puzzle pieces (2/2)
puzzle pieces
jiho/cha eunwoo, twins jiho/mingyu, mingyu/mina
<<<
Some other time never did roll around.
Her wish for Cha Eunwoo to leave her alone is finally granted, over two months too late. For some reason though, it doesn't cheer her up.
If anything, she actually feels a little strange now that he's not popping up everywhere. Her table during lunch feels a bit too quiet and there's an empty feeling when she exits her class and doesn't find him anywhere.
“Human beings,” Minkyung says philosophically while picking out beans from her rice. “We only come to appreciate what we had once we lost it.”
Jiho resists the urge to dump the beans back into her friend's rice and mix them back again, only because what Minkyung said was true. For the sake of her ego, though, she rolls her eyes and chews on a piece of meat irritatedly.
Almost two weeks since the civil war began, Mingyu comes to her desk one afternoon and asks, in the smallest of voice, if she would like go home together.
Neither of them speak a word all the way to the bus stop, yet for some reason, the silence doesn't feel suffocating this time. There's a space between them as they sit waiting for the bus, but it doesn't indicate any lingering feeling of displeasure or discomfort. It's rather nice, Jiho thinks, being able to enjoy this quietness for a change.
“Should we just walk?” he asks after a while, crushing a dried leaf underneath his shoe. The scarf he's wearing around his neck muffles his voice a bit.
“If you want to, I don't mind walking,” she replies.
He sighs and turns to her. “Why do you always let me have my way?”
“Because I don't mind?” she raises her shoulders to a shrug, nonchalantly.
“Whenever I ask you for or to do something, you always say yes. Of course I appreciate that, but you should learn to say no to things that you actually don't want to do, you know? Sometimes I can't tell if you really don't mind or you're just being nice,” says him, sounding somewhat forlorn. He's staring at the remnants of the leaf he crushed after the wind swept most of it away.
She looks at the leaf, then back at him. “Okay.”
The bus arrives not long after, a little packed. Mingyu lets her have the only vacant seat and stands next to her, holding onto the handlebars on her seat and the one in front of her. Jiho looks up at him. “I’m sorry,” she tells him.
“If you are then let me copy your notes,” he murmurs, and she smiles.
Growing up, Mingyu's never one to admit his fault and say sorry despite being good at expressing his feelings. When caught in the wrong, he prefers to make it up through actions rather than words. This is his way of apologizing and making peace. This much she knows.
“So you and Mingyu made peace, and you're cool with his girlfriend. Everything is fine now? Happily ever after?” Yoobin asks. Jiho wants to believe that she means well, but the gleam in her eyes is saying that she's just glad she won't be dealing with Jiho's breakdowns anymore.
“Congratulations. I hope you're not actually still trying to break them up. You know the saying. If you can't defeat your enemy, befriend them,” Minkyung adds.
Jiho feigns an offended look, but soon counters back. “Now that gives me an idea.”
“Mingyu would kill you,” says Yoobin, laughing along while stealing a slice of pickled radish from Jiho's tray.
Minkyung, however, shakes her head and begs to differ. “No, he wouldn't. Instead he would stop talking to her and acknowledge her existence forever. You've seen Jiho the past few weeks when he didn't speak to her. This would torture her, which is much worse than killing her at once,” she elaborates while holding up her chopsticks to make a point.
On the other hand, Jiho groans into her soup. “Every day I question why I still have not called off our friendship.”
“That's because no one else can tolerate you, Kim Jiho,” says Minkyung matter-of-factly, amused at the same time. “Speaking of which, where's your boyfriend? I haven't seen him for a while.”
“What boyfriend?”
“Don't pretend to be clueless. You know who I'm talking about.”
“He's not my boyfriend,” Jiho mumbles, blocking Yoobin’s second attempt at stealing her pickled radish.
“Are you done with him now that you and Mingyu are okay?”
She scowls. “What are you saying?”
“Jiho, I know why he started following you around. But you can't keep insisting that he's only doing that because of that one reason. People normally wouldn't go that far, anyway. And he didn't even gain anything out of it, right?”
“Who said he didn't gain anything? He sure was entertained by the whole thing.”
Minkyung puts down her spoon and sighs. “Look, I was entertained by the whole thing, but did I ever check the weather and purposely bring an extra umbrella for you? Did I get you your favourite banana milk everyday? Did I ever accompany you all the way to the entrance of your apartment building even though we live in the same neighbourhood?”
“No, but that's… that's because you're-”
“Your friend? Then what is he to you if you don't consider him a friend?” Minkyung asks sharply. And as much as Jiho wants to deny it, her words do sting. “Stop lying to yourself, Jiho. Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s unfair on his side.”
She scowls again as she watches Minkyung getting up to leave with her tray, then groans loudly. What’s really unfair is that she’s being treated this way when she never even asked Cha Eunwoo to do any of those things. I’m the victim here, she wants to yell out to everyone, but she only settles with stabbing the kimchi pieces angrily using her chopsticks.
Meanwhile, Yoobin instinctively pulls her own tray closer to protect her precious food before she opens her mouth. “I know what you’re thinking and I know what you want me to say, but Minkyung is right this time, Jiho,” she says carefully.
Jiho lets out another frustrated grunt and pushes her tray towards her angrily. “Just eat it all.” The soup spills a bit and the fallen cutleries make a loud clanking sound, so several heads turn her direction. On her way out, she spots the last person she wants to see now at another table, laughing carefreely with some other boys.
She directs her rage at the vending machine that refuses to accept her crinkled note and pretends her foot doesn’t hurt.
Neither Minkyung nor Yoobin is actually petty enough to stop talking to her after that incident, fortunately, but unfortunately, Jiho is.
She thinks she deserves at least a banana milk or a chance at copying their homework if not a proper apology, but seeing that she’s not getting any of that anytime soon, she lets her pride crumble a little and sits with Mingyu during lunch break, uninvited.
Mina is kind enough to offer her bento, and even though that’s not what she’s here for, Jiho doesn’t waste the opportunity. On the other hand, her brother is narrowing his eyes at her. “You had a fight with your friends?” he makes it sound like a question, but they both know it’s not. He’s always uselessly sharp at the most annoying times.
“None of your business, Kim Mingyu,” she replies, taking another piece of roll eggs from Mina’s lunch box.
“It's my business if you're taking up my portion of the food,” he says while stealing the biggest piece of meat from her tray.
“I was saving that one!” she protests, then proceeds to steal his yogurt drink.
“Hey!”
“Please stop fighting,” says Mina gently before putting a mini sausage that's been cut and cutely shaped to look like an octopus on top of the rice in Jiho's tray and giving Mingyu her own yogurt drink. She's smiling as her eyes flicker back and forth between the two of them, and Jiho suddenly feels bad about all the things she’s said about this girl back then.
“Fine,” Mingyu grumbles. “I’m only tolerating this because you did us a favour before, okay?”
Jiho flashes a smile at him that's too wide to be sincere, and he does the same. If Mina wasn't around, he probably wouldn't hesitate to chase her off. A mother in some drama series she's watched was right when she said raising a son is useless because he will just end up listening to his wife. And Mingyu is still so far from being married.
She's considering ways to get Mina to side with her so Mingyu has no choice but to do the same, when he rudely interrupts her thoughts. “Go sort out your life. Why are you avoiding so many people?” nags him.
It's the last thing she needs from him, really. “Thanks for your concern, but I'll manage my own life.”
“It's not concern. I’m actually telling you off because you don't seem to be capable of doing that well enough,” he says matter-of-factly. She glares at her brother who does not bother to conceal the look of disdain on his face, as if he has no relation to her issues at all. None of her problems would actually exist in the first place if it wasn't for him.
