Cause all of the small things that you do
Are what remind me why I fell for you
- those eyes (new west)
62. those eyes
"So this is what you meant by going out?"
Han Seojun looked mildly disappointed at the set-up he easily fell for. They were seated in one of the finest restaurants of the city, a private room booked only for them.
And their friends.
Apparently, when Soojin said 'go out with me,' she meant with them all as a group and not just the two of them. She had plans for dinner with the Saebom High clan and wanted him to tag along while Seojun was inadvertently on a different tangent altogether.
Even so, I wouldn't wanna go out with her, he muttered to himself.
"Yes," Soojin looked earnestly at the stoic man. "What did you think?" She asked, seated across from him on the ten person table arrangement.
She was excited and nervous to meet the rest of the group, especially Suah. Seojun could tell with the way she kept rubbing her hands. He would have pacified her, if he wasn't sitting a continent away from her.
"Nothing, just." He was nervous too. This wasn't what he planned to do for the night and definitely did not want to meet his old friends.
If they even were his friends.
He hadn't spoken to Chorong and gang since his idol training and never made time for Jugyeong and Suho, since the accident. He had let go of all his friendships and relationships after having nothing to do with them and didn't quite know if they were still his friends.
Clearly not, because he had abruptly cut them off from his life.
"I don't feel quite well." Seojun wasn't too comfortable being in public, despite the privacy the restaurant provided. That and he'd rather eat alone at the hotel than at a gathering. "I should leave."
Seojun got up to leave only to find Kang Soojin blocking his path with a determined expression. She folded her arms across her chest and still couldn't match his height even with those heels.
"Wae?"
"Ani - " She met his dark beautiful eyes, always flinching with the way he looked at her. "You're not leaving."
"I don't want to be here!"
"Well, too bad. You said yes and now you have to stick to your word."
Seojun scoffed, replicating her actions by folding his arms and rolling his eyes. "Do you take me as some noble King of the 17th century who'd keep his word?" That made Soojin pout a bit, and for Seojun to linger a bit more on those lips. "I don't care."
He walked past her but froze midway when a jitter of current passed through his body at the touch of Soojin's hand on his. She held his wrist, stopping him from leaving and making it impossible for him to disobey.
"Please don't go, I really need you today." Her request and her soft gaze made Seojun ponder on how deep he was in this mess. "I've not met them since a decade and you're the only one who can understand me."
Seojun sighed, "they're your friends. I'm sure you'll be okay."
"They were my friends." She corrected him, hand still holding his with a tighter grip - afraid he'd go away. "I'm not sure where I stand in the friendship status."
Kang Soojin could easily be a shaman with the way she could lure him with those eyes. All she had to do was look cutely at Seojun and he was all hers.
"Then why did you say yes to this - arrangement."
"Well, just because we aren't friends anymore, does not mean I don't miss them." This time she hit a familiar chord, Seojun held back his sympathizing sigh. "and I know you miss them too."
"I don't miss anyone." He was quick to retort back, "and I don't care about any of this."
"Then why did you say yes to me?"
"That's because I thought - "
He paused, almost slipping out the fact that he wanted to go out with her and needlessly, jump on the first chance to spend time with her.
"You thought what?" She asked, an eyebrow raised to pressure him into continuing but Seojun stood by his lies.
"Nothing, I must have been an idiot to say yes to you."
"Well, late is better than never." She smiled, an easy on the eye and cute smile that almost made him smile back, "atleast you admitted you're an idiot."
"You're just as obnoxious as you were back then."
"And you're just as annoying!"
"Omo - is this high school again? Did I just witness Han Seojun and Kang Soojin at each other's throats?"
Seojun and Soojin turned in synch to see Taehoon and the rest of the group enter through the doors. They stepped away from each other, when they realised they had been standing way too close and holding the other's hand all this while.
With Taehoon were few of the mutuals of the school gang, Chorong and a couple of the hooligans had tagged along and Jugyeong walked happily with Suho and Suah on each side.
Suah's happy smile faded when she saw Soojin stand across from her, and for a minute she looked unbelievably betrayed for being here without being informed. Suah glared at Jugyeong who had escaped her line of sight immediately.
Soojin nervously smiled, waving at Suah and wondering why she felt so small and guilty again. It had been almost a decade since she saw the cute girl who was now a beautiful woman - especially with her long hair and formal suit. She wanted to hug the girl and tell her how much she missed her but all of that went down the drain when Suah ignored Soojin.
Suah walked past her and sat beside Taehoon, pretending like she didn't just see her middle school best friend again.
If Soojin felt bad, she hid it well because she awkwardly stood aside. Seojun would have helped her if he wasn't in an awkward mess himself.
Chorong unlike Suah, did acknowledge Seojun but with hesitation and discomfort. "Annyeong, Seojun." He raised his hand, the other he used to rub the back of his head. "How are - how is - how are you?" He asked earnestly, only to make Seojun nod in reply.
"Why don't we all order some drinks?" Suho cut in the tension, gesturing the clan to take their places. "We have a lot of catching up to do with our beloved Jun-Jin."
