The first person Sehun saw on Monday morning was Jongin, when he opened the door to FSS-Lab and found him sitting on the corner of the room with his laptop and a cup of coffee. The steam was still clearly noticeable near the cup’s rim, and Sehun assumed Jongin just made that a few minutes ago. 

And when he beheld Jongin in person, the awkwardness finally hit. He knew that Jongin didn’t know he saved his selfie from three days ago—hopefully he will never know—but when he walked closer to Jongin and placed his bag next to Jongin’s table, Sehun had to gulp harder. He sat down, while peeking at Jongin’s screen.

“You’re buying books?”, Sehun asked.

Jongin’s laptop screen currently displayed a page from an e-commerce website. He nodded and said, “I feel like buying ten of it”.

“Really?”.

“Not really”. Jongin clicked on one item and showed it to Sehun, slightly rotating his laptop to Sehun’s side. “But I really want this one”.

Sehun read over the description and the image. One Hundred Years of Solitude, translated to English. It was a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He heard of that book a couple times, and the premise seemed interesting, but he never really got his hands to that book. 

“You have three sources of income now. What’s stopping you?”.

Jongin scoffed. “Two, actually. I’ve stopped doing people’s homework for money”. He then diverted his face at Sehun. “Am I going to receive a monthly paycheck from you too?”.

“Of course. Be good to your employer and you’ll receive a bonus”.

“That’s not fair. I should be good to my clients, not my employer”.

Sehun chuckled at his response. 

He got something on his mind, that propelled him to stand up and walk to the drink-maker table. Sehun boiled some water and took a bag of jasmine tea, putting it inside the cup. He actually didn’t really want to drink something; he just needed a moment of privacy. While waiting for the water, he pulled out his phone and opened the same e-commerce app that Jongin had just opened prior. He typed on the book’s title and scrolled through the page.

The exact book was already on his cart and ready to be checked out with just a few clicks. Sehun threw his gaze over to Jongin who was sitting across the room. The price wasn’t the problem—it wasn’t too expensive for him. Truthfully, he was a bit uneasy about the possibilities of Jongin’s reaction later. Would he see it all as too much? Sehun just wanted to give him something nice and be the reason behind his genuine smile. It felt like gambling, and the risk of him failing was more significant. At least that was what he assumed.

“Sehun?”.

Jongin’s voice broke his chain of thoughts into pieces, and that was when he realized—he was caught red-handed looking at Jongin continuously. Maybe Jongin could feel the stare that he called Sehun in the first place.

So, Sehun put on his most normal voice, “Yeah?”.

“Your suits. I’ve washed it”. Jongin bent to his left and took a paper bag from near the desk leg. He then placed it on Sehun’s desk. “Thanks, anyway”.

“No probs”. The heater generated a loud hissing way, and Sehun quickly pressed the off button. He poured the water into his cup until it almost reached the rim. The teabag he put beforehand reacted by spreading hues of scarlet red simultaneously into every direction, and Sehun accelerated the process by repeatedly drowning and pulling it by the string. He looked at his phone in his right hand once more.

He clicked on the checkout button. The face-id authentication scanned his face for payment confirmation. Done. Twenty five thousand won was just deducted from his bank account.

Sehun brought his teacup along with his phone back to his desk. He took a sip of it slowly, carefully, not wanting to burn his whole tasting sense, as he stole another glance from the corner of his eyes. Jongin was typing something on his laptop, and Sehun gulped the plain jasmine tea down—thinking what he had just done was nothing more than a convivial act from a friend.

~***~

When Seulgi first received Sehun’s chat regarding Chanyeol, her gut was heavy and twisted due to the unforeseen anxiety. There were so many layers to unpack. From how she should adjust the ‘good-girl image in front of his parents, to the way Chanyeol’s boyfriend agreed to do this matter (it seemed unreal that they could reach this point without one party being disheartened). But the straining effect grew into excitement, something that triggered her adrenaline-maker to pump it out on the maximum level. She didn’t even have class on Wednesday. Her answer was yes, and she found herself darted out from her class on Monday afternoon to the bus station near her campus.

She arrived at the designated place, a freshly opened food junction consisting of two spacious stories, just right before the promised time. 17:54. She used the remaining six minutes to order a hot chocolate from one of the stalls, texted Sehun where she was seated, and waited for Chanyeol to come.

