Just My Size – Ch. 3
Han Ji-Eun

I hit “Call,” and waited anxiously for it to connect. One ring, two rings, three rings...

“Hello! You have reached the voice mail box of Lee Jinki. Please leave your message after the beep!”

I mentally cursed, then left my message. “Lee Jinki-sshi! It's Han Ji-Eun. I'm on my way to Quick Burger now! I hope you can join us!” Lowering my phone, I hit the “End Call” button.

“Maybe he was just playing with me. He doesn't seem like the cruel type though...” I mumbled under my breath as I completed my journey to the burger joint.

My friends and their boyfriends were sitting at a table away from the doorway, but with a clear view of it. When they spotted me, they all waved and the girls smiled. Mi-Sun was clearly looking around for something, then her eyes returned to me. When I sat down, she asked, “So what's this surprise?”

“Well, I found out where Lee Jinki-sshi is working,” I looked down at my Hot Topic bag that was sitting between my feet and blushed profusely.

Mi-Sun and Hea-Jung turned toward each other, grasped hands, and squealed loudly. Minho, Jonghyun and I all cringed at the sound.

“Where is that?” Minho asked. Neither of the boys could see my bag, nor did they know what my favorite shop was.

“Hot Topic, that creepy American store with the dark walls and rock music blaring.” Mi-Sun replied, then stuck her tongue out.

“We may not like the décor, but our Ji-Eun does pick out some really cute things from there,” Hea-Jung, the more tactful of the two, defended me. I gave her a thankful look. “Like that sweater! It's so you!”

I smiled widely. I was tempted to take it out of the bag, but then I remembered how carefully Jinki had folded it. Leaving it in there till I got home seemed like the better idea.

“Thank you! Heh, there's actually a crazy story to go along with this...” I then told them everything that happened. When I got to the part where he gave me his number, I preemptively stuck my fingers in my ears. Lo and behold, there were more fan girl squeals from my friends.

“Ji-Eun-sshi, I cannot remember a time where Onew's given his number to any girl,” Jonghyun's crooked smile crept onto his face.

“He's right. I'm pretty sure the only ones who had his number before now are us two, Taemin, Key, and his parents,” Minho concluded.

I tried to form words, but my mind was not in the proper state to do so.

Minho started to chuckle, and Jonghyun soon joined him. I snapped out of my stupor, and my eyes flicked between them, filled with questions.

“I'm sorry, Ji-Eun-sshi,” Minho responded, but he was outright laughing now. “Just... the look on your face!”

“Yah! Were you just making that up?” I demanded.

Once they calmed down, Jonghyun replied this time. “Ah... No, we are completely serious.” He nodded to confirm, as did Minho.

I glanced over at my friends, and they were beaming at me. My eyes wondered to my lap, and my blush returned in full force.

While I was looking down, I checked the time. It had been about 12 minutes since I called him, and he still hadn't shown up. I sighed.

Suddenly, Jonghyun and Minho stood up. “Well, we've been sitting here long enough,” Jonghyun started, and my heart leapt into my throat. We couldn't leave now! “Time to order our food, ne?” Thankfully, my heart returned to its proper position after that clarification.

“What would you girls like? It's on us,” Minho grinned that famous grin, but I was full of worry.

“I can pay for my own, I wouldn't expect you to-”

“Nonsense! We'll just have Onew pay us back when we see him,” Jonghyun winked at me. “After all, he's a workin' man now!”

I didn't know what to say, so I hung my head again. Hea-Jung ended up giving the boys our orders, including mine. Once they were at the counter, the girls rounded on me.

“Do you think it's love?”

“Tell me again how fine he looks in those skinnies!”

“When is he getting here?”

“How is his hair styled? Sleek, down, spiky, tousled? C'mon! We need details, girl!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down!” I grimaced as I was knocked over by the tidal wave of their questions. “One at a time, OK?”

“Do you know when he's getting here?” Hea-Jung asked slowly.

“No,” I responded dejectedly. I glanced at my phone again. 14 minutes ago now. “I hope soon, though.”

“Me too, I wanna see how he looks for myself,” Mi-Sun winked.

Hea-Jung glanced sideways at Mi-Sun, and Mi-Sun nodded. “Do you think it's love?” They asked in unison.

I stared, dumbfounded for a moment again. “No! No, of course not! I'm sure he was just being polite!” I put my hands up in front of my chest, palms out. My tone was not convincing them at all, nor myself. They'd known I was hopelessly crushing on Jinki for years now, and I just couldn't hide what my heart was telling me – that this was the start of something good.

