Seulgi felt her heart race when she arrived at the café. The "good café" that Jongin mentioned was BLANC & ECLARE, the café that belonged to Soojung's older sister. When they entered the café, Sooyeon stood at the entrance, wearing a simple white blouse and a pair of high-waisted jeans. The brunette seemed a little confused when she saw Seulgi with her new group of friends, but smiled at them anyway.

"Welcome to BLANC & ECLARE! Are you a group of five?" Sooyeon asked, pretending like she didn't really know Seulgi.

Seulgi let out a thankful sigh as Jongin nodded.

"Just the five of us," Jongin said.

"Feel free to sit anywhere you'd like," Sooyeon said. "I'll be right there with your orders."

The group nodded their head. Then, they started to follow Jongin to a random seat in the middle of the room. As the group sat down, they started to examine the building in closer detail, trying to figure out why Jongin was fond of this café.

It was an industrial-styled café, with brown bricks for walls and limestone for the floor. The rectangular tables were made of laminated chocolate-colored wood, and the coffee table was accompanied by four vintage-styled metal and wood chair. The tables that were round and small had two chairs, made with the same materials. Most noticed the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, but were unable to see what was on the balcony from where they sat. There was minimal lighting, as the room heavily depended on the windows for light. The barista's counter was a little further away from the stairs, but close enough to make quick and easy deliveries.

Jongin grabbed a chair and picked it up, carrying it to their designated table. He sat down at the head of the table and examined the odd group. Seunghwan and Taehyun sat across from each other at the other end of the table, while Sehun and Seulgi sat across each other. Sehun seemed content with his position while Seulgi was obviously annoyed.

I wonder why he keeps messing around with Seulgi, Jongin wondered.

"This place is pretty cool," Taehyun said. "When did you find this place?"

"Yeah. You never told me about this place until now," Sehun added.

Jongin paused, but a small smile appeared on his face. "I saw someone from our school come in here and decided to check it out. Coffee here is good."

"Do you come here often?" Seunghwan asked.

"No. This is my third time coming here," Jongin said.

Seulgi was going to say something, but closed her lips when Sooyeon came over with a pen and a notepad.

"Okay, what can I get you?" Sooyeon asked.

"Can we get five iced coffee?" Jongin asked. He glanced at the rest. "You guys are okay with that, right?"

Everyone nodded. Sooyeon didn't even need to write down the order. She smiled and nodded. Clicking her pen, she turned and left the group to make five iced coffee. 

"But seriously," Sehun said after Sooyeon left, "how did you find out about this place? You don't roam around this part of the neighborhood, do you?"

Sehun had a point. The café was located in an area where not many high school students would attend. If anything, the café was closer to a college campus nearby. There wasn't a single place near the café that screamed "fun" for high school students.

Jongin scowled at Sehun. "I just found this place, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Sehun said, chuckling. "Whatever you say!" He turned to his attention to Seulgi. "So, what should we talk about?"

"The movie, obviously," Seulgi said, faking a smile. As much as she wanted to scrape away that smug on his face, she knew that she would have to hold back. After all, Jongin was sitting right next to her, even though he was at the head of the table.

"What did you think about the movie, Jongin?" Seunghwan asked.

"A bit cliché, but good," Jongin said simply, nodding his head.

Once again, Seulgi was about to say something until she felt her phone vibrate in her bag. She bit her bottom lip, but reached down for her phone, glancing at whoever sent her the text. It was Soojung, and it only had a few words: "Going in. Create a distraction."

Going in? Going in where? Seulgi wondered. She continued to think about what Soojung was talking about until she glanced out the window. Her eyes widened when she realized that Soojung was about to enter the café with two girls: one wearing a large pair of sunglasses who looked like Hyeri while the other was Youngji, who looked confused. What the hell? Why are they here?

She gasped a little when Soojung opened the door. The bells at the entrance chimed. The four looked up to see who was entering the café. Before they could get a good look at the guests, Seulgi slammed her hands against the table and yelped—loudly.

The four stared at her, startled with her abrupt shriek. 

"Seulgi, are you okay?" Seunghwan asked.

"A-Ah, um—" Seulgi tried to think of something to say. "I-I think I've been here before!"

"You have?" Taehyun asked.

