Naeun's P.O.V
Jaemin-ah looked at us in wonder with his stiff expression mirroring oppa's.
He forced his lips to curve into a smile and tried his best to greet us with a smile.
Oppa managed to hide his discomfort better and gave a radiating smile you would only expect from a cartoon character.
"Jaemin-shi, it's been a while!" he said but his voice didn't sound as happy as his face looked.
"Yes, Taemin-shi, I thought you were in Japan. What a nice surprise!" Jaemin-ah answered him and finally managed to get his eyes to smile with his mouth.
"Ah, right, you were also at Jaemin's birthday party, right?" Minji-shi asked oppa.
"Y-yes, that's right!" oppa answered a little too eager.
"That's great. Then everybody's acquainted. So are we going bowling now?" she asked and motioned for Jaemin-ah to stand up.
Oppa looked at me with a questioning look and I simply shrugged my shoulders not sure how to reject them either now that we already agreed.
"Sure, we'll just pay at the front," oppa answered and started walking toward the cash register.
"Shall I treat you today?" Minji-shi offered but Jaemin-ah refused.
"It's fine. I asked you to come here after all!" she insisted but he wouldn't let her pay for him.
I wondered why he didn't offer to pay for her meal but had forgotten for a second that a guy would only pay for the girl he likes or is going out with.
Minji-shi and Jaemin-ah got in oppa's car because they came with public transportation.
"It's been a while since I took a car. This is such a nice car, Taemin-shi," Minji-shi swooned. "As a student you can't earn that much money."
"But after university you can get a steady job," oppa said.
"You say that as if your job isn't steady," Minji-shi joked.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that my job is steady," oppa countered jokingly.
"Don't say that! You're really popular after all!"
"And I'm thankful for that," oppa answered.
"You didn't deny it!" Minji-shi remarked.
"This may sound arrogant but I would lie to myself if I denied it," oppa explained.
"You said 'this may sound arrogant' because you already knew you were about to say something arrogant!"
"Right, you saw through me," oppa admitted and we all had to laugh.
Even Jaemin-ah who had been silent the whole drive till now.
"Well, I would prefer honesty over modesty any time," Jaemin-ah said and I felt like he was saying those words to me. Or maybe he was also acknowledging oppa.
"By the way, what are you going to do with your car?" I asked oppa. "Or how do you plan to get to the airport?"
"I'll drive you all home and bring my car home. Then I'll meet up with my manager. But sadly we'll have less time because of that."
"How about you drive directly to the airport? I can drive you car to your house and put the key into the mail box. That'll give us more time and make it easier."
"How can I ask that of you?" oppa protested. "How can I force you to drive my car to my house?"
"I'm offering to help you. You're not forcing me," I corrected him.
"Then how about this: I'll drive to the airport later and you can drive my car to your house. You can keep the car for a while and use it."
"How can you just lend me your car?" I asked him shocked and I could feel the same emotion from the backseat.
"Well, it's fine. I won't come back for at least a month so there's no use in having the key anyway."
"But I can't just take your car! Don't you know the saying that you can lend anything but not a car?"
"I don't," he answered and laughed. "Anyway, I'm lending you my car so I can make it to the airport on time. Just keep the key and the car. You can decide yourself whether you're going to use it."
I agreed with a sigh and we finally arrived.
"I'm going to the bathroom a bit," I announced right away, "you guys can get shoes and a bowling alley first."
"Ah, I'm going with you!" Minji-shi tagged along.
"Thank you for letting us come along," Minji-shi thanked me in private.
"It's alright. You're lots of fun!"
"Yes, but I'm just happy. Jaemin hasn't been himself recently and I really wanted to cheer him up. He's been moping around all the time and he's never in a good mood."
I felt a little guilty at that but didn't say anything. It might be my fault but even if it was, there was nothing I could do. I shouldn't try to cheer him up but I was glad he had friends like Minji-shi.
"You know, you're so lucky, Naeun-shi," Minji-shi remarked parentheticallly. (A/N: Yes, I had to look this word up)
"What do you mean?" I asked carefully.
"Well, you have a boyfriend and a caring one at that who would buy you meals, make time for you and even lend his car to you," she laughed shortly. "You're also pretty and you're a celebrity. You're quite enviable."
I only nodded. Although Minji-shi had given me compliments, I didn't feel happy at all. It was her way of saying it. She didn't sound envious or unhappy but something in her voice gave me the impression that I didn't deserve everything she mentioned.
Something gave me the impression that Minji-shi didn't like me very much.
Thank you all so much for continuing to read my story even though I update with such big time gaps >.<
I won't make excuses or promises. I'll just try what I can do better and hope it works.
Thank you so much^^
I've also been planning to write that Victon chapter to whoever hasn't forgotten about that. Well, I better not make any promises '~'