“Are you crazy?” Shuhua paced back and forth, bottom lip between her teeth in obvious concern. 

Shuhua had immediately pulled Soojin away from behind the counter after Soojin insisted towards Lia that they were in fact dating.  Of course, she had to dodge the daggers that Lia was shooting towards her with her eyes.

 It was certainly the perfect representation of, ‘if looks could kill.’ 

Soojin watched the younger girl pace in distress, expression blank, and leaning against the same brick wall she would sit on during her breaks. Clearly, she was not supposed to be out here during her shift, but who would Soojin be if she wasn’t sporting her ‘I don’t give a ’ attitude. 

“You can’t just tell Lia we’re dating. That’s actually quite laughable? How did she even believe you?” Shuhua rambled, her hands weaving through her hair and tugging on it in frustration. 

Soojin rolled her eyes, “would you relax? It’s not a big deal. I said that just so she can lay off and leave me alone.” 

“And what’s wrong with you? Kissing me like that when Yuqi could’ve seen?” Shuhua grumbled. 

“Please. They were too engulfed in their little game of pool to pay any mind to us. Trust me, it’s fine.” Soojin retorted, and it seems that she had an answer for every little thing that Shuhua was going to throw her way. 

Shuhua stopped her pacing and glared at Soojin with fire in her eyes. Oh, so she was angry. Like angry angry. Soojin wasn’t intimidated, more so amused, maybe even enjoying it a little because this was surely a new side to Shuhua that she’s never seen before. 

It was kinda hot. 

“You lied to her,” Shuhua growled, “that’s not very courageous of you. Cowardly, if you ask me.” 

Soojin’s gaze hardened, “let’s not get mouthy. I am not in the mood to fight with you.” 

Shuhua scoffed, “Lia’s my friend, Soojin. You can’t just ask me to lie to her.” 

Soojin sighed, “she’s barely your friend, stray girl, cut the crap. I’m sure she only approached you because of her little obsession with me.” 

Shuhua gritted her teeth in anger, “not everything is about you, Soojin,” she stepped closer towards the older girl, “as shocking as that may be with your egotistical mind set.” 

Soojin let out a laugh, a smirk splaying on her lips at how naive Yeh Shuhua was. “Baby, how gullible can you be? I may have an ego, stray girl, but you’re credulous. That girl is not your friend.” 

Shuhua blinked, taking a step back with a defeated, and slightly pained look. “Yeah, well…. as far as I know, you’re not my friend either.” 

Soojin, surprised to see Shuhua give up so easily on their banter, furrowed her eyebrows in concern. Most of their conversations usually consisted of spiteful remarks, which never really had any malice behind it, only pent up . And that, well, it always led to . 

This was most definitely not leading to . So Soojin must've triggered something else. 

“W-Wait, Shuhua…” 

Shuhua ignored her calls, and Soojin could only follow after her in hopes to maybe persuade Shuhua to stop in her pursuit back into the bar, so that she could apologize properly. 

Shuhua walked back into the noise of the bar, immediately seeking for Lia, wanting to explain herself and speak the truth, so that maybe it would save their friendship. 

Lia was serving a booth next to the pool table where Shuhua’s friends were currently hogging it like they did whenever they were there. 

“Shuhua, I’m trying to apologize here.” Soojin said from behind her, tailing closely after the younger girl with an expression that closely resembled one of a kicked puppy. 

Shuhua tapped Lia on the shoulder, fingers twiddling with anxiety. “Lia, listen, this is a whole misunderstanding. I’m not—,” Shuhua couldn’t even finish her sentence when a hard slap landed onto her cheek, her head turning to the side, and her eyes wide in shock. 

Shuhua didn’t know if the sound of Lia’s hand hitting her face was as loud to others, as it was ringing in her ears, but the stinging was burning her skin red. 

Soojin immediately stepped between the two girls, angry eyes glaring at Lia, and holding Shuhua protectively behind her. “Lia, are you ing crazy?” 

“Did…. did that just happen in front of me?” Yuqi blinked, pointing at the raging waitress that was staring her baby cousin down. 

