Journey 15

It was her millionth time to sigh, but Jinri couldn't do anything else but that.

"So - distracted by the kid's confession?" Kyungsoo smirked as he joined Jinri on the table.

Jinri raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"No. Why would I?"

Kyungsoo answered her with shrug. "Who knows."

"Well, I'm not." Jinri said. "I mean, I guess it's just normal since I'm the only girl whom he has real interaction with. Besides, he's a kid Kyungsoo." she reminded.
"Yes, maybe. But Chanyeol's just not a kid. We of all people, know that my friend. And correction - he's no longer one. He's fifteen."

Jinri exhaled another heavy sigh and stared blankly past from Kyungsoo's shoulder. Kyungsoo glaced over his shoulder then back at Jinri, tilting his head inquiringly.

"Who're you looking at?"
"My doom." Jinri answered miserably. "Oh Kyungsoo, what should I do? Joonmyeon's still not talking to me!"
"Say sorry." he suggested.
"I already did that."
"Then don't do anything else if you did your part. Just let him get angry at you Jinri, he's not a loss."

Jinri shoot daggers at Kyungsoo's words. It was a little late before the latter noticed her best friend's deathly glare, but it was no effect on him.

"What? I just said what I'm thinking!" he said defensively.
"You and Chanyeol are so alike." she snorted and went back to spacing out.
"What do you expect? I'm a boy, Jinri. We in nature use blunt and direct words rather than sugar-coating words that girls do."

She doesn't want to admit it, but Kyungsoo hit a point. Jinri just can't hear the nicest piece of advise from a man who stayed oblivious and straight forward for the rest of his life. 

Jinri stood from her seat just in time for the bell. The students around the cafeteria started packing their bags while Jinri went along with them.

"You don't mind if you watch Chanyeol while I'm on Blu Planet, right?" she asked.
"That's what I always do." he answered, rising from his seat too and waving goodbye at Jinri. "See you later."

After they went on separate ways, Kyungsoo wandered around the school with no specific place to go. His class ended sooner than scheduled and it was still too early for his liking to go home. In the end, he decided to text Chanyeol and urged him to cut classes.

Chanyeol: But hyung, my class will end at 5 p.m.
Kyungsoo: You can't grant my favor just this once? I'm sad. :'(
Chanyeol: Noona will get angry....
Kyungsoo: Noona will never know. ;") So, how about we meet at 1 p.m.? Good?

Kyungsoo: Chanyeol are you still there????

Kyunsgoo: Chanyeol.

Chanyeol: I'm already in the bus hyung. kkkkkkk

"That's my boy!"

* * *

"What are we going to do now?"

Kyungsoo faced Chanyeol and opened his arms.

"I'm thinking that myself!"
"What? So you mean you do not know what we're going to do when you texted me?"
"Exactly."

Chanyeol slumped on the couch and groaned.

"I skipped health class for nothing." he said miserably.

Kyungsoo's eyes shined excitedly.

"Health's your favorite subject?" he asked, flopping himself  eagerly beside Chanyeol.
"Yes, and today our instructor was about to show us a video which he introduced as 'a video that will surely open your eyes about '."
"That's it!" Kyungsoo clapped his hands which made Chanyeol jumped. "I know what we're going to do!"
"What? ? HYUNG!"
"No!" Kyungsoo answered quickly, laughing. "I mean, you want class? I'll give you more than that."
"Huh???"

Kyungsoo stood up and offered his hand to Chanyeol.

"It is time to transfer my knowledge to my most trusted apprentice."
"You're losing me" Chanyeol complained.
Kyungsoo sighed impatiently.

"Do you know how Jinri reacted from your "kiddie" confession?"
"I'm not a kid." Chanyeol argued. "But how anyways?"
"She rejected you."

Chanyeol blinked for several times before the information had sunk until "Oh" was the only thing he managed to say.

"But don't be sad by that! It's just that Jinri still sees you as a kid, and my best friend's really attracted to man. That's why, I'm here. Today I'll make you a man."

"Now I'm really lost."

Kyungsoo smiled knowingly and pulled Chanyeol upwards.

"How about some lunch?"

* * *

Chanyeol fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair while he took furtive glances from the ladies' milky legs to and fro. He can sense Kyungsoo's eyes studying him so he shifted his interest around the restaurant instead. It was a clean and small food cafeteria which wafted an aroma of mouth-watering foods. But the place would have been a comfortable one for Chanyeol if only it wasn't from the waitresses' legs revealing from their micro mini skirts or cleavages popping from their plunging necklines.

