nobody else but you

three

they're at a cafe, for a study date, seulgi's grading assignments and jaebum's writing a paper for one of his classes. they're tucked away in a corner booth, with now empty iced coffees. "i'm going to get another drink, do you want one?" jaebum questions, stretching his arms and closing his computer.

"surprise me." she says instead, and jaebum leans over the table to kiss her before escaping the booth and heading towards the front counter.

he's on day four of proving to seulgi that he's boyfriend material, and it's been going well. the previous night they went the stereotypical route and went to dinner and a movie, didn't pay attention to the movie, but that's why they sat in the back. he has fun with seulgi, and he likes how he can just lounge about in comfortable silence with her. they also haven't fought yet, which is good.

he just wants an iced americano, and he'll get the same for seulgi, maybe a slice of cake to share too. the line is slow going, and he wishes he would have brought his phone, but he didn't in an attempt to resist temptation. when it's finally his turn and he goes up to order at the counter, he makes a simple observation that the cashier is cute, not his type though. hwasa, is what her name tag reads, and she has a full face of makeup that reminds him of more western beauty: dark lip colors, bold lashes, sculpted cheeks (he's watched a lot of youtube videos with seulgi two nights ago). she's curvy, and charming, nice for someone else but definitely not him. he keeps it friendly, and not flirty, and the transaction goes smoothly. he waits over at the pick-up area, for his name to be called and that's when he notices the barista. it's jennie, someone he hooked up with once three weeks ago.

he had a fight with seulgi, he doesn't even remember what it was about, but they were tipsy and in retrospect, he should have crashed at her place instead of storming out. he ran into jennie, literally on his way back to his dorm, and invited her out for more drinks. one thing led to another, and they made out in the back of her friend's car with some light groping. he avoided her after that, because he went crawling back to seulgi, so this is awkward. when she brings his order over, he doesn't make direct eye contact just gives a tight lipped smile, grabs the tray and jets.

seulgi's on her phone when he comes back to the table, and she pats the seat next to her instead of letting him sit across. "what's up?" he wonders, putting the tray down and taking a seat.

"there's a beer festival this weekend, and wendy wants to go."

"so you want to go too?"

"yes, but she has a date, so i need a date."

"can i be your date?"

"i don't know... you sure you're not too busy?" she's teasing, so jaebum plays along.

"i'm sure i can pencil you in somewhere."

"you took a long time, was there a busy line?"

"yeah." he tells her, handing over a cup and a straw. seulgi inserts the straw and takes a sip.

"uh... i think this might be yours?" jaebum looks at her cup and groans. on the lid in sharpie are three hearts and 'jb'.

"seul, let me explain..."

"okay... then explain."

"i will admit that the cashier is cute, but not my type and i didn't flirt with her... but the barista. i made out with her three weeks ago after a fight that we had. i haven't seen or spoken to her since but she's still interested i guess..." he looks over seulgi's expression, hoping she believes him.

"i want to go home."

"okay.... i'll take you home."

jaebum feels awful because seulgi's not talking to him and it's causing major anxiety. does this mean she doesn't believe him? is she mad? sad? disappointed? he wants something, any reaction will do. he walks her to her door, hoping she'll break and talk to him. "seul..." he begins but she shakes her head.