"Here baby~ open wide and say aaaaah~"

 

Jisung slapped away Jaemin's hand. They all laughed, especially Anna.

 

It was the evening of Valentine's day, young men and women filling up the seats of the samgyupsal restaurant. All filled their stomachs with a taste of rich flavor in order to satisfy their craving or satisfy their loneliness. Mark was the latter. Having his friends join him for dinner was something he had anticipated because of the couple but seeing them all act like they were purely friends was more than enough to fill that loneliness he had for the day.

 

"Lonely? You?"

 

Donghyuck asked and Mark nodded cutely.

 

"Yes~ I don't have a date, hingg~"

 

The sudden cute act put up by the eldest was a surprise to all of them. What had gotten into his head, no one knew.

 

"You got so many chocolates today." Chenle pointed out to which everyone nodded.

 

"But you ate them!! Huhu."

 

It was when he made crying sound effects that Renjun understood. He looked at Sehyun and they both sighed.

 

Mark was drunk.

 

The sun was still about to set but that didn't stop him from grabbing a bottle of soju, and then another, until it went on and on.

 

"Mark-hyung, you should stop drin–"

 

"No! Renjunieeeeeeeeeeee, no! I want more, more, more, more, more and more."

 

Mark stood up and started dancing to a famous song by a certain girl group. All of them laughed at the sight and Donghyuck pulled out his phone to capture the moment.

 

Sehyun smiled as she saw her friends, all laughing and crying out of joy like they were the only ones living on this planet. It was quite humiliating but she loved it.

 

"I want a girlfriend! Please! Now! Waiter!"

 

They burst out laughing, holding onto their stomachs. It was truly a fascinating sight to see him this way.

 

"Please, please... pleaseeeee."

 

Mark slammed his forehead on the table and they couldn't stop laughing. Poor boy, he just wanted some love.

 

"I... can't... breathe."

 

Jisung said in between laughs. Jeno agreed with him while laughing as well.

 

"Me... too..."

 

While the 8 minors spent their time laughing, Donghyuck suddenly stood up and hushed them. Quietly, he gestured them to get out of the restaurant.

 

"Oh crap, Mark-hyung's going to beat us up for this."

 

Renjun commented as he carefully stood up. The rest did too, grabbing their stuff and making sure they left nothing but Mark. Once they exited the restaurant, laughter filled the air once more. None of them looked like stopping any moment soon.

 

Amidst the laughter, Donghyuck grabbed Sehyun's hand and moved themselves away from the others. They walked the opposite direction from them.

 

"Hey."

 

Jeno nudged Jaemin who was staring at the two, walking further away from them. He smiled at Jeno.

 

"I'm okay."

 

"Psh, Liar."

 

Jaemin forced out a chuckle.

 

"At least I'm not paying for our orders."

 

Jeno agreed.

 

— ☼ —

 

The sound of her laughter resonated through the empty street. Donghyuck couldn't help but smile widely at how happy she was.

 

"You sound happy."

 

"I am."

 

As the video of Mark being all drunk continued to play on the phone, Sehyun felt like she was about to go crazy.

 

The video finished and Donghyuck grabbed the phone away from her. Her bright smile still didn't leave her face.

 

"Since you're in such a great mood, wanna hear a joke?"

 

"I doubt it's funnier than Mark."

 

She said, wiping her eyes that watered because of so much laughter. Donghyuck chuckled.

 

"It isn't and I'm probably gonna get beat up for it."

 

She tilted her head and Donghyuck pinched her cheeks.

 

"Spit it then."

 

Donghyuck took a deep breath and nervously smirked. Surely, he knew what would come next.

 

"I was mad at you right? The night after the play?"

 

She nodded. Silence enveloped them and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps. Sehyun anticipated the joke but she was clueless.

 

"What," she slowly turned her head to face Donghyuck, confused, "what's the joke?"

 

Donghyuck scratched his head.

 

"That's it. That's the joke."

 

She let out a laugh of disbelief and he joined in, assuming she really thought it was a joke. She bit her bottom lip and grabbed Donghyuck by the ear.

 

"You mean to say," she said while he groaned in pain, "that was a joke?!? A lie?!? You pretended to be mad?!?"

 

She shouted in his ear, sounding annoyed. Donghyuck knew she wasn't seriously annoyed but it may not be any different.

 

"Yes, I'm sorry, forgive me, I deserve punishment, please forgive me, I'm so, ACK."

 

"You idiot! Why the hell did you do that?!? I was so nervous and I wasted my effort for you but that was just a lie?"

 

Sehyun snatched his phone away and he tried to reach for it but failed miserably.

 

"I'm crushing your phone, you evil sneaky fox!"

 

She shouted and ran for her life, he chased after her.

 

"Don't you dare, Sehyun, I swear!"

 

As the two of them ran down the quiet streets, Sehyun chuckled at how foolish they looked like. She chuckled at whatever Donghyuck did and what she was feeling at the moment.

 

"AH!" She exclaimed as Donghyuck hugged her from behind.

 

"Tell me first why you did it and I won't drop your phone."

 

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Donghyuck said, holding onto her tightly. "I really understand you, okay. I know you have trust issues with yourself."

 

"So that's why you did it? For me to lose more self-trust?"

 

"No," he tightened his hug, "so that you would break off from whatever's holding you back from loving yourself."

 

She slowly relaxed and eased herself by what he said.

 

"I want you to tell me everything from now on. Because I'll always listen to whatever's in your heart."

 

He said, not letting go.

 

"You're going to listen to yourself?"

 

She whispered and Donghyuck looked up at her.

 

She took the chance and escaped from his grip, the two racing down the streets once more.

 

And then she felt it. The romantic feeling of being alone. The romantic feeling of being with friends. The romantic feeling of anticipating tomorrow. The romantic feeling of forgiving.

 

For her, nothing was more romantic than running around the quiet streets, being with him and, finally, being with who she truly was.