Jay shakes his head, eyeing Sujin with a look that says, 'I hate him. Not actually, but I hate him.' And Sujin's pretty well versed in that look herself - only because she's used it on Heeseung more times than she can count.
As the boys busy themselves with deciding what to pick off the sushi train, the lone girl quietly excuses herself to the bathroom. The situation is getting all too loud, all too overwhelming, and she feels the need to take a short breather away from the commotion.
★
͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀⠀ As soon as Sujin disappears out of earshot, the trio turn to each other with matching wide-eyed expressions.
"Small world, right?!" Sunghoon is the first to speak.
"For sure." Jay agrees, still shaking his head slowly at the revelation, "Jake, bro - are you okay?"
"Me?" Jake shrugs, "Yeah, I'm fine. It seems like she's the only one with the problem."
Jay chuckles, "Something tells me she always has a problem, to be honest. Don't take it personal."
"Mm... That's kind of hard when she's been glaring daggers into my head for the last ten minutes." Jake counters, lips pressed in a tight line.
"Damn," Sunghoon comments, "I told you guys this was going to be fun!"
"You have a twisted idea of fun, Hoon." Jay sighs, watching the boy go back to an unfinished plate of food. He turns to Jake with a small smile, "If it makes you feel any better, she's been shooting me those looks all day too."
"Ah, right -" Jake winces, "- How was the tour?"
"Take the level of awkwardness we're at now," Jay starts with a pointed look, "And multiply it by about a thousand. That scratches about half of it."
"I can imagine..." Jake replies empathetically. He's only had two interactions with the new girl so far, and neither of them have been positive. And though he's usually the type to give people the benefit of the doubt, something about her already rubs him the wrong way.
"Look, I tried my best." Jay throws his arms up in surrender, "You just can't change people who don't want to be changed!"
"I hear you," Sunghoon murmurs, "She sounds like a nightmare, dude."
Jay scoffs, "You got that right."
"A total piece of work." Jake adds, arms folding over his chest decidedly.
"Gee, thanks."
All three pairs of eyes snap upward to see their topic of conversation back from her short-lived breather. Their cheeks immediately flush with embarrassment and a hint of regret upon being caught in the act of talking smack behind her back. Or, trying to, at least.
Sujin purses her lips before bitterly adding, "You guys really know how to make a girl feel welcome."
"Sujin, we-"
"Save it, Jay." She snaps coldly, snatching her phone from the table, "If you're going to talk shit, don't act all high and mighty to my face. At least I have the decency to keep it real with you instead of being fake-nice."
He, along with Jake and Sunghoon, are at a loss for words. They trade fearful glances amongst each other and the fuming girl in front of them, bracing themselves for the impact of her rage. Luckily for them, however, she's too drained of energy to give them a proper, unabashed piece of her mind.
"I'm leaving."
And before any of them are able to squeeze in an apology - or any sort of explanation, for that matter - Sujin storms out of the restaurant.
She can hardly believe she'd consideredgiving Jay the benefit of the doubt... even if it were for only a second. She leaves behind any shred of hope for a redemption arc at the sushi train, and doesn't look back. Not even once.
Give it a chance, my ass!
SAGE'S SPACE! 🗯️
oh sujin... oh jaykehoon... 🤦♀️ it's gonna be a long and rough road with these guys, i'll tell yall that much 😭💔 but that's what makes this all the more fun... right? i promise it'll make it so much more rewarding when we see them finally getting along !!! and, of course, it adds that little bit of extra *spice* for our sujake - because what's a rivals to lovers plot without a whole lot of back-and-forth angst? 🤭
til next time, sage ♡
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