I demand an explanation. I demand a reason, a logical and realistic one. I demand to know how the heck it is that I ended up in this situation.
Let's rewind. I was just sitting down next to Junseo. Showing him my finished drawing of himself.
Now, I'm still sitting down next to Junseo. He just asked me something. I have a perfect reply.
But, why can't I open my mouth? Why can't I move? Why is my heart racing?
Why is he not moving either?
My eyes lingered down his face.
'Do I really look like this to you?'
'Yes, but with color'
That should've been my response, but when my ability to speak came back, what came out of my mouth was a mumble and the words.
"No, you look better."
Junseo gulped, and the blood rush intensified. Miyeon breathed heavily, thinking about a CPR course she had taken and trying to remember if any of these symptoms might lead to a stroke or fainting.
A couple of minutes passed by, and none dared to break eye contact. Junseo decided to be the first jerk of the day and put an end to this circus.
"Ahem!" He coughed. "Well, thank you….ummm…..so?" And there goes his attempt at making the atmosphere a little more breathable.
"I think we should head to the city. I have to work today, and I need to do some laundry before." She got up from the seat and went over to pick up her plate. Junseo set the notebook aside and went to pick up his plate. Miyeon and he washed their respective dishes, although Miyeon almost fought him about it, claiming it made her look bad as a host.
"And making your guest sleep outside doesn't?" Junseo received an unamused look from Miyeon.
"Are you still mad about that?"
"Heck yeah, I am!" Junseo picked his bag with dirty clothes, while Miyeon grabbed her keys and purse. He opened the door and went out first, Miyeon picked up her laundry bags and exited after him.
"Here," Junseo practically yanked the bags out of her hand.
"Why did you do that?" She asked.
"Because your clumsy ass would not be able to close the door with the bags basically powering over you." He said in a manner that made Miyeon rethink whether he was being helpful, or just plain mocking.
"Are you implying you are anywhere less clumsy than I am?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, then started going down the stairs, Junseo following behind with the bags.
"I'm not implying." He replied. "I'm stating facts."
"If you were not clumsy, you would've not missed your stop yesterday." Miyeon retorted.
"I didn't miss my stop. I slept through it." Junseo said.
"You said you missed it. Now a liar, too, huh?" Miyeon called out.
"I never said that. I actually never got much to say yesterday. Since, you know, I was kicked out." Junseo rolled his eyes with a scoff.
"You're lucky I didn't call the police on you for stalking me." Miyeon scoffed at him too. At this point, they had almost arrived at the train station. They walked slowly down as they talked, or bickered.
"Call the police on me?!" Junseo felt truly offended.
"Yes, who knows what things you could've done had I let you inside?" Miyeon dramatized being scared or traumatized. In return, Junseo gagged dramatically.
"You should tell the others to send someone else next time, then," Junseo said sarcastically.
"Wait, what?"
Junseo then realized his mistake. She wasn't meant to find out he had been sent by the others, because that would rat them out, especially Haruki.
He struggled to correct his mistake.
"Run that by me again?" Junseo could swear her usual opaque wine hair had fired up, and her chocolate eyes were darker than earlier.
It was too late.
He spent the next few minutes of them walking, and even when they had gotten on the train, explaining to her what had happened yesterday; excluding the part where he said he had noticed the change in her eyes. Miyeon stayed quiet and listened attentively. Part of her was furious with Haruki but also moved by her friend's concern.
She felt cared for. But, that warm feeling still didn't out the sudden desire to smack Haruki. Junseo had finished his tale and was now waiting anxiously for her reply.
She pursed her lip and clicked out her tongue. Then turned to him, a sly smile.
"Are you not mad at them?"
It had occurred to her that the perfect way to enhance her revenge was by working with the other victim of this unfair deal. Junseo stared at her, arching an eyebrow.
"After all, you would've never slept outside if it wasn't for them." Miyeon batted her lashes innocently.
Junseo suddenly remembered all the rage he had felt towards his so-called friends when he woke up with terrible back pain that morning. He also remembered every martial art that he had been introduced to since the age of five.
