005

A LOT OF PEOPLE had shamelessly asked you how the hell did you end up with Sehun. You were pretty sure they meant no harm (okay, let’s be honest here, half of them were probably shocked), but you understood what they meant. Not that you were plain ugly or anything like that, but you and Sehun simply did not belong to the same group of social circles, and you would rarely encounter him. And people still preferred you with Jongdae, which was understandable.

You and Jongdae met during high school, but only got together in your second-to-last year. You guys would have been together for almost four years, but then he graduated from his bachelor’s and because you loved him so much and didn’t want to stop him from pursuing his dreams, you thought that a breakup would be the best for the both of you. And Jongdae feeling like he had already asked too much of you, thought that it would be too selfish of him to ask you to wait for him. But you were already planning to join him at Harvard right after you graduate anyway, but you also knew that you were too weak and sensible for a long-distance relationship to work. And so, you guys broke up but decided to stay friends (which was really painful for you to do so).

You were never really interested in other guys, not when Jongdae still owned a huge part of your heart. You thought it would be unfair for the guy you were seeing to not be able to give him your 100%. However, Jongdae perhaps didn’t think the same. He would call you up and catch up with you, before casually letting you know that he was seeing this girl in his politics class but reassured you that it was nothing serious and that he just wanted company because he felt lonely. Great, he was hooking up with a girl. But you didn’t allow yourself to cry in front of him. Yes, you were hurt but you guys broke up; you weren’t in any position to do anything about it. You could ignore him of course, but you were so weakhearted that you needed to talk and see Jongdae. Hence, why you simply didn’t dare to tell your ex about your true feelings and resorted to venting and crying to your best friend, Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo, at first, tried to comfort you as much as he could. He was there from the beginning of your relationship with Jongdae (he was also the co-author of many of your text messages to him, believe it or not), and it pained him to see you so broken and vulnerable just because of one stupid guy who couldn’t balance his dreams and his love life. Hence, he decided to take things into his own hands and set you up for a blind date. 

“No,” you bluntly refused after the weekly council meeting was adjourned, and everyone was just chilling in the meeting room. Junmyeon, your Public Relations Officer, and Seulgi, your new Secretary (she took over Kyungsoo’s position while he took your previous VP position as you took over Jongdae’s), seemed to be amused by your exchange. “You know, when I asked you, as my best friend, to comfort me, I kind of expected Netflix and ice cream, not ‘hey, I’m sick of you crying so I set you up with a guy’. Are you for real, Soo?”

“Um, a ‘you’re welcome’ would have been enough,” he replied with a small frown, a bit hurt with your sarcastic reply. “And besides, it’s just one date.”

You shot him a look. “I don’t have time for even one date, Kyungsoo, and you, out of everybody here, should know that the best.”

“I’ll do all the paperwork you’re going to have to do on that day,” he said and then quickly added, “Junmyeon and Seulgi and I will also take over your shifts at the hospital!”

“Um, we will?” Junmyeon said with a raised hand. Seulgi followed along.

Kyungsoo glared at both members.

“I mean, we will!” Seulgi added, a bit too enthusiastically.

“Okay, well, what about–”

“Listen woman, I’ll do all the damn work I would have to do if it means that you will agree to this date and that you will stop calling me at 2 freaking am in the morning just to rant and cry about how Jongdae hyung is hooking up with some stupid girl from his politics class!”

Everyone in the meeting room fell silent at his outburst. After all, Kyungsoo was known for being calm and rational, which was why he was the only candidate nominated for Vice-President. The other members quietly went out of the room, leaving only the four of you but even Junmyeon and Seulgi wanted to leave badly, not wanting to get in the middle of your small argument.

Even Kyungsoo knew that his outburst and comment was too much. His big eyes widened even more, finally realizing just how hurtful his words might be. Not to mention he practically announced to the whole council that their ex-President was being a jerk to their current one. He didn’t want there to be any bad blood between any of the members, especially since a lot of them still respected Jongdae very much. 

Kyungsoo was about to apologize for his reckless comment when you let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through your messy hair before letting a groan at it—a hair wash was much needed. Hence, you decide to strike a deal with your friend. He was desperate so you were sure that you could use that to your advantage. “Fine, but you’re going to have to take care of a whole week worth of paperwork.”

Kyungsoo blinked as if he didn’t expect you to accept this so quickly. He was actually ready to argue some more. “Done.”

