CHAPTER 4
♚ we're just friends... really ♚
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I stared at the menu…

… I handed it back to the waitress. “I said I need a menu.”

She fidgeted and forced a smile. “That is the menu, ma’am.”

“Nonsense! There is no food listed on it!” I replied, as if I was stating the obvious – which I was. I become quite irritable when I see people that don’t know how to do the job assigned to them… and maybe I was little pissed that she kept eyeing Ren. Not liked I cared. No.

“We’ll have the Super Twilight Rainbow Joy and…” Ren ordered.

What kind of magical spell was that?

Ren looked up at me. “What kind of sweets do you like?”

“I don’t like sweets.”

He looked at the piece of paper that was filled with adjectives. “And one After the Rain Flora Forest.”

Again, was that some magical fairy land or something?

The girl wrote it down and smiled at him. “I’ll have your order right up, sir!” she said cheerily before bowing and leaving. I stared at her frilly uniform before looking around again. The café was very… sweet. It was filled with pink and white, the workers were dressed in frilly dresses, and even the music was playing some high-pitched female singer’s music.

I was getting diabetes just sitting here.

“Why don’t you like sweets?” Ren asked with a tilt of his head that made him a lot more cute than he should be. “Minhyun told me that all girls love sweets.”

I avoided his eyes, a little ashamed when I recalled my reason. “I just don’t like them.” He stared at me. I rested my cheek on the palm of my head and looked to my right. He stared at me. I quickly focused on the couple seated a few tables away. He stared at me. I remember seeing them in front of us when we went in. He stared at me. The guy was embarrassed and kept hiding his face upon entering – I’d probably have done the same thing if I knew what was in here. He stared at me. There were also a few groups of girls, and even a table of only guys… I bet they liked the filly clothes. He stared at me.

My hands were getting sweaty. I must not meet his eyes. Whenever he pulls an aegyo on me, I always did what he wanted – and he knows it.

“Ji~nah…” he said in a childish tone.

I quickly looked at him, in all his cute expression and doe-eyed glory… and caved.

Using your voice now too, huh?! How do you expect me to stand up to that?!

“It’s a stupid reason, really… I… just know someone who really likes sweets. And I really don’t like her... so, I don’t like what she likes,” I muttered. “It makes me sound like an immature brat, huh?”

He nodded in agreement. “Most defintely. Don’t let other people dictate what you eat.”

I glared at him. “Aren’t friends supposed to disagree when I badmouth myself?!” He just smiled in response. “Besides, isn’t my reason like the reason as to why you keep your hair long? Don’t let other dictate how you look,” I said in a mocking tone, repeating his words. 

“Your feelings for those ‘other people’ are negative - mine aren’t. Having friends influence you is fine, but don’t let your enemies do the same,” he advised.

I leaned back on the booth and crossed my arms. “Yes, yes, fine, umma. I’m getting scolded by everyone now. First the teachers, then JR, now you? Is this a sign to start fixing my personality or something?”

He let out a small smile... and for some odd reason, that particular upturn of his lips was not as genuine as all the others... Why? “Maybe it is," he merely said.

I ignored the misplaced expression on his face and his vague words and dropped the topic. Instead, I looked around the cavity-inducing café again. “… How did you find out about this place?... L.O.Λ.E., right?”

“Yes, charming name for the place, isn't it? I was handed a flyer of it when I passed by a few weeks ago. I’ve always wanted to go here, but my friends would never come with me.” I tried to imagine guys like JR and Minhyun in here… I held back a snicker. “And it’d be weird if I went in alone," he added as an afterthought.

“You could’ve just asked one of your fan girls to join you,” I pointed out.

There was a light tint of pink on his cheeks and he looked away in embarrassment. Holy-! My heart can’t handle such cuteness! “Wouldn’t it be… odd if I wanted to go here? JR says it’s best to keep our admirers for connections, so I don’t want to lose them by having them know I like places like this.”

No. I’m pretty sure they’ll love you even more, I thought wearily.

“There’s nothing wrong with that… I mean, there’s a group of only guys over there,” I said, tilting my head towards their direction.

Ren looked at them briefly then back at me. “I don’t want to be thought of as a person that’s here just to eye waitresses with frilly aprons.”

