─ limitless ; jjk

─ 05. caught

I adverted my gaze and stared at my lap after I buckled my seatbelt. As Vic started to pull out of the driveway, he rolled down his window to greet the man.

Crackers.

I felt Mister Jeon look at me, but I refused to remove my gaze from my lap.

Only when Vic said his goodbyes and started to leave, I looked at him.

Mister Jeon eyes were soft and intense as always as ours connected. I sent him a faux forced smile and looked away quickly.

"What was that about?" Vic asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye five minutes down the road.

My shoulders tensing, I slowly shrugged.

"What was what about?" I asked.

My response had Vic chuckling, "You're acting so awkward in front of him, Elena." Vic started to grin widely, wiggling his brows, "...wait...do you have a little crush on him?" he teased.

My stomach dropped and I scoffed, hiding the blush on my cheeks.

"No! He's just really intimidating," I giggled awkwardly, guilty of my lie.

"I get it," Vic nodded, biting his cheek as he pulled to a stop in front of Marc's café. "That's a relief, though. He's nice, impressive and all, but he's too old for you." He said, turning to me.

The smile on my face wavered.

I didn't think so - and I didn't care.

But it wasn't wise for me to keep my eyes on him, the man had a girlfriend for cracker's sake! A beautiful girlfriend, I pushed away the envy I was feeling and forced my smile to become wider.

"I'll see you later, Vic." I smiled, hugging him quickly, "Thanks for dropping me off!"

"Be safe and call me if you need anything!" Vic called as I waved once more and shut the car door and trudged into the café glumly.

The hours passed slowly, and I was still in a rut.

I started to feel more like myself when Corey and Kayli popped in to visit me and Marc. Thankfully I was able to take my lunch break to hang out with them.

Kayli watched me over her mug, brown eyes watching me suspiciously as Corey ruffled his sun kissed blond hair and looked between us.

Nervously, I dug in my lunch pack and withdrew a small bottle of strawberry yogurt drink Vic always gets me at the Asian market and twisted the tiny cap off. I took a tiny sip, savoring the taste.

"Okayyy, what's wrong, El? You've been acting off." Kayli said, setting her mug down and crossing her tanned arms across her chest. I swallowed and twisted the lid back on my drink and pouted.

"I don't think I'm acting off." I said, picking at my nail beds.

Corey scoffed playfully, "You are. You've been more withdrawn than usual, E." he said, reclining back into his seat.

I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and bit down on it, a bad habit I had, and debated whether or not to tell them.

But I gave in, since they were the closest people I had to friends.