Saying that it had been the weirdest week of your life would be an understatement.

The nosy guy and Chanyeol seemed to be all over campus all of a sudden. You tried to explain it away. Of course they would stick out to you now that you’d seen their faces. Wasn’t that basic psychology? Your brain automatically picks up on familiar faces? Granted, you weren’t that familiar with them - or at all really - but still.

And, to be honest, the student union wasn’t just your territory. They were allowed to study and hang out there just as much as you did.

But the other students didn’t stare. It seemed that every time you looked up in either of their directions, you met their gaze. Both of them were sitting a good distance away, one to your left and the other to your right forming a weird triangle with many other tables in between, but you still caught their stares. In a flash they looked away, like they were just scanning the room. And maybe they were, but it just didn’t feel like that was the answer.

Jongdae was acting strange as well. You only had class with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that used to be the only time you saw him. However, now out in the courtyard and on the paths on your way to class, he always seemed to be near. Not watching you like the others, just walking by. In fact, he never looked at you, even the one time he passed right behind you before you could enter the world science building. There was maybe a foot of space between the two of you, but it was like you were invisible. You watched him keep going, headed off to who knows where.

Class was a different story. He was rigid in his seat, unmoving. Until you came into the classroom and made eye contact with him. Then his body relaxed. Like a wave rippling through, his muscles let go of their tension and he looked away.

It was a relief when Saturday rolled around. You didn’t have to go on campus and wonder if you were going crazy. Okay, even as you laid there in bed willing yourself to get up and start your day, you still wondered if you were crazy. Too much caffeine? Too much studying? Too much chocolate?

You shivered in horror at the thought of it being the last one. What would life be without that delicious comfort?

With a moan, you pulled yourself out of bed and shuffled over to your small bathroom. The girl in the mirror was a bit scary looking with the bedhead and makeup settled under the eyes that you’d missed in washing your face the night before. Killing a little bit of time, you pulled at your skin and mess with your hair, putting it up in goofy fashions that made you laugh.

Breakfast was a quick adventure of toast and eggs, a rare treat as you didn’t have time to adequately make food beyond a freezer aisle meal during the week. After rinsing off the pan and plate, you went back to your bedroom to get dressed. The uniform for the coffee shop was nice and simple as well as making it easy to have replicas. Your white shirt with the company logo in the top left hand corner fit nicely to your curves. The black skinny jeans on the other hand, were a little more of a struggle to get on, but then again, weren’t all skinny jeans an exercise within themselves?

You packed a change of clothes in your backpack for the bonfire and headed out the door. Since your shift didn’t start until eleven and Eun Na was picking you up anyway, you opted to walk to work.

It was a nice day. The wind was barely present, just blowing enough to give off the scent of the different shops in the business district of town. Shining above was the sun surrounded by tiny bits of cloud that couldn’t block out the rays if they tried.

Still early when you arrived at the shop, you bought your own cup of coffee and took it to the back. Pulling up your hair in a ponytail, you sat at the manager’s desk and scrolled through your phone until it was time to clock in.

With it being the middle of the semester, Saturdays were always a bit crazy. Between those patrons just stopping by for a quick drink before going on with their shopping and those buzzed out students staying for hours on end to get all their homework done, there was hardly any time to rest from the beginning of your shift. Which was good for you since you had to be there until six.

Sometime around four-thirty, the foot traffic was dying down. You were cleaning a pile of porcelain mugs when Jongdae walked in. He came up to the counter and you searched around for any of your coworkers that could help him instead. No such luck.

Taking a deep breath, you gave him a half-hearted smile. “Hi.”

“Hey.” He looked around the shop for a second, scratching the back of his head. “How are you?”

You blinked. How are you? Why would he be asking you that? In automatic mode, you responded, “I’m good. How’s your Saturday going?”

“Stressful,” he said breathily. Running his fingers through his hair, Jongdae looked up at the menu. “Can I just get a coffee?”

“Okay…” you chewed on your bottom lip. “Do you want anything in your coffee? Or do you just want it black?”

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Jongdae huffed. “How do you take yours?”

Now it was your turn to scratch behind your ear. “Well, I usually like mine as our house coffee with two shots of mocha, two shots of white chocolate and a shot of espresso in a crème base.”

For some reason, your complicated answer made him laugh. And you finally got to hear it. It was light and airy, making your heart fly up with it. Your brain was racing at a hundred miles an hour, trying to think of another way to hear it again.

Calm down, (y/n). He’s still been a jerk to you.

