“It’s been ten minutes since she came here and she’s still staring off into space. Should I be worried?”

“I think any person should be worried if someone’s staring into space without uttering a single word.”

My two friends turn to give me a pointed look but I don’t react. I simply stare off some more into the distance and contemplate on the following decisions I made during the weekend: I agreed to plan one final wedding and I agreed to plan Yong Kijoon’s wedding. Yong Kijoon. Thinking about his name makes me want to squeal at the same time shiver. Squeal because I love his voice and his face. Shiver because he’s famous and if he’s famous, the press will be all over him and if they’re all over him, the wedding’s going to be the talk of the town. I heave a sigh and stare some more on the grove of trees in the distance.

“Maybe we should call for back up?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to call the hospital because that is not the kind of back up we need.”

I wrinkle my nose at their conversation but keep silent. I don’t want to bother them about my problem now. I’ll probably tell them about it later on but right now, I just need some time to think about things. I don’t want them to carry my burden and stress. They’ve got other things to worry about such as college.

“That’s it!” Sora exclaims, rising up from her seat. From my peripheral vision, I see Jiyoung frown and shift away from her. We’re currently sitting on the cold, hard cement floor of the math building, enjoying our simultaneous free cut.

“I’m going to call reinforcements.”

“You mean reinforcement. Singular.”

“Mhm,”

I pay them no attention and start to count the trees. I’m still not over the fact that I’m going to plan this wedding. I’m surprised I even managed to complete all the requirements I need for the day without collapsing from over-thinking.

Sora fishes out her phone and starts to dial a number. I let out another sigh and redirect my attention to my jeans, picking at the loose strings.

“Hello? Yeah, it’s me. I’ve got a code green here, just thought you should know. Mhm, okay, bye.”

I scowl. Code Green? Since when did Sora use code names for these kinds of situations? I quietly move away from her before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I guess stressing over my mom’s idea of me planning a wedding took its toll on me. Right now, I can’t even find the energy to speak.

“What did he say?”

“He’ll be here in five minutes tops.”

“Good.” Jiyoung pauses. “Ya, Dohyun,”

I close my eyes even tighter and ignore her words. I need this time to relax—to not think about what just happened over the weekend. I rub my palms together before placing my hands on top of my knees. I silently let out a low hum and focus on my breathing.

Inhale. Exhale.

“It’s been a minute.”

“Why are you counting?”

Inhale. Exhale.

“I’m calling him again.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

I bite the inside of my cheek.  Inhale. Exhale.

“And why is that?”

“Approaching figure at three o’clock.”

“Wow, two minutes.”

I feel my eyes twitch behind my eyelids and it takes all of my willpower to not open my eyes and yell at them for being loud. I take another deep breath and shift my body away from them. A cool breeze comes in and I shiver slightly, the first reaction I’ll be giving since I came here to our spot.

“Oh my god, did you see that?”

“Oh , yeah.”

My ears perk up at their conversation. See what? I resist the urge to open my eyes and take yet another deep breath. Don’t open them.

I hear Sora laugh followed by an ‘ouch’ from Jiyoung. I bite my bottom lip and exhale loudly. What is going on? I think about opening my eyes and breaking out of my stupor just so I can figure out what’s happening but I resist the temptation.

At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Grumbling, more to myself for having such low self-control, I take a peek at what’s happening around me. Sora has her hands on her hips, giggling at whatever’s down the stairs. Meanwhile, Jiyoung has her hand on her forehead all the while groaning.

“That’s gotta hurt,” she murmurs. I raise an eyebrow. I’m about to lean over to see what Jiyoung meant by ‘hurt’ when I see her about to swivel around to check on me. I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend to look calm and collected. I hear her let out a breath and a tsk.

“Ya, Dohyun, stop pretending to meditate and speak up.”

No.

Loud footsteps reach my ears and I cringe at the sound. Why do I have the feeling that I know exactly who my friends called in order to make me talk?

“What happened?” I hear him ask and I feel my insides go awry. Oh god, this is going to be messy.

