Jinhae’s back to reality.

When she woke up the next morning after a four-hour sleep, she was back to her typical everyday routine. She lied on her bed for a minute, wondering if everything was just a dream but when she checked her phone, she saw a message from Seulgi which was a photo they took that night. Unconsciously, a smile came up to her lips. She read the message that came with it that read:

A commemoration photo to celebrate that day Wang Jinhae went out of her cave! ^^ Ahahahaha. Just kidding, Jinnie but seriously, I’ve never seen you so happy in so long. You should come with us more often. ^^

P.S. You’ve never smiled so genuinely in so long for a photo.

P.P.S. I'm glad you said okay.

P.P.P.S. I think all the boys like you. ;)

She breathe out loud at the last note, shaking her head. Expect Seulgi to see things in that light. Closing the message box, she opened another chat box and scrolled through it, a small frown coming to her lips. Sighing, she closed it/ The frown was only for a while before the events the night before played in her mind and placed another smile on her lips. 

Her stomach flipped when she remembered how she said that she'll be back. She really don't know why but it just came out and it was already too late to take it back. And she couldn't, not after seeing the faces of the boys who looked so happy. She's not sure when she can join them again but she would love to see them again.

Pushing it back to the back of her mind, she got up from bed, getting ready for another hectic day.

And the routine went on. Especially now that she has a conference to attend the week after that would be three nights and four days, from Friday to Monday, she needed to finish whatever obligation she has for those days she’ll be gone. She didn’t like cramming so she liked to finish things early.

It was already Wednesday and she had a three hour break since a professor of theirs called in sick and just left them stuff to do to be passed the next meeting. People might think that she’s a very studious student who gets annoyed whenever their classes are cancelled but in truth, she liked it very much because it gives her time to do other things.

Having three hours of break, she decided to go to her favorite café just a few blocks down from the campus. It would take at least ten to fifteen minutes by foot but Jinhae was already so used going there that the long walk didn’t matter anymore. 

Stepping out of her building the afternoon sun beamed at her and she scrunched up her nose a little when it hit her face. She started walking towards the direction of the exit that was nearest to the café. She hadn’t gone far when someone tapped her on the shoulder and she didn’t need to turn to know who it was. The tap was on the left but she knew better than to look there, and faced the right.

“Ooohhh, you know me so well now, huh, Haejin,” the person said, smiling amusedly at her.

Since she got in college three years ago and she bumped into him in the library where the books they were both holding flew around them, they would often find themselves being the same place and bumping into each other. Jinhae, as already known by most, is quite an introverted person so people wouldn’t even try to get close to her but that person was the only one who actually tried to befriend her and stuck by her side.

Even if she doesn’t show it much, she was thankful to have him by her side and even if he never listened to her when it comes to her name, she could consider him the closest person she could call her best friend, something along those lines. He’s also probably the only person she’s most comfortable to be with in their whole campus since they were same aged friends.

“You always do that. How can I not know?” She said as she continued walking.

He jutted her lower lip before nodding. “You’re right.”

She bit back her smile and she softly shook her head.

“So, where are you going?” He asked, walking beside her.

“You, where are you going?” She asked and he shrugged.

“Where you are going, and hey, I asked first,” he said, lips set to a firm line.

“Café,” she answered, shrugging.

“Figures. Why are you out early? You should still be in your class, right?” He asked, peering at her face.

In those type of situations, one would’ve already threw a suspicious glance at the other but Jinhae knew that with every day that they get to spend time with each other, it wouldn’t already be a surprise if he have memorized her timetable. She, too, is near to memorizing his whole timetable.

“I cut it,” she said and he stared at her.

“That’s joke right?”

“And if it’s not?” She looked at him before facing forward, smiling to herself as she walked off.

“Your father would kill you,” he said so seriously that Jinhae rolled her eyes on him.

“I’m just kidding. Professor Lee’s absent.”

A smile automatically lit up his face. “Right. Of course. You? Cut classes? Never,” he said, shaking his head.

Jinhae just sighed to herself.

Before they knew it, they were already in front of the café and he held the door open for her while she entered.

“Thanks,” she said softly and he grinned. She walked to the counter to order when he stood beside her.

“What do you like? My treat,” he said, smiling at her.

Jinhae shook her head before she looked at the menu board. “You just treated me last time, Jongdae. It’s my turn. What do you like?”

“But—“

“We’ll get strawberry cream frappe and café Americano—“

“No! Not the Americano. I’d get Green Tea.”

Jinhae smiled to herself before giving the guy behind the counter her card.

“You know I don’t like that.”

“That’s why I said it.”

And just like that Jongdae laughed and Jinhae bit back another smile.

 

“So, did you get it?” Baekhyun asked smiling mischievously, leaning over the table to his best friend who was munching his burger.

Chanyeol knew he shouldn’t have told Baekhyun about what happened that night but he’s most comfortable on telling things like that to him, and it wasn’t even him who initiated the talk about it. It was the boy himself on their way home that night since they live in the same neighborhood.

It actually meant nothing as he was a friendly person to begin with. If he saw someone he knew in that kind of situation, he would’ve helped them as well. He explained that to the other boy but what the boy said next caught him off guard:

“Yeah, let’s say you would. But would you actually leave the table to follow whoever it is if it wasn’t her just to make sure she’ll not have hard time since it was a busy night and all? Would you?”

“O-Of course! I’m a very nice person you know!” Chanyeol said, voice sounding so defensive that it betrayed him.

Baekhyun scoffed, “Nice person. Right.”

“Yah! I’m really nice!”

“Yeah, whatever. Get her number. You two could use some love life,” Baekhyun said, waving him off. “I’ll go ahead. See you.”

