Kyuhyun's POV

So, I’m walking down the aisles of Target, which is this American store that is supposed to be better than Walmart? I haven’t been to either, but this store is pretty nice. Lots of red everywhere. I’m heading to the electronics section, because I have money, and there’s a new video game that Sungmin told me was pretty awesome. If Sungmin recommends me a game, I have to check it out, because it’s only ever happened once. It might’ve been the worst game I had actually ever played, but oh well. 

And I hear this soft voice coming from the makeup section, which sounded oddly familiar. In fact, I hear some Korean words being speckled through this conversation, so naturally I have to go see. And what do you know, there’s the chick from my math class laughing away with her friend. And then I heard my name. And now I’m standing here, not sure what to do. Nobody moves and Ri An looks completely horrified, which is a shame, because she actually looked like she was having fun.

“Hi Ri An”, I say, trying to break the awkward tension which didn’t appear to be going away any time soon. 

She just says “Hi” back, and stares me down, like as if I’m not supposed to be there and she’s wishing me away. Then her friend just starts babbling away, and she apparently knows who I am. I’m struggling to NOT raise an eyebrow at her, but I don’t want to make Ri An avoid me. She’s one of my only friends at school. And besides, it was her friend who said my name. 

She understands me, and tries her best to recover, and I learn that said girl is Yoora, and is her cousin. They look kind of similar, but maybe it’s just because I discovered they’re related. 

And then she busts out some Korean drama line I’m sure I’ve seen my mother watch and bows. I want to laugh so badly right now, but Ri An looks like she’s taking this super seriously, and I don’t want to make the situation worse. 

“I’ll try my best”, I ensure Yoora, and she just smiles at me, and says, “Nice to meet you.” then sticks out her hand. I take it, shake it, and turn to ask Ri An how she’s doing, maybe make some conversation, only to discover she’s gone. 

“I’m so sorry, really, I am.” Yoora tugs on my shirt, to get my attention. “It’s fine, really. I’m sure we’ve all had embarrassing things happen to us.” and I think about the time I cooked ham using sesame oil and got yelled at. She just smiles at me, again, “Well, I should get going. Nice to meet you, Yoora.” and I wave as I continue on to the gaming section. I hear Yoora behind me, fiddling with her phone, mumbling in Korean, as I assume she’s texting Ri An. 

“RI AN” I hear her yell from halfway across the store, and I pick up the game, and decide I should look for Ri An too, but of course after I get food. Heading to the food section, I look for some chips, maybe an ice cream, and there she comes, almost running around the corner, holding a tiny container of ice cream. 

She sees me and her eyes widen, “Hey again.” she says, stiffly smiling, and then attempting to hide behind her black curtain of hair, and continues walking as fast as she can. I wave, and open my mouth to say something about what just happened, but I really don’t know what to say. So, I just let her go. 

I turned around and watched her figure get smaller and smaller as she approached the check out line. Forgetting about my bag of snacks, I start running to catch up with her. 

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