“You know how sometimes Dohyun can’t shut up?” Sora starts. If my eyes were open, I’d be openly glaring at her.

“Well today’s the exact opposite.”

“And she’s been meditating since two minutes ago. Before that, she’s been staring into the distance. We thought you could do something about this before Sora decides to call other types of reinforcements,” Jiyoung adds.

I hear some shuffling and a few snorting before everything fell silent. I stiffen and wonder what happened to the three of them. I feel the sweat build up in my palms and I, ever so slowly, casually wipe them on my jeans. I start to hear some more shuffling and my ears perk up at this. I tilt my head to one side, figuring out who it is and where the sound’s coming from. I’m about to call them out but the next thing I know my is no longer in contact with the ground. I open my eyes and panic. I look up and growl.

“Ya! Kim Jongdae! Put me down!”

He chuckles and spins around, arms tightening around my waist. Oh God, I think, as I feel his strong arms around my body. I’m pretty sure that he’s not supposed to be this strong to carry me around. And I’m pretty sure that he’s not supposed to carry me at all.

“Is it just me but lately you’ve been screaming my name whenever you see me.”

I glare at him and punch his stomach. I hear some more laughter and I look up to see Jiyoung stifling her giggles while Sora’s laughing out loud without a care in the world. I glower at them. I look down and that’s when I see that I’m a few feet off the ground. And that’s also when I realize that the two of us look like complete idiots with him holding my waist like I’m a ragged doll and me looking angry while punching him crazily.

“I really hate you,” I sneer, still slapping him because he’s still not putting me down.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“Oh god, not again,” Sora groans before looking at the two of us with a pointed look. Jiyoung rolls her eyes but nods her head.

“Anyway, I think it’s time to put her down before she kills all of us,” Jiyoung adds, giving me a knowing look. Jongdae chuckles and turns to look at me. His eyes shine with mischief while mine glow with defiance.

“Alright,” he says, placing me down gently. Once I’m back on my two feet, I swivel around to slap his shoulder but he dodges it. I stumble for a bit before latching onto the nearest object I can find and that is Jongdae’s arm.

“Falling for me so soon?”

I snort and immediately pull away. “As if,” I scoff.

“At least now we know you’re not dead and you can still talk,” Sora pipes, walking over to us with a grin on her face.

“I was contemplating on life. That’s why I was silent.”

“What about life?” Jongdae asks, giving me an inquisitive look.

“It’s nothing,” I say, trying to reassure him but it comes out as if I’m trying to reassure myself. I bite my lip as soon as I said the words. It should be nothing but it’s definitely something. As far as I can tell, days from now I’m going to turn into a half-zombie balancing college as well as wedding planning.

“I see. I can also see that you haven’t improved your lying skills,” he replies, giving me the side-eye. I roll my eyes and cross my arms. He copies me and sticks his tongue out.

“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

From my peripheral vision I can see Sora already left my side and that she’s with backing away, ever so slowly. I snap my head in their direction and they freeze. I an eyebrow and throw them a piercing look.

“Where are you guys going?”

“PE,” Jiyoung responds.

“Chemistry,” Sora grumbles. I furrow my brows and uncross my arms.

“Since when did you guys team up and leave me alone at the same time?”

I hear someone snort beside me. “Uh, I’m here. In case you forgot.”

My eyes widen and I immediately jog over to where they are. I latch onto to Jiyoung’s arm and she yelps in surprise.

“What—“

“Don’t leave me alone with him,” I plead, pointing to where he’s standing.

“Ya, I can hear you!”

I ignore him and look deep into Jiyoung’s eyes. She rolls her eyes and gently takes my hand off her arm. She takes a step back and shrug.

“I really do have classes besides, think of this as therapy so that your mood will lighten up.”

“I don’t need this kind of therapy,” I say, using both my arms to point over at Jongdae who’s rolling his eyes at me.

“I’m still here,” he calls out. I wince and turn back to Jiyoung.

“I also don’t need any form of therapy. I’m completely fine.”

