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“L.Joe?!” you exclaimed, unconsciously raising your voice. L.Joe stared at you with a puzzled look, “Smoothie girl?”

The Lees exchanged looks with your mom, utterly confused as to why you two were acting as if you were long lost friends.

“Oh god, what are you doing here?” you asked with eyes as wide as saucers. “What are you doing here?” he shot back, eyebrows furrowed.

You blinked, caught off guard, *Oh right. What am I doing here? He doesn’t know I’m actually filthy rich!*

To make things worse, your mom explained it to him, “Well, obviously she’s the daughter of one of the most popular models in the world, Nam Kyungmi.”

You mentally slapped yourself, *Why do you have to in, mom?* “Seriously? You must be kidding!” L.Joe said, rubbing his temple.

“Lee Byunghun! Don’t be rude!” Mrs. Lee scolded, smacking his head. “Mom!” you whined, your anger and confusion clumping together.

“Please excuse us for a minute,” your mom politely bowed and dragged you elsewhere; somewhere private.

As soon as the both of you couldn’t be seen by the Lees, your mother released your hand and put her hand on her forehead, sighing, “Didn’t I tell you to behave?”

“I did my best,” you shrugged nonchalantly.

She sighed once again; only this time, heavier. “How in the world did you know him?” she interrogated suspiciously.

You couldn’t possibly tell her ‘I know this is weird but I met him at some restaurant and actually found out that he’s a gangster like me’, could you?

“Oh, just a coincidence, you know?” you answered, looking at anything but her. She exhaled heavily before collecting herself up, “Alright. I expect you to behave after this, do you hear me?”

“Why’d I do that?” you asked, challenging her.

“Because you’ll be engaged with him,” your mom reasoned simply as if you’d known this a long time ago.

“What?!” you cried out. The word kept replaying in your head like a string of melody. Engaged. Engaged. Engaged. ENGAGED.

After she left you, you stood on your spot motionlessly, processing everything. *I’ve got to do something. Fast.*

The next day, you went to school as always. Truthfully, you didn’t even feel like going since a lot of things were running in your mind right now.

And a lot means a lot.

On your way to your class, you debated mentally whether you should attend the class or not.

And the second one sounded perfect to you.

Back in the class, Nami scanned her surrounding with a worried look on her face. To her relief, she saw Kwangmin enter the classroom as usual.

Except for the fact that he was abnormally late.

“Kwangmin!” Nami squealed, smacking his arm. He cringed in pain before glancing at Nami, “What a nice way to greet people in the morning.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, whatever. Have you seen ~~~~~~?” “Uh…no. Why?” he responded, arching an eyebrow at her.

“Ooo, now I feel bad. Where is she?” Nami panicked, rubbing her forehead worriedly, “Is she in danger? Could she be involved in an accident?! Oh my god I gotta—”

“Whoa, whoa! Hold up! Don’t think like that. She’ll be okay,” Kwangmin assured, patting her shoulder. “But…” Nami pouted sadly.

“Sit and calm down. I’ll go look for her,” Kwangmin pushed her down onto her seat and rushed out.

Once Kwangmin was out, Nami stared at the open door, “What’s wrong with him? He’s never been this worried before…”

“How nice…” you mumbled, smiling, “this is what I call, tranquility.” You exhaled loudly as you observed the fluffy clouds hanging in the sky.

Skipping class was apparently a good choice. You could clear your head and release all of those worries.

Speaking of worries, the thought of last night’s scene came back to you.

Your eyes popped open; pondering about it. Instead of tossing your worries away, you brought them back to your head. *Why does my life have to be this difficult?*

“I knew you’d be here,” a voice came out of nowhere.

Your eyes traveled sideways, catching a pair of brown orbs. “Kwangmin? What’re you doing here?” you questioned, dumbfounded.

He raised his eyebrow, “Shouldn’t it be me who’s asking you that?” “Oh, I guess…” you shrugged tiredly.

Sensing your unusual behavior, Kwangmin cocked his head to the side, “Hey? You okay?” “Huh? Yeah, perfectly fine,” you said, not so enthusiastically.

“You’re not convincing me,” he sighed, settling himself beside you.

“I guess I’m not,” you absent-mindedly said, staring back at the sky. “Hey, is there a problem? Are you sick?” he asked, peering at you.

You responded to his gaze and smiled weakly, “Nah. You don’t need to worry.”

“I know I shouldn’t,” he began, locking eyes with you, “but I couldn’t help it.”

At that moment, you swore your heart fluttered a bit. For a second, you could see pure sincerity in his eyes.

You looked down, ceasing to look at him, “Thanks?”

“I don’t expect you to spill your problems to me but at least let me stay beside you,” he continued, turning his head from you.

“Why’d you do that, Jo Kwangmin?” you inquired, blinking rapidly. “Don’t you think that’d at least be comforting?” he asked for your opinion.

“Maybe,” you muttered. “So, I’ll stay here until you feel better,” he said, letting his back land on the floor.

“Why are you being nice to me so suddenly?” you brought up, bewildered by his change of attitude.

“I’m not sure myself,” he shrugged casually, “Maybe I feel bad for you? I don’t know. Might as well find out later.”

You nodded, resting your head in between your intertwined fingers.

You didn’t know why but somehow his words were effective. You did feel better. And honestly, you liked this side of him better.

...At least, it’s less tiring.

“Crap, I forgot to inform Nami about you,” Kwangmin slapped his forehead for being forgetful. “I’ll just text her later,” you told him while swinging your backpack over your shoulder.

“Okay then. Shall we go home?” he asked, acting as if he was some kind of a chauffeur. “Sure, sure,” you replied, rolling your eyes.

“Before that, shall we go grab some lunch?” Kwangmin asked, smiling.

“Kwangmin, it’s past 3 already. Is that even considered as lunch?” you stated, contemplating about it. “I don’t know,” he replicated, shrugging his shoulders.

“Alright, let’s just go. I’m too hungry to even think about it,” you shook your head.

“By the way,” Kwangmin started as the two of you walked along the sidewalk, “Last Saturday, who’s that guy?” He sounded hesitant.

“Oh, L.Joe?” you glanced at him, “he’s a friend of mine.”

Hearing your answer, he immediately halted to a stop. You skidded to a stop too and looked over your shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

He stared at you with his adorable wide eyes, “So…he’s not your boyfriend?” “Uh…no?” you chuckled, “C’mon. I’m hungry.”

He effortlessly caught up with you in no time.

After a few minutes, you’ve finally arrived at your destination.

There were just a few inches of space between your hand and the handle of the door yet it seemed so far away when a voice called out to you.

“~~~~~~-ah! Is that you?!”

You guess…filling your empty stomach up could wait?

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