Show Us the Meaning of Awkward

Not bothering to conceal her disgust, Choi Jinri stared at Jongin and Soojung making out in front of her.

“Okay, I’ve officially lost my appetite.” She announced, pushing her plate of hamburger and fries away. Without missing a beat, Sehun reached over, grabbed her unfinished cheese Mac and started wolfing it down at an astonishing rate. It was lunch time and the four of them were all assembled at their usual table in the cafeteria.

“Ugh. You’re so gross.” Jinri turned to Sehun beside her.

“What? I’m hungry.” He shrugged.

She only rolled her eyes at him and once again turned her attention to the lovebirds across the table. “Hey, get a room, will you?”

Sehun laughed. “You might wanna cut the love short, you guys. Ms. Shuckface here is ready to spit magma and molten rocks.”

 “Can it, you ! And what the hell is up with shuckface? What kind of stupid books are you reading again?” Jinri shoved him but he only continued laughing.

Taking Sehun’s advice, Jongin and Soojung finally put an end to their face session with a sickening pop sound and turned to the both of them, joining Sehun’s laughter.

“Relax, girl. No need to get all worked up. It’s just a kiss.” Soojung grinned at Jinri.

“She really wouldn’t understand, babe.” Jongin told Soojung. “She’s never been kissed before, ain’t that right?” He then turned to Jinri with a sneer.

Jinri grabbed a handful of fries from her plate and threw it at Jongin. “Screw you, Jonginnie! Screw you very much.”

The act only seemed to intensify their amusement as they all guffawed at her. Jongin and Sehun even shared a triumphant high five, the bastards.

Jinri sighed deeply. The four of them have been best friends since middle school but ever since Jongin and Soojung both came out in the open about their feelings for each other and officially became a couple about a month ago, their friendship suddenly took a different turn. While Jinri was genuinely happy for them, she can’t help but think things would never be the same again. Friendship inevitably turns into a complicated affair when it becomes intertwined with romance and all that crap. Plus, seeing two of her best friends shove their tongues down each other’s throat was something that made her feel really awkward. She wondered how Sehun can even stomach the whole thing.

“So you guys wanna go to the beach this Saturday? You up for a double date?” Soojung announced excitedly.

Jinri looked incredulously at her. “What the—? Double date? We used to just call it hanging out.”

She shrugged, unfazed. “Well, sure, whatever you call it.”

Sehun looked over to Jinri, a silent question in his eyes whether she was coming or not. She huffed in defeat and nodded at him. He beamed. “Me and shuckface are game, mates!” He announced, placing an arm around her shoulder.

Jinri heaved another sigh of surrender.

***

“What do you mean you forgot? I just reminded you this morning, movie night at Sehun’s place. Is that so difficult to remember?” Jinri gritted into the phone in tired frustration, pacing back and forth in Sehun’s living room.

“We’re so sorry, love. We already made reservations in this new place, nothing fancy. I swear, we’re sorry.” Soojung sounded apologetic enough to calm some of her nerves down

“This is just like that time you ditched us on bowling night. Sehun singlehandedly creamed me, you know. My ego is still recuperating until now.” She added the last part as a joke, remembering how hilarious and humiliating that bowling episode was.

Soojung chuckled on the other line. “Yeah, he told us. Apparently, you’re the gutter queen now.”

Jinri winced at the nickname Sehun had apparently given her. “That douche.”

“Look, sorry. Maybe Jongin and I can squeeze you both into the reservation and we can all have dinner together.” Soojung offered generously.

“Naah, don’t be ridiculous. It’s your date. We wouldn’t want to intrude. But you owe us both, y