Seriously? Vernon??? >.<

Jin gritted her teeth in annoyance upon receiving that text from Seokmin. She hadn’t wanted to tell him just yet, and she felt kind of angry that he found out from someone other than her.

J: Did Wonwoo tell you? -.-

S: Yes. And what the hell? VERNON? Of all people???

Jin felt betrayed by Wonwoo. He wasn’t supposed to just tell people these things. She hadn’t told him to keep it a secret, but he should have at least known that she would have preferred to tell him herself in her own way.

J: Vernon really isn’t that bad.

S: We need to talk about this. I’ll be outside your dorm building in five minutes. Meet me?

J: If you’re going to try and talk me out of it, it won’t work. I made up my mind.

S: I'll be outside in five minutes.

J: Fine.

Seokmin did not even greet Jin five minutes later when he was making his way up to the front of her building. Instead, he immediately went on to say: “I’m not letting you date him.”

Jin narrowed her eyes at him, surprised at how adamant and forceful he seemed: “you can’t make my decisions for me, Seokmin.”

“Jin, he’s an . He’s a flirt. He asks literally every girl to kiss him. He’s already gone out with like four girls this semester and has dumped every one of them. Why would you go out with someone like that?”

Jin had not known the part about going out with four girls. Jin thought that maybe Seokmin was just exaggerating about that part, but she was curious: “How did you know that?”

“That he went out with four girls? I live right beside him. I know.”

Jin decided to just shake the thought off, although it did make her uncomfortable to think she would be the fifth person Vernon would play with. She wanted to remain resolute in her decision and not give Seokmin the satisfaction of swaying her.

“I want to give him a chance,” Jin said. “It’s my decision in the end, not yours.”

“Jin, if you’re only doing this because of me and Sena, then you’re out of your mind.”

“I’m not,” Jin insisted; it was a lie though, and she knew it, and Seokmin saw it as well.

“You expect me to believe you actually like that guy?”

“I do,” Jin said, which was also kind of a lie, “you know that I think he’s attractive…”

“Yeah, but I also remember you telling me that you hated him. Remember that?”

“That was before I knew him…”

“Knew him? Jin, you don’t know anything about him.”

“Seokmin, just stop…”

“No. I’m going to talk you out of this if it’s the last thing I do. Why? Because I care about you and I don’t want to see some douche with nice hair take advantage of you.”

Jin was starting to get impatient and angry. He was treating her like a child, as if she didn’t actually think about her decision, and it was frustrating and infuriating. Why couldn’t he just respect her decision and move on without trying to interfere? Why did he have to pretend to be her knight in shining armor when technically he was part of the reason she was feeling so down anyways. The past few days, Vernon helped her more than any of her friends, and here Seokmin was trying to save her from him or whatever.

“I talked to him a lot,” she explained, “and he’s a good person…”

“Good person?” Seokmin huffed in amusement. “I’m going to tell you something about him, and if that doesn’t talk you out of it, then I don’t know what will…”

Jin looked up at him curiously, actually afraid of what Seokmin had to reveal. She really did not know much about Vernon at all, and she was actually afraid of her view of him changing because of what Seokmin would reveal.

“He brought a drunk girl to his room one night,” Seokmin stated simply.

Jin froze.

“And we all knew what he did with her,” Seokmin added, his face scrunching in disgust.

Jin felt like laughing. She was the drunk girl of course, and Vernon had only been trying to help her.

“Did you see this drunk girl?” Jin asked Seokmin, crossing her arms.

“No, but everyone else did. Are you actually doubting me?” he asked.

“I’m not the one doubting you. You’re the one doubting me and my decisions. And about the drunk girl: what if he was trying to help her? Don’t judge him and don’t spread rumors.”

“You’re actually taking his side?”

“Yes,” Jin said, “I am.”

Seokmin look surprised.

“And stop treating me like a child. I date who I want to date, and I can take care of myself.”

“Jin...”

“I need to go to class,” she interrupted him.

“Fine,” Seokmin said, “but you’re going to have lunch with me and Wonwoo today, and we’re going to try to talk you out of it.”

Jin frowned at him. Didn’t he realize that she didn’t want him to talk her out of it? Didn’t he realize that she hated how he was treating her? She turned her back to him and walked away without acknowledging him. She wasn’t going to have lunch with him or Wonwoo. She was going to give him the silent treatment until he apologizes, because she was tired of being so weak in front of him and Wonwoo, of crying in front of them and of letting them treat her like they were the ones protecting her when in reality they were the source of all the confusion in her life.

-

After class, she found Seokmin waiting for her outside, much to her frustration. She had wanted to just slip out and ignore him, but it seems like he wasn’t going to let her go easily.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jin told him when she saw him.

“You’re being unreasonable,” he frowned at her.

“Seokmin…”

“Okay fine, we won’t talk about it, but have lunch with us,” he insisted, “please.”

