“What was that?” Baekhyun asked as he slumped himself on her couch.

“What?” Jinri snarled back at him—eyes glaring dangerously—and Baekhyun knew better not to prod her any more.

“Nothing,” Baekhyun mumbled as he got his sweater out of his head, leaving him only in his black shirt with silver skull embroidery in the front, revealing his well defined arms. He threw the expensive sweater on the coat hanger and pumped his fist on the air when it successfully landed on the hanger.

“Where are the others?” Jinri questioned; eyes watching Baekhyun intently while the guy simply hummed lowly while ping his bag open.

“Soojung is still sick, Sunyoung is out on a sudden Friday date, and Sehun… Well, you know how Sehun is. If Soojung isn’t around, he would rather study on his own than with us,” he answered nonchalantly, as if he didn’t know what is wrong with him being the only one who showed up in her flat on the supposedly group study.

“I guess that leave me only with you then. If you have said so, we’d rather study together in the library or our usual café. Jongin-oppa will kill me if he knew this. Kyungsoo-oppa had told him not to let me be alone with a guy in the flat,” Jinri said matter-of-factly as she walked to the kitchen.

“Corrections: he will kill me if he knew. Kyungsoo will kill him if he dares to lay a finger on you,” Baekhyun hollered—so that she could hear him—with eyes deflecting the lights from his newly- laptop. Jinri rolled her eyes hearing his remarks, but then, she remembered that he couldn’t see him since she was in the kitchen. Sigh escaped her lips while she poured the boiling water into the tea pot. After grabbing a bag of chips, she came back into the living room with the tea.

“I’ve texted you about this, just for your information,” Baekhyun told her while snatching the chips from the table before Jinri even offered him to. “I know how dear your Jongin-oppa can be, after all,” he added as he mercilessly ripped the chips bag open. “However, I refuse to study outside now because as you can see, I’m not having my coat,” he reasoned; mouth munching on the chips noisily.

Jinri remembered Baekhyun’s coat on Joohyun and she frowned. “It’s not my fault that you’re no longer wearing a coat,” she muttered with suppressed annoyance. Baekhyun tapped his chin thoughtfully; Jinri’s sudden sour expression interested him. He decided to try his luck again.

“That lady outside--Joohyun-ssi, isn’t it?—do you know who she is waiting for? It’s not you, right?”

Jinri’s frown hardened; she wasn’t in the mood to discuss it.

“You can clearly see that she isn’t standing in front of my door.”

Jinri’s answer was curt and hinted with blatant finality, but it sparked more interest in Baekhyun.

“But, you know her, right? She seems to be waiting in front of Jongin-ssi’s place, is she waiting for him?”

Jinri’s grip on the teapot tightened as she poured the tea into two cups. She fought the urge to splash the hot, freshly-boiled tea onto his mischievous smirk.

“Yes, and that is none of your business,” she seethed impatiently; eyes glaring murderously at Baekhyun, who paid no heed at all to the morbid threat.

“But the fact that she is out there, freezing while waiting for someone who isn’t going home before midnight, is it none of our business too?”

His words were nonchalant and innocent, but it had successfully punched her in the gut. However, Jinri knew that Joohyun had done much worse to Jongin, almost causing him to lose his will to live, so she ignored Baekhyun.

“Jinnie, you do realize that we are going to be doctors, right? Aren’t we supposed to care about others’ well beings before our own grudges? Aren’t we supposed to always give the best treatment, even to our enemies?” 

Jinri stared back at Baekhyun, who looked at her with glints of triumphant on his chocolate orbs. She could almost palpate the smirk that was about to be formed on his pouty lips. “She is not my enemy,” she muttered without tearing her intense gaze on him, “and why don’t you bring her to your mansion if you care so much about her?”

The awaited smirk broke on his lips. “We both know that is not what she wants. Or are you afraid to be under the same roof with your rival?”

The staring contest between Jinri and Baekhyun intensified, but then she broke away in defeat. “Seriously, Baek, quit with your little silly idea about me and Jongin-oppa. There is nothing…” Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in disbelief but she pretended to be oblivious about it, “more than a good friendship between us. And the woman outside…” Jinri paused and diverted her eyes to the door, “is the one who broke Jongin-oppa and almost killed his soul. As a good friend, isn’t natural to feel the same rage toward such person.”

“Joohyun-ssi, do you want to wait inside?”

TBC

an:

umm. hello. So, here is a super short update for the story. I'm sorry that it took me forever to update. It's just... well, I haven't been to write well for this story and haven't been satisfied with what I've written. I haven't abandoned this story and will still writing it, so thank you so much to the many subbies, commenters (is that even a word?), and voters who have given their support to me. 

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