“Thanks”, I replied immediately. There was no answer, but I was notified that he had received and seen the message.

I didn't know whether he was going to use the number or not. But now there was at least the possibility and I listened to my favorite song while walking to the bus stop I had found out about a few minutes before I had left. I knew how to buy a ticket, because I had been on a bus with Jongup already and took a seat, when some other guys entered the vehicle.

“I swear, when I catch that guy, he's dead!”, one of them growled and I took out one of my earplugs unnoticeably. “That brat can't run from us forever!”

“Right”, another man agreed and I tensed up at the growling sound of his voice. It was the one that had shouted after Zelo before I had saved him. Those were the guys hunting my stick-figure!

I took out my phone again, typing a text for Zelo. “Those guys are still looking for you.”

The reply came a few minutes later. “I know.” Man, he didn't want to talk to me at all... But it made me worry even more. At least he had replied...

The bad guys kept discussing about something that I didn't have any interest in, but I couldn't relax at all as their presence made me feel uncomfortable. I tried to concentrate on the people I could see on the outside instead. Normal people.

Just because I'm not rich doesn't mean I'm poor! I chuckled silently as I recalled Zelo's indignant statement and I guessed that he was right. I shouldn't only see black and white, I figured when I finally got off the bus, away from those scary people.

The dance studio was only a few minutes away and when I arrived there, a purple haired head spun around. “Soora-yah!”, the young man shouted with a smile and hugged me effusively. “You're early, what happened?”

I couldn't wait to tell him about what had happened. He was the only person apart from Himchan I shared all my secrets and thoughts with. Maybe he knew me even better than my own brother. “Oppa, you'll never believe what I'm about to say! I saved someone from being caught by some shady people today!” The man looked at me with a frown, his smile never fading, and motioned me to go on while we sat down on the practice room's floor. “Well, he was running through my street and I heard someone yell behind him! It sounded sooo creepy, that's why I offered him to hide in my house for the moment. Maybe he was a criminal though... I don't really know-”

“Woah, wait a minute!”, the older one interrupted me, raising his hand. “You offered some stranger a shelter even though you didn't even know if he had a knife or something like that with him? People running from shady guys often do! You're not hurt? That was dangerous, what if something happened to you in your own house?!”

He was right, but at that moment, he was clearly overreacting in my eyes. “Oh please, hear me out! I didn't tell you the best thing yet! I really want a picture of him, because he is inhumanly tall. He would make a good shot between the runtish ones I photographed, I swear, he was just so thin, it was like a living stick-figure!”

My opponent showed me a confused expression. “What has that got to do with the fact that you were in danger? I mean...” He figured that it was useless to discuss about it. “However, you're safe and that's all that counts. Think about me before taking action the next time, please. I'm worrying a lot... But... did you get the picture in the end? May I have a look at it?”

I smirked. So he was curious after all. “Sorry, I don't... But I gave him my number, saying that he could contact me whenever he needs help again. And after all I've heard during my bus ride here, he will need it for sure.”

The man ran his fingers through his purple hair and sighed in defeat. “You took the bus on top of that? Alone? Why didn't Jongmin drive you here?”, he asked; his voice sounded weak as he gave up and he showed me his puppy dog eyes – his last try to make me listen to him just this once. Why did everybody have to feel responsible for my actions? I'm always being told: don't do this, don't do that. It makes me furious every time, even though I know that he just wants the best for me.

“Jongup-ah~ Now don't make that face”, I pouted and hugged him, making us fall over with me pinning him to the ground. “You're not the one to decide what I'm doing, see? I'm strong enough to do as I please.”

Jongup raised an eyebrow as he tensed his muscles to throw me off him and we switched positions all of a sudden. He started tickling me. “I don't think so, princess”, he whispered with a mean grin on his face as I tried to stop him by kicking him, but he didn't seem affected in any way.

“Stop! Hahaha! Jongup-oppa~!”, I whined and laughed at the same time and I bet this could have looked horribly wrong if anyone came in right now. Just to make things clear: There was nothing going on between me and Jongup, we were just very close, because I knew him since I was little. His mother had worked at our house once, which is why she had often brought little-Jongup to play with me.

He was there to teach me some ballet – yes he was teaching ballet – but we often just chatted and did random stuff during the practice period.

Still, he taught me something from time to time so that I could show my father 'what I had learned' – not that he cared about it a lot as long as I was happy.

He eventually stopped, his evil smirk still plastered all over his face when he lay down beside me. “Just because I'd get into trouble if I didn't”, he explained and I hit him in the chest as soon as I could breathe normally again, giving him a half-hearted glare. Jongup sat up, returning to his cute self. “Well then, what do you want to do today? Go to the shopping mall?”

I placed my head on his leg and poked his side, making him flinch a little and I chuckled slightly. He was ticklish too, but he'd never let me tickle him, always using his muscles to prevent me from taking control. “I want to go to a club.”

Jongup's jaw dropped open as he stared at me and put his hand on my forehead. “Huh, you haven't got a fever. Why do you want to go there?”

