Chapter 24: C-22

C-22

"You told me you'd catch me!"

"I caught you but I ended up falling too."

We both get up from the ground and wipe the dust off our uniforms. Minho throws my bag at me and I hand him his blazer. He removes his nameplate and puts it in his bag.

"Why did you remove it?"

"When sneaking out, you remove all the stuff that will make others recognise or know you. That's common knowledge." He shakes his head.

"I've never done this before!"

"Yeah, it shows."

Minho pulls me towards the narrow alleyway and we walk for a bit. We reach the end and I can finally see familiar buildings in front. I got confused when we stopped at a bus stop.

"Are we commuting?"

"Yes."

"You don't have that bad boy bike with a matching black helmet and leather jacket?"

Minho flicks my forehead. "How clichéd can you get, huh?"

The bus arrives shortly and we enter and swipe our cards. Luckily, there aren't many passengers so we easily get settled on our seats with Minho by the window.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, the excitement finally coming in.

"You were so opposed to this idea earlier." He chuckles.

"That was earlier." I huff.

"Where do you wanna go then?"

"I don't know. I thought you had something in mind."

"I didn't think we'd successfully sneak out."

"What?! You made me risk everything without being sure?"

"Everything?" He laughs.

I nod furiously. "Yes, everything! My phone got confiscated because I adopted Dori for you."

"For me?" He bites his lower lip and shakes his head. "You can have my phone for today then."

"Sure? You're going to let me use your phone?"

"Sure, whatever." He rolls his eyes and hands me his phone. "Just for today."

I immediately connect the earphones and play the songs I like whilst we think of the places we want to go to. He snatches the other one and puts it in his ear so we're now sharing.

"Let's go to Bokjoo's Chicken, or maybe ramen at the park? Then let's walk around the shops near Mochi Cafe before getting dessert there!" I suggest.

"Are we just going to eat all day?" he asks sarcastically, which I laugh at.

'I Like You' by Day6 plays as we argue on what to do during the whole ride.

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"Welcome to Bokjoo's Chicken!"

We enter the diner and head straight to the cashier.

"What do you want?" Minho asks.

"How about you?" I say as I scan the menu. "Can you eat spicy foods?"

He scoffs. "Wanna make a bet?"

"What bet?"

"Let's order everything spicy on the menu. Whoever gives up first will do whatever the winner wants without question."

"Hmm..." I think about it for a moment. "Without question? Isn't that too much and what if I can't think of anything right now?"

"Alright, just one thing and we don't have to use it now."

"Okay, deal!"

After making our deal, Minho proceeds to order everything spicy on the menu. I've never seen him so excited and smiley before that I can't help but smile too.

"Ready?" he asks as we stare at the steaming hot foods laid in front of us.

"Wait!" I hold up his phone excitedly. "Can I take a picture? I've never done this with a friend before."

He nods, showing a boxy and purposefully awkward smile as I position the camera to capture both of us. I can't help laughing at his expression, but even with it, he still looks good.

"Okay, I'm ready!"

It doesn't take long before I start crying. My tongue feels like it's on fire and it doesn't help that Minho is almost on the floor laughing because of my red face. He takes his phone and points the camera at me whilst I glare and throw a chicken bone at him that he catches easily.

"What? You're the one who wanted pictures!"

"Not like that!" I pout.

He shakes his head. "I guess I'll have to save my dare for another day."

"So annoying..."

"Oh, really?" He chuckles as he wipes my eyes with a tissue. "Then I'll just cancel the classic chicken I ordered for you since I'm annoying."

"I was talking about the spice, not you!"

He just shakes his head again and opens my drink for me. My food arrives shortly so we continue eating.

"What's your favourite food?"

"Really? You're going to ask that now?"

"Eh, we don't really know those basic things about each other."

"Fine, I like iced americano."

"I said food not drink."

"I eat everything." He shrugs.

I pout. "You don't have a favourite, even one?"

"Whatever you give me for lunch. Is that good enough?"

I slowly smile and nod. He smiles as well.

"You?"

"I like milk!"

"I said food not drink."

"Touché. I like ramen best, especially if not spicy, and potato crisps and ice cream!"

"Those are snacks." He shakes his head.

"Your favourite colour?"

"What's yours?"

"Anything in pastel because it's all so cute, but I think I have a bias when it comes to blue."

"I shouldn't have asked." He chuckles as he looks at me from head to toe. He props his elbows on the table and crosses his fingers, then he rests his chin on top of it. "Alright then, my favourite's blue."

"Tch, copycat." I scrunch my nose. "But I do think it suits you."

"Of course it does, everything suits me."

I laugh at his confidence because he has every right to be.

"How about dreams? What's your dream?"

"Graduate, I guess?"

"You're not even answering my questions!"

He slightly sticks out his tongue. "I'll tell you some other time. How about you?"

"Me?" I smile widely. "Stargazing!"

"It's that simple? What else?"

