When Enemies Collide

Chapter 10: Tangled Thoughts

Soré sat at the round table in the sunny courtyard with her trio of friends. Jina was scrolling through her phone, occasionally showing funny memes to Suya, who giggled quietly. Lawana, on the other hand, was meticulously sketching on a notebook, a complicated diagram for one of her architecture assignments.

Soré leaned back in her chair, sipping on a soda. “So,” she began, casually, “last night was… eventful.”

Jina perked up immediately, her attention snapping to Soré. “Eventful? Spill! What happened?”

“Yeah, you never say ‘eventful’ unless something big happened,” Suya chimed in, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Soré hesitated for a second, swirling the straw in her drink. “Well… let’s just say Heeseung and I got locked in a storage closet overnight.”

There was a beat of silence before Jina nearly choked on her coffee. “YOU WHAT?”

Lawana dropped her pencil, her normally calm demeanor breaking. “Soré! Are you serious? How did that even happen?”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” Soré exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “We both happened to be there, the door got stuck, and, well… we had to stay there until morning.”

Suya leaned forward, grinning mischievously. “So, did anything… happen?”

“No!” Soré said quickly, her face heating up. “Absolutely not. We just argued a little. Okay, a lot.”

“That sounds exactly like you two,” Lawana muttered, shaking her head.

Jina smirked. “But come on, Soré. Being stuck in close quarters with Heeseung all night? Are you sure nothing happened? Like, maybe some sparks?”

Soré rolled her eyes. “There were no sparks. Just annoyance. And then he had the nerve to apologise in the most egoistic way possible.”

“That sounds like him,” Suya said, laughing. “But you were alone with him. Didn’t you… talk?”

Soré hesitated, her thoughts flickering back to their conversations, the tension, and the moment when he grabbed her hand. “A little. But mostly it was just awkward.”

Lawana smirked. “Awkward tension can sometimes be… good tension.”

“Stop it,” Soré groaned, covering her face. “You guys are the worst.”

“Or the best,” Jina said, grinning. “Okay, but seriously, do you think he’s into you?”

“Not a chance,” Soré said flatly, but the slight flush on her cheeks betrayed her.

“You’re blushing,” Suya teased.

“Am not!”

“Yes, you are,” Lawana said matter-of-factly, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Soré groaned again, slumping in her chair. “Can we please change the subject?”

“Fine, but only for now,” Jina said, winking.

The group sat outside on the grassy courtyard, enjoying their lunch under the warm sun. Jake stretched out lazily on the grass, Sunghoon and Sunoo shared a bag of chips, while Jay leaned back against the bench, scrolling on his phone. Heeseung, however, sat silently, picking at his food with a distracted expression.

"So," Sunoo started with a mischievous glint in his eye, "what’s the deal with you and Soré?"

Heeseung shot him a warning look. "What deal? There’s nothing to talk about."

Jay smirked. "Come on, man. You’ve been acting weird since last night. I mean, you two were locked up together for hours. Must’ve been… interesting."