It wasn’t every day Sooyoung had a dashingly handsome, young man waiting for her beyond her school gates, so when a breathless Hayoung appeared in front of her with the news, she quickly gathered her belongings and dashed out the group study session she was in. She was curious about the identity of this handsome stranger and wondered what he could possibly want with her. As she walked towards the exit her mind raced with all the times she had met someone close to what Hayoung had described as “a caramel god.” She frowned, no one she knew was close to being a “caramel god.”

Just who was this guy?

Picking up her pace she stopped short when she saw a familiar sight a few feet in front of her and true to Hayoung’s words, he did resemble a “caramel god,” as he leaned coolly against the red brick wall that served as a fence around her school, basking in the sun’s rays that illuminated his skin to a perfect shade of caramel. No wonder the girls were going crazy about him, as her walk was filled with nothing but praises of his good looks from girls who were lucky enough to have caught a glimpse of him on their way to their afternoon classes.

She found herself wishing she was Jungeng, for if she was, she wouldn’t still be standing where she was; forced to calm her beating heart as if he hadn’t meant a thing to her. No, Jungeng would have ran over to him the moment she saw him, calling him in the annoying way she knew he hated. By now, Jungeng would have probably mustered up enough courage to attack him with a hug. She would then lock her arms around him, after his initial shock, and then forcibly make him take her to grab something to eat. He would grumble, but somehow she would win and they would then find themselves nestled in the corner of a busy little café.

His conversations would no longer be filled with Irene, unless he was talking about the happy couple, but when his eyes did become sad, Jungeng would always be there to offer him a comforting hand, crack a joke to make him smile, or state that he didn’t need anyone but her. Yes, Jungeng would have willingly stayed by his side, but she wasn’t Jungeng and she just couldn’t justify staying by his side.

Jungeng had been a mistake from the very beginning and now she was taking the punishment for her actions.

She sighed, she had thought her punishment was staying away from him, but then why was he here? Had the punishment been too easy? So God had decided to let them meet in Tiffany’s coffee shop, and now have him standing in front of her?  

Taking a breath, she decided there was only one thing to do, turn the other way.

“Sooyoung!” She heard him shout and froze. What was she to do? If she ran away, it would look suspicious. She was wasting too much time, she needed to react fast before he became suspicious. Whipping her head back towards him, she shot him a confused look.

“Be calm my heart,” she whispered to herself as she watched him push himself off the brick wall and made his way towards her.

“Oh, from the coffee shop right?” Her voice found its way out from when he was within ear shot. If this had been any other situation, she would had beamed at how quickly she had gotten over her nerves, but her nerves were the last of her problems. It was rapid beating heart that concerned her. The closer he got the faster it was beating, if he came any closer she was sure her heart would jump out of her chest.

“Tiffany noona said you would be here,” he uttered and Sooyoung cursed her luck. Why would Tiffany tell him where she went to school? And when did they suddenly become so close that he was even calling her noona?

Somehow she found herself back at the place she had first met him as Sooyoung (Tiffanly’s café). One red velvet latte sizzling in front of her and one dashing gentlemen sitting in front of her. He had held the door for her, paid for the latte, and pulled the chair out for her.

“I wanted to apologize for last time. I didn’t realize how weird the whole thing must have been to you. It’s just that you look so much like a girl I used to know,” he confessed embarrassedly. 

“It’s okay. People mistake me a lot for other. You’ll never believe it, but sometimes I get people who mistake me for Suzy.”

She saw his eyes widen and laughed, “I know. Impossible right, a simpleton like me being mistaken for “the nation’s first love.””  

Somehow seeing his shocked face help her relaxed a little, though he could never tell, because quite frankly her acting had been A plus.

“Um, no, no. I can see it. I can totally see it.” He was nervous. With Jungeng he could easily laugh at her and call her delusional, but with Sooyoung, he couldn’t.

“You do look a little like Suzy. Here, turn this way.” he gently touched her chin and tilted it just the slightest so that she was looking slightly to his left.

“From this angle, I would completely have mistaken you as Suzy.”

She didn’t hear what he said, for her thoughts went to their little contact. Whether he knew it or not, Taehyung had just touched her chin and it didn’t sit too kindly with her. First of all, she felt a wave of electricity flow from the spot he had touched to the rest of her body. Secondly, he barely knew her yet he was already touching her chin. Thirdly, he was behaving completely different from the Taehyung she had known. What was so different about Sooyoung. If anything, Jungeng definitely had more personality. Sooyoung was quite dull in comparisons to Jungeng.

