Jae dove straight into her bed after she finished in the bathroom. Zico wasn’t in the room when she returned and she didn’t want to find out when he would come back. Her feet and legs felt dead from work so it wasn’t hard for her to fall asleep. The next day was practically a blur. Jae woke up extra early to try and avoid Zico. She concentrated in all her classes to keep her mind preoccupied. Once she stopped thinking about school, her thoughts would drift back to what happened in the bathroom and she would just feel frustrated over it. Avoiding Zico worked until she made it to her break time. She dragged Taeil to her usually meeting place with Kyung and Zico.

“Hyung, I don’t know what I should do. I feel weird around Zico.” She whined. Taeil rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Just because I know who you are doesn’t mean you get to start acting like a girl.” He mumbled. Jae shot him a warning look.

“But I don’t know what I should do! Can’t you give me some advice? Anything at all?” Arms s around her waist from behind and there was a whisper in her ear.

“It’s not nice to talk about people behind their backs.” Zico gave her waist a quick squeeze before he released her and went into the cafeteria to grab food. Taeil scoffed and walked away before Jae could complain to him again.

Well, this is awkward. What do I do? How do I get rid of this feeling? I just want things back to the way they were before.

Against her better judgment, she followed after him. Kyung was already inside, his face buried in a book.

“What are you doing?” Jae sat down and poked his shoulder. “You look like you’re concentrating really hard.” Kyung peeked out and his smile was wide. It was a comic book.

“Did you hear the news? There’s a new waitress at the restaurant. I didn’t get to hear the full story but something is happening tonight. Jihoon says it’s going to be fun. Are you going?” Jae tried her best not to look suspicious.

“No, I got a ton of homework and I have work after class anyway. Let me know how it goes, alright?” she took out her books and studied for the rest of her break. In Chemistry, her mind was all over the place. Having Zico sitting next to her was distracting in more ways than one. She would occasionally catch his eye, but she would look away and pretend nothing happened. During the lecture, she thought back to what Kyung had said.

What is going on at the restaurant tonight? I wonder if I should ask or maybe I’ll just wait to find out.

The thoughts didn’t go away, though. Even through her dance class, she wanted to ask Minhyuk, but he seemed preoccupied with thoughts of his own. During the class, he would stand more than moving his feet. Occasionally his face would turn red out of nowhere. As she made her way to work, Jae let her mind wander back to Zico. She was relieved but she felt bad at the same time. He had been such a good friend to her since she started school. She had actually grown to like Zico as a friend again.

“You there? Jae?” Minhyuk waved a hand in front of her face. “What’s going on?” he looked down at her, sweat dripping from his forehead. Jae waved him away. They were in the locker room and everyone was changing except for her.

“Oh, it was nothing. I’m just thinking about how much work I’ve got.” She lied and gathered her clothes to change in a stall. Minhyuk stripped his shirt off.

“Are you working tonight? We were going to go to the Black Ship tonight.” He grabbed his towel and carefully wiped away his sweat, trying to keep his towel from turning pink. Jae turned her back on him, trying to hide her embarrassment. His body was toned and sweaty.

“Yes, I am. Sorry. What’s going on, anyway? I heard something from Kyung.” Minhyuk laughed and shook his head.

“Never play games with Yukwon. I guess that’s all I can say. I’ll be sure to bring you back some food or something. When do you get off work?”

“Oh, when I want to.” She said jokingly as she headed for the stall.

It took her a while to change because she wanted to wait until everyone was gone before she stepped foot outside with her hair extensions on and her uniform on. She ran all the way to the office and bust in, huffing and dropping her bags to the ground with her hands on her knees Mari looked at her, bewildered. In front of the desk was a girl.

“Oh, um. Hello.” Mari didn’t really know how to address Jae. She was obviously in the middle of something. The girl standing in front of her had oddly familiar glasses.

“Nevermind, I’ve found him.” The girl bent over and put her face up close to Jae’s. “Hello, Oppa. Nice to see you again.” Mari’s mouth was hanging open while Jae found strength to glomp on to her sister.

“Eun Ae!” she squealed. “How are you!” she picked Ae up and swung her around.

“Ugh, Jae Oppa, calm down.” She wheezed. “You’re squishing my lungs.” Mari ran out from behind the desk and looked at Eun Ae once again.

“You guys do look alike I suppose.” Eun Ae nodded her head.

“Thank you for your help. I’m assuming you’ve got work soon? I just came to deliver something. I won’t pull an Eun Jung.” She smiled and dug an envelope out of her pocket. “Technically we could have sent this via mail, but I was kind of jealous that Eun Jung got to see you, so I decided to come up.” Jae took the envelope. It was pretty thick. The name on the front was hers and it was written in her mother’s handwriting.

“You mean this came from…” she trailed off and just stared at the name.

“Word is that it’s your tuition money.” Ae sighed. “You are spoiled.” She pouted. Jae wrapped her arms around Ae once again and smiled.

