“I am so, so sorry,” Haemin says for the billionth time, passing JB fistfuls of napkins. “Please don’t sue me. I have no money.”

“I’m not going to sue you,” JB repeats for the millionth time. “It’s fine. I like whipped cream.”

“Okay. Are you sure? Do you want to throw whipped cream at my face in retaliation? And oh my god, Mihi, can you shut up?”

I have been wheezing with laughter for the past 10 minutes. When Haemin elbows me in the gut, I double over and proceed to laugh even louder.

“This is all your fault,” Haemin mutters. “If you hadn’t provoked me-,”

“Shut up! You’re the one who was saying things about Bugattis being a poor person’s car-,”

“BMWs! Get your facts straight, woman!”

“Hey, I own a BMW,” JB protests. “It was a birthday present from my aunt.”

Haemin and I exchange a long, exasperated look.

“Rich kids,” she mutters.

After we have finally cleaned up our mess, and Haemin has set a plate of black forest cake in front of him, and he has finally convinced her that he is not going to take legal action, she goes straight back to work. JB and I, on the other hand, sit down at a table near the back of the cafe.

“Yo, isn’t Jaehyuk having a party right now?” I ask JB. “Why’d you ditch?”

“I didn’t really want to go,” JB shrugs. “So I decided to visit you at work. I didn’t anticipate that I would be attacked with whipped cream, though.”

“Oh, god. Poor Haemin. I did start our little food fight.”

“Haemin, huh?” JB watches her bustle around the restaurant, balancing plates of croissants and eclairs on one hand and a water pitcher in the other. “So that’s her name. We never did properly introduce ourselves.”

“Yup, that’s Lee Haemin, in the flesh,” I say. “She goes to school in town. She’s pretty awesome.”

“How does she do that?” JB wonders astonishedly, watching her juggle 4 glasses of cola at once.

“Poor kids have to adapt,” I smirk. “You should see Haemin and I working together. Truly a sight to see.”

“Do you guys need anything?” Haemin questions, pausing by our table.

“Yeah.” JB sticks out his hand. “JB. Nice to meet you.”

Haemin shoots me a quizzical look as she gives his hand a half-hearted squeeze. “Uh, Haemin. Let me get you a refill on that water.”

I narrow my eyes as JB continues to unnervingly stare at Haemin as she comes back with a jug of water and refills his glass. Judging by the self-consious look she flashes me, I can tell she can feel his gaze on her.

“Do you need something?” she finally says.

“No,” JB says plainly, continuing to stare.

Haemin presses her lips together. “Okay.” And then she hurries away.

“What are you doing?” I ask him confusedly.

“It’s just interesting,” he remarks, sipping his water. “I’ve never really met someone from the middle class who’s our age.”

“Uh, you’ve met me.”

“Yeah, but you go to Andong and stuff. Haemin’s totally separate from our world. It’s just interesting, I guess.”

“Okay, then.”

God. Why are rich people so freaking weird?

“Anyway, yeah.” JB’s gaze snaps back to me. “Jaehyuk’s party really didn’t seem like it would be that great. So I ditched. It’s actually pretty nice here.”

I nod. “Yeah. The Honey Cafe is pretty cool. I like working here with Haemin.”

JB rests his head on his palm. His eyebrows furrow in deep thought. After several moments of silence, I clear my throat.

“I’m going to get back to work,” I say. “I’ll stop by to chat, though, so you won’t get too bored.”

JB’s face splits into a grin. “I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

I am heading towards a dirty table, cloth in hand, when Haemin hisses, “Mihi, a word, please,” in my ear and yanks me into the kitchen.

“What is it?” I ask nonchalantly.

“You know exactly what it is!” she exclaims. “What the heck is up with that guy? Why does he keep staring at me? I feel like I’m a freaking bug under a microscope!”

“Oh, god.” I shake my head. “He’s one of my friends from school. For some reason, he seems to be fascinated with you.”

“Why?”

“I quote: I’ve never really met someone from the middle class who’s our age.”

Haemin throws her hands up in the air. “Oh, great. Rich boys don’t pay attention to me because I’m not on their level. Now this rich boy is paying attention to me specifically because of that!”

“Hey. You’re way above their level.”

“Uh, please. Say that when I somehow gain a billion-won inheritance.”

“You know, I’m actually kind of impressed, Haemin,” I say. “I thought you would freak out when someone from Andong finally came in here.”

“Oh, please.” Haemin shakes her head. “Andong kids are fun to talk about, but let’s be real. Rich boys like that don’t go for girls like me. I’m not even on their radar. So I have no interest in them.”

“Haemin! Stop putting yourself down!”

“It’s true! They go for rich girls with mini poodles who have their own perfume lines and private yachts!”

“What the ?”

“Whatever. This better be his last time coming in here.”

I rub my temples. I didn’t think it was possible for my life to become more complicated. Yet here I am.

And now Haemin’s involved.

How did I even get in this situation?

“-and we can all go dress shopping! Mihi. Mihi, are you listening?”

