CHAPTER 4: Total Awkward
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Seulin paralyzed. She didn’t move an inch. She stood still, and seemed to forget how to breathe, too.
“Happy birthday, Seul.” He said.
‘Ah, his voice is still as sweet as ever.’She thought as she kept looking at his eyes.
He took out his hand holding a small pot of Lavender. “Lavender is your favorite, isn’t it?”
She stared blankly at the pot.
Seulong stared at his sister; satisfied grin crept on his face. ‘She must be dead,’ he chuckled. It didn’t take long for Changmin and Kwon to join his laughter. Kwon even let out a loud whistle.
Seulin snapped back to reality upon Kwon’s loud whistle. She wanted to jump and tangle him right there for embarrassing her in front of Jinwoon. But then again she remembered, Jinwoon was still offering his gift.
She accepted the pot. “Thank you.” She muttered, tried to sound as normal as she could. However, it was clear for everyone she’s nervous to death.
Changmin cleared his throat, gaining all attention to him. “So, long no see, you’ve grown passed me, huh?” he smacked Jinwoon’s arm. Jinwoon laughed.
“Yah, how can you not contact us all these times? Are we not friends anymore?” Kwon whined.
“No, it’s not like that, Hyung—“
“Yo, Jinwoon-ah, how are you?” Seulong walked to him and gave him friendly hug.
“Great, Hyung.” Jinwoon smiled until his eyes gone. “Oh, I miss you all!”
“You are more handsome than me now.” Seulong praised. Jinwoon blushed.
“Yeah, so handsome that…” Kwon exchanged looks with Seulong, and laughed in unison instead of finishing his sentence.
Taecyeon stared at them, felt left out. ‘Who the heck is this pretty boy? He seems close to them. And why does Seulin act like that?’
Changmin realized they were ignoring Taecyeon and Gain. “Ah, Gain, Taecyeon, this is Jinwoon, our old friend. He used to live next to Seulong’s house.”
“Hi, I’m Ok Taecyeon.”
Gain smiled. “Hi, I’m Son Gain—“
“My girlfriend.” Kwon added as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist.
Seulong grinned at Kwon’s sudden over protectiveness. “Chill Kwon, it’s not like he’s gonna go after Gain.” He gave him mischievous look.
“Ah, of course!” Kwon got his message and released his hand immediately. Again, the two laughed together.
Taecyeon furrowed. He doesn’t like being left out like this. Seulong and Kwon laughed themselves. Changmin and Jinwoon chatted while Gain listened keenly. And Seulin… she couldn’t take her eyes off Jinwoon. ‘Wait, is he the one she fell head over heels with?’
Seulin stared at her brother. ‘He said he’s giving his gift, where is it?’ Her gaze shifted back to Jinwoon. ‘No way, it can’t be him—can it?’ Her eyes widened at her thought. She tugged him. “Oppa, what is your gift?”
Seulong dug his pocket, and then took out two pieces of paper. They were tickets. Lotte World’s. He handed them to Jinwoon. Seulin froze. “Have fun, you two.” He patted Jinwoon’s shoulder and winked naughtily. Changmin and Kwon made some noises while Kwon also did his popular kkap dance. Seulong dragged the two away. Gain pulled Taecyeon following Seulong, leaving Jinwoon and Seulin alone.
When they’re quite far, Seulong turned and shouted. “Bring her back home safely before nine or else you’ll be dead, Jung Jinwoon!” he then chuckled together with Changmin and Kwon.
Seulin blushed and worried as well. ‘What to do? What should I do?’ Her eyes wandered around nervously. She spotted her brother and the rest of the pack were nowhere in her sight.
For a while, the two were trapped in awkward silence. They stared at each other, but when their eyes accidentally met, they would turn their head away embarrassedly.
Seulin hung her head lowly. ‘It can’t be like this. I should say something… but what should I say? More likely, what should I do?’ she bit her lip. ‘Ah! Those Lotte World’s tickets! But how should I deliver the sentence?’ She played the pot in her hand and unconsciously swayed around. ‘Aaah, I don’t know!’ She shook her head and puffed.
