“I can’t believe that just happened,” I groan, stuffing my face with the cake my mom brought home last weekend. The cake isn’t anything new considering how it’s the usual vanilla chiffon cake that almost every wedding has. My parents came home at around midnight and when they saw me still up watching some comedy show on TV, they figured the only reason I was up was because I wanted to eat some cake.

Wrong.

Well, not completely wrong because I also stayed up reflecting on my actions and how I was going to deal with Baekhyun. Of course, that matter solved itself I guess when we had that nice, pleasant lunch that certainly did not stress me out.

I sit crossed-leg in my room, munching quietly as I devour the cake. It’s pretty late but that’s not stopping me from my weekly intake of dessert.

After our lunch, I practically dragged Jiyoung and Sora away from the guys after telling them that we had to go. While Chanyeol waved us goodbye with a huge grin on his face, Jongdae gave me a knowing look that said ‘I can’t wait for the weekend.’ I remember giving him a scowl that said ‘I hate you so much,’ in reply. As if on instinct I turned my attention to Baekhyun and in all honestly, I was expecting another flirtatious comment or a smug smirk but instead all I got was a shrug paired with a half-baked smile. I knitted my brows.

What was that?

“The fact that we ate lunch with them or the fact that you tripped right after we left the shack?”

Sora’s voice brings me back to reality and I frown. Once again, the three of us are having a mini conference over a video call. Sora’s back in her room, her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail while Jiyoung’s out in her kitchen. At least, that’s what it looks to me seeing as to how the stove is right behind her.

I narrow my eyes at Sora and she simply smiles. I sigh and wave it off.

“Actually yes, that and the fact that Jongdae and Baekhyun will tag along on Saturday.”

“What’s happening on Saturday?” Sora asks.

Oh, right. This conversation only happened between me and Baekhyun. And Jongdae since he squeezed himself into it. I briefly recap what we talked about during the lunch and I am me with different reactions.

“Then isn’t that a good thing? The more the merrier,” Jiyoung points out. She’s wearing her glasses tonight and the sight of her reminds me of my math teacher back in high school who looked like a pixie straight out of a magical forest.

“So having two guys with me will make things better?” My face scrunches up at the thought. I mean, I think I can handle it alone but having them with me won’t make things better. In fact, they might get worse because I have no idea as to how those two will act once placed in a confined space a.k.a. Baekhyun’s car.

Jiyoung rolls her eyes. “I didn’t mean it that way. What I meant to say is that you don’t have to face this alone.”

I scoff. “Sure, okay.” I take another bite of the cake and chew noisily indicating that no, Jiyoung, I am not in full agreement of what you said.

A sigh escapes Jiyoung’s lips as she stares at me with a somewhat disappointed look on her face. “Stubborn.”

“But guys,” Sora pipes up, eyeing us with such intensity that it feels as if the world’s going to end any moment soon and these are her last words. “It’s not a good idea because what about Jonghyun?”

Jiyoung and I stare blankly at Sora, trying to comprehend her words. The intensity doesn’t fade which only makes her statement even more absurd. Blinking, I open my mouth and break the silence.

“Who the hell is Jonghyun?”

“Is this some guy you’ve been keeping from us?” Jiyoung narrows her eyes through the screen and I can’t help but nod. Is this another guy that she finds cute?

“Friends, no, the proper question is what is Jonghyun.”

“I am so lost,” I whisper.

“It’s the ship name I created for Dohyun and Jongdae,” she says, smiling triumphantly as if this new name deserves a prestigious award. She crosses her arms and continues to smile while Jiyoung and I gape at her.

“Um, no,” I say. I know that Sora has her suspicions about Jongdea’s feelings towards me but having a ship name for and making it official is just—no. I can feel my eye twitching as I stare at Sora wondering if she’s even in her right mind at this very moment.

“You do know that there are a lot of people in this school with the name Jonghyun, right?” Jiyoung reasons, giving her a look that practically screams ‘are you kidding me?’

Sora huffs and nods her head. “Of course I do!”

“Then change the ship name to something else.”

I turn to look at Jiyoung’s window and gawk at her. “Excuse me?” The point of this conversation was that Sora shouldn’t have made a ship name. There is no ship. And if there is, there’s a high chance that it’ll sink because I really don’t think Jongdae has those kinds of feelings for me.