My eyes snap up from my breakfast. “Wait, what?”

Min groans. “The Winter Formal, dude. We’re going dress shopping next week.”

Great! Another dance! I love Andong dances. They always work out for me in the best possible ways! Just look at how the last dance- the Autumn Ball- turned out for me! Incredible! Amazing!

“Dress shopping?” I bite my lip. Do I even have the budget to go dress shopping? I don’t think I could even afford a handkerchief at any of the stores my friends frequent.

“No worries,” Jia says, seeing the nervous look on my face. “We’re all pitching in to help you buy a gown.”

“Oh my god, no,” I say. “There’s no need for that- I don’t want to make you guys do that-,”

“Chill! Think of it as a very early birthday present.”

“Don’t try and drag us dress shopping with you,” Jackson suddenly tells Jia. “I don’t want a repeat of last year. I swear my legs almost fell off.”

Fei rolls her eyes. “Wimp. Anyway, you need a date. Mark and Suzy are already set, Jackson and I are going together, Min’s going with Hanbin, and Jia may or may not be going with Yoongi. Which leaves you and JB. Do you want anyone in particular to take you, Mihi? You have quite a line of admirers.”

For a bizarre second, Sehun’s face inexplicably flashes inside my mind.

The hell was that? Stop being crazy, Mihi.

“I don’t know,” I say instead.

“I think I know who I’m going to ask,” JB says. We all turn to him in anticipation.

“Hmm, let me think. Mihi?” Jackson says through a mouthful of blueberry muffin. I roll my eyes and flash Jackson a very rude look.

“Nope. Actually, it’s this really interesting girl I met. Her name’s Haemin.”

And at that point, I proceed to choke on my apple and nearly asphyxiate.

“Mihi! Oh my god! Are you okay? Quick, someone, do the Heimlich maneuver!” Suzy screeches.

“I- I’m fine,” I cough, massaging my chest. Tears well up in my eyes. “Dammit.”

“Mihi, are you okay?” Dara calls from across the cafeteria. Her question is followed by several more worried inquiries by others across the room.

I grin. “I’m fine, sorry! I just had a strange moment there.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sehun and his friends smirking. I do my best to ignore them, and turn back to JB.

“Haemin? Are you out of your mind?”

“Why not?” JB asks. “She’s never been to an Andong dance before.”

“Yeah, and that’s a good thing. Dances here - no offense. Plus, you literally met her 12 hours ago!”

“Hm. I guess I did.”

“JB!”  

No way. This cannot be happening.

I am walking to the library when I feel someone tap my shoulder.

“Hey, Mihi.” Kim Hanbin gives me a sleazy smile, and I mentally groan. Great. This kid. He tried to grind on me at the last party (I’ll never be drunk enough to do that) and kept attempting to put his hand up my skirt. No thanks.

“Hey, Hanbin!” I chirp in the fakest voice I can muster.

He sidles up against me, wrapping an uncomfortable arm around my waist. “So the Winter Formal’s coming up.”

.

“Yeah, I heard. I’m so excited!” My eyes frantically dart around as I look for something, anything to serve as a distraction. “I’m going dress shopping with my friends, and I’m so pumped to find something super pretty!”

“Yeah, so-,”

“I’m thinking of getting something in light blue, you know, because it’s in right now. Or should I go for red? Which would look better? I’m not sure.”

“Uh, you’ll look good in anything. Anyway, if you want to have a good time-,”

“We should ask some other people!” I whirl around and yank the nearest person towards me. “Hey, what color ball gown do you think I would look best in?”

And then I realize that I am holding Oh Sehun by the arm.

.

He looks down at me with his trademark condescending sneer. When his eyes land upon Hanbin, who has attached himself at the hip to me, his smirk grows even wider. I’m sure he knows exactly what’s going on here.

Please help, my eyes beg him.

He an eyebrow. Why should I?, his expression seems to say in return.

I bite my lip, making my puppy eyes even bigger. Please, please, please-

“I don’t know, Mihi,” Sehun drawls, his lips. “I prefer dark blue- almost black. Like the night sky.”

And it’s something about that sentence that makes my insides all... warm. The night sky. The same sky that Sehun and I look up at together during Astronomy Club- dotted with sparkling glimmers light-years away that are stars, planets, entire galaxies. A strange emotion rises up in my stomach and my eyes soften as I continue to look up at Sehun.

But then I realize a moment too late that I have been looking at Sehun for far too long. I tear my eyes away from him as fast as I can, blushing furiously. Crap! What am I doing? Get your together, Mihi!

“Ahem!” I turn back to Hanbin. “Anyway! What were you saying about the Winter Formal?”

Hanbin gives me a leery grin. “I would love for you to be my date, Mihi-,”

“Sorry, but she can’t.” Sehun suddenly pulls me towards him by my waist. “Mihi’s already going with me.”

I swear the apocalypse nearly begins at that moment.

A/N: YA im so sorry my updates for this story are so slow for this story... i love this story

anyway my last semester exam is tomorrow, but then 2nd semester will start and ill have a lot more free time!!!