“I’ll be leaving for a tournament tomorrow,” Yixing told us over a plate of steaming spaghetti the next day. “So I won’t be seeing you two for the weekend.”

“Aww. Sweet of you to tell us, Yixing. I was beginning to think that you don’t care,” Hyunji cooed, reaching out to gently ruffle Yixing’s hair.

Yixing swatted her hand away, but hints of a smile were threatening to form on his lips.

“So early in the year?” I asked, amused by their banter.

“It’s a friendly tournament,” Yixing explained. “We’ll be competing with WH.”

“But you hate each other,” I said with mild surprise.

“Which is why the guys can’t wait to kick their butts,” Yixing replied nonchalantly.

Hyunji’s eyes lit up in realisation. “Kris is going too, right?”

Yixing turned and gave her a look. “He’s the captain, Hyunji. How on earth do you expect him to lead the team if he’s not there?”

Hyunji ignored the snide and latched onto his arm. “Yixing-ah, please please take a lot of pictures and mail them to me.” She gave him a winning smile that I knew could have weakened his resolve in any normal day. But, since the topic of discussion was Kris and Yixing was nowhere inclined to provide his love interest with pictures of his potential rival, he smoothly turned away and uttered a firm “No.”

Hyunji huffed. “Fine. If it’s too much of a bother for you, I’ll just come with you and take them myself.”

Yixing’s eye twitched. “Double no.”

“Spoil sport,” she muttered under her breath, while I could only afford to shake my head at her stubborn apprehension.

“Good luck, Yixing,” I told him.

“Hey Aeri,” Hyunji suddenly interrupted. She had gotten over the disappointment of having her wishes denied by Yixing and was now smirking as she jerked her chin towards the figure standing at a distance. “Your prince is here.”

My cheeks pinked, but I tried to give her the best indignant look that I could muster. “Joonmyun is not my prince!”

Hyunji’s eyes twinkled. “Really now? How do you know that he was the guy I was referring to?”

I frowned, turning in my seat. I was greeted by the sight of Park Chanyeol happily bounding over towards us with a cheery wave and a very loud greeting.

I glared darkly at Hyunji, who was chortling with laughter. “I hate you.”

The absence of our best friend over the weekend did leave somewhat a void hole in our life, but that did not mean that we had to mope around over the loss. Hyunji and I had set to work rearranging our schedule, replacing the usual aimless wandering in the markets with an entertaining trip around the shopping district. We went into a dozen different stores, dawdled in the streets and toyed with various trinkets –all the things Yixing would have hated to do.

An outing without the presence of a boy gave us a lot more freedom than we thought –although Yixing was used to usual ‘girlish’ conversations, there were some things that we refrained from mentioning in his presence, namely, the juicy, extremely entertaining and marvellously engaging female gossip. The school was the breeding ground for the latest news, and it wasn’t only limited to those pertaining to the students of EH.

There was a school on the other side of town, famously known as West High, the sister school to ours. It was notorious that the two schools fostered long-term rivalries with each other, endeavouring to outdo one another even in the smallest of things. Although I personally had nothing against the students of WH, most of the students of my school loathed them with immense passion. So it was quite ironic that the latest gossip currently being whispered in the hallways was a dating rumour involving a guy from our school and a girl from WH.

“They say it was true,” Hyunji said mysteriously as she bent her head closer to mine. “A lot of people saw them seeing each other after school at the park.”

“Well,” I said doubtfully. “It might not be true. Maybe they’re related.”

Hyunji rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. As if relatives would see each other on daily basis in one of the most romantic places in Seoul with a boxed lunch to share.”

I stared at her in surprise, taking in the serious expression she had on her face before finally nodding in agreement. “Point taken.”

Hyunji smiled and proceeded to unfold the rest of the juicy details. While our heads were bent together in a deep conversation, someone knocked her on the shoulder, causing her to yelp and stumble. I caught her by the arm, shocked, and looked up to frown at the culprit.

My anger dissolved somewhat when I realised that it was a very cute guy whose countenance bore an expression of extreme guilt. “I’m so sorry,” he gasped. “Are you okay?”

Hyunji, who looked like she was about to snap that she wasn’t, paused when she got a good look at his face.

“I’m so sorry,” he said again, bending down to pick up the purse that she had dropped. “I wasn’t looking.” He gave her an apologetic smile that softened the sharp angles of his features and showed the gleaming light in his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Hyunji replied quietly. I blinked at her. She was rarely this forgiving.

“It’s my fault. I should have noticed you,” the guy said. I had no idea why but that line sounded awfully like... a pickup line. There was no other way to put it.

“It’s no problem,” Hyunji said again. The guy nodded and gave us a small smile. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away. Hyunji and I watched his departing back before exchanging looks with each other.

“Why do I always have to meet cute guys by running straight into them?” she said, and we burst into giggles.

“Funny how all the interesting things happen when Yixing isn’t here,” Hyunji mused as we were toting shopping bags across the street. Having amused ourselves over window shopping for the past few hours, we figured it was due time that we treated ourselves to a few small trinkets as a reminder of this eventful day.

“He’s not going to be happy if he hears you say that,” I told her, trying to stuff a wad of coloured tissue back into the bag I was holding.

“Yeah, but,” Hyunji paused, tapping her chin dreamily with her free hand. “That guy was cute.”

“Which one? The cashier at the counter who tried to get your number?” I asked jokingly.

She smacked with one of her shopping bags as I laughed. “Of course not. I’m talking about the guy that ran into me.”

“Ah,” I said teasingly. “Don’t tell me you’re replacing Kris with him.”

“No!” she said indignantly. “Kris is a whole different story. This one, he just... interests me.”

I plastered on a fake smile, glad that Yixing wasn’t here to know about this. He was going to throw a fit if he did.

“He’s cute but sort of in a smirkish, self-assured kind of way,” Hyunji said dreamily, almost to herself. “But then, he seems nice.”

“Gee,” I said amusedly, “you can tell that much from just bumping into him?”

“It’s called... analysing.”

“Analysing what? Your next prey?”

Hyunji frowned at me and smacked me with her shopping bag again. “It’s not a big deal anyway. It’s not like I’m gonna meet him again.”

I smiled and latched my arm through hers. That was the only reason I consoled myself with to allow the teasing. I knew they were never going to meet again, and knowing Hyunji, he was only a passing interest. So long as Yixing didn’t know about him, neither of us will have to worry about the presence of a new rival challenging him for her heart.

It was only a harmless run in, and all was well.