frenemies // jaemin

s i x t e e n

s o o y e o n
"don't you think that guy is a little suspicious," youngjae said, pointing at the guy with all black clothing who's been coming everyday. all he does is sit in a corner and read a newspaper for hours. quite strange, i know.

"you need to stop watching those unsolved mysteries on youtube," i rolled my eyes at the timid younger boy. youngjae has been obsessed with creepy crime investigating videos lately, making him extra paranoid over the smallest things.

  while cleaning up yesterday, he was worrying about hearing weird noises from the back of the cafe, saying there's a mass murderer coming for him. turns out, it was just a stray cat. he would also tell some of the cases during break and they're pretty scary, especially the psycho murderers. but it's okay because i don't know any psychos.

  "welcome to sunshine cafe!" youngjae and i greeted as we heard the doorbell ring.

"sooyeon-ah!"

i looked up at the familiar voice to see jaemin grinning with the other dreamies trailing behind him. oh wait. i do know one psycho.

j a e m i n
i glared at the counter, the sound of sooyeon giggling ringing my ears. what even is so funny? the other part timer was covering her mouth with his hand, making sooyeon snort. only i could make sooyeon laugh like that. the poo looking dude doesn't even seem funny.

"hyung," chenle muttered, making me turn my head to him.

"what?"

"you've been smashing your salad for the past 10 minutes,"

chenle's remark made everyone at our table burst in laughter, making me furrow my brows. looking down at my bowl, it looked like a rabbit's meal. pushing my fork into it, i took my first bite of the ruined salad.

the stupid part timer pointed at his phone and sooyeon smiled the widest smile ever. the only time i ever saw her smile that wide was when i got her a giant hamster plushie for her thirteenth birthday. what is that little punk showing her? sooyeon whispered something to his ear, making him look up from his phone and make eye contact with me. chewing the leafy piece of lettuce, i gave him the nastiest glare. is he sooyeon's secret boyfriend?

he quickly turned away from my gaze and probably cracked a joke, making her eyes crinkle and laugh some more. yuck. not in front of my salad. i have to put a stop to this before i barf all over the floor.

"excuse me," i said, raising my hand and making a hand motion to the smug looking part timer.

"yes, what can i help you with?" he asked. even his voice is annoying me.

"do you see this," i said, pointing at my bowl of salad. he nodded awkwardly as if i'm the delusional one. asshole.

"these tomatoes look like they've been squashed by a truck!" i shouted. i could hear snickers and muffled giggles from the table but none of that stopped me.

  "hyung, i think it's because you've been squashing it with your fork," jisung mumbled, making everyone burst into laughter, including sooyeon who was sitting at the counter.

-

"let's play this!" haechan screamed, pulling out at a cheap lie detector toy he bought at the dollar store. not again.

  "i don't wa-"

  i was cut off by jeno dragging me into the circle. they're all grinning at me devilishly like a cult.

  "i have a question for renjun hyung," jisung muttered, staring deep into his eyes.

  "ok, shoot," renjun put his hand on the toy confidently.

  "did you eat the snacks in my drawer?"

  renjun shook his head and mouthed no. the light blinked once, indicating he isn't lying. he shrugged and took his hand away brushing imaginary dust from his shoulders smugly.

  but i swore i saw him eating jisung's snacks last night while i was watching tv with jeno! i turned my head to jeno to see his reaction exactly matched mine. pfft, this toy is totally broken.

  suddenly, my hand was pulled forcefully by haechan and strapped tightly on the lie detector. can this guy take a chill pill for once?

  "okay we have a question for you," haechan said, earning a smirk from everyone. what are these poofaces smirking for? it's not like this stupid cheap toy works anyway.

  "do you perhaps have a crush on..." mark started. what are they, 12 year old schoolgirls?

  "sooyeon?!" haechan gasped.

  "ani!-OUCH!"

  they all burst into laughter as i ripped my hand away from the tight straps, wincing in pain. this stupid toy is broken! this game was rigged. no way in million years i would like sooyeon. ever.

  "oh look it's a tomato," jisung teased, pointing in my direction.

  i inhaled sharply at everyone's annoying behavior. why would i have a crush on sooyeon? she's just a little brat and she's not even pretty. she's totally not my type. she's boring too. all she does is get mad and angry over the smallest things and awws over cute hamster videos. all she wears are baggy sweaters and mom jeans. i would never ever-

  "jaemin and sooyeon sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

s o o y e o n
  "you should totally get that one," ahreum chirped, approving the burgundy bodycon dress on the rack i was eyeing. "it will be great for a date night," she winked.

  "it's out of my comfort zone though, and i don't have any date coming up anytime soon," i shrugged, knowing i won't ever wear it.

  "i'm paying!" she snatched the hanger from me, sashaying to the cashier.
-
  ahreum and i were currently seated on the bench, eating froyo from our favorite place back in middle school. we smiled enjoying each other's company, feeling nostalgic. this was our favorite spot back then, we would talk for hours. although it did feel like something was missing. someone.

  "so, how's you and jaemin?" ahreum giggled. i looked at her weirdly.

  "it's so clear there's something going on," she wiggled her brows. pfft, jaemin and i? never. he's so annoying and there's nothing attractive about him anyway. his hair looks like a birds nest, his eyes are always squinting and his nose is funny and his smile...is ugly. i will never like him, ever.