It was a warm afternoon and you were walking out the gates of Jazz Academy. Your head was lowered and you kept your eyes on the pavement. Even though you've been a Jazz student for weeks, you still didn't have any friends. It only made you miss Sumin and Hana more. You haven't talked to them since the competition. You were sure Sumin was worried sick about you. 

"JINNIE!" You heard Sumin's loud voice. 

Great, I'm even hearing things. You sighed and kept your head lowered. 

"JINNIE! ARE YOU IGNORING YOUR GORGEOUS BEST FRIEND?" The voice spoke nearer. 

The second your head snapped up, a body tackled you. Strawberry scent in the air and you almost felt like crying. Sumin?! There she was right in front of you, crying her eyes out. 

"Yah, pabo! Why didn't you call me or Hana?!" Sumin scolded and pinched your arm. You yelped but was too surprised to speak. Sumin snapped her fingers in front of your face. 

"Sumin?" you mumbled and stared at her, wide-eyed. "You're really here?"

"Duh, why?" She sniffed and wiped her nose.

"Sumin! Why did you run off first? We were all supposed to surprise her!" Luhan came beside her, huffing and holding onto his knees. Behind him were Exo-M (besides Lay), Sehun, and Hana.

"You guys..." you smiled. 

"Gosh, this girl is freaking crazy." Sehun coughed and wheezed, just like the rest of the group.

You were touched. Then Niel's words from earlier made sense. I'll make sure to distract those watchful eyes, so make sure you use your time wisely!

You smiled,"Idiot."

"And who are you calling an idiot?" Kris raised his eyebrow. 

Hana hugged you tightly after pushing Kris aside,"Oh my God, you're so skinny!" She pouted and poked your cheekbones,"Look at your face!" 

"I'm fine." you waved her hands away. A certain question has been lingering in your head,"How's...Yixing?" 

"Lay?" Chen scratched his head,"Well, we haven't seen him at school." 

Sumin patted your shoulder,"He's fine. Luhan and I went to visit him." 

"Awe, I see...where's Kai and the rest of them?" you asked while looking around.

Tao rolled his eyes,"They didn't want to step into this, I quote,'disgusting piece of of a school'." 

You laughed and nodded,"They would say that."

"If they came with us,  they'd probably be like a block away." Xiumin smirked. "Looking like lost puppies."

"Hey! That's not nice to say." Kai popped out of no where.

"Kai!" You squealed and hugged him. He smirked and hugged you back,"Oh, missed you're real prince charming now have we?" You hit his shoulder while everyone just rolled his eyes at him, disgusted.

"Is it only you?" you smiled when he nodded his head. Kai smiled back,"I wanted to see if you're still alive and beautiful." Everyone groaned.

"I see you're here with your friends." Niel approached with a smirk. You waved at him with a friendly smile,"Hi Niel." 

"Hello, my wifey." Niel grinned back. Then he stared at everyone, who was glaring back at him. "Yo." he saluted them. 

"Why the hell do you two sound like you're best buddies?" Luhan snarled.

"Best buddies?! Did he steal you away from me?!" Sumin gasped. 

You giggled and stepped beside Niel,"He's a good guy."

"That's like saying pigs can fly." Luhan snorted. 

"How rude." Niel scoffed. 

"How rude do you want me to get?" Luhan fired back. Both Luhan and Niel started having a stare down.

Chen whistled,"Well, this escalated quickly. We should leave. I don't like how J- students look at me like I'm ugly."

"Ugly is an under-rated term to describe you." Xiumin muttered under his breath. Chen narrowed his eyes at his best friend. 

"Okay, enough! Luhan and Niel, stop staring at each other like it's a competition." you tiredly sighed and grabbed Niel's arm while Sumin grabbed Luhan's.

"And I'd probaly win that too." Niel cockily smirked.

"Bwoh?!" Luhan roared. 

"Geez, Ahn Daniel! Don't look like a total right now! Come on, show them the fun, cool guy I hung out with at the COEX mall!" you whined and started to pull him away from Luhan's grasp.

"You hung out with him?!" Sumin gaped.

"Sumin, not now!" you snapped. 

"Should we help them?" Sehun asked. 

"No." Kris shook his head. "Let's ditch them before the staff come." 

"I'm down." Tao nodded. 

"Guys!" Hana scolded and went to help you. "Oh Sehun, you come help me right now."

"Damn." Sehun rolled up his sleeves. 

"Why are you guys like little boys?" you scowled. "I can't believe I got detention because of you two idiots."

"Hey, at least you'll be with me~" Niel sang.

"Shut up." you growled.

Exo-M, Sehun, Sumin, and Hana stared at you two.

"They act like they're boyfriend and girlfriend." Xiumin stated, cocking his head to the side. 

"Lay would be pleased to see this." Chen had an amused smile on his face.

"No, they're just friends." Hana clearly stated. Sumin nodded her head,"I don't get this fuzzy feelings, just a fluffy sibling feeling."

"Ew, like ." Luhan scrunched up his face. Sumin smacked him on the head. 

"Anyway, wifey, I gotta run and check up on the boys." Niel chuckled and patted your head. "Just be home by 6. We got that dinner thingy." 

"What are they doing?" you tilted your head.

"C.A.P and Chunji are pretending to be us on a date." Niel winked then walked away. "Toodles!"

"Toodles? Okay, he's definitely gay." Tao scoffed. 

"Heard that!" Niel yelled from far away.

Tao smirked,"You were supposed to!" 

You laughed, then noticed everyone staring at you,"What?" 

"You guys are super duper close." Sehun stated. 

"Too super duper close if you ask me." Kai narrowed his eyes. 