Sora taps her chin. “Daehyun?”

Jiyoung shakes her head. “Don’t we have a guy named Daehyun in our English class?”

“,” Sora mumbles, biting the edge of her thumb. I groan and wave my fork around, hoping that it will get their attention.

“Guys, can we stop with the ship names and focus on the current predicament?”

Sora brightens a bit. “Right, right,” she says, clasping her hands together. “You have to scout the venue this coming Saturday.”

“Correct.”

“But there’s a third party involved,” Sora continues, nodding her head in understanding.

“Corr—wait, what?” Sora flashes a smirk while Jiyoung stifles her giggle. I smack my face and shake my head. “No, Sora. The current predicament is both of them.”

Her face falls. “Are you telling me you’re not into guys?”

“Oh my god.”

Jiyoung bursts out laughing, clutching her stomach. I stare hopelessly at Sora who’s still looking at me as if I’ve grown another head.

“You could have told us you know,” she says, sincerity lacing her words. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

“I would have if what you said was actually true.”

“So you do like guys.”

“God, help us,” I mutter.

“Because I really can’t think of a good enough reason for you to reject two hot guys—“

I gawk at Sora. “Did you just call Jongdae hot?”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Jiyoung interjects in between laughs. “Dohyun’s already freaking out as it is and we should act as her support system.”

I shake my head and push Sora’s weird implication to the back of my head. That was just beyond weird.

“Thank you.”

“Ugh, fine,” Sora mumbles, crossing her arms. I give her a pointed look to which she shrugs off.

“But really,” Jiyoung begins, a small grin still on her lips. “It can’t be that bad having the two of them with you on Saturday. Baekhyun seems like a pretty good guy and for Jongdae, well, we already know how Jongdae is but I’m sure he’ll behave when work needs to be done.”

I snort. I know that I shouldn’t worry incessantly over this but if I mess up, not only do I ruin a wedding but I also ruin the image my parents worked so hard to create. It doesn’t change the reality that I’m responsible in creating the best possible wedding these two people deserve. If worse comes to worse, I’ll have to face my parents’ disappointment and the public’s wrath for being incompetent and unable to do something so simple.

I tighten my grip on the fork and practically stab the chiffon cake with all my might. I will not embarrass myself or my parents.

 “What’s stressing you out anyway? From all we know, they’re decent human beings.” Jiyoung adds, giving me a concerned look.

I bite my lip. I don’t want to burden them with my incessant complains so I just shrug.

“I’m not used to it.”

“Just try not to stress yourself out too much okay? Go with the flow.” Jiyoung offers me a comforting smile and I nod. Easier said than done.

I glance at my half-eaten cake and sigh. Instead of moping around because of today’s events, I should probably be productive with my schoolwork. My eyes zero in on the math book I shoved in my bag earlier when Sora dragged me out of Cello’s. I roll my eyes and groan at the mere sight of it. The very reason why I took up Psychology is because I didn’t want math in my life but apparently, we can’t always get what we want.

I shove a few more bites of cake in my mouth before leaving the plate on my desk. There’s a 90% chance that I’ve turned into a chipmunk because of what I did but there’s no denying that that cake was worth it.

I walk over to my bag and retrieve my book before going back to my bed only to see Sora looking at my hands skeptically.

“What’s that?”

I raise an eyebrow.  “Um, a Math book.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Ew.”

Jiyoung looks up from the book she’s reading and frowns. She probably got a book while I disappeared. Well that or I didn’t notice that she had a book with her all this time.

“What did Math ever do to you?” Jiyoung asks, raising an eyebrow at Sora. In reply, Sora sighs dramatically and shakes her head.

“A whole lot of headaches and abdominal pain.”

Jiyoung stares at Sora, dumbfounded at her blunt statement, before shaking her head.“Noted.”

I nod my head solemnly. “Still alive but I’m barely breathing.”

“We can have a group study session if you want. It might help.”

I can already imagine our whole class huddled together in the library, solving countless problems just so we can get a decent grade. I can also imagine Jiyoung being the person who knows almost everything about the topics at hand. Jiyoung has always been a studious person. Add in the fact that she’s an engineering major, she’s bound to know a lot of things regarding math.

“Hmm, maybe,” I reply. Maybe because for all I know, I might just end up feeling more confused. But then there’s no harm in trying, right?

