"Girl, hottie from your three o'clock has his eyes stuck on you again." Said girl merely gave her friend a brief deadpan look before looking down at her phone again. "Aw, come on! Jia and I have caught him staring at you for weeks now. You really think I'm making it up?"

Jia, her other friend, nodded. "It's true. I've seen the way he looks at you in class too. It's like he's unable to take his eyes off you."

Shin ignored her two friends, giving another cold reaction with a simple raise of her brows. The first few times they told her about it - the golden-haired boy who could not take his eyes off her - she would look in his direction, only to always be quickly greeted by his side profile or the back of his head. He would always turn away immediately, going back to conversations with his friends. 

Of course, he was not looking at her. He was looking at either Fei or Jia and did not want her to be mistaken. Why would anyone look at her when there was either of her friends to look at? 

"Oh, I have to go now." Jia stood hurriedly as she slurped the remaining of her fruit juice, leaving Shin to wonder how anyone could still look so pretty even in the midst of a sloppy action. The brown-haired beauty pointed at her friends, still full with her drink. The two girls got her message, though, and they nodded. I will see you two after school at the usual place!

"Hurry up before you end up being late for class again!" Shin laughed, shooing her friend away. 

Fei gasped softly before she patted Shin's thigh urgently under the table. "He's coming over, girl. He's coming over!" 

She looked over and true enough, he was walking over. Even with the distance between them, she could tell that he was tall. Very tall. And that he had pretty prominent features that put him in the category of good-looking. Yes, he was good-looking and only that much she would admit. She watched as he broke into an awkward smile, bowing slightly - almost too politely - at the pair of friends who had suddenly run up to him. 

So he's popular with girls too. She shrugged to herself, putting her attention back on her phone. Good looks, great height and popularity. Add them together and you get someone good enough for Fei. 

Her friend was clearly more excited about him walking over than she was; she swore she even heard Fei squeal softly when he finally reached them. 

He cleared his throat awkwardly with a smile just as awkward. "Err, hey." All he got was Fei's too-happy response and a polite smile from Shin. "Erm, I'm Kris from your Chinese Literature class. My friends and I were just wondering if you are Chinese as well, because you speak really fluent Mandarin."

"Oh, yes!" Fei quipped, putting her hand out for a handshake. "I'm Fei, by the way." Kris shook it briefly, stealing a quick glance at Shin - one that did not go unnoticed by the other girl. She grinned. "And this is Shin! We have another Chinese friend who just left for her lecture, but that's not important. What's important is Shin is here, right?"

That got Shin's attention and she threw her friend a what-are-you-talking-about look. Kris, too, looked equally confused. 

"Well, I guess that's all? We were just curious and the guys made me come over to ask." He continued, an embarrassed smile hanging on his lips. "So… we'll just see each other in class?"

"Well, you and Shin can see each other any time you want--"

"Oh, !" Shin exclaimed suddenly, surprising both Fei and Kris. She apologized quickly to the both of them when she realized what she just said. She apologized again, this time to Fei, as she packed her things and stood up urgently. "I forgot that I have a meeting with the team today! I'll see you and Jia for dinner, okay? Sorry!"

And with that, she hurried off, her half-finished sandwich clamped between her teeth as she pulled her bag-pack's strap over her left shoulder. Kris muttered a soft bye bye as she left the cafeteria, feeling disappointment wash over him again. That, of course, did not escape sharp-eyed Fei. She saw the way his face fell the moment Shin left them, the way he ever so slightly grimaced in regret. 

Unable to hold back, she clapped softly in glee, beaming brightly as she exclaimed, "Yes! Jia and I were right!"

"Huh?"

She gestured for him to sit down, which he did after a little hesitation; he was both startled and puzzled by her random outburst of excitement. "You are in love with our Shin, aren't you?" Forget being startled. Right now, he was completely dumbfounded by her bluntness. 

"Wh-- what?"

She simply waved his stutter away, a knowing look on her face. "We've seen the way you look at her, mister. Every Monday and Thursday, this time, in this cafeteria. Jia also caught you staring at her in class." She grinned at him, leaning forward as he leaned back in response. "We are the witnesses and what we've seen are the evidences, so don't bother lying your way out of this."