When the time struck 18:00 sharp, Chanyeol was still nowhere to be seen. Seulgi sipped on her hot chocolate. She still could wait. It was impossible if Chanyeol didn’t come—she knew he needed this more than anything. Seulgi sat next to the iron and glass railing on the second story, and she was looking towards the first floor to kill some time. 

And yes, he did come eleven minutes late. 

“Seulgi?”.

The deep voice resurrected Seulgi from her daydream, and she looked up to the source. He was a very tall man with dyed dark-greyish hair, an oversized white hoodie, and a big grin on his face. 

Seulgi’s eyes widened—at this point, she would have the same big eyes as him when he was just looking ‘normal’—but she stood up, nevertheless. Though this guy was about the same height as Sehun and Jongin, still, she felt a bit awkward tilt her head upwards to look at him properly. 

“Hi, Chanyeol”, she offered her best smile along with her hands, and Chanyeol greeted it. His hand was obviously huge compared to Seulgi, but it was warm, like the smile that seemed never to leave his face.

Seulgi knew that she might not be able to forget Chanyeol’s smile at least in the next week. He looked like he had just won a ten-million-dollar lottery every time he beamed up. Even more, his cute dimples were adorable.

“Sorry for making you wait. The traffic was crazy”. He sat down, and Seulgi followed. “Oh my, you don’t know how relieved I am when I finally see you”.

“Really? Why so?”.

“Yeah. It’s very frustrating. Partly it was my fault because I promised to introduce my girlfriend to them soon”, he put both of his hands behind his head.

“Okay, but we need to make our story convincing”. It sounded weird for Seulgi to say our story when the man in front of her literally had a boyfriend. “Then you can say a few weeks after that you broke up with me or something. Not really feeling like a good match. Yadda yadda”.

“I can deal with that later”, Chanyeol said. “So. Tinder. Is that convincing? Many people met on Tinder nowadays”.

“Very much so—wait. I need to take a note on it”. Seulgi pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and opened the voice recorder app. She pressed the record button and put it on the table, between her hand and Chanyeol’s. “Okay, we met on Tinder. When?”.

“Hmm...two months ago? I think that’s a safe bet?”, Chanyeol looked up and hummed. “Like, if a few weeks later I told my parents that I broke up, they will not throw me much pity”.

“Cool. We met on Tinder two months ago. And how did we become a couple?”.

“What if you told them that you asked me to meet you first?”.

Seulgi chuckled right away. “Is there any special reason behind that?”.

“Not really”, Chanyeol smiled. “I just blurted out things sometimes”.

“Okay. I asked you to meet me after...two weeks of talking?”.

“Sounds great. Then I instantly fell in love and asked you out a week later”. Chanyeol looked directly at both of Seulgi’s eyes when he said those. She froze. It didn’t feel like a simulation to her.

“Okay...then we are...dating”, towards the end of the sentence, her voice became feebler. 

“Yeah. And I’ll tell them, the reason why I can’t introduce you before is that we were still in a grey area”.

“That’s plausible”. Seulgi took a sip on her hot chocolate. Her heart was beating so fast. Rather than acknowledging the reason in her consciousness, she avoided making eye contact with Chanyeol instead.

They went on and on talking about the possible details and questions that Chanyeol’s parents would ask. When Seulgi looked at her phone, the screen showed that they had talked for almost twenty minutes. That was so many words because they didn’t really take a long break in between the sentences.

“Chanyeol, can I ask you something?”, she finally told him after they were done with the story-making session.

“Sure”.

“Is your boyfriend really okay with this?”, Seulgi lowered her voice, enough to be audible for him. “I mean, I don’t want to come off as nosy. I just... It’s the first time I experienced this on-hand”.

Chanyeol let out a sigh and looked down to the table. “He agreed to this thing, you know? I suggested this idea because I was really frustrated, and I didn’t have a feasible option. My parents know who I hang out with, including the girls. I couldn’t find anyone that I think will be suitable for this ‘moment’. I feel like...he is way too mature”.

“And you don’t like it?”.

“Of course I love his maturity, but I...never think that he will reach this certain point”. He then held his chin with his right palm and frowned. “I can’t wait to celebrate my graduation with him”.