"Y-Yes! I ordered that one drink! That drink… A-Ameri? America? It kind of sounded like America…"

"Americano?" Jongin asked.

"Yes!" Seulgi exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "Yes, I got an Americano!" In a slightly louder voice, she said, "It came out really fast! Like, really, really fast!"

She glanced over at Soojung's group, who almost finished climbing the stairs. When Seulgi noticed Soojung giving her an "OK" sign, she disappeared with the two other girls to the top of the balcony, where Soojung could eavesdrop without being seen.

Seulgi let out a sigh of relief and sat back down on her chair. She tried to smile at everyone, who only gave her a strange look.

Seunghwan managed to force a small giggle. "You're an odd one, did you know that, Seulgi?"

Seulgi turned red. "W-Well…"

"Yes," Sehun mumbled. "A very, very odd one."

He smirked when she glared at him.

"No need to rub it in, Sehun," Seulgi snapped.

"What? I'm not the only one who's thinking about that," Sehun said. He glanced at Jongin. "Don't you think she's a strange one, Jongin?"

Seulgi hitched her breath and anticipated on Jongin's answer. She was hoping that Jongin wouldn't think that she was some weird girl. She had already messed up so many times because of Sehun—if Jongin declared that she was strange, that would just crush her.

"Well, she's weird," Jongin said, agreeing with Sehun. Seulgi's heart broke. "But I don't think that's a bad thing. You're weird in a good way, Seulgi."

"T-T-Thank you!" Seulgi squeaked. She blushed while Jongin chuckled a bit at her reaction. 

"You're welcome?" he said, still smiling.

He said my name, Seulgi thought. He knows my name!

"What's this? I sense a really good mood between you two!" Seunghwan teased.

"Yeah, I'm sensing something, too," Taehyun chirped in.

Seulgi felt her heart skip a beat. "N-No! Stop it! There's absolutely nothing between us!"

"Oh? Look! She's turning red!" Seunghwan shouted. "You know what? The more I look at it, I feel like you're more suitable with Jongin than Hyeri?"

"Really? I don't see it," Taehyun said bluntly.

"Look closer!" she urged.

Jongin only laughed. "Guys, stop it. You're making Seulgi feel uncomfortable."

"Are you sure? I think you're blushing a little, too!" Seunghwan exclaimed.

Normally, Sehun would smile at the situation and also tease Jongin. However, something didn't feel right. He didn't like how Seulgi kept blushing while her little friends kept teasing her. It just left a bad taste in his mouth.

"You guys should stop," Sehun said seriously. "It's not funny anymore."

Seunghwan and Taehyun tensed up while Seulgi just stared at Sehun. Jongin looked at Sehun. Even though the most popular boy was smiling, his eyes said something else.

"It's okay, Sehun," Jongin said softly. "I can handle a little bit of teasing. Happens all the time."

"I know, but this one isn't funny," Sehun told him.

Before anyone said anything, Sooyeon came over with a tray of five iced coffee. She handed the coffee to each person on the table. As she placed the coffee at each table, she made a short eye-contact with Seulgi.

What's with this awkward atmosphere? Sooyeon seemed to be asking. She looked a bit worried that she had ruined the mood.

It's not your fault, Seulgi told her mentally. Sooyeon just nodded.

"Do you guys need anything else?" Sooyeon asked.

"No, we're fine," said Jongin. "Thank you."

Sooyeon nodded and went away to make more coffee for the guests up on the second floor.

When Jongin realized that Sehun wasn't in the mood to have fun, Jongin cleared his throat. He turned to Seulgi and smiled again.

"Anyway, it's unusual to see you three," Jongin said. "What's up with that?"

Seulgi felt her heart flutter. He's making eye-contact with me. He's making eye-contact with me! I didn't even notice how brown his eyes were until now! They're so beautiful. I can stare at them all day—

"Yes. It's very unusual," Sehun said, interrupting Seulgi's trail of thoughts. He raised an eyebrow while resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

ing Sehun! Seulgi cursed. She glared at him. "What's so bad about me hanging out with my friends?"

"Best friend," Taehyun corrected.

"It wasn't anything special or anything," Seunghwan explained. "I had tickets, and I knew that Hyeri wouldn't be interested."

