on my face. Sorry.”

I sighed. “That makes sense.”

“You want to slap who? Baekhyun?” he asked me. I raised a brow and he shrugged. “I saw how he was flirting with you.”

“All right, make that two SM trainees that I have on my hit list.”

“Well, since you’re honest with me, can I be honest with you?”

“What is it?”

“I’m not really here to eat. Donghae, Eunhyuk, and I just wanted to spy on Kyuhyun.”

“Why’s that?” I asked with a laugh. I couldn’t really think of a reason anyone would wanna stalk that dork.

“We thought he might’ve been on a date.”

“What?”

“Wrong guess, though. What are you guys doing, anyway?”

I sighed. “Farewell party, I guess?”

“Ah, so Krystal knows.”

“Yeah.”

We walked along the edge of the line that was painted on the side of the street, and without realizing it we were already straying from the restaurant’s path.

For a moment, everything was j