“Says the girl who didn’t even utter a single word the moment she came here,” Sora remarks, giving me a look.

“I don’t always have to talk right?”

“And we don’t always have to stay with you and Jongdae,” Sora replies, smirking at me. I feel my cheeks redden at her remark and I instantly cover them with my hands.

“I really hate you guys.”

“And we really have to go,” Jiyoung says, giving me a sad look. “Sorry Dohyun, the three of us will hang out next time.”

“Have fun with Jongdae! But not too much fun alright?” Sora winks at me and I aim for her arm. She avoids my hand and laughs heartily. I glare at her some more. God, why are they my friends?

Jiyoung loops her arm around Sora’s and drags her away from me, giving me one final look before going down the stairs with a still laughing Sora by her side. I groan and spin around only to come face to face with none other than Kim Jongdae. I take a step back, surprised by our sudden proximity.

“Since when did you get here?” I ask, voice shaking slightly. Wasn’t he supposed to be a few feet away? And now, he’s an arm’s reach away. I furrow my brows at him while he simply shrugs, giving me a lopsided smile.

“That’s a secret.”

“You and your secrets,” I grumble, crossing my arms. He sighs and walks over to where I sat and picks up my bag. He slings it over his shoulder before walking towards me again.

“Come on, let’s go,”

I raise an eyebrow. “Go where? To hell—I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He an eyebrow back at me and smirks.

“Oh, really?”

“Really,” I deadpan.

If it’s even possible, he smirks some more before grabbing my wrist. His smirk turns into a smile and suddenly I freeze.

“We’ll see about that.”

 

&&

 

The moment he grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the steps of the math building, I kept resisting because I didn’t want to go anywhere. I’d rather spend my free time inside the campus and mull over my decisions and what’s going to happen in the next few weeks.

Despite my protests, Jongdae continued to drag me out and about. I really wonder how he managed how to half-carry half-drag me out of the campus. Next thing I knew, we were on the streets of Seoul roaming around. Jongdae’s still holding on to me and I pretty much gave up trying to run away from him.

“Where are we going?” I ask, looking around me. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been in this part of Seoul before. I glance down at my wrist, the wrist that Jongdae’s still holding on to.

“You’ll see.”

“Mhm,” I stare at my wrist and wonder how long is he going to latch on to me. I clear my throat and wait for Jongdae to turn around.

He doesn’t.

I frown and clear my throat even louder which is then followed by a cough because well, clearing throats does that. He turns around to face me and concern flashes through his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

I cough some more before waving my hands in front of him. I use my free hand to pump my chest a bit and nod my head.

“Fine,” I say, touching my throat to see if it’s fine.

“Are you sure?”

“Did something happen to you a while ago? I heard Jiyoung say ‘that’s gotta hurt’ and I’m amusing that person who was ‘hurt’ was you. Care to share?”

His eyebrows knit together in confusion but after a few seconds, they form a straight line. His eyes widen in realization and his mouth drops open. Then, he shakes his head at me and glares.

“No topic changers.”

I smirk. “What about we make a deal? Stop asking me if I’m fine and I’ll stop asking about what happened earlier.”

His face contorts into a mixture of amusement, disbelief and relief. He takes a deep breath and nods his head.

“Deal.”

“Good,” I say. I scan my surroundings once more and notice that there aren’t too many people walking in these streets. I my lips and my eyes go back to the hand that’s clamped around my wrist.

“Hey, Jongdae?”

“What is it now?”

“Uh,” I gesture over at my wrist. “I think you can let go now.”

We stop in the middle of the sidewalk. He turns around to look at his hand and my arm and his brows furrow in confusion. Then he narrows his eyes at me and purses his lips.

“What if you end up running away from me?”

I snort. “You really think I’d do that?”

He shrugs before looking away from me. I roll my eyes before gently pulling away from his grasp. His head snaps back to me, eyes widening while I simply roll my eyes.

“School’s too far away now,” I say, pointing to what I think is the direction of our school. “And if I do end up running away, I’ll get lost and end up running back to you.”