Kris gulped. 

A tight crease formed between Shin's brows as she focused on the article in front of her, scanning through quickly and stopping to make corrections wherever needed. The meeting with the editorial team - which really was only made up of her and five others - ended with her taking responsibility for everybody's articles. They each had tight deadlines to meet for school and Shin, just being Shin, offered to take over for them. 

"Woo, done with you!" She exclaimed softly in delight, to nobody in particular. There was only her left in the small room that was given to the school magazine team (which again, was just the four of them); everybody has either gone off for lecture or for project meetings. 

She was stretching and getting ready to get started on the last article when her phone beeped. A new message from her Kakaotalk group chat with Fei and Jia. 

Jia: OMG, HE WALKED OVER?! 

Jia: Did he /finally/ pluck up the courage to talk to our lovely Shin?

She rolled her eyes before typing in a one-word reply. 

Shin: No.

Feifei: Aww, Shinnie is shy~ 

Feifei: You should've seen the way his face fell when you walked away. E-P-I-C.

Jia: YOU HAVE TO TELL ME MORE OVER DINNER!!!

She shook her head at her friends' excitement - over nothing, she thought, did they really believe that he walked over for me? - but laughed anyway. She could see Jia dramatically dropping her phone in class and then picking it up just as dramatically to type in a dramatic reply. She chuckled, replying again.

Shin: I wouldn't be surprised if you shouted in the middle of your lecture, lol. 

Shin: Anyway, have to continue with work. 

Shin: See y'all later! 

The next hour was spent listening to the recording of the interviews that another writer has done with owners of themed cafes near their university and writing the transcriptions. She took a ten-minutes break after that, drawing up the outline of the article in her mind as she closed her eyes and rested. Time after that was used to quickly draft out the article, writing it properly and finally, giving it final editing. 

Just as she was done, her phone signaled another KakaoTalk message received.

Jia: Ladies~ Prof Jang is just as excited about TGIF as us and ended lecture early! 

Jia: See y'all at the usual place in 15, kay? :D

That was when she bothered to check the time and realized that she has been sitting in here, working non-stop, for the past five hours. There was still work left to be done but she packed up anyway; she was in charge of everything and meeting the deadline for publication was nothing too difficult for her. 

Moreover, it was Friday! If anything at all, she deserved a good break over the weekend. And a good weekend, in her opinion, was not complete without a good dinner with her two best friends. After making sure that all switches in the room were off, she slung her bag over her shoulders and headed to meet the two girls at their usual place, the pavilion just a little bit of distance away from the campus's back gate. 

Except when she got there, it was not just her two friends waiting for her. There were four other guys with them and among them, she recognized the boy with the dirty blond hair.

Kris felt every fibre in his body turn rigid the moment he saw her walking over. He saw her pause in her steps when she noticed that it was not just her friends waiting for her; he immediately wondered if it was a good idea to join them for dinner after all. Fei had invited them to their weekly dinner and despite his initial rejection, she reasoned that they should get to know each other better, considering they were from the same country. With some persuasion from his friends, he agreed. 

Well, that was only part of the reason why he agreed. His decision to accept her dinner invitation weighed largely on the fact that she - the girl who was now slowly nearing them - would be there too. They knew, so they have been teasing him non-stop about it. They - meaning Fei, Jia and Luhan. 

He thought to himself that thank goodness the others did not know about it, because they would definitely spill the beans and embarrass him in front of her. Especially Tao. Most especially Tao. Then Lay's obnoxious laughter sounded. Okay, that kid too. 

"Aw, look at someone already so star-struck!" Fei gushed, battering her lashes exaggeratedly. He cleared his throat and turned away, embarrassed. He was sure that he must have blushed countless times under their merciless teasing. Fei, though, was exceptionally unforgiving when it came to teasing him. 

"Wh-- what?" Kris stuttered, completely taken aback. 

"We've seen the way you look at her, mister. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, this time, in this cafeteria. Jia also caught you staring at her in class." She grinned at him. He was sure that many other boys would love to be in his place right now but really, all he could see was the evil glint in her eyes. He began leaning back and away from her when she leaned towards him. "We are the witnesses and what we've seen are the evidences, so don't bother lying your way out of this."