As the door closed behind Baekhyun, Chanyeol was left gaping at what the boy said before he regained his senses and mumbled, “As if he has one.”

The boy never stopped pestering him for days after it. It was already Friday, a week after that night, and the boy still won’t let him off as they gathered at their usual table in the restaurant-café for dinner like they usually do on Friday nights whether they would play or not.

He knew Baekhyun was right. He wouldn’t actually follow someone just to make sure they won’t get a hard time inside a restaurant-café unless they actually asked help from him or if he actually found them having a hard time. With Jinhae, he knew that she was smart, basing it from the stories thrown by Seulgi and Sehun here and there while they were talking, so he was sure that she could find her way around despite the busy hour of the place. What actually made him to follow her was the table of boys that he saw was checking her out.

It was Jinhae’s first time going there and most importantly, her first time joining them. If he just ignored it, Jinhae might get scared to go back again, and for some reason, he didn’t like that so he immediately left the table and followed her.

The thing is, when he remembered all that, it was already too late and Baekhyun already assumed that it was because he liked her, which was not true. Maybe he does like her but not in the way Baekhyun think he does. And there's also another reason. He doesn't know why but when he saw her that night, there was something that felt familiar to him that drew him to the girl. And probably, that’s also why he did things he wouldn’t usually have done to others—

Why he couldn’t stop himself from getting curious about her and to think about her after that night was over.

“Is he still pestering you over it, Chanyeol?” Joonmyeon asked, smirking, breaking him from his thoughts.

Chanyeol chugged down his water before nodding. “Why are you even asking me to get it? You get it if you want it.”

Baekhyun snickered before his face lit up when he saw who was coming. He waved his hand in the air, catching the other four boys’ attention as they turned to see who it was.

“Oh, it’s Sehun and Jong In,” Yixing said, smiling at the two as they reached their table.

“He’s going to pester Sehun now, I tell you,” Kyungsoo said, making Joonmyeon who heard, laugh.

“Sehun!”

“Told you,” Kyungsoo smirked and Joonmyeon laughed harder. The two new boys joined them, Sehun sitting beside Kyungsoo and Jong In beside Joonmyeon.

“What is it, Baekhyun hyung?” Sehun asked as he grabbed fries from Joonmyeon’s tray.

Baekhyun peeked at Chanyeol who gave him a hard stare but the boy ignored it and looked at Sehun, smiling widely. “Can we get Jinhae’s number?”

Sehun looked surprised as he stopped stuffing himself with food. “Why?” He asked after a while, looking at Baekhyun who looked at Chanyeol then back to him. Sehun looked at Chanyeol then, an ‘o’ forming on his mouth while the latter shook his head at him.

“I swear, Hun, I’m not asking for it. Baekhyun’s the one insisting for me to get it,” Chanyeol said, hands up as if to say that he was innocent.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “I’m asking it for you sake because you’re too much of a coward to ask, stupid.”

Chanyeol glared at him before throwing a piece of fries at him which Baekhyun avoided and stuck his tongue on him. He sneered at the shorter boy reaching over the table to punch the boy but Baekhyun leaned away from his hands.

“Okay,” Sehun said, stopping the two from their bickering as both looked at the younger boy.

“Yah, is it okay to do that?” Jong In asked and he shrugged.

“That girl doesn’t have much contact on her personal phone, I tell you. She could use some new numbers, and I bet she’ll be happy to have Chanyeol hyung’s.” Sehun grinned and Chanyeol’s face felt hot all of a sudden.

“Look at his ears,” Baekhyun laughed, pointing at Chanyeol’s ears.

“Are you blushing, Chanyeollie?” Yixing asked, an amused smile on his lips and Chanyeol threw both boys who sat opposite him a glare.

“What’s happening here?” Minseok came before settling on a seat next to Jong In. He looked at Chanyeol then at Baekhyun who was still trying to stop himself from laughing.

“He has a crush on Jinhae,” Kyungsoo said so bluntly that Chanyeol just gave up.

“Oh?” Minseok asked as he looked at Chanyeol then at Joonmyeon to confirm it who just smirked, shrugging. “Then should I help you?”

Chanyeol groaned. “Cut it out guys. It’s not funny.”

“Oh, it is.” Baekhyun laughed and Chanyeol reached over the table, determined to get his hands on the laughing boy who stood up and went to the other end of the table, pushing Sehun over to sit beside him before sticking his tongue out on the taller boy.

“But seriously, would it be okay to give her number away?” Jong In asked again.

Sehun waved him off. “She won’t mind. She knows Chanyeol, anyway. Chanyeol hyung, I’ll message you her number, don’t worry,” Sehun smiled at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol groaned. What a bunch of friends he has, really.

 

Sehun actually stuck to his words. Before the day ended, when he just finished washing up and was drying his hair as he sat down on his bed, his phone rang. He opened the message from the younger boy and there was the girl’s number with a short message from Sehun saying:

Here’s her number. She’s always busy so she might not reply fast but she sure would in the morning when she wakes up. Anyway, I trust you, hyung. See ya.

He blinked at Sehun’s third sentence, reading it again. I trust you. “What’s up with this boy?” He mumbled to himself. He typed a quick reply.

I don’t know what you’re saying but thanks ‘cause you trust me. Ahahahahaha. See ya.

He stared at the number, biting his bottom lip. His thumb hovered on it, wondering if he should save it or not. He doesn’t know how long he contemplated over it before he finally clicked on it and added it to his contact list. He named it Jinhae before pressing save. He's still not sure what to do now that he has her number but he's sure he'll figure that out somehow.

---

A/N:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!