“I missed you.” Heejun sighed as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you backwards against his chest and completely ignoring whatever anyone else might think of his public display of affection. You avoided Mina’s eyes and turned to look at the head resting on your shoulder. He let out a soft whine and squeezed your shoulders in his arms. “I can’t help it. Three days is too long to be without you.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy.” Mina deadpanned.

“I’m not healthy, I’m lovesick.” His voice was playful, and it seemed to annoy Mina all the more. She rolled her eyes.

“You’re co-dependent that’s what you are. Both of you.” She narrowed her eyes at you briefly, but Yonghee smacked her arm gently.

“Well I think they’re very cute together!” She beamed at you. You felt your face heat up. You’d tried to keep dating Heejun a secret for a while, but it had taken Mina only a few days to pry the information from you. And then another day or so to arrange for all of your friends to meet, and judge, Heejun as a boyfriend.

“Thank you. I also think we’re very cute together.” Heejun grinned, giving you another playful squeeze. You didn’t bother to try and think of a response. Yonghee looked ecstatic. Yongsun hadn’t said anything so far but was happily digging into the free cookies.

“I guess I’m in the minority here.” Mina sighed, shrugging before she took a seat as well. “Did Inseong make these?”

“Hypocrite.” You faked a cough. Heejun’s breathing beside your ear made it clear he was amused. Mina didn’t say anything but stared you down as she bit into a cookie. You wriggled free from Heejun’s grasp and took a seat as well. It felt like someone was staring at you, though you couldn’t quite pinpoint who or from where.

“He did, in fact. He’s very happy you’ve come back, although he’s disappointed he won’t be serving you today.” Heejun explained calmly as he stepped next to your chair, his fingers carelessly brushing through your hair. As if he didn’t notice what they were doing.

“Is he working today?” You asked. Heejun smiled and tapped your nose softly.

“Maybe. Would you rather have him than me?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

“Are you allowed to be this gross when you’re working?” Mina frowned. You bit your tongue as Heejun raised himself up from his seat and shrugged.

“I haven’t asked, I’ll check. In the mean-time, let me get you guys some drinks.” With his trademark wink, he disappeared to the kitchen. You felt several pairs of eyes on you. Yuna was the first to break the silence. You hadn’t seen her since the dorm party, and suspected she hadn’t been kept in the loop you’d been careful to leave certain specific people out of as much as possible.

“I guess you really moved on from Jaehyun, huh?” She asked. There it was, the reason you’d especially not wanted to include Yuna in your personal life. Mina put her cookie down and sat up straight.

“Isn’t it great? She’s so happy nowadays!” She beamed. You blinked, as did Yuna.

“I thought you didn’t like Heejun.” Yuna scowled. Mina scoffed.

“I think he’s moving too fast, but I love how happy he makes my friend. I think it’s great when my friends are happy.” The threat was so obvious that several people around your group looked at Mina. You tried to shrink.

“Yeah, it’s great when people are happy.” Yongsun joined the motion, albeit less fervently or insistently than Mina had. Yonghee nodded, too.

“I really think he’s great for you, even if he’s moving fast. You two just seem to make sense together.” She added. You wished you could disappear into your all too comfortable chair. Yuna seemed to realize she was on her own and shrugged, rolling her eyes.

“Congratulations, then. I guess we’re all on board with you dating a host.” Except for Yuna, obviously. Though you didn’t understand why. Mina had made herself perfectly clear, but Yuna never quite said what she thought out loud.

“Are you ladies doing okay?” Inseong. You weren’t sure where he’d come from so fast, but no one else seemed to be surprised. There was a smile on his face, but it looked eerily like Heejun’s ‘calm’ smiles. The ones he wore when he clearly wasn’t happy. Mina exchanged a quick glance with you. She’d noticed it, too. You gave her a small nod.

“We’re great, thank you.” Mina answered. Inseong’s smile softened when he looked at her, but it still felt strange. He’s targeting her, you realized. Now that Heejun was no longer her favourite, Inseong was trying to win her over. It should at least be fun to watch.

