"Oh my gosh, he's coming this way! Do I look okay?" Your friend, Yuri, asks you.

 

You glance at her gorgeous curly locks and her fair skin and respond, "I'm pretty sure there's no way you can't look okay." You grin at her and she smiles widely.

 

"Thanks!" She whispers and walks purposefully over to Kai, the school's most popular guy. They strike up a loud conversation and Yuri pulls Kai out of the cafeteria, both laughing loudly.

 

"With all his fans, you might think she'd want to keep their relationship on the down-low." Your other friend Jinyoung takes a seat across from you at your table with her food tray. You turn so that you're sitting properly on the bench and then do a double-take when you see what little food she has on her tray.

 

"Jinyoung!" You scold her. "Are you dieting again?!" You stand up and slam your hand on the table so hard that the apple on her tray is in danger of rolling away. You grab it and start to rant.

 

"You can't just keep doing this! It's unhealthy! And you're the thinnest girl I know!"

Jinyoung looks around, as if pretending not to know you, then hisses, "Could you sit down?!" You then realize that the every eye residing in the cafeteria is aimed at you. You hastily sit down, tucking your skirt under your legs as you sit.

 

"But, as long as you're dieting..." You add, creeping your hand towards her tray. "You won't be eating this!" You say, triumphantly snatching a slice of chocolate cake off her tray.

 

"But here..." You give her your plastic tray of spicy kimchi and scoop some of your rice into her bowl. "I'm the one who should be going on a diet here, not you."

 

Jinyoung raises her eyebrows as you shove the chocolate cake into your mouth, and you shrug helplessly at her.

 

"Anyways, who is it this time?" You ask her. " That you're trying to look like?"

 

She smiles and points her chopsticks at you as she swallows her food. "Lee Hyori." She says with a grin as she shovels rice into .

 

Your jaw drops. "Hyori is not a beanpole! You have to eat way more to get an S-line like hers!" You eat for a couple minutes in silence and then remember something.

 

"Oh yeah, what were you saying about Yuri and Kai earlier? Something about keeping secrets..." 

 

"Hm?" Jinyoung looks up at you in confusion, then her eyes widen and she nods. "Oh yeah, it's just that Kai has so many...worshippers...and I'm afraid Yuri might get hurt in the process." She replies, wiping with a cloth.

 

You roll your eyes. "Are you kidding? The king and queen of the school are finally going out! I think they'll have more supporters than haters." You continue to eat when you realize that Jinyoung is watching at you with a sad smile on her face.

 

"What? Is there something on my face?" You ask, your mouth. She shakes her head.

 

"No, it's just that...don't you ever get lonely? You see couples around you everyday, your best friends have boyfriends -and girlfriends- and yet you're still..." She trails off and stares at the table.

 

"Why?" You ask. "Why should I? I'm...perf-perfectly happy...by myself...with no one else..." You feel a pout forming on your face. "It's okay." You force a smile for Jinyoung. "I have you guys, and that's enough for me...for now." You both laugh and then Jinyoung suddenly sits up and nods towards somebody.

 

"What about Chen? You know he likes you, he's totally crazy in love with you!" You turn to see Chen walking towards your lunch table and you wave lightly, then turn back to Jinyoung.

 

"I don't know, I think it might be puppy love or something...you know? Because I was the first friend he made when he moved here from China." Jinyoung keeps her eyes on Chen.

 

"Well that's okay too, you know? And he's super cute! Awesome bonus." She gives you a meaningful look as Chen sits down with a fully-loaded lunch tray.

 

Jinyoung then gets up, "Well, I have to go find out where SuHo went, later guys!" And with a slow wink at you, she's gone.

 

You drag your eyes away from her to Chen, and you finally register the amount of food on his tray. It's heavily armed with large rice bowls as well as a variety

of curries and small soup tureens. Your eyes widen as you look up to see Chen digging in.

 

"Wow, you guys are exact opposites!" You exclaim. You gape at Chen as he forks beef and chicken into his mouth, followed by rice, a slurp of soup and repeats. He stops the process for a minute to speak to you.