He gives me this serious look, one that consists of knitted brows, boring eyes and tight lips. I take all of this in, wondering why he’s taking this so seriously but then a laugh breaks out. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was even holding and grin at him.

He smirks at me and nods his head. “True.”

“Okay then Mr. Chen, where to?” I catch the corners of his lips lift upward at the mention of his nickname, the name I only use when it’s only the two of us.

“Onward, my fellow stead!” He exclaims. I chuckle lightly and follow his steps, smiling all the way. For a moment there, I thought he’d get mad at me. Why though? It isn’t so bad to let go, right? I take another look around me and notice that the shops on this street all sell food. Or drinks. Basically, edible things. I scrunch my nose and walk faster so that I’ll be next to Jongdae.

“Are you taking me to a food place?”

“Yup,” he replies, popping the ‘p.’

The gears in my head start to churn and then I realize Jongdae doesn’t take people out to eat. Unless… I gasp and stop. Jongdae does as well and eyes me curiously. He an eyebrow while I throw him a pointed look.

“This is your interrogation process.”

The last time he took me out to eat was last month, when I refused to tell him that this girl he liked already had a boyfriend. I remember seeing said girl getting all romantic with a particular guy and I contemplated on whether to crush his hopes and dreams right away or let him figure it out on his own. Either way, when I found out about it I felt a little bad and decided to stay away for a while because the secret was eating me alive. However being the Jongdae that he is, he wanted to know why I started acting so distant. The bribe he used? Lunch out. As I think back on it I realize that he’s going to do the same thing to me again today.

He gives me a blank stare before shrugging.  “If that’s what you think it is then okay.”

I frown. “You know if you want to ask me something—“

He raises an eyebrow. “—that is not related to my coughing fit earlier, then you can just ask me now. You don’t have to go through all the trouble by dragging me out here.”

“So you don’t want free food.”

“I never said that.”

He chuckles. He doesn’t say anything after that and I just stare at his face, wondering if he really has something to ask me. I follow his steps, getting more and more curious as to where we’re going. I take another look around, observing the people when I feel a hand on my wrist, tugging me backward. I stumble a bit and look up only to see Jongdae giving me a bright grin.

“We’re here.”

I look to my right and almost gasp.

“Holy crap,” I mutter, gazing at the wonderful store before me. Its exterior is made out of red bricks with little windows in front. Some bushes line the entrance with tiny flowers growing in them. I marvel at the sight before me, smiling inwardly. Okay, maybe this time I’ll be happy to share my thoughts with him. Only for today though because this store looks too good to pass up.

“How did you find this?” I ask, gazing at it longingly. It’s just my type. I love how it looks so cozy despite the bricks lining the exterior. The shop’s name hangs on a wooden placard that says Roose Patisserie and from the sound of it, they sell pretty fancy stuff.

He scratches the back of his head before shrugging. “I was walking around the place then I found it. Thought you’d like it judging from the appearance.”

“How about the food?”

He smirks. “We’re about to find out.”

He tugs my arm and I let him. We walk towards the entrance, my stomach anticipating the goodies in store for us. He pushes the door and we’re instantly met with the sweet aroma of baked goods. I scan the shop and instantly melt when my eyes land on the cake counter. My stomach growls and my hand immediately try to cover it. I my lips. Those cakes sure look delicious.

I’ve always had a soft spot for cakes ever since my mom decided to bring home some cake from all the various weddings she’s planned. I remember one time, we had five flavors of cake in our fridge and I’d eat a slice of each flavor in the span of a day. After that, it seemed obvious that cakes would become my comfort food and well, it happened. Now, whenever I’m stressed or feeling blue, my ultimate go-to food is cake.

I scan the area for a vacant table and notice that there’s actually a fair amount of people in here. My eyes lands on one and I immediately pull on the sleeve of Jongdae’s jacket.

