Ice Cream
Without a Trace
The two stared each other down in silence. Neither one was going to dare break the silence. Especially Byunghun.
He was still skeptical. What if she guessed right? What if she assumed it was him based on height? (lol) What if he was all making this up in his head and she didn't really suspect him of anything? He scrunched up his face and shut his eyes tight.
On the other hand, Saejin was still a bit agitated from the previous night... Well, morning. It didn't help that Byunghun kept looking at her throughout the day. She didn't know if she should be flattered or creeped out. Even on the way to the library, when she tried to make small talk, she would catch him looking, then found he looked away very quickly to avoid her eyes.
Like, what the hell?
Saejin gulped and started to write the rough draft of the essay they had to turn in. She glanced a look at him and he did it again. He looked away.
"D-do I have something on my face?" She started to wipe her cheek.
Byunghun blinked at her and furiously shook his head. "No!" He realized he answered too quickly. "I mean, I don't see anything." He replied again cooly.
Saejin looked at him for a split second and wondered. Why did he keep looking at her? "Did I do something wrong?" She asked bluntly.
Byunghun felt his heart squeeze. Had he made her think that? "S-Saejin.." If he thought about it, he didn't handle the situation any better. He should've acted like nothing was wrong.
"Ya.. You're my partner. If I did something wrong, you can tell me." She told him reassuringly.
"Sorry." He apologized, hanging his head. "I guess I'm just out of it today."
Saejin cracked a smile. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong. Now, lets get this rough draft working." She nodded and went back to writing. "Ah damn." She muttered under her breath and looked at the pencil lead she broke.
Byunghun inwardly grinned. While he was watching her that day, he noticed a lot of things she did. Like when she was frustrated with something, she would have this look on her face while she bit her lip just like she was doing now.
Saejin awkwardly smiled and got up. "I'm going to get another pencil. I'll be right back." She left in a hurry.
He sat up from his slouching position and looked over at her paper. Of course there were doodles. He also noticed when she was bored in class, she would doodle all over her paper and erase them later. He guessed she had a brain freeze for a second.
She came back with two sodas and set one down in front of him. "Here. I passed the vending machine on the way. Thought you'd might be thirsty." She smiled at him and sat back down.
Another thing. She smiled at people. A genuine smile. Not like other rich girls and guys who smiled to be glamorous or hide gossip. She smiled because she was happy and wanted to be nice. And usually those smiles were beau-
Byunghun blinked rapidly and shook his head. What the hell was he thinking?
"Do you not want it?" Saejin asked, seeing him shake his head.
"What? I mean, yes, I want it." He grabbed it and started to gulp it down. There was definitely something wrong with the way he was thinking right now.
Saejin gaped at him at his actions with a slightly opened mouth and looked at the time. "I think we've been at it for a while today. Should we work on it tomorrow?"
"Sounds good." He nodded and started packing up. Good grief, Byunghun. Get a grip. You're probably scaring her. Everything's normal. He looked at the clock as well. "Oh? But your bus doesn't come until 6:15. It's only 4:30."
He remembered? Saejin looked out the window. "I can just stay here and read. It's okay." She waved her hand. "We shouldn't work for too long anyway."
An idea popped into Byunghun's mind and his head shot up. "I know! Wanna go get some ice cream? There's a shop across from school." He pointed with his thumb backwards in the direction. "You have almost two hours. We'll be back in no time."
She took everything into account and raised her eyebrows with a nod. "I guess. Ice cream sounds really good right now too."
"Let's go, then."
In no time, they were in front of the cute little parlor and sat down in a booth by the window. Barely anyone was in there besides people ordering over the counter and leaving shortly after.
Saejin sat sideways to look at the menu. Then she turned to the guy next to her. "Everything looks so good I can't choose. What do you usually get?"
He looked back with a smirk. "Guess."
Saejin pursed her lips and recalled the incident at the grocery store. "Oh! Something with birthday cake flavor?"
Byunghun nodded. "I recommend the chocolate lover if you like chocolate. If you prefer more fruits, you should get the berry blast." He offered her.
"The chocolate one sounds good. Can't go wrong with chocolate." Saejin decided and the two went up to order. Within a couple of minutes, the ice cream was prepared and they had to pay.
Byunghun saw Saejin get some money out but he pushed away her hand from reaching the register. "I'll pay. I offered we come here in the first place." Saying that, he payed the bill for the two and they went back to their seats.
"Thanks Byunghun-ssi." Saejin said as she dug in for a bite.
"No problem." He shrugged and ate as well. He still had to pay her back for buying him ice cream before. Even though he won fair and square the contest. "Just call me Byunghun. We've known each other long enough."
Saejin blinked at him with a shy smile. "Thanks Byunghun." She took another bite.
Byunghun smiled too. Was this the first time a girl outside of his family had ever called him without formalities? It was strange, but he didn't dislike it.
The silence was so awkward that you could cut it with a knife.
"So uh, Saejin.." Byunghun started.
"Yes?" She glanced at him.
"Do you have any siblings?" Byunghun asked. He kicked himself inwardly. What the hell kind of an ice breaking question was that?
She nodded. "I have an older sister who's in college. You?"
"Only child." He confessed. "Technically I have five brothers, but you know.." He said playfully.
Saejin laughed. "You all are that close, huh?"
Byunghun nodded, looking out the window. "Yeah, we've known each other for a while. Through common bond. I always hang out with them and we have each other's backs no matter what." He though back. "There's no one who I could've chosen as better friends than they are. They're seriously the best."
Saejin smiled at his thoughtful expression. She could tell by the gleaming look in his eyes that he wasn't joking either. She didn't blame him. They seemed like good guys.
"One time, we all went to Daniel's birthday party and when Changhyun took Chanhee's piece of cake from him, Chanhee got him back by shoving it in his face. Minsoo got it all on camera and Jonghyun dropped the drinks he was bringing us all over the floor. And on Daniel's parents' rug. Soda. All over the rug." He chuckled.
"How'd you guys cover it up?" Saejin wondered, listening intently.
Byunghun bit his lips at her. "We had to bring it to Minsoo's place and get the stain out. It took us the whole night and it was barely noticeable. We almost didn't get it back in time."
"Did his parents ever notice it after?"
"Nope. They got a new one a week later." He cocked his head. "But it was fun. It took us the whole night because we were so distracted by playing video games and watching movies. Not to mention all of the food we ate."
Saejin could only smile.
"I'm probably boring you with useless stories, aren't I?" He shot her an apologetic look.
Saejin waved her hands with wide eyes. "Not at all! On the contrary! It was pretty funny!" She argued.
She thought it was funny? Really? Usually girls that Chunji brought would be annoyed with pointless stories of his friends. Like that, they talked until it was time for Saejin to go.
"Shoot!" She looked at her phone. "I have five minutes! Thanks for the ice cream, Byunghun!" She waved and fled out the door down to the bus stop.
Byunghun stayed seated in the booth for a while messaging Teen Top. He looked out the window at the school and smiled. He knew he had found a good female friend.
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