"Why are we here again?" he mumbled.
"This is where I eat my lunch when Jinri's busy with his boyfriend."

Chanyeol felt a twinge of annoyance when Kyungsoo mentioned the word 'boyfriend'. He wished that this feeling did not show from his face in case his hyung would misinterpret it, so he continued.

"But what about the class you're talking to?"

Kyungsoo took a sip from his coffee and smiled.

"We're already starting our class silly. Now, our first lesson for today is discreet flirting."
"What's that?"

A waitress wearing thin, velvety dress and shorts approached the boys' table. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol's eyes fell simultaneously from the girl's chest down to her legs then up to her face again. Then they both smiled.

"May I take your orders sirs?" she asked, addressing to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo for an answer but the latter was busy catching the woman's eyes. The waitress, on the other hand, followed Chanyeol's eyes until she noticed Kyungsoo staring at her, who in return looked away from the woman immediately.

"Ah yes, what do you want Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asked, turning his attention to Chanyeol.
"Uhh.."
"How about some two plates of gimbap and two colas?" he suggested.
"Okay."

Kyungsoo hold gazes at the girl for at least two seconds before smiling at her - with an unusual parted lips - and nodded.

"That would be all." he said quite casually.

The woman curled the strand of her hair and smiled back at Kyungsoo.

"Your food will be served in 15 minutes."

When he was sure that they were out of the woman's earshot, Kyungsoo nudged Chanyeol and grinned.

"That's how you do discreet flirting. Start with the eyes."
"Holding gazes with the woman, you mean?"
"Yes. Let her catch you staring, and when she caught you, look away like you're unaffected. Then let her catch you staring again but this time, don't look away. Hold gazes to her - not too long and not too short - then smile."
"What good can a smile do???"
"The good thing is, you're showing the girl that you're interested on her without confessing it verbally." Kyungsoo winked.

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol continued their talks when another waitress serving their tray of food started approaching their table. Kyungsoo immediately nudged Chanyeol and said in a hushed whisper,

"Here comes lesson number two! When I wink at you, just follow my lead. Do you understand?" 

Chanyeol nodded eagerly and waited.

The waitress stopped at their table and started placing their orders like what the boys have anticipated. Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo just in time to catch his signal. Kyungsoo accidentally-slash-intentionally dropped the spoon beside him which Chanyeol followed too. The two of them ducked their heads under the table to retrieve their spoons but this time, they were not looking for their silverwares but to the waitress' long legs.

Chanyeol muffled his whistle while he picked his spoon and reappeared on the desk while blushing from head to toe. Kyungsoo followed suit but unlike the teenager, he stayed cool and unblushed.

Kyungsoo picked his first piece of gimbap and munched it quietly while he stared at the waitress' retreating back. After he was done with his first piece, he turned to Chanyeol.

"What we did a while ago is the oldest erted trick of all times. It's called spoon drop, but even in its scratched tactics, the move still works."
"How many times must I do a spoon drop?" Chanyeol asked.
"It depends with the ladies' legs."

* * *

The lesson did not stop in the restaurant. After eating their lunch, Kyungsoo brought Chanyeol straight to Victoria's Secret. And so the boys were now surrounded by pink and black lingeries, women's bras of all sizes and underwears of all colors. Passers-by from inside and outside the store looked curiously at the two of them, and Chanyeol desperately wished that Jinri wouldn't know where he had been today.

"Hyung! Why are we here????" he whispered fiercely to Kyungsoo.
"Lesson number three man." Kyungsoo whispered back before spotting a lone lady on the corner. He started his way towards her, leaving Chanyeol alone.

Kyungsoo hummed leisurely while he studied every lingeries he passed until he was at a distance from the lone lady. He picked a fuschia underwear and tutted loudly enough for the lady to hear.

"Are you gay?" the lady asked, looking from Kyungsoo's strange style of clothing to the underwear that he was holding.
"No." Kyungsoo answered and placed the underwear back to its shelf. "Not because I'm here means I'm gay."

The lady smiled in agreement.

"Of course, so is there anything I can do to help your search?"
"Actually, yes. It's my sister's 17th birthday next week, and I'm thinking of getting her a nice piece of undergarments just for a change. She's umm...." Kyungsoo studied the lady's body for a minute before saying, "Perhaps she's the same size as yours."