I purse my lips as I stare at the foods in front of us. "I'm not sure yet, but I think I want to be a chef? People don't realise it, but food has so much influence in our lives. Like feeling happy whenever you taste something delicious, or being comforted by your favourite snacks. I feel silly because I don't really have a great reason other than liking to eat good food. I'm sorry, I don't really know what I'm saying..."

I blush when I notice Minho staring at my face whilst I ramble. He shakes his head and leans closer. "It's alright, I'm listening..."

"I've never really talked to someone like this before so I'm sorry for not making sense." I try to laugh off my flustered state.

"Are you shy?" He pokes my cheek.

"N-No!" I look away.

He chuckles. "It's okay, you don't sound silly."

"Enough about me, okay? Uh... Where's your favourite place? I'm pretty sure you have an answer for this one!"

"Tsk, fine. I do have a favourite place."

"Really?" I perk up excitedly. "Where is it?"

"It's a secret." He shakes his finger in front of my face.

"That's unfair!"

"If you behave then I might take you there someday." He smirks.

"Behave? I'm not a baby!"

"You are," he says as he reaches a hand to my face. His thumb is soft against the side of my lips, making me so flustered as he looks at me so seriously.

Why is Minho being nice today?

"You eat like a kid, it's disgusting."

Never mind, I take it back.

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Minho's POV

"Isn't it pretty? We should buy this!"

Y/n shows me a pair of one black and one white thread bracelets. She looks at the price tag then her eyes widen and she immediately puts it back.

"Okay, maybe next time," she says and goes to another aisle.

I suppress a smile because of her actions. She's so amusing.

We exit from the fifth shop for this day after a couple of minutes looking around. We spent a total of an hour looking at things without buying anything. She's the one who suggested going but she keeps on putting the things back after looking at the prices.

"I thought you wanted to buy something?" I ask her.

"I want to buy something for the both of us but my money's not enough. I'm grounded, remember? That includes my allowance for this week," she says.

"That's what you get for taking a cat home unannounced."

"At least I have Dori." She pouts. "Don't worry, I'll go back here when I have enough money."

"I'll pay for it," I offer.

"No! You already paid for lunch."

"If you say so."

We just walked around until we got tired. It's still early and we still have a lot of time for all the places we planned to go to but... I really want to go to our next destination now.

I look away. "Can we go back to that, uh, cat cafe?"

"Of course! I thought you'd never ask," she says and starts walking. I shake my head at her giddiness and take her hand.

I don't have to look at her to see that she's blushing. She gets flustered so easily. I don't know if that's normal, but it looks good on her.

What the hell.

It looks good on her? What am I saying? I get weirder and weirder because of this girl.

We arrived and entered the cafe, heading straight to the cashier.

"Hyunjin! What are you doing here? Why are you working at school hours?" Y/n asks.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" that cashier guy says. "Well, school won't pay me so I decided to skip."

"Fair enough." They laugh together.

I clear my throat so they'd know that I'm here too.

"Oh, h-hello..." that cashier guy stutters as he greets me.

We entered the separate room with the cats after ordering. As we sit down, an adorable ball of fur climbs onto my lap and nuzzles its face on my stomach.

"How is Dori doing? Are you taking care of him properly?"

"Of course! I've been watching videos on how to take care of cats nonstop," Y/n says proudly.

"You better. Are you feeding him enough?"

Y/n looks at me with disbelief. "What do you take me for, huh?"

"It's a parental thing."

"Oh, so you're a parent now?" She shakes her head. "Okay, Da--"

I put the straw in her mouth before she can say something out of context again. Sometimes I wonder what's going on inside her mind. She just blurts things out without thinking about it and it stresses me out. She must've hit her head hard to be so innocent.

Our drinks arrive shortly.

"Here's one for Y/n and one for, uh, Minho." The cashier guy smiles, avoiding my eyes and immediately going back to the counter.

"Why is he acting so weird?" Y/n asks but I just shrug.

I take a sip from my drink, trying to hide my smirk.

Last time that we went here, I may have had a talk with the tall boy with a mole about how snitches get stitches on their mouths. I might've scared him. Who knows?

If Y/n's neighbour wants a chance with her then he should do it right. He's too fvcking slow that I might as well claim what's mine.

"Look, Minho! This cat likes me," Y/n says. "Do you think I should adopt a sibling for Dori?"

I look at her and I see her smiling at the white-furred cat with blue eyes on her lap. She looks like she has won the lottery. I can't help but let out a small laugh.

She keeps telling me that she likes my smile but I only do it because hers are so contagious.

Sometimes, I wonder if our friendship is really worth it. She's too good for someone like me. I know we joke about her being the good girl to my bad boy, but it's kind of true. I have so many things that I haven't told her yet and it worries me if she'd still want to be around when she finds out... but it's too late now. It's too late for me to walk away because it'll be hard.

I've become too attached to let her go.

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Stay! Just a question: How do you imagine Moon Y/n? Do you say your name, or just stick with the letters?

She has no portrayer because it's a reader fanfic, but I think of Do Bong Soon and Chen Xiaoxi and say her name as "Yin" so it's easier whenever I reread it heh.

Let me know! ♡