“That’s sweet. What are you both planning to do?”.

“Just us being us. Playing video games, going to karaoke, eating fast food. Nothing really spectacular. His presence is all I want”.

How Seulgi missed being in love after hearing how affectionate the tone in Chanyeol’s voice saying those sentences. Having someone who can bring her happiness simply by simply existing was a distant memory in her mind.

“Seulgi?”.

“Yes?”.

“Can we be friends after everything is over?”.

Seulgi shrugged her shoulder. “I...I have no problem with it, but I should discuss with others first”. She squinted her eyes while looking at him. “That was suspicious, to be honest. Are you trying to get your rental fee waived next time?”.

Chanyeol’s first response was to raise his lips into a huge smile, then he laughed. “No, of course not. It was because I know a good person when I see one”.

And when Chanyeol said that with his reassuring voice without taking his gaze off from Seulgi, she finally acknowledged why her heart was beating like a banging drum. 

~***~

Sehun closed his laptop’s lid and sighed. What a brain-wrecking essay he just wrote. He stretched both of his arms up with his fingers intertwined, eyes squeezed tight after looking at the screen for almost three hours. He stood up and walked to his bed where he put his phone. 

The numbers on his lock screen told him that it was 22:19. Several notifications were waiting to be clicked, but he went to their agency’s Instagram’s direct message first. Chanyeol sent them messages just a few minutes ago.

Hey, can I have another contact for tomorrow?

I mean, I won’t be using IG so much and the notification lags sometimes. Kakaotalk? iMess? 

Sehun shriveled his forehead, both of his hands held his phone on his knees. 

But he typed his Kakaotalk ID on the chat window and sent it to Chanyeol.

Just message me there in case there is something urgent tomorrow.

Chanyeol saw the message right away. A few seconds later, Sehun got a new notification from Kakaotalk.

Park CY

Test.

Oh Sehun

Ok.

Park CY

So you’re the admin and the owner too?

Oh Sehun

Yeah.

No more questions please.

Park CY

Okay, I’m sorry. 

I’ll text you again tomorrow about Seulgi.

Sehun left his message on read. Realizing that Chanyeol was the only one who added him, Sehun then added Chanyeol to his contact list. He clicked on Chanyeol’s profile, but he found nothing much. Just a usual mirror selfie as his profile picture and a solid pitch-black color as his profile’s background. 

Why would I hope to find something unusual, anyway?

He was about to open another notification when he remembered something.

Sehun opened the e-commerce app and clicked on his book order. Packing is still in progress. It might arrive two or three days later, and he was agitated about it somehow. Jongin’s FSS-schedule didn’t overlap with him on Friday. So, Monday it was. Still enough time to calm himself down and figure out what to say to Jongin.

He went back to his desk, specifically on the wall above it, where he stuck tons of things that meant so much for him. His eyes immediately landed on his photo with Luhan.

It was nice when it lasted, Luhan.

And without hesitation, he snatched it from the wall, giving it the final good stare for almost a minute, before he folded it and threw it to the trash can. 

~***~

The graduation took place in the main auditorium of the college. Every student could only bring two guests to the indoor auditorium, so the remaining guests were scattered outside. Thankfully, they provided two large TVs on the left and right sides of the main entrance so everyone could see what happened inside.

Seulgi asked Sehun to ask Chanyeol that morning about what kind of boundaries she shouldn’t pass physically today. Sehun forwarded his messages. Holding hands and hugging are okay. Kiss in any part is not. 

Okay, I got this. 

It took almost forever until, one by one, the student came out from the indoor auditorium. Seulgi stood up from her seat and waited for her next experience to unfold. She was nervous, though she wouldn’t meet Chanyeol’s parents anymore after this; something about lying to older people made her uneasy.

It was Chanyeol’s decision. He lied to his parents too.

She saw from the screen that Chanyeol and his parents were approaching the already-opened main door. Seulgi kept her back straight and put on her sweetest smile. 

Chanyeol looked around to search for Seulgi’s face. He then found her amongst the crowd, and without any hesitation, walked up to her while smiling ear to ear. His parents followed behind.

“Hey, have you been waiting for long?”.

If everything between them had never existed before, Seulgi would already tiptoe to kiss him right after he said those words. Though he might just ask her the fakest and the most boring question, the way his voice reverbed on her ears was like an oneiric melody.

