"This place seems really..." Ga In trailed off, trying to find the right word as she glanced around the restaurant from our table. "Cute."

"Are you suprised?" I asked from my seat next to her. "This is my sister we're talking about."

"That's true," she agreed despondently, continuing her inspection of the cafe.

The place did have a rather feminine vibe to it, and most of the other customers were girls. The only guys in the place were there with other girls, presumably their dates.

While Jin Ri was a girly-girl who liked cute things, it was actually pretty odd that she would pick a place like this for our lunch. Aside from her knowing Ga In doesn't like this kind of stuff, she wouldn't typically invite boys here. The thing is, Xiumin's coming today as well, and she hasn't really plucked up the courage to talk to him yet. At least, not about anything important. But she has been trying to test him to see if he really likes her or she's just making it all up in her head. She keeps taking him to weird places for lunch to see if he'll complain, which he hasn't, and this cafe is apparently the next stop on that train.

I tried telling her that this really wasn't the best solution, since his willingness to come to all these places could just stem from him being nice and not from him liking her, but she refuses to listen. The longer he goes without complaining, the more confident she is that he likes her. Wether this is a good or a bad thing, I'm not entirely sure. It could mean that since she is finally sure of his feelings and what he thinks of her, she'll be more comfortable around him. Based on Jin Ri's past experiences with other guys, this is the likely outcome. However, Xiumin has always caused interesting behavior from her. It could very well be that she'll get more nervous and shy around him wether or not she still likes him.

Whatever her reaction would be to him liking her, I'm more nervous about if he doesn't like her. 

When Jin Ri walked through the door I noticed that she was alone, and I instantly panicked.

"Hey, where's Xiumin?" I asked, trying to stay calm. Him not showing up with her doesn't mean anything. I was being silly.

"He should be here soon," she answered calmly, sitting down with a big grin. Something that doesn't usually make an appearance when she's been studying. "I'm suprised I got here before him. He's usually early,"

"That'd be nice," Ga In commented, holding in her disdain for the place. "Jongdae's always late."

She knew who Xiumin was, as it hadn't really been much of a secret that Jin Ri had liked him when she was in high school. Both our parents were well aware, and heard about him a lot. So when Jin Ri told me Xiumin was going to be here, I quickly informed Ga In about what was happening, and warned her to hold her tongue. Even though Ga In was older than me by a year, making her two years younger than Jin Ri, Ga In had a tendency to be over protective of my sister and me. That, coupled with how she constantly says what she thinks, never bothering to sugar coat anything, made her pretty dangerous to anyone she thought posed a threat to us.

Based on what Ga In knew of him, Xiumin was such a person to Jin Ri. If only that he might be playing with her emotions, intentionally or not. While she had never really had a problem with him before, the fact that he keeps acting like her potential boyfriend but not commenting one way or the other really bothered Ga In. She hates it when people aren't up front about these kinds of things, and since it's Jin Ri that's set to get hurt if this doesn't end well, Ga In's a bit more sensitive about it.

Which is why I had to warn her ahead of time that we were meeting him and everything else, so that I could tell her it would be best not to interfere this time around. Jin Ri has put herself into this situation, and she's an adult. This is for her to take care of, not me or Ga In. It's not really our business, not anymore than Jin Ri wants it to be, anyways.

Besides, I didn't think Jin Ri really needed the help to begin with. There's really not much to be worried about, and Ga In is planning on actually communicating with Xiumin about what has been bothering her. I just wanted to make sure Ga In knew there was nothing to get up in arms about.

"I can't imagine you dating someone who's consistently late," Jin Ri commented back.

"It's driving me insane," Ga In said, giving Jin Ri a very serious look. "But I really like him, so I haven't said anything yet."

"That's not going to last for long," Jin Ri said, raising her eyebrows while smiling.

"No. It is not," Ga In answered back, the serious face still there.

I couldn't help but smile. I was glad to be hanging out like this. Spending time with my parents was nice, but I felt guilty about not telling them about Kai. Kai was also fun to hang out with, but I was perpetually nervous around him, constantly on edge. And just when I begin to get myself to calm down around him and start being comfrotable, he does weird things to wind me up and make me a mess.

Like yesterday, which I still wasn't entirely sure about. Thinking back on it, it really felt like he was checking my reaction, but what for? For standing close to me? I also didn't understand how I had apparently reacted the way he wanted me to. I just got nervous and froze up. I react pretty similarly when other people I don't know well get too close to me. Granted, Kai isn't exactly a stranger to me anymore, and I don't react that strongly to the other people. But it's still the same. Sort of. Unless it's not. But if it's not, that would mean I'm more nervous around him than other people. But that's not true. I'm actually more comfortable around him than most other people, except Ga In and my family.

