LOOSE TERM 

The best part about working at the on-campus bookstore was that no one ever went there. 

Which I always thought was super weird because Hanyang is one of the top schools in South Korea and everyone here is super smart and you'd think that they'd be wherever the word 'book' is mentioned, but no. The only people that ever came to the bookstore were either people visiting for a tour or when people needed an extra set of shot glasses. And, like, obviously the beginning of each semester when people came to pick up their textbooks, and not even that happened all of the time because after freshman year you basically learn that it's way cheaper to buy your books elsewhere. 

So, really, when I went to 'work,' I basically meant that I was going to go and do my homework in between stacking various pieces of Hanyang merchandise and eating whatever food it was that had been hidden at the front counter. 

And it wasn't even like I was there alone because Sehun, a boy who's in the grade below me, typically shared the same shift with me and I appreciated that because he did not feel the need to call me out on my awkwardness and instead encouraged me to be myself, which was something that I didn't get too often. 

It had been a few days after Kyungsoo and I had had that really awkward talk in my bedroom and I'd told Sehun about it because I have very few close friends and I felt the need for them to know as much about my personal life as they possibly could in case I one day went missing and the police needed leads so that they could find out who could possibly want me dead. Sehun generally didn't give good advice, but he was a good listener. He was also friends with Kyungsoo (I wasn't kidding when I said that everyone knew him) and I was hoping that he could give me a different insight. 

"Minah had a party and didn't invite me?" Never mind. I didn't have that much hope for Sehun in the first place. "But she invited you?" 

I couldn't even be mad at him for phrasing it like that because I was still thinking the same thing. 

"Yeah," I nodded. "And she invited Kyungsoo." 

"And Kyungsoo didn't invite me?" 

Sehun was a lot more socially active than me and it was kind of surprising that he hadn't been invited. He probably had been and just never read the text message. Was that how people got invited to things nowadays? I guess that we were too old to send out invitations in the mail. 

"I don't think that she actively didn't invite you, you know? I'm not even sure why she wanted me there. Doesn't she hate me?" 

"I mean, I guess that I can understand that Minah and I were never really that good of friends, but I can't believe that she wouldn't invite me to her party! I was there for her that one time where she was throwing up in that one fountain in front of campus and all of her friends wanted to leave her there because they thought that it was gross - and it was, trust me - and she still didn't invite me? Was it a total rager or was it really lame? I bet that it was lame. That was what Jongin-ah had said." Sehun had just said so much at once (without even taking a breath, mind you, and that was very impressive of him) that it took me a moment to process it all. 

"Wait, so you knew that Jongin was with Minah, but you didn't know that she was throwing a party?" That didn't make sense to me. A lot of things didn't make sense to me. 

"Jongin and Minah hang out together sometimes," Sehun shrugged as though that was the most obvious fact in the world. "Didn't you know that?" 

"No, I didn't know that!" I practically shouted and then lowered my voice because I didn't want for someone walking by to hear me and then remember that we actually had a bookstore because then I'd have to do actual work and Sehun and I had a pretty good system going on and I wanted for it to last as long as possible. "How am I supposed to know that? I don't talk to either of them! How does Kyungsoo feel about this?" 

"Jongin's weird and can be friends with whoever he wants," Sehun sounded like he was reciting that, but I didn't question him because Jongin really is as weird as they come. "Kyungsoo doesn't really mind, though. I think that he likes having an in on Minah's life." 

My eyes narrowed automatically. "Why would he need an in on Minah's life?" 

"Because they were going to spend the rest of their lives together? They must have liked each other a lot for a while." For some unbeknownst reason, Sehun was not picking up on my growing panic attack. Instead, he was picking up grapes and tossing them into his mouth. 

Why did they need to like each other when he had me to like? I didn't think that I was that territorial before, but now that I was being threatened ... 

"That's stupid," I mumbled to more of myself than to Sehun. 

Except he heard me. But it didn't make things as awkward as it could have been because I've definitely said much worse. And, like, I really did think that that was stupid. 

Sehun let out a sigh as he turned so that he could face me. Was he really going to spell this out to me? I wasn't going to complain, though. I needed all of the help that I could get. "Seriously Noona? You're saying that you don't stalk your ex-boyfriend on Facebook?" he asked me in disbelief. 

I gave him a wide-eyed look. 

"Are you serious?" he gasped. 

"Yeah," I nodded. "I mean, like, every once in a while I'll see something about them and I'll like it, but it's not like I actively check up on what they're doing." I didn't bother telling him that I'd never actually had a serious relationship and that there was no point of me stalking people that most likely didn't even remember that we had dated (read: existed). 

Sehun gave me a strange look and then decided to change the subject back to what he thought was the real issue at hand. "Seriously, I can't believe that Minah didn't invite me. I'm going to ask Jongin when he gets here why she didn't." 

"It's not a big - wait, Jongin's coming?" I actually cut myself off. Not like that should have been surprising because I cut myself off in about half of the conversations that I had. 

My friend nodded, sliding off of the counter so that he could grab the platter of fresh fruit that had been mysteriously left in the bookstore. We weren't sure who had brought in there or how long it had been laying out, but the fruit looked okay and it tasted normal and Sehun and I had a general policy of leaving no free food left uneaten, so we obviously went for it. 

"Uh-huh," Sehun nodded as he shoved a pineapple chunk into his mouth. "He said that he wanted to hang out today and I agreed. He's meeting me here. Why? Do you want to come too Noona?" 

Yeah, Jongin and I had had our moments with each other, but it wasn't like I ever actively sought to hang out with him. He's mean to me, I'm not very nice to him, and, all in all, we typically have a terrible time whenever the two of us are together. 

"No," I shook my head quickly. "He doesn't even have to meet you here. You can just leave early, if you want," I offered. Sehun seriously could leave early and no one would even notice. Like, we'd only seen our boss once that year, and that was at the beginning of the school year and it was only in passing. I guess that we had some weird bonding or something because the two of us had never bothered breaking free and getting the hell out of there. 

"Yeah, but then where I would go?"  Sehun asked. He didn't live on campus and we were both too lazy to ever venture to our houses if we knew that we had to come back within a short period of time. "Besides, Jongin said that he had to tell you something," he added on nonchalantly. 

The last time Jongin had told me that he had to tell me something, I ended up ruining the relationship between Kyungsoo and Minah. Well, maybe that wasn't the last thing, but it was the most memorable thing and I was obviously still recovering from the effects of that one. 

"What does he have to tell me?" I began subconsciously picking at my hair. 

Sehun shrugged, skillfully maneuvering his fork so that he could fit an entire slice of melon into his mouth. It was both impressive and disgusting. "I don't know. Don't really care, to be honest. I'm still more concerned about how I wasn't invited to this party. Am I losing my charm? Be honest with me, Noona." 

"Don't worry, you're still charming," I reassured him. He was. He was more charming than I could ever even imagine being. It must be nice having a lot of people like me. I was still guessing that 9 out of 10 people at Hanyang didn't even know who I was. "And you should be happy that you didn't go to that party. It was boring." Well, it was boring by my standards. Which were low. But I always think that parties are more fun when you know the people that are there. 

"But was it really boring? You don't have to lie to make me feel better," Sehun grumbled, spearing another melon chunk. 

I'd opened my mouth to reply to him when the door to the bookstore swung open and I automatically began preparing myself for the worst. 

And it was a good idea that I had because the person that was now strolling in wearing jeans tighter than mine (and also had suspiciously better-looking hair than I did) was none other than Kim 'Babyface' Jongin. And he was already picking up everything that he could find, hol