“What on earth was that?” Hyunji was positively giddy, clutching on my arms as if she wanted to squeeze the confession out of me.

“What’s what?” I asked innocently, trying my best to project a blank expression.

Hyunji rolled her eyes. “Stop. Don’t even try that with me.”

She peered over my shoulder, turning her head left and right to see if we had successfully shaken off the two persistent boys, who, up to this afternoon, had been practically hunting her down in their quest to impress. Of course, I was sure that Hyunji still remained oblivious to their endeavours and was perhaps considering their frequent displays of intimacy as a typical show of friendly affection. As of now, we were alone. Apparently, Hyunji had specifically told Yixing that she would not tolerate any interruptions during her interrogation, and Yixing was more than happy to relay the message to Jonghyun.

She leaned forwards, so that I could hear her quiet words. “That. How on earth did you know the new boy? And did my eyes deceive me or did Joonmyun just hug you?”

I facepalmed myself as my cheeks started to burn. Why oh why did I have to have an overly attentive best friend?

“The new boy’s Joonmyun’s cousin,” I explained. “Joonmyun introduced him to me. His name is Jongin. And Joonmyun did not hug me –at least not intentionally. It was just to get me out of the way.”

Hyunji’s grin was almost splitting her face as she clapped her hands together. “How romantic!” she said playfully.

“Oh, shut up,” I said with a roll of my eyes, slapping her arm.

“But really Aeri,” Hyunji said, leaning closer to me so that I could hear her whisper. “You should have seen the look on Choi Minhee’s face. Oh, I’d pay to see that again.”

“I know right?” I said, my smile widening as I remembered that moment. “Especially when Joonmyun kicked her out of the game.”

“Priceless!” Hyunji agreed, laughing. We spent a few minutes reliving the moment before she moved on to her next question.  “Anyway, what did they say to you?”

“Nothing,” I lied, a bit too quickly for it to be true.

Hyunji gave me a look. “Go Aeri, tell me now before I go ask them myself!”

“No!” I gasped, clutching her arm lest she did just that. “It’s nothing really. Jongin just asked me out.”

Hyunji gaped at me. “That’s what you consider nothing? Aeri, you just got asked out on a date –and by a very cute boy at that.”

“Um, yeah...” I said, averting my gaze away as I shuffled my feet.

“What did Joonmyun say?” she asked curiously.

“He said that he’d cover for me so that I could go.”

“He’s okay with it?”

I shrugged, my smile having been replaced by a small frown. “Yeah.”

Hyunji was silent for a while before she pulled me in for a hug. “You don’t know for sure that he’s okay with it,” she said, patting my back consolingly.

I laughed mirthlessly. “He practically offered me to Jongin without much thought. If that doesn’t spell out the fact that he doesn’t have feelings for me, I doubt that anything would.”

“Who knows?” Hyunji said as she released me, offering me a tiny wink. “He might be the type who’s very good at keeping his feelings to himself.”

“Might. But I doubt it,” I said glumly.

“Hey, look on the bright side.” Hyunji’s eyes brightened. “Maybe he hasn’t realised his feelings for you yet.”

“I don’t think so Hyunnie.” I shook my head helplessly. “I don’t think he has any feelings for me to begin with.”

“Trust me,” Hyunji said, her eyes full of confidence. “I’ve seen how he acts around you. What happened in the field alone is enough to show how protective he is over you. I’m sure that at least he feels some kind of spark for you.”

I shrugged, not entirely believing her. “I don’t know, Hyunji. If you say so.”

On Saturday morning, I found myself standing in front of Donghae’s cafe, half an hour before the time Jongin and I acceded to meet. Yes, I had accepted the invitation that Jongin had extended to me during our fight in the dodgeball battlefield. Although I wasn’t willing to sacrifice what little time I had that I could spend with Joonmyun, I just couldn’t help thinking that I should accept Jongin’s invitation. Joonmyun’s unsaid consent to my dating his younger cousin spoke volumes to me regarding his current standing in our relationship, and I couldn’t help the feeling that I should at least give Jongin a chance.

Although he was always labelled as a troublemaker by Joonmyun, I couldn’t help but notice his displays of sincerity, however infrequent as they were. Generally, he was a nice guy –cheeky and mischievous, but nice nonetheless. Although I doubted that he could completely erase the feelings I had for Joonmyun, I figured that it would be breath of fresh air if I tried widening my vision instead of just limiting it one guy, whose feelings towards me I wasn’t entirely sure about.

Then again, I suppose it was by foolish desire that I found myself standing in front of the cafe on Saturday morning. I was wearing a pair of sunglasses with a hat pulled low over my eyes, afraid that the boys inside would recognise me.

 I saw Kyuhyun leaning against the counter, jabbing the agitated Eunhyuk with a spoon with twinkling eyes, as if he was trying to get Eunhyuk to tell a juicy secret. Ryeowook, the only sane one of the bunch, had his hands busy, easily navigating himself around the cramped counter as he tried to find his ingredients. I got a fleeting glance of two blurred forms moving back and forth in the pantry –Kris and Tao I suppose, judging by their height. Joonmyun was waiting tables, as always, a bright smile on his face as he greeted everyone.

I allowed myself a depressed sigh as I watched him. How I would have loved to walk in right now and report myself for duty. Joonmyun was shouldering one burden too many; it made me feel guilty. My heart broke a little as I watched him from behind the glass. Did he feel any loss from my absence as I did from his? I thought of the moment in the dodgeball field, Jongin’s casual confidence as he talked to me and Joonmyun’s quick willingness to let me take up Jongin’s invitation. Maybe I really was hoping for too much. Just because Joonmyun subtly showed his affections to me as a friend doesn’t mean that he had any other feelings for me that bordered on romantic.

I shrugged and withdrew myself before any of them could see me. I could feel a light vibration in my pocket. Jongin, I’m sure, calling to ask where I was. I trudged down the concrete pavement, breathing in the fresh morning scent and freeing my bound hair so that it fell loosely down my back, hoping that I could at least try to enjoy my day.