Sinking down in a booth at Lenticular that night, you rubbed a hand over your face. Renjun had taken the containers at the host stand and was dropping them off with Johnny in the kitchen while he grabbed your drinks as well. Lenticular was fairly busy, most of the tables being taken up. You were glad to see that they were able to keep quite a few of the customers from their initial re-opening night.
You continued musing over your paper of incantations as Taeyong happily sipped on the juice that Renjun had just brought out for him. They all seemed so simple, banishing one Wraith, banishing multiple Wraiths, sending flying notes, enchanting talismans—you had no clue what those even were—and a small guide of breathing techniques to control your powers. According to Jungwoo, the key to do anything more difficult than those was in focusing and channeling your energy. But you didn't feel any energy within you. At least nothing more special than usual. Even when you had banished the Wraith earlier, nothing felt... different about you.
"Y/N?" A familiar voice calling your name out made you whip your head around in surprise.
It was Na Jaemin, his face immediately perking up when he saw that it was you. He came rushing over to your table, "Hey, Y/N! I wasn't sure if that was you, but it is!"
Quickly folding the incantation paper back up, you set it aside with your phone to greet your friend, "Hey, Jaemin." Looking around, you couldn't spot Jeno or any other familiar figures. "Here by yourself?"
"Oh, yeah, Johnny says I'm his most frequent regular," he admitted, seeming somewhat sheepish but also somewhat flattered as he scratched at his neck.
"You want to eat with us?" You offered, having no good reason to deny your own self-proclaimed best friend from joining you and Taeyong.
"Sure!" He scooted in beside you, eyes locked on Taeyong.
Oh, other than that. He had no clue who Taeyong was, and you weren't about to admit who he actually was. Too much of an unnecessary headache. Realizing you had to come up with a realistic fib in that split second, you cleared your throat to buy yourself some time, taking a nice long sip of your water.
"Uh, Jaemin, this is Taeyong. He's... Yuta's friend from out of town. Yuta's got something tonight, so I offered to take him to dinner and show him the great food that Lenticular has to offer," you quickly rambled on as soon as you'd settled on a lie. "Taeyong, this is my friend Na Jaemin."
Taeyong flashed you an incredulous look—he was clearly not enthused about being known as Yuta's friend—but washed it away to throw Jaemin a rather tense smile.
"Hello, Jaemin," the Nekomata nodded to him politely through gritted teeth, presumably remembering all the times that he'd been harassed by your friend while in his cat form.
"Nice to meet you, Taeyong," Jaemin smiled at the man brightly. "How are you liking our little city so far?"
His nose twitched, "It's fine."
While they made small talk, you quickly grabbed your phone and angled yourself so Jaemin couldn't possibly see your screen while you fervently texted Yuta.
[you: if jaemin asks for some reason, taeyong is your friend from out of town who's visiting you]
The next time Renjun came to your table, he'd apparently noticed Jaemin's presence and told Johnny, because he came back with three entrees.
"Oh joy, our favorite regular..." Renjun drawled, looking down at Jaemin with distaste.
"Hi, Renjun!" Jaemin greeted him brightly nevertheless. "How'd you do on that landscape assignment?"
The Satori seemed a little caught off-guard, face flushing as he looked down at his feet, "Good, my professor really liked it. Thanks for the suggestion."
"Of course! I just wish you'd actually show me your photos one of these days."
"One of these days..." He murmured before walking away to attend to another table.
Looking at your friend with wide eyes, you asked, "Renjun does photography?"
"Yeah, he takes online classes from our college. I recommended that field over by the macaron shop for an assignment he had," Jaemin answered nonchalantly. "What, you didn't know that?"
"We don't talk about stuff like that..."
"Then what do you talk about?"
You shrugged, "Other stuff, I guess."
Taeyong was already halfway through his raw tuna tartare when you finally picked up your fork, and you gave him a pointed look. He needed to slow down and act like a normal human being. With guilty, round cheeks, he set his utensils down and swallowed what was in his mouth before taking a delicate sip of his juice.
"You eat like you're starving, Taeyong," Jaemin commented. "Does Yuta not have any food at his place or something?"
"I'm a... picky eater," Taeyong replied, picking up a smaller mouthful of the fish.
"Well, after this, do you guys want to hit the night market to find something sweet?" Your best friend suggested. "Johnny's cookies are good, but I'm kind of in the mood for something else tonight."
You were about to reject the idea, not wanting to keep up this charade for much longer, but Taeyong's face absolutely lit up. Of course, your Nekomata with a sweet tooth.
Nodding, you agreed, "Sure, yeah, sounds good to me."
☆
After having gotten Taeyong a chocolate-filled taiyaki from a street vendor—your reasoning for paying for him being that he forgot his wallet in Yuta's apartment—you wandered the streets with your two friends. Jaemin scarfed down a strawberry rice cake before holding a matcha flavored one out to you. You accepted the sweet from him, gently squishing it between your fingers for a moment.
After taking your first bite, your phone buzzed, and you pulled it out to check it. It was just Yuta, thankfully. If it had been Jaehyun, you didn't know what you'd have done.
[yuta: uh, good to know, why?]
[you: we ran into him at lenticular and i had to come up with an excuse as to who yonggie was]
[yuta: you'll have to tell him eventually, aren't you two like, best friends forever or something]
[you: don't make me think about the future]
[yuta: fine, did you talk to jaehyun?]
[you: briefly. we're going to actually have a talk about it tomorrow]
[yuta: good, keep me posted. if you want]
[you: i will]
[yuta: good luck, i hope you two... finish what you started]
[you: did you just say you hope we fuck]
[yuta: i meant that i hope you finish beginning a beautiful relationship]
[yuta: and fuck too i guess, i'm pretty sure jaehyun's been having a dry spell]
[you: where?]
[yuta: what?]
[you: where did i ask?]
With a snicker, you pocketed your phone again, careful not to crush the incantation paper folded up in there. Finishing the rice cake in your hand, you looked down the well-lit bustling streets, breathing in the feel of the city. It had been a while since you'd truly just enjoyed a night out with some friends. But watching Taeyong's mouth split into a wide yawn, you knew you'd have to be heading home soon. He'd missed his late afternoon-early evening catnap, which meant he was going to crash early tonight.
"I just texted Yuta, he says he's heading back home, so I'll drop you back there, Taeyong," you announced, grabbing the man's elbow.
His eyes widened and he nodded, "Okay, thanks, Y/N."
Jaemin stopped along with the two of you, pointing over his shoulder, "I'm going to double back to the taiyaki stand, I told Jeno I'd bring him something. It was good seeing you again, Y/N."
He pulled you into a tight hug, and you squeezed your friend back. It was truly good seeing him, even if you had to lie a little bit.
"You too, NaNa," you patted his back before letting go.
"And it was nice meeting you, Taeyong," he stuck a hand out towards the Nekomata. "I hope we can see each other again while you're in town."
Taeyong gingerly nodded his head, "I'm sure I'll see you again, Jaemin."
With that, your friend took off down the street, and you turned back to Taeyong hopefully. They'd seemed to be getting along fairly well as two humans. At least better than they did when one was a very affectionate human and the other was a very cute cat.
"Well?" You questioned, voice pitching up and betraying your wants.
"He's fine," Taeyong muttered, much to your delight. Better than before.
Gently pulling him down the street, you declared, "Come on, Yonggie, let's go home."