“Great! I’ll ask our classmates if they want to have a study session next week. We do have an exam coming up so why not use this opportunity.”

My face falls. “Right, exams.”

“You guys don’t mind if I join right? My classmates couldn’t care less about math and I, for one, am trying not to fail,” Sora comments.

Jiyoung rolls her eyes but nods. “Sure.”

I smile at my two friends. At least now I’m able to talk to them. They’ve been too caught up in their own conversations a while ago that I wasn’t able to squeeze myself in them. And of course there were other people involved that made it almost impossible to get away.

As the two of them continue to converse about math, I see something light up from across the room. Confused, I get up and walk over to my study table only to see my phone lighting up like the fourth of July. There are around ten notifications on the screen; all of them telling me that one particular person is hell bent on contacting me at around nine in the evening.

“The hell,” I mutter as I unlock my phone to read the messages.

Kim Jongdae: Are you home?

Kim Jongdae: Ya, Im Dohyun, check your phone.

Kim Jongdae: Studies show that the more you ignore your best friend, the more you’ll suffer later. So…

Kim Jongdae: Don’t tell me you’re already dead.

 I snort at the messages. Classic Jongdae. I keep reading the flood of messages he sent me until I reach the last one.

Kim Jongdae: You know what, nevermind.

I furrow my brows. What? After all that incessant texting and reading, it just boils down to ‘nevermind?’ What is up with him? I make my way to my bed all the while staring at my phone with knitted brows.

“The more glare at your phone, the older you’ll get.” I glance up and meet Sora’s pointed look. I scoff and shake my head.

 “I’m just reading Jongdae’s texts.”

At this, Sora gives me a smug look. “Ah.”

I glare at her to signal that no, it’s not like that.

“What did he say?” Jiyoung asks as she flips the page of her book.

I purse my lips. “Nothing much. But he did ask me if I was home—weird as that sounds.” I shove my phone in the pocket of my shorts. I catch Sora’s eye and quickly add the most important thing to my statement. “And I’m 100% sure he was just joking and there’s nothing to it.”

Sora pouts and crosses her lips. “You’re no fun.”

“Shouldn’t you be studying?” Jiyoung pipes and eyes Sora inquisitively.

“For once, I am in a relaxed state of mind. Studying shall come later on. The night is still young.”

I zone out of the conversation and pick up my math book again. I should really make a checklist of all the things I have to do by Saturday. One, I should contact Mr. Yong about the wedding and that I’ll reserve the venue this Saturday. Two, I should also tell my parents about my plans. I don’t want them worrying that I haven’t accomplished anything. Three, I should ask my dad if I should get the payment from our bank account or from him directly since he did talk to Mr. Yong before me. I rub my temples and stare at my book, the words blurring altogether. Should I add the fact that I have to ask Baekhyun for his sister’s comments and suggestions? And that if he is joining me on Saturday, what time am I even supposed to get ready? My phone buzzes again and I groan. What is it this time?

“I bet that’s Jongdae,” Sora comments, smirking at me from her tiny window. I narrow my eyes at her and made her window even smaller.

“Ya!” She exclaims. “What are you doing?

“Nothing,” I deadpan.  As much I want Sora to be wrong about her prediction, she hit the nail on that one. There’s a new message and a part of me is scared of opening it. For what reason, I’m not really sure. Gathering my wits, I open the message because hell, it’s just Jongdae.

Kim Jongdae: Expect a surprise in exactly one minute.

I roll my eyes. After my parents dropping the bomb on the wedding planning plus having Baekhyun as my unofficial partner, I doubt any surprise will top that. I ignore his message and shove the phone back in my pocket.

“So was that Jongdae?” Sora asks, eyes twinkling with excitement. I stare at her blankly before shrugging.

“Maybe.” I glance at my math book again and sigh. “I’ll talk to you later guys. I have to study math.”

Jiyoung looks up from her book and nods. “See you.”

Sora moves closer to the camera and narrows her eyes at me. “Are you trying to avoid my question?”

I smile at her widely. “Oh, wow, am I?”

“Ya!”

“Bye!” I wave them goodbye before logging out of my account. I stare blankly at the screen before finally turning it off and redirecting my attention to more important things.

