“Really? Your father said that to you?”

Sehun's voice was a little loud that some nearby students turned their heads when they heard him. They were still in the macroeconomics class, the last subject of the day, and they had to submit their in-class assignment in one hour. Jongin glared at Sehun to keep his voice down.

“Sorry,” Sehun cleared his throat as he smiled to some students near him. He lowered his voice into a whisper, “So who is she? I bet that woman is still in your circle, then?”

“I don’t know. He said she was an old friend of him in college that my Mother also knew. She’s a Korean–American. I forgot to ask her name, though,” Jongin whispered as he twirled a slim Montblanc ballpoint in his fingers.

“There are a lot of Korean–Americans in our world,” Sehun rolled his eyes.

“I know, but he said that I’ve met her with my family when I was a kid. It was around 10 years ago in San Francisco,” Jongin felt unsure about his own words, “I can’t remember clearly. I don’t even remember visiting San Francisco back then.”

“It’s because you’re such a forgetful person,” Sehun scoffed, “If it is San Fransisco, then maybe Soojung will know. She grew up there.”

“Yah, promise me that you won’t ask her or anyone. I only tell this to you,” Jongin turned his head to meet Sehun’s, “Beside, I still don’t know if my father is serious about this or not. I really don’t want anyone to make a fuss.”

“Relax. I won’t blabber about it to anyone else,” Sehun patted Jongin's back before he returned to his paper, “But, seriously, how could we solve these questions?”

Sehun peeked at Jongin’s answer sheet, which was already filled with complicated formulas and curves. "Yah, how did you do that?"

“It’s obvious; I've learned about this,” Jongin didn’t even look up. He was focused on analyzing the taxable income elasticity from the laffer curve.

“When? Do you take private lessons?”

“Nope. I asked my father’s secretary to tutor me last Friday. I did not want to feel useless with nothing to do in my office,” Jongin eyed Sehun, “What did you do there? Learning about shipping business?”

“As you know already, I am not that ambitious,” Sehun grinned cheekily, “I learned a bit about the company’s visions, but then I got bored. I called Soojung, Jinri, and even Taehyun. I tried to call you but the secretary said you were out.”

“Ah, the day when you planned to do homework at my house, wasn’t it?” Jongin couldn't help throwing the sarcasm.

Sehun chuckled, rather awkwardly. “But the homework still turned out well without me, right? Mr. Carl even praised your work in the class, saying it was one of the best.”

Jongin hummed, biting the end of his pen. “Looking back… what would you do if you were there? Literature is not your cup of tea.”

“Probably giving you moral support while I leisurely watch some sci-fi movies,” Sehun said, jokingly, “Thank you, Kim Jongin. I was definitely right when I chose you as my partner.”

“Yah, can’t you at least show some regrets?” Jongin muttered in disbelief, “That’s so shameful of you.”

“Don’t be so mean. I promise this will be the last time I bailed,” Sehun raised his hand, swearing.

“Tell that to Soojung. She seemed more irritated than I was when you broke our plan,” said Jongin, eyes shifted to his answer sheet again.

“Ah, that’s right. I should make it up to her. And to you, too,” Sehun reminded himself, “Let’s go have some steak and wine for dinner at your hotel. My treat.”

“You’re going to treat me at my own hotel?” Jongin repeated, raising his brows, “Isn’t that like saying you’re going to buy me a plant... grown from the seeds that I gave to you?”

“Does it matter? What matters is I pay back what I owe,” Sehun retorted.

“Right,” Jongin sighed at Sehun's stubbornness, “But can’t we just find another place? The choices of steak at Siwon hyung’s lounge are great too. I am bored tasting my hotel’s food.”

Sehun frowned. “I don’t want to. Let’s just dine at your hotel. The chef is better in cooking red wine marinated rib-eye. It suits my taste better.”

Jongin rolled his eyes for the nth time that day. Who actually makes up to who in this case.

“Fine, like it’s worth my time to argue with you anyway,” Jongin replied, somehow sarcastically, “Let’s just finish this assignment first so we can head out soon.”