“Here’s your order!” the waitress suddenly said beside us… She didn’t hear that last part of his sentence, did she? She looked a lot more smug than she did earlier. She set down an ice cream bowl in front of me and a parfait in front of Ren. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

Ren glanced at her… then looked at her from head to toe. She was blushing furiously under his scrutiny. I thought he didn’t want to be thought of a person that eyes waitresses?! “Who made the design for your uniform?”

She looked a little disappointed at the question. Ha. “Our manager has a designer friend…”

He gave her his most charming smile. “Would it be alright if I got that designer’s name?”

She nodded. “Yes, of course! I’ll go ask our manager right away!” She bowed in dismissal and practically ran back to the kitchen.

Ren then focused his gaze on the parfait in front of him, his eyes practically twinkling. “Looks even better than I imagined!” he gushed with a grin as he began digging in. I tried to hold back my laughter, but a snort escaped me anyway. “What?” he asked, the spoon still in his mouth.

“You look really happy, that’s all,” I said, no longer hiding my laugh. “You must really love sweets, huh?” Maybe that was why he was irritated at my reason for disliking what he loves.

He tapped the spoon to his lips and smiled... Stop being so cute, damn it. “Honestly, I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth before. When I hit middle school, a lot of girls kept giving me sweets. I ate it out of politeness at first, but then I grew to really like it.”

“Middle school?” I asked, surprised.

He laughed sheepishly. “That… was when I started getting admirers.” He was actually being humble!

“I thought you’d have girls all over you even back in elementary!”

Ren looked surprised at first, but then he shook his head and laughed. “I’m flattered you thought I was popular back then. At my elementary school we didn’t have uniforms, so I wore my older sister’s clothing… ah, not very boyish clothes.”

I blinked. “Dresses and ribbons?”

He quickly raised his hands in protest. “Nothing that drastic. Just light-colored clothes… and like I told you before, she liked keeping my hair long. The girls didn’t really like me because of that...”

I raised an eyebrow in question. I’m sure I’m supposed to have understood something by now, but whatever it is, it’s eluding me. “Why wouldn’t they? You still have a gorgeous face.”

Ren faltered and pondered over how to explain it properly. Why was I not getting his point? “They… said… it was weird that a guy’s trying to be prettier than them and look like a girl.”

I snorted… I really have to fix that. “What were they feeding those kids? You weren’t wearing dresses or anything, how could they mistake you for a girl? I’ve met guys with long hair too.”

His eyes widened in surprise. Was what I said that shocking? He smiled and shook his head. “Your ice cream’s going to melt, Jinah.” I accepted the change of topic. I still couldn’t understand what he was getting at – I didn’t really like that feeling. Though what did feel nice was to know that he’s willing to talk to me about his childhood. I looked down at my food. Three scoops of green ice cream with various toppings. I tried a spoonful.

He took a spoonful of his own too. “You said you didn’t like sweets, so I figured you’d like the mint ice cream… Though if that girl you dislike also favors ice cream, you probably won't like it either-“

“I like it!” I quickly interrupted. “That was just my pride and holier-than-thou complex talking earlier. Stay close to your enemies and all that, right?”

Before he could reply, the waitress from before approached our table again. She handed Ren a piece of paper. He glanced at it briefly before pocketing it. He smiled that award-winning smile at her again. “Thanks.” She flushed bright red, mumbled a polite response, and scurried away.

I rested my cheek on the palm of my hand and bit on the spoon, a bit irritated. Why couldn’t I act that cute?

“Your face looks scary,” Ren noted.

I glared at him. “It’s always like this.”

I could tell he was a bit troubled by my sudden bad mood. I tried relaxing, but then I froze up when he held a spoonful of his parfait in front of me. “If you wanted to try it, you could’ve just asked. Say ‘aah’!”

Was I staring at his ice cream? I was about to decline, but then hesitated. This is what couples do. It would be an indirect kiss. Ren’s probably being his usual naïve and innocent self, so maybe he doesn’t know… but it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. His fan girls would probably beat me up – well, they kind of already did – before I could get another date with him!

It was a perfect situation! I looked down at the spoon…

… but my pride couldn’t handle it.

“No way!” I said, shaking my head and looking back up at him.

Big mistake. He pouted and looked at me with puppy dog eyes. “… You won’t?” he asked in a soft voice.