“Let’s go,” I say, pulling him towards the table at the far right side of the room. There’s a smile on my face as I walk my way towards it. The scent of the baked goods added with the warm, cozy ambiance of the shop instantly uplifted my spirits. It’s not every day when your friend decides to treat you out—even if you have to undergo an interrogation process later on.

I take my seat and Jongdae does the same. His eyes travel around the room and I do the same, smiling from ear to ear. Soft classical music blares through the speakers and although I don’t like classical music, the sounds fit the store’s image—a relaxed and homey image.

 A waitress makes her way to our table and eyes the two of us with a warm smile. Her eyes linger longer than they should have on Jongdae before turning to me. She hands the two of us separate menus. She has a small grin on her face before she leaves the two of us alone to decide on our order. I stare at her retreating back and then at Jongdae. He’s already browsing through the menu, eyes glued to the list. I frown. Did he notice the way the girl looked at him a while ago?

“Ya,” I whisper. He doesn’t budge so I resort to other forms of calling his attention. I kick his shin underneath the table and he lets out an audible yelp, glaring at me with those eyes that have now turned into slits.

“What?” He hissed.

“I think that girl likes you,” I say, pointing over to the waitress who’s by the counter. She looks up and sees the two of us staring. She blushes and looks down right away. I turn back to Jongdae and grin. “You should go and talk to her.”

He gives me a blank look before a sly smirk crosses his features. He lays down the menu and leans forward.

“Won’t that make you jealous?”

I wrinkle my nose and frown. “Uh, no?”

He rolls his eyes and leans back. He picks up the menu again and scans it once more. Jongdae always does this, teasing me again and again whenever there’s a girl involved. My mind goes back to what Sora said about him liking me and I immediately stiffen. No, that’s not possible, right?

“Are you done choosing?” Jongdae’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. He’s giving me an odd look. I touch my face to see if there’s anything out of place. I clear my throat and quickly look through the menu so that he can stop staring at me.

“Yeah.” He waves over the same waitress and rattles off his order. I do the same, telling her that I want a slice of Chocolate Heaven and a glass of water. She jots all of this down, takes care of the menus,  gives us another smile—and another look at Jongdae—before going back to the counter to get our food. I sigh. Jongdae should really talk to more girls besides me.

“How was your weekend?” I stiffen. I turn back to Jongdae who’s giving me the look. It has started.

I fidget in my seat and shrug. “I had a talk with my parents. About stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Stuff.”

He narrows his eyes and stares at me, looking deep into my soul. I gulp and look down. I play with the strings of my hoodie before letting out a breath. Even though I’m not saying anything, this will only lengthen the interrogation. From my past experiences, once Jongdae starts asking questions, he won’t stop until all of them are answered.

“Care to elaborate?” I shift in my seat and twirl a few strands of my hair.

“So, I kind of maybe told my parents that I didn’t want to be a wedding planner.” I look at him and notice that he’s not reacting to my words as all. He nods his head, telling me to go on. I smile softly at him and continue. This is one of the reasons why he’s one of my closest friends, he listens to me and waits for me to finish and that’s when he speaks his opinion. I really find it nice of him to do that because not everyone nowadays gives their 100% attention on you.

“I told them that I wasn’t meant for it. Of course, they reacted badly to the news but then this weekend happened. My mom asked to plan one last wedding for them and now I feel really stressed about it.” I look at him and wring my fingers together. “I’m afraid that this will make me change my mind and I don’t want that.” It’s like all the hours I spent making that decision will all go to waste because of this experience.

Jongdae ponders over my words before shrugging. He’s about to say something when the waitress comes in with our drinks and our food. She places our food on the table and does a small bow before walking away. I give her a curious look before turning back to Jongdae.

“I think,” he starts, looking at the slice of cake he has. “That it’s okay to be scared. I think that’s the very reason why you’re put into that situation. You said you don’t like wedding planning right? But that could change after that and change, change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.

“Think of it this way,” he continues. He picks up his fork and takes a small piece of my cake. I’m about to slap his hand away but he already popped it inside his mouth. He munches on it and swallows.