Jiho feels like screaming at him and crying and kicking the nearest vending machine all at once, and she blames it all on Mingyu, and also her unstable hormones of late. Maybe she's getting her period soon, or that the soup is just too salty today.
Or maybe it's just her. The immature, irrational, insensitive and oversensitive at the same time, emotional and petty one who overthinks and overreacts and ends up ruining everything. Maybe she's been wrong all along and too stubborn to admit it.
Maybe it's time to fix things.
Jiho begins with bringing freshly baked brownies to the café Minkyung works part-time at. “I made this with my tears. Will you be my friend again?” she says, looking away as she holds a nicely wrapped box up toward her.
“Uh,” Minkyung blinks at her, looking a little lost and skeptical. “I’m not sure how I am supposed to react to this. What even is in that?”
“Well, you can start by accepting it first,” Jiho replies, shoving the box at her friend instead of actually waiting for her to take it. “It's brownies. As an apology.”
Jiho mumbled the last part, but the hint of amusement in the way Minkyung's lips curl slightly at the corners indicates that she heard it. At least she doesn't prolong her agony by questioning it further. “Okay. You didn't have to since it's not like I was going to stop being friends with you, but thanks.”
She exhales in relief, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders now gone. “I’ve been a bit dramatic recently, and I guess I went overboard. Thank you for putting up with me, even though you ignored most of my texts about Mingyu.”
“‘A bit’ is an understatement, to be honest. And I’m not quite feeling your appreciation speech, but alright,” Minkyung says, chuckling a little. She unties the ribbon and uncovers the box to have a look at the brownies. It's slightly burnt at the edges, but it's barely visible. “I’m asking this just in case - besides your tears did you add in anything else that shouldn't be in there? For instance, some kind of potion... or maybe weed?”
“Maybe my snot got in by accident.”
“Gross.” She makes a face, but replaces the frown with a smile soon enough. “Do you want anything? Drinks?” she offers.
“Hmm, I gotta make another delivery to Binnie, but her class doesn’t end until-” Jiho checks her phone for the time, “half an hour? I guess I’ll hang out here for a while.”
“Banana smoothie?” She nods and looks for her purse, but Minkyung places her hand on hers. “It's on me.”
“You’re the best, Kim Minkyung.” She flashes the broadest and sweetest smile at her friend, who responds by rolling her eyes, then goes to wait at a nearby table.
Right then, the bells on the door chime as someone pulls it open, and as soon as she sees who it is, Jiho instantly looks the other direction while attempting to hide her face behind her bag and cursing under her breath at the same time.
In mere ten seconds, she already has her escape planned out. Crawl away unnoticed, notify Minkyung, and pretend this never happened. It's not a bad plan, really, and she's not the only customer here so he probably won't notice her, right? Especially if she tries to blend herself-
“What are you doing?” Minkyung questions almost too brightly, standing by her table with her banana smoothie. Jiho takes a chance to peer at the counter where he's at, and fortunately he’s too preoccupied with the menu.
“Trying to hide, which you're not being much of a help?” hisses Jiho, horrified. She’s now relying on her long hair to cover her face.
“Why are you trying to hide?”
“Um, because of that?”
Minkyung turns around to see what she's pointing at. “Oh, Cha Eunwoo? He comes here every day,” she says in the most casual tone.
“And you couldn't have alerted me?” Jiho asks, sounding like she's never been so betrayed.
“Well, I forgot.”
She watches Minkyung walk away with disbelief, wondering if it's too late to ask for her brownies back. Being friendless doesn't sound that unappealing now, especially with friends like this.
Before she sprints to the door, Jiho decides to glance at him one more time. It proves to be the worst decision she's ever made, because their eyes meet. It's too late to pretend she didn't see him, but too weird to wave or even smile, so she doesn't.
She does, however, expect him to come over. To say an ordinary greeting or even to tease her like he always used to, she's not sure. She also half expects his usual cheshire grin. But instead of that, Cha Eunwoo saunters off to another table without another glance at her, and she only notices now that he has a company with him. A girl. Chaeyeon. She knows her. Half the boys at their school are in love with her.
Oh.
Jiho starts inhaling her smoothie, slowly and as quietly as she can as though she's not supposed to make any noise, while stealing glances and trying not stare too hard at the two.
Her stomach is being funny again, but this time it feels more like someone has punched her in the guts than the normal discomfort. It's probably just the banana smoothie. It can't be anything else.
Her bedroom door makes a creaking sound as someone pushes it open slowly, and the bright light from the other room spills into hers. Jiho squints her eyes against the light.
“Mum told me to check on you,” says Mingyu, standing at the doorway with his hand still on the knob.
“I’m not dead yet, don't worry,” she mumbles back.
“Are you okay?” he asks, sounding more concerned now as he makes his way over then crouches down next to her bed.
“I don't know. I think I ate something weird.”
“Is it the brownies I found in the kitchen? Did you make that yourself? Thank god I didn't take a bite yet.”
“Shut up. My brownies are fine,” she defends, but Mingyu just chuckles and begins stroking her back. It feels warm and nice. Maybe she should fall sick every now and then so he would treat her nicely.
“Are you sure it's not the regular period pain?” he questions further.
She frowns a bit, hand on her belly. “No, it's not that. I’m not even having my period now,” she replies.
“Since when did this start?”
“A while- few months back I think? It doesn't happen that regularly, though.”
“Does it feel like something or someone is twisting and tangling your intestines?” he asks, and it surprises her how accurate his description is. She agrees almost too enthusiastically, forgetting the pain for a while. “Does your chest feel suffocating, somehow? I mean, does it feel hard to breathe?”
Again, the accuracy. She jolts up and sits facing him, feeling somewhat moved. “How did you know?”
Sighing, Mingyu gets to his feet and crosses his arms across his chest. “Because that's how I felt whenever I saw Mina back then,” he says.
Jiho is more confused than ever. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“Congratulations, you're in love.”
It's hard to see what kind of expression he's putting on right now, but surely he can't beat hers as she blinks at him, very much puzzled and betrayed even. “What?”
She regrets her life.
“You need to talk to him,” says Yoobin, munching on her brownies.
After the incident at the café, Jiho completely forgot about brownies that she's supposed to be delivering to Yoobin and went straight home from there, and it ended up squashed under the weight of whatever's inside Jiho's bag since she just dropped it on the floor once she got home. Yoobin doesn't seem to mind the appearance though.
“I have nothing to talk to him about,” Jiho replies as she busily copies Mingyu's English homework word by word.
“You have plenty to talk to him about,” deadpans Minkyung. “Like your feelings.”
Mingyu's “congratulations, you're in love” rings in her ears all of a sudden, so Jiho closes her eyes and shakes her head as though she's shaking the voice off. “I don't have feelings,” she tells her through gritted teeth.
“Yes, you do. I've seen the way you would look for him at the cafeteria when you think we wouldn't notice. I know you still half expect to find him outside waiting for you. And I definitely saw the look on your face when you saw him yesterday. With another girl. That’s jealousy, in case you never realized what it was.”
“Leave me alone!” she grumbles, glaring at the both of them. If anything, they actually look more entertained than scared. It irritates her even more, but she can't pick up a fight right after making peace with them.
So when Yoobin says she's heading to the cafeteria with Minkyung, Jiho whispers a silent prayer of gratitude and continues copying the homework. Or at least try to, because as if he purposely planned it, Cha Eunwoo walks past her classroom right then. With the same girl by his side.
