"Jihye! Come, look at this!" Hyerin yelled at me, as she ran towards a clothing store.

We were in the mall that day, shopping for dresses as both of us had won awards for our research project. We were to recieve those awards tomorrow night, so being the mother hen that she was, Hyerin had dragged me from my home at 8 in the night, telling me that 'we have to look good for potential mother-in-laws in the audience.' We had been searching for a store that had a sale, and from the looks of it, she had just spotted one.

"Ooooooh, buy one get 50% off on the second! I'll get my dress for half the price!" She exclaimed, pushing me into the store.

The cashier behind the counter bowed politely and briefed us about their sale, which pleased Hyerin greatly.

"What a nice guy~" She whispered to me. "And would you just look at those lean arms and long legs? My god, he's perfect."

I simply laughed at her state, as it was incredibly rare for her to ever obsess over any guy who wasn't a K-pop star. I turned to examine the cashier again, and I immediately saw why she was singing his praises. He had wavy brown hair, which fell messily over his soft brown eyes. He was tall and lean, with a husky voice.

"Damn." I muttered to Hyerin. "You're right, he's perfect."

"...So, what you guys looking for?" He asked us, smiling.

"Dresses for a semi-formal event." I explained, looking over at Hyerin, who seemed to be engrossed in staring at his hair.

"Sure. Head straight through the kid's section and take a left. That's where the dresses are." He said, obviously uncomfortable from the attention Hyerin was giving him.

"Got it. Thank you!" I replied, pulling Hyerin away before she embarrased herself.

"That boy has some magical entrancing powers. His hair is hypnotizing!" She said, scanning the clearance section.

"I'll say." I chuckled, examining the white dresses. "I don't think you would have broken out of trance anytime soon."

"Hmm." She hummed, picking out a pretty dress with lace detail and a blue satin belt. "What do you think of this?" She asked, handing it to me.

"It's very pretty. Should I try it on?" I asked, looking for a dressing room.

"Yep! Here, try these shoes on while you're at it, too." She said, handing me a pair of white heels.

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked Hyerin, emerging from the dressing room.

"Oh my goodness, you look so cute~!" She giggled. "Here, here, let me take a picture!"

"You sound like a mother, you know." I said, groaning.

"Aw, hush. Strike a cute pose!" She squealed, taking over a dozen pictures. "Ah, you need some jewelery to go with this dress. Stay here, I'm gonna go get a few things, ok?" She said, before running away.

I sighed and turned to look at the mirror. This dress was really beautiful. It was white and had a baby blue collar and belt. It had lace along the borders and sleeves. I played with my hair a bit, taking a section and pinning it back.

'I wonder if Jungkook won an award too'

I blushed at the thought as I reflected over our relationship. Both of us had unknowingly become close, which might sound weird as most of our conversations consisted of snarky remarks and insults. I guess the constant competing was getting a bit tiring, and even if he didn't admit it, I'm pretty sure he had come to like me as a friend.

"Excuse me." Someone said behind me, interuppting my thoughts.

I turned around and there stood Jungkook. Speak of the devil.

"We a-" He began, but stopped abruptly. "Oh, it's you." He said, in a weird tone.

"Yep. Hi." I said awkwardly.

"Uh...you look..decent." He mumbled, looking at his shoes.

"Oh, um, thanks." I replied, my heart racing. Had he just complimented me?

"Jihye, look what I- Oh, Jungkook! Fancy seeing you here!" Hyerin said, rescuing me from the awkwardness.

He smiled and bowed at her. "My brother works here. I help out occasionally." He explained, still looking at me.

"Oh, is that so? Is he the cashier?" She asked, her eyes twinkling with hope.

"Yes, that's him." He smiled and waved his brother over. "This is my brother, Junghyun."

His brother shook our hands as we told him our names.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Junghyun~" Hyerin cooed, shaking his hand vigorously.

"Pleasure's all mine." He chuckled awkwardly, freeing his hands from her claws. "Just to let you guys know, we'll be closing in some time. So please make your purchases fast, ok?"

We nodded and bowed as he left.

"Jungkook, are you going to be at the award ceremony as well?" Hyerin asked him after Junghyun left.

"Yeah, I'm recieving an award." He said, shyly. 

"Oh! What for?" Hyerin inquired further.

"Being a tool." I muttered under my breath, but Hyerin elbowed me before I could say anything else.

"Exellence in vocals." He said, resulting in surprised looks from us.

"I didn't know you could sing." I said softly, avoiding eye-contact.

"Uh, yeah, not a lot of people know that. I've been training at an entertainment company in Seoul for a few months now." He explained.   

"Oh, that's nice. It's good to follow your dreams." Hyerin commented, sounding like an old lady.

"Yeah, haha." He grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, since we're about to close, why don't you guys tear the price tags from your clothes and give them to me? I'll just scan those, so you don't need to change."

"Omo, how clever." She said, patting his head. "Give us a second, then."

He nodded and went away.

"How can you be so comfortable around him?" I asked Hyerin, who was scrambling to find the price tag on her dress.

"I don't know, actually." She said thoughtfully "He just reminds me of my younger brother, so I treat him like that. He doesn't seem to mind it."

"Hmm." I said, as both of us walked towards the checkout counter.

Jungkook scanned the tags while Hyerin chatted up his older brother. I kept laughing at how visibly uncomfortable he was, and how oblivious she was to that fact.

"How old is your brother?" I asked him.

"He's turning 20 in July." He replied nonchalantly. "Why do you ask?"

"Hyerin seems to like him quite a bit." I said, motioning towards the awkward couple. He looked at him and shook his head.

"He has no idea how to talk to girls, which is unfortunate, since a large number of girls that approach him everyday." He laughed. "He just stiffens up and tries to avoid as much physical contact as he can."

I laughed too, and we just stared at each other for a few seconds, before Jungkook's brother called out to him.

I cleared my throat and he awkwardly handed over the clothes to me, turning red. I payed the money quickly and dragged Hyerin out of the store before she could make poor Junghyun any more uncomfortable.

"He's too good to be true~" Hyerin sang, skipping in front of me.

"You're right." I said quietly, looking at my heels as they clicked on the marble floor. "Both of them are."