“I’m always happy to hear that. I know Heejun’s getting your drinks, but I think I’ve created something new you might like to try. You wouldn’t mind taste testing for me, would you?” His voice dipped, and his eyes wandered between the other girls who all nodded in agreement. Yes, you decided, he was definitely targeting people. Luckily Inseong didn’t direct his charm at you, and left after promising something spectacular. You excused yourself to the bathroom when he left. The air was a little too tense for your liking.

After sitting quietly in the bathroom for a while, you dawdled by the door. It was outside the line of sight of your group of friends, and it felt much safer than going back to join was looked like a splintering friend group. It’d been a few minutes when someone tapped your shoulder. Seoham. He smiled kindly at you, so kindly you almost weren’t surprised you didn’t hear him coming.

“Are you okay? You look like you’re not feeling good. Is this a good time for hot chocolate?” He asked, leaning against the wall next to you. You shrugged, playing with your sleeves.

“I don’t really know what’s going on. Everyone wanted to be introduced to Heejun, but now one of my friends is being antagonistic. I don’t understand why and it’s really uncomfortable. It feels like I’m causing trouble for everyone.” You sighed. It felt nice to say it all out loud.

“I don’t think it’s your fault at all. Maybe your friend is just a little sad she won’t see you as much because Heejun really likes spending time with you.” Seoham smiled innocently. “I know I’d be sad if one of my close friends suddenly had less time for me.”

“Yuna and I aren’t that close. We never spent much time together to begin with.”

“So she isn’t your friend? Then why does it matter what she thinks as long as you’re happy?” It was such a simplistic, innocent answer. And it wasn’t even wrong, things were just more complicated than that.

“She’s friends with my friends. So we’re sort of friends by proxy.”

“It sounds like she’s just not your friend. You shouldn’t force yourself to spend time around her. If she doesn’t like Heejun she should just leave.”

“Are you supposed to talk about your customers like that?”

“Friends come first. Heejun’s my friend. You shouldn’t let weird social constructs complicate your life. Only focus on the people who are nice to you, okay?” Seoham gave your shoulder a pat. You nodded. He was right, it just took courage to follow through on his words. But you should.

“Thank you. Heejun is lucky to have you as a friend.”

“Since you’re dating him, I’m your friend too.” Seoham smiled, giving you two thumbs up. “Good luck, friend!”

Heejun joined you on the way back, and you helped him carry the drinks back to the table. Whilst you’d been gone, Inseong had brought the table pie slices. The scent carried over and you vaguely recognized it from the seasonal coffee drinks of autumn. Pumpkin. Inseong was probably experimenting in preparation for autumn.

“Here you all are.” Heejun smiled as he placed the drinks down. They were fun, colourful drinks, except for the one he handed to Yuna. It was a pretty looking mug, but it appeared to only have black tea in it. “I know you’ve been on a diet, this one is supposed to be really good for suppressing appetite.”

It didn’t show in his voice, nor on his face, but you knew that Heejun knew what’d happened. Yuna paused halfway through a bite of her pie and nodded quietly, putting her fork down. Oh no. You had a sinking feeling.

“You’re right! Heejun really knows what people are thinking.” Mina smiled, “he always guesses right. You are on a diet, right Yuna? You were talking about it yesterday.”

No, please no. You squeezed Heejun’s elbow, willing him desperately to stop Mina. Yuna wasn’t always nice to you, but she didn’t deserve this. Her weight was something sensitive. No matter what she said about you, you didn’t want people poking at her weight to defend you. Heejun glanced at you, his eyes wondering briefly over your face before giving a tiny nod. Luckily he could read you like an open book.

“Besides, I think it goes really well with Inseong’s pie. He’s working on his low calorie recipes. It’s a little noticeable in the taste, but it’s actually sugar-free. So no guilt.” Heejun smiled encouragingly. Yuna nodded, though she still seemed hesitant to pick up her fork. Mina looked between you and Heejun.

“That’s really sweet of Inseong, to be thinking about what people really want in their food.” Her voice softened a little. Heejun’s hand found yours behind your back and squeezed it softly. It was nice that they had your back, and that they’d come together to support you. But it was even nicer that they also backed off when they realized you were uncomfortable.

You looked at Heejun, who was smiling softly at you and squeezed your hand again when his eyes met yours. Your heart overflowed. What a beautiful human you’d managed to meet. Your fingers laced through his and you squeezed his hand in return. What’d you done to deserve this kind of luck?