“Aish, what flavor did she like?” Jongup scratched the back of his head and screwed up his face as he thought hard. He knew there were certain things she flat out hated and certain other flavors she was allergic to. He scowled a little. Why were girls so difficult to take care of?

            He made a vow to himself that the next time she went into a relationship, he was going to have to give him the best friend test of approval. He knew it was a bad idea to let her go out with a guy three years older but she had insisted she was “so in love.” Jongup shook his head. Girls. Ridiculous. They always thought they knew what they wanted.

            He pushed the shopping cart down the aisle and felt ridiculous as he thought about what he wanted to get her. Tea was always a good option and he knew that she liked her tea with a lot of honey, so he went ahead and bought some. He didn’t know her house that well so he had no idea what she had. Might as well be safe than sorry.

            Jongup hit the ice cream section and racked his brain for something that she would actually accept. No vanilla, that was too boring apparently and chocolate too mainstream. He saw rum raisin and wanted to take it but remembered that she didn’t like anything with raisin in it. He picked up cherry and immediately placed it down. Allergies.

            He searched through the entire refrigerator and took out Napoleon. She liked things in three colors and so what if she hated chocolate. He was putting in the effort and that was enough. Most guy best friends would have awkwardly overlooked all the crying and screaming she had made him endure last night.

            Jongup closed his eyes and remembered the disastrous phone call from the night before. She had called him, sniffling hysterically, telling him that her boyfriend had dumped her. He had tried to calm her down, tell her that he must not have been in his right mind and that she could do better and all she did was scream at him, telling Jongup that he was being useless and unsupportive. It made his head hurt for the rest of the night.

            He sighed and shook his head, focusing once more on the task at hand. He had to pick the right ice cream flavor or who knows what else she would do. Maybe she would lash out at him, telling him that he was not listening to her carefully enough. He rolled his eyes. In all their years of friendship, this was the most he has had to do.

            He pushed past pistachio, something he had ruled out because she thought the texture was bad. He rejected coffee because coffee made her breath smell bad. Then his eyes fell on the perfect flavor. Mint chocolate chip. She liked it well enough and mint definitely cause anyone to have breath problems. He pumped his fist and took it from the refrigerator and made his way to the front of the store.

She was lying on her stomach, something she never did, and crying. Jongup pouted a little and knocked on her door. She didn’t move. He pushed himself in and sat down on the bed next to her. She still made no response.

            “Hey, there’s no use just crying you know.”               

            He only sniffed and rolled back over and Jongup smiled a little. Old habits died hard even when she was suffering from a broken heart. He reached over and gently placed a hand on her head. “Hey, get up. I brought you mint chocolate chip ice cream and we can finally watch that drama you’ve been forever forcing me to watch.”

            “Go away,” she mumbled, rubbing her nose across her quilt.

            He snorted a little and pulled the fabric away from her. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Tomorrow you’re going to wake up and regret everything. Now get up and let’s talk it out a little.”

            She slowly shifted her body into a sitting position and Jongup winced. Her hair was greasy, her face blotchy and her clothes were rumpled. He got off the bed and reached out a hand for her. “I know we’re just friends, but come on. For the sake of your hygiene and for my olfactory and visual systems, I’m going to force you to take a shower or I will get in there with you. And that would be really awkward for both of us.” His best friend scowled at him and Jongup smiled angelically back. “Your choice sweetheart.”

            She got up slowly and pushed herself off the bed. “You ert, you just wanted to have the chance to get into the showers with me.”

            Jongup shuddered and walked out the room to go downstairs and prepare the tea and ice cream. “That was most definitely uncalled for. In case you’ve forgotten, I have a girlfriend whom I plan on taking care of very well too.”

            She paused on the way to the bathroom and smiled a little. “Thanks for dropping by. What flavor?”

            He knew she was going to ask. “Mint chocolate chip.” And that answer earned him an enthusiastic yell and he knew he had done the right thing.

this is for secretsstayafterlove

I hope you enjoy