He took her arm and pulled her, she complied and followed him, taking his word that he wouldn’t talk about it.

However, when she did get her lunch and sat with them, Seokmin immediately started talking about how he saw a bunch of girls giving Vernon cheek-kisses.

At this point, she could no longer stand it. They weren’t taking her seriously, and it made her angry. She stood up and took her tray, treading away from them with heavy steps. They called after her, but she didn’t look back. She wanted to get away from them.

She looked around for an empty table. She had always felt self-conscious about eating alone, but right now, eating alone seemed like a more favorable option than hearing them baby her.

She couldn’t spot and empty table immediately, but she did spot and empty seat next to Vernon. Something in her drew her to him, even though he was with his obnoxious friends. Something in her wanted to sit next to him just to irritate Wonwoo and Seokmin, just to show them that she was serious about this and she wasn’t going to listen to them anymore about this issue.

She trudged towards Vernon and took the seat besides him, much to his surprise and those of his friends at the table.

“Why, hello there, Frostbite,” Vernon said, not hiding the surprise in his voice.

Jin turned her head towards where Wonwoo and Seokmin were sitting to see them glaring. Happy they were witnessing this, she turned her attention back to eat her food. She didn’t even look up at Vernon's friends or at him.

“I see what’s going on here,” Vernon said to her, also looking at Wonwoo and Seokmin’s table, “this is you using me, isn’t it?” He grinned at her.

She hesitated. Yes, she was using him in that moment. She hadn’t really thought about it that way, but she was; she was using him to make a statement to Wonwoo and Seokmin.

“Let me guess,” Vernon said, “they found out you said yes to dating me, and are now on your tail? Good on you for standing your ground. Don’t let them get in your head,” he said to her, giving her a thumbs-up.

She was surprised at how quickly he caught on to what was happening...

“Hey, Vernon, introduce us to your new girlfriend,” said one of this friends, making Jin blush.

“Slow down there, Aron,” Vernon said to his friend, “we haven’t even gone out on a date yet.”

“We’ve heard a lot about you, Frostbite,” Aron said to her, earning a kick under the table from Vernon.

Jin looked at her food, feeling vulnerable and exposed and doubtful. His friends had heard a lot about her; so what exactly did Vernon tell them? She had always believed that he had kept her secrets, but she realized then that she didn’t know whether or not he actually did. What did his friends know about her?

“That jerk with a big mouth is Aron,” Vernon introduced his friend to Jin. “That big, intimidating one is Baekho. And that’s Seungcheol,” he said pointing at his last friend. She knew the last one, Seungcheol. He was on her list, and she remembered stalking his Facebook profile with Seokmin and finding out he had a girlfriend.

She bowed to the three of them.

“Do you want us to leave you two alone,” Aron asked Vernon obnoxiously, earning him another kick from under the table.

“No, you don’t have to,” Jin answered for them, “I won’t be here for long.”

“Stay longer, Frostbite,” Vernon said, “we can annoy your two friends together.”

“I think they’re annoyed enough,” she said, shooting them another glance and seeing them glower at her.

“You know what will annoy them more?” he said, smirking as he inched his chair slightly closer to hers.

“What?” she asked him, naturally leaning away from him.

His raised his hand suddenly and brought it to the hair around her ear. He put a few strand behind her ear to uncover it before leaning into whisper in it. Jin froze, flustered at the proximity.

“Pretend that you like it,” he whispered in her ear before suddenly kissing her cheek.

Jin tried to keep herself from blushing. Did he really just kiss her cheek with his friends, Seokmin and Wonwoo watching? She wanted to just cover her face and disappear, but she maintained a straight face and smiled to cover her fluster.

Aron, Baekho and Seungcheol laughed at Vernon and began teasing him about it. Vernon accepted their teasing cockily, saying that they were just jealous he got to kiss a cute girl and they didn’t, making her want to blush even harder.

“Look at them,” he added; pointing towards Wonwoo and Seokmin with his chin, “they’re going crazy.”

Jin glanced up at her friends, who were indeed annoyed at what was happening. Neither of them were eating, and they were staring with frowns on their faces. Jin was happy that they were annoyed; she was glad the message was getting through to them.

She hadn’t really planned on staying there with Vernon and his friends, but she did. It was much less uncomfortable than she had thought it would be. She eased into conversation with both Vernon and his friends. She felt guilty for judging them before; they weren’t that obnoxious. The Aron guy was funny. Baekho was very cheerful, and not nearly as intimidating as he looked. Seungcheol was quiet throughout, which Jin still appreciated.

She herself didn’t really talk much, which was okay because Baekho, Aron and Vernon were quite talkative to begin with. Even though she didn’t talk, she didn’t feel out of place at all; she didn’t feel excluded like she usually did when she was in a group of people who talk a lot.

“So Frostbite,” Vernon turned to her at one point, “where will our first date be?”

Jin shrugged. They had already decided they would go this weekend, but not the details.

