__SEVEN__

Chaeyoung is watching a drama with Lisa when she receives his text that evening.

I just changed into my pyjamas, I don't want to go out is her first reaction at seeing his name pop on her phone.

It's annoying how she's still bothered by his underdeveloped warning followed by his quick exit.

Plus she still remembers his little jab. It hit a nerve harder than she thought.

'Is that all you think about', that's what he told her. Is that how he sees her, as a woman who keeps coming back for more every time he rings?

She grits her teeth and stares at his text. How could he think otherwise when it's exactly what she does?

Well, with the numbers of time he's texting her asking if they could meet, he's the needy one.

But because she's weak, she clicks on it the next moment, although she taps on the screen with more force than needed.

There are things you should know about Seventeen's Woozi, she reads.

Well, he's not asking her to come over, which is a refreshing change. In fact, she's actually surprised he stayed true to his word and is explaining to her what his obscure words meant.

That's what you said, she texts back, curious. In her opinion, the smaller man is soft-spoken but stern in his views and ideas, and his passion for music burns raw and true. His eyes sparkle with it every time the subject is approached.

She has no clue what Jungkook might tell her. No clue if she even should believe him.

She doesn't know him all that well after all.

I'm good friends with a few of his group's members, so I've hung out at their dorms a few times and gone to parties they've thrown.

Ah yes, that infamous 97 liner group of friends. Everyone whispers about them. It reminds her of one of those cliques in high school movies, unapproachable, with everyone's eyes on them.

He continues a moment later. He has a certain modus operandi. He befriends a certain type of girl, gets them to trust him. Finds their weaknesses. And then he manipulates them into hanging out with him, going on out on dates.

Chaeyoung frowns at her screen, the drama on the TV in front of her completely forgotten. She can't imagine the reserved man she talked with being this way. It sounds ridiculous.

Is he making this up to yank her chain? See how gullible she is?

He doesn't seem like that at all? she sends back, tapping her reply almost angrily on behalf of the other man.

That's why it works, he sends back. The most important point though... well, I only heard about it, never witnessed it myself... but if the girl at some point refuses to spend time with him, he gets angry. Violent.

Violent? She frowns in distaste, dubious about it all. But as Woozi doesn't look like a violent man, Jungkook doesn't look like a liar either. Or maybe she's a terrible judge of character and could be wrong about either. Or both.

She stares at his reply for a long time, feeling a little angry at Woozi's instance. She knows these things are sadly more common than the public knows, but it doesn't fit him at all.

Jungkook's friends might've made assumptions without having the whole context. Maybe they speculated. Maybe they lied. There are so many possibilities that could explain why he's wrong but thinks he's right.

Chaeyoung would rather form her own opinion about someone. She'll still keep his words in mind, but she doesn't want to start ignoring the older man too.

I'll be careful. She doesn't entirely believe him, but there's no point in telling him that his fellow members may be making stuff up about him because of jealousy or to discredit him.

It has happened before.

She puts her phone on her lap and raises her eyes just in time to see Lisa's hand holding a tissue box toward her. She's sniffing loudly, but she stops when she sees Chaeyoung's dry face.

"Why aren't you crying?"

Chaeyoung's eyes dart to the screen where the male lead lays on a hospital bed, dead.

She glances back at Lisa who has stopped crying now and is looking at her suspiciously. Chaeyoung tries to play it cool. "I guess I wasn't feeling it?"

Lisa snoops closer, her face so close Chaeyoung can see the undried tears on her cheek. "If I'm 'feeling it', it's impossible for you not to 'feel it'."

Chaeyoung knows Jisoo wouldn't have shared their conversation with anyone, but Lisa knows her best. She's bound to get suspicious about her friend acting out of character at some point, no matter how normal Chaeyoung tries to appear.

"Okay, fine. I was texting."

Lisa gasps at her dramatically. "During the last episode of the drama we've been nagging everyone about since it started? At the most dramatic part of the whole series? Yah, Park Chaeyoung, were you texting someone from the male gender?"

Chaeyoung rolls her eyes at her. "It's not a big deal..."

"Chaeng, the point is that you texted someone, no matter the gender, during THE MOST emotional, heart-ripping, tragic scene of the whole drama! You'd usually forget you even own a cell! You should be all 'why did he have to die?', 'It isn't fair!', and 'they should've lived happily together forever!'"

Chaeyoung grimaces at Lisa's awful imitation of her, but she can't deny that she's wrong. That's how it should've gone. Instead, she texted with Jungkook.

But he was giving me important info! she argues silently, although if she's honest, she could've waited until the end of the episode before texting him.

So why didn't she wait? Because I was curious...

It's a weak excuse, but it's still true. That should be enough.

She returns to reality when Lisa starts shaking her, her whole face twisted in a giant pout. "YAH! You're not even listening to meeeeee....."

"Sorry, sorry. I guess I'm really not in the mood for a depressing drama right now."

"Liar. But whatever. You just better not have been making plans for the next weekend, because BamBam invited us to a party on Saturday."

Chaeyoung groans. BamBam and his party invites seriously are suspicious. He's never invited them before, and now, two in about three months?

"What for this time? His dog's birthday?"

Lisa flicks her arm at the disrespect toward her childhood friend. "It's his friend's party actually, but it seems like the guest list was mostly male, so he asked him to invite some girls. He got most of Twice to come, and he asked me to bring you guys too."

Chaeyoung frowns at the ridiculousness of his explanation. It sounds so fake, she can't believe Lisa bought it. "Who is this friend who has to ask other people to bring some girls to a party?"

"Some Seventeen member, I don't remember the name."

Chaeyoung forces the groan back.

Of course it is.

<><><>

The next time his text comes is on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, just a few days