“Okay,” I tell myself. “Time to study.” After that, three things happen all at once. One, my phone falls out of my pockets only to land on the floor with a solid thud. Two, said phone starts buzzing like crazy and three, someone was throwing rocks at my window.

Someone was throwing rocks on my window.

“Oh my god,” I whisper, clutching my math book to my chest. Now given this type of situation, I should have gotten something sharper or something that will actually injure whoever—or whatever—was throwing rocks. But hey, math brings you pain as well.

I approach my window cautiously and take a peek outside. Everything looked normal well except for the fact that there’s a dark, hooded figure standing right outside my house. Obviously I should just call the local police but my brain tells me that the only thing I can do at the moment is open my bedroom window, take a peek and throw my math book at the person.

And that’s what I did.

I didn’t even stop to think of the consequences and what could have happened to my precious book. I didn’t even think if the stranger outside my house carried a gun who could shoot me at any moment. All I know was that I had to throw it out and hopefully, it’ll scare the person away. But, the moment I saw my book flying out the window, that’s when the gears in my head started working. My eyes widened in shock as to what just happened and everything just felt like it was in slow motion. I watch as my book falls gracefully mid-air onto the cold, hard, ground. I catch a glimpse of the suspicious person, his face completely hidden from view because of his jacket. I watch as he takes a few steps back, clearly avoiding the onslaught of my wrath before I see that he has changed his mind. Instead, he is running towards the falling object—my book.

I blink. Is this guy nuts?

“Hey! What—“

“Ow!” I hear a loud thump as my book collides with his chest, the sudden weight throwing him off balance. I watch as he stumbles around awkwardly before finally falling on his . I wince. This guy, I’m pretty sure when someone throws an object at you, you’re supposed to avoid it not catch it. I roll my eyes at the person. I should probably call the cops now so that I can go out, get my book, and study in peace. I take one last look at the person, who is now standing up, brushing the dirt off his jeans. He turns to face me and that’s when I gasp. I can recognize that mop of fluffy brown hair anywhere. His eyes raise up in amusement before morphing into that of annoyance.

“Ya! I told you a surprise would be coming and this is how you repay me?” His voice echoes all throughout the neighborhood and I’m pretty sure my neighbors will kill me tomorrow morning, if not tonight. I wince at his tone but it doesn’t change the expression on my face. I stand there, mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers.

“W-what?”

“Throwing books at people isn’t exactly welcoming, you know.”

I stand there, still shell-shocked as to what just happened. Who, in their right minds, decides to go to their friend’s house at this hour looking like a kidnapper? The thought was sweet at the same time odd. Kim Jongdae is just full of surprises.

I continue looking at him as if he grew another head before a smug look appears of his face. , right. He said something and now he’s probably thinking that I’m too surprised to answer. True, but I’m not giving him that satisfaction.  I scoff before scrunching up my face in order to look intimidating. “Throwing rocks at a person’s window isn’t exactly friendly, you know.”

He tilts his head to the side as if showing me how much he’s deep in thought. Then, he shrugs. “Touché.” A grin appears on his face and for a moment, I’m blinded. Was his smile this bright before? I clear my throat.

“I’ll go down in a bit. Stay there.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes. “As if I have anywhere else to go.”

I close the window before going over to where my phone was. I quickly check my messages and see that all of them were from Jongdae asking if I was home and if he could ring our doorbell. No wonder he decided to throw rocks at my window. I didn’t reply to him. Sighing, I shove my phone in the deep recesses of my back pocket. I grab one of the sweaters strewn on top of my chair before going out of my room, quiet as a mouse.

Both my parents were sound asleep and one wrong move might send them screaming at my ears. They believed that one should sleep early and wake up early. Unfortunately for them, I was a night owl and waking up early was definitely not one of my fortes. I shiver at the thought of them reprimanding me at this hour and hastily went down the stairs. I take one of the house keys from the key rack before carefully placing them in my jeans’ pocket. I don’t want to get locked out of my own house.

The first thing I notice when I step out of the house was the cold, autumn breeze. Winter was definitely approaching and this weather is proof of that. I shiver and instantly regret wearing only two layers. The second thing I notice is that Jongdae did stay put. I don’t think he even moved a single inch from the spot I last saw him in. With brows furrowed, I approach him cautiously. He flips through the pages of my book with such concentration, I feel as if he’s burning a hole right through it.

