Chapter thirty
A chorus of fond laughter came soon. "We know."
They appeared kind, with genuine grins and not falsified smiles. There was no mocking tone present in the unison of their voices at all, and Jihyun was relieved by the fact that they all seemed nice.
"Come in," his friends stated, extending a hand leading in like creating a walkway to saunter right through. She rounded the corner and remained careful of stepping onto the carpet until she toed her shoes off. A hand stopped Riki when Jihyun stepped right past them. "Fine, I guess you can come in too," the same guy said in a joking manner.
As Jihyun looked around, she noticed that the interior was adorned with gilded artwork organized across the walls in different patterns, where simple splatters and streaks of paint–that have probably gone for hundreds–were put in frames. Other photos were perched on top of dressers or tables that were of the family, but only a few. And a vase of white-colored flowers beside one of them.
The gentle aesthetic left a warm and comforting feeling under Jihyun's skin.
She turned her head to wait for Riki, feeling like she shouldn't be wandering around without him since she was still a stranger. And like he knew of her discomfort, his hand gently came to hers and their fingers crossed over. She smiled at him and he returned it, and only then did she walk forward to observe the room further.
Riki stopped his feet abruptly. "So are you guys going to introduce yourselves or what?"
"We were going to let you two look around first, brat."
"Terrible first impression, Jungwon," Riki said with a false frown and a disapproving shake of his head.
Jungwon; the boy crossing his arms like a parent; the boy with a pointed essence to his stare, the boy who ignored Riki's comment replaces his expression with a slight smile to introduce himself. "Well, I'm Yang Jungwon. Same year as Riki but I major in Neuroscience."
Jihyun cast him a cordial grin and dipped her head once. Jungwon stepped aside from where he was slightly blocking the boy behind him, and the guy introduced himself next. "I'm Jake. Engineering major and 21 years old."
Jihyun unintentionally winced at the slight age difference and directed her somewhat concern to Riki. "All they all older than us?" She whispered.
"Yeah. All of them. So no more acting all high and mighty, Jihyun." He teased and triumphantly placed his arms over his chest as he tipped his chin up. "You're the second maknae now."
She drove her elbow into Riki's unguarded side, yet Riki stayed still and concealed the small jab's effect.
"This is going to get redundant so—I'm Sunghoon, 21. That's Heeseung, 22, This is Sunoo, 20, and that's Jay—the person whose parents own this house, he's also 21 like Jake and I. And Jungwon is 20."
He's terse, Jihyun briefly considered. Nonetheless, she gave them the same treatment as the other two and leveled her head respectfully. "I'm...18, but I'll soon be 19 in a few weeks."
"Ah, our second maknae."
Soon Riki would titter, and Jihyun would partially glare at him while Riki got his fill of amusement from the repeated phrase.
"I'm still mature even though I'm one of the youngest," Jihyun firmly protested.
Riki eyed her, his head cocked to the side and incredulity scribbled all over his face. Jihyun already knew he was going to say something in retaliation, all that awaited now was the time it'd take for him to say whatever it would be.
"You argued with me for days before we actually started working well together for SDC."
"You did too?"
"I never said that I was mature."
"At least you know," Jihyun muttered, the tilt of her lips blusterous and cocky, and the gentle grin on Riki's lips revealed that he was indulging in it.
"No wonder you two ended up together. There's like—no dichotomy between you two at all," Jungwon mentioned. He leisurely stepped further into the arrayed room, and like following the leader, everyone else dispersed throughout the living room too.
Jihyun's eyes narrowed, and she scanned him from head to toe in a once-over. If she was asked, Jihyun would definitely be able to point out a couple of differences but she gives Jungwon a pass because he had yet to get to know her. "He's the more annoying one."
Jake huffed audibly, probably with the intention of catching their attention. "Agreed. He's literally a kid."
"I'm not a kid when it comes to my height," Riki retorted.
"You're a kid when you lose in a game," Jake remarked.
Sunoo fell to the couch, resting against the cushions, and his face unimpressed with their bickering. "Can you guys be any more embarrassing?"
Riki spun around his foot, facing the boy lazing on the couch. "I'm not being embarrassing."
Jungwon scooped the abandoned television remote into his hand, and he settled into the couch too. "You were," he said, voice tepid.
Jihyun sighed when she noticed Riki looking at her. She figured he expected some sort of reassurance just to prove him wrong, but Jihyun decided it'd be best to push back. "You were," she doubled down.
"See? Even your girlfriend agrees."
Girlfriend. It was safe to say that Jihyun hadn't quite gotten used to the term just yet, but she surmised it would take some time. She hid a timid smile behind her hand.
"My girlfriend likes me, so I know it's a joke."
Jihyun faced away from the debacle, but she could still hear Riki's statement echoing around in her head. She did like him, she liked him with no shame in it, but there was a prominent delay in her realizing the fact that it was something established now. She was dating Riki, and Riki was dating Jihyun.
Sunghoon raised three of his fingers into the air like counting off. "Three C's; Cringey..."
It would take Heeseung a laugh before he continued. "Cheesy, and corny."
"He's just excited over having a girlfriend, let him be."
"That did not help, Jay," Riki griped.
"I wasn't trying to help."
"Sorry that I wasn't aware that my entire friend group consisted of enemies."
Jihyun just so happened to catch the look forming on Jungwon's face. "Then don't be surprised when I tell Jihyun everything you told us about her."
She turned her attention to him—of course, Jihyun already knew that Riki said something, but she was intrigued about what he could've possibly said.
"Sunoo can you recap me on what's going on in this series so far?" Riki redirected.
Jihyun considered it sudden, but she realized why Riki brought it up when Sunoo began to rant. Quick-witted, Riki could be.