Jongin continued writing on his answer sheet, but Sehun just stared at him innocently. He looked up again. “What?”

“Can I just… copy… your…” Sehun pointed his eyes at Jongin’s answer sheet, signaling him.

“Jeez, you’re such a nuisance,” Jongin scoffed, but his hand already the paper to Sehun’s direction.

“But you love me.”

“Shut up.”

 

[][][][]

 

Students flocked to the hallway after the bell rang at 3 p.m. that afternoon. Some of them rushed to head home, while some others went out to attend their extracurricular activities. Soojung managed to make her way out just in time. She walked to the west side of the building, where the tennis court was located. The day of the annual sport game was getting near and Soojung needed an extra practice to keep her rank. She was the winner of tennis competition last year and she wanted to secure her place this year too.

Soojung was walking towards the locker’s room when a phone call came. She decided to just let her phone ring on her hand as she reached her own locker, where she stored her tennis racket and other equipment. Soojung opened the locker's door and put her black Prada backpack inside before she picked up the phone.

“Hi, there.”

"It took you so long," Sehun straightly asked, “Where are you?”

“At the tennis court. Why?"

“We’ll go there, wait for us,” Sehun hung up.

We? Soojung stared at the screen with raised brows before tossing the phone inside her locker. She quickly took out her tennis apparel and changed her uniform. Jiyoung joined her when she had done changing and was checking her tennis racket. She greeted Soojung with complaints about the hot weather and suggestions to buy sunscreen with higher SPF.

With their racket bags on hands, Soojung and Jiyoung walked together to the court while discussing about the upcoming sport game. There were only the two of them and two other juniors at the tennis court that afternoon, possibly because it was not an official practice schedule. They put their bags on the bench and started warming up.

“Jung!"

Soojung only knew one person who liked to call her with her surname. Still doing her stretching with her arms high over her head, she turned to the voice's direction and saw Sehun.

And Jongin too.

She signaled at them to come over and continued with her warming up routine. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Sehun and Jongin walked to her direction from behind the fence, with Sehun muttering something to Jongin that made the latter laugh.

“Hi,” Sehun said when they arrived at the court.

“Hi, haven't seen you two today,” Soojung looked back and forth between the two guys in front of him before she finally eyed Sehun, “So, why are you looking for me?”

“I come here to tell you about our plan tonight,” Sehun replied straightforwardly, “Dinner at 7, Jongin’s hotel. We’ll have some steak and wine at the lounge, just our favorite.”

“Wait—what? A dinner?” she retorted, knitting her brows in confusion.

“Yes, Jung, a dinner. I want to make it up to you and Jongin after I bailed last Saturday," Sehun continued, “I’ll pick you up with Jongin later.”

Did I miss something? With every excitement tingling in Sehun's voice, Soojung caught herself more bewildered. She wanted to ask whether Sehun was joking, but he seemed rather serious. When she eyed Jongin, he just pressed his lips into a thin smile in response.

"I’ll pick you up before 7, yeah?” Sehun confirmed.

“Wait—hold on a sec. Are you asking me for a dinner tonight?” seeing Sehun nodded his head, Soojung asked, “Why so sudden?”

“Because it just popped up in my head like an hour ago,” Sehun shrugged.

“But you can’t just plan about it without asking me,” Soojung let out a brittle laugh, “I am busy tonight. I already have a gown fitting appointment with Valentino.”

“Change the schedule then. You’re going to dine with us tonight.” Sehun said it too easily as he his hands into the pockets of his Burberry trench coat.

Soojung frowned. “Do you think it’s that easy to schedule a fitting appointment? I made this reservation since 2 weeks ago, how could I reschedule it?”

“I’ll ask my mother to help you with that. Tonight, just cancel it and dine with me—with us,” Sehun said, stubbornly.

“Just go without me, then,” Soojung raised her voice, “You can just have dinner with Jongin, what difference does it make?”

