1. AND WE MEET AGAIN

 

“And then, when we opened the room, they were having in Yifan's parent's bedroom!”

 

Byun Baekhyun stared at his best friend, Jongdae, across the table. It was just a day before school started, and they decided to hit up Grand Palacio's French-inspired café, Le Café de L'Amour, debating whether Iggy Azalea's s and was another magical work of silicone implants or not, and gossiping. Jongdae knew the dirt every student the school has. Baekhyun took another bite of the panini bread and noticed a girl looking lecherously at them. Another MILF, for God's sake.

 

Jongdae turned around to see where Baekhyun was looking at. His lips turned to a naughty grin. “We should do something."

 

"You bet!" Baekhyun placed his hands on the bottom of his shirt.

 

On count of three, both of them raised their shirts up, revealing their toned abs. MILF's cheeks went instantly red and she fell off her chair, making everyone's heads to turn their attention to the shameful woman. “Uh, dammit!" she cursed, as she ran out of the café.

 

“Nice," Jongdae said. They finished up their protein shakes and stood up to leave.

 

They'd become the best of friends during eighth and ninth grade, when they were rejected for the baseball team. Promising to be more popular the following year, they chose to control their appetite—so they could be the boys that those cheerleaders would cheer. But after they transformed to total hotties, they decided that playing baseball was passé and they didn't need to be in the team to shoot to fame.

 

Since then, the two of them shared every little secret—well, almost everything. Baekhyun hadn't told Jongdae how he burned much weight. It was too disgusting to talk about. Hardcore dieting and eating vitamin-filled foods was the sophisticated way to be y and hot, but there was nothing smoking hot about eating a can of spam, greasy, fatty meals, and then puking them out of his system. But Baekhyun had enough of that habit now, so there was nothing much to talk about.

 

“I heard that Sehun is finally back from France," Jongdae said, checking the price of the Rolex watches. “Dad could afford this."

 

“Of course he can, he's a rich businessman," Baekhyun muttered. “But my Dad could buy me a Lambo."

 

“Uh, yes he does. He's a politician. He's more powerful than mine."

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “You're so jealous."

 

Baekhyun's father was the mayor of Seoul. Albeit his father was popular, he was never known. His name, though attached with the surname Byun, was never acknowledged because he looked like he was never part of the family. His parents were good-looking, meanwhile their son's body was a little too bloated.

 

He was pulled out of his reverie when Jongdae tapped his arm. “Hey, is that Kyungsoo?"

 

On an early morning stroll around the neighborhood, he noticed his old friend Huang Zitao practicing wushu for another tournament. It had been two years since he last went to Zitao's sparring competitions, and all of them were amazing to watch. How he missed to see more of Zitao's kicks and punches.

 

Today, Kyungsoo was the second old friend to appear again. He was talking to the sales associate about silver rings, and he remembered how many rings he had collected for the past five years.

 

It felt funny that he remembered all of these. As she watched Kyungsoo give his payment to the saleslady, he wondered if Kyungsoo was thinking what he was thinking for a very long time now—that the Grand Palacio's extension project was the type of place Kim Junmyeon would love to go to. Baekhyun thought of all the things Kim Junmyeon had missed—the boys' night they held every year, Jimin's Jaguar, and the Playstation set Taehyung had received for Christmas. But Junmyeon missed a bigger thing: his transformation. Sometimes, Baekhyun would imagine talking to Junmyeon about Gucci suits, sports cars, and video games.

 

He and Jongdae stood beside Kyungsoo and pretended to admire the designs of the rings. There was one ring which had a hexagon shape that caught his attention. “This ring looks good."

 

Kyungsoo knew his voice and quickly averted his gaze to Baekhyun. “Oh, hey, Baekhyun."

 

Baekhyun threw a wink. “Nice to meet you again."

 

Truthfully, they have seen each other but rarely talked. They would communicate if they were in a group project, but they never really interact that much unlike before.

 

“Sir, here's your ring," the saleslady said, handing over the plastic to him.

 

Baekhyun flagged down another salesman, a brunette with a dark red lipstick. “Can I try the hexagonal ring?" Baekhyun asked.

 

“Sure!" The boy opened the case. “This is one of our bestsellers."

 

Jongdae had moved to the necklaces. Baekhyun held the ring in his hand. Its cost was $150. Abruptly, a horde of middle-aged men surrounded the counter, eyes focused on the other best-sellers they have there. He checked the ceiling for cameras. All clear.

 

Kyungsoo had left the area already, and Jongdae was still too busy to choose a necklace. He took this opportunity to slide the ring inside his pockets. His heart raced. The exciting sensation of thrill and anxiety was the best.

 

“I guess none of the necklaces here are my type," Jongdae said, crossing his arms.

 

“Great. I think we should go!" Baekhyun needed to get out of here while all the midle-aged men still crowded the counter. “Let's go to the arcade."

 

Jongdae shrugged. “Okay."

 

His heart pounded against his chest as they moved their way out of the store. Baekhyun had been an expert—pro, actually—since he'd been doing this gig for quite a long time already. First was when he snatched granola bars at a convenience store, then tank tops at some thrift shop, and then CDs from Moksori. And each day he'd grown more kickass and badass. He shut his eyes tight and crossed the threshold, waiting for alarms to blare.

 

Nothing happened. It was safe.

 

“What did you get this time?"

 

Baekhyun smiled proudly, twirling the ring around his finger. “Awesome."

 

“, you're so good at this stuff!"

 

Baekhyun flicked the fringe on his forehead. It was too good to hear those words from Jongdae. He listened to someone chasing after him, arresting him for stealing. Nothing. Instead, he just heard the mini train at the mall center passing by and Avril Lavigne's What The Hell.

 

That's right. All I want is to mess around, Baekhyun thought.