The next few days were very odd. Lia felt either super happy or super embarrassed, there was no in between. And she missed Namjoon - it was so stupid becaue it's only been three days since she last saw him. He was working over-time for a few days, he had told her, and they texted each other once in a while and it made her realize that she had grown deeply attached to him, especially after his last two visits.

Dok Mi and Eun Jung had made up, and it took an extra day of them sitting together and whispering to finally approach Lia and apologize.

"I-I'm sorry too," Lia wailed, realizing that she had missed her best friends so much that their apology made her feel like crying.

"Nooo, we're sorry, it was our fault-"

"No, I shouldn't have lashed out like that-"

"No, Lia, I shouldn't have asked you to pick my side-"

After a group hug, and joint crying session where they all got emo and apologized and praised each other they decided they could dump studies for a while and decided to get something yummy.

"Cafe!" Lia said immediately. "They have everything there! Come on, you guys have been there too, remeber?"

"The one with the extra cheerful waiter?" Dok Mi asked, grinning.

"Yeah, him!" Lia said. "His name is Hoseok!"

"Gosh, our Lia seems to have a lot of older guy friends," Eun Jung said teasingly, and Lia pushed her. "Shut up, you!"

The trio linked arms and merrily made their way to the cafe, chattering about this and that and teasing each other mercilessly about things like kinks and who would be themost scared when watching a horror movie.

Hoseok cheerfully greeted, and added, "Oh, Lia, look! Mr Kim's over there, I think he was waiting for you."

Heart skipping a beat, Lia looked to the corner table - she hadn't even looked there when they came in, not expecting Namjoon to be there. He was looking at her, his dimples like deep craters on the moon.

"Mr Kim?" the other two repeated with confusion, and followed Lia's gaze to the man sitting at the table in the corner, a book in his hands.

"Wow," Dok Mi said. "He's cute! Who is he?"

"Come, I'll introduce you." Lia took her friends over, suddenly extremely shy. She missed him so much and wanted to hug him, but she didn't dare do it in front of her friends - she didn't know how to explain what her relationship with him is, and heck, she didn't even know what it was either.

Namjoon stood up politely, and they shook hands and exchanged names before sitting down, Lia next to him. Hoseok came to take their orders, his beaming smile lighting up the whole table like a ray of sunlight.

"Ooh, you like angel cake too?" Eun Jung asked Namjoon, after Hoseok went to bring their orders. "It's Lia's favorite!"

"I know!" Namjoon turned and smiled at Lia. "I love angel cake."

Lia's stomach did a flip - the last time they had met, he called her Angel Cake. R-right now... did he mean... no. Lia pushed the half-formed thought of her mind. He was talking about an actual cake!

Hoseok arrived with the drinks and pastries, and as he chattered to Eun Jung and Dok Mi, Lia tugged Namjoon's sleeve under the table for his attention.

"Were you surprised?" he asked.

"I missed you." Lia pouted, not letting go of his sleeve.

"I missed you too, angel."

"Oy! Who's this Oreo milkshake for?" Dok Mi said loudly, eyeing them with suspicion.

"Oh... it's for me!" Lia let go of him and reached across the table to swap her milkshake with Dok Mi's.

Eun Jung gave Lia a knowing smile and a cheeky wink, and she kicked her friend under the table but missed and hit Dok Mi instead, who cried out loudly and demanded the reason she was kicked.

"Oh gosh, sorry, I was aiming for Eun Jung!" Lia apologized.

"Don't kick people under the table, for god's sake!" Dok Mi scolded her. "It ing hurts ok."

"I said I'm sorry!" Lia huffed. "Who asked you to put your leg where Eun Jung's should be instead?"

"That is the stupidest excuse I have ever heard and I will beat you to a bloody pulp and-"

"Should I be concerned?" Namjoon asked Eun Jung, not sure what was going on, especially since last he heard, they trio were in a fight.

She shook her head. "Nah, we're always like this. Don't worry."

"Sorry," Lia said sheepishly. "Namjoon, you know I'm not usually like this, right?"

"Hey!" Dok Mi said indignantly. "That's not true, you liar!"

"Nah, Lia is sweet and-"

"Only because you don't know her like we do," Dok Mi said with an evil grin. "She is anything but sweet!"

Namjoon laughed, and Lia sent her friend death stares.

"Maybe I just haven't managed to annoy her excessively like you have," Namjoon teased, and Lia immediately agreed, loving that he was taking her side and she visualized a future where they both ganged up on Dok Mi and roasted her. That would be fun!