“What are you looking at?” I ask trying to get a peek of the page he’s reading. He looks up and shrugs.

“Your doodles…” He trails off before looking back at the page. I feel my face heat up. Oh my god. There are some things that are not meant to be seen by other people and one of those is my doodles. The last thing I need is to have Kim Jongdae tease me about my less than perfect caricatures of people in my class.

“Um, yeah, so,” I glance at the book before deciding to take a leap of faith which is also known as throwing myself in front of him in attempt to take back what is mine. The movement is less than graceful and I’m sure if Sora saw me right now, she’d be in hysterics. Jongdae stumbles back, startled by my movement but nonetheless amused.

“Give it back,” I say through gritted teeth, reaching for my book. I can feel my brows furrow in concentration as I tiptoe even more just so I can get it back but damn him and his height. He chuckles at me before flipping the book open again, mocking me with my sketches.

“Why do I have a big head?” He squints and what I assume is my drawing of him a few weeks. We were having our usual Bio class and he kept answering the questions with ease. I wouldn’t have been irked at him if it weren’t for the fact that he’d turn to look at me with that smug look.

Jongdae gives me an inquisitive stare to which I reply with a blank look.

“Ya, Im Dohyun,”

I keep my face void of any emotion and my voice as monotone as possible. “I only draw people with utmost accuracy. There is nothing wrong with my drawing.”

His jaw drops. “You—“

I jump at him and snatch the book from his grasp. He looks from his hand to my face, back and forth, before realizing that, yes, I did that. A smirk comes across my face as I hug the book close to my chest.

“Thanks for giving it back, big head.”

He rolls his eyes. “Ya, how rude can you be?” He then proceeds to flick me right in the middle of my forehead. The action catches me off-guard so I just whimper and glare at him, unable to form any words. What the hell?

“Rude? I wonder what you call throwing rocks at peoples windows then.”

He winces. “Hey, you weren’t answering your phone!”

I sigh and squeeze my eyes shut. “Why are you like this?” I take a peek at him and see him shrug with a half-smile on his face.

“Just because.” I gape at him. Okay, that answers does not make any sense. Shaking my head, I turn our conversation to the topic that should be discussed.

“Anyway, why are you here? Especially at nine in the evening.” I look at him straight in the eye with the intensity of a thousand suns to which he looks away.

He mumbles something in reply but unfortunately, my ears cannot decipher what he just said. “What?”

He looks up, gives me a once-over, and sighs. Slowly, he takes off his jacket and I can practically hear alarms in my heard accompanied with panicked screams. I take a step back from him because this is not normal.

“Um,” I start and his eyes lock on me. “What are you doing?” Warmth gushes through my cheeks and I pray that the night will do its job by covering that up. I hear him chuckle and my cheeks grow warmer.

“Really Jongdae I—“

Next thing I know, he throws his jacket over to me. I catch it, barely, before giving him a confused look. He nods at me and says, “Put it on.”

“Wha—“

“You’re shivering Dohyun. Just put it on.” And that’s when I realize that I am shivering. I bite my lip and relent because now that he mentioned it, it’s all I could think about. I hastily put on his jacket before crossing my arms. I look at my surroundings because the last thing I need is to have Jongdae tease me to no end. I mumble a ‘thanks’ but I don’t hear a reply. Instead, a hand wraps itself around my wrist. My eyes follow the hand and I see Jongdae looking at me with a twinkle in his eye.

“Let’s go.”

Then we run.

--

 

The last time Jongdae dragged me out without my consent was our cake escapade. Now, he dragged me out of my house, into the night, to get coffee. Coffee. Coffee that I can just make in my house instead of running two blocks down the street. Coffee that I can drink in the comforts of my home instead of this unfamiliar café. I see Jongdae walking back towards our table, holding the two cups of coffee in his hands. I sit begrudgingly on one of the purple couches by the window. Despite sitting on what I think is the best couch I’ve ever encountered, it doesn’t change the fact that I was brought here against my will. The moment I come home, my parents will kill me. Unless they don’t find out about my whereabouts which is highly probable but still.

“One caramel macchiato-decaf for the irritated lady and one espresso shot for the handsome man,” Jongdae exclaims, placing the two cups on our table. I wrinkle my nose at him before taking my drink. I’m not even going to comment on the latter statement.

