"I'm going in."

Eunhye moved the cursor over to the right side of the screen to move her view. Just as her friend, Byun Baekhyun, had predicted, two enemy avatars were crawling towards her own avatar's location. Without hesitation, she pulled on her trigger, using the M4 to annihilate the intruders.

"Cleared," she told her friends. "Move closer, the area's going to be restricted now."

She felt someone standing beside her, this time in the real world. She turned to see her roommate, Ahn Hani, crossing her arms in front of her with a frown on her face. Feeling like she was going to be scolded, she took one of the headset off.

"Can I help you?" she asked cautiously.

"We're going to be late," Hani said. She pointed to the computer screen.

"For what?" She did not remember anything special that day. She turned to the desk calendar beside her computer screen and found it blank.

"I told you we're going out," Hani replied. "Mingyu's bringing a friend over."

"That was today?" she asked. Not that she cared that much.

After Eunhye broke up with her boyfriend almost a month ago since she came back from Japan, her friends seem to make it their life mission to get her to meet someone new. Despite her protests that she just needed to be alone with herself and her computer games, Hani managed to get her to say yes this time, using the magic words, "Japanese Food."

The thought of Soyu-Tonkatsu ramen and okonomiyaki made water and her fingers on the keyboard faltered. "I'm almost done."

"They're already on their way there," Hani pointed out. While she talked, she approached Eunhye's closet, which could be called pathetic compared to hers. She took a couple of one piece dresses and compared them, holding them out in Eunhye's direction, picturing her in them.

"Ya, Sehun-ah," Eunhye called through the microphone. "Heal me."

"I'm hearing Hani," Baekhyun said. "Are you going somewhere?"

Eunhye chose not to answer, and instead focused on the options she had for her weapons. She needed to finish the game in five minutes and there were still seven enemy players. Battlegrounds was one of those games that easily relieved her stress, what with the good graphics whenever an avatar died. She always imagined the enemies to be her ex. "I'm bringing a car with me," she said, jumping into one abandoned car. "Let's end this. I need to go."

"I still have two grenades left," Oh Sehun said. "Let's go."

The three of them made their way to the spot they knew their enemies would be. In four minutes the game ended.

"Assa!" Eunhye jumped in her seat, throwing a small punch in the air. "I have to go, girls. I'll text you later for the next run."

"LoL*?" Sehun said. [LoL - League of Legends]

"Sure," she said, giving Hani a weary look. She looked at her wristwatch. "I don't know what time though. Just check the chatroom later. I'm logging out."

After shutting her computer down, Eunhye turned to Hani, who laid out clothes on her bed. "What are you picking? I'm not gonna wear those."

Eunhye picked the dresses up and hung them back in her closet. Ignoring Hani's protests, she took out a casual striped light grey blouse and black shorts that covered less than half of her thighs. Hani frowned.

"It's cold out," her friend pointed out. "And can you at least look like you made an effort? Let me do your make up."

Eunhye waved her hands frantically in front of her. "No way."

She went to her own drawer and took out the most basic make up that Hani probably wore to her sleep. She put BB Cream on, lip tint--which she also used for her cheeks. The only thing she spared actual attention was when she did her eyebrows. In less than ten minutes, she was done.

"I hate you," Hani declared. She, herself, took an hour and a half just to get to her current look. "Do something with your hair."

Eunhye rolled her eyes, but humored her friend. Expert hands ran her hair into a loose braid. "Happy now?"

"Officially hate you," Hani said but pushed her out of the room. 

Secretly, Hani was actually smiling. It was not easy to get her friend out these days. Eunhye was afraid Mark would still be out there, camping out of their apartment building like the first few days after she walked out on him. Even though Eunhye unfollowed all of Mark's SNS accounts, Hani still kept watching him. Mark Tuan had gone back to LA and would not be back until two weeks later for the next semester.  Hani had cornered Eunhye into saying yes to her by baiting her favorite--Ramen. Her friend was a huge er for Japanese food, having lived there during her middle school days as well as the previous year. Also, Mingyu would be bringing another friend, who also needed time to be outside.

Hani did not tell Eunhye where they were going until they got there. It took one second for her to recognize the place, and Eunhye tried to flag another taxi. Hani stopped her.

"I knew it," Eunhye responded, eyes desolate. "And I thought you were on my side."

"He's not here," Hani said. She used another hand to pull her back to the establishment. "I told you Mark's in LA. There's no way I'll let him see you. Not in a million years."

"Then why bring me here?"

Hani sighed. "It was the only good Japanese place I know. And I know you love the food here."

Eunhye's throat felt dry. She did love the food there and it was not fair for her to be bitter with it just because she broke up with her boyfriend, who was the second most regular customer there because of her.

"They're already here," Hani added. Her face softened when she saw the fear on Eunhye's eyes. She slightly brushed some of the locks that fell loose, tucking it behind Eunhye's ear. "I swear, he's not here. If he is, I'll be the first one to drag you out. Okay?"

Still, Eunhye did not know what to feel as she entered the familiar establishment without Mark. She recognized Kim Mingyu right away. Fortunately, he chose a booth away from the usual one she and Mark almost called their own. The six-foot guy would always be the ten-year old kid she met in her grandmother's place in Anyang. It was her who introduced Mingyu to Hani, when she met him again when he moved to Seoul. As she and Hani approached the booth, Mingyu got up and gave Eunhye a bear hug. Ever since Eunhye's break up, Mingyu stopped coming over to their apartment, blaming himself for causing it, no matter how many times Eunhye and Hani assured him it was not.

Hani slapped his arm. "You're wearing cologne. Why hug her?"

Mingyu immediately pushed Eunhye at arms length, realizing Hani was right. Eunhye was allergic to perfume, especially the strong kinds. Even at that moment, she was scratching her nose.

Hani naturally took the seat next to Mingyu, gesturing for Eunhye to sit right across from her. Next to her sat Mingyu's still unintroduced friend. His eyes were narrowed, probably wondering why Mingyu would hug her instead of his own girlfriend, and that Hani was not at all fazed by the sweet exchange.

"Noona*, sit down," Mingyu said. At the same time, Hani was waving at the part-timer to give them the menu. Mingyu pointed to his friend. "This is Wonwoo-hyung**. We live in the same apartment. Hyung, this is Eunhye-noona, the one I was