Miyeon forgot she was meant to exit the building on the second floor, and just went ahead and ran to the lower floor, the basement of the building where the lower classes had their meetings. They ran through the floor and exited to the back of the building, on the completely opposite side of where the Café was. Panting and catching their breath, the three clung to their sides in an attempt to ease their pounding hearts. Junseo's mind was a mess since he had now realized he could've gotten in serious trouble for basically assaulting a student. It was true the scumbag had deserved it, but he was not who to serve that punishment. He thanked his quick thinking and the fact he avoided the guy from seeing his face or hearing his voice. It was a good thing there were no cameras in the staircase either. He threw his head back and breathed out. Beside him, Miyeon held her hands to her knees, her head hung low, and gasped for air.
Man, they were in awful shape. Junseo blamed all the sweets and snacks, plus the leisurely time they had at the Café. Miyeon, on the other hand, blamed the fact that she hated running in general. It wasn't until a voice called out to them that they simultaneously turned their attention to the girl in front of them.
"THANK YOU! I'M SORRY FOR CAUSING YOU TWO TROUBLE!" The girl bowed down, hair covering her face.
Miyeon and Junseo glanced back at each other, and composed themselves. Junseo cleared his throat to say something, then nudged Miyeon to talk. Miyeon sent him a glare.
"It's nothing. You needed help. Umm, you don't have to bow down." She said a little uncomfortable, she hated people bowing for apologies, it felt as if she was humiliating them, and she knew a thing or two how much that feeling sucked.
The girl looked up, her big brown eyes watery and the flow of tears threatening to come out any second. Miyeon and Junseo were completely at a loss of what to do now.
"Eh!?" Junseo put his hands up and tried to calm down the girl. "Please don't cry, umm...this...I mean, yeah we saved you, but...well you could've maybe headbutted the guy from that angle too...but...eh…" He hated not knowing what to do, he was rambling, and his words seemed to narrow the girl's chances of not crying. Miyeon shut him up with a knock to the back of his head.
"What he meant to say is…" She sighed. "It's not your fault that you encounter such a scumbag and felt hopeless for a second." She crossed her arms. "Besides, it was sort of fun to watch him inside the trash can, wasn't it?" Miyeon smiled brightly at the girl. Suddenly, the image of that jerk wiggling inside the trash popped into the girl's mind, she covered her mouth letting out a small giggle, Junseo snorted out, too, remembering how good it felt to pull him down.
A second later, they were laughing about the scene, the tension long gone. They let the girl know that they would always be near if that jerk appeared again, and invited her over to the Café anytime for a sweet treat. The girl smiled sweetly at them, and as she walked away to go to her other class, she turned around and beamed at them.
"You guys make a good couple, I hope I find someone who is capable of reading me like that sometime, it must feel nice!" And then she left, leaving two older ones staring blankly at her from behind.
Miyeon put both of her hands at the top of her head and then slid them down slowly to the height of her ears.
"Ah, crap."
Her ears were heated, and the heat was slowly burning her hands even with her hair in the way. If she wasn't aware that it was impossible, she could swear she felt steam coming out of her head from the scorching warmth. She had closed her eyes for a moment, but opened one to peeked at the boy beside her.
He wasn't in any better state.
"Don't you dare do that now!" She growled, and Junseo's burning face only lit up more, the blush had already spread across his nose and to his cheeks. And, if time kept passing, Miyeon swore it seemed to start reaching his forehead and neck. He was as bright as a stop light.
"What the hell do you mean? Think I can just shut my body off?" He barked back at her.
"Control yourself, you sorry excuse of a grown adult" She called out.
"Just because you are lucky enough to have your hair down now, don't think I can't see the beginning of redness in your cheeks!" Miyeon stared at him stupefied, she thought he had not…
"Thought I didn't notice!? If the reindeer is noted for his red nose, you should be called Miyeon 'the red ear' Lee!" At this point they were semi-shouting and the blushing now seemed to collide with the redness from anger.
"W-well, mine is not noticeable!" She retorted.
"It is to me!" He called out, a hand on his chest emphasizing the 'me' in his sentence.
"Wait, what?"
Both paused their shouting. Now, there they stood, frozen and speechless, one trying to process what had been just said, and the other one, also trying to process what sort of curse had just left his mouth.
"Umm…" Miyeon attempted to say.
"Not a word!" Junseo pointed a finger at her threateningly, Miyeon gulped a bit, blushing or not, the look in his eyes told her to keep quiet.
She raised her hands in surrender and both turned away from facing each other, breathing out and steadying their hearts.