“Irritated? Me?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”

I my lips before looking out the window. “Fine.”

I see him smirk from the corner of my eyes and how I wish I can just wipe it off. He takes a sip from his shot and his face immediately scrunches up. I roll my eyes at him. Why does he even order that stuff if he can’t handle it? I take a sip from my own drink and feel myself sink into momentary caffeine bliss.

“So,” I start, staring at my drink with much curiosity. How do they even make this drink? “What made you think dragging me out of my house was a good idea?”

Jongdae blinks and chuckles a bit. He places his shot on the table before leaning back on the couch. He takes one brief look at my face before shaking his head.

“Your face.”

I scowl at him. “What about my face?”

“It’s like you aged five more years ever since college started.”

I take a deep breath and resist the urge to smack him in the head. “Thanks,” I reply through tight lips. He laughs at me before drinking his espresso and wincing, yet again.

“But really,” I ask again, raising an eyebrow at him. “What gave you the idea to have coffee at this time?”

Jongdae shrugs. “I just thought you looked a little stressed lately and maybe a cup of coffee would make you feel better.”

I sit there, stunned at his words. “Oh,” is all I can mutter before taking another sip of my drink. I clear my throat and laugh the matter off in hopes to ease the nervousness piling in my gut. “I’m fine,” I finish lamely.

He snorts but decides to let it go. The two of us sit there in comfortable silence, staring at our cups before looking at each other and stifling our laughter. I heave a sigh and lean back against the comfy seat, arching an eyebrow at the boy in front of me.

“You know what? I’m actually concerned for you,” I comment, narrowing my eyes at Jongdae. In return, he gives me a blank look before rolling his eyes.

“I should say the same to you. You look really de—“

“Yes, dead and done, next,” I finish for him, sending him a bitter smile. I’ve heard that comment one too many times. I think it’s already clear I get the point.

He drums his fingers against his knee before letting out a breath. “Okay then, Dohyun. Tell me, what’s stressing you out?”

I look up from my cup of coffee and almost choke at the expression on his face. His eyes were full of worry and distress—over what, only god knows. His brows are all scrunched up as he stares me down and I have to gulp down my saliva before shaking my head. I force a laugh out of me in hopes to lessen the anxiety written all over his face.

“You sound like a guidance counselor,” I comment, fighting back a real smile from taking over. Instead of the usual laughter, though, I’m met with a scowl and slight shake of the head. He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at me.

“You didn’t answer the question, though.”

I blink. Is he being real? Biting my lip, I sigh and place the cup of coffee gently on the table. I grab a handful of my hair and start braiding it absentmindedly as I thought of a reply.

“Well,” I start, not knowing how to break it all down in front of him. I fiddle with my fingers, unable to look him in the eye. “There’s a math exam coming up and…” I trail off. I peer at him through my eyelashes and notice how he still has that look of concern plastered on his face. It makes my heart clench knowing that my friend is worrying so much for me and yet, I can’t stop myself from stressing out. As much as I’d want to kick out all the stress and apprehensions in my life, it’s difficult to do so when it’s just all around you.

“We also have our psychology pre-lims. Not to mention,” I pause and gulp. “Planning the wedding of Baekhyun’s sister. No big deal.” I decided to laugh it off before drowning myself in more coffee. Jongdae looks out the window before shaking his head slightly.

“You really outdid yourself this time, Dohyun.”

I snort. “Thanks, I guess.”

He redirects his attention to me and brings up three fingers. I raise an eyebrow, wondering what the hell those fingers stand for. “First, I can help you with psych. I’m free most of the time so we can just meet up if you need help. Second, for math I’m not that good at it but—“

“Wait, you’re going to tutor me?” I ask, a little surprised from his suggestion. Jongdae rolls his eyes.

“Are you doubting me?”

“Um,”

“Like I said, for math I—“

“Wait,” I stop him again. “I’m actually getting tutoring for math from Jiyoung already so you don’t have to go out of your way for me,” I say, smiling at him in order to appease the possible annoyance bubbling inside of him. He blinks before rolling his eyes again.

“Okay as for the wedding planning, I—“

“Jongdae—“

This time, he narrows his eyes at me and throws me a pointed look. Immediately, I zip my mouth and focus on his words.

