#04: it's either you open your eyes or me closing mine

The question has been on Jongin’s mind for a long, long time already, but he can’t possibly ask. Sehee would surely tell him without any second thoughts, but to Jongin, it feels like a breach of privacy. Sehee is his best friend, but that doesn’t mean that she is obliged to tell him every little detail of her happy relationship.

There are tidbits that Jongin knows. He knows the lucky guy’s name is Minseok. He knows that guy is a high school student, a lot more mature than him, smart, too, and reliable. Minseok has a part-time job in one of those coffeeshops Sehee frequents and that is how they have met each other. Jongin remembers vividly how Sehee has told him everything with bright eyes, brighter than they have ever been. Brighter even than the time he has given her his beloved power ranger figurine. He was seven years old back then, and it must have been around then that Jongin has realized one thing: Jongin needs Sehee. Without Sehee, Jongin feels incomplete. So giving away his most prized possession was nothing in comparison to the friendship they had. And probably back then, when Jongin had given her the toy, seeing her smiling at him, eyes disappearing into a pair of crescents and the grin stretching impossibly wide over her face, that Jongin has fallen in love. Ever since then, Jongin has thought that Sehee smiling like that belongs only to him. Maybe he has been wrong. Maybe not. Maybe such a bright smile is reserved for Jongin, but an even more radiating one is reserved for Minseok.

What Jongin is scared to ask, Baekhee is not. Ever since news have been spread that Sehee has a boyfriend who is not Jongin, their friend has been acting weird, even sassier than usual, with the sassiness directed towards Sehee mainly. It must be pity, Jongin thinks, because Baekhee knows very well about his unrequited feelings for his best friend, yet she has never urged him to confess. Even now, she doesn’t say a thing. Instead, her tongue is sharper than ever, criticizing every small thing that Sehee is doing. Sehee is not careful enough, too clueless, too clumsy, too naive, too oblivious. All the nagging doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on Sehee though, the girl just thanking Baekhee for helping her point out her flaws - that are perfectly fine in Jongin’s eyes.

“Sehee, you’re too lovely,” Baekhee sighs.

“Ah, is that a compliment?” Sehee asks, grinning. “Haven’t heard one from you for a long time.”

“It’s not,” Baekhee huffs, stuffing a dumpling into and muttering to herself. Jongin can’t really make out what it is, the chatter of the students around them in the cafeteria drowning her words in noise.

“Is it a bad thing? Being lovely, I mean,” Sehee pouts, turning to her best friend sitting next to her. Jongin blinks.

“I think it’s not that bad?”

“Thanks, Jong,” Sehee says and gives him a smile, as if saying that she values his opinion a lot more than her female best friend’s. Baekhee is scoffing now, downright glaring at both Sehee and Jongin.

“Too lovely,” Baekhee says then. “It’s not a good thing. You are tempting the guys to do inappropriate things.”

“That’s not true,” Sehee protests, but with her naivity, she sounds unsure. She is easy to convince, even more so by Baekhyun who might not be a role model student and the smartest in class, but s