After a couple of minutes, Junseo started walking away, hands in his pockets, and grumbling something about 'stupid genetics' Miyeon followed him, and decided to keep a distance. It didn't help that both were walking towards the Café. The silence was awkward. Miyeon suddenly felt guilty for yelling at him, it wasn't as if he had told the girl to say those lines. No, that must've been some sort of terrible joke from a bad romance author.
"Eh?" Miyeon shook her head slightly, just what the hell…
"Hey, pipsqueak." Junseo called to her, still ahead of her, but with one of his hands resting on his neck. She snapped out of her train of thought, and hummed in response.
"Are...are you ok?" He asked her.
"Wha…" She tried to ask, but was interrupted.
"The guy…" Junseo said a bit lower. "He didn't...you know" He seemed to struggle a bit.
"He didn't, what?" Miyeon suddenly appeared by his side, tilting her head a bit to the side in confusion. Junseo averted his eyes.
"He didn't hurt you, did he? Because if he did, I will…!" Miyeon cut him off.
"Wait, wait…" She now stood in front of him.
"Pause for a second." She placed a hand at her hip.
"Are you...perhaps…!" She gasped in surprise. "No way! You're worried!" She beamed, not truly knowing why him caring moved her so much.
"What? No! I mean, Yes!" Junseo struggle. He grunted in exasperation. " I mean…" He returned his hands to his pockets. "Isn't it normal to worry about your friends?" He asked, eyes shifting back and forth, avoiding hers.
"..." She was left stunned, but slowly, a smirk came into play across her face.
"You do have feelings, aside from anger, trust issues, and pettiness." She said smiling. Junseo's jaw dropped at how she had not only exposed him but verbally attacked him.
"Excuse me!?" He said in English, Miyeon broke in a fit of laughter.
With that, they continued to bicker back and forth until they reached the Café, where they entered and proceeded to go different ways, silently letting the other know where they were going. Junseo went up to Jisoo who was currently on her third cup of whatever Yeonjun was serving her, dramatically sobbing. By the looks of it, not even Haruki's magnificent work with his outfit had helped with her interview.
Speaking of which, the tiny chaotic ball was right beside Jisoo, also drinking away his failure. As soon as his eyes spotted Junseo, the guy threw himself at him in a dramatic flair.
"HYUNG!" He sobbed. Jisoo heard this and lifted her head up, and as soon as she saw Junseo she imitated Haruki's actions.
"OPPA!" Junseo barely managed to catch her in his other free arm. Now, with two grown babies crying in his arms, Junseo sent a confused look, along with a plea for help, toward the male twin who found amusement in the scene.
It wasn't until his shoulders felt wet, and from the sounds his friends were making he doubted the wetness was completely tears, that he snapped out of it and somehow managed to bring his two friends to a couch and settled them gently, while he took a seat at the table in front of them.
"Ok, Ok!" He succeeded in getting their attention. Now with both adults looking at him, Junseo could take a clearer look at their faces. Jisoo's makeup was ruined, and Haruki's nose was in for a win at a red apple competition.
"Alright, listen…" He possessed a hand in their shoulders. Then looked them straight in the eye.
"The hell is wrong with you two idiots?" He said in the most threatening voice he could muster, all the while he gave their shoulders a squeeze. "You guys better have a good reason for getting my shirt dirty."
Jisoo and Haruki wiped their noses and sniffed out a bit, then they looked at each other, and once again broke down into a dramatic cry, hugging each other like pitiful widows.
"Haruki, I'm sorry!"
"No! I'm sorry! I should've made a bigger effort! I knew I should've fixed the palette of colors! But I wanted you to look professional! Instead, I made you look gloomy and with no style!" He sobbed on her shoulder.
"Oh! Darling, No! I felt empowered! But even then I managed to screw up with my damn nerves! Your artwork went to waste because of me!" She sobbed harder.
Miyeon, who had just arrived with Lucky in her arms, raised an eyebrow at the scene. She walked over to Yeonjun and nudged him to fill her in as to what was going on. Junseo at this point looked dead inside as both Haruki and Jisoo were clinging onto him again. This, however, didn't stop the brunette from raising his ears, so he could listen to the much-needed explanation.
"Jisoo had an interview today, remember?" Yeonjun said, Miyeon nodded.
"Yeah, Haruki was meant to help her." As soon as that sentence left Miyeon's mouth, Haruki let out a loud and high-pitched sob. Junseo sent Miyeon a glare as their glasses friend happened to be within too close proximity of his delicate ears. Miyeon silently apologized.
"Yeah, well…" Yeonjun ignored the exchange of looks. "It didn't end well. In other words, she didn't get the job." This set off both crying adults.
And that was where Junseo drew the line.
"Oh for the love of…!" He grabbed both by the collar of their shirts and pulled them away. Then, so ever gracefully, 'knocked' some sense into them.
