[Sera]

"Jieun ah!"

I hollered above the massive crowd of shoppers as I tried to push past them. My best friend, oblivious to my shout, was leaning on a lamp post with her earphones plugged in as she stared intently at her phone screen. Dressed in a white tank that hugged her slender figure and a pair of sky-blue denim jeans, coupled with her favourite pair of Converse high-cuts and finished off with a small Kate Spade sling bag, she was effortlessly gorgeous and chic. She popped the straw of her Starbucks beverage into and crossed her ankles. Several boys traipsed past her and their eyes trailed up and down her body, like wolves checking out their prey.

My eyes narrowed and my protectiveness of her kicked in. Releasing three percent of my vampiric strength, I pushed my way almost effortlessly through the shoppers and made my way towards her. Along the way, I glared at the boys but their eyes flitted from her to me and the strong urge to pummel them for staring at my body the same they did to Jieun washed over me. I barely managed to keep my fists to myself.

"Jieun!" I waved a hand in front of her and she removed her earphones, a small smile forming on her seemingly bare face. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

She shook her head. "It's fine."

And she muttered something under her breath that even my vampiric hearing didn't catch.

Pushing away a nagging negativity, I followed her and casually slipped my hand into hers. She stiffened and pulled away, an action that caused my brows to rise in confusion.

“Jieun…? Is something wrong?” I peered at her as her eyes pointedly stared ahead, avoiding my own. “Are you alright…?”

“I’m fine.” And she walked on ahead, leaving me to gaze at her retreating back.

I eyed her as she popped the straw of her still-not-finished beverage into , wondering what had gotten into her. Sipping from my cup of warm green tea latte, my mind went into overdrive but I came up with nothing.

Just what happened for her to suddenly be so cold to me?

She placed the cup on the table and picked up the dessert fork off the plate. Slicing a rather large piece of Oreo cheesecake, she shoved in and I couldn’t help but snicker at her adorable action.

“Is there something on my face?” The café was empty except for one occupied table, yet it was so soft that I could barely hear her.

“Um, there isn’t. I was uh,” I placed my cup on the table. “Found your action adorable. That’s all.”

I never knew that ‘awkward’ would be a word that I’d be using to describe the time I’m with Jieun but at that very moment in time, it was. Biting on my lower lip, I let the conversation lapse into silence as she continued to pick at the cake while I gazed out of the glass windows. Watching people stroll by on the street, a slight feeling of loneliness pricked at me when two girls, whom I assume to be friends, walked by with their fingers intertwined and they were chatting animatedly to each other.

We used to be like that. I really wonder what happened…

“Sera.”

Her voice snapped me out of my pity party as my eyes darted over to hers and was taken back by the intensity of her gaze.

“Y-Yes?” I didn’t know why, but fear crept into me and I was foolish enough to let it control my thoughts. “S-Something you want to say…?”

She raked a hand through her glossy chestnut-brown hair before letting it rest on her shoulder as she propped her chin on her other hand. Her eyes fixated themselves on the the half-eaten cake.

“I-” She sighed and she lifted her eyes up. A certain emotion swum in them but before I could register what it was, it flickered and vanished as a smile formed on her face. “If you’re done, shall we go? I want to, um, hunt for a skirt.”

“S-Sure.”

We traipsed out of the café and I tentatively held onto her hand. She may not be Yixing-oppa but my heart still pounded all the same as the fear of her shaking me off for the second time washed over me. But she didn’t. She adjusted her hand in mine and grasped it. The corners of her lips were slightly tugged upwards and I let out a relieved laugh which sent her into small giggles.

It seemed like we were back to normal. But yet the same nagging feeling gnawed at me for I still hadn’t found out why she had been so cold to me that other day.  

[Jieun]

"Soooooo, what’s on your mind nowadays?” Her voice came from beside me as she swung our hands back and forth like children do. “You, um, seem to be spacing out quite a lot these days."

Oh? So she noticed.

"N-Nothing in particular. I-I'm just t-tired, that’s all." I knew my tone wasn’t convincing and worry flooded into me as to whether she would continue to probe for the real reason.

I was torn. I wanted to let her know what I had been going through ever since Yixing-oppa and her went public with their relationship, yet at the same time I didn’t want to add on to her troubles that she’d be experiencing with the hoards of fangirls demanding her to break up with the boy.

But the truth was, I wasn’t ready to forgive her.

Thus when she nodded sympathetically and dropped the topic, relief surged through me but I couldn’t help but almost let out a strangled cry.

“Are you perhaps… tired over something... ”

Wait, wasn’t she done with the questions?

I blinked profusely, willing my mind to come up with a bunch of excuses to redirect her but there wasn’t a need to for she gave me a feasible one.

“Like… Jongdae-oppa?”

Whatever works. I’ll take it.

Even though I had wanted my cheeks to flush due to the situation, it seemed that heat rushed to them on its own accord.

Oh dear. Could this really mean…

“Oh my gosh! You’re blushing!” She squealed, her hand gripping mine tight. “It’s true! You do like Jongd-”

“Shuddup!” I muffled and her eyes formed crescents. Surprised at my carelessness, I removed my hand hastily and forged ahead. She tugged at my hand and a knowing smirk adorned her God-sent face.

“Jieun~”

“Don’t even think about it.” I held up my palm to let her ‘talk to the hand’ but the ignorant girl high-fived it instead. It was hilarious, her naivety, and I couldn’t help but laugh. A good ol’ chortle that I hadn’t heard since that day.

Wiping tears from my eyes, I gazed at her, all smiley, and whatever grudges I had against her vanished momentarily as I let my old self take over.

"What am I going to do?" I dropped to a whisper, adding on to the dramaticness of my situation. “I hope I wasn’t too obvious.”

I played along with her as she set about on her interrogation of how I came to develop feelin