“So… what’re you good at?” Chen’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts and her eyes widened when she turned her head to the side and was met with his usual boyish smile.

Krystal’s mind turned blank as she stared at Chen who was grinning widely at her. Her eyes were widened at him as she couldn’t decipher his abnormal mood swings. There wasn’t any trace of his earlier sadness, and Krystal silently questioned herself whether what she’d seen was real or not.

Chen patiently waited for her answer, but after few minutes of silence, his smile was replaced with a frown. She snapped out of her trance when he slightly waved his hand in front of her face in order to capture her attention.

“Hmm?” she mumbled unfocusedly.

“I asked what’re you good at?” He repeated his earlier question again with a quirked eyebrow.

“Oh…” she paused as she tried to regain her thoughts. She deliberated asking him about earlier, but she didn’t know whether he’ll want to talk about it with her or not; after all, they weren’t that close for him to open up so easily.

“Are you okay, Chen?” She ditched his question and with genuine worry, she asked what she thought was the safest question.

“What do you mean?” He laughed while replying. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” He acted like he was utterly clueless about her question even though he felt slightly uneasy.  

Seeing his usual smile right now made her doubt everything for he looked his natural self; carefree and… happy.

At first, she was absolutely sure that he was faking it, but the more she looked at him, the more she started doubting herself. She wasn’t sure how it was possible for someone’s mood to change so drastically in only a matter of seconds.

She knew that he was hiding how he truly felt, but he was concealing it so perfectly that she started wandering if he was used to it, and this thought saddened her.

“Are you, Krystal?” His question stopped her trail of thoughts, and she raised her head slightly to meet his gaze. He looked expectantly at her, and his question sounded like it had more depth into it. She chose to push the matter aside temporarily because she knew that thinking about it would only accumulate more unanswerable questions.

Her lips slowly curved up into a small smile, and with a slight nod, she answered. “Yea… I’m fine.”

“Well then, want to meet the rest of our group?”

Krystal’s eyes widened again at that and turned her head slightly to the side to meet his gaze. “Wait… I’m in your group?” She pointed a finger at herself as she was still having a hard time registering it. She’d thought that he already had his own group, so she was almost sure that she’d have to find someone else to work with.

“Umm… of course?” His reply sounded more like a question since her reaction confused her a bit.   

“You’re replying like it’s the most natural thing.” She laughed after seeing his puzzlement.

“Isn’t it?” A smile crept on her face after hearing his instant answer, and only nodded enthusiastically.

After exchanging few texts with his friends, Chen informed her that they were going to meet them inside of a coffee shop that was only few blocks away from school. So right now, they were walking through the crowded streets of the city while they talked about their group project.

Unlike Chen, Krystal showed her excitement about the entire thing. Her eyes twinkled, and her broad smile never abandoned her face as she talked with so much enthusiasm about several inspirational songs.

She kept talking about the things they were ought to do and the preparations like the assignment was due tomorrow. Too many thoughts flooded her mind, and she talked so fast as she couldn’t quieten them down.

Chen watched her with amusement and only replied with few nods and half-smiles. He pressured himself to act as interested as she was with the whole thing, but he couldn’t fool her.

She noticed his forced smiles, and how they didn’t reach his eyes. She also noticed the way he walked with a head hung low, and she didn’t know what to make out of it all. She thought that if she talked, she might be able to affect him with her eagerness, so she continued to talk in the hopes of lightening his mood a bit.

Chen wasn’t aware of her tactic as he was already lost in his endless thoughts. Consequently, he wasn’t affected by her joy the way she’d hoped.

Today, they switched places because she couldn’t take her eyes off him the entire walk while she talked. She watched him intently as she tried to fathom all his unexplainable acts. She couldn’t comprehend him, and for some reason, this revelation frustrated her.

Chen didn’t seem to notice that she’d stopped talking after quite a while, and silence fell between them throughout the rest of their walk.

Their steps came to a halt, and they both stood for a moment staring at the very old coffee shop that rested in front of them.

“Is this really where we’re going to meet them?” Krystal asked  incredulously as she eyed the place with uncertainty.