But something was hindering her. So, she shook her head and smiled at him.

“It’s alright. Anything for you”.

Chanyeol giggled. He put his arm around Seulgi’s shoulder and turned around to his parents. Seulgi made eye contact with both of them while still smiling, then Chanyeol uttered the biggest lie that day,

“Mom. Dad, this is my girlfriend, Seulgi”.

~***~

Every word Chanyeol’s parents uttered to Seulgi was like a massive slap to her face.

No, they were not menacing or sinister—in fact, they were super friendly and kind to Seulgi. They asked Seulgi to address them as Uncle and Aunt Park right away. And that was precisely why it felt like a slap. A slap of guilt and regret. She missed this variable when she first excitedly thought about it. But she had agreed to do this with Chanyeol, and it would end soon after this ‘family’ lunch in this fancy restaurant was over. So, Seulgi was holding on to that while continued being soft-spoken to Chanyeol and his parents.

The meals were served not long after they were seated due to the prior reservation they had made before. Seulgi waited for Chanyeol’s parents and Chanyeol to eat first before she picked up the fork and the knife for herself. All the fake stories she had made with Chanyeol two days ago were ready to be released. She believed in the strength of her memory.

“Do you like the meal, Seulgi?”, Mrs. Park asked.

Seulgi immediately nodded. “It’s delicious”.

And they were back to eating again. Chanyeol looked at her from the corner of his eyes. So far, Seulgi had been acting natural, so he had not much to worry about.

“I’m relieved to see Chanyeol bring his girlfriend to us finally”, this time, Mr. Park was speaking. “He had been really closed off with that. I was worried”.

“Worried...?”, Seulgi asked hesitantly, almost knowing where this conversation would lead.

“Worried that he...you know”, Mr. Park raised his shoulders. “You know what I mean, Seulgi”.

Her guess was correct.

That Chanyeol didn’t like girls.

She looked at Chanyeol, who stopped his left hand that held a fork with a piece of potato at the end, just a few centimeters in front of his mouth. “Dad, don’t say that to Seulgi”, his tone was a tad higher.

“It’s okay”, Seulgi said, before exchanging gazes with Chanyeol. Are you alright? Seulgi raised one eyebrow. That’s fine, Chanyeol smiled.

“Well...”, Mr. Park swept his glance to both of them, while “How long has it been going, you two?”.

“We just really started dating for about a month”, Seulgi answered. 

“Really dating? So, it wasn’t dating before?”, Mrs. Park questioned before picking one small piece of the turkey with the fork and eating it.

“Nope, we met through Tinder two months ago. I can’t just date someone I never met”, Chanyeol looked over to Seulgi and smirked. Just like the script, Seulgi.

“Tinder?”.

“Dating apps”. Mr. Park then said, “Young people nowadays are meeting online, honey”. Both of Chanyeol’s parents laughed after that, so Seulgi and Chanyeol followed along—with their fake template laugh.

“Oh, pardon this old woman. I wasn’t really catching up with the trend”, the smile hadn’t left Mrs. Park’s face yet. “And, what happened next?”.

“I asked Chanyeol to meet me”, Seulgi stole the start before Chanyeol really had the chance to speak. “It was because...I really like him, and I thought, why not give it a try?”.

“And when I met Seulgi, I realized that I really like her too”, Chanyeol continued. Both of them were looking at each other and chuckled. “So...yeah. The rest is history”.

Mr. and Mrs. Park were giggling at their answers. “You asked him to meet you first? You must like him so much, Seulgi. What do you like so much about Chanyeol?”, his Dad asked.

Seulgi was stunned. This question was included in the script, of course. Only that she felt a bit anxious that now both of his parents were listening to her. 

“Chanyeol is very kind and friendly. He is a great companion too. Like, when we first talked, we instantly clicked. He treats me well, and he is such a well-mannered gentleman. I feel very safe and comfortable around him”. Seulgi kept her smile all along. She looked at Chanyeol, and she spotted a big smile on his face, along with an evident rosy-tint shade on his cheeks. It was cute. Even more when he put his hand over the top of Seulgi’s head, ruffled her hair, and gave it a harmless light knock afterward. 