I shrugged and stood up, stretching my back. “I just feel like it. Zelo has warned me today, but I want to see what they are like for myself.”

“Ze-lo? What is that? That criminal? I swear if he has told you anything stupid-”, he mumbled and grabbed a bottle of water to drink something, not ending his sentence.

I rolled with my eyes. “I don't think he's a criminal though. I'm worried about him. And yes, Zelo. He didn't want to tell me his name, I only know his nickname.”

“Don't you think that makes him even more suspicious? God, don't trust people just because they look 'normal' to you!” Jongup shook his head. “And no, I won't take you to a club. That's no place for you.”

“So, you've been to one before?”

He hesitated for a moment, scrunching his nose. “Yeah, I have.”

That short answer made me curious and I tried to recall what Zelo had told me about those places. “And? Did you get a girl?”

The tips of his ears ran red all of a sudden and he jumped at my question. “No! I... uh... No! What did that Jelly tell you?”

His reaction made me wary, but I didn't really want to know about the actual situation anyway. “Oh, I was just a little curious about what you're like in your normal life, when you're not with me. And it's Zelo”, I corrected him with a teasing smirk. “Jelly is not manly enough.”

Jongup skipped the name and defended himself instead. “I'm not like that, you know me! I'm not that easy! But I won't take you there for your own good!”

“So it's a place for easy people? I mean, I won't judge you. We promised, remember?”, I reminded him of our 'friendship rules'. We had made them when I was six and he was nine and I didn't miss an opportunity to tell him about them again. No lying, no secrets, no judging. “Well, but if we don't go to a club... How about some ice cream? My treat of course.”

His face lit up when I changed the topic and he nodded. “Let's do that, I want chocolate ice cream!” He was overly excited now and jumped up and down like a kid, waiting for me to come before taking my hand to drag me along. “Now, hurry! I want my ice cream!”

I stumbled with him and couldn't help laughing. Jongup was the only person I could always turn to and who would always be there for me, no matter what kind of stuff I told him. He and Daehyun were the only people to treat me like a friend and not like a fashion-conscious-money-maniac. I admit, I really loved both of them, they made me forget about whatever was bothering me.

But somehow, I could not forget about Zelo. Were those guys still chasing him? Or had he got home safely... Did he have a home in the first place?

“Then let's go to Daehyun's mum's café”, I suggested, trying to distract me from my thoughts and Jongup couldn't pull himself together anymore, tiny squeals leaving his mouth. Daehyun's mother sold the best ice cream I had ever tried and it seemed like I wasn't the only one thinking that.

We opened the door and the bell rang, causing the dog to jump to his feet as he ran towards me with a happy bark and a wag of its tail. “Hi, Mocha, did you miss me?”, I asked with a short laugh when he lay down, obviously wanting to be . Mocha was Daehyun's dog, a St. Bernard that could scare you with his height, but he was actually just a big, fluffy pillow on four legs.

The familiar dark-haired boy looked up from the counter as he heard my voice. “Soora!”, he exclaimed with a smile and I returned it. Daehyun was working at his mum's café when he was not at school; a fact, none of his classmates but me knew about. They would just think his mother couldn't afford another employee, which wasn't the case. I knew how much he loved the smell of hot chocolate and coffee.

Jongup walked up to him and gave him a high-five. He ordered for me too as I was too busy caressing Mocha's belly, knowing what I would take anyway. “Shouldn't you be dancing around at the studio like a fairy instead of gaining weight right now?”, Daehyun asked teasingly and I stuck my tongue out at his question.

“You're the one to talk, Mister I-eat-all-the-time!”, I retorted, making him puff his cheeks in pretended anger.

“I'm not eating all the time!”

“Then why are you chewing bubblegum right now? Shouldn't you take your job more seriously? You'll get fat”, I kept teasing him and finally broke away from Mocha, much to his dislike, to give Daehyun a hello hug, ruffling up his hair.

“I'm not fat, right?”, he mumbled silently as he tried to restore his hairstyle and I laughed out loud.

“Of course you're not, I'm just having fun teasing you. I really like your new hair color by the way.”

Daehyun snorted while swallowing the bubblegum. “You told me the pink one was better this morning, didn't you?”, he asked while preparing our ice cream and I winked in reply. “You're such a tease.”

I sat down at one of the tables, Jongup doing the same as Daehyun brought the food. There weren't too many people there today and Youngjae, who is Daehyun's best, rather introverted, friend and who is also another waiter at the café, had just arrived to take over his place for the rest of the day, which is why Daehyun just joined us with a hot chocolate. “Well then, what did you want to see today? You often come here after Jongup refused your first option. What was it?”

I lowered my gaze and felt the tips of my ears running a little red, even though I hadn't thought anything bad about it. Daehyun raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jongup. He cleared his throat, his voice containing a hint of amusement. “She wanted to go clubbing today.”

Daehyun almost spat out his drink as he had to laugh. “How did you find out about clubs? Haha, that's not a good idea!”

