I fixed my eyes on Baekhyun, startled more than ever. What was he doing in this café? Why did he have to choose this place when my whole class was here? And why the hell was he smiling? I didn’t like that sneaky smile on his lips. It always leaded to new problems that I had to resolve by myself. But when I was observing him with shock and curiosity, something in him grabbed my attention. Somehow he looked different today. How could I say it? He seemed less angry and his smile was more honest than those smiles he showed at school.

I shook my head lightly. No, it wasn’t possible for Baekhyun to smile happily. How could I even think of it?

“What are you doing here?” I finally spoke before snatching my cola from him. I started drinking like I spent one week on a desert. I wasn’t that thirsty, I just wanted to drink it before he could take it away from me again and gulp it down shamelessly when I was the one who paid for it. 

“So you want to act innocent now?” He crossed his arms, watching me carefully. I raised my brow, informing him that I had no idea what he was talking about and he scoffed, reaching to his jean’s pocket for his cellphone “You were the one who asked me to come here.”

“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows, letting go of the straw “I didn’t. Why would I even contact you in the first place?”

Baekhyun ignored my caustic comment and showed me his cellphone, waving it in front of my face. I leaned closer and squinted my eyes to see a short message and the displaying number on the screen. It was indeed sent from my cellphone but how? I lifted my head to look up at Baekhyun with disbelief, hoping to find an answer in his eyes. He wasn’t lying but I also said the truth so how was it possible that he received my message when I didn’t even use my cellphone? The last time I had it in my hands was when I gave it to…

Hyemi.

“I’m going to kill her!” I huffed, ruffling my hair. Unbelievable. How could she do it to me? I told her before how annoying my fake boyfriend was but she still called him and told him to come here without my knowledge.

“Kill who?” Baekhyun hid his cellphone in his pocket. He looked a little confused now. I put my free hand on hip, searching for that little traitor. Hyemi already saw me with Baekhyun and she was walking fast  in our direction with a big smile on her face. I opened my mouth to start my small rant when she joined us but she quickly covered my mouth, laughing nervously. Baekhyun made a small step back, not sure what was going on.

“Before you start yelling at me, let me explain.” She sent him a sheepish smile and switched her attention back to me, ignoring my muffled protests. “I met Minji few days ago and she started all that comments about you being single loser your whole life again. I couldn’t just sit and watch, you know? So I called your boyfriend to make them jealous, because I knew you wouldn’t ask him to come here.” She paused to look again at Baekhyun, obviously checking him out and he blinked few times, not sure what to say or do. “By the way, I didn’t know he was that handsome. You’re one lucky girl.” 

Hyemi lifted her thumb with approval, giggling after her last sentence and I rolled my eyes. She didn’t have to raise his already pretty high self-esteem. Baekhyun heard her, mostly because Hyemi didn’t bother to lower her voice, and his lips curled up in a wide smile. He liked being complimented, didn’t he?

“Listen.” I sighed heavily, taking off her hand covering my mouth. I knew already why she was acting so strange before. She felt guilty for doing something behind my back, even if it was for my own good. But someone had to end this farce before it will be too late. I didn’t want to repeat the situation from my school.

“I know you want the best for me, but I’m not going to use Baekhyun. It’s okay if they make fun of me, it’s not like I care about their opinion, right?” I turned my head to my fake boyfriend who was watching me with interest “See? I didn’t send you that message so you can go home.”

Without saying goodbye to him, I grabbed Hyemi’s hand and dragged her with me to our table before she could think about other ‘great’ plan. Although I really didn’t care about others’ opinion, being the laughing-stock definitely wasn’t my dream. But I could endure it. I had to show Hyemi how strong I became and that she shouldn’t be worried about me. Besides, lying to everyone was tiring and I already decided to quit it. Yeah, no more lies. I will also have to tell Ga In and Chung Ae the truth on Monday, hoping for their understanding.

“What are you doing?” Hyemi whispered to my ear and I could feel a hint of frustration in her voice. “It was the best opportunity to cut Minji down to size for all the awful things she said and did to you.”

“I’m not going to be like her. It won’t make me feel better and you know it.”

“What? But—“

“No buts, Hyemi.” I cut her off, looking at her to know if she understand me. “Now, if they ask who Baekhyun is, just pretend that we don’t know him.” She gritted her teeth but muttered quiet ‘fine’ and I smiled lightly, patting her arm. She was indeed a great friend, always ready to do things she knew weren’t good, just to make me feel better. As much as I appreciated it, I also didn’t want her to become a liar and swindler like me. She was a good girl and I hoped it will stay like this.

I looked at our table and heard the commotion. Dammit, they probably saw me and Baekhyun.

“Who was he?” Minji spoke as soon as we were close enough and I immediately felt Hyemi’s piercing look on me but I wasn’t going to give up and pretend to be crazy in love. I cleared my throat and took one sip of cola to think about good excuse.

“Just some random guy who asked for money.” I shrugged. Girls were gazing at me like I just said how much I loved running around the town and I started having doubts if they even heard me correctly.

Minji furrowed her brows. “Really? But he just drank your cola… and acted like he knows you…”

“You see, Seoul is full of s like this” I laughed nervously, not sure why I was highly strung in the first place. I looked at the straw sticking out from the cup and suddenly understood that Baekhyun was drinking from it before. His lips were touching it and I just…

“Yeah, Seoul is full of s.” I felt warm hand on my waist and got pulled closer, almost losing my balance. Familiar fragrance of cologne reached my nose and my body tensed immediately at the scent. I abruptly looked up, just to meet Baekhyun’s big, brown eyes. He tilted his head and smiled before turning to girls “That’s why I can’t leave her even for a second. They would eat her alive.”

“Who are you?” Someone asked after short moment of silence. I couldn’t even tell who said it, because I wasn’t able to avert my eyes from Baekhyun’s face. What was he doing again? I told him to go back home, didn’t I?

“Oh, right.” He took off his cap to show his pretty face in all its glory and put it on my head, sending me another gentle smile which made me blush like crazy. Our ey