"I…" Am I that obvious?! "But…" 

"Say, when did it begin?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, as if in disbelief at his stupidity. Even he felt stupid. But this concerned Shin. He always felt helpless whenever it came to her. "Your crush on Shin. When did it begin?" 

"Aren't you being too straightforward?" He asked back. Sure, he could accept it if people could tell his crush on Shin. He could not help it if he was that obvious but to have someone he talked to barely a few minutes ago question him like this? It was too much. 

"My friend, did you see what happens when you don't get straight to the point?" He merely looked back at her. "She walks away and you don't even get a single acknowledgement from her." 

"I--"

"How about you and your friends join us for dinner? We always have dinner outside on Fridays. You can join us and get to know her too!" 

Kris shook his head. It would be too awkward. Furthermore, it felt strange to be having dinner with people he hardly knew. Well, he did know them from the class they shared but other than that, no, he did not know them at all. "It's okay. I don't want to intrude on your girls' time together."

Fei smiled widely, once again waving him off. "Take it as all of us getting to know each other better! Like you said, we're all Chinese. It wouldn't hurt to make friends with our fellow countrymen, right?" 

"You're right!" Kris turned around to see Luhan, Lay and Tao behind him. It was Luhan who had answered. "Sorry, Kris, you were taking a long time and we had to come over to check if you were still alive." Then he turned to Fei again, "We'll join you all for dinner. It's just a simple get-together to know each other, right?"

The girl nodded, more than happy to agree. Kris started again, "But--"

"Ge, we don't have basketball practice this evening and as far as I am concerned, you don't have any plans either," Tao cut in, as innocent as ever. "We'll just join them for dinner and make some new friends. Please?" 

"See, even your friends agree with me." Fei said quickly, mouthing a thank you to the three boys behind him. "Plus, we're from the same class, aren't we? You, him, Shin," she gave him a meaningful look," Jia and I. When Professor Kim assigns us group work again next time, we can always group together. Am I right?"

Kris finally sighed, knowing that there was no way he could win them. Of course, deep in his heart, he wanted badly to have dinner with herthem. "Okay. What time and where?"

Luhan patted his shoulder encouragingly, although he wore a suppressed grin. "Kris, just relax." Kris rolled his eyes but took a deep breath nonetheless. "Just be yourself. She'll be head over heels in love with you in no time." He appreciated his friend's attempt to help him relax but raised a questioning brow at the mischief in his friend's eyes. "Just like you are!" 

"Jerk." He muttered under his breath. 

He and Luhan were in the same Chinese Literature class as the three girls and doe-eyed male, too, knew about his crush on Shin. It was because of several reasons combined, although it was mostly because he was being very obvious and that his friend was sharper than he has given him credit for. Even now, as he shifted from foot to foot and pressed his lips tightly together, his friend could tell that he was nervous because of the approaching girl. 

"You're finally here!" Jia exclaimed and a look of mock exasperation crossed Shin's face when both her friends hooked their arms around hers. 

It was then Kris noticed how small she looked, with her friends on either of her sides, standing at least half a head taller than her. Almost immediately he found himself wondering how much smaller she would look beside him, especially since he was taller than most tall males. 

"Tha't Kris. We met him during lunch, remember? He and Luhan are from our Chinese Literature lectures," Fei introduced, taking him by surprise when her voice lacked its usual teasing tone. Luhan smiled as he waved and he quickly followed suit. "And that's Lay and Tao. Not from our class but also fellow Chinese."

Shin raised her hand to mirror the two younger boys' enthusiastic waves and self-introduction, the corners of her lips slightly curved upwards. It was a small smile but a smile nonetheless, one that Kris ever so often found on her. "Hi, I'm Lee Shin but you can call me Shin. And nice to meet you all, I guess?"

"Okay, we can get to know each other better over dinner," Jia groaned, already beginning to drag Shin towards the gate. "Let's just go now, please? I'm starving!"

---

I hope it wasn't too bad. o_o