She brought her lips to the pink straw of her milkshake and took a sip. From the corners of her eyes, he was glancing back and forth at the screen of her cell phone, desperately waiting for a new notification, preferably from him. Him, meaning none other than her best friend—Kim Jonghyun. 

See, the plan was that they'd meet at the mall, specifically the food court, around noon and spend the day there, hanging out or talking about whatever came to mind. Jessica glanced at her phone again and checked the time. 12:47. She rolled her eyes and in her mind she groaned, because it was just so typical of Jonghyun to be late. Then again, it was the evening before prom. It would've been no surprise if he had gotten stuck in the nightmare that's commonly known as pre-prom night traffic.

She picked up her milkshake again and held it, boredom consuming her. They said patience was a virtue for a reason. 

"Jess!" said an all too familiar voice.

She sat straight up in her seat then turned around, excited to see her friend. He wore a casual t-shirt that fitted him well and he flashed her a smile, holding his own chocolate milkshake in one hand. He looked handsome, but what else was new? It's not like she had romantic feelings for him either—he was just plain handsome. "Hey!" Jessica replied, setting her cup back down. "It's about time.."

"Sorry," he apologized, taking the seat beside her. "It's chaos out there, have you seen?" 

She shook her head. "No, but I can visualize things."

Jonghyun scoffed and shrugged, an apolegetic look over his features. "Yeah, again, sorry."

There was a small silence, in which they both stared at the mass of people, mainly teenage girls, scurrying around the mall from store to store. The little princesses had their hair done, some with beauty queen curls and buckets of hairspray and others with their hair sleek and pin-straight. She honestly wasn't sure whether prom seemed fun or just plain obnoxious. 

Obviously, Jessica wasn't the type for prom. It was a shame, because she did like getting pretty and whatnot, but all the drama that prom brought turned her off. Whether it was the "She has the same dress as me!" or "He asked her to go with him, instead of me!" it just annoyed her in general. Without realizing, she heaved a sigh. 

Jonghyun directed his attention to her. "You okay?"

Her lips curved into a small smile, she shrugged her shoulders. "Perfectly fine." He smiled as well. Sometimes her best friend did make her heart ache. By then, Jonghyun knew all the right—and wrong—buttons to push. 

A bit of background history, shall we?

Jonghyun and Jessica had met at a rough time. Freshman year of high school, to be exact.

She had walked through the two main doors into her new school, where she'd be spending her next four years with new faces and experiences. It was nerve-wracking, considering that the ever-quiet Jessica didn't know anybody there. Making friends wasn't something she was expecting herself to do, and for the first several weeks she spent her time completely alone in the shadows that the other students had casted upon her. It wasn't entirely horrible though, as she did enjoy her classes. Her teachers acknowledged her for her hard work and its results. She looked forward to her classes for the sole purpose that they made her feel special for a moment.

At home, things weren't much easier either. The Jungs were both professional photographers and were constantly travelling all over the world, from Tokyo to New York, for their photoshoots. In other words, they were never home anymore. Jessica was left alone with her older sister most of the time, but that's if her sister did come home. From a young age, Kaya, the older Jung sister, had gotten herself trapped in a lifestyle full of wrong choices—the heavy drinks and the drugs were her friends and she'd find herself spending the nights at strangers' houses more than often. The beautiful, intelligent Kaya was only 15 when she was into such a world, and her beauty and intelligence was progressively being destroyed. It pained Jessica, who made a pact with herself that she'd avoid anything that would make her end up in her sister's shoes. Instead, she took to studying hard and spending her spare time with collections of books. 

Anyway, back to the story. Jessica's favorite class was art. Her teacher was a petite, aged woman who always wore a bright smile, regardless of any situations. Not only that, but the teacher considered her one of the best students, establishing a sense of pride in the shy girl. The students had been arranged in alphabetical order according to last names. The Jung girl sat in a table with a group of other students who seemed to have already known each other well. Regardless of how much she liked the class, she did feel excluded and rejected for the most part. 

But towards the middle of the year—about January—the teacher announced there would be a new addition to the class. "Kim Jonghyun from South Korea," as he was introduced, entered the classroom looking as if he had way too much to say but was trying to keep it in. He wasn't tall and he was still thin; one could tell he still had time to go before he was fully matured. Despite that, he was indeed very handsome. Also, the fact that there was someone else from the same background as her relieved her. But most importantly, he was her saving grace.

According to alphabetical order, Kim came right after Jung. For the remainder of the year, Kim Jonghyun occupied the seat across from her. For the remainder of the year, Kim Jonghyun proved himself a friend she liked to be around. Jessica knew he needed her friendship too, because who ever said moving across the country to the United States was easy? Hell, starting high school there wasn't any easier. 

Over the next four years their friendship only continued, without flaws or failures. She considered herself more than just lucky to have such a good friend, someone who understood her by all means. She went through his problems, and he went through all of hers.

If she had him there, she was okay.

Jonghyun had both of his elbows propped up on the table and his lips were hidden behind his hands, which he had folded together. He looked deep in thought, and Jessica studied him, trying to figure him out. But her thoughts were averted from her best friend when she felt the presence of others nearby. Her eyes darted to two girls standing by the table, all dolled up with professionally done makeup and hair. They stood by the table, stifling giggles by biting their lips. Jonghyun simply lifted an eyebrow.

That's when one of the girls blurted out, "She thinks you're really hot," and the two finally exploded into their fit of high-pitched giggles. While Jessica was obviously annoyed, Jonghyun just seemed plain confused. 

"Oh. Uh, thanks." He replied with the slightest of chuckles. 

The girls stood their for a while, exchanging nervous glances with each other. It was that kind of language girls had with each other, where they could somehow communicate with their eyes. 

Before taking their leave, each of the girls shuffled to his side and placed a kiss on his cheek. They then ran away, yes, giggling. When she turned back around to look at Jonghyun, his face was blank, expressionless. Another moment passed until finally there was a sign of life from her friend and the two burst into laughter. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened while she was around.

"You know, Jonghyun, it would be nice if every other living, walking, and talking girl on the planet didn't hit on you." Jessica said, sipping from her strawberry milkshake. 

"Do you really think I can help it?" 

a/n: Just leaving this chapter here. (: This was supposed to be a drabble but I'm thinking of continuing it! What do you guys think? Comments/subscribes/etc. are greatly appreciated.