His aegyo-! My pride has no chance against such a frontal assault!

“Of course I will!” I looked around to make sure no one was looking before facing him again and placing the spoon in my mouth, quickly leaning back after. “How was that? I ate it!” I said, feeling the ice cream melt in my mouth.

“Was it tasty?” he asked with a proud smile.

“No idea! I guess so!” I exclaimed. Argh, wrong response, Jinah! That wasn’t cute at all-

Ren laughed. “You’re acting so cute.”

I stiffened, my thoughts coming to a halt. “I… am?”

“Yes. First time for everything, right?”

I pointed my spoon at him. “Just because you have a higher advantage in that area, you’re looking down at me!”

His eyes had that sparkle in them… That mischievous sparkle. “Oh? So you can act more cute than you let on?”

“Damn straight, I can!”

That amused smile of his turned into one of a challenge.

What have I done?

“Try puffing out your cheeks.”

I did.

Jason didn’t look me in the eyes.

“I know it doesn’t suit me! You don’t have to avoid eye contact!” I exclaimed at him.

Yooyoung flicked me lightly on the forehead. “Stop getting so worked up, Jinah. You’re in way over your head anyway. I mean, this is Ren we’re talking about here. The guy is the definition of adorable. While you…” She sighed and leaned back on the chair. “You’re more of the cool beauty type, like an ice queen, but not cute at all.”

“You don’t have to say it so bluntly,” Jason said with a laugh when he noticed my glare.

“But I have to try and be! He hurt my pride!” I retaliated.

Yooyoung leaned forward on the table again closer to me. “He’s been stepping all over your pride since you first met him," she oh so kindly said.

“Exactly why I need to make him eat his words at least once,” I said. Majority of my detention time was spent with him always saying I was wrong! Now that we’re finally out of it, I want to at least show him one of my good sides – even I have to build it up from scratch!... That sounded pathetic, even in my own head.

I mentally groaned and leaned back on my chair, looking at my two friends. Jason had a cute vibe going for him too, but he was a guy. Yooyoung, on the other hand, was more of an older sister type, even if she did have a very… Wait.

I leaned in towards Yooyoung, our faces only inches apart. “You. I want to see you an aegyo from you.”

She quickly backed away. “What? Jason’s a lot more cuter-“

“I’ll do your math homework for a week,” I offered. I am not one to say ‘please’.

“Make it two and you have a deal,” she said, outstretching her hand. I shook it proudly. Jason shook his head at our antics. Yooyoung sat straight and stared at me in the eye. She suddenly put a hand to , and pouted. “Mm~ Jinah is so mean, forcing me to do this!” She then crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. “She’s a really stupid genius that has a god complex!...” Don’t insult me in such a cute voice! She then lowered her arms and smiled. “… but she’s a pretty nice friend,” she added with a tilt of her head and small smile, a blush on her cheeks.

Jason and I suddenly stood up. I took hold of my lunch box and he took his tray. We left the table.

“Oi! Where are you going?!”

We ignored her. I turned my pale face to Jason’s even paler one. “Who’s that girl at our table? Maybe Yoonjo switched places with her sister for today.”

“Yes, you’re right. Their minds must have swapped. I saw and heard nothing. What are we talking about again?” he asked.

“I think we were badmouthing Mr. Seoh.” It was actually one of our enjoyable past times.

“Ah, yes, right-“

We suddenly felt a hand on both our shoulders.

Yooyoung was behind us, smiling.

“You didn’t have to hit me- OW!”

Yooyoung slammed her notebook atop of my head before taking her seat. She was blushing furiously in embarrassment... and she looked adorable with that flush. “You were the one that wanted me to do it!”

I rubbed my wound. “I just didn’t expect you to be so… good at it. I mean, you have a very cute face and disposition, so I figured you could do a cute act, but that…!” I shook my head in disbelief and sat down at my own table. “That was terrifyingly good… even if you were insulting me. How did you do that?”

She sighed and looked at me. “My sister does it all the time at home… and I usually do that with my boyfriends. You have to see it and then do it. You saw me, now you do it.”

“What? That’s it? No special technique?”

She shook her head. “No. There’s no secret. You just… do it.”

“It’s not in my genetic makeup to do that!”

“No one’s born with an aegyo in their genes!”

