"Sorry, Joongki, but I really have to study for my finals," you say, almost regretfully. "I'll just have dinner with you after exams end."

You hang up.

Wrong timing, oppa. Dx Sorry.

You gather your notes and books and get ready to go to your study session with the other guys.

You open the door to leave your room.

"HOLY CRAP, YOU SCARED ME!!" you yelp.

Joongki chuckles. "Told ya I'd pick you up myself."

=_=

"But what about my study sessio--" You are interrupted by him grabbing your hand and running straight for the gate like a rocket to the moon.

What is wrong with this guy? o_O

You try not to trip over your feet as you keep up with his running. "What the heck are we doing??" you ask him utterly confused.

"Haven't I told you? We're gonna have dinner."

"But why are we running?!"

"This is what I like to call a 'romatic escape'," he winks at you. "Just trying to add a bit of excitement to the mundane walk. And also if your other dude friends see me around here right now, I'm dead." 

"Okay," you laugh. "How did you get in here in the first place?"

"The guard's daughter is a big fan of mine," Joongki explains, still running. "I merely had to take a picture with him."

"Figures," you nod, comprehendingly.

JANGGANAE KOREAN RESTAURANT

You and Joongki are eating two platefuls of spicy kalbi, and sharing a big pot of bibimbap. Still worried about your final exams, you pick up your kalbi cuts mindlessly and place them into your mouth, eyes on the half empty pot of bibimbap. 

"Sorry 'bout this, Haneul," you hear him say.

You snap out of it and watch as Joongki places a spoonful of bibimbap and a piece of kalbi inside a lettuce leaf. He places a bit of gochujang paste on it and wraps it up tightly before putting the whole thing into his mouth. Your eyes move up to meet his and see that he looks sincerely apologetic as he munches on his food. You wanted to complain and rant about his immaturity and lack of sensitivity as soon as you arrived but he had been quiet the rest of the way to the restaurant. Even when you had started eating. 

Maybe he's going through something and not telling me. That's why he couldn't wait and just had to eat with someone. D:

You give him a small smile. "It's okay, Joongki, don't worry about it. I needed a break anyway."

He smiles back and sighs. "Whew, for a second there, I thought you were gonna kill me. I guess I can stop being quiet now and go back to the usual me~" 

=_=

So much for trying to understand him. 

"YA, now you're gonna have to tutor me for my finals," you point out. 

"Okay, don't worry, I will," he laughs. "But first, how's your life? You haven't updated me in a while. Have you fallen in love with anyone else?" 

"What-- What do you mean 'anyone else'? Who am I in love with??" you almost spit out your rice.

"Me, of course~" he says, biting his lip playfully. "Hahahah!"

You roll your eyes. "No, I am not in love with anyone. I'm a boy." 

"Tsss, no, you're not," he says, looking at you like you're a retard.

"Yes, I am, Joongki HYUNG." 

"Uuuuuggghhhhh, don't call me that!" 

"HYUNG, do you want me to feed you some kalbi?" you tease in the manliest voice you can do.

"No, I only accept food from girls," he says miserably. 

"But, HYUNG, it's a sign of my love and respect for you~" 

"Go away," he says, almost ready to rip out his hair. "Bring back the girl Haneul." 

"The girl Haneul will return only when the Seoul High summer festival comes," you announce, still in your manly voice. 

"I have to wait until then??" Joongki whines. "Haneul, noooooo... Why only then??"

"Because, silly, we're doing a maid cafe for our booth, remember?" 

...

...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!!!!" Joongki bursts out once again just like he did over the phone. 

You laugh with him. "I take it that you like the idea a lot?"

"I can't get over it," he laughs loudly, holding his stomach. 

"We ARE vying to win best booth so the more people we attract, the better, right?" you state. 

Joongki bites his lip as he touches his chin in thought. You see his eyes alive with so much intent as he looks out the window of the restaurant. He seems to be looking at something much farther than the street outside, and before you can even try to guess, he looks at you with his bright mischievous eyes that you love so much. 