“Thanks for bringing it to me. Did you want to come to the restaurant? I’m sure you’ll be interested to see who shows up tonight.”  She picked up her bags and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You won’t regret it.” She winked and pushed the door open for Ae. Mari was in the process of turning off the lights and grabbed the keys to lock up the office. She took off her glasses and shook out her hair.

“Let’s go to the Black Ship! I’m sure Kikwang Oppa is working tonight.”

The three girls entered through the back door and were greeted by Cho PD. He looked a bit more casual than other days, wearing a shirt and jeans.

“Ready to get to work? Jae looks ready.” He looked her over since she came dressed instead of changing in the employee room.

“This is my boss.” She pointed to him and beamed. “It’s ok if she sits for a while?” Jae tried her best to give puppy dog eyes.

“Sure. Just make sure you’re working, ok?” He gave Jae and stern look before heading back into his office. Mari offered her a seat at the bar.

“Just sit until we can find a table for you. If you want anything to drink, flag down that one and tell him Mari said so.” She pointed to Kikwang who was busy entertaining a group of girls. Jae shuffled over to her locker and stuffed her bags inside. She proceeded to start fixing up her hair. “You’re getting the hang of styling your hair.” Mari giggled.

“Oh, yea. I think I am.” She bit her lip. She wasn’t supposed to be getting the hang of it. She was a boy. She wasn’t supposed to know about this. “Well, I think I’ll head out and seat some people.” She sighed and headed to the front of the restaurant. It was pretty early and there weren’t many people. She would check up on Ae who had taken a table in the corner.

“So who did you want me to see?” she took a sip of her drink. Jae gulped.

“Promise me you will stay calm.” She warned and got called over to a table. “Promise!” she waved and went to cater to the table. After she was done, Mari came to her side and grabbed her arm.

“They’re here.” She hissed in the shorter girl’s ear. “All of them are here tonight!” Of course Jae knew that already. “Should I seat them, or should you?” she was getting more flustered by the second.

“You do it. I’ve got someone calling me.” Jae let Mari take care of them while she made eye contact with her sister in the corner. She went around to the other tables and let Mari handle their order and drinks. She didn’t want to be too close to them, anyway. She had been found out yesterday. She didn’t want it to happen again. They were awfully rowdy today, especially Yukwon and Jaehyo. Zico looked a little depressed and Kyung was constantly looking around for something. Jihoon ended up joining in the rowdiness and began badgering Minhyuk. Taeil just sat back and watched the fun. He wasn’t the type to get super hyper anyway. He would flash Jae a smile whenever he saw her. She moved around to Ae’s table. She had definitely seen the group. She could tell that she was calm, but somewhat confused.

“Wait a minute. You mean you go to school with them!” she waved her hands in front of her. “You room with Zico? Of all people?” Jae shushed her sister and pulled her to the side.

“Look closely. Who else do you see?” Ae squinted and then put her hand over .

“That’s Kyung!” she breathed. “He came back!” she immediately stomped over to the table and pushed her way in between Kyung and Zico to have a seat. Zico saw her and rolled his eyes and scooted over. Kyung on the other hand was surprised and was quite for a few minutes while Ae was just happy to see him, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. Noticing a female presence at the table, Jaehyo and Yukwon settled down, but kept bothering Minhyuk. Jihoon turned his attention to the food being set down in front of them.

“Eun Ae!” Minhyuk stood up and ran around the other side of the table, happy to have a distraction from the other two boys. He ruffled her short hair. “What brings you over here?”

“I was visiting Jae, actually.” She smirked. Both Kyung and Minhyuk perked up. “She is doing well. Very well, actually.”

“That’s good. She won’t return any of my texts.” Minhyuk made a disappointed face. “I think she got angry at me because she was the last to know.” Kyung stood up. He stood up so fast the chair toppled over behind him. Everyone in the surrounding area stared at him before Ae tugged on his arm.

“Calm down, calm down. It’s ok.”

“You have her number! Eun Jung wouldn’t give me her number. Hyung! You have to give me her number!”

“Um, sure. How do you know them anyway?” he motioned towards Ae.

“We went to school together when we were younger.” He whipped out his phone. “I didn’t know you knew her.” Kyung fixed his chair and sat down.

“I went to school with their oldest sister and we’re neighbors, actually.” He smirked and handed his phone to Kyung. “Well, I’m going to go grab some food before Jihoon takes it all. You should stay for a bit.” He flashed a smile before he went back to his spot, Yukwon and Jaehyo’s plates already full of food.

“Don’t mind me.” she nodded and eyed Zico, who had an empty plate. She took it, dumped food on it, and began picking at it. “You’re not hungry?” she asked, taking bits of food and putting them in .

“I’m just tired. Don’t worry about it.” He muttered.

“Zico, you better eat. You’ll get sick if you don’t!” Kyung chipped in. He had finished adding the number in and passed Minhyuk’s phone back to him. He got himself food. “What will Jae Hyung say? I’m sure he’ll probably get sick, too.”

“Don’t worry about Jae. That guy is crazy.” He took up his chopsticks. Jaehyo looked over at Yukwon. They were up to something. When Jae was on her way past, they flagged her down. She reluctantly came over, her best customer service smile on.