They appear to be sharing some joke from the way they're laughing. Whatever it is, he seems very much humoured that his crescent eyes are crinkling with glee. The sight is so familiar, and then it occurs to her: didn't he use to smile at her like that, too?
Her stomach tightens, and Jiho feels the same pain again, except this time her chest hurts, too. It’s like someone is ripping her heart out and squashing it in their palm. She’s hearing Mingyu’s voice again as well as Minkyung’s at the same time. That’s jealousy.
She groans and bangs her head against the desk over and until Yugyeom, who’s napping at his desk near the door, wakes up and sends a sharp glare her way. Not that she cares. Not when she has a bigger problem at hand than dealing with the boy who feels his position is threatened. “Oh god,” she cries. Maybe she is crying for real. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”
Admitting that she’s in love with Cha Eunwoo is proven harder than acing an exam, in all honesty.
First of all, Jiho's never been in love with anyone before. Not including celebrity crushes, of course. Or the boy from her kindergarten who asked if she wanted to date him but broke her heart five minutes later when he asked another girl the same question. There's never been anyone else.
Second of all, it's Cha Eunwoo. The same person who made her life more miserable than it already was, and the very person she could swear was her eternal enemy. Hatred isn't supposed to take a complete turn and become a damn love. Her friends will never stop making fun of her (if they aren't having the time of their lives already).
Her pride doesn’t allow her to go to her friends for some comfort and advice. Mingyu, of course, is out of the question. She actually has half the mind to just spill it to some random boy from her class, Minghao or Yugyeom for example, knowing that they wouldn't care anyway to tell others, when one afternoon, as fate would allow it, Mina appear right in front of her wondering if she could ask for a favour.
“I can't tell, really,” says Mina, brows slightly furrowed and head tilted to one side. She looks cute doing that, honestly. “Someone asked them before, when they were leaving together? But they just laughed instead of answering.”
Jiho frowns as she looks at the cardigan Mina is currently holding. The favour she wanted to ask turned out to be picking out a Christmas gift for Mingyu, so now they're at a department store which Mina insisted of going although Jiho said something from Namdaemun market would have been just fine. “How- when did they become close?” she asks, playing her card playfully since still unsure whether she should reveal the truth to Mina just yet.
“Hmm, I think they've always been good friends but they started spending time together just recently?” Mina answers, then looks at her with apologetic eyes. “Sorry, I never paid close attention to them.”
“Oh, no no it's not your fault!” Jiho immediately says. She worries and wonders why Mina would apologize for something that she's not at all responsible for?
“To be honest, I’m not sure if spending a lot of time together means they're dating,” Mina adds afterwards. “I mean, I thought he was dating you, since you were always together. A lot of people did, actually.”
“A lot of people?” Jiho raises her brows quizzically.
“Well, Mingyu, some of our classmates. I heard some juniors too, once.”
She pales at the thought of being the gossip topic of people she doesn't even know. Yoobin has told her that Cha Eunwoo is quite popular, but she never took it seriously since she's never heard of him before he started bugging her. Is he really a big deal?
Maybe this is a bad idea, after all. Maybe she should pretend that feelings don't exist and continue her life ignoring his existence. Maybe she can live on Mingyu's mercy and live with him even after he's married and has children of his own. Mina wouldn't mind, would she?
“That looks nice,” Jiho comments on the scarf Mina’s studying. Mingyu does get cold easily during winter, and blue’s his favourite colour. Mina thanks her happily and quickly rings it up.
Living with this sweet girl for the rest of her life doesn't sound bad at all.
Except she never listens to the good voices in her head. Two days, she finds herself sitting in another café across the street from the one Minkyung's working at, right next to the window so she can get a clear view of the place. Of Cha Eunwoo when he arrives there, actually.
They say curiosity kills the cat, but Jiho is pretty sure that the worst possible thing that it could cause to her is total humiliation. She's been through enough embarrassment already (except, of course, admitting her feelings) so she figures this can't be that bad. She's wearing a cap which she borrowed from Mingyu to keep her face hidden and has her homework and some other books laid out on the table in case.
Except he doesn't show up. Not even after a couple of hours of waiting, and she actually managed to get her homework done. Didn't Minkyung say he goes there everyday?
He's nowhere in sight again the next day, and Jiho even stays longer just to make sure, in case she missed him previously. She wonders what's going on and contemplates the possibility of Minkyung lying to her.
On the third day, however, she finds him right here at this café, sitting too strategically at the center facing the entrance. She's just about to make a U-turn when he looks up and their eyes meet, and she misses the timing to make it seem like she didn’t notice it’s him. Even her cap isn't helping. Damn it.
“Hello,” he says casually. He’s alone today, and it appears like he’s been waiting for her. Or maybe he's waiting for Chaeyeon. “I thought I'd find you here.”
It almost makes her happy that he's speaking to her again, until she remembers that he shouldn't know why she's here. Jiho crosses her arms and tries to remain poised. “What brings you here?”
“You,” he answers, which throws her off, really. He has the same twinkle in his eyes as he did when he first came to her with her notebook, like he has all kinds of mischief up his sleeves. It makes her uncomfortable.
“What do-”
“I know why you’re here.”
She freezes. “Wh- what are you talking about?”
“Kim Jiho, I know you enough to know that you don’t like coffee, and you don’t like being at places like this by yourself. And the café your friend’s working at is right across the street, so there’s no reason for you to be here unless…” he trails off on purpose as he looks at her with some kind of teasing smile that she never liked and wishes she never missed.
This is it, the humiliation part that she prepared herself for, except it’s a lot worse when it actually happens. She tries to make up excuses in her head but her train of thoughts just went off track and straight off the ravine into the sea. “I-”
“You’re really so transparent, have you still not realized that?”
Without knowing why, she suddenly feels angered by this unexpected confrontation. And she's never been good at it, so she does what she would always do - she runs.
Except of course Cha Eunwoo wouldn't let her off easily. He follows her out and trails right behind her as she tries her best to get away from him. “Do you want to tell me why you’d been sitting at the table with the best view of the other café?” he questions aloud, causing some passersby to glance at him, then at her. She doesn't answer, so he goes on. “Then do you want to tell me why you asked Chan about Jung Chaeyeon?”
I’m going to kill Chan, she thinks, and quickens her pace. Unfortunately for her, Cha Eunwoo has strong legs so he catches up with her in no time. He stops right in front of her and turns so they're facing each other. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes how close he's standing.
“So tell me, do you have anything that you want to say to me?” he continues, staring right at her. Her stomach clenches, and she really wants to put a stop to this.
"This is stupid, and you're ridiculous,” she bursts out, hands in the air and all, as dramatic as it can get. “My life was so peaceful before but you messed it up. Okay, maybe it was already a mess, but you made it a lot worse. You barged into my life like an uninvited guest and pretty much made yourself at home. But then you left just as suddenly as you came, and now I have no idea what I should do with the space you occupied. And screw you, I don't care if you've found a new home, Cha Eunwoo.”
He's chuckling, eyes turning into the crescent shape, which she really did miss, even though he shouldn’t be entertained by any of this. Jiho is dead serious. If she was only frustrated before this, now she’s frustrated and angry. And she wants to leave, bury herself underneath her blanket, maybe cry a little bit and figure out a way to transfer to another school, but he keeps blocking her way whenever she wants to take a step forward.
“Hey,” he begins, catching her wrist when she tries to turn around and take the other way. “Are you saying I can come back?”
“What?”
“Chaeyeon’s not my girlfriend,” he says.
“What?”