“I mean it when I’ll join you guys.”

“But you don’t have to,” I mumble, crossing my arms. It’s during these moments that I feel like a kid, complaining to her parents that she’s already a grown-up and doesn’t need any help.

“But I want to. It’s my choice. You’re not forcing me or anything.”

They’re words of comfort and for once, I feel my worries drift away slowly. I let out a breath and nod my head. “Okay.”

“There, isn’t it nice to agree every once in a while?” I stick out my tongue at him and roll my eyes.

“Just this once, Jongdae.”

We sit there, taking sips from our respective drinks when I remember that we still haven’t discussed our itinerary for tomorrow. If I remember correctly, it’ll take around half an hour to get to the venue by car. I fish out my phone from my pocket and immediately search my contact list. My finger hovers over his name, wondering if I should really message him or just ditch him. I bite my lip and let out a sigh. Okay, ditching him sounds like a low blow. I quickly type in a short yet concise message and sent it right away. If he doesn’t reply, then I guess I’ll make up my own plans.

“What’s wrong?” I look up from my phone and find Jongdae’s concerned eyes on me, yet again. I offer him a small smile and shake my head.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

He hums for a bit before gulping down what’s left of his drink. My eyes widen at the action. Should he really down an espresso shot like that?

“Are you sure you’ll be able to sleep tonight?” I ask, looking at the now empty cup in distaste. Jongdae purses his lips before shrugging.

“Who knows?”

I blink. “Oh my god,” I mumble. If he starts having heart palpitations, I don’t even have to think twice as to why he even has them in the first place.

“It’s getting late,” he starts and I glace at the digital clock on my phone. I gasp at the time and nod my head hastily. We already spent around an hour in the café and if I stay out any later, I’m sure to face death the minute I step inside the house.

“I’ll walk you home.”

Unconsciously, I frown at his words. He really doesn’t have to. I’m more worried that he won’t be able to catch the last bus home.

“It’s fine—“

“Dohyun,” he gives me a stern look. “I insist.”

With a sigh, I relent to his request. The two of us leave the coffee shop with him having a small grin of triumph and me staring blankly at the street in front of us. Now that I have two people accompanying me on Saturday, I’m not sure if I have to prepare anything else. Do I have to attach a program flow? What more the layout of the event? Is that still under my jurisdiction?

All these thoughts fill my head as we walk down the street. After a while, I feel someone poke my arm and I turn to see Jongdae giving me an inquisitive look.

“What?”

“Your brows,” he gestures to his own and scrunches them up. “Look like this.”

I let out a laugh before smiling at him. “I do not look like that.”

He rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. “So, care to share what was on your mind?”

I shrug. “I’m just thinking if I should—“

My words get cut off by loud bells ringing from what seems to be my back pocket. I take out my phone in a flash, ready to snap at the person calling for rudely interrupting me (with the exception of my parents, of course). I take one look at the caller ID and let out a huge groan. Did he really have to call? I press the green button and place the phone next to my ear.

“Can’t you just text me?”It’s not like calling is a bad thing. It’s just that I prefer messaging people rather than talking to them over the phone. There’s something about hearing people’s voices over the phone that perturbs me. Also, it just brings about unwanted anxiety because what if they’re calling due to an emergency? I’d like to avoid that, thank you very much.

“Why hello to you too,” he replies, his voice sounding oddly low and a little bit gruff. It’s different compared to the first time he called and I silently wonder if he just woke up. Ignoring the new sound of his voice, I roll my eyes and see Jongdae giving me another questioning look. I wave him off, hoping to quell his questioning stare. He give me an odd look but lets it go. At least I think he did.

“No, but seriously, wouldn’t it be easier to just message each other?” I say, finding his sudden call surprising.

“Why? You don’t want to hear my voice?” I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

“Um, that is besides the point, Baekhyun-ssi,” I reply, a little irked that he’s being playful when we should be serious about this planning.

He chuckles. “Okay, I get it but, since we’re already on the phone, can’t we just plan it now?”

I purse my lips but agree anyway. What’s the point of ending the call now? I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and urge the gears in my head to start running. “So, what’s the plan?”

