It was one of those days when Myungsoo had to eat lunch alone again. Not that he minded though; the peace and alone time once in a while was pretty rejuvenating.

He was back again at the same quiet fast food restaurant which had few customers during the off-peak timings like then, which was just a little past lunch time.

He took a sip of vanilla milkshake and got ready to tuck in to the meal (which was just a hamburger and a tiny cup of mashed potato really).

Just when he sank his teeth into the hamburger, however, his peace was disrupted by a tidal wave of sweet nothings from the seat behind him.

“Babe, I’m sorry we had to eat here –” A male voice sounded.

“Nah, it’s okay, I love it. Anything tastes good when I’m eating with you.” A squeaky female voice followed.

“Awwhh,” The male made a sound which caused Myungsoo to have goosebumps all over, “you’re the sweetest, babe. Here, have some of my fish fillet burger, it’s pretty good.”

“Ahh…” He said so gently that Myungsoo couldn’t help thinking, are you feeding a baby or what?

Myungsoo rolled his eyes and continued eating though his peace was gone.

When he left the shop, he made sure to take a careful look at the people who made his lunch so difficult to bear.

He got a shock when he realized who that cringe-worthy male voice belonged to.

Choi Minho.

Suzy was taking a nap at the school café when a hard object was slammed onto the table right in front of her.

Slowly, she lifted her head up.

Oh, that looks like Myungsoo’s phone.

She looked up at him and smiled while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Hi, no banana milk today?”

“No. Look at it!” Myungsoo replied, quite agitatedly, gesturing to the phone.

Suzy squinted her eyes at the phone and made out the image of a man smiling widely with a girl next to him.

Wait a minute, isn’t that… Minho?

“What the – Myungsoo, you stalked him?” Suzy exclaimed.

“What – Am I crazy? Why would I? I just happened to see him at the fast food restaurant, with this girl!”

“So?” Suzy replied nonchalantly.

“So?” Myungsoo imitated, “You don’t care that your boyfriend is meeting other girls behind your back?”

“He told me already, that he was going to meet his cousin who came back from overseas.”

“Do you know what happened? I could hardly digest my lunch!” Myungsoo exclaimed and proceeded to give a detailed account of the incident.

“If that really was his cousin, then he’s no decent man either!”

After all that Myungsoo said, Suzy simply replied calmly, “Myungsoo… I trust Minho okay. He’s been really nice to me.”

“You’d rather trust this man you’ve known personally for less than a month over your best friend you’ve known for practically your whole life?” Myungsoo cried in disbelief.

“It’s not like that, but… Myungsoo, you’re prejudiced against him.”

Myungsoo scoffed, “Why does it seem like I care more about your love life than you do? Why am I more agitated over this than you? It doesn’t make sense. Are you really that blinded by him, Suzy?”

“I’m not!” Suzy retorted, “I am personally evaluating him myself, but he’s a nice person so far.”

“Listen to yourself; you won’t even consider my warnings. You’re unbelievable, Suzy. You’ve totally fallen into it. So what if he’s nice to you? If he’s just as nice to every other girl, then what does that make you?” Myungsoo exclaimed loudly, just a notch below screaming.

Suzy massaged her temples with her eyes closed and breathed, “Stop it, will you? I need time to think.”

“Of course, you should think it through properly. I’ve said my piece, so –”

“Wait, you say that he’s nice to everyone, and you have a problem with that. But Myungsoo, you’re nice to everyone except me! Isn’t that even worse?”

“What?” Myungsoo’s face turned deadly straight, “You really think that, Suzy? You think I’m not treating you well enough?”

Suzy regretted her words right away.

“Okay, forget that, we’ll talk about it some other day. This conversation is getting out of hand. You need to calm down, Myungsoo.”

“Sure, sure, of course I should. It’s not my business anyway.” Myungsoo said as slung his bag over his shoulder and got up from his seat, “Bye.”

“I-I didn’t mean what I said about you! Hey, Myungsoo!” Suzy shouted after him, but Myungsoo was already out of sight.

Suzy hung her head down and messed her hair up in frustration.

“Why’s everything in such a mess?” She groaned.

Minho brought Suzy to a high school gathering. Because of her conversation with Myungsoo that day, Suzy found herself much more conscious about Minho’s actions.

“Babe, are you not feeling well?” Minho asked as they walked to the venue together.

Suzy shook her head and gave a smile in the slightest, but said, “Don’t call me ‘babe’.”

Minho laughed lightly, “Then what do you want me to call you?”

“Just call me Suzy.”

“Sure, Suzy bab – I mean, Suzy. Sorry, I think I need time to change.”

Once they reached the venue, Minho got a drink for Suzy.

“Thanks.” Suzy smiled and mentally gave him credit for being meticulous.

“I’ll go talk to some high school friends. Do you want to come along?”

“It’s okay, I want to sit down for a while. You go ahead. I’ll join you later.”

Minho flashed her a bright smile, “Sure, ba – Suzy.”

Suzy chuckled and waved as he left.

At least he’s making an effort, she thought.

She took a few sips of drink, and then looked up.

Minho was passing a drink to another girl with the same sweet demeanor. Suzy couldn’t help but feel bitter.

So it wasn’t especially for her. So it was only out of politeness?

She looked down at the drink in her hands and remembered Myungsoo’s sharp words.

If he’s just as nice to every other girl, then what does that make you?

She could still hear his voice resounding in her head so clearly.

Actually, she knew; he only said that because he cared. He cared enough. Suzy bit her bottom lip. She really shouldn’t have said those harsh words to him.

“What are you thinking about?”