That smile, that blush, and that gesture left Seulgi pondering whether Chanyeol was just putting an act or he really did that with his own will. 

And the uncertainty hastened the pace of her heart.

“It always enchants me to hear words from people in love”, Mrs. Park took her wine glass before she sipped on it, still in her graceful manner. “Seulgi, come to our home sometimes. You’re more than welcome there”. 

Seulgi, in a jiffy, choked on her chew. She coughed a few times, and her first thought was how to suppress it. She was about to reach out her hand to grab her glass of water. But Chanyeol offered one from her side. Seulgi took it, and gulped everything inside the glass down to before putting it back on the table.

. That was embarrassing.

“You okay?”, Chanyeol asked. Not only about the choking but also about his Mom’s question. Meanwhile, both Mr. and Mrs. Park were looking at her worriedly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry”. Seulgi regained her normal breathing pace again. “Yeah, I’m alright. I... I’ll think about that first, Aunt Park”.

“No, no, don’t think about it. Just come whenever you feel like it. We are very pleased to have you around too, isn’t it?”. Mrs. Park shifted her eyes into Mr. Park, and he nodded, agreeing to what his wife said.

“I’ll ask her later, Mom, Dad”, Chanyeol said. “Seulgi is still in her fourth year. She might be busy at times”.

Mrs. Park opened her purse and took out her phone. She unlocked it, pressed on several times, and handed it to Seulgi. 

“Put your number here, Seulgi. We can invite you for dinner, sometimes. Just something casual, okay?”.

Seulgi and Chanyeol never saw this coming. At all.

Propelled by the same thought, both rotated their heads simultaneously, at the same pace, while trying to communicate through their eyes.

Seulgi, don’t do that.

I’ll do it.

No, Seulgi, don’t!

Seulgi broke her eye contact with Chanyeol to smile at Mrs. Park. “Of course, Aunt Park”. When she took her phone to type her number, she could see the text, and the numbers were hazy due to her trembling hands. “Here”, she gave Mrs. Park’s phone back to her.

“Thank you, Seulgi”.

Seulgi nodded.

And Chanyeol secretly squeezed the table cloth as hard as he could. 

~***~

The heavenly-hellish event of the day was finally over. Chanyeol took a really relieving move for Seulgi when he asked his parents to excuse them first because he ‘still can’t get enough of each other yet’. Accompanied with their impish look, Mr. and Mrs. Park agreed to Chanyeol’s decision. They drove away while Chanyeol still had one hand around Seulgi’s waist and another one waving at them from the back. 

When they disappeared entirely from his sight, Chanyeol took his hand away from her. He pulled Seulgi under the lush tree on the parking lot.

“Seulgi, oh my god—I’m sorry about what my Dad and Mom said earlier. I didn’t expect Mom to ask for your number”, he palmed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. “But why did you give Mom your number? It wasn’t part of the plan”.

“So, what do you want me to do? Say to her that we’re just pretending to be a couple?”, Seulgi said. “I can manage that, but how about you and your boyfriend? What kind of excuse are you going to give him next time?”.

Chanyeol shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t know. I... I’ll figure out later and talk to him”. And he was genuinely lost. He didn’t know how to keep dragging this plan and when he should stop. “I’ll keep paying for the rent in case my Mom invites you to home”.

“No. You don’t have to do that. Don’t you say we will be friends after all of this is over?”.

“Yeah, but when you visit my home, you become my girlfriend. I should be responsible for that”, his gaze was stern on Seulgi.

Seulgi felt like giving up too much today, but that was the only sensible option. “Fine. I’ll tell my boss about this”.

“Now give me your number. If Mom misses you, I’ll contact you right away before she does. I’ll talk to your boss too, if needed”.

She did what Chanyeol asked by typing her number on his phone.

“Thank you. Do you take the bus? Or the subway?”.

“Subway”.

“I’ll go with you”.

“No, I can go with myself”.

“Come on, let me treat you good like a well-mannered gentleman once”.

Seulgi chuckled and flung her fist up, pretending to hit his arm, while Chanyeol guffawed. She let Chanyeol walk next to her to the nearest subway station.