Jihyun found it a bit funny—when Sunoo belatedly understood that Riki wasn't really listening to him, he somewhat coerced the boy into watching an episode with him. And the others took the time to exchange or more relaxed conversation to ease the tension in the room.
Their topics ranged from interesting to weird, but the passable kind of weird. The weird that Jihyun was left more than once with the thought that maybe Jake needs to stop thinking at 1 am. But Jihyun liked them, she liked their chit chats and the variety within their behaviors. The difference was pleasantly new for Jihyun.
"Color is yellow."
She had expected the grimace on Jungwon's face. "Yellow?"
Heeseung raised his eyebrows, and a smug grin met Jihyun's gaze. "Yellow," he repeated.
Jihyun eyeballed her hand. "Someone reverse, I have skips."
Heeseung shrugged his shoulders. "And if I have a wild card even after your skips?"
"Nah, you're bluffing," Jake said. His eyes were cast on Heeseung's one card left as if he could see right through it.
Jihyun cautiously slipped a card out of her stack, looking at the two boys at her side and estimating the range of their peripheral view.
"No point. Even if he was bluffing," Jay confidently declared. His self-assured demeanor was evident even before he uttered a word. "He failed to announce 'uno'," Jay added.
"Huh?"
"Woah, he did." Jake couldn't help but burst into laughter as Heeseung's face fell with a pitiful expression.
Sunghoon chuckled aloud. "Draw two cards."
"Jay looks so proud, he's so happy," Jungwon said, pointing a finger at the smile Jay tried to hide too late.
While the attention altered direction, Jihyun took the chance to scrutinize her last two cards. A blue 8, and a yellow 8–good thing stacking was allowed. She hummed giddily and pressed her first card down, mumbled to herself an uno, then proceeded with her last, announcing then an: uno out.
"Look who climbed up on the leaderboard," Jihyun chimed.
Jake had practically shrieked. "What?"
"You guys were paying too much attention to me and Heeseung—you pretty much let her win," Jay chastised, gently swatting Jungwon's hand away.
"You guys just suck," Jihyun responded.
"My entire deck was ass," said Jake.
"I could've won. Had three yellows," Sunghoon muttered. He let out a vexed exhale and dropped his cards to the carpeted floor where his last three cards were indeed yellow. Jihyun chuckled at that.
Jungwon shuffled through his desk, and one glance up made Jihyun realize how he had begun leaning his back against Jay's stationed arm. "My deck was alright, but I couldn't really do much with the reverses even if I stacked them." He too dropped his deck to unveil an odd number of reverse cards in his hand.
"If I used my deck well I could have won," Jay murmured.
"If I called uno I would've won," Heeseung expressed his dissatisfaction, leaning back until he made contact with the floor, while his hands were tangled in his hair, yet a wide and incredulous grin adorned his face.
"Wanna go again?" Jihyun proposed.
"Bet."
Riki expressed his discontent by stating, "No," in a tone of voice that conveyed his complaint.
"Your boyfriend is having a tantrum," Sunghoon murmured.
"It's been hours," droned Riki.
"One hour," Jungwon made clear.
"One hour is too much for this boring drama."
"It's not boring!"
"It is! It's so overrated. So some dude gets tied to this girl because of a tattoo, who cares?"
"Hate to agree with him, but I agree," Jungwon whispered.
"It's alright," added Heeseung.
"If you're playing uno again then I'm joining."
"Fine—I'll join too," Sunoo said. "I don't want to watch this by myself."
"The more the merrier." Heeseung collected the jumble of colorful cards and carefully gathered them into his palm. "Just know you'll lose."
"Says the one who just lost to Jihyun."
"Hey, I'm still confident."
After a prolonged round of Uno, two extended rounds of Uno followed. The twenty minutes that ensued after both games were filled with intense discussions regarding the fairness of the victory, as there were promises made that the winner would be defeated in the next game.
Those games never came, for the Sun had been set, and Jihyun had a home to go back to and Riki was her designated driver. So the games were cut short, and they simply exchanged base plans of meeting up another day.
By the time Riki stepped out into obscurity beyond the radiant lights of the home, Jihyun let out a faint yawn and wearily covered her parted lips with a hand.
"Come on. I'll drive you home as quick as possible so you can get some sleep."
His simple statement made her feel a sense of warmth, and she pulled out a very subtle smile at the caring underline of it. "To the car we go then."
"Yeah." She saw him try to fight off the immediate curve of his lips. Like always, Riki draped an arm over her shoulders and drew her near. "To the car we go."
And Jihyun would only chuckle faintly when she relaxed against the seat as Riki started the engine. She thought about them, Riki's friends; Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Jungwon. They were similar but so uniquely different. Jihyun considered that fact a breath of fresh air. "Your friends are pretty cool."
"I'm lucky, right? For them...and for you."
Jihyun tittered only, her eyelids fluttering when she averted her gaze to him.
"And this is random," Riki began tensely. She noticed how his hand kept readjusting on the steering wheel, and how he wet his lips for a brief moment. "But..."
Jihyun hummed, remaining calm like trying to will her nonchalance into him.
"Will you go on a date with me? It doesn't have to be tomorrow—I wasn't planning on it being tomorrow, but maybe sometime this week or the next? Depending on how my schedule turns out to be."
Jihyun reached for his hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Stop worrying you big baby. Of course, I'll go on a date with you. Whenever you find the day to that is."
Riki sighed, dropping his hand from the steering wheel, and catching his breath like he had held it the entire time waiting for her answer.
"Okay...great actually, wow, I—I should drive you home."
Jihyun shuffled in her seat, too drained to chuckle past her lips. "Yes. You should."