“How could we eat dinner just the two of us? People will think we’re gay,” Sehun suddenly grabbed her shoulder and shook it, “Come on, I want to make it up to you. How can I do that if you’re not there?”

“But this is not the way to make it up to me. You should've asked me first beforehand,” Soojung sounded irked.

Jongin sighed as he felt annoyed by the bickering that resembled a fight between two noisy lovers in a cheesy soap opera. He pulled out his right hand from the pocket of his Balmain leather jacket and grabbed Sehun's hand from Soojung's shoulder.

“Don’t pressure her. Come on, let’s just eat by ourselves later or we can just change the date,” Jongin said, pulling Sehun's hand.

Sehun eyed him with a puzzled look. An ambiguous smile curled up in his lips as he shoved Jongin's hand. “So, now you’re defending her?”

“I am just saying that she has her point,” Jongin could feel that Soojung was staring at him, “She has her own schedule and—you know how busy we are. She’s right, you should’ve asked her opinion first before making the plan.”

“Listen to your friend. Don’t push her like that, it’s annoying,” Jiyoung, who was watching all along, jumped into the fray.

“Yah, why do you suddenly into our conversation?” Sehun eyed Jiyoung.

“Sehun. That’s enough,” Jongin sensed the tension between them. Knowing his best friend’s temperamental attitude, he knew that he had to step in.

“Listen,” Soojung suddenly said, grabbing their attention, “I’ll let you make it up to me tomorrow or the day after, okay? We can just eat whatever you want. What do you say about that?”

He did not give an immediate answer as he just stared at something far on his right side. Soojung and Jongin had an eye contact, a smile of consolation tugging on his lips.

Sehun sighed and loosened the tense on his shoulders. He looked at Soojung’s eyes. “Alright, let’s do that.”

“Good. Just give me a call, alright?” Sehun nodded at her words. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you,” Sehun said. His eyes shifted to Jongin, “Let’s head out. I want to drink some coffee on the way home.”

Jongin turned his head to Soojung before following behind Sehun. “Bye, Soojung.”

Soojung smiled and waved her hand. “Bye.”

“Good luck with the practice.”

“Thank you.”

Jongin said good bye to Jiyoung too and headed out, leaving behind two girls who stare at the guys’ back until they disappeared behind the fences.

 

[][][][]

 

It was two hours before lunch when Soojung heard that their world politics class was canceled. The teacher, Mr. Benjamin, went to Boston with members of the MUN club to attend Harvard National Models United Nations. He left the students with an assignment about the first Gulf War, but it did not need to be completed in the class. She could just take it home and submitted it by next week.

Soojung wanted to read her Les Misérables novel, but the class was just too noisy. Her friends were busy gossiping, having chit-chat, and some even playing a truth-or-dare game behind her seat. Soojung quietly slipped out and headed to the library. It was the only place she could think about to escape from the noise.

The usually empty table at the right corner of the library was occupied by someone who was sleeping with his body leaning on the table. Soojung looked at the person's side-profile and immediately knew who it was. She unconsciously smiled as she took a seat in front of him without making too much noise.

As the mid-day sun shone brightly through the windows, Jongin wriggled in his sit and slowly regained his consciousness. He stretched his back and realized he had slept in a rather uncomfortable position. He tried to open his eyes, but he instead found a familiar figure in front of him who seemed oblivious to her surroundings.

“Hi, Soojung,” Jongin whispered, straightly recognizing her, “What are you doing there?”

Soojung looked up from her book. “Reading. How’s your sleep?”

“So-so. My back is so stiff though,” Jongin groaned as he massaged his shoulder, “What time is it?”

“It’s half past eleven,” Soojung glanced at her Rolex, “Why are you here? Skipping class?”

“I got kicked out of my French class because I fell asleep. I was given an assignment, but… I just slept here,” Jongin rubbed his eyes and straightened his back.

Soojung noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “What were you up to last night?”

“Hanging out with the Lee. I went to see Taemin but some hyungs came to visit,” Jongin rested his chin on his hand, “They brought wines from Mission Haut-Brion. I ended up drinking with them till nearly dawn.”