I firmly stopped that train of thought, realizing that if I didn't I would just end up thinking in circles again like I had last night. It was all too confusing to truely sort out, and I wanted to talk with Ga In and Jin Ri some more before the guys showed up.

Just at that moment, though, I overheard a conversation going on behind me in Chinese. After having met Lay and eating lunch everyday with Tao, the language stood out to me even more than usual. I turned a little to see who it was on the off chance it was them, though the voices didn't entirely match up. then again, voices sometimes sounded different to me when a person was speaking different languages. Not sure why, just happens.

The guys sitting at the table behind me were not Lay or Tao, and in fact I had no idea who they were. They were both good looking in different ways; one was masculine, and the other kind of feminine.

I accidentally made eye contact with the masculine one while I was observing them, and whipped my head back around to face the table, embarrassed to have been caught looking.

"Hey," I heard him say. "Excuse me."

I turned to look again, just in case he was talking to me for some reason. Unfortunately, I was right.

"Hey, we're visiting from China and need a place to meet up with some of our old collegues, and this place isn't exactly..." he trailed off, obviously not wanting to insult our taste, since I'm sure he assumed we liked it, but also wanting to get his point accross.

"Trust me," Ga In said after a moment, "you don't need to defend your dislike."

"To make a long story short we're only here because it's gaudy," Jin Ri added.

"Okay," he said, smiling from relief. "Could you guys recommend somewhere for us to go?"

"Yeah, there's a place just down the road," Jin Ri answered, being the one more accustomed to this area. "Four stores down. It's great. I was just in there yesterday."

"Thank you so much," the masculine guy said. "We had no idea what this place was like when we walked in. Or, at least, I didn't," he coninued, turning to look at his friend, voice scathingly irritated.

"I swear, I had no idea," another guy put in desperately, Chinese accent apparent. "Bing Bing must be trying to get back at me for what I did to her last week."

"I told you not to do that, but you never listen," the other guy shot back, disgruntled. "I had to listen to her complaining for days. You should have realized something was up when she said this place would match your image. It's a good thing we decided to come in to check the place out before we actually met up with anyone."

"It wasn't that big of a deal," the other guy defended himself. "It all washed out of her hair. Besides, she deserved it."

"Dude, just accept the fact that you have the face of a fairy princess," there was an a gasp from the other guy at this statement. "I'm sick of getting dragged into your antics to prove your masculinity."

I could definitely see the "fairy princess" thing. The masculine guy had all, if not most, of his irritation displayed on his face, and it made him look quite intimidating. The "fairy princess" guy looked rather offended with his eyes wided, eyebrows scrunched, and his jaw hanging loose, and it made him look kind of precious. 

An odd pair indeed.

"I'm Kris, by the way, and this is Luhan," the masculine guy said.

"Ga In, Soo Youn, and Jin Ri," Ga In said, indicating each of us as she said our names.

"What would make you want to eat in a restaurant because it's gaudy, by the way?" the "fairy princess", or Luhan, asked.

"Like I said, it's a long story," Jin Ri answered. "By the way," she added, glancing around to make sure none of the employees were near by, then whispered, "this place's food is pretty bad, too, so if you haven't ordered anything..."

"Seriously?" Kris asked, glancing around as well. "Thanks for that. We'll just slip out then and check out that place you mentioned."

"No problem," she said.

At that, Kris and Luhan rose from their seats, glancing around the place like a couple of ciminals trying to escape jail. They thanked Jin Ri again for her help, and then scurried out of the place, bent over, trying to look inconspicuous but only making themselves stand out even more. At least half of the restaurant, and most of the staff, watched them "sneak" out of the front door.

"I'm suprised you admitted this place was gaudy," Ga In, said once the two were gone. "I thought you liked this kind of stuff."

"I do," Jin Ri replied. "But I can see how other people would see it that way. Besides, one of the first things you learn to do when you like something most people hate is how to make fun of it to hide that you like it. It's not that I particularly care what people would think if they knew, it's just a lot easier than having to constantly explain why you like something and then having to put up with being teased over it."

"Touche," Ga in said.

"It's kind of sad that we all agree on this," I commented, "It makes me think everyone has something they like that they pretend they don't just so they can avoid that kind of thing."

Ga In and Jin Ri both nodded their heads before the front door opened again and two guys entered the cafe. At first I wondered if it was Luhan and Kris returning for some reason, but then I realized the guys walking in were shorter. Then, I noticed that I recognized one of them.

"Xiumin!" Jin Ri called from the table waving him down.

"Oh! Jongdae!" Ga In called as well, catching the attention of the other guy.

Time to be the third wheel, I thought despondently. Or, fifth, technically, I guess.