Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 45

"She's doing it again."

Hyunjoo's eyes flickered up from her phone and towards Jaehyun, a smile unknowingly plastered on her face. She immediately locked eyes with the boy, whose lips had curved up into a mischievous grin.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes at her friend, turning off her phone and slipping it into the pocket of the apron.

"Oh, you know, smiling like an idiot at your phone," Areum hummed, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at her friend.

A groan automatically fell from the older girl's lips, tilting her head back in annoyance. Even without implying anything directly, she already knew what they were teasing her about. Their laughter quietly rang throughout the small café and Hyunjoo opted to ignore her friends, who were quietly teasing her. She leveled her head and flickered her eyes to Dohyun, who was conversing with an elder. A smile tugged at her lips upon seeing the interaction, before she drew her attention back to her friends, who weren't quite done with their teasing.

"Did you ask him?" 

The younger girl's question caused Hyunjoo to raise an eyebrow in response. "What do you mean?"

"You know, if he's comfortable joining a group chat with us." Jaehyun leaned his elbows against the counter dividing him from the older girl, staring curiously.

Hyunjoo's eyebrows furrowed in response. "You guys are still going on about that? I thought I already told you no."

"I mean, you did, but then you said you'll think about it and ask him," Areum reminded.

"Well, I thought about it, and no still means no." Hyunjoo crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to her right hip.

"Oh, come on, Hyun," Jaehyun whined, dragging out the last letter of her nickname. "We promise we won't scare him away, and we won't ask him if he likes you behind your back."

"But it's behind your back for a reason, so you wouldn't know," Areum jokingly muttered under her breath, immediately receiving an unamused glare from the older girl. A chuckle fell from her lips quickly after, holding her hands up. "I'm just joking, Hyunnie. We promise we won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

Hyunjoo sighed and rubbed her face with her hand. "Why do you guys want to meet him so badly? I really don't get why you're so persistent."

"We just want to meet the person who makes our best friend smile like an idiot at her phone, see what type of person he is," Jaehyun hummed.

The older girl fell quiet, starting to actually take it into consideration. After a while, she slowly nodded her head in response.

"Fine, I'll ask him. But if he agrees, you have to promise me you won't make him feel uncomfortable."

"So protective over your boyfriend," Jaehyun joked, causing Hyunjoo to glare at him in response.

As she was about to tell the boy off for his endless teasing, the bell sounded, causing her scolding to fall short. She politely greeted the incoming woman and little boy, who seemed to be around Dohyun's age. While making her way to the cash register, she pointed at her friends, warning them with a glare. They couldn't help the amused smile pulling at their lips as they held up their hands.

Hyunjoo turned her attention to the customers right after, patiently waiting as the two skimmed over the options on the menu. Once they were ready, they stepped forward to place their order. She inputted the woman's order before turning her attention to the little boy, who was urged by his mom to "tell the nice lady what you want." Her lips pulled into an adoring smile at his shyness as he told her what he wanted.