Much to Kris' disappointment, right when Professor Kim dismissed the group discussion and sent them back to their seats, the bell rang and signaled the end of the session. She had packed up hurriedly then, needing to rush off to her next lecture. 

Besides the common break time that they shared, which was now, the lecture was the only other time he would get to see her. It explained his dropping by the meeting room earlier; his sole intention was to spend more time with her. 

"It's my honor to have been acknowledged by our top student," he said playfully as Shin took the seat beside him. 

The girl all but managed a dry chuckle, not quite knowing how to respond to that. She should have, out of habit, nudged him but opted for the former instead. Tao, sitting on the other side of her, scowled at the older male as he threw both arms around her shoulders, half-hugging her from the side. 

"That doesn't mean you are capable of knocking jiejie off the top spot!" 

His way of showing his affections for her coaxed a soft laugh out of her; it also had the others stifling their laughter for a comical mixture of expressions surfaced on Kris' face. While it showed on his face that he found it absurd that Tao was being unnecessarily close to Shin, there was also envy and jealousy. And he was clearly baffled as to why she has yet to shove him away. Why aren't you pushing away? Push him away! Now! 

He began swatting at the younger boy's arms that were encircled around her shoulders. "Yah, she's not going to be able to eat if you keep doing this." He spoke through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice even. 

"Jiejie's not even saying anything about it, so why are you so bothered?" Tao was enjoying this way too much, even sticking his tongue at him cheekily. He finally removed his arms from around her but quickly settled for linking arms with her. He beamed victoriously at his older friend when she lifted her arm to let him do so. "It's obvious that jiejie dotes on me more than she likes you! Right, jiejie?" 

His raised pitch when he sang-said jiejie got him a gentle nudge from her but even so, she did not pull away. Instead, she nodded. "Yes, Taozi. You're almost as annoying as my real meimei, how can I not dote on you?"

Kris's eyes widened. Taozi? TAOZI? He even has a special name?! 

Luhan could not help but burst into laughter. At this point, Kris looked more jealous and upset more than anything else. His lips were pressed tightly together and his nostrils were flaring. His shoulders were tense and even the way he held his chopsticks was different. 

"Huang Zitao, knock it off before he explodes," the eldest of them finally said. The youngest obliged only when the girl he was holding onto shook her arm. 

Seeing that Kris' expression has yet to lighten, he continued, "Come on, Tao's just playing around. You know how fond he's of Shin."

"Mm." Kris hummed and sulked further, knowing that his outburst of jealousy was for nothing and almost unreasonable. He continued poking absentmindedly at his food. Only almost unreasonable. I still have the rights to be jealous. 

He remained quiet for most of the time, only bothering short answers or quick nods to the others' attempts to get him into the conversations. Beside him, Shin was the same, although she was paying more attention than him. He waited and waited for her to throw a joke or two at him; he did not even mind if she joined the others in teasing him. But nothing. She continued sitting straight and turned away from him, not even sparing him a single glance. 

This seemed all too familiar and the sudden realization jerked through him. He straightened himself, turning just so he could catch a glimpse of her side profile. He was determined to not let them go back to how they were before, not when they were finally here. 

Just then, Lay stood up, telling him that they have to leave for basketball practice. Everyone turned to wave goodbye to him, including Shin. But she was avoiding his eyes, looking away as soon as their eyes met. Nonetheless, he reached out, lightly patting her head. That got her reacting and she finally looked up at him properly, a soft frown between her brows. 

"Yah," she mumbled, placing her hand over where his hand has been just seconds before. 

Despite the others' whistles, he grinned at her. "I'll see you soon." And then he bid the others goodbye, leaving the cafeteria with Lay. Although, as expected of him, not without conveying a warning to Tao with a glare. 

Kris did not see Shin again until Saturday, the days in between a tormenting wait even if it was only two days. It was like being near her and yet not quite; she even missed Friday night's dinner. He blamed her assignments for that, even though he knew it was unreasonable. To begin with, he did not even have the rights to. He was extremely determined to change that, though.