“She’s not,” he repeats, making it sound like it’s an obvious point. He brushes his nose with a bended finger and then shoves his hands into his pockets. “Well, she’s my friend’s girlfriend, and he goes to a different school but that’s a long story. Anyways,” he pauses, and looks directly into her eyes. “Is there anything you want to tell me now?”
For a long while, she doesn't say anything. Instead she simply stares at him with furrowed brows and jaw slightly dropped. There’s a lot of things she wants to tell him, actually, and many more things she wants to ask, but in the end she settles with the one thing that best represents how she feels all this time. “I really hate you.”
“Okay,” replies him, nodding while closing the gap between them with a step towards her and a smile. “And?”
“I don't want you to smile that stupid smile to other girls.”
He lets out a chuffed laugh. “Alright. Anything else?”
She steps back when he takes another step forward, but then he adds another. He's standing so close to her so all she can see is him and his crescent eyes. Unable to withstand it, she covers her face with both her hands, mutters something, which comes out muffled and unintelligible.
“What did you say?” asks him, removing her hands so he can hear her more clearly.
“I said, I missed you!” she exclaims, finally, then proceeds to groan loudly and cover her face once again, this time using both her hands and her long hair as though doing that would help lessen the blow even by just a bit.
Despite the hint of amusement tugging on the corners of his lips, he doesn’t laugh like he would in normal occasions, probably mindful of her internal pain. Not that she cares at this point. “Why is it so difficult to get you to admit your own feelings?” he asks, reaching out for her hands again.
“I don't know, I hate feelings. My own feelings betrayed me,” she despairs, refusing to meet his eyes.
“You just prefer to suppress your feelings and pretend they don't exist,” he points out, as if she isn't already aware of it. “Does it feel better now that you’ve let them out?”
“Not really,” she answers without much hesitation.
“You’re really hard to please,” he notes.
“Sucks for you.”
“Well, I think I like you enough for that.”
Jiho's eyes widen at that remark and she can feel heat creeping up to her face. She knows he notices that, too, because his grin almost reaches his ears as he takes another step approaching her. “What,” says her, defensively.
“Did you miss that? I said I li-”
She cuts him off by instinctively reaching out her hand to cover his mouth, but quickly releases it and covers her own mouth with the same hand out of surprise. That action hits her a second to late and she's back to hiding her face in shame. “Oh my god.”
“You’re so insufferably cute, did you know that?”
“And you're just insufferable. Why do I even like you-” Realizing her mistake, she looks at him, aghast and unable to function for a long, measured moment. “Oh. My. God.”
She sobs into her hands and continues to mumble “oh my god” like a chant to make herself forget what just happened. On the other hand, possibly the happiest boy on the planet right now, Cha Eunwoo envelopes her in his embrace, tenderly and protectively. And she lets him.
“You’re not dressed like a hobo today,” Mingyu comments.
“I thought we had this conversation before.”
“I thought you said you didn’t like him.” Jiho clicks her tongue and glares at him in annoyance, but he chuckles as they step into the café that's heavily decorated with Christmas ornaments, where Cha Eunwoo’s already waiting with his usual smile.
“You’re early,” Mingyu notes, slumping into the chair across of Jiho who chose the seat to Cha Eunwoo's right.
“Yeah, shouldn’t keep you waiting,” he replies, shrugging nonchalantly with a suppressed grin. While the corners of Jiho’s lips curl, Mingyu narrows his eyes. “I’ll get you two a drink.”
"I’ll go with you,” she announces, quickly leaving the table and Mingyu alone there. 5 minutes before they reach the café, he received a text from her that says her dad is dropping her off and she'll be here very soon.
“He still hates me,” says Cha Eunwoo while they wait for the drinks.
She crosses her arms and tilts her head to a side. “I certainly wouldn't blame him. You make it really easy to hate you.”
“Really? You fell for me anyway.” He grins, enjoying the way her cheeks instantly redden. At least Minkyung isn't on her shift to judge them, although Chaeyeon's boyfriend is there making mocking heart sign whenever he glances his way.
As it turned out, everything was an elaborate plan, thought up by Cha Eunwoo himself. Though it did genuinely upset him that she assumed he was hanging out with her simply to tease her about the whole planner incident, he purposely stopped doing that and asked Chaeyeon for a favour in the meantime. Her actual boyfriend just so happens to be Minkyung's co-worker at the café, so he got her to play along as well.
“This is the worst ever betrayal in my life,” fumed Jiho when she learned of the truth, but with the promise of a week’s worth of free banana smoothies, she was quick to forgive everyone.
“Mingyu was on your side though,” Cha Eunwoo comforted her. She was told later that Mingyu seeked him out without her knowledge, apparently to give him a piece of his mind. “He was actually scary.”
The bells hanging onto the café door chime as someone pushes the door open, just in time as Jiho pushes Mingyu's warm cup of his favourite vanilla latte towards him. It's Mina, who immediately spots them.
“I'm sorry I'm late,” she says, giving all of them a slight bow before settling into the only vacant seat left. Mingyu's face unmistakably lights up as he reassures her that they just got here too, and somehow it reminds Jiho of the time when they got separated for a while at an amusement park when they were kids. Mina smiles at all three of them.
Her family are heading to Tokyo tomorrow to spend the holidays there, which is why they’re meeting today instead. Christmas Eve's eve, Jiho had said.
“Present for you,” says Mina while placing a nicely wrapped box on the table in front of Mingyu, as soon as she seats herself next to him. Then, she places another similar sized box but with a different style of packaging in front of Jiho. “And you. Sorry, none for you.” She adds the last part for Cha Eunwoo.
“Wouldn't expect to get any from you,” he laughed.
Meanwhile, Jiho is looking at Mina in surprise. “But I didn't even prepare any gifts,” she says, feeling genuinely bad that she's completely forgotten about presents despite going on that shopping trip with Mina previously and came here empty-handed.
“It's alright.” Mina gives the sweetest of smile. “You can unwrap your present!”
Jiho's present turns out to be also a scarf like Mingyu's, the one that she helped pick out. But unlike his, the scarf that Mina chose for her is crimson red in colour. And both scarves have the same plaids pattern, so they look like a pair.
“I heard twins always wear matching things,” Mina adds, seeming pleased with her choice.
“When they're kids,” Mingyu shoots her down, though unintentionally. He looks apologetic enough, and fortunately for him she doesn't seem to be wounded and simply laughs. He definitely doesn't deserve her, Jiho thinks.
“We should leave now,” says Cha Eunwoo, reminding her of their plan for the evening.
“Right.” She carefully places the scarf back inside the box, tucks it into her bag and gets up. “See you later!”
Mingyu waves them off almost too excitedly that she would have felt offended. But she just laughs now as she and Cha Eunwoo step out.
“You two look friendly,” he comments, referring to Mina.
“Shut up.” Jiho shoves his shoulder lightly, and his eyes crinkle with joy and twinkle under all the bright, colourful lights.
“You know, you never called me by my name,” he remarks all of a sudden. “Just my name, I mean. You always use my full name so that made me question if you really find me that uncomfortable.”
She frowns. “Oh, I never realized that.” Which hits her now that she thinks back, she never actually addressed him by anything other than his full name even when she's speaking to him.
“Try it now,” he suggests.
“What? No, it's embarrassing to do it so suddenly.”
“Come on! You didn't even prepare a present like Mina did.”
“Are you comparing us now?” Jiho stops on her tracks and scowls at him.
“Maybe I am,” answers him with no hesitation.
“God, you're really impossible,” she says, then lets her lips stretch into a smile as she adds: “Eunwoo.”