Miyeon would never admit it. But, after analyzing his face for so long today for the sake of her drawing, she could safely say she would always be able to notice even the slightest change in his expression. That's why, when she noticed the small twitch in the middle of his left eyebrow, she knew for a fact, Junseo was livid.
She grinned at that. Junseo must've understood her grin, because he returned it, along with a reply.
"I am."
The rest of the train trip was well spent, and thank God the wagon was sort of empty because a vengeance aura and malignant intent lingered even after the two youths had exited the machinery.
It was already past noon, the Café had just finished sorting their lunch rush and the twins were enjoying their own little break after cleaning up the last table. The customers seemed to be in a rush today, most would just order to-go, and the few that sat down to eat were quick and quiet. At that moment, a short guy with glasses, followed by a tall black-haired woman walked into the Café. They cheerfully greeted the twins and invited themselves into the kitchen to each prepare a beverage.
After a couple of minutes, the glasses guy flopped down and sighed as he sulked into the couch.
"I can understand why Wendy sort of hates morning shifts, that type of hyped energy is too much to handle early in the day." Haruki rubbed his temple. The rest gave him a 'Are you serious?' look since the petite guy radiated that energy not only in the morning but throughout the whole day.
Sensing the eyes on him, the boy stopped his massage and turned to look at his friends.
"What?" As soon as he asked, the rest were ready to remind him of all the times they had gotten a surprise by seeing him in an amazing good mood early in the morning. Especially the day they had to work together, while everyone had been looking sort of dead on the inside, he had radiated energy and vigor. That had been one of the reasons why they had made him serve customers; everyone else carried too gloomy of an aura for the Café to be categorized as 'warm and welcoming.'
Just as their jaws moved, the bell of the Café rang, announcing the arrival of the last two parts of such an unusual flock.
"Greetings, my dearest fellows~" Miyeon called while grinning, her eyes closing behind her sweet and innocent smile.
"Have you dared start this glorious day without the rest of your coterie?" Junseo appeared behind her, carrying the same grin and a couple of bags that spread a fresh mint essence.
The rest felt a strange shiver run down their spines.
"It has been quite a long time since we've seen you, you know…" Junseo stopped grinning, but let his mouth preserve a smirk. He turned to Miyeon and gave her a small nod.
"Oh, my! How inconsiderate of me? I didn't invite the rest of you to my house yesterday, but it was only because…" It was now her turn to give Junseo the nod.
"Oh, dear! I showed up unannounced! I can't believe I did that! Such a terrible thing to do." This time he didn't need to nod, it was as if this whole dialogue had been rehearsed. Miyeon continued, all the while their footsteps kept approaching the quartet of trembling youths.
"No! No! You were merely following orders, dear…" Miyeon visibly winced at the word 'dear' and Junseo felt a small twitch on his lip, his own consciousness repressing a gag.
The rest were creeped out by the dialogue, but what truly made their souls leave their bodies for a minute was this strange combination. Junseo and Miyeon were collaborating, not fighting, and it seemed to them as if they read each other better than a book. They were in full sync, and had one purpose in mind, which by the end of their dialogue, was crystal clear to the spooked audience.
Miyeon kept her smile, behind her, Junseo cracked his knuckles.
"Forgiveness is a virtue, isn't it?" Junseo put a hand on Miyeon's shoulder, she craned her neck and gave him a bright smile, he returned it.
Then, they turned to face their friends, and for the first time since they entered the room, allowed their smiles to drop and opened their eyes fully. Eyes full of excitement and thirst for nothing more than pure vengeance.
"We lack such virtue."
The rest screamed and braced each other as the words that sealed their unfortunate fate were uttered by their executioners.
Miyeon and Junseo jumped towards their friends, who had, unconsciously, drawn themselves into one couch as they sought shelter in the arms of the others. The only thing such action achieved was that, by inertia, when the weight and momentum from Junseo and Miyeon's jumps impacted them, the sofa gave out and fell backward, leaving the first inhabitants of it at the mercy of the two tops.
The clients that had left the tranquil Café a couple of minutes before those two arrived, must consider themselves lucky, of not being traumatized or scared to death by the malignant aura and screams that came from within the depths of the poor souls being tortured by two young adults with terrible anger issues.
