i love you too [sequel] ➝ taejoy/vjoy

十八

dieciocho
+

"let's grab lunch!" taehyung exclaimed as he jumped off his chair. "who's coming?"

"i'll come!" jennie suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling taehyung.

"oh, okay." he muttered, then looked at seojun. "how 'bout you, seojun hyung?"

"i told you to call me sunbaenim at work." seojun scolded. "and no, i'm not eating lunch. i have work i need to finish."

taehyung clicked his tongue and glanced at his other coworkers. "jeongwoo? jin seok? what about you guys?"

"i already have plans with someone." jin seok politely declined. "maybe next time."

"ou, i'll come!" jeongwoo declared enthusiastically, raising his hand in the air like a child.

"ok, let's go!" taehyung gestured for them to follow as he began to walk. jennie caught up and paced beside taehyung, linking her arms with him. taehyung shifted uncomfortably but fought the urge to pull away from jennie since he didn't want to pose as rude.

soon, the three arrived at the small restaurant across their workplace. they found themselves seats and then called for a personnel to take their orders. while they waited, jennie had taken the initiative to ask the two boys how their weekends were.

"i went busking for fun with my friends at hongdae," jeongwoo proudly declared. "you should've seen us, we were great!"

"that's a surprise." jennie raised her eyebrows. "i didnt know you─ wait, did you sing, dance or rap?"

jeongwoo grinned, "sing and dance."

"cool." jennie smiled at him, then turned towards taehyung. "how about you, taehyung-ssi?"

"me?" taehyung said. "well, i went over my friend's house and mostly stayed home. nothing much..."

he suddenly trailed off and his eyes were fixated at the entrance of the restaurant. standing there was joy.

"...happened." he continued.

god, i'm seeing her a lot these days. he thought to himself. oh wait, why is she even here?

just then, he spotted a familiar black haired man beside her. taehyung raised his eyebrows in both confusion and surprise.

as if taehyung's eyes bore a hole through the back of his head, the black-haired male spun around and made contact with his eyes. at the sight if taehyung, his eyes rounded in delight, a smile appearing on his lips and he raised his hand to wave.

taehyung watched as the man gestured at joy and they began to walk towards their direction. about halfway through, joy seemed to have finally noticed where they were headed and spotted taehyung. she stopped on her tracks and stared in shock as her companion reached taehyung and exchanged greetings and a fist bump.

"why are you here, suho hyung?" taehyung asked.

"of course i came here to eat." suho smiled. "why? am i not allowed here?"

"well, no-"

"joy-ssi!" suho suddenly exclaimed, interrupting taehyung. "come here." he waved joy over.

taehyung winced as he watched the hesitation on joy's face and as she took heavy steps toward them. when she reached their table, she slightly bowed quietly.

"everyone, this is park joy." suho introduced, placing a hand on joy's shoulder. "she's my new coworker who just came today."

suho was another of taehyung's many friends and worked at the building beside taehyung's workplace. they met in this same exact restaurant and eventually grew close by eating lunch together. to think joy just started working at the company beside them, quite the coincidence it is.

"nice to meet you." joy bowed slightly.

"likewise," jeongwoo said while jennie flashed a weak smile and said, "hi, do you remember me? we met each other briefly last friday."

joy stared at her and as she recalls the night, a visible red tint appears on her cheeks. "um..yes, i remember."

"oh, it seems like you guys already acquainted yourselves." suho beamed, pleased. "how about you, taehyung? aren't you introducing yourself?"

taehyung looked at suho with an expression that clearly showed he had no idea what to do. his lips were parted as if he was about to say something but he closed them, changing his mind.

noticing this, jennie forced a gentle smile and placed a hand on taehyung's shoulder. "actually, they already know each other." she revealed, in behalf of taehyung. "i happened to find out when i was with taehyung-ssi when we coincidentally met joy-ssi last friday."

taehyung glanced at her and though he did not smile, his eyes showed that he appreciated her effort and understanding of the situation. jennie slightly smiled at him.

joy raised her eyebrows at the exchange between the two. a thought popped into her mind; could it be...?