#and being unsure with how to ask harim out sometimes

[leejiieuns]

youngcld​:

on a better day, she might have agreed that she does, in fact, agree with hajun. yet it’s a thought that harim is more inclined to not dwell too much on it; what does this make them then? where do they stand then? when they willingly wander deeper and farther down a dark path, despite their well-meaning intentions. however, the upward curve of harim’s mouth is genuine as seungmin seems to fall in with her idea. it reminds her of a time that felt so far away now, when she would (try to) coolly ask him if he wanted to tag along to their classmates’ hangout session, and how putting up with adorably annoying classmates for few hours too long had seemed worthy when she got to sit next to him in the movie theater. “a picnic?” she echoes, trying not to grin as she then makes a gesture for him to lean in closer, before taking the initiative to do so herself instead, “be careful. they’re gonna get jealous if they hear you.” more like she’s not going to be pleased if they end up having someone else; ju-an alone is more than an eyesore to her already. “i don’t mind anywhere else. surprise me.” harim shrugs a shoulder then, not even bothering to resume the previous distance between them as she peeks at his phone. there’s a glint of amusement in her eyes as she starts to shake her head, “so did you make the decision for them?” she asks, tilting her head a little before putting in her two cents for a debate that’s long since over, “ACOFFEE has the best coffee, but the view is better at the other one, especially during night time, don’t you think?” recalling the night view that they had both been there to witness on a particularly long sleepless and quiet night, the cafe sure has become her favorite. 

the grin on jaeha’s face almost never wavers, as he watches her every move and taking in every word spoken, before he too shrugs his shoulders. “i’m nothing but full of surprises.” he replies, throwing his hands out, “we can’t let your expectations down now, can we?” ironically it’s what he does best, as his father would say. yet before he could wander into forbidden territory known as the worst man in his life, jaeha’s happy to entertain and let himself get distracted by everything that goes on here. especially ah-in. because he’s not that interested in figuring what euijin and ju-an are currently doing, even as his gaze falls on them and she seems to be talking (nagging) and telling (threatening) the latter not to turn off his phone. “yes. and no.” he grins, nodding a few times as he makes a ‘x’ gesture with his arms in front of his chest. it’s a known fact that he likes to push limits and drive and ride fast, dangerously so, that he wouldn’t be anyone’s favorite driver anytime. “and even that is a huge maybe. i don’t want mr angry-and-angsty here and mr lovey dovey eyes there to kill me if you fall off my motorcycle. or worst, end up dead. but a ride is alright,” though he has a feeling that if she keeps insisting, then he might just give in after all. “i think.”  

Despite the tense atmosphere surrounding them, Seungmin found solace in these small moments he shared with Harim. It may have seemed odd, to be discussing about dinner plans and picnics at a time like this, but Seungmin had long since learned to cherish these little moments, especially ones he shared with her. He couldn't deny the warmth that spread through his chest whenever he was around her. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone out loud-- mostly because he didn’t want them teasing him about it-- but he looked forward to the talks they get to have when it was just the two of them. “We can always just order enough for two... or three..” he said, matching the girl’s grin before his gaze flickered uncertainly to Ju-an. He wanted to ask Harim how she truly felt about him being there -- it was one thing that she brought him there, and also an entirely different thing how it affected her -- but he wanted to keep the smile on her face for a little longer. “Settle? No. Deescalated before Ah-In ripped everyone’s heads off? Yes.” He chuckled as he remembered how passionately his friend had fought for her choice of coffee. Just like Harim, Seungmin agreed they had best cup too, but then again most of the time, he didn’t really mind, always happy to go along with the choice of whoever he was with. But he would be lying if he didn’t admit that the cafe with the view was his favorite, although it wasn’t exactly because of their coffee. “Plus, they have those really comfortable sofas we could just lounge in for hours,” he reminisced, the softest of smiles on his face. Before he could stop himself, he let his fingers brush her arm and said, “We should go there again sometime.”

Ah-In’s eyes lit up as Jaeha indulged her. Most of the time, Seungmin was always too nice to engage in this song-and-dance with her, and her and Hajun’s conversations almost always ended in arguments, but Jaeha was charming, self-assured and Ah-In liked that. “Just so you know, my standards are pretty high,” she proclaimed, placing her arms across her chest as she stared at Jaeha. “But you are on top of my ‘good looking people’ list, so you already have an edge over everyone.” Her gaze followed his as it landed on Euijin and she couldn’t help but smile as it seemed like the girl was terrorizing poor Ju-an, which Ah-In thought he deserved anyway, and she could see Hajun watch them approvingly too. “I like her more and more everyday. She reminds me of me.” At his next words, Ah-In turned to meet Jaeha’s eyes once again, and her smile widened. “I’ll just hold onto you for support,” she said. “You look sturdy enough.” Ah-In threw a wink for good measure. She was well aware of the fact that he liked to drive fast-- partly the reason why she was curious enough about the appeal to want to ride on his motorcycle, and partly because she did really find him interesting-- and while she was far from being a daredevil, there was very little Ah-In wouldn’t do. Life was short; she learned that the hard way. “Don’t worry about them, I’ll kill them if they kill you,” she said, chuckling a beat later when she realized her words. “And I’m a quick study, I promise. Unless, of course, you don’t want me to drive your motorcycle?” A brow arched inquisitively. “And if that’s the case, alright, I’m happy to be your passenger. You probably wouldn’t be able to handle how hot I’d be as a driver anyway.”