He can't hide his happiness and can't stop smiling. “That sounds much better,” he beams, taking her hand and slipping it into a pocket of his coat with their fingers intertwined. It feels warm.
jiho/cha eunwoo, twins jiho/mingyu, mingyu/mina
<<<
Some other time never did roll around.
Her wish for Cha Eunwoo to leave her alone is finally granted, over two months too late. For some reason though, it doesn't cheer her up.
If anything, she actually feels a little strange now that he's not popping up everywhere. Her table during lunch feels a bit too quiet and there's an empty feeling when she exits her class and doesn't find him anywhere.
“Human beings,” Minkyung says philosophically while picking out beans from her rice. “We only come to appreciate what we had once we lost it.”
Jiho resists the urge to dump the beans back into her friend's rice and mix them back again, only because what Minkyung said was true. For the sake of her ego, though, she rolls her eyes and chews on a piece of meat irritatedly.
Almost two weeks since the civil war began, Mingyu comes to her desk one afternoon and asks, in the smallest of voice, if she would like go home together.
Neither of them speak a word all the way to the bus stop, yet for some reason, the silence doesn't feel suffocating this time. There's a space between them as they sit waiting for the bus, but it doesn't indicate any lingering feeling of displeasure or discomfort. It's rather nice, Jiho thinks, being able to enjoy this quietness for a change.
“Should we just walk?” he asks after a while, crushing a dried leaf underneath his shoe. The scarf he's wearing around his neck muffles his voice a bit.
“If you want to, I don't mind walking,” she replies.
He sighs and turns to her. “Why do you always let me have my way?”
“Because I don't mind?” she raises her shoulders to a shrug, nonchalantly.
“Whenever I ask you for or to do something, you always say yes. Of course I appreciate that, but you should learn to say no to things that you actually don't want to do, you know? Sometimes I can't tell if you really don't mind or you're just being nice,” says him, sounding somewhat forlorn. He's staring at the remnants of the leaf he crushed after the wind swept most of it away.
She looks at the leaf, then back at him. “Okay.”
The bus arrives not long after, a little packed. Mingyu lets her have the only vacant seat and stands next to her, holding onto the handlebars on her seat and the one in front of her. Jiho looks up at him. “I’m sorry,” she tells him.
“If you are then let me copy your notes,” he murmurs, and she smiles.
Growing up, Mingyu's never one to admit his fault and say sorry despite being good at expressing his feelings. When caught in the wrong, he prefers to make it up through actions rather than words. This is his way of apologizing and making peace. This much she knows.
“So you and Mingyu made peace, and you're cool with his girlfriend. Everything is fine now? Happily ever after?” Yoobin asks. Jiho wants to believe that she means well, but the gleam in her eyes is saying that she's just glad she won't be dealing with Jiho's breakdowns anymore.
“Congratulations. I hope you're not actually still trying to break them up. You know the saying. If you can't defeat your enemy, befriend them,” Minkyung adds.
Jiho feigns an offended look, but soon counters back. “Now that gives me an idea.”
“Mingyu would kill you,” says Yoobin, laughing along while stealing a slice of pickled radish from Jiho's tray.
Minkyung, however, shakes her head and begs to differ. “No, he wouldn't. Instead he would stop talking to her and acknowledge her existence forever. You've seen Jiho the past few weeks when he didn't speak to her. This would torture her, which is much worse than killing her at once,” she elaborates while holding up her chopsticks to make a point.
On the other hand, Jiho groans into her soup. “Every day I question why I still have not called off our friendship.”
“That's because no one else can tolerate you, Kim Jiho,” says Minkyung matter-of-factly, amused at the same time. “Speaking of which, where's your boyfriend? I haven't seen him for a while.”
“What boyfriend?”
“Don't pretend to be clueless. You know who I'm talking about.”
“He's not my boyfriend,” Jiho mumbles, blocking Yoobin’s second attempt at stealing her pickled radish.
“Are you done with him now that you and Mingyu are okay?”
She scowls. “What are you saying?”
“Jiho, I know why he started following you around. But you can't keep insisting that he's only doing that because of that one reason. People normally wouldn't go that far, anyway. And he didn't even gain anything out of it, right?”
“Who said he didn't gain anything? He sure was entertained by the whole thing.”
Minkyung puts down her spoon and sighs. “Look, I was entertained by the whole thing, but did I ever check the weather and purposely bring an extra umbrella for you? Did I get you your favourite banana milk everyday? Did I ever accompany you all the way to the entrance of your apartment building even though we live in the same neighbourhood?”
“No, but that's… that's because you're-”
“Your friend? Then what is he to you if you don't consider him a friend?” Minkyung asks sharply. And as much as Jiho wants to deny it, her words do sting. “Stop lying to yourself, Jiho. Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s unfair on his side.”
She scowls again as she watches Minkyung getting up to leave with her tray, then groans loudly. What’s really unfair is that she’s being treated this way when she never even asked Cha Eunwoo to do any of those things. I’m the victim here, she wants to yell out to everyone, but she only settles with stabbing the kimchi pieces angrily using her chopsticks.
Meanwhile, Yoobin instinctively pulls her own tray closer to protect her precious food before she opens her mouth. “I know what you’re thinking and I know what you want me to say, but Minkyung is right this time, Jiho,” she says carefully.
Jiho lets out another frustrated grunt and pushes her tray towards her angrily. “Just eat it all.” The soup spills a bit and the fallen cutleries make a loud clanking sound, so several heads turn her direction. On her way out, she spots the last person she wants to see now at another table, laughing carefreely with some other boys.
She directs her rage at the vending machine that refuses to accept her crinkled note and pretends her foot doesn’t hurt.
Neither Minkyung nor Yoobin is actually petty enough to stop talking to her after that incident, fortunately, but unfortunately, Jiho is.
She thinks she deserves at least a banana milk or a chance at copying their homework if not a proper apology, but seeing that she’s not getting any of that anytime soon, she lets her pride crumble a little and sits with Mingyu during lunch break, uninvited.
Mina is kind enough to offer her bento, and even though that’s not what she’s here for, Jiho doesn’t waste the opportunity. On the other hand, her brother is narrowing his eyes at her. “You had a fight with your friends?” he makes it sound like a question, but they both know it’s not. He’s always uselessly sharp at the most annoying times.
“None of your business, Kim Mingyu,” she replies, taking another piece of roll eggs from Mina’s lunch box.
“It's my business if you're taking up my portion of the food,” he says while stealing the biggest piece of meat from her tray.
“I was saving that one!” she protests, then proceeds to steal his yogurt drink.
“Hey!”
“Please stop fighting,” says Mina gently before putting a mini sausage that's been cut and cutely shaped to look like an octopus on top of the rice in Jiho's tray and giving Mingyu her own yogurt drink. She's smiling as her eyes flicker back and forth between the two of them, and Jiho suddenly feels bad about all the things she’s said about this girl back then.
“Fine,” Mingyu grumbles. “I’m only tolerating this because you did us a favour before, okay?”
Jiho flashes a smile at him that's too wide to be sincere, and he does the same. If Mina wasn't around, he probably wouldn't hesitate to chase her off. A mother in some drama series she's watched was right when she said raising a son is useless because he will just end up listening to his wife. And Mingyu is still so far from being married.
She's considering ways to get Mina to side with her so Mingyu has no choice but to do the same, when he rudely interrupts her thoughts. “Go sort out your life. Why are you avoiding so many people?” nags him.
It's the last thing she needs from him, really. “Thanks for your concern, but I'll manage my own life.”
“It's not concern. I’m actually telling you off because you don't seem to be capable of doing that well enough,” he says matter-of-factly. She glares at her brother who does not bother to conceal the look of disdain on his face, as if he has no relation to her issues at all. None of her problems would actually exist in the first place if it wasn't for him.