I lightly banged my fist on the table. “Don't tell me you've been to one too?! Aish, I want to know why everybody goes clubbing! It can't only be about the girls if even Daehyun was there, right?!”

“I only went with Youngjae once, it was no good experience, I sa- wait a second, what do you mean with 'it can't be about girls if I've been there too'?!”, Daehyun replied with a frown, obviously mortified. “I like girls too! It's not like I'm gay or something!”

I pinched his cheek. “You told me during our last 'spin the bottle' game that there was some girl you like and I don't think you'd go meet girls if there was already someone on your mind, stupid. You're not like Jongdae from our class.” Daehyun tensed up and looked down to his hands that were curled around the cup of hot chocolate.

“Y-You re-remembered that?”, he stuttered after a few seconds of silence, blushing hardly.

“Of course I did! Do you know how hard I'm trying to find out who that lucky girl is? Is she from our school?”

He mumbled the answer so that I could barely hear him. “Maybe...”

Oh, I was getting closer. Now I just had to watch out to find her without having Daehyun tell me her name! I was such a genius! Jongup giggled as low as he could, trying to suppress it, but I noticed it with a confused stare. “What is it?”

Jongup felt caught and grinned shyly. “Oh, uhm, nothing, I was just lost in my own thoughts.” He stuffed another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, regretting it on the spot. “Damn, frozen brain!”, he exclaimed, rubbing his temples when his phone rang all of a sudden.

"What brain?", I mumbled with a smile, but he didn't pay attention to my statement.

He looked at the screen before staring at me again. “Uhm, I have to go for now, Mum says she needs help with the groceries...Is it okay if we end today's lesson earlier?”, he asked with an apologetic expression and I smiled.

“Sure, go help Moon-ahjumma. Give her my regards, will you? I miss her at home~”

“Sure thing, Soora. Well then, see you...Ah, Daehyun?” He pointed at the dark haired male who shot him a questioning glance. “She won't be picked up by Jongmin today, could you take her home if this ain't a problem for you?”

My classmate looked at me in surprise. “You finally gave him a day off?” I nodded, the corners of my mouth curling into a smile and he agreed, his attitude suddenly turning shy. “If it's okay with you. I'd... I'd love to accompany you home. My Mum's car is around the corner.”

I grinned happily. “I'd perfer your motorcycle, to be honest”, I said with a wink. He had just received a beautiful red bike for his birthday and I wanted to sit on it so badly, but Daehyun shook his head.

“Sorry, but I'm not adapted to the new feeling yet. I have to ride it alone for a few weeks before I allow you to get on.” Daehyun chuckled at my disappointed expression and looked at Jongup. “Seems like there's no problem then. See you soon, I guess?”

Jongup nodded with a grin and winked at Daehyun. “Take good care of my princess, okay?”

The other one blushed furiously and cleared his throat while Jongup started laughing and left the café. What did he mean? Huh, I don't care, I won't have to go home alone! I slowly finished my ice cream. “So, how is Himchan doing?”, Daehyun asked as he watched me with a silent smirk on his face.

I swallowed. “He's doing fine. He passed his exams pretty well and he said that he could come visit us in a few months. I'm looking forward to it! I haven't seen him for a year now, I wonder if he changed.”

“Everybody changes”, Daehyun mentioned and rested his head on his crossed arms. “I wonder if he still remembers me...”

I slightly hit the back of his head. “Of course he does, I talk about you and your hair colors quite a lot, he should be tired of it by now.”

He cocked his ears. “Huh? You do? What is your favorite color so far? Answer honestly, I know that it isn't pink. You were always teasing me with that color, but never said something honest.”

“No, it's not pink, you're right”, I admitted, munching the last bit of ice cream when I glanced at Youngjae behind the counter for a second. “Youngjae-oppa!”, I shouted and he raised his head, staring me directly into the eyes. “You have an awesome necklace! Where did you get it?”

He looked down at the cross-shaped pendant. It was golden and there were some dark-red markings on it, making it look like some sort of old artifact. His blank expression didn't fade while he was speaking. “It was a present, I can't tell you. Sorry.”

I shrugged and smiled at him. “No problem, I was just curious, nothing else. It's really beautiful”, I replied and stood up. “I'm finished, let's go, Daehyun!”

Daehyun sighed, drawing himself up and we exited the coffee shop.

“Ne, I like it too”, Youngjae answered before I left without any emotion in his voice. He kind of scared me, but maybe he was just as shy as Daehyun and just needed time to open up?

Here, I took a picture on my first day at the café:

Youngjae is 18 years old, a year younger than Daehyun. Like I've already said, his blank expression makes me feel a little uncomfortable around him, but I'm doing my best to become friends with him. That proves to be more difficult than I had thought at the beginning...

Third chapter. Too much Jongup-shipping xD Guys, let me tell you that I didn't plan it like that! I really didn't °^°" I hope you can still follow what I'm writing about, the next chapter won't be so messed up...and it contains more Zelo :P

Thanks for subscribing!~~