“Yuqi…calm down.” Lucas cautiously said, and it was ironic because Yuqi looked pretty calm. Maybe not collected, but she was calm. It was kind of scary how her voice didn’t waver at all. 

Lucas was quick to think, snatching the pool stick from his girlfriend’s grip, throwing it onto the ground, and enclosing her into his arms before she went berserk. 

“Lucas, give me my stick back. I’m gonna need it.” Yuqi said, hand out, and fingers wiggling for the stick that was rudely taken from her. 

Lucas hummed, “you know, my love, I think I’m good. I kinda want to keep my girlfriend out of jail for assault, and possibly attempted murder.” 

“Her, Soojin? Really? What makes her different from me?” Lia angrily questioned, trying to get to Shuhua one more time, but failed miserably with Soojin’s firm stance between them. Shuhua only pressed into Soojin’s back, hiding her face there, as her shaky hands clutched onto the back of Soojin’s uniform to hold herself together. 

She was supposed to be mad at Soojin right now, yet Shuhua didn’t hesitate to rely on the older girl to protect her. 

Shuhua felt safe. 

“Lia, get a grip.” Soojin growled. 

“And you! Were you ing her behind my back while I told you about my feelings for her?” Lia directed her anger back towards Shuhua, who was still being protected behind Soojin. 

“It seems like we missed a whole season of in the City.” Jeno muttered, snickering to himself, which caused Chan to hit him upside the head for his terrible timing. 

“Too soon?” Jeno blinked at Chan, which earned him another slap on the head. 

“You know, I’m surprised Yuqi hasn’t tried to kill Lia yet.” Soyeon whispered, and Lucas let out a nervous laughter, “trust me, she’s practically shaking from anger in my arms.” 

“Just leave, Lia. You’re making a scene.” Soojin said, voice low and scary. 

“This isn’t over.” Lia gritted, throwing the round tray in her hands to the floor, and storming out of the bar. 

Soojin let out a sigh, turning around towards Shuhua who was pretty much still shaken from what had just happened. “Let me see.” Soojin whispered, lifting Shuhua’s chin with her pointer finger and inspecting the bleeding cut on the corner of Shuhua’s lip. 

Shuhua stepped away from the older girl, glaring at her.

 Right. Still angry. 

“Okay, what the .” Yuqi cursed, throwing Lucas’ arms off of her, and they were willing, once Lucas decided it was safe for him to do so, considering Lia had fled the scene. God knows, they would’ve had to call for the medic otherwise. 

“What the ?” Yuqi repeated, throwing Soojin and Shuhua a look of disbelief. 

Yuqi held her hand up, closing her eyes to calm herself down from overreacting before she even got to understand the situation. 

“We… We need to regroup. That’s right. That’s what we should do. Regroup.” Yuqi muttered, moving to sit at their booth. Everyone kept still, just watching Yuqi as if she was a ticking time bomb that was about to explode any second. 

“What are you guys doing just standing there? We’re regrouping. SO REGROUP!” Yuqi jabbed her finger into the wooden table her arms currently rested on, shooting all her friends' stern gazes, which made them immediately scatter on their feet and try to squeeze their butts to fit into the booth. 

The booth was obviously not big enough to seat more than four people, but they managed. 

Barely. 

“I…. uh… I need to get back to my job—,” Soojin cautiously said, taking slow steps back. 

“Soojin, sit your down now.” Yuqi said, to which Soojin surprisingly complied very easily. 

“Yuqi—,” Shuhua tried to say, but was cut off before she could even get a proper sentence out. “God, Shuhua, your lip is bust. I outta kill that girl for even laying a hand on you.” Yuqi clicked her tongue. 

“I’ll get some ice.” Jeno said, throwing his best friend an encouraging smile. 

“How long has this been going on?” Yuqi asked, straight to the point, as she gestured with her finger towards Shuhua and Soojin. The rest of the gang crowded around them, watching their exchange of words with great intensity. 

“A month?” Soojin replied, shrugging. 

Yuqi’s eyes widened,