Now that the restraining girlfriend-boyfriend label was waived from them, Seulgi could feel a lot lighter while talking to Chanyeol. Aside from that, there was something about Chanyeol that made her comfortable telling him about her daily life. Her college major, her favorite coffee order, her favorite music genre. Chanyeol, too, didn’t hesitate to respond to her story. When it was funny, he laughed; when it was intriguing, he asked more questions about it. He was both a great listener and a great talker. 

And Seulgi liked that about him.

She almost forgot that a few hours ago she just wished for everything to be over.

But then it changed. She wished the road to the subway station was long enough for Chanyeol to tell his entire tale, long enough for Seulgi to open up about her past. And when she remembered that there would be next time with Chanyeol—it was enough to cease the worry from her heart.

Only some of it.

They stopped a few meters after climbing the steps.

“I feel like I can’t thank you enough for saving my life today. You’re doing a very excellent job that not only impresses me but my parents too”.

Seulgi half-smiled at his words. “We both agree that it was beyond our prediction”.

“But still”, Chanyeol scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry if all of this really makes you uncomfortable. Promise it won’t happen too much”.

“Don’t say that. It’s part of my job”, she tilted her head, now giving him her full smile.

Chanyeol smiled at her too. He patted Seulgi’s shoulder and said, “I hope we can be good friends after this, okay?”.

“Of course, we will”.

And that was the goodbye for today.

Seulgi watched as Chanyeol walked away from her, swallowed by the stairs bit by bit, until there was no trace of him could be seen anymore. She finally let a loud sigh, resting her back to the wall and closing her eyes.

Are you sure you wanna do this, Seulgi? What if things get messy at the end?

Sehun’s voice was so clear resonated in her head. The event she had with Chanyeol today was the beginning of chaos. Seulgi didn’t know how much damage it would cause yet, but at some point, she could see herself filling her head with the thoughts of Chanyeol while hurting at the same time.

No, there will be no chaos if I don’t say anything to anyone, she tried her best to reassure herself.

~***~

The initial reason Jongin wanted to be a partner for rent was that he thought, the best thing to fill the fathomless void he had in every cell of his body was validation. External, to be precise. He figured out that curiosity had been added under the term of external validation. People wouldn’t be curious about something mundane. That was the concept he inducted. 

And he was right, up until this moment. 

This week he had a client named Sooyoung, a third-year college student. When she met him for the first time, Jongin knew Sooyoung was usually the type of person he avoided the most. Too bubbly, too energetic, too colorful. Sooyoung viewed the world from rainbow-tinted lenses, while Jongin was satiated with his darkest sunglasses. And what for? All those positivities did nothing but stir Jongin’s gut into repugnance. He always hated that. He thought preparing for the worst was the best-proven way to live because lower expectations led to a lower risk of getting hurt. That was why every second of Sooyoung’s laugh was a torment for him, especially when the only thing he could do was to train his stiff facial muscle by constantly smiling. 

But then, she gave him what he precisely needed.

Sehun had been giving him the screenshot of their chats, about she wished to rent Jongin for a week in a row. She did actually request it by filling the actual form. But, there was a long line-up behind Sooyoung already. People had been waiting to rent Jongin since there were intriguing positive testimonials and perhaps, word of mouth from one of his clients. 

When Sehun discussed this with him, Jongin took the less-threatening route. He agreed to let Sooyoung rent him this Saturday. The prime time for renting since everyone had their own errands to run on weekdays. And if she wanted to rent him again, she had to compete with everyone else. 

Seulgi Kang

Be careful, don’t catch feelings for her

KJ

The only thing I’m catching is the bag and the validation

Seulgi Kang

JKFHKJSH8374829@?$?#?@$>!@

Oh Sehun

Jongin????

Jongin put his phone back in the pocket of his jeans. He looked at himself once again in the mirror, wrapped in casual attire with a predominant nuance of black. His fingers went through the strands of his bangs. Sehun was right. He needed to cut his hair soon. Maybe after the date with Sooyoung this afternoon.

~***~

Sooyoung’s request that day was to stroll inside the shopping mall. There was an open-space-themed cafe at the tallest part of this mall, where they offered a city-scape panorama as another embellishment for the guest’s eyes, that she wished to visit by the end of their date together. So, here Jongin was, being dragged from store to store with Sooyoung’s hand chained around his arms. 

