𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

eight - shopping rendezvous

shopping rendezvous

ryujin didn't know how she ended up going to the mall with choi beomgyu. she was angry and feeling reckless after an argument with her father when she saw beomgyu come out from a convenience store. before the guy could even open his annoying cake hole, she grabbed him and somehow, they ended up shopping together.

"damn! everything in that shop was ridiculously expensive!" exclaimed beomgyu the moment they stepped out of a footwear store.

ryujin scoffed. it was her doing the buying and beomgyu doing the carrying, plus reacting.

beomgyu glanced warily at the girl which did not go unnoticed by the said girl. he had been doing this ever since they stepped out of their first shop and it was getting annoying.

"um… ryujin, are you sure it's okay for you to spend money like this?" beomgyu finally said aloud.

"no. my darned father wouldn't stop getting on my nerves so this is what he gets," said ryujin.

"oh. okay." beomgyu was not done with his curiosity, however, he couldn't get to voice them aloud as he saw something show stopping and eye popping. he froze on his feet. ryujin looked back to see him like that. she scowled, "what's wrong with you now?"

"is that… class prez?"

ryujin followed his line of sight. she was surprised too, but not as much as him. "so it appears, trash prez is friends with basketball turd and choi soobin. i wonder how, why and when." she didn't look impressed.

"let's join them," beomgyu stated. no longer frozen, he was happy.

"what? no. it's already bad enough-"

"just come on!" beomgyu didn't let her finish, grabbing her by the wrist as he pulled her along. ryujin wasn't given a chance to protest because beomgyu was running and they had immediately reached the unsuspecting group who gave them equally surprised looks.

"beomgyu? ryujin?" said yeonjun, "what are you guys doing here… together?" his surprised slowly turned into suspicion as he narrowed his eyes at ryujin.

the girl glared back. her relationship with yeonjun wasn't favourable partly due to beomgyu. that, and also their intolerance towards each other's character. yeonjun hated her because she was bullying his friend while she hated him because he was an inconspicuous narcissist.

"i dragged this idiot and this idiot dragged me." ryujin moved her gaze to lia, "fancy seeing you here, prez. and very curious."

"uh, i… we are in the same club." somehow, lia managed to rack her brain for a liable excuse.

"oh, really?" ryujin raised a brow, then down it went. "not that i care. are you guys looking for white dresses with no gold linings or whatever yellow in them so you wouldn't outshine mrs. hwang's too? cause i am."

"oh. you're invited too?" piqued yeonjun.

ryujin ignored him. instead, it was lia who said, "um, guys, should we look around now? i know where we can find a lot of white dresses and that would be the wedding dresses showroom on the third floor. shall we?"

soobin eyes were trained on her. he was a little relieved to see her no longer anxious. don't get him wrong, it was a very normal reaction to a very anxious person who went through a very scary encounter—according to him. he only turned away when she felt his eyes and looked up. with a cough he stated, "she's right. let's not waste time and get on with it already."

"my besties' right. come along, miss shin," said yeonjun, grinning at the girl in a successful attempt to annoy her.

ryujin glared at him one more time, reluctantly dragged by a ridiculously happy beomgyu. "hyung, be nice to my boss. she bought me a pair of shoes," he scolded the older boy.

"i bought it because you made a good bargain," she retorted, panic flashing in her eyes because his words could create misleading assumptions. regardless, beomgyu remained unaffected, ecstatic even.

"since this is the first gift i got from you, i'll treasure it, boss," grinned the boy.

"whatever. and i'm not your boss."

"yes, boss!"

with a hiss, ryujin punched the noisy boy on the arm. "ow! boss!" yet he wouldn't quit.

the rest of the group watched them argue with silent smiles. beomgyu was adorable, entertaining and friendly while ryujin was… ryujin.

they went to the brides' showroom and as luck would have it, they even had suits for men too. yeonjun was most irritating with his chattering noises about promising to make his bride wear the pretty dresses he saw, or urging lia to try on a gown and teasing soobin behind her back while the other boy simply glared at him. less irritating, but still annoying was beomgyu whose reaction echoed around the shop every time his boss tried on a new dress.

however, who would've thought he was hiding the shock he felt everytime ryujin came out wearing a dress, no longer looking like a ragged school girl with boyish tendencies but a girl of high society, eloquent and dead serious. for once, he surmised, she looked like she was embracing her actual standing.

"quit staring, choi, and get me a stool. i'm fucking tired." her unrestrained words brought him out of his thoughts. she had settled for a simple knee-length dress with spaghetti straps. it was very simple, almost a bit too simple, but her short hair, posture and pretty face made it look classy.

"you look great, boss."

her glaring eyes shot up. "what about you, not getting one? or did your mommy already take care of it?"

beomgyu scratched his nape. much embarrassed to say, she was right. his mother could be so suffocatingly dotting, she was still in charge of his formal wear or anything formal to do in his life. ryujin would mock him for being a mommy's boy, not that he minded since she was right.

"goddamn, i look amazing! this suit was made for me," yeonjun's boisterous remarks already spoiled his arrival. he wasn't wrong. he did indeed look good that even the saleswoman couldn't contain her admiration for the boy.

lia came out of the changing room shortly after and their attention fell on her.

for one, she was always a pretty girl despite her hazardous lifestyle at school. a soft fitting dress delicately hugged her small frame with a flowery stretch. she found the neck line to be a bit too wide but the design and fabric of the dress changed her mind. "i'm taking this," she smiled, content.

"you look amazing, prez. i would appropriately call you hot but my heart is already set on another girl so i cannot. i'm just gonna say you look like a beautiful bride," said yeonjun, whatever he meant.

lia knitted her brows, confused as she smiled, "thanks?"

"you're welcome," winked yeonjun. then it finally dawned on him, "oh, wait." he walked over to the men's changing room door and dramatically announced, "behold! the groom!" and threw the curtains apart just in time for soobin to step out.

the taller boy cast him a confused look which quickly turned into a tired shake of the head like he was so done with his friend's shenanigans. he didn't bother asking why yeonjun was behaving so and daringly walked in front of the mirror.

"it's fine," was all he said.

"tch! you're so dry, god knows how you get the most loyal admirers with that personality," said yeonjun, shaking his head.

"i think you look good," said lia. it was so out of the blue that everyone would look at her; soobin flustered from the compliment, yeonjun biting his lips to hide his smile and the other two following the line of 'whatever energy they were giving' with their eyes.

"thanks," said soobin, swallowing because he was genuinely caught off-guard. "you look good too," he added, and he meant it.

lia grew red, nodding as she looked down at her feet. soobin looked away in an attempt to look nonchalant only to punch yeonjun in the arm because the other boy wouldn't stop grinning.

"are you thinking what i am thinking?" beomgyu whispered to ryujin, who replied with a, "shut up and mind your own business, choi."