Jiho feels like screaming at him and crying and kicking the nearest vending machine all at once, and she blames it all on Mingyu, and also her unstable hormones of late. Maybe she's getting her period soon, or that the soup is just too salty today.
Or maybe it's just her. The immature, irrational, insensitive and oversensitive at the same time, emotional and petty one who overthinks and overreacts and ends up ruining everything. Maybe she's been wrong all along and too stubborn to admit it.
Maybe it's time to fix things.
Jiho begins with bringing freshly baked brownies to the café Minkyung works part-time at. “I made this with my tears. Will you be my friend again?” she says, looking away as she holds a nicely wrapped box up toward her.
“Uh,” Minkyung blinks at her, looking a little lost and skeptical. “I’m not sure how I am supposed to react to this. What even is in that?”
“Well, you can start by accepting it first,” Jiho replies, shoving the box at her friend instead of actually waiting for her to take it. “It's brownies. As an apology.”
Jiho mumbled the last part, but the hint of amusement in the way Minkyung's lips curl slightly at the corners indicates that she heard it. At least she doesn't prolong her agony by questioning it further. “Okay. You didn't have to since it's not like I was going to stop being friends with you, but thanks.”
She exhales in relief, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders now gone. “I’ve been a bit dramatic recently, and I guess I went overboard. Thank you for putting up with me, even though you ignored most of my texts about Mingyu.”
“‘A bit’ is an understatement, to be honest. And I’m not quite feeling your appreciation speech, but alright,” Minkyung says, chuckling a little. She unties the ribbon and uncovers the box to have a look at the brownies. It's slightly burnt at the edges, but it's barely visible. “I’m asking this just in case - besides your tears did you add in anything else that shouldn't be in there? For instance, some kind of potion... or maybe weed?”
“Maybe my snot got in by accident.”
“Gross.” She makes a face, but replaces the frown with a smile soon enough. “Do you want anything? Drinks?” she offers.
“Hmm, I gotta make another delivery to Binnie, but her class doesn’t end until-” Jiho checks her phone for the time, “half an hour? I guess I’ll hang out here for a while.”
“Banana smoothie?” She nods and looks for her purse, but Minkyung places her hand on hers. “It's on me.”
“You’re the best, Kim Minkyung.” She flashes the broadest and sweetest smile at her friend, who responds by rolling her eyes, then goes to wait at a nearby table.
Right then, the bells on the door chime as someone pulls it open, and as soon as she sees who it is, Jiho instantly looks the other direction while attempting to hide her face behind her bag and cursing under her breath at the same time.
In mere ten seconds, she already has her escape planned out. Crawl away unnoticed, notify Minkyung, and pretend this never happened. It's not a bad plan, really, and she's not the only customer here so he probably won't notice her, right? Especially if she tries to blend herself-
“What are you doing?” Minkyung questions almost too brightly, standing by her table with her banana smoothie. Jiho takes a chance to peer at the counter where he's at, and fortunately he’s too preoccupied with the menu.
“Trying to hide, which you're not being much of a help?” hisses Jiho, horrified. She’s now relying on her long hair to cover her face.
“Why are you trying to hide?”
“Um, because of that?”
Minkyung turns around to see what she's pointing at. “Oh, Cha Eunwoo? He comes here every day,” she says in the most casual tone.
“And you couldn't have alerted me?” Jiho asks, sounding like she's never been so betrayed.
“Well, I forgot.”
She watches Minkyung walk away with disbelief, wondering if it's too late to ask for her brownies back. Being friendless doesn't sound that unappealing now, especially with friends like this.
Before she sprints to the door, Jiho decides to glance at him one more time. It proves to be the worst decision she's ever made, because their eyes meet. It's too late to pretend she didn't see him, but too weird to wave or even smile, so she doesn't.
She does, however, expect him to come over. To say an ordinary greeting or even to tease her like he always used to, she's not sure. She also half expects his usual cheshire grin. But instead of that, Cha Eunwoo saunters off to another table without another glance at her, and she only notices now that he has a company with him. A girl. Chaeyeon. She knows her. Half the boys at their school are in love with her.
Oh.
Jiho starts inhaling her smoothie, slowly and as quietly as she can as though she's not supposed to make any noise, while stealing glances and trying not stare too hard at the two.
Her stomach is being funny again, but this time it feels more like someone has punched her in the guts than the normal discomfort. It's probably just the banana smoothie. It can't be anything else.
Her bedroom door makes a creaking sound as someone pushes it open slowly, and the bright light from the other room spills into hers. Jiho squints her eyes against the light.
“Mum told me to check on you,” says Mingyu, standing at the doorway with his hand still on the knob.
“I’m not dead yet, don't worry,” she mumbles back.
“Are you okay?” he asks, sounding more concerned now as he makes his way over then crouches down next to her bed.
“I don't know. I think I ate something weird.”
“Is it the brownies I found in the kitchen? Did you make that yourself? Thank god I didn't take a bite yet.”
“Shut up. My brownies are fine,” she defends, but Mingyu just chuckles and begins stroking her back. It feels warm and nice. Maybe she should fall sick every now and then so he would treat her nicely.
“Are you sure it's not the regular period pain?” he questions further.
She frowns a bit, hand on her belly. “No, it's not that. I’m not even having my period now,” she replies.
“Since when did this start?”
“A while- few months back I think? It doesn't happen that regularly, though.”
“Does it feel like something or someone is twisting and tangling your intestines?” he asks, and it surprises her how accurate his description is. She agrees almost too enthusiastically, forgetting the pain for a while. “Does your chest feel suffocating, somehow? I mean, does it feel hard to breathe?”
Again, the accuracy. She jolts up and sits facing him, feeling somewhat moved. “How did you know?”
Sighing, Mingyu gets to his feet and crosses his arms across his chest. “Because that's how I felt whenever I saw Mina back then,” he says.
Jiho is more confused than ever. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“Congratulations, you're in love.”
It's hard to see what kind of expression he's putting on right now, but surely he can't beat hers as she blinks at him, very much puzzled and betrayed even. “What?”
She regrets her life.
“You need to talk to him,” says Yoobin, munching on her brownies.
After the incident at the café, Jiho completely forgot about brownies that she's supposed to be delivering to Yoobin and went straight home from there, and it ended up squashed under the weight of whatever's inside Jiho's bag since she just dropped it on the floor once she got home. Yoobin doesn't seem to mind the appearance though.
“I have nothing to talk to him about,” Jiho replies as she busily copies Mingyu's English homework word by word.
“You have plenty to talk to him about,” deadpans Minkyung. “Like your feelings.”
Mingyu's “congratulations, you're in love” rings in her ears all of a sudden, so Jiho closes her eyes and shakes her head as though she's shaking the voice off. “I don't have feelings,” she tells her through gritted teeth.
“Yes, you do. I've seen the way you would look for him at the cafeteria when you think we wouldn't notice. I know you still half expect to find him outside waiting for you. And I definitely saw the look on your face when you saw him yesterday. With another girl. That’s jealousy, in case you never realized what it was.”
“Leave me alone!” she grumbles, glaring at the both of them. If anything, they actually look more entertained than scared. It irritates her even more, but she can't pick up a fight right after making peace with them.
So when Yoobin says she's heading to the cafeteria with Minkyung, Jiho whispers a silent prayer of gratitude and continues copying the homework. Or at least try to, because as if he purposely planned it, Cha Eunwoo walks past her classroom right then. With the same girl by his side.