Minho’s voice jerked her out of her thoughts. Yeah, right, she was thinking about another man while being with her boyfriend.

“Nothing.” She lied and laughed awkwardly.

“Let’s get some D.I.Y dessert shall we? Over to the fondue section!” Minho gestured to a corner of the function hall, and began to make his way there, while Suzy followed behind meekly.

Minho coated a large stick of fruits and marshmallows with chocolate and handed it to Suzy.

“Here you go, my lady.”

“Thanks.” Suzy said as she looked into his smiling eyes, “It looks delicious.”

“Enjoy!” He beamed.

Suzy began munching on the stick of fondue goodness. She turned around for a moment to wipe some stray chocolate off , but when she turned back, she saw Minho making another stick of fondue, and passing it to another girl.

The same smile, the same eyes. Suzy then realized that the way he looked at her wasn’t any different from the way he would others. There was no look or affection in his eyes that belonged to her and her only.

Suzy turned away again and had a hard time biting off the next marshmallow on the stick.

She felt so insignificant and out of place. Sure, it was Minho’s high school gathering and she literally knew no one there, but he hadn’t even bothered to make her feel just a little more special, a little bit more than ordinary.

“Minho, is she with you?” Suzy heard a female voice ask, “Your…”

Minho grabbed Suzy by the waist and led her to stand beside him. A crowd of people were staring at them and Suzy just smiled awkwardly.

“Yeah, she’s Bae Suzy, my friend from college.” Minho introduced with a wide grin.

Friend? Just ‘friend’?

Suzy turned to glare at Minho with furrowed eyebrows, but he had already started talking to someone else.

She bit her bottom lip and stormed out of the function hall, her high heels making a whole lot of noise in the process (not like she cared anymore; all she wanted at that time was to escape from that awkward hell hole and boiling frustration in her heart). Minho finally turned around, just in time to see her leave. He grabbed his bag, and after apologizing politely to the hosts, he left after her.

“Suzy!” He called.

She continued walking as quickly as she could.

“Suzy! Can you stop for a moment? What’s wrong?” Minho exclaimed as he chased after her.

Suzy didn’t stop, but Minho quickly reached her and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Suzy!” He waited for her to look at him, then said gently while gazing into her eyes, “What’s wrong?”

“Everything! I don’t know!” Suzy exploded, on the verge of tears, “I feel… weird. I don’t belong there.”

“It’s normal, since you don’t know them, but I’m sorry for making you feel this way.”

“It’s not just them. It’s… It’s you, it’s us. We’re… we’re… not in love.”

“If it’s what I said, Suzy, I only said that because there’s no need for them to know. They’ll start bombarding us with questions, which I don’t like.”

“No, no, it’s just… I don’t feel right, okay? I mean, you’re nice and all, but… I think we rushed things a little. We should start from being friends.”

“Babe? Are you rejecting me now?”

“No, I’m just saying we should be friends, wait, well yes then, I guess, but –”

“It’s okay, it’s perfectly fine by me if that’s what you want, Suzy ba – Suzy. Let’s break up then.”

Suzy’s eyes widened as she looked at him blankly.

“Let’s break up. Isn’t that what you’re suggesting?” He repeated, his tone of voice galaxies away from the honey-coated one just a few moments ago.

“Like seriously? He had no reaction whatsoever when I told him that! It’s like he was already prepared to break up with me!” Suzy screamed over the phone.

Sungjong backed away a little, and then brought the phone back to his ears.

“Well, for someone who just broke up, you don’t exactly seem very sad either, just agitated by his attitude.”

“We never really started anyway.”

“Did you tell Myungsoo? He would be the happiest one to hear about this, I presume, no matter how inappropriate that may sound.”

Suzy groaned, “I can’t bring myself to face him. I made him angry, Sungjong!”

“Myungsoo can never stay angry at you for long, you know that.”

“But I was really mean to him! I dismissed his thoughts and indirectly said that he didn’t treat me well either!” Suzy exclaimed, then began to whine.

“Oh, will you please?” Sungjong begged, “Everything’s going to be fine. You’re just overthinking things. Now can I please go to sleep?”

“Fine... Goodnight!” Suzy said and hung up.

Everything’s going to be fine.

She hoped so too.

The next day, Suzy ran into the lecture hall, late as usual. She beamed upon seeing that the seat beside Myungsoo was still empty (still reserved for her).

She smiled sheepishly as she sat down beside him, expecting him to say something annoying. However, he did not. Instead, he just smiled at her sweetly and gave a nod to acknowledge her presence.

She took out the stationery he gave her and used them.

“Hey, you’re using it.” He pointed out in a small voice.

Suzy smiled at him and nodded a little.

“That’s good.” He smiled and turned back to the lecturer.

Suzy pouted thoughtfully as she looked at him.

What’s gotten into him? Why’s he being so nice?

Throughout the lecture, she anticipated something to happen, a sudden poke at her side, a sudden message on the lecture notes, a sudden twirl in her hair or even just a stupid remark about how her handwriting couldn’t be read by normal humans, but no. Nothing happened.

She began to feel scared. Like something was wrong and she couldn’t tell what.

At the end of the lecture, she asked him directly, “Are you still angry at me?”

He looked at her and smiled widely again.

“No, I’m not.”

Suzy wasn’t satisfied with that answer. More like she wasn’t satisfied with how he presented it. It gave her the chills. It just wasn’t normal of Myungsoo to answer her in that way.

Seeing that Suzy wasn’t convinced, he emphasized, “I’m fine, really.”

No, you’re not, Kim Myungsoo, stop lying.