“I can’t believe it. There are even more people today than there were yesterday.”

I nodded at Nam Gyu’s comment. Jinyoung, Baro and Sandeul were working the morning shift with me, while Shinwoo and Gongchan were in the afternoon shift. We decided to split them into two groups, because Seul Mi said there were noticeably more customers (read: GIRLS) during their shift yesterday, and after they left, less people came. So now Gongchan and Shinwoo were in the kitchen, pestering Sandeul as they waited for their shift.

A few moments later I saw a familiar face go in, then seat herself at one of the tables near the back. It was Choi Jungsun, the girl who had helped Jinyoung yesterday. She was a really pretty kid. She had a heart-shaped face, framed by straight black hair that ended just above her shoulders. She came in alone, and her gaze was directed at one person: Jinyoung.

But Jinyoung has hands full serving customers, and everyone else was busy except me, and besides, Jungsun wasn’t in his station anyway. I fished for my notepad, then decided to approach her myself.

“Good morning,” I said as soon as I got closer.

She looked at me blankly for a moment, then brightened. “Unnie! Hi, good morning!”

I smiled. “Everyone’s busy, but if you’d like, I can take your order.”

She shook her head. “Thank you, but if it’s all right, I’d like Jinyoung oppa to take my order instead.”

Brave kid, I thought. Saying it outright like that.

“Um…You know, this isn’t Jinyoung’s station,” I told her. “His station is over there,” I said, pointing to a group of currently occupied tables. “So even if you wait here, he can’t talk to you.”

“Really?” She looked down and pouted, looking really dejected.

I felt bad for her. “Tell you what. I’ll tell Jinyoung to come here, once he’s available. I’m sure he would want to thank you again for helping him yesterday. It might take long, but…”

“That would be great. Thanks a lot unnie.” She smiled at me, and I smiled back. “Can I ask you a question, though?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“You and Jinyoung oppa. Do you have a relationship?”

I think I almost choked. “I beg your pardon?”

She looked straight at me. “Is oppa your boyfriend?”

“N-No.”

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“No.” This kid…why was she asking those questions?

“Oh. Okay then.” For some reason she looked extremely pleased. I turned to leave, and it wasn’t until I was nearly at the kitchen that I turned back. Choi Jungsun was still smiling softly to herself. She must have sensed I was looking though, because she looked at and stared straight at me with those big doll-eyes. She smiled, and as she did, a felt a sudden cold wave course through my entire body, even though I was standing in a patch of sunlight.  I looked down at my arms.

I even had goose bumps.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Are you scared, Baro?” Sandeul asked in a loud whisper, giggling as the person in question squirmed in his seat, unable to decide which one to cover first—his eyes or his ears.

“I’m not scared.”

“Then why are you hiding behind my shoulder like that?”

“I…uh…I’m just worried for you. In case you get scared.”

“But I’m not scared. So you can let go now.”

“Shut up.”

I buried my face in my hands, barely containing my laughter. A few people shushed us. I met Jinyoung’s eyes in the dark. He held a finger over his lips, but I could see that he was laughing too.

We were spending our afternoon at a movie booth. They were showing one of my favorite horror movies. Baro said he didn’t want to watch it but after Sandeul’s endless questions of whether or not he was scared, he decided to man up and go to the movie room with us. But now, not even ten minutes into the movie, he was already cowering in his chair, hiding behind Sandeul, and still insisting he wasn’t scared.

Yeah, right.

After the movie, we made our way back to the café. Baro and Sandeul walked ahead of us. Sandeul was still teasing Baro about being scared.

“I said I wasn’t scared.”

“Suuuure, you aren’t. You hugged me pretty tightly the whole time!”

“That wasn’t hugging, I was actually choking you.”

“Really? That’s strange then, because it sure felt like a hug. Wanna do it again?” Sandeul held his arms out to Baro, who took one look at him and ran away. Sandeul chased him, leaving me with Jinyoung, who was watching them, amused.

“Did you have a chance to talk to Jungsun?” I asked.

“Who? Oh…Jungsun…” He nodded. “Yeah, we talked a little, just before our shift ended.”

“What did you talk about?”

“She asked me out again.”

I coughed. “Really?” Wow…Jungsun’s really brave. She even came to the café just to ask Jinyoung out.

“I said no.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to go out with her. She said she understood.”

We helped clean up after he café closed, then started our walk home. We were nearly at the school gate, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I checked my bad, but everything seemed to be in order. I rifled through it again, just to be sure. My uniform, my tumbler, an extra shirt, three key chains… I stopped cold, then counted again. A duck, a puppy, a bear. Jinyoung’s fox key chain wasn’t in my bag.

“I have to go back, I think I left something.”

“What is it? We’ll help you get it,” Shinwoo offered.

I shook my head. “You better stay here. I won’t be long.” I ran back, tracing my earlier paths that day. The rooms, thankfully, weren’t locked yet, and I found a janitress who agreed to wait for me while I searched.

But still, I couldn’t find it. I racked my brains for anything else that might help. I remembered taking the key chain out earlier. I was in the girl’s room then. Could I have dropped it there? I checked all the girl’s rooms, but I didn’t find it. I started to go back, feeling guilty about it. Jinyoung would be so disappointed to know I lost his key chain, when I was supposed to keep it safe with me at all times.

I stepped out and saw them by the gate. Right at the moment my eyes locked on Jinyoung, I saw him slump to the ground. He had fainted. I started to run, but before I could get there, another girl approached him.  It was Jungsun. She was helping him stand up when I got near enough to hear them.

“Are you okay, oppa?”

“Yes, I’m okay,” Jinyoung said. He smiled at Jungsun. It was a gentle smile, the same one he used to give me every time.

“Jinyoung,” I called out. “What happened?”

He looked at me, then turned away, as if I wasn’t important. “Nothing, I’m fine.  Did I scare you, Jungsun? I’m sorry.”

“T-That’s okay,” Jungsun said. “But are you sure you’re fine? Maybe you need to go to the hospital.”

Jinyoung stood up, pulling her up as well. “I’m fine, trust me. Do you want me to walk you home?”

What was happening? Why was Jinyoung suddenly so nice to her?

Jungsun was clearly taken aback. “W-well, I’d like that, but my dad’s here. He’ll take me home. Thanks for offering, though.” She looked at me, looking as confused as I felt. I gave her a wary smile, betraying what I was feeling inside. “Take care though.”

He started to walk with her, but I cleared my throat. “Jinyoung. We have to go home.”

He looked at me blankly, and for a moment I felt scared. It was the first time he looked at me like that. Then his attention was on Jungsun again.

“Go home, oppa. Take some rest, maybe you just worked too hard today.”

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? But I thought…you didn’t want to go out with me…”

“Why would you think that?” Jinyoung asked. “I’m here for you, always. I can spend the whole day with you tomorrow, if you want.”

“Really?” Jungsun looked at me. “Would that be okay, unnie?”

Jinyoung answered before I could speak. “You don’t need to ask her permission. I’ll spend the day with you if you want me to.”

Okay, ouch. That hurt.

“Okay then!” Jungsun answered happily. A car honked its horn, and she bit her lip. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow, oppa! Bye!”

“Take care, Jungsun! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Jinyoung waved at her, and followed her with his eyes, even as her car drove away. Then he turned to me, and I took an involuntary step back.

“How come I go home with you, and not with my owner?” he asked.

Shinwoo, Sandeul, Baro and Gongchan stared at each other, then at Jinyoung, then at me, and back to Jinyoung. I didn’t need to look at myself to know that the very expression of shock and disbelief on their faces was mirrored in mine. And in our minds was the same question.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

comments?