Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 75

It was starting to grow colder with each passing day as the season neared the end of autumn. Hyunjoo, still fast asleep, cozied further into her bed as she warmed her body with her blanket. The girl began to stir from her sleep shortly after, slowly becoming more aware of the chilly weather nipping at her face. She laid there for a while, the coldness enticing her to fall back asleep.

When she couldn't seem to return to her slumber, she slowly opened her eyes. Her room was colored in the dimness of the morning, the sun hiding from the world behind the clouds. The coldness surrounding her caused her to hide under her covers, fending off the chilly touch. Begrudgingly, she left her warm protection after a while and went to the bathroom to do her morning routine.

When she was done, she returned to her bedroom. A yawn helplessly fell from her lips as she made her way to her desk. She took hold of her phone and checked the time. Her eyes fell onto her Instagram notifications shortly after, frowning a little at the comment on display. Hyunjoo tapped on the first banner, allowing the others to flood her Lock Screen. People were leaving hate comments on some of her posts. She skimmed through them, not thinking much since it wasn't out of the ordinary.

However, she did note that it was a little more than usual. Hyunjoo shrugged it off and cleared her Notification Center. She silenced her phone so she wouldn't be bothered by the hate that she often received. The girl continued on with her day like usual before heading to the café, hoping to drag Taeyoung away from working on such an important day.

The second she parked, she noticed a few people gathered outside the café. As she stepped out, their eyes shot right at her. She stiffened a little, but assumed their attention was only drawn to her out of instinct. However, their eyes didn't waver or shift away from her. Feeling a bit uncomfortable by their gaze, she tried to bow to a pair of females she happened to make eye contact with.

They ignored her, leaving her to feel even more unsettled by their obvious staring. Although there was no malice behind it, the attention she was garnering lingered in the back of her mind. Hyunjoo entered the café before her eyes fell on Areum and Taeyoung, who were standing behind the counter. The younger girl was desperately trying to pry the boy away from the front, where he was making a drink for a customer.

Taeyoung's eyes flickered up at the sound of the bell, ready to greet the incoming customer, before he noticed her. "Good morning, Hyunjoo," he greeted, drawing their friend's attention to the girl that just entered.

"Great, you're here, help me drag this man away from his job! He's too much of a workaholic for his own good," Areum said as she weakly pulled at the boy's arm, not wanting to mess up his work.

Hyunjoo chuckled in amusement before nodding her head. After Taeyoung finished the order he was working on, the two girls forced him to take off the apron. He obliged after they bargained with him, telling him he needed to take a break since he had an important interview later in the day. The three of them moved to the front of the café, wanting to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere they loved. Their liveliness filled up the space, laughter contagiously spewing from their lips.

Hyunjoo's eyes flickered to the transparent wall after a while. Her eyebrows pulled together when she noticed the group from earlier was still there. Chills ran down her spine when one of them turned around, as if checking to see if she was still in their line of sight. Their eyes slitted into a glare before they whipped their head back to its initial position. Every part of Hyunoo's body was screaming at her that something was wrong, but she foolishly decided to ignore it. Her mind was preoccupied on trying to distract her friend, causing her to neglect the growing feeling.

She would soon regret that when a group of females stomped into the café, cutting her friend's conversation short. Everyone's attention instinctively flickered over to the door, unable to ignore the aggression that was taken to push it open. There was an unmistakable fire burning behind the females as they scanned the room. It became evident when their eyes landed on Hyunjoo. They stomped over to the girl, who was now on high alert.