"Well, that's because we did get super duper close. Recently he's been trying to cheer me up...ever since you know..." your words faded away. "Niel really is a good guy. Cocky, yes, but he's also very caring. He's been a good friend to me, so I'd appreciate it if you treated him the same way." You mostly eyed Luhan, who was busy looking around. 

"If you say so..." Sumin smiled at you,"Are you really fine?"

"Before, not really. Now, I feel a bit better that before." You bit your bottom lip. "Has he asked about me?"

"Don't tell him we told you, but it was his idea to surprise you. He even called Niel for a heads up." Luhan beamed and Sumin hugged his arm, nodded her head,"That's right!"

"R-Really?" your eyes widened. "So, where is he?"

"Really." Kris grinned,"That idiot just didn't want to make it awkward for you, so he didn't come with us." 

"Oh." you lost hope that he would be somewhere near. 

"But, you're going to meet him somewhere else...like right now." Sehun wiggled his eyebrows. "A secret date between forbidden lovers." 

"A secret d-date?" you blushed and held both of your cheeks. You were kind of worried though. How would things turn out?

Sumin and Hana grabbed each of your arms and smiled,"You'll be fine."

"Yeah, it's just Lay. No need to be nervous." Luhan waved his hand with a big grin. The rest of the boys nodded. Luhan handed you a piece of paper,"Here, meet him at that address."

"A restaraunt? Isn't this where he-"

"Just go!" Sumin pushed you and you stumbled away, looking back at them with a nervous smile. They all waved at you with encouraging expressions and watched you leave.

Sehun sighed,"He's going to kill us."

"Yeah, at least he'll have fun doing it." Luhan chuckled and he hugged Sumin's shoulders. 

Kris grinned,"He needed a push in the right direction anyway. Now kids, let's go fetch the rest of the guys and eat out."

You stood outside the restaraunt where Lay worked at. It was semi-full at the time when you walked in. You looked unsure of where to look when a worker went to greet you,"Hi, may I help you?"

"Uh, I'm looking for Yixing, I mean, Lay." you shyly played with your bag. The worker eyed you, but smiled once again,"Just wait here then, I'll call him out." 

"Thank you." you bowed and waited patiently by the wall. 

A few minutes later, Lay was walking out, casually dressed. He spotted you and nearly had a heart attack. "J-Jina?"

"Hi, Yixing." you awkwardly waved at him. It was the first time you talked to him, let alone saw him. Butterflies were flying around in your stomach and it felt it was your first meeting with him. 

Lay was literally caught off guard. He didn't expect your visit at all. He got a text from Luhan saying someone was going to pick him up for dinner, and he didn't expect that person to be Jina.

"Lay, I thought you were leaving already?" the same worker girl stood beside him, her hand on his shoulder. You eyed her curiously, and felt a pang of jealousy. Lay smiled at her,"I am."

She then glanced at you,"Is she your friend? Sister?"

The way she said it made you feel a bit irritated. Did she really have to avoid the word girlfriend? The look she was giving you wasn't too friendly either. To others it might've looked normal, but girls just have that silent body language that's so easy to read. 

You crossed your arms and stared at her. She just smiled at you. Oh, I hate her already. You thought.

"She's my..." Lay glanced at you and didn't know how to respond. What was the relationship between you? Did you guys really break up? Even if he's the one who stated it, Lay still wasn't so sure himself. 

"I'm his girlfriend." you gave her that same fake smile which caused her smile to vanish. 

"G-girlfriend?" she stuttered.

Lay's eyes widened a bit. He was relieved that you said that though.

"Yes, I'm Kang Jina, are you're his co-worker, right? Thanks for taking care of Yixing for me." you nodded your head as a small bow of thanks. 

"N-no problem." she bowed back and gave Lay a small smile,"I have to get back to work, see ya." she then walked away.

You felt a bit superior and you smiled in satisfaction. Your smile faltered when you saw Lay staring at you. "What?" you asked him. 

"Nothing." he had a small smirk on his face and walked out the door. You followed behind him. The two of you just walked where ever at the moment, having no plans whatsoever. 

"Luhan and the rest of them told me about the surprise visit to Jazz Academy..." you spilled the beans, just to make a conversation with him. It was too silent between the two of you. "And about our...secret date." you whispered the last two words. 

"Secret date?" What is she talking about? Lay furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, the guys said you planned a secret date, that's why you didn't come with them to Jazz Academy cause you didn't want to make it awkward between us." you explained. 

"Oh, yeah." he lied. What the hell did those idiots plan!? I didn't say anything about a secret date! Lay shook his head and rubbed his face. 

"What's wrong? You look tired. Maybe we should cancel this date thing." you said, concerned. Lay was tired. He skipped school and worked instead. But, seeing you made all the tiredness go away. 

Lay smiled at you,"No, it's fine. I'm just really happy to see you right now." God, it feels so good to finally see her. It's been weeks and she lost weight, but she's still beautiful. 

"You're still pretty." Lay complimented. 

You blushed,"Oh, thank you." 

He suddenly frowned and held your face in his hands. His thumb caressed your cheeks,"You've grown thinner." 

"I could say the same about you." you whispered and rested your head on his chest, hugging his waist. It was easier than you thought to suddenly embrace Lay, but it felt just right. Warm and comforting. 

Lay found himself wrapping his arms around you and resting his head on top of yours. And you both just stayed like that, taking up the time you've lost together and spending it in each others embrace. 

"I missed you." you whimpered.

"I missed you too." he faintly replied and pulled you closer to him. 

updated. bam. didn't edit. gotta do hw. last day of break. no.

hope i became prettier over break and walk up to school like:

bai, guise.