 

He grins, "I'm trying to bulk up a bit. I'm really thin so when I exercise I just get skinnier, which leads to me looking sickly. And of course my mom gets on my case when I look anything close to sick." He smiles sweetly at you, and your heart flip flops a little. You slap your hand over it and Chen looks slightly alarmed, then does the same. You both burst out laughing, then you shake your head. It was probably just because of what Jinyoung said. Chen was still your best friend, lovers or not, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. He sets down his chopsticks, food only half-devoured.

 

"I'm stuffed!" He declares, leaning back in his chair. You raise your eyebrows and ask him about his 'bulking up'.

 

"Hey, I said I'm eating more, not trying to hurt myself!" He replies with a laugh. You grab your chopsticks and pluck a piece of fried shrimp off his tray, then pop it into your mouth. Chen watches you earnestly as you continue to steal food off his tray.

 

"Okay, help me out here." He says. You your head quizzically at him and he laughs again. "Why don't you just buy your own food if you're so hungry?" You set your chopsticks aside and pat Chen's hand.

 

"Chen, oh Chen, when will you ever learn?" You ask him. Chen looks highly amused by the entire ordeal, seemingly holding back laughter.

 

"Chen, I'm doing this for my friends!" You say. "Who else will eat all the food you won't eat? What's that? Nobody?! What a shock! Never waste food by throwing it out! Nevarr!" You a fork into the air as you say the last word and Chen finally bursts, laughing so hard his entire face falls into his food and he gets curry in his hair. Then he regains his composure and wipes his food off of his face. Then he rests his chin on his interlocked fingers sitting on the table. "May I know the real reason, you?" He says with a smile tugging at his lips.

 

You sigh and collapse back onto the bench. Then you take a deep breath and,

 

"I'm trying to save money lately. Sometimes omma sends the money and it doesn't get to me in time, and the guy doing rent is really strict, and he'll turn off my utilities if I don't pay on time so I'm trying to save up a bit of money while I can." spills out quickly. You start breathing again.

 

Chen's eyes widen, the smile wiped off his handsome face.

 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down a bit. Your parents aren't sending money?" He asks, with a worried expression on his face.

 

"No, no, that's not what it is. I said, my omma sends the money, but sometimes -just sometimes- it's late, or it doesn't get to my apartment." You fumble for words.

 

Chen's eyes widen even further for an almost comical look. "That's exactly what I said! Have you phoned her yet? There's probably just some sort of mistake somewhere, and...well...yeah." He finishes lamely.

 

"Well, this is the first month I didn't get the money at all. Usually its just late, but..." You bite your lip, trailing off. "But I didn't phone her yet. Maybe she's having problems, I should just talk to her or appa. Then it'll be sorted out right away!" You feel like a heavy load has been taken off your back, and you jump out of

your seat.

 

"Thanks a bunch, Chen! I owe you a therapy session." Chen grins at you then pulls you back into your seat.

 

"By the way, if it's money you're in need of, why not just get a part-time job? The weather's nice, it won't be too hard to get around to different places-!" But he was cut off as you lean across the table and hug him.

 

"Omo, Chen, you're the best!" You squeal. "I'm gonna go and ask-..." Chen breaks you off and pulls you back into your seat again.

 

"Hey, I'm not done with you!" He smiles. "Now, what's this I heard earlier about me?" Chen leans closer to you and bats his eye lashes.

 

Your eyes widen. "What are you talking about?" You ask innocently.

 

He smirks. "I heard you and Jinyoung..." 

 

"No-nothing! It was nothing at all..." You hastily reach for your bag and prepare for a quick exit.

 

"No, I definitely heard my name, but nothing else other than..." He trails off and you turn back to him.

 

"Yes?" You ask.

 

He leans in, close to your ear and whispers softly, "Love." At this point, your eyes are bugging out and you turn to him frantically, wondering if he's joking.

Seeing nothing but pure curiosity on his face, you summon up a coughing fit, then choke out, "It was nothing, believe me! Just...idle-er...random girl talk...really! And- wow! Would you like at the- look at the time?! I really gotta go now, bye!" And with that, you run out of the cafeteria, leaving a cutely confused Chen sitting alone at the table.

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Thanks already for my subscribers! This is my first actual fanfic, so please treat me well! ^^ argh i've been watching too many dramas

Chapter 2 Preview: "Oh my god, I'm going to be gang- by drunk guys!" 

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