‘Can you manage to go home alone?’ Chanyeol asked apologetically. Soojin realized that Chanyeol looked like he has lost his mind after he saw Haneul. She knew there were something else going on between them. Just friends? Like she would ever believe that.

Soojin agreed by faking a smile to him before retreating herself with her own way. She was upset. She truly was. She likes him but she felt that she’s the only one who’s feeling that way. He didn’t, she knew that but the fact that he likes Haneul despised her. The thought has made her dislike Haneul somehow. What is so special about Haneul anyway? What is it that Haneul has that she doesn’t?

After a while she has walked towards the nearby bus stop to get a taxi, she glanced to the back thinking that maybe Chanyeol wasn’t actually thinking of doing what she thought he might have done. Maybe Chanyeol has something else he needed to do that’s why he asked her to go home first.

But every time she kept giving herself hopes, it all ended up going down to drain. Soojin saw that Chanyeol was still standing outside the restaurant as if waiting for someone. And as much as she wished that the ‘someone’ wasn’t Haneul, she knew that it is. He likes her. And that hurts her.

The thought couldn’t still get out of her grasp every time she remembered of the dinner she had with him. And it reminded her of their first meeting too. How can she never realized that Chanyeol has been keeping interest in Haneul? How pathetic. She felt pathetic for having the false hopes when it was obvious that he doesn’t have any interest in her.

‘I always hang out at Hongdae too.’ Soojin cheered when he heard his story. ‘I went to the gigs a lot during my high school years but it kind of got halted when I started university.’ She continued while waiting for the worker at the bistro refilling their drinks.

‘Why don’t you bring Haneul along to see the gigs with you? You said you always hang out with her?’ he asked with his eyes looking somewhere else.

‘Haneul didn’t like loud place. The loudest place that she likes to go is probably cinemas.’ Soojin laughed.

‘She likes watching movies?’ he asked trying to get into detail.

‘Obsessed.’ She chuckled. ‘She can talk all day about movies if you ever started talking about one.’ She continued.

‘What else does she like to do?’ Chanyeol looked at Soojin with a smile.

‘She likes reading,’ Soojin started to work her brain out to think of what Haneul likes to do but stopped when she thinks that their topic has gone off quite far from what they were talking about. ‘Hey, we were talking about gigs.’ She smacked Chanyeol’s shoulder playfully.

Chanyeol laughed embarrassedly in return. ‘Oops, sorry.’

Soojin sniggered thinking how stupid she must have looked like in front of Chanyeol. He has been so obvious to her that he likes Haneul yet she was so blinded by her own love.

‘Are you alright, girl? Why are you laughing all by yourself?’ Sohyun mentioned after she got back from taking their orders at the counter.

‘I’m so stupid.’ She muttered lowly while reaching for her hot latte from the tray Soojin brought.

‘What?’ Sohyun asked for a repeat but Soojin just shook her head. ‘Where are the others?  Their coffees are going to get cold.’ she asked while looking around. ‘Anyway, how’s the date went?’ Sohyun asked in a sing song tone while smiling sheepishly.

‘I can tell you that it went really bad.’ Soojin answered nonchalantly.

‘Tell me, tell me. What happened?’ she asked with eyes wide.

But before Soojin can start telling Sohyun what she was displeased about her date, the other two of their friends came along sitting on the seats available interrupting their conversation.

‘Lee Haneul is your friend right?’ Jaeeun asked enthusiastically. But she kept herself calm when she saw the look on Soojin’s face. ‘I don’t know what you call her now but I heard from someone from our campus that she saw her working at the restaurant in Apgujeong. Isn’t her dad owns a company? Has he gone bankruptcy?’ she asked nosily.

‘How can you be sure it’s her?’ Soojin asked back. She wasn’t surprised since she met her while she was having dinner with Chanyeol the other night but she wasn’t expecting the news would spread this fast. Especially news about Haneul.

‘Come on,’ Jaeeun said irritatingly. ‘She’s the girl that Chanyeol has been clinging around. The whole campus is talking about it. Everyone knows her.’ Jaeeun stated but was smacked by Sohyun later to keep shut. ‘I-I mean there are also people who said she’s the girl who you’re always with before.’ She made another reason to cover up what she had said before.

‘Maybe her dad is a fraud.’ Mari spoke up after being silent since the moment she stepped in listening to the others talking. All eyes were on her when they heard her. ‘You know, maybe he did some tax evasion or he is just a corrupted person, who knows. I’m just saying.’ She continued nonchalantly.

‘He must be imprisons then.’ Sohyun stated.

Mari nodded. ‘Is it like they take all the properties away and froze all their bank accounts?’ Jaeeun asked curiously. ‘So her dad is in jail and she has nothing now. That’s why she has to work. To survive!’

There’s a small part of Soojin that she is not happy hearing these girls creating some speculations about Haneul like this without any strong proofs that that’s what is happening to her now. She might not be in good terms with Haneul but she felt wronged to do that to her.

‘Now we know where she got that characteristic from.’ Mari smirked.

A huff was heard from Sehun sounding annoyed at Haneul’s insistence to finish their work today. Haneul bravely eyed Sehun knowing that they couldn’t put it on hold anymore. He was the one who kept pushing to do the work fast and now, he’s trying to bail himself out letting her do all the work by herself?

‘Are you aware that the deadline is tomorrow?’ Haneul asked.

Sehun was about to laugh at her trial to sound stern but her voice didn’t let it be that way. Her eyes were wide and round and her lips pursed a little bit irritated at how Sehun ignored her like she wasn’t important.

‘I told you I’ll give you my copies tomorrow and we’ll compile it before handing it in.’ he reasoned.

‘It’s tomorrow morning. We can’t make it.’ she protested.

People might look at her like someone who’s trying to beg for something right now at Sehun. Sehun didn’t even mind to explain properly to her. He still continues walking like Haneul is just trying to make a big deal out of it.

Maybe sh