11. Winner

It was easy to talk about fictional characters and dragons because it was fake but being stuck with Jongin for a whole hour with nothing to say was reality. And it was awkward.

Seulgi didn't say anything for the first 10 minutes and looked tensed so Jongin the radio. She asked if she could turn it off a few minutes later because the songs weren't so good and they all talked about ex lovers reuniting which was pretty disturbing in their situation.

"Jongin, may I ask you something?" she started after a lot of hesitation.

"Of course Seulgi." Jongin smiled to reassure her even if his eyes were glued on the road.

"Has Sehun ever hated you?"

"What?" he frowned with confusion plastered all over his face. "I don't think so… if he ever did I didn't notice," Jongin answered. "But Sehun is pretty obvious when he doesn't like someone so I think I would know."

"I knew it," Seulgi mumbled. Sehun only hated her. How could he get mad at her for talking about Jongin all the while not disliking Jongin? Sehun was one strange man but the only thing she could always figure out about him was his grudge over her.

"What do you know?" Jongin curiously mused.

"Sehun always acts cold with me and he hates me I get it, but is it a reason to not answer me when I try to be nice?" Seulgi vented out.

"I don't really know what you're talking about but Sehun doesn’t hate you," Jongin chuckled.

"You just said it was obvious when he hates someone," Seulgi repeated.

"And?"

"He seriously cannot make it clearer that he would rather not see me around him."

"More than that, I think Sehun has a hard time dealing with his feelings and gets confused quite fast," Jongin turned to face her for a second. "You know that girl, his ex…"

"Bae Joohyun?"

"Yes Bae Joohyun! He dated her for years and he was so in love with her but maybe he mistook his feelings for something else at some point, just like me," Jongin revealed as he followed the black car in front of him. "I swear Sehun looked genuinely happy and mad in love. The last time I had seen him like this with someone was with—" he turned to face Seulgi again and she awkwardly shifted in her seat. "Anyway, that's not important. Sehun thought of proposing to her. In fact, he did but she refused."

"Sehun proposed to Joohyun?" Seulgi gasped. Now that was high quality gossip.

"That's when they broke up too," he nodded. "She asked him to figure out the missing parts of his life and to find his own happiness instead of constantly trying to make it seem like she was the right person for him."

"Wasn't he hurt?" Seulgi asked with concern.

"Of course, Sehun was devastated but it wasn't exactly because he got dumped by a beautiful woman. It was more because he realized he had issues, if you know what I mean. Just like when a balloon suddenly pops and it shocks you because you hadn't seen it coming and now you have to pick up the broken pieces."

Seulgi heard Jongin but she couldn't comment. So Sehun was still going around town, linking arms and planning dates with a woman he proposed to.

"Amazing," Seulgi blurted.

He seriously saw himself spend the rest of his life with Bae Joohyun and was about to marry her? That was shocking and Seulgi couldn't exactly grasp the idea without biting her lips. Bringing his ex to a marriage when she refused his proposal… she couldn't believe how awkward that was.

"He got better faster than we all imagined and that was great because we thought he would never get over it," Jongin remembered with a smile. "Sehun definitely doesn't hate you Seulgi, he is just protecting himself."

"Why would he protect himself from me? Can he tell me what I did to him so I can finally get a good night of sleep?" Seulgi ranted. "I'm not the one who refused to marry him or broke up with him. He acts like a victim all the damn time, I'm tired."

"He—" Jongin started before retracting himself. "You know what, it's not my role to tell you this. You should ask Sehun yourself."

"If he accepts to talk to me," Seulgi mumbled.

Jongin continued to drive silently with his eyes on the road as Seulgi let her head rest on the seatbelt.

"Why do you look so depressed? Smile a bit," Jongin tried to cheer her up. "We're going to an amusement park."

"When were you planning to call me to talk about the letters?" Seulgi lifelessly asked. "Can we fix a date so you can't try to run away again?"

"I wasn't running away, I was busy with work."

"Don't we all say that?"

"I don't."

"You literally just did Jongin," Seulgi pointed out.

"It was the first time," Jongin rolled his eyes.

"How am I supposed to know that it's not an excuse you use with everyone? Especially women you lie to." 

"Since when are you so annoying?"

"I'm sorry for having trust issues, I'm still working on it," Seulgi sarcastically said. "And full offense but it is partially your fault."

"That was uncalled for," Jongin lightly chuckled. 

Seulgi smiled as she realized how much time passed since their childhood and the time when Jongin and her used to spend their day bickering exactly like that. No offense taken, they could even go way further than that and annoy each other to no end, this was nothing. Seulgi remembered how they spent their day buried under tons of sand at the park around the corner and fighting over childish stuff because they both liked to be right.

"Fine, you can choose the time and place and I'll be there," Jongin promised.

"Anything is fine?"

"Any time and any place, I'm in," he smiled.

Seulgi bit her lower lip and hesitated to say what she had in mind. Whatever, he could just say no if he didn't want to.

"On December 24th," Seulgi answered. "At Grano."

Grano was an italian restaurant in Gangnam she always wanted to try but it was always filled with couples and she couldn't just go there and eat alone at a table when people usually reserved one month beforehand. That was maybe the other problem that came with being single. Jongin turned to face her a bit taken a aback.

"You want to spend your Christmas Eve with me?"

"I usually celebrate it alone because I don't go to parties and my parents only ask Chanyeol and I to come on the 25th," she explained as her cheeks took a soft shade of pink. Was it considered too much? "If you have other plans then it's fine I'll—"

"No, don't worry, I'll make time for you," Jongin smiled. "On Christmas Eve at Grano, noted."

"It’s not a date," Seulgi mumbled as she touched her cheeks to cool them down.

"Of course not," Jongin smiled.

///

When they arrived, Sehun and Baekhyun were waiting for them at the entrance with the tickets in hand. Jongin and Seulgi were still busy negociating the time of the date-that-wasn't-a-date when they got off the car. Jongin wanted to go at 8 while Seulgi said she wouldn't be able to eat so late.

"6 is reasonable," Seulgi said.

"That's too early. I could literally have lunch at this time," Jongin slightly exaggerated.

"Maybe you should reconsider your sleeping habits Jongin," Seulgi rolled her eyes.

"I lived all my life like this, I'm perfectly fine."

"Now what is it about again? What are you guys quarrelling for this time?" Baekhyun asked as he handed them their tickets.

"We just have a different body clock," Jongin dismissed as he scrunched his nose at her. Seulgi grimaced back.

"Maybe we should have taken the two adults and two children combo after all Sehun," Baekhyun said before turning around to step into the gigantic indoor amusement park. "Do you want to get something to eat now or go for the roller coasters first?"

"Arcade," Jongin said.

"Roller coasters," Sehun nodded.

"Prize games where you win plushies,"