Wait, what was she doing? Jungeng was her, Sooyoung was her. Yes, Jungeng may have done some things she would have never thought of doing in a million years, but Jungeng was still very much her, right?

♡

Taehyung observed the girl sitting in front of him. No matter how many times he told himself she wasn’t Jungeng, he just couldn’t believe it. Not when the girl in front of him resembled Jungeng to the very tee. Her comment about being mistaken as Suzy sounded very much like something Jungeng would say. Don't even get him started on her laugh. How could he forget a laugh like hers, especially when he always seemed to be the caused of her laughter and though he wasn't quite sure why, he had a hunch she was currently laughing at him. 

He really should've left ito with her awkward goodbye, but a part of him just wouldn't accept that Jungeng was really gone and until he could convince himself that this Sooyoung really wasn't Jungeng, he was going to do whatever he could to prove that she was Jungeng. 

It was a gamble, but with some luck he was able to convince the kind owner (Tiffany noona) to tell him where he could find Sooyoung. And with even more luck, he had spotted Sooyoung and was somehow able to invite her for some coffee. Everything was going according to plan, well it would be if Jungkook would only get his here.

“Noona?”

A smile appeared on his lips at the sound of Jungkook’s voice. He noted her expression when she looked up to see the younger boy staring in disbelief at her.

There was no way, she would deny not knowing Jungkook if she was indeed Jungeng. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew Jungkook had a special connection with Jungeng. He was after all, the first one to take a liking to her. It was almost threatening, how well they got along with each other and how Jungkook was always the first to defend her, if he hadn’t known better he would have thought Jungkook had a little crush on her.

“You are?” A frown appeared on his lips, he could have sworn he saw a look of recognition just a second ago. How did it suddenly change into a look of confusion?

“Oh, sorry. I’m Jungkook. I’m a friend of Taehyung and a friend of Jungeng, well I thought I was.”

Taking the liberty to pull a nearby chair from another table, he sat himself down at their table.  

“When Taehyung hyung told me that he saw a girl who looked just like Jungeng noona, I didn’t believe that you couldn’t be Jungeng. So I had to see you for myself.  Are you sure you’re really Sooyoung. You didn’t have an accident where you could’ve gotten amnesia right?” Jungkook babbled, all the while Taehyung's stare continued on Sooyoung. He wasn’t going to miss a single thing.

The slightest movement could be a dead giveaway. That was what he was taught in those detective movies. If her eyes started twitching, or her started moving her fingers nervously, that meant she was lying.

“Do you have a twin sister?”

“No,” she answered. No hint of lying there.

“Taehyung, do you mind me asking who this Jungeng is?” Sooyoung finally asked, tired of being asked a million questions. She knew what Taehyung was doing. He was trying to get her to break, and the only way he thought he could, was with Jungkook. She had to hand it to him though, it was pretty sneaky of him to use Jungkook the way he was. Lucky for her, she had mentally prepared herself for any meetings with his friends. She even took the time to practice with Irene if ever the chance arises and they needed to pretend like they didn’t know each other. Not that that would be a problem because they had already pretending once.  

“Jungeng."

"Jungeng was a fan,” he answered aftet much thought. 

“A fan?”

“You know, those girls who wait outside of classrooms with presents for their oppas,” Jungkook explained, and Sooyoung wanted to shout that she had never given Taehyung a present.

“I’m sorry to be so noisy, but it seems awfully silly for you to be so worked about her if she was just a fan.”

“Oh but she wasn’t just any ordinary fan, Sooyoung noona, I can call you that right?”

Sooyoung nodded her head, before Jungkook continued, “she was kind of special.”

“Yah, what nonsense are you sprouting?” Taehyung interjected.

“Come on hyung, you knew she was special, that’s why you treated her so differently from your other fans.”

Sooyoung inwardly scoff, how was she treated special? If they call constantly being ignored special, they were really living under a rock.

“Jungeng noona was allowed to do things normal fans weren’t able to do.” She raised her eyebrows so show her interest. Just how "special" was she?

“Taehyung was never so open with his fan girls like he was with Jungeng noona. She was able to enter our practice room and she even hanged out with us on multiple occasions. If she was like any other fan girls, he would have put her in her place a long time ago, but he continued to let her be around him. I dare say he probably enjoyed her company a little more than he let on.” Jungkook smirked at Taehyung who had slouched down in his chair. Maybe there were some truths to Jungkook’s words and now looking at the look-a-like in front of him, he felt his heart aching, and maybe, just maybe he was beginning to really miss Jungeng. 

♥

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