"Get a grip, would you!?" He asked slash demanded them. Jisoo and Haruki rubbed their heads a bit, and looked down in a bit of shame.
"Is this the only job offering you have?" He asked Jisoo.
"No...but…"
"Then forget it! Their lost!" He said lifting his chin up in the air. Then he turned to Haruki.
"Did you put your best into the outfit?" He asked Haruki, who nodded furiously.
"Then, you too! Forget it! Some people just don't know talent even if it was shoved down their throat!" He crossed his arms.
"Both of you are immensely talented, smart, and kind! If those idiots didn't see it and decided to not take you in. Then fuck them!" He finished his aggressive pep talk with a smug smile, and then added one last remark.
"Make them regret not taking you in."
Haruki and Jisoo looked at him like children with their heroes. One thought circling their minds, 'So cool'
"WUAAA! JUNSEO!" They yelled as they launched themselves at him, almost knocking the living hell out of him while giving a big bear hug.
Yeonjun chuckled at the scene and looked beside him to witness Miyeon's face morphing into a new expression. Her eyelids seemed to glide down and the curves of her mouth slowly moved up, all the while the tone of her eyes seemed to brighten and...shine. He felt his mouth open a bit, gasping silently. Her face echoed warmth and kindness. He only came out of his own trance when a hand gripped his shoulder.
"Hey! Brother dearest! I think you can leave our friends for now, and I don't know…" Jihyo, who had been witnessing the scene from the sides as she managed the whole Café alone, strengthened her grip and gave him a grin. "Help your sister out?" Yeonjun need not be told twice, and like a well oiled machine went ahead, and helped his sister.
The rest stayed in the little corner, which at this point had been unofficially appointed to their weird group. Miyeon helped Junseo get out of the death hug from Jisoo and Haruki. Later, she also gave them some encouragement, which caused her to end up in a similar situation, but unlike Junseo, she was open about the fact she loved the hug from her friends. At closing time, the twins gave the two drama queens a sweet treat, and with that everyone was on their way to their respective homes.
While in the train, Miyeon realized her and Junseo had forgotten to tell the twins about their extended invitation towards the girl they had saved that day. Suddenly, the memory from earlier that day popped into her mind, along with the words the girl had said to them in the end.
She brought a hand to her chest, where the sudden warming started to ache. Junseo's face appeared in her mind, his flushed cheeks, and his concern for her. Just like earlier today, while watching Junseo chew out her friends, but encourage them in his own way, her heart skipped a beat. Her face turned to the window at her side, her reflection staring back.
She was smiling, and part of her doubted the cold was the one responsible for her flushed cheeks, and yet somehow, she averted her eyes and pushed the image to the back of her mind. Gulping silently she wondered if she was sick.
"I shouldn't have run today." She whispered. "Is bad for my health."
'Is he ok? Will he get sick too?'
Her eyes almost popped out as she realized she had been concerned for him for just a second. Then, she shook her head.
"Wait a minute." She reprimanded herself.
"What's so weird about that?" She asked herself, almost daring her own brain to argue back.
"After all…"
"We're friends."
With that, she spent the rest of her trip in silence. Unaware of the stupid smile plastered on her face.
On the other side of town. In the bed, a bundle of blankets kept turning over and over, the inhabitant inside seemed restless and the grunts and grumbles conveyed irritation. With a final groan, the occupant of the blanket fort kicked the soft cloth away and sat up in the bed. His hands reached to his face and covered it, as if someone could walk in any minute and see the absolute mess he was.
His face burned, and the thoughts circling his mind were not helping one bit.
Junseo was not a pervert. He knew that. He had been raised to be a gentleman, and to respect women unless they disrespected him. So why…
"Goddammit why did she have to reach over to quiet down my keys? A simple 'shhh' would have done the trick!" He fumed.
The flashback from earlier on replayed in his mind. He was more than aware that the distracted girl had not been aware of how close she was when she had reached over to quiet down his keychain.
'She was so, so, close. She leaned over me." He smacked his hands at his cheeks in anger. "Stop it! You pervert! She didn't mean it like that!"
A moment of silence followed his self-abuse, and he thought he had finally gotten a grip of himself.
Again, he thought wrong.
"She smelled nice."
Jisoo woke up in a startle as she heard a familiar scream coming from her best friend's room. There was also a sentence yelled at the top of Junseo's lungs that resonated within the apartment. Had she been a bit more than half-awake she would have probably stormed out of the room ready to beat someone up like a normal person would if they missed read the situation. However, since the sentence conveyed a midlife crisis, and lord knows Junseo has those often, she went back to sleep.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!"