“And meet up with the dean every time he calls the council’s office.”

“Sure.”

“And leave Junmyeon and Seulgi out of this,” you said with an exasperated frown. “You’re the one who’s involved in this mess, not them.”

The two concerned subtly shot you two thumbs-up from behind Kyungsoo, while the latter let out a small sigh. “Fine, I’ll cover your hospital shifts.”

“And–”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” he cut you off but you ignored that.

“–buy me breakfast for a whole week.”

“Deal.”

You clapped your hands without much enthusiasm. “Welp, guys, I guess I’m finally going on a date.”

BEING CONSIDERATE and sensible as you were, you obviously mentioned the date to Jongdae during your nightly Skype calls. He was still slightly sleepy as he prepared himself for his morning classes when you decide to drop the bomb on him.

“So, I’m going on a date this Friday night,” you said as nonchalantly as possible.

Jongdae dropped the shirt he was holding in response and quickly picked it back up before you could have noticed his small slip up. You thought that it was weird because he wasn’t much of a clumsy person, so you blamed it on his sleepiness. After all, it was still very much early over in the States.

“You are?” he said as he wore his shirt, his voice abnormally calm and serious for some reason. “With whom?”

You shrugged. “I have no clue. Kyungsoo’s the one who set me up this blind date.”

“Blind date? I’ve never pegged you for someone who would go on a date with a person you don't know.”

“Yeah, well neither did I,” you said almost in a snappy tone; you didn’t really like the attitude that went with that sentence. You saw the hurt flash in his eyes but it quickly disappeared as it appeared. You felt bad but then remembered that you had no reason to feel guilty. “Kyungsoo bribed me though,” you added in defeat. “He said he was going to take over my role for the next weeks or so. It was an offer that I couldn’t resist.”

One side of his lips tugged upwards. “Still haven’t gotten the opportunity to wash your hair properly?”

You replicated his expression. “Went through my second bottle of dry shampoo already.”

There was an awkward silence that followed your exchange. You didn’t know what else to say and neither did he. In the end, he let out a sigh and smiled at you. “Um, well, I got to go now and I don’t want to be late for class so…”

Lies. He still had an hour and a half left, but you didn’t call him out for it.

“Right, um, well I have a lot of homework due for tomorrow, anyway,” you replied with a fake smile, fully knowing that you’ve already completed all the work necessary so that you’d be able to go on that stupid date without worrying about a thing.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” Jongdae said, slightly apologetic. “Have fun on your blind date.”

“Yeah,” you replied with a tight smile. “Thanks.”

And right before you could have clicked on that red button, he called out your name, making you pause in your actions, and you waited for his next words.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said.

You didn’t say anything as you ended the call. After all, what was there to say?

KYUNGSOO HAD GIVEN you your date’s phone number so that you two could get to know each other a little better before actually seeing each other. You told your best friend that if you were actually that desperate, you would have downloaded Tinder but he simply rolled his eyes and didn’t even bother replying to your snarky comment. 

You and your date (Kyungsoo did not disclose your date’s name) had been forwarding messages back and forth, and you were honestly surprised that you could actually hold a decent conversation with him. It was hard nowadays to find a guy who didn’t talk like a douche (and it seemed like the ones that didn’t talk that way were people you already knew, which says something). You thought at first that it was unfair for him to know your name and not vice-versa, but he confessed that he wanted to keep his name anonymous to avoid bias on your part.

You both decided to first meet up at a café near the university. To say that you were worried was an understatement. You haven’t gone on a date in so long, you almost forgot how it felt like. Not saying that your dates with Jongdae were boring but after being with each other for so long, you guys fell into a comfortable routine; the excitement that could have possibly save your relationship was gone. In a way, you knew that a part of you guys only stayed with each other because it was comfortable and safe. You and Jongdae shared the same hobbies and dreams and passions, two pieces that complemented one another. And because of that feeling, you didn’t know whether you were ready for this new… whatever this was (you couldn’t exactly call it a relationship either).

You two agreed to meet up at 5pm since your last class ended at 4:30pm which left both of you an ample of time to do whatever left you guys had to do. You took the time to head to go to the council’s office to make sure that they didn’t need your help (you could tell that Johnny, your Treasurer, needed some help with the face he was making but Kyungsoo was quick to push his face away so that it was not in your line of vision anymore. Kyungsoo then proceeded to slam the door t