Jinwoon watched her acts. A smile crept in his face and he chuckled quietly. He felt this awkward silence wouldn’t be broken unless he took the first move. So he cleared his throat, making Seulin startled and looked at him with her round eyes in funny expression.
“Do you want to go to Lotte World right now or can we go somewhere else first?” he asked quickly.
“Eh?” she tilted her head.
“I mean, I didn’t have breakfast so I kind of hungry now… so if you don’t mind, I want to grab some food on the way to Lotte World.” He explained.
“Oh, it’s okay… We can have lunch first before going to Lotte World.”
“But it’s still quite early to have lunch… Are you okay with it?” he showed his watch.
“Don’t worry~” she waved her hand. He then flashed his renowned eye smile. Seulin suddenly felt her stomach cramped.
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Jinwoon took her to a restaurant which only served western cuisine. Seulin felt her appetite decreased drastically. She was never into western cuisine. ‘I thought he knew that.’ However, she didn’t want it to affect her mood. She was managed to meet Jinwoon again, finally, and the fact that her brother created this ‘date’ for her, she wouldn’t let anything ruin it.
“What do you want to have, Seul?” Jinwoon asked as he flipped the menu.
Seulin skimmed through the menu indolently. “I’ll have what you have.” She said as she returned the menu to the waiter.
He raised his eyebrow before deciding his food. “We’ll have two beef spaghetti and two glass of orange juice, then. Are you okay with it?”
Seulin nodded. The waiter quickly disappeared after taking their order.
For the third time that day, Seulin and Jinwoon trapped in awkward silence. Jinwoon stared at Seulin, not knowing how to start the conversation. ‘It’s her birthday, I shouldn’t make her bored like this…’
Seulin didn’t dare to look at Jinwoon’s face and played with her fingers. Occasionally, she would unconsciously pout in a cute manner. He chuckled when he caught her pouted for the fifth time. Seulin set her eyes on his by his chuckle, shooting a questioning look.
“Don’t you know that you are cute?” Jinwoon commented, without realizing he had just made her stomach went topsy-turvy.
She muttered a quick “Thank you” after managed to calm herself down. She glanced at him only to find he was staring at her too. She quickly turned her face away, trying to hide her blush.
“Yah, since when did we become this awkward? Aren’t we best friends?” Jinwoon asked, he put his folded arms on the table.
“Hahaha, yeah,” She laughed nervously, still not able to look at his eyes, “I d-don’t know, either.” She stuttered.
“Or you don’t consider me as your best friend anymore since we have never met again for…” he recalled, “seven years?”
‘Yes, I see you as a full grown gorgeous man now!’Her mind screamed, while her lips automatically said, “How can you think like that? Of course you are the best best-friend I have ever had.”
“Is that so?” He smiled ear to ear.
‘NO, I LIE! IT IS AN ABSOLUTE LIE!’Her mind screamed again. Seulin put on a smile and nodded.
“But why were we this awkward? I didn’t know how to start talking to you and you seemed not wanting to talk to me either.” He looked intently straight into her eyes.
She soon felt her stomach got another cramp. ‘Oh, can’t you tell?’ Thankfully, the waiter came back just in time. “Oh, here comes our food.” She shifted topic.
They talked in less awkward atmosphere as they were enjoying the food. Jinwoon talked about how he got offers from various universities to join their varsity basketball team. He’s a pro varsity basketball player and many teams wanted him, but he chose Korea University because the scholarship they offered in return didn’t set him took particular major as a condition. She choked when she heard he went to Korea University as well.
“How can I not know we go to the same university? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“And how was I supposed to contact you? Our house was burnt in fire a month after we moved. Nothing left from our house, but thank God we had just moved in that time, so there were some goods that weren’t moved yet from our old house. However, I lost all my belongings, including my hand phone.”
She was silenced. It’s the first time she heard about that, and she didn’t know how to react. “I’m sorry.” She muttered, more to herself.
“Yah, why sorry? There’s nothing to sorry for.” He held her left hand. Shivers run up to her body. She looked up only to find him smiling. “Finish your food quickly, we have to reach Lotte World in an hour or else we have to wait long in the queue.”
Seulin nodded. She got feeling by the end of the day she would limp as she got too much cramps from his smiles and touches.
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