The ship name got both their attention and Suho easily dodged their glares, ordering for drinks. Seojun grabbed Soojin's hand and pulled her towards him when she was about to sit on the opposite side again.
"You brought me in this mess, you're gonna sit with me through it." He whispered, making their way towards the further end of the table.
"Arraseo," Soojin hushed back, sitting beside the singer and noticing how Suah and the clan were staring at them and their proximity. "You should leave my hand now, Seojun."
Han Seojun's ears reddened and he let go of her hand, covering his face through the menu card. The fomer friends sat awkwardly on the table, unable to break the barrier of distance between them.
Suah, who loved talking as a hobby, didn't speak a word that evening. She stuck to being stoic and upset over Jugyeong and wouldn't budge when the former asked her to.
Suho looked over at Taehun who agreed to carry the conversation and got them all listening to his office tales. Chorong was quietly eating from the farthest corner, stealing glances of Seojun and avoiding eye contact.
Seojun on the other hand couldn't wait to get out of the place and smack some sense into the stubborn woman sitting beside him. Like him, she had lost her appetite too despite being pretty hungry when they left the studio.
He placed the piece of sizzling meat on her rice bowl, taking her by surprise. Their eyes met, once again speaking more than they did with their words.
"Don't look at me like that. I just want this dinner to be over with soon." He resumed eating his rice bowl, warming up at the heart eyes Soojin was eyeing him with. "The faster you eat, the quicker we can all leave."
Soojin thanked him and took the long awaited bite. The moment the morsel melted in her mouth, her hunger seemed to strike back and she focused on eating the delicious dishes than the slumped faces of her former friends.
They're mad anyways, might as well eat something.
"So, Suah - " Suho interrupted Taehun's boring stories and leaned sideways to look at the girl sitting beside Jugyeong. "Jugyeong told me that you're promoted to manager last month? Congratulations!"
The table roared into a chants of congratulations and wishes of good luck to which Suah smiled modestly. She was working as an assistant to a fashion photographer for a while now and she could soon get her own projects.
"We should celebrate this!" Jugyeong raised her glass of soju, to clink with Suah's. "You getting promoted, Soojin-nie and Seojun-nnie being here with us! It's a good time for all of us."
While Seojun and Soojin were thankful to Jugyeong to include them, Suah put her glass down at once.
"I don't think I'd like to celebrate my success with outsiders..." Suah pointedly looked at Soojin, ruining the built up mood of the gang. "Also, Lim-ju, I'm not okay with you bringing Kang Soojin for a friends-only-dinner."
Soojin shifted in her seat, the food she ate seemingly ready to escape from the same route it arrived.
"Suah-ah," Soojin voiced her hesitant response to the upset girl. "I know - "
"My name's Choi Suah." Suah snapped back immediately, marking the first time anyone ever saw her seethe in anger. "And you cannot just barge in my life after leaving for a decade, so please, let's leave things the way they are."
Everyone could see the anger in Suah's accusations but Soojin could see how hard the girl was trying to bite back her tears. And she was right, Soojin didn't have any good reason to explain why she left things unattended other than for her selfishness and vanity.
"I'm sorry - " Suah grabbed her stuff, excusing herself from the group. "I'm glad to see you Han Seojun, but I cannot be here anymore." With a shared nod with the singer, Suah stormed out of the room. Jugyeong and Taehoon followed immediately and the rest of them looking clueless and awkward.
"I have to - go too. " Chorong got up, gaze fixated on the floor, "thank you for dinner." He walked away, leaving Seojun in pieces and miserable.
Soon the table dispersed and everyone left, thanking Suho for dinner and waving a goodbye at the guests. Once they were all gone, Seojun and Suho sighed while Soojin eyed the food in remorse.
"Don't you worry, Soojin." Suho sympathized with the girl. "Suah is just upset, she'll turn around soon." He failed to comfort her, unable to chant words of comfort and made his way to check on the girls.
There was a discomforting silence shared between the duo who were once again treading at the same path. They were both outcasts of their group for different reasons, yet finding each other amidst the chaos.
"She's just upset."
Soojin rubbed her hands, a gesture of the contamination OCD she once had. It wasn't easy to get rid of the habit but seems like it was coming back to haunt her again.
"Kang Soojin - "
Seojun's hand stopped her incessant rubbing and he firmly held her hands. His hasty act may get them in trouble but Soojin didn't care, not when a sense of deja vu hit her again.
"Stop hurting yourself for others." Seojun's grip firmly reminding Soojin of the man and his impact on her. She faced him, the guy who couldn't keep up with his nonchalant expressions when it came to her.
"We've been through this lesson, princess. Stop being too hard on yourself."
Soojin didn't know why her heart skipped a beat. Was it because of the way Seojun held her hands, or the playful term he used freed the butterflies in her stomach again?
Or simply it was because Han Seojun was looking at her with those eyes she once fell for.
Either way, she was losing both her mind and her heart way quicker than she anticipated
_
A/n I'm back. Did you guys miss me?