the guy ran away to the other side of the supermarket. he hid behind the shelves. his heartbeat is crazily unstable.
another boy approaches him. "why are you hiding?"
the hiding boy turns his head around. he take his mask off. "k!"
"what? what is it?" the boy called k raises his brow.
"a korean boy was approaching me in japanese. but then, he's calling me in korean." the boy answers. "i'm scared, i'm not used to stranger."
k's heart start to beat faster. "korean boy? how does he look like?"
"hmmm he doesn't look like a korean." he tries to describe jay's face. "he's more like an american."
k freeze. "an american boy just spoke japanese and korean to you?"
the boy nods.
'jay?' k grab the boy's shoulders and shake them off. "where did you see him?"
"after the noodles section."
k automatically runs. he didn't become a marathon runner for nothing. he runs very fast, but nobody's there. the aisle is empty. "he must've been at the cashier." so, k run to the cashier.
"excuse me. did you see a boy- a boy that doesn't look like japanese at all? his face is so american. he is probably this tall." k compared jay's height to his. it's been years since they met. k doesn't know how tall jay is now. he just tried to remember jay's height in iland.
"oh, that foreigner. he's with his japanese friend."
'ni-ki?' k's eyes widened. "where are they now?" he asked.
"they headed outside a minute ago." the cashier answered.
"thank you." k run outside immediately. there's jay and ni-ki! they just hopped into a van. and in a second, the car moves. k fastened his speed. "JAYYYYY! NI-KIIII!" he shouts, hoping the car will stop. but it's too late. the car is even faster. k decided to stop. slowly, his breathing is back to normal. with a disappointment, k go back to the supermarket.
"k!" his friend is waving his hand in front of the supermarket.
k walk faster. "thank you for paying." he take over the shopping bag.
"who was it?" asked his friend on their way home.
k shakes his head. "a friend i met in iland."
his friend close his mouth. "an iland trainee?"
k nod.
"is he in enhypen now?"
k nod again.
"stupid me! i shouldn't have run away."
k laughed.
"which one is he?"
"jay. the korean-american." k answered. "wait." he stopped walking.
"what? do you left something?"
"did you just say.... he called you 'hyung'?"
"hyung? i don't remember. maybe?"
k laughed. "do we really look alike? he's not the only one who thought you are k."