{ FIFTEEN }

Joori stood patiently outside of the lecture hall she knew Baekhyun was taking his exams in.

“Hey,” Jongdae called out, walking towards her. “Finished with exams? How’d you do?”

She shrugged. She had finished 10 minutes early, but it was because she didn’t know how to answer some problems – not because it was easy.

“I was looking for you yesterday – we could have studied together.”

She nodded awkwardly, not knowing how to react. “S-Sorry… I was busy. Friend’s birthday,” she explained.

He nodded in understanding and asked, “Since we’re both done, do you want to go grab something to eat?” He smiled and added, “We can get some cake to celebrate the end of these stupid exams.”

She wrung her hands together as she shook her head apologetically. “I… I’m waiting for my friend.”

Jongdae quirked an eyebrow. The last time he had checked, Joori had been the one girl who would eagerly take up any of his invitations without hesitation. From what his friends told him, he knew that she would even cancel her plans to follow him along.
But now she was refusing a lunch date?
“When you say you’re waiting for a friend… Are you waiting for your boyfriend?”

Joori was just about to respond when a familiar voice answered for her.

“Yeah, she was.”

She turned around to see Baekhyun casually strolling out with the rest of his class. She noticed that he didn’t have his backpack slung around his shoulder like he usually did.

“Ah, you’re with Baekhyun now?” Jongdae asked in interest. “I didn’t know, my bad. Didn’t mean to ask your girl to lunch.”

“No harm done,” Baekhyun lied coolly, leaving Joori speechless.

“W-What was that all about!?” She shouted, following after Baekhyun, who had casually walked out of the building.

“Hm, what?” Baekhyun played innocent.

He turned to face her. “Why? Are you mad? Do you want to go on a date with him?”

She was left speechless by his barrage of questions.

“Because if you do – I’ll go tell him I was joking. I can go right now. Seriously, I'll turn around now and go tell him -”

“Baek…” She murmured, placing her palms on his forearms. “Calm down…”

He felt his heart pound faster when he felt her touch – it was not helping him calm down.
 

“I don’t want to eat lu