"Huh? You came after all?" Mark's confused voice sounded, gaining our attention in the quite crowded room.
It didn't take Donghyuck and me long until we were standing in front of the two guys who had already bought popcorn and drinks for themselves in the meantime.
A small sigh left my lips before I nodded to Mark for confirmation, the ravenette still looking at me in surprised.
Believe me Lee, I am surprised myself.
"I had the choice between being stalked or going to the movies," I said with an obvious fake smile and gritted my teeth.
Donghyuck, on the other hand, stood cheerfully next to me and grinned satsified as if he had just found money on the street. God... this boy really drove me crazy.
"I see, anyways. We'll wait for you at that table over there since it's still twenty minutes until it begins."
The said students turned away shortly afterwards and I did the same, focusing and walking towards the the cash register at the end of the room.
There was long queue for the tickets as well as for the food and simply looking at both of them made me lose the rest of my energy. I really wanted to go home already. My shoulders sank a little while I breathed out in annoyance.
"The lines looks quite long, should I buy the tickets and you go for the snacks?" Donghyuck suddenly suggested to me, sounding surprisingly monotone and desinterested.
I already knew he had put on his cold facade again, trying to look as intimidating and dangeres to others as he could. To be honest, it was quite exhausting to endure his constant mood swings.
One second he act like a decent human being than the next one the usual dark veil was there again and enveloped his entire body. I really couldn't figure him out and it somehow made me slightly mad.
I shrugged my shoulders, trying to suppress a yawn, "What do you want?"
No sooner had he expressed his wish than my feet slithered across the floor and carried me to the end of the long line. Once again I sighed and rubbed my heavy eyelids tiredly while I waited for my turn.
My eyes wandered unconsciously through the room until they met Jeno and Mark for a brief moment. Both boys sat at a table several meters away and talked to one other, throwing popcorn into each other's mouths once in a while.
Broodingly I bit my lower lip as I looked at them a little closer. I had to admit that even though they constantly had to retain their dumb ass image and distanced manner, they didn't seem as bad as I had initially thought. In the last few weeks even Momo had become fond of them, although most of the time she only hung around with girls.
I kept my gaze locked onto the two studens, when Mark suddenly caught me looking at them, causing my eyes to widen a bit in realisation. Before I knew it, the corners of his mouth turned into a light and gentle smile before he started to form the peace sign with his fingers.
A little overwhelmed I just stared at the ravenette and was fortunately, before I could smile or wave back at the boy , approached by the cashier, asking me for my order. I quickly averted my attention from the two boys and glanced at the man behind the counter.
"How much did the ticket cost?" I asked Donghyuck when I found my way back to the table with two drinks and two big bags of sweet popcorn, taking a seat next to my classmates without hesitating.
I didn't even notice how calm my body was despite their current presence und simply leaned back in my chair, triedly stretching my arms above my head.
"Doesn't matter, I already baught them," he shrugged his shoulders disinterestedly before taking his drink and snacks, placing the items right front of him.
"Stop it, seriously. How much did it cost?"
"I am serious. Why shouldn't I pay for it?"
My eyes automatically narrowed into thin slits as I wrinkled my forehead at the obvious question.
"Because we're not friends."
"Ouch, I hope you recover from that", Jeno surpisingly chuckled, revealing an incredibly stunning eye-smile while patting his friend on the back in amusement.
First an embarrassed Donghyuck and now this? I never would've thought that today would be that strange. It was weird and unfamiliar to see other sides of the two gang members since these new images didn't match the ones I had practically burned into my brain a long time ago.
I couldn't tell if I liked it or not, but I was surely about to find out.
"I don't care. I'm paying for the tickets and you're paying for the snacks, okay?"
A little bit annoyed I mumbled to myself and ran my hand through my hair before looking into his chocolate brown eyes. They stared at me like they did most of the time, expressionless and cold, causing me to get even more upset at his non-moving facial muscles.
"You really give me a headache sometimes."
For a short moment it was quiet between the two of us. I guess neither Donghyuck nor I knew what to say after that, but it looked like Mark was a little irritated by my comment. Rounding todays experienced off, it was now the turn of the oldest to show an unexpected side of himself as well.
"He pays for your movie ticket and instead of thanking him, you complain about it? What is your fucking problem with us?"
Somewhat taken by surprise by his sudden change of mood, I tilted my head to the side and opened my mouth soundlessly. I was already used to dealing with their cold and distanced attitude, never showing even the slightest bit of real emotions at all.
His current furious voice and annoyed expression, however, told me that it was somehow really bothering and secretly upsetting him.
"Are you really asking me that?" I quickly regained my posture and inhaled deeply, crossing my arms in front of my chest while leaning back in my chair. "You're from fucking NCT, it should be pretty obvious."
"So you hate everyone from NCT?" Jeno also joined the conversation and peered at me with interested and gloomy eyes.
"And SVT," I added, clicking my tongue, the boys' attention now all focused on me.
"What about DRGNS?"
"Unlike you, they don't simply go around and kill other people or frighten them."
"In case you haven't noticed it yet," Mark, who was now much more invested and angered than before, suddenly snapped at me and slightly leaned over the table ",the crime rate of the city has dropped significantly since our gang has been around. Most people fear us, yes, but they are also afraid of accidentally messing with one of the three gangs. So quit judging us all the time, we're not as bad as you think we are."
It was my turn to stare at the boy right in front of me, slightly speechless because of his sudden but honest outburst. Theoretically he was right, there weren't a lot of small ciminals anymore, because the majority didn't want to risk getting involved with gang activities.
Just because the crime rated of normal citizens has gone down though, doesn't mean it's any safer around here. On the contrar, both SVT and NCT had a clear path, only having to worry about the police rather than groups of petty criminals.
"Have you ever run into a member of DRGNS?" the black-haired boy continued with one raised eyebrow, immediately tearing me out of my own thoughts.
A sudden shiver wandered through my body while my own heart beat started to go faster after hearing his last words. The unforeseen question made my blood run cold in an instance and caused goose bumps to spread all over my skin.
"Of course not," I lied him straight in the face, not even twitching a muscle while hoping that no one noticed the nervousness that was hiding behind my expressionless mask. "Nobody has."
It was quite ironic that I was sitting right in front of him and of all people he is the one to ask, whether I had met people from my own gang.
Fortunately he seemed to believe me and for a short moment, I we would just drop the topic, when Jeno suddenly interruped the current silence.
"I once thought I met one."
It's only been to days at university and I'm already stressed💀
The exams seem quite hard and the competition is big as well... I really have to invest a lot of time into it
(I'm studying movie animation for anyone wondering)
Hopefully I can update without any problems😅 it takes quite a while so I hope you're not mad or sth if it comes a day or two later
Have a great day everybody 😊💚