“Did we order crabs?” Chanhee asked as some of their food arrived, Changmin looked up from his phone and nodded.

“How are you going to eat them now, Ahyoung-ah?” Changmin mused at his cousin who was already scrunching her nose at the bowl of chili crab.

“Are you allergic?” Chaerin asked her, Juyeon was seated across Ahyoung as he looked at the girl.

“She’s not seated with her brother. And she refuses to use her bare hands in public.” Changmin snickered before digging in.

“Why? It’s fine, it’s just us.” Kevin urged.

“It’s not that, it’s…hard to get rid of the smell on your fingertips. I hate it.” She mumbled as she proceeded to get some chicken for herself instead, Younghoon glanced at her.

“Do you want some? I can do it.” He offered, Juyeon and Chanhee looked up from their plates.

“It’s fine, oppa. I don’t feel like having them.” She mused as she put chicken on his plate as well, the older male smiled at her and nodded.

“Chaerin-ah, you’re not allergic, are you?” Hyunjae asked as he picked up a piece of crab, the girl shook her head.

“No, I can eat them.”

“Then I’ll open this one for you.” Hyunjae said with a smile, Chaerin could only stare at him.

“No, s—sunbae, it’s fine. I can~”

“Oppa, I can’t do it.” Ahyoung blurted out as she raised the crab leg with her spoon, she was frowning. Kevin chuckled on his seat, while Chanhee looked on.

“Hey, you’re old enough to do that.” Hyunjae pointed out as he put the opened crab on Chaerin’s plate.

Juyeon raised his hand, but Younghoon sat up and slowly pulled the spoon towards him.

“I told you I’d do it.” He mused at her, Chanhee watched as Juyeon slowly picked up his spoon again.

“Hmm.” Chanhee murmured to himself as he bit on his lamb skewer.

“So, you and Ahyoung are seatmates?” Hyunjae spoke to the girl again, Chaerin shook her head.

“No, she sits next to Juyeon.” Her reply was simple and short. And that was it. Hyunjae eyed his plate and frowned, the girl didn’t seem to want to talk to him. He glanced at his sibling who was chatting with Younghon and Changmin as they ate.

“Do you want more crab?” He spoke again, but Chaerin only shook her head and continued eating. Hyunjae grew pouty and proceeded to talk to Chanhee instead.

“But you don’t like how it smells.” Younghoon said as Ahyoung reached for the calamari.

“But the sauce seems interesting.” She said as she popped a piece of it in , Juyeon looked at her with raised brows.

“Not so interesting now, huh?” Younghoon grabbed a couple of napkins for her, not feeling Chanhee’s eyes on them as he chatted with Ahyoung’s older brother.

“Just slurp it in with soda.” Juyeon mused in between chews, Ahyoung’s lips curled, and she pulled her cola closer and took a long sip.

“Hey, you hate octopus.” Younghoon said, but the girl only shrugged before grinning at Juyeon.

“Good advice, Lee Juyeon.”

Juyeon winked at her before going back to his meal.

Ahyoung ran her fingers through her damp hair as she stood before the opened fridge, she leaned down to grab the carton of milk.

“I heard that Jung Jaehyun was in campus today, you good?” Her brother strolled in, already dressed in a matching 101 Dalmatians pajama set.

“Of course, I am. Milk?” She said, the older male nodded and Ahyoung got two glasses for them.

“I really thought..things were okay between you two, and~”

“Let’s not talk about him, oppa. Please.” The girl said as she poured milk for them, Hyunjae smiled and leaned against the counter.

“Good choice. So, you and Juyeon are pretty tight, huh?”

“He’s a good friend.” Ahyoung said as she pushed his glass towards him, Hyunjae nodded along and took small sips.

“I approve.” He spoke as Ahyoung sat on one of the chairs.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, Hyunjae wiggled his brows at her.

“Why can’t I just have a guy friend with no one thinking too much about it? I’m so done with that .” She muttered under her breath, loud enough for her brother to hear.

“Okay, subject has been dropped.”

Ahyoung waved him off and finished her glass.

“But, Ahyoung-ah,” He cleared his throat, his sister turned to look at him.

“Your friend…Chaerin, she’s really quiet, huh?” He coolly asked, Ahyoung tilted her head at him.

“No, she’s…quite the chatterbox, oppa.” She let out a small laugh, not sensing the tension from her brother.

“Well, she probably just doesn’t want to talk to you.” Ahyoung chuckled before going back to her room, Hyunjae pursed his lips and put the glasses by the sink.

“Brat.”

“Hi, Baecob.”

Jacob looked up as Ahyoung put her tray down beside his, the older male smiled and made more room for her.

