'O' FACES

Minah didn't speak to me after that. And I know that probably sounds really intense, but because Minah and I had different majors and lived in separate buildings, it wasn't like I had that many reasons to speak to her anyway. We could literally go weeks without running into each other if we didn't plan times to hang out. 

But the bad side was that the majority of the campus had heard about what had happened. Or, technically, what hadn't happened. Of course, it wasn't like anyone paid that much attention to me to begin with so I only gained a few accusing glances and only generated a small buzz, but that wasn't making me feel any better. I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Chorong yet and all I really wanted to do is disappear. 

Ironically, I found myself working again the afternoon shift the next day. That's anything thing about being in college, you have weird schedules. Sehun was there again, too, but he was actually trying to do work for one of his classes. 

"Noona, do you think that we're going to get into trouble for trading shot glasses for jjajangmyeon last night?" he asked me. 

That really had worked, by the way. They even gave us free kimbap. 

"Who would tell us off?" I replied with a question. 

"I don't know. Our manager?" 

"Sehun, I haven't seen Tao in three months." That was true. Since my freshman year began I had only seen Tao a total of four times. Well, five if you count that time I saw him walking around the campus. He'd always just email us our schedules and never came in the store. Because, kids, in college, no one really cares. 

"That is true," Sehun said, tapping his pencil against his chin. "What do you think he does in his free time?" 

"I can honestly say that I don't want to know." 

I wasn't even kidding about that one. 

Suddenly the door to the store swung open and none other than Jongin strolled in, looking as twelve as ever. 

"Hi Jongin!" Sehun greeted him from behind his stack of books. 

Wait, what? "You two know each other?" I asked, confused. Damn, I really needed some more friends. Apparently, the ones that I had didn't know anyone. 

"Yeah," Sehun nodded happily. 

"How?" And how could I suddenly expand my social circle as well? 

"Yixing," Sehun and Jongin chorused as Jongin walked further inside the store, leaving his sunglasses on. He could have taken them off, it wasn't like anyone was going to be swooning over a twelve-year-old. 

Yixing? Who the hell was Yixing? And how could I meet him? "Who's Yixing?" 

The two of them ignored my question as Sehun went back to reading his textbook and Jongin touched everything that he could get his hands on. His dirty, filthy, grimy hands because I had no idea what the hell he had been doing since the last time I had seen him. 

"Avery," he declared, picking up a random shot glass, sniffing it, and setting it back down. God, he was so weird. "We need to talk." 

Really Jongin? What did we need to talk about? Because if it involves cats then I'm so out of out it. I was not about to give Sehun the satisfaction of laughing for thirty days because I fell for another one of Jongin's pranks. "Um, about what?" 

"About Kyungsoo and Minah. And you," he responded casually, repeating his actions with the previous shot glass with another one. 

"I'm kind of at work right now?" Way to make everything sound like a question, Avery. "Can we talk another time?" Preferably never? 

He shook his head. "No, I think that it's urgent. Besides, I don't think that you're going to have any customers anytime soon." 

"What are you talking about? This is the evening rush!" Sehun protested before throwing his head back in laughter. "You can go have your talk, Noona. I don't think that Tao will ever know that you left. And even if you did, it can't be the worst thing that's been done in here." 

Jongin raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously. "What all has been done in here?" 

Oh for god's sake, I was not about to have another -talk with this kid. (And for the record, I didn't have with anyone in the bookstore. There is nothing even remotely romantic about this place. It smells weird and the carpets are gross.) And I don't know why he raised his eyebrow at me. I was one of the most boring people on the planet. Obviously, since I had a vast knowledge of useless facts. "No, nothing has been done in here," I shook my head at him as I grabbed my phone from off of the counter. "What is it?" I demanded, folding my arms across my chest. 

"So I have this theory," he began, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jacket. 

"I was kind of hoping for an apology," I interrupted brushing hair out of my eyes. 

Jongin was confused. "An apology? An apology for what?" 

The clump of hair that I had just pushed out of my face fell right back to where it was before. "For instagramming that picture. Of me. In bed. With you. And Kyungsoo. In Kyungsoo's bed." 

"Why? I thought that picture captured you perfectly." For the record, we were talking about the previously mentioned image in which I was making a stupid face. It was not something I wanted to remembered for. Or that I wanted anyone to see. Ever. 

"Minah saw it," I said in a monotone.

Jongin made an 'O' face. But not that kind of 'O' face. It was an 'O' as in surprise not as in 'O' as in and I'm not helping this at all. Wow, even my thoughts are inappropriate. I was worse than my own brother. "Well, ." 

I nodded. "You think?" 

Believe it or not, Jongin looked like he was showing some signs of guilt. That was nice. At least he wasn't faking it. "How bad was it?" 

"She told all of her friends, which is basically the entire campus, that I stole her boyfriend. And then she came into the bookstore and threw a tantrum and I'm pretty sure she ended our friendship," I repeated the events. 

Jongin shook his head to move locks of hair from his eyes. And they stayed. What? How was his hair so obedient? "Really?" 

I nodded again. "Really. So you really probably shouldn't be seen by me before Minah shows up and shoots you." 

"What?" Jongin asked before dismissing my comment before I even had a chance to explain what I meant. "Whatever, Avery, you really need to get out more." What was it with people and telling me that? "If it makes you feel any better, Kyungsoo didn't say anything about that last night," he offered.

"So you're telling me that his girlfriend ed me out to the entire campus but didn't even mention it to her boyfriend?" 

"Yeah." 

Ugh. That . "Why am I getting all the blame for this? It takes two people to have with each other!" And there, Avery, was where you should have stopped talking. "Not that we had . There weren't even y thoughts." You know, whenever you decide to stop talking is fine with me. "It was like spending time with some nuns." You weren't going to stop then? Alright. 

Of course, Jongin was laughing his head off. Good for him, finding the (nonexistent) humor in the situation. "Relax, I totally believe you. I can't imagine you having with anyone." 

"Don't think about me having in the first place." 

He ignored my comment and kept talking. "And it's not like there was anything bad in that picture. Well, I mean, your face was kind of weird but I liked it. And I'm in it too. And we all have clothes on. That's probably the least scandalous picture that I've ever instragrammed in my life!" 

I, somehow, believed that. "If you want, I'll go find Soo right now and tell him straight to his face that Minah is a crazy that cannot be trusted." I was getting a feeling that a lot of people were telling Kyungsoo that his girlfriend was insane. Of course, a lot of people probably thought I was insane as well. 

Anyways, Avery, you weren't supposed to let children fight your battles for you. "I should probably talk to him on my own," I said in a defeated tone. Because if there's one thing that Kyungsoo and I are known for, is having serious conversations with each other. 

"That's actually what I came here to talk to you about!" Jongin's face lit up as he took off his sunglasses and began to clean them with the bottom of his top.

"You came here to talk to me about talking to Kyungsoo? Look, I know that I don't have the best social skills but I think that I can handle a conversation about one of my best friends." That is, if Minah and I were even friends anymore. 

"Do you like Kyungsoo?" Jongin blurted out.

And then I'm pretty sure that I made an 'O' face. 

But, you know, not that kind of 'O' face. 

It was like the face that you made where your mouth formed an 'O' because you were in shock of something that had just happened. And I'm not doing myself any favors with that explanation. 

"W-What?" I sputtered, why the hell had Jongin asked me that? 

Jongi