The lady laughed and picked a black and lacy underwear, studied it then gave it to Kyungsoo.

"Maybe she'd like that one." she said.
"And this?" Kyungsoo hold the bra he picked randomly from nowhere.

The lady sized the bra and nodded. 

"What cup is she?"
"What cup are you?" Kyungsoo asked back.
"Size 34, cup B."
"Ah, I think my sister's close to that. Thanks." he grinned.
"No problem. It's nice knowing a guy who's not ashamed of showing himself on a woman's store. What's your name again?"
"Do Kyungsoo. How about you?"
"Kim Hyorin."

"That, Chanyeol, is how you get a woman's first three information in one move." Kyungsoo said, twirling his phone on his hands.
"First three information???"
"Yes. First: her cup size, Second: her name and last: her number."
"So I should always let myself seen in a woman's store?"
"Not necessarily. But you have to show a woman that even you as a man can do woman's stuffs. Let them see the vulnerable yet flexible you. It's more appealing to women, bro."

They entered another department store where Kyungsoo led Chanyeol towards the women's dressing room.

"This is the best part of our class. A man should know how to stay calm even at riskiest times."
"O-kay..." Chanyeol said uncertainly.
"But this time, I won't be there to guide you. A man should know how to depend on his own power."
"Right."
"Now, go!"

Kyungsoo opened the women's dressing room and pushed Chanyeol inside before the latter can gather his courage. Chanyeol stumbled in as girls shrieked and screamed and screeched at the presence of a young man inside their room.

"What is he doing here???!!"
"Someone get my bra! I don't have a bra!"
"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I THOUGHT IT'S OUR DRESSING ROOM!" Chanyeol pleaded desperately from the angry faces of women surrounding him.

A woman with long, black hair who was about to throw her dress to Chanyeol stopped in midway. Chanyeol locked gazes with her and smiled tentatively, showing his perfectly aligned teeth.

"O-oh." the woman uttered, getting redder at every second. "He's just a kid girls... let it go." she suggested.

The other ladies looked at Chanyeol again then they nodded.

"Oooooh isn't he cuteeee???" one of the women purred, pinching Chanyeol's cheeks, forgetting that she was still half .
"Oh yessss  he is..." another one agreed, ruffling Chanyeol's hair this time.

Chanyeol grinned inwardly as the women of different curves approached him one by one. *Thank you hyung!!!* he expressed happily.

"How did it go?" Kyungsoo asked eagerly after five minutes of Chanyeol's absence.
"It was awesome hyung! They asked for my name, my number, they also told me I'm cute...."
"Good! Good! Now what was the first thing you said when you entered inside?"
"That I thought it's the men's dressing room???"
"Right. Now it's your time to push me inside. Got that?"
"Got it!"
"One. Two. Three - go!"

Kyungsoo entered the room expectantly, only to be faced by women already dressed in clothes. There was an awkward and long silence filled by the dull stares of the girls, and Kyungsoo's smile faded little by little.

"I'm.... sorry.... it's..."

The women continued staring him so he proceeded.

"I thought it's the men's -"
"ERT!!!!!!!"

And the women lunged themselves in unison at Kyungsoo. 

"NOOOOO!!" Kyungsoo yelled, trying to reach the door.

After almost ten minutes of torture, Kyungsoo managed to escape the women's fierce grasps and gasped for air.

"How did it go hyung?" Chanyeol asked excitedly.

Kyungsoo leaned on the wall for support and flattened his hair.

"It was... fantastic." he answered, promising to himself that he will never tell Chanyeol the unluckiness he experienced.

* * *

"You promise that Jinri noona will never know?"
"I promise. A man keeps his promises Chanyeol."

Chanyeol smiled at Kyungsoo and sighed.

"Will Jinri noona see me as a man now after these?" he asked.

Kyungsoo smiled nodded.

"The spirits of romance tell me she will. One last thing..."

Kyungsoo searched his bag and pulled out an FHM magazine. He gave it to Chanyeol with a look of a determined man ready to let go of something precious.

"This is my favorite magazine but now I'm passing it down on you. Park Chanyeol, I, Do Kyungsoo, hereby declare you officially a man."

Chanyeol accepted the magazine and bowed.

"Jinri noona. Wait for your man." he muttered, grinning from ear to ear.