Jongdae’s mood was lighter now. Not exactly happy, but a few steps above what he was when he walked in here.

“I’ll just have that.”

You nodded. “Here or to go?”

“To go.”

After he handed you his card and you closed out the transaction, you shifted over to make his drink. His eyes never left you as you pumped the mixes into the steaming fresh coffee. Sliding on the sleeve, you handed the paper cup over to Jongdae. He grabbed your arm with his other hand, holding you in place. His face was serious, scaring you.

“Don’t go to the bonfire,” he urged.

You yanked your arm, trying to free it. No one moved to help you, not noticing the grip you were trapped in. “How do you know about the bonfire?”

“That doesn’t matter,” he argued. “Just don’t go.”

One last pull, and you were free. Your skin burned where he’d touched it, but it wasn’t a painful feeling. In fact, if you weren’t careful, that feeling might just become an addiction. But that thought was quickly forgotten as Jongdae leaned in closer. His eyes shined an unnatural color - orange or yellow maybe - but you shook it off as a trick of the fluorescent lighting.

“I’m serious, (y/n).” His voice came out as a growl, deep from within his chest. “For your own good. Don’t go.”

You straightened up. “I think you should leave now.”

With a shake of his head that seemed more like a snap, he turned and stalked out the door, the bell chiming cheerfully above his head.

Six o’clock came around and you were hightailing it out of there, still a little shaken up about the run in with Jongdae. Eun Na was parked out front of the coffee shop, waiting for you. Before you could jump into the passenger’s seat, across the street you saw them again: Jongdae, sitting at a table outside the pizzeria staring after you. Chanyeol was in the chair next to him chowing down on a slice. The nosy guy was staring after you as well, rolling his eyes. This time they were joined by the blank boy from your folklore class. He was looking at Jongdae, his lips looked like they were moving as if he was talking, but at this distance you couldn’t be sure.

In the car, Eun Na was staring at the boys as well. Her face was twisted into a scowl. The tips of her knuckles were red and white from squeezing the steering wheel.

“Eun Na?”

Like a personality switch, her face lit up, the scowl replaced by a glowing smile. “Are you ready?”

Your eyes flickered to Jongdae one last time. Something inside wondered if you should listen to him, say you were sick and needed to cancel. But Eun Na was your friend. You knew her better and longer than you knew him.

“Absolutely.”

**

The fire was already crackling when the two of you arrived. Eun Na had taken much longer than you had to get ready so the sun was almost completely gone under the horizon when you arrived. Decked out in all black, she looked like a mistress of the night with her over-the-knee boots and hooded duster cardigan. You felt very out of place as her friends were dressed in a similar fashion while you just had on an off-the-shoulder gray sweater and white shorts. While they looked like Goth models, you felt like the nerdy college student you were.

Everyone who was already there was just standing around. If they were talking, it was so low that you couldn’t hear it. Looking at the surroundings, you tried to find any face that you recognized, but so far no such luck. Eun Na left you as soon as you arrived, running up to some guy who looked like he was still trying to outgrow Hot Topic.

“Not really your scene?”

A girl with dark eyes that were framed by long purple and black hair that fell to her hips in paper straight strands walked up to you. She had a water bottle in her hand with black lipstick stains around the rim.

“Eun Na’s the only one I know,” you admitted quietly.

“Well, I’m Tonya.” She held out her hand and you shook it politely.

“(y/n).”

She giggled. “You’re very cute, (y/n).”

Heat rose up in your cheeks. People were always telling you that. Eun Na was the y one, the seductive one. You were the klutzy, awkward, adorable one. That’s how everyone described you two, like yin and yang, complete opposites that complimented each other. It got annoying sometimes, but you learned to roll with it since you couldn’t exactly change who you were. Eun Na once had you try on one of her party outfits and you freaked out when you saw how much of your skin was exposed. Your one shoulder and legs out for the night air to nip at was more than plenty for your comfort zone.

“Thanks,” was all you could muster to say.

Eun Na finally joined you again, greeting Tonya cheerfully. She handed you a water bottle. The seal was already broken, but you didn’t pay any attention to it. Eun Na did that for you all the time. Taking a swig, you swished the water around in your dry mouth. The smoke was stinging your eyes and with the wind you just couldn’t escape it. After swallowing your first mouth full, you took another drink and then paused. There was a funny flavor to the water underneath that initial crisp taste.

A cloud began to form in your head, making it hard to comprehend what was going on around you. As you staggered, Tonya began to laugh. You turned to Eun Na who was smirking at you.

“Eun Na….”

“Sorry, (y/n).”