There were couple of letters missing from the shop’s sign, the walls looked like they desperately needed to be repainted again, and the door’s knob was broken, so the door was slightly left ajar. All in all, the place looked shabby like it was abandoned and left without any care. Krystal doubted that there was even anyone that took care of it, and she questioned what they were going to do inside of a place like this.

Chen smiled knowingly when he noticed her hesitation, but it soon turned into a pained one when he averted his gaze again towards the place that once meant the world to him. Memories rushed through his mind, and he only shook his head as he tried to get rid of them all.

It’d been so long since he’d come here, and he didn’t know whether he’d be able to compose himself while he was in there or not; nevertheless, he wanted to try. He needed to; for her.

He let out a shaky breath before he took a couple of steps forward and pushed the door open to reveal its interior. He slowly walked inside with Krystal trailing behind him.  

The aroma of fresh coffee and bakery engulfed them the moment they stepped inside, and Krystal closed her eyes momentarily as she tried to leisure its beautiful scent.

Chen, on the other hand, hastily swiped off the lone tear that managed to fall with the back of his hand before Krystal could notice it. His eyes welled up as they wandered around his surroundings, and he hardly refrained them from spilling. But he then quickly straightened his back and forced a smile on his face when Krystal turned around to meet his stare.

“How did you come across this place?” She asked with a smile mirroring his.

“I used to come here almost daily before…” His voice trembled slightly while he talked, and he trailed off as he couldn’t bring himself to speak any further. He blinked his tears away and gulped the lump that has formed in his throat before he looked back at her. 

He mentally sighed in relief when he realized that she didn’t notice anything as she nodded contently at his answer before she let her eyes roam around the place again.

It was almost deserted as there wasn’t anyone there besides them and a young man who sat behind the cashier with a bored expression. It was quiet, relaxingly so, besides the sound of old songs playing in the background, and Krystal could swear that she’d just found her second Nirvana.

The walls were painted in a dark grey color and were decorated with black picture frames that were hung up. Bottles were strewn all over the back counter, and the wooden white chairs rested gracefully between few tables. The place looked old and slightly unorganized; nevertheless, Krystal had found it beautiful; messily so.

Chen distracted himself by watching her, and a smile was evident on his face when he noticed how she looked dreamily around the place. “I knew you’d like this place.”

She finally managed to tear her eyes away and instead met Chen’s gaze. She smiled warmly at him while she spoke. “I do, indeed.” She paused for a moment as a question suddenly popped inside her head.  “But…how?”

“I just knew.” His reply didn’t give anything away, and Krystal waited for him to elaborate more, but she only received silence. She stared at his profile for a few minutes as several thoughts rushed through her mind, but they were soon abandoned though when she heard the sound of the door being pushed open.

Chen’s face suddenly lit up the moment he saw his friends stepping inside, and with a widened smile, he walked towards them.

Krystal, on the other hand, stood rooted in her place as she watched the three of them happily greeting each other. When Chen realized that she didn’t budge from her place, he turned around and excitedly signaled for her to come.  Krystal took a better look at his friends whom he introduced as Lay and Sulli when she finally reached them.

Lay was slightly taller than Chen while Sulli only reached his shoulders. They looked slightly similar with their dark brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. A warm smile unconsciously made her way towards her lips when she noticed theirs. They looked genuinely nice, and she silently prayed that her intuition was correct.

“Are you okay, Chen?” Krystal looked at her Lay when she heard his question only to find him already staring at Chen worriedly.

“God, what’s wrong with everyone today? Why’s everyone asking me the same question?” He laughed while replying, but his laughter soon died down when he realized how worried and serious Lay was.  He sighed and turned his head away from Lay as he couldn’t endure seeing his worried expression. “Of course… Of course, I am okay.” He spoke in a low voice, yet they all managed to hear him.

Krystal alternated her stares between Lay and Chen as she didn’t know the reason behind his sudden question. When she realized that none of them was going to say anything else, she looked at Sulli who only shrugged back at her. 

*What’s his secret?* She silently asked herself. 

AN: 

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