"HELP!" A high pitch scream left Haruki's throat as he made a vague attempt at running away while Miyeon was distracted holding both Jisoo and Jihyo, both girls were dramatically attempting to escape, but were surprised at Miyeon's unusual strength.
"Oh, no you don't" Strangely, it was Yeonjun who stopped his escape, even though he himself was suffering under the repeated and aggressive noogie of Junseo.
"You...ack! Are the...ow!...main one at...Miyeon!" Jisoo struggled under the hits her head was receiving by a feathered pillow that came out of God-knows-where. She was more than sure she had ingested at least one feather.
"He he he"
Jisoo and Jihyo suddenly tensed up, the small giggles sounded so sinister that they were now unsure if their friends had lost their marbles. (Unknown to them, Miyeon and Junseo had spent a great amount of time in the laundromat doing research about pranks, and one of the things they learned was that giggles were a popular way of scaring people.) Yeonjun was now full-on begging for Junseo to stop, meanwhile, the taller boy had gotten a hold of Haruki and sat on his back, dragging Yeonjun on top to make sure Haruki thought he was being crushed when in reality, Junseo was doing a great effort holding himself and Yeonjun up, of course, the other two didn't know this and were still doing exaggerate movements to get out of his hold.
Suddenly, the hits and pinches stopped, and the rest stopped wiggling in vain to escape.
The giggles, however, increased, and now small sobbing was also combined.
Jisoo, Jihyo, and Yeonjun opened their eyes, which had been close on instinct as soon as they had been attacked. Yeonjun had somehow ended up spread across Jisoo's and Jihyo's laps. He looked up at his sister and found her focus on the scene before them which left them wondering whether to laugh or take the time to escape.
Cornered against a wall, Haruki sobbed as Miyeon and Junseo approached him with malignant intentions. The rest held their breath, Yeonjun closed his eyes to avoid the trauma of seeing his dear friend killed at the hands of the enraged pair. Jihyo and Jisoo soon joined Yeonjun in closing their eyes.
They soon heard a piercing screech, and they knew for a fact, the final strike had been served.
About two hours later, the group was sitting around a small table, where only two individuals seemed to enjoy their respective drinks. Miyeon enjoyed a nice cocoa drink, while Junseo calmly drank from a close mug. Haruki kept sobbing in the distant corner.
"Will you shut it? We barely touched you." Miyeon called out. Junseo snorted beside her, before nudging her side to get her attention. He then leaned in to whisper something to her. Not a minute later, Miyeon erupted in a belly laugh, and Junseo grinned so wide it made his cheeks hurt, he had no idea how to stop though.
Jisoo witnessed this scene, and while she was a bit of a swirl of thoughts after getting the 'murder attempt' as she had decided to call it, she still raised an eyebrow at the scene. Jihyo and Yeonjun were a bit busy with the fake ice packs in their foreheads to pay attention to the bizarre turn of events happening right below their noses. She made no attempt to fill them in either. At least not until she had figured it out completely. And for the looks of it, not even the two performers of the scene were aware of what was happening.
While Jisoo made conspiracy theories in her mind, Junseo and Miyeon went over to bother Haruki a bit more.
"STOP! YOU GUYS ARE CRUEL!" Haruki cried, his head had a bunch of bumps from where his dear friends kept hitting him with their cups, in a slight manner of course. Miyeon and Junseo finally stopped, and like the 'good' friends they were, helped Haruki up and onto a couch, deciding it was enough, for now.
Haruki vowed from that day forward, not even if you offered food or unlimited fashion tools. To never, never, let Miyeon and Junseo get mad at him at the same time, those two had no sense of friendship, that sense that forgave his ultimate ideas that most of the time ended up bad.
Junseo made it clear he was still collecting his money, and even threw a bit of shade by saying.
"Because sometimes hosts aren't that welcoming" Miyeon rolled her eyes at his sentence.
They had filled their friends in about how Junseo had to sleep outside, and although 'wounded' (at least their pride) they cracked in laughs, to which Junseo responded by glaring at them, but as soon as the rest focused on his serious face, it was as if a switch was turn back on and their laughs recharged. Junseo finally sighed and let them be.