“Oppa, you said you are from social science, right?”. Sooyoung asked that out of nowhere when they were inside one of the biggest clothing stores in this mall, specifically at the women’s clothing section. She was staring at one yellow dress before taking it off from the rack.

“Yeah, why?”, Jongin answered from her side.

“The guy I used to date was social science graduate too, I just remembered”.

“Do I remind you of him?”.

“Not until I recall your major. I’m in nursing school and I didn’t have plenty of friends from social science, so...you both stood out in my memory”. She walked away to another rack that caught her attention. “But you’re so different with him. You’re really nice...and he was a jerk”.

“Huh? What did he do?”.

“I didn’t know that he already had a girlfriend before me when he asked me out!”.

“What?”, Jongin was gaping, but he closed off his mouth shortly afterward.

“We...we met through Twitter”. Sooyoung looked up to him. His face was still flat like before, thankfully. “I know that’s weird. Please don’t judge me”.

“I’ve seen much worse”, he shrugged his shoulder. “Then, you broke up with him?”.

“His first girlfriend caught us when I was in his place. He lost two of his girlfriends that day”, Sooyoung caressed one fluffy crop sweater, and sneaked her hand through the collar to see the price tag. Damn, expensive as hell. She chose to walk away.

“That...was terrible. For you and the first girlfriend, I mean. But he deserves losing you both”. Jongin rested both of his palms on the rack’s pole.

“Yeah, and a knock on the ground too”.

“Who...knocked who?”.

“The first girlfriend. She was so strong. She easily punched that jerk and knocked him though she was small”, she sighed. “Her slap was terribly painful too”.

“She slapped you?”.

“I kinda deserve it, I guess”, Sooyoung chuckled. “For stealing her man. Though the door was opened wide with a huge ‘taste me!’ sign on it”.

Jongin erased the few steps between him and Sooyoung, and he stopped right next to her left. “Are you alright now?”.

“It’s okay! Just a little bump on the road”. She flashed her huge grin before she nudged Jongin’s arm with her elbow. Sooyoung grabbed the long, red flashy dress by the end. She then took it off from the rail along with the hanger. “Oppa, does this dress look good on me?”, Sooyoung held the hanger next to her shoulder, eyes scanning for Jongin’s approval.

Jongin took a few seconds before he nodded. “Sure. It matched your skin tone well”. He decided not to carry on with the previous topic.

“I’m gonna save up to buy it next month, then”. Sooyoung put the dress back on the rack.

“By continuously renting me for a whole week?”.

Sooyoung laughed. “What can I say, you’re really attractive and I like you”. She grabbed Jongin’s arm and brought him along with her. “Come on, Oppa. Let’s see the shoes section”.

Jongin scoffed as he let Sooyoung drag him away. 

~***~ 

Another Saturday night, another date. Though the date took place somewhere within forty minutes of commute, Seulgi wasn’t really bothered about that. She left her flat with a face thoroughly brushed in make-up, and body wrapped in a very thoughtful and coordinated outfit. The state of being pretty and hot made her feel so good about herself. She walked for a few minutes to the subway station and waited for a few feet behind the flocks of passengers. 

The train arrived five minutes later, just like what was inscribed on the screen. As it stopped, the door opened, and an avalanche of people was stepping out.

Seulgi made her way closer when people started to walk in.

But her step halted when her eyes caught something she never thought would happen in a million years.

Jongin was walking out with a girl from the same door she was about to get in, arms linked with each other, until he landed his eyes on Seulgi and startled.

“Seulgi?”, Jongin called her.

Seulgi’s mouth was sealed. She pierced her eyes at the girl beside Jongin, who looked more aghast than Jongin. Like she just saw a ghost. 

The same pain Seulgi felt on the day she got her heart broken came visiting her chest once more, prickling and tearing it apart.

Consumed by the shock, Seulgi ended up not saying anything and went inside, walking towards the very end of this train and sitting on the empty seat. She adjusted her breathing into a more regular pace by counting the seconds she inhaled and exhaled. 

So, the Sooyoung girl who’s obsessed with Jongin was the girl Baekhyun cheated her on?

It shouldn’t feel like a torment anymore, but Seulgi found herself clenching hard into the fabric of her skirt, dunking her head lower to her lap, and wished that this was just an alternate universe that she didn’t belong to. 

~***~