“What about Baekhyun?” asked Hyunsoo, taking another bite from her crêpe.

Hoseok wasn’t eating his sundae anymore, instead he put the spoon down and looked at Hyunsoo.

“Where did he say he was before you met him yesterday?” asked Hoseok, holding a grim expression, making Hyunsoo start to feel nervous inside.

“He told me about a family wedding coming up. He’s helping to plan and set the place up,” answered Hyunsoo, then after thinking about whether she should mention it or not, she continued, “Baekhyun also told me last night that he’s going back to his parent’s house early in the morning to help them out with something, he didn’t say what though.”

At this, Hoseok’s eyes widened in disbelief. Hyunsoo could tell by his behaviour that something bad was coming up. This is how Hoseok usually acted just before giving Hyunsoo some bad news.

“Before coming to meet you here, I was in the town centre with my friend Sungjae, you know one of your housemates. We were just shopping around for a while and were about to get the bus after I got your text to meet up, and then… I saw Baekhyun walk past with a few other people.”

Hyunsoo stopped eating and looked at Hoseok. This was not what she was expecting to hear. Hoseok almost looked apologetic for having to tell her this.

“What? Girls or boys?” she asked, and after a pause, said, “Wait, maybe he just ended up taking the train later. Something could’ve come up.”

“I know you’re thinking that this might not mean anything, but what if he’s lying to you? This small problem could potentially become a bigger problem. And to answer your question, two girls and one boy.” He looked down at his sundae for a moment, then added, “Why don’t you call him and find out where he is? Baekhyun wouldn’t have arrived home just yet even if he did get the train just after I saw him.”

“What if he was just going home later because something came up?”

“What could’ve come up? A trip to the town centre with some other friends?”

“Look, this doesn’t prove anything except that he just didn’t go home early morning like he told me he would. For all we know, something else came up and he had to take care of that first. Let’s not assume anything.”

As Hyunsoo was talking, Hoseok picked up his spoon again and continued eating his ice cream, which was beginning to melt now. Hyunsoo had already finished her own crêpe, so instead she was looking down at her phone under the table, wondering if she really should call Baekhyun or not.

After a while, Hoseok suddenly said, “I’ll be right back.”

Hyunsoo looked up in time to see Hoseok stand up and walk towards the toilets. Straight after the door closed behind Hoseok, Hyunsoo went on her phone and called Baekhyun.

A few seconds passed by, and then a voice said, “The person you are calling is not available…”

Hyunsoo sighed deeply, just when a familiar voice said, “Hey, you can talk to me instead if that person isn’t answering.”

Hyunsoo looked up, already knowing who it was, and found Jungkook standing just beside her with his arms folded.

“What are you doing here?” asked Hyunsoo, emphasising the ‘you’, clearly showing that he was the last person she wanted to see. It didn’t make any sense. They hardly knew each other but already she disliked him.

“Oh? And here I thought you needed some company.” He walked around and sat in Hoseok’s seat facing Hyunsoo. “So who were you calling?”

Instead of answering his question, Hyunsoo put her arms on the table and said, “Are you following me?”

“Me? Following you? Please, I have better things to do than that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “In fact, I’m on a date right now. She’s gone to probably fix her make up or something, and I see your man went to the bathroom as well.”

“Hoseok is not my man. He’s my best friend.”

Hyunsoo leaned back from the table, because Jungkook was now leaning forwards, resting his head on his arms.

“I see. Anyway, I answered your question, so I think I deserve an answer as well,” said Jungkook. He was doing that smile again, like he did in the class earlier today. It wasn’t a nice sort of smile. It was like he was looking down on Hyunsoo, or taunting her, but very slyly.

Still, he was right. He answered her question. “I was calling my boyfriend,” said Hyunsoo. He didn’t deserve a name. Why should he know? Thought Hyunsoo.

This didn’t seem to bother Jungkook, instead he said, “You know, I’m surprised you’re talking to me. It seemed like you hate talking to people, since you weren’t very chatty at badminton or in class. It’s either just a problem with your face, or I’m right.”

“What?” said Hyunsoo a little angrily. She leaned forwards and looked right into Jungkook’s eyes. “So sorry, but wasn’t it you who was being mean to me from the beginning? Why would I talk to someone like you?”

“Well, you’re doing it now,” he replied, and started smirking.

“That’s because you decided to interrupt and invite yourself to sit down.”

“Interrupt what? Your phone call to voicemail?”

“He’s busy!”

If Jungkook’s date hadn’t returned just then, Hyunsoo thought she might have lost her temper with him. His behaviour, the things he said and how he acted… there was something about him that just made her feel irritated, and he didn’t even seem to be trying to do that.

The worst part for Hyunsoo was that she couldn’t help but think that Baekhyun might after all be lying to her. Although it was just a small part of her thinking that, she was annoyed by the very existence of this thought.

“Jungkook? What are you doing here?” asked the girl who had just walked out of the girls’ toilets.

Hyunsoo looked at Jungkook with an annoyed expression and said, “Well, don’t let me stop you.”

To this, Jungkook smirked again and said, “I’ll be seeing you often don’t worry."