So here he was on Saturday morning, sitting at ChocoLatte with his usual order. Now that the weather has slowly stepped into summer, he switched the hot chocolate for an iced one. And he waited as he watched the street outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl he has been wanting to see.

He knew that he was acting pathetic, moping around with his lovesickness, especially since it was most probably one-sided. His heart twitched in pain, realizing that even though he was putting everything on the line, it may not be for sure that she would reciprocate his feelings.

Even so, he never once thought of putting an end to these feelings. He would never want to - and also because he could not. Not only has he gone too far in, but also because not once has a girl got him feeling and behaving this way, not even that one ex-girlfriend who he knew he adored a lot. Heck, he even cried for days when they broke up and yet that pain was but a pinch compared to how he felt with Shin.

He sighed, head hanging low when a pair of sneakers swam into sight. Knowing who they belonged to, he looked up immediately. "Can I sit here?" A small smile played at her lips and he nodded, smiling back at her.

As Shin settled down in the seat opposite him, he quickly ordered for her, long familiar with what she usually ate here. He waved it off when she thanked him, adding that he still owed her three slices of chocolate cake. She rolled her eyes at that and he chuckled.

"So how are your assignments coming along?" He asked casually, slowly starting a conversation. She looked up at him with the fork stuck to the corner of . So cute. "Coping well?"

She nodded, tongue swiping out between her lips to away any chocolate cream left behind. He gulped, feeling his throat go "Yep. ChocoLatte is supposed to be my reward."

And then she smiled at him, one that showed that she was genuinely happy about the chocolate cake. He felt his heart go into overdrive and he wondered how it was possible that his heart beat faster each time he saw her. I must really like you a lot... He chuckled when she closed her eyes and shook her head in small rapid movements, completely immersed in the taste of the chocolate cake.

"Do you really like it that much?" He asked, pulling her back from her own world. The way she lowered her gaze in embarrassment made him feel bad but he liked this side of her. Just like a child. Now he understood why people squealed in the presence of anything cute, because he could feel it bubbling in his throat now.

She nodded. "I've been coming here since they opened. I know the owners personally, which is why I featured them in our magazine." Another forkful into . Chew. . Swallow. He would go crazy soon if she kept up with it. "But they've gotten really busy with the brand they just opened in Hongdae, so I don't get to see them as often."

"We can drop by Hongdae to visit that branch," he suggested.

Her chewing slowed and she blinked at him, caught off guard. He was not asking her out, was he? "We can go with the others," she added carefully.

"ChocoLatte is supposed to be our hangout place, though." And he looked back at her, determined not to break the contact.

Her eyes were vacant, as if she was contemplating, and so he decided to pull the Tao card. In other words, sulk with a pout and furrow your brows a little. He wondered how the younger one managed to do all these without feeling disgusted; he just was not cut out for aegyo. Something flickered in her eyes, though, and he knew that it must have worked. Wow, I should do this more often then.

"Mm," she hummed, "true."

He grinned to himself as he continued digging into his own piece of chocolate cake. It may not be a date but it was close. Just the two of them and they were at neither the meeting room nor ChocoLatte (which somehow also meant work).

Just across him, Shin watched as his face expressed everything he felt. Smiling to himself, thinking that she was not looking when she was, and even using aegyo on her. She would have started laughing and told him to knock it off but he looked so serious about it, she decided not to. 

They sat in comfortable silence, eating their chocolate cake, looking up and at each other only occasionally. Most of the times, it was because of Kris pointing out the people on the street who were still wearing thick clothing. He had reasoned that it was almost summer and there was no more reason to keep warm, while she refuted otherwise. They ended up devising their own game that put their own slices of chocolate cake on the line; whoever spotted someone wearing thick clothing could grab a mouthful.