They appear to be sharing some joke from the way they're laughing. Whatever it is, he seems very much humoured that his crescent eyes are crinkling with glee. The sight is so familiar, and then it occurs to her: didn't he use to smile at her like that, too?
Her stomach tightens, and Jiho feels the same pain again, except this time her chest hurts, too. It’s like someone is ripping her heart out and squashing it in their palm. She’s hearing Mingyu’s voice again as well as Minkyung’s at the same time. That’s jealousy.
She groans and bangs her head against the desk over and until Yugyeom, who’s napping at his desk near the door, wakes up and sends a sharp glare her way. Not that she cares. Not when she has a bigger problem at hand than dealing with the boy who feels his position is threatened. “Oh god,” she cries. Maybe she is crying for real. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”
Admitting that she’s in love with Cha Eunwoo is proven harder than acing an exam, in all honesty.
First of all, Jiho's never been in love with anyone before. Not including celebrity crushes, of course. Or the boy from her kindergarten who asked if she wanted to date him but broke her heart five minutes later when he asked another girl the same question. There's never been anyone else.
Second of all, it's Cha Eunwoo. The same person who made her life more miserable than it already was, and the very person she could swear was her eternal enemy. Hatred isn't supposed to take a complete turn and become a damn love. Her friends will never stop making fun of her (if they aren't having the time of their lives already).
Her pride doesn’t allow her to go to her friends for some comfort and advice. Mingyu, of course, is out of the question. She actually has half the mind to just spill it to some random boy from her class, Minghao or Yugyeom for example, knowing that they wouldn't care anyway to tell others, when one afternoon, as fate would allow it, Mina appear right in front of her wondering if she could ask for a favour.
“I can't tell, really,” says Mina, brows slightly furrowed and head tilted to one side. She looks cute doing that, honestly. “Someone asked them before, when they were leaving together? But they just laughed instead of answering.”
Jiho frowns as she looks at the cardigan Mina is currently holding. The favour she wanted to ask turned out to be picking out a Christmas gift for Mingyu, so now they're at a department store which Mina insisted of going although Jiho said something from Namdaemun market would have been just fine. “How- when did they become close?” she asks, playing her card playfully since still unsure whether she should reveal the truth to Mina just yet.
“Hmm, I think they've always been good friends but they started spending time together just recently?” Mina answers, then looks at her with apologetic eyes. “Sorry, I never paid close attention to them.”
“Oh, no no it's not your fault!” Jiho immediately says. She worries and wonders why Mina would apologize for something that she's not at all responsible for?
“To be honest, I’m not sure if spending a lot of time together means they're dating,” Mina adds afterwards. “I mean, I thought he was dating you, since you were always together. A lot of people did, actually.”
“A lot of people?” Jiho raises her brows quizzically.
“Well, Mingyu, some of our classmates. I heard some juniors too, once.”
She pales at the thought of being the gossip topic of people she doesn't even know. Yoobin has told her that Cha Eunwoo is quite popular, but she never took it seriously since she's never heard of him before he started bugging her. Is he really a big deal?
Maybe this is a bad idea, after all. Maybe she should pretend that feelings don't exist and continue her life ignoring his existence. Maybe she can live on Mingyu's mercy and live with him even after he's married and has children of his own. Mina wouldn't mind, would she?
“That looks nice,” Jiho comments on the scarf Mina’s studying. Mingyu does get cold easily during winter, and blue’s his favourite colour. Mina thanks her happily and quickly rings it up.
Living with this sweet girl for the rest of her life doesn't sound bad at all.
Except she never listens to the good voices in her head. Two days, she finds herself sitting in another café across the street from the one Minkyung's working at, right next to the window so she can get a clear view of the place. Of Cha Eunwoo when he arrives there, actually.
They say curiosity kills the cat, but Jiho is pretty sure that the worst possible thing that it could cause to her is total humiliation. She's been through enough embarrassment already (except, of course, admitting her feelings) so she figures this can't be that bad. She's wearing a cap which she borrowed from Mingyu to keep her face hidden and has her homework and some other books laid out on the table in case.
Except he doesn't show up. Not even after a couple of hours of waiting, and she actually managed to get her homework done. Didn't Minkyung say he goes there everyday?
He's nowhere in sight again the next day, and Jiho even stays longer just to make sure, in case she missed him previously. She wonders what's going on and contemplates the possibility of Minkyung lying to her.
On the third day, however, she finds him right here at this café, sitting too strategically at the center facing the entrance. She's just about to make a U-turn when he looks up and their eyes meet, and she misses the timing to make it seem like she didn’t notice it’s him. Even her cap isn't helping. Damn it.
“Hello,” he says casually. He’s alone today, and it appears like he’s been waiting for her. Or maybe he's waiting for Chaeyeon. “I thought I'd find you here.”
It almost makes her happy that he's speaking to her again, until she remembers that he shouldn't know why she's here. Jiho crosses her arms and tries to remain poised. “What brings you here?”
“You,” he answers, which throws her off, really. He has the same twinkle in his eyes as he did when he first came to her with her notebook, like he has all kinds of mischief up his sleeves. It makes her uncomfortable.
“What do-”
“I know why you’re here.”
She freezes. “Wh- what are you talking about?”
“Kim Jiho, I know you enough to know that you don’t like coffee, and you don’t like being at places like this by yourself. And the café your friend’s working at is right across the street, so there’s no reason for you to be here unless…” he trails off on purpose as he looks at her with some kind of teasing smile that she never liked and wishes she never missed.
This is it, the humiliation part that she prepared herself for, except it’s a lot worse when it actually happens. She tries to make up excuses in her head but her train of thoughts just went off track and straight off the ravine into the sea. “I-”
“You’re really so transparent, have you still not realized that?”
Without knowing why, she suddenly feels angered by this unexpected confrontation. And she's never been good at it, so she does what she would always do - she runs.
Except of course Cha Eunwoo wouldn't let her off easily. He follows her out and trails right behind her as she tries her best to get away from him. “Do you want to tell me why you’d been sitting at the table with the best view of the other café?” he questions aloud, causing some passersby to glance at him, then at her. She doesn't answer, so he goes on. “Then do you want to tell me why you asked Chan about Jung Chaeyeon?”
I’m going to kill Chan, she thinks, and quickens her pace. Unfortunately for her, Cha Eunwoo has strong legs so he catches up with her in no time. He stops right in front of her and turns so they're facing each other. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes how close he's standing.
“So tell me, do you have anything that you want to say to me?” he continues, staring right at her. Her stomach clenches, and she really wants to put a stop to this.
"This is stupid, and you're ridiculous,” she bursts out, hands in the air and all, as dramatic as it can get. “My life was so peaceful before but you messed it up. Okay, maybe it was already a mess, but you made it a lot worse. You barged into my life like an uninvited guest and pretty much made yourself at home. But then you left just as suddenly as you came, and now I have no idea what I should do with the space you occupied. And screw you, I don't care if you've found a new home, Cha Eunwoo.”
He's chuckling, eyes turning into the crescent shape, which she really did miss, even though he shouldn’t be entertained by any of this. Jiho is dead serious. If she was only frustrated before this, now she’s frustrated and angry. And she wants to leave, bury herself underneath her blanket, maybe cry a little bit and figure out a way to transfer to another school, but he keeps blocking her way whenever she wants to take a step forward.
“Hey,” he begins, catching her wrist when she tries to turn around and take the other way. “Are you saying I can come back?”
“What?”
“Chaeyeon’s not my girlfriend,” he says.
“What?”
“She’s not,” he repeats, making it sound like it’s an obvious point. He brushes his nose with a bended finger and then shoves his hands into his pockets. “Well, she’s my friend’s girlfriend, and he goes to a different school but that’s a long story. Anyways,” he pauses, and looks directly into her eyes. “Is there anything you want to tell me now?”
