ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 ⭒ ℍ𝕦𝕒𝕟𝕘 ℝ𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕟

[ 6 ]

Opening her wallet, Songmin took out the thirty thousand won she'd kept separated from the rest of her money and held it towards him. "This belongs to you."

"No, no, no, keep it," he protested, blocking the money with his hand as if it would disappear if he couldn't see it. "I can't just ruin your blouse and not compensate you."

"My blouse isn't ruined, it's just... more colorful," Songmin countered, extending the money closer to his hands. "I don't take financial compensation for something that isn't damaged."

"Keep it, please."

Determined not to keep the money, Songmin reached out and, to both Renjun's and her astonishment, stuck her hand and the money into his jacket pocket.

Huh, maybe I'm braver than I thought.

She quickly retracted her hand, looking away at anything but the boy whose personal space she'd just violated. Hmmmmm, the ground looks real nice today. Hey wall, how're you doin'? Oh look, a trash can. 

Renjun stared at her for a second, astounded at her action, then started to laugh lightheartedly, quietly at first then escalating to the point where he had to put his hands on his stomach to stop himself from doubling over. Songmin felt her cheeks start to redden as shyness kicked in and as much as she wanted to appreciate how pretty he looked while laughing, she wanted to groan and kick herself. "I-I'm so sorry, that was so out of n-nowhere but I just can't keep money that isn't mine and-"

Renjun waved off her comment, trying to control his laughter, only managing to speak in a moment where he paused to take a breath. "It's fine, you just caught me by surprise. I didn't think you were the type of person to do that with someone you don't know very well."

Songmin rubbed her burning cheeks, internally punching herself in the arm. "I didn't think I was the type to do that either, but here we are."

Still chuckling, Renjun removed the money from his pocket and, taking out his wallet, slipped it in. "Fine, I'll keep the money since you're so adamant about it. At least let me buy you something, like a dessert or a piece of clothing."

"No, it's okay, I have my own money or Eunhye unnie will pay for me," Songmin replied, finally feeling her face cooling down enough to take her hands off her cheeks and the embarrassment far enough faded that she could look back at him.

Although Renjun looked and felt somewhat dejected at her rejection, he didn't object and put his wallet away. "You and Eunhye seem really close. You guys have been friends for a long time?"

Songmin nodded. "She approached me when I was in sort of a dark place in high school. We've seen the worst and best of each other, so it's kind of impossible for us not to be close."

Renjun hummed in understanding. "I feel that way with my friends as well. We've known each other since we were pretty young. I owe it all to Chenle though."

He gestured toward the Chinese kid who was laughing at something Jisung had said, completely oblivious to the conversation going on behind him. "He noticed me by myself in elementary school and invited me to hang out with him, so we became friends. Our families ended up moving to Korea from China around the same time, so we stuck together. Chenle became friends with the other five and through him, I got to know them."

The two followed as the rest of the group entered a boba shop. "You must be closest with Chenle, then," Songmin commented, standing near the wall and looking absentmindedly at the boba flavors offered, already knowing exactly what she was going to get.

"Of course, Chenle's like a younger brother to me," Renjun said. "He's the whole little bro package. Occasionally funny, often annoying."

Before Songmin could reply, Eunhye walked up to her. "Which flavor do you want? I'll pay."