“I don’t like chocolate but,” he takes another bite and grins. “But now I do. It changes. Sometimes you have to give things another chance to see if you’ll really like it. Just because you hate it the first time or it’s not going good, you have to try one more time. You’ll never know.” He forks another piece, ready to place it in his mouth but I reach out and grab his hand. He looks at me and I scowl.

“You’ve been stealing my cake. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

He smirks. “Do you?”

I glowered at him and nod my head. “Yeah, I do.” I take his fork away from his hand and start to eat my cake, grumbling all the while because he managed to eat around a fourth of it. He chuckles at me and proceeds to eat his own cake, smiling all the way. I take a sip from my glass of water and think on his words. Give it a chance, huh? I know his words make sense but my brain just can’t wrap itself around the idea. I guess I’m still a bit reluctant to believe them.

We eat in silence. It’s comfortable at the same time it’s not. It’s like our silence is right in the middle and I’m not sure how to categorize it. I mull over his words again and realize that, once again, he’s right. But doesn’t that mean that I’ll easily accept what he says.

“Hey, Jongdae—“

I get cut off by my phone and Jongdae looks at it interestedly. He motions over to my phone, telling me that I should go pick it up. Biting my lip, I nod my head and answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon is this the phone of Ms. Im Dohyun?” I furrow my brows at this.

“Yes. Who is this if may I ask?”

“Oh, silly me. It’s Byun Miran.” I pull the phone away from my ear and gasp. I turn to Jongdae and gesture wildly at the phone. He only gives me a confused look. I take a deep breath and mouth to him that she’s my client. He opens his mouth in awe and nods his head.

“Talk to her,” he mouths, pointing to my phone. Realizing that I still have her on the line, I place the phone back near my ear and clear my throat.

“Hello, hi, what can I do for you?” I bite my lip and fight to urge to smack myself. Hello, hi? That wasn’t professional at all.

“I was wondering if I can drop by the office today? I’d like to discuss more of our wedding’s details as well as the reception.”

“Oh. That would be fine. Around what time would it be?”

I meet silence on the other end before I hear some shuffling. “Would three in the afternoon be okay?” I pull my phone away and glance at the time. My eyes widen. It’s already 2:30. I can’t say no though because my mom always says that we have to accommodate the time of the client first before our own. I bite the inside of my cheek and nod my head even if she can’t see it.

“That would fine.”

“Great! We’ll come by around that time. Thank you Dohyun-ssi.”

“It’s my pleasure.” The line goes dead but I’m still hanging onto my phone. I feel my hand shake as I place my phone back in my pocket. Jongdae sees this and gives me a concerned look.

“What happened?”

“She—my client—she’s going to our office at 3.” He looks at the shop’s wall clock and his eyes widen.

“That’s half an hour from now.”

“I know,” I groan. I grab my bag from the floor and stand up. I take one last big bite from my cake and take one last swig from my glass of water. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and turn to look at Jongdae. “I have to go.”

He stands up as well, his food forgotten. “Let me take you.”

“No, no” I say. I’m already making my way to the door when I feel his hand wrap around my wrist.

“You don’t even know the way back.”

“I’ll just call a taxi. I really have to go Jongdae. Thank you, thank you for the food and for the advice but I really have to go.” I tug on my arm and back away from him. I see something flash in his eyes but it was gone before I even had the chance to figure out what it was.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper before leaving the quaint store and a very stunned Jongdae.  I hail the nearest taxi and get inside. I’m about to call my mom to tell her about Ms. Byun but my eyes hover at the shop’s sign and a lone figure standing outside. My eyes adjust to the light and that’s when it clears.

There, standing outside the shop, is a confused Kim Jongdae. A Kim Jongdae who kind of has a sad look on his face. A Kim Jongdae who’s watching me run away.

 

 

---

A/N:

this chapter goes out to all the team chen people out there! Hope you guys like it <3. Baekhyun will come in the next chapter (finally) so stay tuned!

Thank you for reading and for subscribing!

xoxo