For a long while, she doesn't say anything. Instead she simply stares at him with furrowed brows and jaw slightly dropped. There’s a lot of things she wants to tell him, actually, and many more things she wants to ask, but in the end she settles with the one thing that best represents how she feels all this time. “I really hate you.”
“Okay,” replies him, nodding while closing the gap between them with a step towards her and a smile. “And?”
“I don't want you to smile that stupid smile to other girls.”
He lets out a chuffed laugh. “Alright. Anything else?”
She steps back when he takes another step forward, but then he adds another. He's standing so close to her so all she can see is him and his crescent eyes. Unable to withstand it, she covers her face with both her hands, mutters something, which comes out muffled and unintelligible.
“What did you say?” asks him, removing her hands so he can hear her more clearly.
“I said, I missed you!” she exclaims, finally, then proceeds to groan loudly and cover her face once again, this time using both her hands and her long hair as though doing that would help lessen the blow even by just a bit.
Despite the hint of amusement tugging on the corners of his lips, he doesn’t laugh like he would in normal occasions, probably mindful of her internal pain. Not that she cares at this point. “Why is it so difficult to get you to admit your own feelings?” he asks, reaching out for her hands again.
“I don't know, I hate feelings. My own feelings betrayed me,” she despairs, refusing to meet his eyes.
“You just prefer to suppress your feelings and pretend they don't exist,” he points out, as if she isn't already aware of it. “Does it feel better now that you’ve let them out?”
“Not really,” she answers without much hesitation.
“You’re really hard to please,” he notes.
“Sucks for you.”
“Well, I think I like you enough for that.”
Jiho's eyes widen at that remark and she can feel heat creeping up to her face. She knows he notices that, too, because his grin almost reaches his ears as he takes another step approaching her. “What,” says her, defensively.
“Did you miss that? I said I li-”
She cuts him off by instinctively reaching out her hand to cover his mouth, but quickly releases it and covers her own mouth with the same hand out of surprise. That action hits her a second to late and she's back to hiding her face in shame. “Oh my god.”
“You’re so insufferably cute, did you know that?”
“And you're just insufferable. Why do I even like you-” Realizing her mistake, she looks at him, aghast and unable to function for a long, measured moment. “Oh. My. God.”
She sobs into her hands and continues to mumble “oh my god” like a chant to make herself forget what just happened. On the other hand, possibly the happiest boy on the planet right now, Cha Eunwoo envelopes her in his embrace, tenderly and protectively. And she lets him.
“You’re not dressed like a hobo today,” Mingyu comments.
“I thought we had this conversation before.”
“I thought you said you didn’t like him.” Jiho clicks her tongue and glares at him in annoyance, but he chuckles as they step into the café that's heavily decorated with Christmas ornaments, where Cha Eunwoo’s already waiting with his usual smile.
“You’re early,” Mingyu notes, slumping into the chair across of Jiho who chose the seat to Cha Eunwoo's right.
“Yeah, shouldn’t keep you waiting,” he replies, shrugging nonchalantly with a suppressed grin. While the corners of Jiho’s lips curl, Mingyu narrows his eyes. “I’ll get you two a drink.”
"I’ll go with you,” she announces, quickly leaving the table and Mingyu alone there. 5 minutes before they reach the café, he received a text from her that says her dad is dropping her off and she'll be here very soon.
“He still hates me,” says Cha Eunwoo while they wait for the drinks.
She crosses her arms and tilts her head to a side. “I certainly wouldn't blame him. You make it really easy to hate you.”
“Really? You fell for me anyway.” He grins, enjoying the way her cheeks instantly redden. At least Minkyung isn't on her shift to judge them, although Chaeyeon's boyfriend is there making mocking heart sign whenever he glances his way.
As it turned out, everything was an elaborate plan, thought up by Cha Eunwoo himself. Though it did genuinely upset him that she assumed he was hanging out with her simply to tease her about the whole planner incident, he purposely stopped doing that and asked Chaeyeon for a favour in the meantime. Her actual boyfriend just so happens to be Minkyung's co-worker at the café, so he got her to play along as well.
“This is the worst ever betrayal in my life,” fumed Jiho when she learned of the truth, but with the promise of a week’s worth of free banana smoothies, she was quick to forgive everyone.
“Mingyu was on your side though,” Cha Eunwoo comforted her. She was told later that Mingyu seeked him out without her knowledge, apparently to give him a piece of his mind. “He was actually scary.”
The bells hanging onto the café door chime as someone pushes the door open, just in time as Jiho pushes Mingyu's warm cup of his favourite vanilla latte towards him. It's Mina, who immediately spots them.
“I'm sorry I'm late,” she says, giving all of them a slight bow before settling into the only vacant seat left. Mingyu's face unmistakably lights up as he reassures her that they just got here too, and somehow it reminds Jiho of the time when they got separated for a while at an amusement park when they were kids. Mina smiles at all three of them.
Her family are heading to Tokyo tomorrow to spend the holidays there, which is why they’re meeting today instead. Christmas Eve's eve, Jiho had said.
“Present for you,” says Mina while placing a nicely wrapped box on the table in front of Mingyu, as soon as she seats herself next to him. Then, she places another similar sized box but with a different style of packaging in front of Jiho. “And you. Sorry, none for you.” She adds the last part for Cha Eunwoo.
“Wouldn't expect to get any from you,” he laughed.
Meanwhile, Jiho is looking at Mina in surprise. “But I didn't even prepare any gifts,” she says, feeling genuinely bad that she's completely forgotten about presents despite going on that shopping trip with Mina previously and came here empty-handed.
“It's alright.” Mina gives the sweetest of smile. “You can unwrap your present!”
Jiho's present turns out to be also a scarf like Mingyu's, the one that she helped pick out. But unlike his, the scarf that Mina chose for her is crimson red in colour. And both scarves have the same plaids pattern, so they look like a pair.
“I heard twins always wear matching things,” Mina adds, seeming pleased with her choice.
“When they're kids,” Mingyu shoots her down, though unintentionally. He looks apologetic enough, and fortunately for him she doesn't seem to be wounded and simply laughs. He definitely doesn't deserve her, Jiho thinks.
“We should leave now,” says Cha Eunwoo, reminding her of their plan for the evening.
“Right.” She carefully places the scarf back inside the box, tucks it into her bag and gets up. “See you later!”
Mingyu waves them off almost too excitedly that she would have felt offended. But she just laughs now as she and Cha Eunwoo step out.
“You two look friendly,” he comments, referring to Mina.
“Shut up.” Jiho shoves his shoulder lightly, and his eyes crinkle with joy and twinkle under all the bright, colourful lights.
“You know, you never called me by my name,” he remarks all of a sudden. “Just my name, I mean. You always use my full name so that made me question if you really find me that uncomfortable.”
She frowns. “Oh, I never realized that.” Which hits her now that she thinks back, she never actually addressed him by anything other than his full name even when she's speaking to him.
“Try it now,” he suggests.
“What? No, it's embarrassing to do it so suddenly.”
“Come on! You didn't even prepare a present like Mina did.”
“Are you comparing us now?” Jiho stops on her tracks and scowls at him.
“Maybe I am,” answers him with no hesitation.
“God, you're really impossible,” she says, then lets her lips stretch into a smile as she adds: “Eunwoo.”
He can't hide his happiness and can't stop smiling. “That sounds much better,” he beams, taking her hand and slipping it into a pocket of his coat with their fingers intertwined. It feels warm.