"So..." he says, lifting one corner of his mouth to a smile. "Will I get to see Kim Haneul in a dress sometime soon?"

You get lost in his charm for a moment. "U-uh," you stutter. "Mhm?"

"Perfect," he grins. He opens his mouth as if to say something else but then he looks down at his food and furrows his brows as if concerned about something. You feel the mood drop as well. You've never seen him like this so you start to worry. 

"O-oppa, is something wrong?" o_O 

"Have you thought this over well, Haneul?" he asks you. 

You know, oppa, it's times like these when you don't call me 'cupcake' that I get nervous. Dx  

Although-- I mean-- I'm not saying that I enjoy being called 'cupcake' or 'pumpkin' or whatever nickname you give me, okay?? =_=

And I'm thankful that I can control my thoughts now in a way that they don't accidentally slip out through my mouth like they did on the first days of school. 

But wait, he's asking me a question.

"Uhh, yeah?" you nod. "We were going to do a host club but then Choi Siwon's class is already doing it." 

"Do you realize what could happen because of this?" he says in a hushed tone.

"Huh?" 

"Ahn Paran," he calls you. "Remember that beach trip you told me about one time?" 

You do remember. That night when Jiwon had lent you a girly disguise so that you could enjoy at least a few hours of vacation as your real self. Your girl self. That night when Kim Kibum saved you as the sun set and asked you to be his date for dinner and he told you how much he really appreciated the boy Kim Haneul as a friend. You feel a sharp pain in your heart as you realize that you miss talking to him despite his antisocial behavior. 

You wonder if he thought you were pretty. Then it hits you.

The guys saw my face. They talked about it even.

Will they remember Ahn Paran when they see me again in a dress?

Plus that time with Youngwoon hyung... He was suspicious of me. 

Holy crap, Kyuhyun was right. Dx I set myself up for disaster!! 

"Oh no..." you gasp. 

"Oh yes," Joongki says. "So you finally understood, huh?"

You nod apprehensively. "Oppa, what do I do?? TT "

"Try to get out of it," he tells you. "See if you can change your class booth to something else."

"I'll try," you say, agitated. "But what if I can't change it anymore?"

"Then we should hope for the best," he sighs. "And pray to all the Korean gods that you don't get found out."

SEOUL HIGH, ROOM 101

"Haneul, where were you?" Heechul asks as you enter your dorm room. "I thought you were gonna catch up to our study group. Your fish kept whining about how you weren't there to suffer with him."

You put down your bag and climb up to your bed. "Oh sorry, hyung, I had... something to attend to. I'll be at the next study session for sure." 

He narrows his eyes at you. "Haneul, be honest with me. Are you dating someone?"

This catches you offguard. "WHA--Me?? Dating someone??? Noooo no no no no, I'm not dating anyone, hyung!"

"Such a defensive answer. You lie."

"No, I'm serious! Y-your question startled me, that's all."

Your heart pounds as Heechul climbs up to your bed. "Gimme your phone."

"What?? No! Why?" 

"So that I can know who this girl that you're seeing is." He holds out his hand. "Gimme."

"But--but hyung--"

He forcibly reaches into your pockets and pulls out the Samsung phone that Joongki had given you at the band competition. You try to wrestle it away from him but he pins you down with his feet. He scrolls through your cellphone.

"Log log log... Ah, here we go," he says as he starts to read your phone log out loud. "Appa, appa, appa, appa, appa..." 

You see a look of disappointment creep over his face. 

"Seriously, Haneul?" he frowns. 

You nod, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

"You must be really close with your dad, huh," he says. 

"Yep, very," you say cheekily.

He thinks for a long time. Then he sighs and finally goes back down to his own bed and turns off the lights. "Good night, Haneul," you hear him say. You also hear him mumble some things you can't really make out but it almost sounds like he's cursing himself for not being right.

You go to sleep, satisfied. 

It's really a good thing that Joongki set his name to 'Appa' on my phone. Whew. And thank goodness, he tutored me after dinner like he said he would.

But after all the trouble I went through for that booth...

how do I get out of the maid cafe now??