The game started off slow and mild, getting slightly more violent only when Kris cut off a huge portion of her cake for his count.

"Yah, that's too much!" She exclaimed, tempted to kick him under the table.

He narrowed his eyes at her gleefully, purposely smacking his lips loudly together as he ate. "We never set any rules for that, remember? Just who wins, who eats."

She glared at him and he could have sworn he saw a pout. And all these for chocolate cake. If he had known about her love for the dessert earlier, he would have used it against her a long time ago.

The game continued and they ended up with an even score. Hence, they decided to get another piece of chocolate cake. Shin's eyes were flaring with determination and his were simply twinkling with mischief and amusement. Who knew that she could get so riled up over something as simple as chocolate cake?

"Let me make it clear first," she started, "that we must not eat any bigger than this chunk." She showed him what she meant and he nodded in agreement. "Promise."

He laughed. "Promise."

They were only through with a third of the slice of cake when a waiter went to them with a drink for Kris. He barely hid his annoyance at getting interrupted; he has never made her laugh so much before and he has never felt closer to her than now. What was the cup of beverage thinking, making its entrance when he did not even order in the first place?

"The lady over at the counter said that it's her treat," the waiter said before walking away.

The atmosphere instantly changed, the mood for playing dropping instantly. He stared at the drink as he frowned, but not once did he acknowledge the one who bought him the drink.

It was Shin who turned around to look at her. "She's really pretty. And waiting for you to go say hi."

Which was true. She glanced back at the long-haired beauty whose legs never seemed to end. A perfect match for you, she thought. And she was looking over expectantly with eyes that sparkled innocently, waiting for Kris to look up at her.

Forcing a smile, she kicked him lightly under the table. "Yah, it's not good to keep a pretty lady waiting." 

He sighed, standing up as he took the cup. "I told you before, didn't I? It makes me immensely uncomfortable when this happens." Just before he walked away, he stopped beside her, smiling gently as he lightly poked at her forehead. "Moreover, my heart already belongs to someone else."

All Shin could register was the silent pounding in her ears, like they have suddenly expanded and were throbbing. Like they were swollen in pain, except they were not. She blinked, trying to calm her breathing, which drew shorter than usual. Calm down!

Like before, Kris was back in his seat even before she could realize what was happening. She turned around, curious about what happened, only to see the girl hastily making payment, exiting the cafe just as hurriedly.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?" He hummed in response.

The way he was looking at her had her frozen in place. She cleared , forcing movement back in her limbs. "Did you just... that was quick."

He shrugged. "Better to disappoint than to give hopes." Then the corners tipped upwards, forming a small smirk, as he leaned forward. "She asked if it's because of you."

"Huh?" Her voice jumped a few pitches. Mostly from the surprise that he dared come this close to her and less from his statement.

Then he grinned, poking her forehead again before leaning back into his seat. "Nothing."

"Wu Yifan..." She said lowly. She rarely called him by his full Chinese name, using it only when she wants him to be truthful. And now was one of those times.

He shook his head. "Nothing, really!" I told her that you're my girlfriend. He smiled inwardly, just the mere act of lying that she was his girlfriend making him happy. Very happy. "Are we gonna continue with the game?"

That managed to divert her attention. "Do you remember our score?" He shook his head. "Then can we just split what we have now? Now that I think of it, the game's kind of stupid."

He chuckled at how childishly innocent she becomes just because of the chocolate, also wondering if there it was any possible to like her even more than he already did. Apparently, yes. So he picked up his fork and divided the cake into two even pieces. His reward for this was her eye smile, an expression on her face he has grown to love.

"Dig in, silly."

And as they both finished their dessert, Kris could not help but feel that they were off to a better stage of their friendship.

And that he was truly and deeply in love with Shin.

---

I haven't updated in nearly two weeks! I've been really busy with work but I'm coping much better now. The next update shouldn't take as long. And lol, is it just me or is the title of this fanfic extremely awkward... XD Cheers! ;)