But my brain just couldn't accept that. I started going through my mental “Jinki is too good for me” rant again while my friends started talking about finally getting to go on triple dates, how so-totally hot the boys were, etc...

Suddenly, a food tray was slipped carefully under my nose, and someone sat down across from me. I slowly looked up, and there was Jinki, smiling nervously at me. My eyes went wide and he bowed his head respectfully.

“I am so deeply sorry I couldn't return your call and that I am so late! Please forgive me, Ji-Eun-sshi!” He held his sitting bow for a few seconds, then tilted his head up slightly to look at me when I didn't respond. That expression, one full of the hope that I wasn't mad and that I'd forgive him, touched my heart like nothing else ever had.

“It's OK, Jinki-sshi,” I spoke slowly out of shock at his sudden appearance and actions. “I forgive you!”

“Ah, you shouldn't be so quick to forgive him!” Minho spoke up and had a jovial tone to his voice.

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head to the side to emphasize my confusion.

“Well,” Minho glanced over at Jonghyun, who nodded at him. It seemed like these guys were in-synch, much like my “besties.”

“We told him he has to pay the penalty for making a lady wait,” Jonghyun stated simply. Him calling me a lady made me smile shyly.

“And that paying for your food would not be enough,” Minho continued, with a sly expression playing about his eyes.

“What else? Why isn't that enough?” I asked in a small voice. I was sure my face was looking sun-burnt by now.

“Making a lady wait, and making her obviously sad is a huge crime!” Jonghyun exclaimed, using his hands to show just how huge a crime it was; Minho and Jinki leaned away to avoid getting hit.

“But, we haven't told him the rest of his punishment yet,” Minho put one elbow on the table and rested his chin on it. Then he glanced meaningfully in my direction.

“Because you-” Jonghyun pointed right at me, “get to decide it!”

“BWO?!” I jumped a few inches straight up in my seat. “I can't... I don't think-”

“Aw, c'mon!” Jonghyun banged his fists on the table.

“Do it, do it!” Minho's eyes bugged out.

I looked over at my friends. Mi-Sun was nodding like a bobble head doll, and Hea-Jung was smiling serenely.

My eyes returned to my lap, and I sighed. I looked up at Jinki, whose face was as red as mine felt. “You don't have to do anythi-”

“NG! NOT GOOD!” Jonghyun made an X with his arms over his head. “You must give him something to do!”

“Like what?” I was getting kind of irritated at this point – seriously, what did these guys want me to tell their friend to do? Go jump in a river? Hold water buckets for an hour? Eat something disgusting?

“You could, oh, I don't know, tell him he has to date you?” Minho tried to sound serious, but he failed miserably. His eyes also gave away that he was trying not to laugh hysterically.

“Yah!” Jinki and I exclaimed together as we rounded on Minho and Jonghyun.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Jinki actually yelled at them, and the smiles melted off their faces. “Dating is something that... that should be taken seriously, you know?” He lost his steam as quickly as it started, but it was obvious he was still furious.

Jonghyun was the first to regain his composure. “Then why don't you just date her, Onew? Not as a punishment, but because you-”

If looks could kill, Jinki's would have suffocated Jonghyun within seconds.

I stole a glance at my friends, and almost started laughing, despite the cloud of seething rage that had descended upon the table. Hea-Jung had a shocked expression on her face, complete with her hands covering . Mi-Sun, on the other hand, was eating her french fries like popcorn at a movie theatre – not even glancing at them because she was so enraptured with the drama she was witnessing.

“Because he what, Jonghyun?!” Mi-Sun managed to get out through a mouth full of fries.

Jonghyun was too afraid of Jinki's wrath to answer though. All he did was shake his head quickly with his eyes wide open. Mi-Sun pouted and returned to her fries.

Hea-Jung took a deep breath, then spoke clearly. “Jinki-sshi, would you have a problem with dating our lovely Ji-Eun?”

I gasped as my eyes shot between their faces. Hea-Jung's was serene – as it usually was – and Jinki's was... hard to read, to be honest. It seemed like he was fighting some sort of inner turmoil.

When he spoke, it was slowly, as if her were choosing his words carefully. “No, I wouldn't have a problem with that. But,” he looked at me, “would you want to?”

At this point, I'm nervous about whether or not you, dear readers, like my characters and the way I'm portraying the guys. I hope everything's OK! XD;

As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, feedback, or suggestions. ^__^