“What about we go to dinner at that same restaurant we ate at after our little hospital escapade?” he suggested. His friend all seemed to know the place he was talking about; they also all seemed to know that the two of them had a “hospital escapade.”

“I love that place!” Aron jolted. “Good choice for a first date!”

The prospect of the first date suddenly felt daunting to Jin as she considered it. It was creeping up on her, and she realized just how much she really didn’t want it. No matter how much Vernon was warming up to her, actually dating him was not something she was looking forward to. With dating, she was treading territory she had never treaded with anyone before. It was unfamiliar, strange, and frightening to her.

“I… can we just go to a coffee shop or something?” she suggested sheepishly, not wanting it to be a big deal.

Vernon huffed, “whatever you say, Frostbite.”

“Can you call her by her name?” Seungcheol suddenly said to Vernon, “her name is Jin, not Frostbite.”

Vernon narrowed his eyes at his friend, “what’s gotten your in a knot?” he asked Seungcheol.

Now that Seungcheol had brought it up, Jin really could not recall a time when Vernon actually called her by her actual name. It had always been Frostbite, since the moment they first met.

“Why does it bother you what I call her?” Vernon asked his friend.

“What if it bothers her?” Seungcheol asked.

“Does it bother you, Frostbite?” Vernon asked her.

She shook her head; it really didn’t.

“To be honest, I’m surprised you even know her name,” Baekho said to Seungcheol, “Vernon always calls her Frostbite, so I didn’t even think about her name. I like Frostbite, though.”

“It’s cute, just like you are,” Vernon coaxed her, earning a lot of laughter from Baekho and Aron, and an eye-roll from Seungcheol.

She blushed again. Vernon really knew how to sweet-talk people, to make them shy and helpless. It was almost manipulative, she thought. He was so manipulative. She wondered how many girls had been in her exact same position. How many cute nicknames did he have for them? How many girls did he sweet-talk like this? How many times had he even reused the same lines he was now using with her?

Curious, she decided to ask him: “how many girls have you dated this semester?”

His three friends guffawed at the question. He grinned, “how many do you think?”

Jin shrugged.

“Two,” he answered truthfully.

“Three, if you count Sena,” Seungcheol added, surprising Jin. Sena?

For the first time that day, Vernon looked unsettled.

“I never dated her,” Vernon said to Seungcheol with a frown.

“Sorry, my bad,” Seungcheol said, going back to eating his lunch.

“I asked her out in the beginning of the semester before I knew you,” Vernon explained to Jin, seeing the befuddled expression on her face. “She said no.”

Jin tried to mask her disappointment. There was something about the fact he had asked her former best friend out that upset her more than she would like to admit. It was that jealous again, the jealousy the Vernon knew about more than anyone.

She was thankfully done eating by then. She stood up and bowed the four of them, telling them it was a pleasure to meet them.

“Frostbite,” Vernon called out to her before she could leave, “it doesn’t change anything right?”

Jin was truthfully impressed with the way he was aware that it might.

“No, it doesn’t,” Jin reassured him, though a part of her wasn’t so sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

Vernon had asked Sena out. It was a shock when I found out, because I never associated Sena with Vernon. The two are a part of separate parts of my life, and to think that something like this had happened between them is strange. It’s also kind of hurtful. He told me he asked her a long time ago, before he even knew me. I remember when we first talked, he called me “the pretty one’s best friend.” I suppose I should have known. I'm always secondary to Sena. To everyone, even Vernon.

It’s strange how the more I talk to him, the more I like him, but also the more I realize that he’s not serious about the girls he asks out. He asked Sena out, probably because she was pretty. He had dates with two other girls within the course of the few months of this semester. I’ll just be another one of them.

And yes, I do like him more now. For so many reasons. I don’t think he even realizes that he’s making me like him with the little things he does. For one, I went to him today with the intention of getting Seokmin and Wonwoo off my back, and he knew. He just looked at me and knew what was happening, like he could read me. He also just knew how much the fact he asked Sena out bothered me, because he asked me after I found out if it changed anything. He knows me a lot more than I thought he did, and it makes me like him more.

Seokmin and Wonwoo, on the other hand, don’t seem to get it. After the show that I put on with Vernon, they still tried to tell me to get away from him. They seemed so convinced that he’s going to hurt me and that I’m making a mistake. They can’t see how their meddling is so extremely patronizing. They’re treating me like I can’t make my own decisions. As if I’m going to let them control me. If anything, they made me all the more determined to go out with him.

And I’m not going to be heartbroken when he gets tried of playing with me, because I already know where he stands with regards to this whole dating thing. It’s not serious, and I’m not going to expect it be. Seokmin and Wonwoo were overreacting.

A/N: I couldn’t help but add NU’EST to this story IM SORRY. But I needed new male characters and I had already kinda used up Seventeen. But dw, they won’t be major characters or anything ^^