Slow Down - Jaywon

13: 'Deception'

"So what's with this sudden inconspicuous hangout, Jay?" Riki questioned.

The boy groaned, wanting to slap his hand to his face. Why did they always have to analyze even the littlest things? "It's the weekend, why not? We just had classes for the first week so why not relax?" He explained.

"Where will we be going though?" Jake asked him.

"Just...y'know, to the store we used to go to downtown. We can get snacks and then go to the desolate parking building," He told them.

"And are you paying?" Sunghoon inquired. There was no surprise to his question, for it was quite a common one anyway.

"Sure," Jay said.

Sunoo faked a loud and exaggerated gasp, and Jay instantly knew what to expect from him. "What has gotten into you? You? Paying?" He theatrically exclaimed.

"I'm only doing it because I plan on bringing someone with me. I don't have time for you guys to be assuming favoritism."

"Oh? And who is it?"

Jay had clutched his phone tighter and heaved a sigh. Strangely, he almost didn't want them to know. "Jungwon," he said.

"Okay now Jay, are you--"

"Shush, Jake. He can come along, I say we can always expand our circle," Sunoo chirped.

"Because--and only because--Sunoo agrees. I'll agree, too. So that doesn't change the fact that I still dislike that he was mean to me when we first met," Riki chimed in.

It was funny, the way Jay could perfectly understand him.

"I'm game," Sunghoon said, and after that Jake had agreed too. "Just when are we going and how long do we plan on staying out? Y'know...curfew stuff."

"Why do you guys have curfew on the weekends? There's no school." asked Sunoo.

"It's only by 11 pm. There's no curfew on Saturdays but because of classes on Monday they give us a curfew on Sunday, and weekday curfews are by 9 pm," Jake explained.

"Imagine having a curfew," joked Riki.

"Imagine having a bedtime," retorted Sunghoon.

"Imagine having a forehead that reaches 150 acres of land," Riki fired.

"What the hell?"

Jay suppressed a chuckle, knowing that if he made the smallest bit of laughter he'd become the next target of their petulant banter. "So how does 4 to 9 sound?" He suggested.

"Woah, you're getting close to Riki's bedtime there," Sunghoon said, snickering.

"Woah, you're getting close to getting clobbered there," Riki chimed.

"Four to nine sounds good. Riki and I will be there," Sunoo said. The bickering between Riki and Sunghoon instantly silenced. Finally.

"Jake, Sunghoon, do you want me to drive you guys?" Jay offered.

"No," Jake said, a fragment of mirth collected in his tone. "You can just drive Jungwon. I'll take Sunghoon."

Jay hadn't questioned why Jake would turn it down when he almost always replied yes; He hadn't considered what Jake would have said if Sunoo had not cut him off, those didn't bother him. He had only considered one thing; and that was the hope that the plan goes well.

Eventually, when there was nothing else to be said, the call ended. And Jay was left to find a way how to convince Jungwon to drop any plans of him studying so that he could come along.