She chuckled. “That’s basically what happens when you hang out with the elders.”

“Tell me about it,” Jongin paused to look at her in the eyes, “So, what happened yesterday?”

“What?”

“You know, eating out with Sehun. I heard that he wanted to make it up to you,” Jongin emphasized his last words.

“Oh, it was fine. We ate some sushi and sashimi, talked about things and drank some sake. His mood was good.”

“It must be a relief for you then."

“Totally,” Soojung smiled knowingly, “Well, you know how he is.”

“Yeah, he can be manipulative sometimes—and insensitive too."

“When I think about it, it's kind of weird,” Soojung tilted her head, immersed deeply in her thought, “I mean, if you really want to make it up to someone, wouldn’t you just eat along with their preference?”

Jongin nodded.

“That’s what I will do too, but Sehun insisted on eating Japanese food when I told him I really wanted to eat some pasta. Can you believe that?”

Her comical expression when she talked made Jongin laugh.

“He also did that to me. Do you really think I would choose to eat at my own hotel if it wasn’t for him?”

Soojung sneered. “He’s really one of a kind, isn’t he?”

“He is,” Jongin said before giving her a knowing smile, “But you are too, you know.”

Jongin could see her eyes flickered when she replied, “Why? What about me?”

He leaned his body closer to the table. “Honestly, this is the first time I encounter someone of my age who reads a book thicker than a brick.”

Soojung chortled when she saw Jongin pointed his eyes to her novel on the table. She slightly touched the cover and shoved the book to his direction. “I like reading. I thought you knew.”

“Oh, I know,” Jongin opened the book to see the last page. His eyes widened. “But, nearly 1,400 pages? Seriously?”

“Les Misérables is one of the longest novels ever made. But the story is great, it’s a legend,” she said.

“But you can just watch the film instead of reading the book. It will save a lot of your time. So why bother?” Jongin asked curiously as he shoved back the book to her hands.

“Because if your world is behind the lenses, then this is my world: behind the pages,” she answered.

Jongin unknowingly smiled upon her answer, finding it intriguing to him. He softly threw his back to the chair, his head tilted as he stared at her from bigger perspective. He liked it when she tucked her hair behind her ear and when she put one hand behind her neck as her other hand slowly turned the pages of the book.

“You don’t like reading, do you?”

Her words startled him because he thought she would not talk to him first. Jongin cleared his throat, “I like reading, but never tried to read your likings.”

Soojung leaned herself closer, interested, “What do you like?”

“Articles, news, reviews… basically things that I can find on the web,” Jongin grinned, “Do they count?”

“But not books? As in something like this?” Soojung pointed to the row of books on the bookshelf behind her.

Jongin hummed. “I've tried some sci-fi and autobiography books, but none are interesting for me. Any recommendation?”

“I mostly read novels and poetry. What would you like to read?”

“What is your favorite?”

“I like poetry books the most. But, you may not be interested in those things.”

“Poetry… like Kahlil Gibran?” seeing Soojung nodded in reply, Jongin continued, “I’d like to try. It wouldn't hurt to try new things, would it?”

Soojung looked pleased. “Great! I’ll bring it for you later. Do you have any book in mind? Sylvia Plath's, perhaps?"

“Just bring me your favorite one,” Jongin smirked, “But you are not into some freaky stuff, are you? Like gothic… or something…”

“Yah, are you underestimating my taste?” Soojung playfully hit his hand on the table.

“Well, I am just taking precautions if you—ouch! Don’t pinch me, it hurts!”

They continued teasing each other, not even aware that someone was walking towards their table. He stopped behind the shelf and stared at his friends; they were not close with each other, but now they shared laughter as they talked about something he didn’t know. The scene seemed so distant for him that he couldn’t even recognize his real feeling towards it. Was he happy, indifferent, or…

Sehun shook away his thought from his mind as he took a deep breath and greeted them loudly.

“Hi, guys!”

 

 

 

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