Baekhyun starts to ramble off his ideas, as well as the meet-up time. I commit all of them to memory, pointing out some of my concerns as we continue talking. Every once in a while, he’ll crack a joke about my voice or mention something about our lunch earlier in the day. I’ll reprimand him a bit for losing track of the conversation but at other times, a small smile will slip out of my mouth and I’ll quickly bite my lips to prevent it from getting bigger.

“So let me get this straight,” I say again, summarizing our talk. “We meet at my house eight in the morning? And you’re driving.”

“Yep,” he says, popping the ‘p.’ Now I’m not sure if Baekhyun’s even a good driver but seeing that I get to save money by going with him, I’ll have to it up and go with the flow. I look back at Jongdae who’s now looking at his phone. He catches my stare and he offers me a small grin. However, I can’t help but think that it’s a little forced.

“Are you okay?” I mouth to him and he just gives me a two thumbs-up. I narrow my eyes at him but he reassures me that he’s fine and he’s just playing a game on his phone. I still don’t believe him but I focus my attention back to the phone call.

“Alright. I’ll tell Jongdae about the plans. He’s coming with us, in case you forgot.”

I’m met with silence on the other end before I hear his voice once again. “Oh, right,” he chuckles and for some reason, the image resonated within me. My brain looks into one of its drawers and pulls up that image of him flashing me a lopsided grin while we talked in the kitchen. I look down at my feet and urge my brain to shove that memory back into the drawers because no, no way am I thinking of him right now. Especially his smile.

“Go tell him. He might get jea—“ He immediately stops himself. I raise an eyebrow and pester him about what he was about to say. He reassures me that it’s nothing before moving on to another topic.

“By the way,” he pauses for a bit before continuing. “Are you at home right now?”

“Huh? No, why?”

“Hm,” he hums to himself. I hear him clucking his tongue before letting out a sigh. “Hey Dohyun?”

His voice became soft, light as a feather. I have to strain a little to hear him properly. The sudden change baffles me but I figure there’s a reason for it.

“Yeah?” I whisper, although I don’t know why I have to do that. I guess the need to match his tone resonated within me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Surprised the he decided to end the call right away, I nod and greet him goodbye.

“Stay safe, Dohyun.” At that, I can’t help but feel a warm flush creep up my cheeks.

“Okay.”

If possible, I can imagine him smiling slightly at my response before ending the call. I stare at my phone and realize we’ve been talking for around ten minutes straight. I take in my surroundings and gasp that we’ve already reached my street. I turn back to look at Jongdae and notice the less than pleasant look on his face. He’s kept his distance from me and for that, I became puzzled.

“Jongdae!” I call out and he looks up from his phone. I wave my arms at him while he fastens his pace. Once he’s within earshot, I ask him if he’s okay.

“Oh, I’m feeling a little under the weather, that’s all,” he replies and for that I’m now instantly worried. One, his words were too formal for my taste. And two, his face ultimately betrayed his words because he looked more pained than just “under the weather.”

“Are you sure? You can come inside for a little bit, if you want.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” he quickly says. I furrow my brows but he simply shakes it off. “Really. I just have to get home now.”

“Okay?”

“Text me what time we have to meet tomorrow.” I widen my eyes. Right.

“It’s at—“

“I’ll go now, Dohyun.” He sends me a smile, one laced with a hint of sadness, before waving at going down the lane. I stand there, shocked at the exchange. I debate on whether I should run after him and give him a hug but from the hunched shoulders, I think it’s best for me to give him space.

I walk back to my house, a little dejected that Jongdae left just like that. For whatever reason, he became moody and a little sad in the span of ten minutes. I rack my head for the cause of this, unable to comprehend anything.

Unless…

I grip the door handle tightly and shake my head. No, that couldn’t be.

Because let’s face it, it’s not like Jongdae to become moody just because I wasn’t paying him any attention. Because I was talking with Baekhyun over the phone and kind of forgot his presence a little bit.

I laugh at the thought because there’s no way Jongdae’s mood changed because of that.

Right?

 

 

 

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A/N:

GUESS WHO'S BACK!!! I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating in like a year :( I got too caught up with school and other things. Also, I must admit I had a little bit of a hard time writing this chapter (7k~ words wew) but FINALLY I made it. 

Please give this lots of love <3 And a huge thank you to the readers who stayed with me despite my erractic updates. You guys are the best!!

See you all until the next update hehe and dont' forget to give EXO's new song "POWER" lots of love as well!!