"HA!"

The five looked up at the balcony, where they had heard the source of the voice. They frowned, but turned back and focused on their conversation.

Meanwhile, Soojung had to put her hand over Hyeri's mouth, who widened her eyes after realizing that she was too loud. Hyeri gave Soojung an "OK" sign with her fingers, causing Soojung to carefully remove her hand from Hyeri's mouth. Youngji, on the other hand, stared at the two, surprised and still confused.

"I can't believe her!" Hyeri hissed. "I wouldn't be interested? I would've accepted the invitation!"

"You can't be too mad at her," Soojung said. She paused. "Well, I would be pretty mad. After all, she did put that chain letter in your desk."

Youngji widened her eyes. "That was Seunghwan? Really?" She looked at Hyeri. "Did you know?"

Hyeri didn't say anything. She looked down at the table and stared down at her hands.

"It was a little obvious," Hyeri murmured.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Youngji asked.

"I didn't want to admit it," Hyeri said. "Plus, it'd look bad on Seunghwan's part. Even if she doesn't think I'm a close friend, I still consider as a close one."

Youngji opened , but closed it and smiled a little. She glanced over the rails of the balcony and looked at Seulgi.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I get that feeling." 

Soojung looked at Youngji. "Aren't you going to ask us questions?"

"Questions? Like what?" Youngji asked.

"Like why we're here and spying on them," Hyeri said. "It doesn't take a brain to realize that we're basically tracking them down."

Youngji smiled. "I'm sure you all have your own reasons. I'm not sure what's going on, but that doesn't mean that I should pry into your business. If you want me to keep quiet about this, then all I would ask from you two is to at least pretend that you're enjoying my company today."

Hyeri and Soojung both looked at Youngji. Then, Hyeri turned to Soojung.

"How much can I trust her?" Hyeri asked.

"How much do you trust me?" Soojung asked.

"Not a lot."

"Then my words don't matter."

Hyeri nodded. She glanced at Youngji, who continued to put on a sincere smile. Then, Hyeri looked back at Soojung again.

"She's a good person," Hyeri commented, leaving Youngji flustered.

"I know, right?" Soojung agreed. She glanced at Seulgi, who laughed with her group of friends below. "I just wish someone else would notice that…"

/ / / / /

The day passed by quickly. After talking for roughly an hour, the group of five decided to go and split up. Jongin and Sehun went their way, while Seulgi told Taehyun and Seunghwan that she had errands to run. She walked at another path and waited at the corner of the street. A few minutes later, Soojung made her appearance.

"How did you know where I was?" Seulgi asked.

"I have my ways," Soojung said, deciding to not tell her that Youngji and Hyeri was with her.

"Oh. Anyway, did I do well?" Seulgi asked.

"I think you did okay. It would've been nice if Jongin and Sehun weren't there, though," Soojung murmured.

"At least I had a decent conversation with Jongin!" Seulgi said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Did you notice why I wanted you to be friends with Seunghwan?" Soojung asked, changing the subject. She knew that if she didn't change it now, then Seulgi would go on and on about Jongin.

"Because she's nice?" Seulgi answered, unsure with her response.

"Because she's a good support," Soojung said. "Have you noticed how she dealt with everything? Every time you acted out of place, she made sure that you were in place."

"Isn't that what you do?"

"Yeah, but the thing is, I'm not popular. She's very good at acting as a support to the popular kid. Have her as your best friend, then you won't need to worry too much about acting weird. Besides, it looks like she's interested in you, too. Seunghwan could've watched you drown in your own embarrassment, but she helped pick you up. As long as she sees an incentive in you, then she'll continue acting really chummy with you," Soojung said.

"Wait, so am I basically stealing Hyeri's friends, now?" Seulgi asked.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Soojung inquired. "Friends—lots of friends. Friends who will surround you and love you."

Seulgi paused. "Well, yeah. Yes, that's what I want."

"Then continue getting close with Seunghwan," Soojung ordered.

"What about Taehyun?"

"Don't worry about Taehyun for now," Soojung told her. "It seems like he's a good person to use, too. For now, just focus on making Seunghwan your best friend, okay? Do you understand?"

Seulgi smiled and nodded.

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "I definitely understand."