Unfortunately though, that didn't happen today. Eun Jung and Dok Mi immersed Namjoon in a deep and excited conversation about beaches, crabs, and snorkelling. Since Lia had done none of those and was terrified of the beach and crabs, she sat there silently eating angel cake, feeling more and more left out as time went by.

Namjoon seemed to really enjoy talking about ocean life, she realized with a pang. She didn't know a thing about oceans, never wanting to be anywhere near one. And Dok Mi was in her element, cracking jokes and making everyone, except Lia, laugh. Namjoon laughed a lot, and with a bitter realization, Lia didn't like it. When Namjoon asked her if she was enjoying her milkshake, she shrugged. He should have asked why she didn't answer him properly... he should have asked, but Dok Mi claimed his attention again.

Dok Mi was funny and outgoing, Lia reflected. And she loved oceans and had gone snorkelling on several occassions. Dok Mi was braver and more adventurous and had none of this stupid case of panic attacks near water. And also, a tiny, nasty voice whispered inside her mind, Dok Mi was an adult and always acted like it - and let's be honest, how fun was it to babysit an adult instead of going out for fun and adventurous things and also snorkelling.

God... Lia was so boring next to Dok Mi and Eun Jung! Namjoon would surely realize that being her friend was a mistake and that he'd have more fun with them, or with someone else, and stop hanging out with her.

When Namjoon asked if she liked the Oreo milkshake, she merely shrugged moodily and then immediately started scolding herself for not saying something funny or interesting. He would surely get bored of her if she continued to act this way!

Her attention was fully brought to the conversation when Dok Mi asked Namjoon if he had a girlfriend.

"Not yet," he replied.

"Yet." Dok Mi smirked. "Hah, there's someone, isn't there?"

Lia glanced at Namjoon and to her shock, he was actually blushing. Today was getting evn better, she fumed. Namjoon liked someone... his feelings towards her had been platonic after all, and it was just her running after him like a lovesick puppy. What about all those kisses, though? What about the pet names? He was just babying her, she realized with a horrible jolt in her stomach. He saw her entirely as a kid, especially with that stupid regression thing he had figured out long before she had.

God.... she was so stupid... she had misread everything because of her hopeless crush on him, and there was nothing she wanted to do more than go home and hide in a cocoon of blankets and throw herself a pity party.

Why were these things so complicated? Crushes, liking someone, misunderstanding signals and even sending wrong signals by mistake... it was all so complicated and it made her head hurt.

Namjoon touched her hand under the table softly, and she moved her hand away from him, refusing to meet his puzzled and slightly hurt gaze.

Her phone pinged with a text message from him, asking what's wrong. Nothing, she replied. Just tired.

"If you'll excuse me, I better be heading home," Namjoon said.

"Oh, I think we better get going too!" Eun Jung agreed. "It was great meeting you, Namjoon. Hey, Lia, why didn't you introduce us sooner? You've been friends for a long time!"

"Of course, she wanted to keep him all to herself," Dok Mi said teasingly.

"Shut up," Lia said, trying to keep her tone light.

They all went and paid for their food, and said goodbye at the doorway, Dok Mi explaining that she and Eun Jung would be catching the bus when Namjoon asked how they would be getting home.

"How are you getting home, Namjoon?"

"Oh, I live around here so I can walk."

"Like Lia!" Dok Mi said.

"Yeah. See you girls another time!"

Lia was hugged goodbye by her two friends, and she watched them go, relieved they had made up and not said stupid things to Namjoon but not happy about how the afternoon was spent.

"Lia?"

"Bye, Namjoon-"

"Wait, I'll walk you home."

"No it's ok, you don't have to-" Lia protested, but he grabbed her shoulders and propelled her forward. "You shouldn't," she grumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because you're grumpy and you don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm not grumpy!" she protested.

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't you join in?"

"Because it was about the freaking ocean! I hate the ocean! And i hate crabs and coral reefs and-"

"We talked a lot more than about the ocean, Lia," he cut in. "Did you not like it that your friends met me? I'm sorry if I embrarrassed you, I just got off work unexpectedly early and wanted to see you-"

"That's not it!" she cut in. "God, why would I be embarrassed of you? That makes no sense!"

He was so annoying, latching onto this like a damned cockroach.

"Just drop it," she said. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"Gah-"

"If I do something wrong then you need to tell! How