C h a p t e r  T e n 

Naeun didn’t get the part. Any part for that matter. She kind of expected that. But what she hadn’t expect was to find L standing outside of the Pink Panda café as she stepped out after finishing her shift. He was leaning on the wall, hands in his pocket and his eyes were staring at the blue sky. The bell chimed and his head snapped, meeting her eyes.

A confused look on her face, she asked, “Kim Myungsoo?”

“You owe me.”

“Owe you?” Naeun blinked.

“A thank you.” He said.

“Oh.”

L cleared his throat, “Be my plus one.”

“Your plus one?”

“Are you a parrot? Why do you keep repeating my words?”

At his words, the blank expression was quickly replaced by a dark look. She glared at him, crossing her arms, “Because you showed up here unannounced and demanded me to be your plus one or whatever!”

 L rolled his eyes at her dramatic reaction, shaking his head. He hadn’t seen her for awhile and somehow had forgotten how much she amused him. Naeun was still giving him the stink eyes as he stepped closer to her, “So, are you free this Friday night?”

Again, she blinked, “Yeah, why?”

“There’s this charity event going on.” L grunted, running his fingers through his soft hair, “My parents are forcing me to go and asked me to bring someone.”

“So you’re asking me?” She asked and he just nodded in return, “But why me?”

“There’s nobody else.” L shrugged and Naeun wasn’t sure whether he was complimenting her or insulting her. Either way, it somehow made her heart beat a little faster because in a girl’s world, didn’t this mean that L just asked her out? Or was it merely an innocent invitation? It was confusing really.

Boys, she shook her head at the thought.

“Darling?” L snapped his fingers, trying to get her attention, “Stop daydreaming. I’m right here.”

“You wish, Kim Myungsoo.” She scoffed before taking a deep breath, “I’m not going.”

L stared her for a second and smirked, “This isn’t a request, Darling. Wear something formal.”

He turned and walked to his car as Naeun followed him from behind, exclaiming, “Hey, didn’t you hear me? Who says I’m going?”

The car beeped and L reached to open the driver side before turning to her, a small smile on his face, “I’ll pick you up at 7.”

With that, the car drove off, leaving Naeun frustrated as she stomped off, muttering incoherent words under her breath, probably cursing the stubborn Kim Myungsoo.

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“Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your place, Naeun?” Bomi exclaimed as the said girl merely shrugged.

The three girls; Naeun, Bomi and Eunji, were sprawled comfortably in the living room, the black box was showing their favourite series, Pretty Little Liars on Tuesday night. Naeun had told them the story on how L had invited her to the charity dinner with him. As always, the girl was stating firmly, “I never said yes to him. I’m not going.”

“Really?” Eunji scoffed, her hair was pulled in a ballerina bun, “Is that why you bought a new dress yesterday?”

Yesterday evening, after Eunji and Naeun finished their shifts at the café, they went for a walk in the city and a fancy looking shop had caught their eyes. They went in for window shopping but Naeun suddenly had the urge of buying this one gorgeous evening dress which she strongly stated was not for the event on Friday.

Naeun gaped, “I-I just want to look pretty once in awhile!”

“Oh, Naeun.” Bomi giggled, “You always look pretty. You just don’t want to admit you’re ecstatic that he asked you out.”

Eunji nodded vigorously with a wide grin on her face while Naeun shook her head, her eyes widened, trying to deny the so-called accusation, “I am not ecstatic! I am annoyed!”

“Denying is the first sign of love, Naeunnie.” Eunji said, that teasing smile never left her face. Naeun rolled her eyes, replying, “Whatever.”

The two girls smiled knowingly as Naeun put up a nonchalant face, her fingers were fiddling her pink pajamas. Silence wrapped them and they kept their eyes on the show, the only sound audibled was a creepy background music. After a few intense moments of A and the liars, the commercials came on and Bomi suddenly asked, “So, Naeun, have you thought of how to do your hair?”

“I’m thinking an up-do or a loose ponytail.” Naeun answered, almost too naturally, her eyes fixated on the smartphone commercial featuring her celebrity crush, Hyun Bin.

Eunji and Bomi burst in laughter, holding on their stomachs as Naeun widened her eyes, realizing her action. She grabbed a plush toy from the floor and pushed it up her face. A muffled scream was heard, the embarrassment she felt at her rushed answer. The other two were still guffawing as Naeun lifted her face and pointed her index finger, “You caught me off guard!”

Eunji snorted, “Yeah, right. You are so not going.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” Bomi sang the words, much to Naeun’s mortification.

“I – I don’t – “ Naeun was lost at words, biting her lower lips to prevent from embarrassing herself much further.

“It’s fine, Naeun. We won’t tell anybody about this.” Bomi assured her, grinning.

Naeun glared at her best friend and threw the pillow at her direction, “Stop teasing me!”

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Friday night came in a flash and despite her firm decision on ‘not going’, Naeun was nervous the whole day. Her friends weren’t doing any good as they kept teasing and giving her discreet smiles every time they saw her fidgeting by herself. To be honest, Naeun did buy the dress special for tonight and she somehow was excited.

In the end, it was six in the evening and Naeun was standing in front of the mirror, wrapped in an emerald green lace dress. It went just below her knee and complimented her tiny figure almost perfectly. Naeun stared at her reflection, admiring the simplicity of the dress that adorned her body. And it did make her felt pretty.

There was a knock on the door and Eunji popped in front of her room, a bag of makeup tools in her hand as she strutted inside. She sat comfortably on the edge of the bed, inspecting Naeun’s look from head to toe. Smiling, she said, “That dress looks so good on you, Naeun. You look amazing.”