“How is everything going?” she looked around the table, Taeil held up a thumb and Zico shrugged. Ae raised a brow at her. Jaehyo and Yukwon snickered and eyed Minhyuk, who began turning a bright shade of pink.

“I just wanted to ask you something.” Minhyuk stood up and cleared his throat. “We should talk over there.” He pointed to the front of the restaurant and he grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Jae looked back at her sister, her eyes pleading. Ae had nothing to return but confusion. She shrugged. They were out of ear shot but they were still able to be seen. Everyone from the table’s eyes were on them.

“So um you just need to nod or shake your head.” Minhyuk explained, his hand still holding hers. Jae was so confused but she was still in heaven. He was holding her hand! Her breath was ragged and her heart beat was in her ears. “Make sure you nod or shake your head, ok?” Jae just smiled and tilted her head. She had no idea what was going on. She was just happy that they were sharing some skinship. He looked back at the table before he asked “You like working here right?” Jae nodded vigorously. “Thanks!” he picked her up and swung her around before bringing her back to the table. Jae was practically on top of the world. The others at the table were suspicious, namely Yukwon and Jihoon.

“That was quick.” Jihoon eyed Minhyuk. “So, where are you guys going?”

“Yea and when are you guys going out?” Yukwon narrowed his eyes and stared at Minhyuk’s hand on Jae’s. Ae’s eyes were wide and Kyung just laughed.

“You were supposed to ask her out?” he said loudly. Jae raised an eyebrow and looked up at Minhyuk’s face. He was avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“You were?” Jae said incredulously. “You could have just asked me.”

“What did he say in the first place?” Jaehyo questioned as he put more food on his plate. Jae put a hand over and giggled.

“He asked me if I liked working here.” Everyone at the table burst out laughing except for Taeil, Zico, and Ae, who all looked at each other. Ae’s eyes were practically popping out of her head. She flagged down Mari as soon as she could.

“Hey, he’s making a huge mistake. Will you get him to the back?” she hissed in Mari’s ear. The girl grabbed the blonde, practically ripping her away from Minhyuk. If Jae hadn’t let go, she would have taken his arm out of his socket. Ae excused herself to the bathroom.

“We have to go over here. Sorry everyone, keep enjoying your food!” Mari waved back at the group as she dragged a love struck Jae into the employee lounge. Ae busted in a few minutes after and grabbed her older sister’s shoulders.

“Why would you do that?! You know you’re a BOY.” The realization of what she had done hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Oh… my god… what have I done?” her hands flew to her cheeks. “I wasn’t thinking!” Ae released Jae and scowled.

“No, really?” the sarcasm was undeniable. “You’re really good at this, aren’t you? Well, you better fix this somehow. Tell him you can’t go or something. You have to.” Jae nodded. It was time for Ae to leave for the bus. She turned to Mari. “Please make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid like going out on a date with his dormmate.” She raised a brow at Jae. “I mean it!” she gave her sister a quick hug and then exited out the back door, not even bothering to say goodbye to the boys. Mari was left confused, but watched Jae like a hawk.

The rest of her shift was spent avoiding her friends’ table and once the restaurant closed, she began cleaning up. Everyone was gone except for Minhyuk, who was sitting in the waiting area. He came over and helped her put up the chairs along with Kikwang. Mari was in the back.

“I’ll put the rest of the chairs away, Rae-ssi.” Kikwang offered as he picked up the chair she was holding and put it up for her. She thanked him and darted towards the employee room but Minhyuk caught her arm.

“Ah, wait, don’t leave.” He pleaded with her. She kept her back turned to him.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Jae asked, her skin was on fire, especially where his hand was on her arm.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I lost a bet and they told me to ask you out.” He started. There was slack in his grip on her arm, but she didn’t pull away. She stayed perfectly still.

I knew it was too good to be true.

“But honestly, I do want to take you out on a date. Let me make it up to you.” His voice was begging. But then there was Ae’s voice in the back of her mind telling her not to accept. But she did come here to see Minhyuk and to be close to him, so for the second time, she threw away her logic and turned around and threw her arms around him. He was a bit stiff but then relaxed and leaned into her embrace. She had wanted to hug him so bad and now that she actually was hugging him, she started getting emotional. She hadn’t really had proper one to one time with him in such a long time.

“Thanks. I’m really thankful.” She was on the verge of blubbering, but then she remembered she was still working. “But I have to finish up my work.” She took a shaky breath, inhaling his scent. She had missed him so much. The months that she hadn’t seen him or talked to him seemed to fade from her memories. Jae finally released him, backed away, and put her customer service smile on again.

“Shall I walk you back to your dorm? I can wait for you.” Minhyuk offered. The blonde shook her head and waved.

“I’m fine. I get a ride back to the dorm. Don’t worry about me. Good night, um… Oppa.” She wasn’t supposed to know his name. Minhyuk closed the gap between them and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“I’m Lee Minhyuk. Be safe, Rae-ssi. We will do something this weekend.” He spun on his heels and walked away. He was practically dancing out the door.

“So, you have some explaining to do.” A male voice whispered in her ear. She winced. It was Cho PD.