I stared at her. “Even my parents said I was uncute when I was a kid. My parents! When I was a little girl! If you’re ever going to be cute in your lifetime, it’s when you’re only a few feet tall! And I wasn’t! If anyone is willing to give you a compliment you don’t deserve, it’d be your parents! But they didn’t when it came to my cuteness!” I placed my head on the table. “Ugh. Forget it. Now I have to do math plus history and English homework.”

“… History and English?”

“Ren said if I can’t show a cute side of me by today, I have to start doing my assignments for those subjects. He had initially wanted all subjects, but I managed to bargain.”

“He’s a lot nicer than I thought.” She said with a laugh. “What would happen if you could give him one?”

I scowled, recalling yesterday. “He said anything I could think of, because I had no hope anyway.”

“Your confidence is rubbing off on him.”

“I know-“

“Your overconfidence is rubbing off on him.”

I glanced at her in question.

“Anything, Jinah. You can make him do anything. Are you really going to pass this chance up?!”

My smirk matched hers... but then I suddenly frowned.

“... Wait. Are you saying that I’m overconfident?”

“Did you give up without even trying? You haven’t approached me once today.” Ren said as he sat cross-legged across me in the storage room.

I glared at him, but faltered… Did I catch a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes? So he does like me bothering him on a daily basis! My pride swelled up more than it should. “Don’t you have better things to be doing with your time? You’re in the council aren’t you?” I asked instead, trying to hide my smug grin.

He clenched onto his chest and feigned pain. “So harsh today, Jinah! Are you mad at me?”

“Yes!” I exclaimed. I quickly looked back down at the forty-five pieces of paper in my hand that I was arranging by day. I had actually wanted to arrange them by quality of financial report, but JR has specifically said it should be chronological order. Shame. I fiddled with the corner of the top paper. “It’s just that… I guess…” I hate my stuttering.

I took a deep breath. I can do this.

“It kind of… hurt to be called… uncute… by someone you like,” I practically whispered.

“… Are… you saying…?” he muttered in disbelief.

My face heated up as I looked up at shocked face. “Yes, I’m saying I like you! Take the hint! I may not be as cute or as good as you, but I don’t care!” I bit my lip and quickly looked away, my face getting even redder. “I really, really like you…” I turned my head slightly to get a glance at him.

My heart practically skipped a beat when I saw his blushing face. No matter what I did, he always ended up looking cuter. But if his blush is any sign…

I pushed up my glasses and smirked. “How was that for cute, eh? Nothing beats the charm of a lady confessing her feelings!” I had practiced with Yooyoung in the girl’s bathroom – we were mistaken as lesbians several times.

Ren froze up for a moment before sighing. “That was an act?”

I crossed my arms, feeling more smug than I should be. “It indeed was. I was wonderful, wasn’t I? I just had to think of something considerably frustrating so that I could blush. Not to mention the whole Japanese tsundere act is always a classic!” I had expected him to applaud me, or maybe even judge what I did, being the professional he was at looking cute.

What I did not see coming was his face suddenly closing in on mine. I quickly leaned away, but my back met the wall behind me, halting my retreat. He rested one hand on the wall beside my face and the other hand took hold of my chin. He was practically hovering over me, a serious expression on his face. He was no longer the cute guy I fawned over in my mind. This was an entirely different side of him that was making my heart beat like crazy. “You shouldn’t joke around with something like that, Jinah…”

Ren leaned in and whispered by my ear, “What would you do if I said I liked you back?”

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END CHAPTER 4
♚ we're just friends... maybe...? ♚

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PREVIEW

Chapter 5

“You’re blushing! You never blush because of a guy! Oh my… You two-?!”

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“I failed…”

_

“… The one teaching biology makeup lessons is a student?”

_

“You’re amazing!”

“… I am?”

“Yes, extraordinary!”

These student council people were all absurd.

A/N: Cliffhangeeeeer~! You think they'll finally get together after 4 chapters? You think that even after 43274982 chapters, they still won't? You think some romantic stuff will finally start happening? You think Jinah'll be friendzoned forever? I can go on and on, but I won't have any real answers unless you comment what you really think below (Yes that was a roundabout way of asking you readers to comment if you have the time, haha).

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to comment and suscribe, my fellow L.O.Λ.E.s! (you see what I did thar with the cafe name?)