“I was starting to think you forgot about me after making new friends.” He mused at her as Younghoon sat across the two.

“I would never.” She replied as she started moving her rice around.

“Don’t you seniors have exams? You two seem relaxed.” Ahyoung said as she nibbled on a piece of kimchi.

“We do, but we get to have a study period after lunch, so, we’re good.” Younghoon said to her, Hyunjae arrived and paused, seeing his sister.

“What?” She mouthed at him; Jacob chuckled.

“I didn’t see you at breakfast. Where were you?”

“Ah, I asked Juyeon to come pick me up, we have this report we need to finish before first period. We ate at a nearby food stall.” She replied, Younghoon’s eyes went to the girl briefly.

“Abeoji was looking for you.”

“I…don’t care?” Ahyoung blinked back at him, Hyunjae sighed and started eating. Ahyoung glanced up when Younghoon called her.

“I could have driven you to school earlier,” He softly said, the girl smiled and shook her head.

“Oppa, you have exams. And, I don’t want to disturb you.” She mused as she picked up her spoon and started eating.

“You..You were a little rude to him.” Chanhee said, the group was seated four tables away from Hyunjae’s usual table. Chaerin glanced over her shoulder and winced.

“He just wanted to talk. You do know that sunbae has always been sociable.” Chanhee murmured as Kevin sat down across them.

“He’s right.”

Chaerin sighed and puffed her cheeks, she stared at her sandwich with unease. Moments later, Changmin and Juyeon arrived.

“Did you manage to turn in the report earlier? I was worried about it.” Chanhee asked as Juyeon plopped down.

“Professor Shin has a tendency to..blow her top off when we ask for extensions. Like, she hasn’t given us fifty chapters to read about one topic.” Kevin muttered in agreement.

“We did. Don’t worry about it.” Juyeon said, Changmin took the seat across him.

“Do you think…He probably thinks I’m a brat now, huh?” Chaerin spoke, Kevin chuckled.

“He’s probably used to brats, isn’t he Ahyoung’s brother?” Chanhee pointed out between bites of his food, Chaerin gave him the finger and he waved her off.

Juyeon caught her gaze and Chaerin raised her brows at him.

“What’s up?” She mouthed at him, Juyeon looked at the empty chair beside him.

“Ah, she’s over there.” Chaerin replied as she jutted her lips at the other table where Ahyoung was. Juyeon followed her gaze and saw Ahyoung and Younghoon chatting over lunch.

“She’s not eating with us?” Changmin voiced out, Chaerin shook her head.

“I think Younghoon sunbae invited her over.”

Juyeon glanced at the table again and nodded to himself. Chanhee followed his friend’s gaze and his brows went up.

“More like, I think he guilt-tripped her to join them.” Chanhee murmured under his breath before finishing his sandwich.

Haneul glanced at Sera and their two other classmates as they went down the stairs, they had gym for the next class, and students were asked to be at the indoor court.

“I saw her talking with that ridiculously good-looking guy.” Sera mused as they crossed the school lawn.

“Maybe that’s why she transferred?” Their other friend giggled, Haneul wanted to roll her eyes, during the game some of their schoolmates had tried to discreetly take photos of Ahyoung’s new friend. Of course, Haneul was aware that he was nice to look at, very nice actually, but her friends and other students would not stop talking about him.

“You know him, huh? I’m sure Ahyoung would have introduced you.” She was nudged by Sera, Haneul slowly nodded in return.

“How is he in real life?”

The question didn’t make any sense, they also did see him in real life.

“Handsome?” Haneul offered, Sera was about to slap her arm when they entered the gym, the girl exhaled and quickly made a beeline for the vending machine. She couldn’t reach Ahyoung over the weekend, and she was certain that seeing Jaehyun again disturbed her.

“You told me she no longer cares.” A voice suddenly disturbed her thoughts, she turned just as Ahyoung’s ex-boyfriend stood beside her.

“It is true, she doesn’t.”

“Then, why was she at the game?” Jaehyun replied, Haneul exhaled and tutned to him.

“She wasn’t aware which team her school was playing against~”

“You actually think I’d believe that? She was never interested in basketball; she was there for a reason.”

Haneul took her drink and met his gaze.

“Look, sunbae, I really have no idea why. It’s probably because her friends asked her.” Haneul shrugged at him. Jaehyun paused, his forehead creasing.

“You…..Do you know him?” He quietly asked.

“Who?”

“The guy who had his arm around her.”

Haneul paused, at this rate Juyeon could run prom king in their school, and win.

“Oh, well, it could be because of him.” She replied instead.

“What?”

“Why she was at the game. Probably because of him.”

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