look at me ✧ chuuves

friend of a friend

<chuu>

sooyoung was absent again today and it still frustrated me how i still didn't have any contact of her whatsoever.

should i just ask jungeun or hyunjin? or would that be too weird...?

it was lunch break and something actually caught my eye.

though sooyoung was not around, there was still a note stuck to her locker. i didn't want to snoop at all, but it was just literally in front of me; i couldn't just ignore it, right? besides, it looks like no one took the note as well.

so, i looked closely.

'hey sooyoung, let's meet at the science lab. i have a... special surprise waiting for you.

xoxo secret admirer'

okay, that was sketchy as hell.

first of all, no one ever leaves a note on sooyoung's locker. normally, you'd be shy to post on it yourself, happily exposing yourself as the secret admirer. something's up.

now, now. i know it's a little far-fetched for me to say that something's fishy with a simple note. but if this dude really liked sooyoung, wouldn't he have known first if she was present today or not?

i'm speculating this too much, am i? there's only one thing to find out, anyway.

i hope sooyoung won't get mad. i hope she understands i'm doing this for her.

❖

the science lab was empty. was i seeing things or...?

i must be going crazy. sooyoung's been gone for two days and i'm still doing pathetic things "for her". what am i even doing?

suddenly, footsteps were behind me. and as i turned around, it was not a guy at all.

"so, you do like our sooyoungie," a black-haired hyunjin spoke. she turned to the friend beside her, "she's safe if she cares about her this much."

"yeah," jungeun faced me. "kim jiwoo, we just wanna ask a favor from you. that's why we lured you in here."

i gulped. i couldn't even speak. i wanted to ask why they didn't approach me in the first place. although, they should have a valid reason for that.

despite the words i wanted to say, i just nodded instead.

"you're closest to sooyoung in her class," the blonde continued. "we just want you to take care of her."

"what?" i asked.

hyunjin stepped forward and replied, "we... we can't be there always for sooyoung now that we're in separate classes. you, however, seemed to have caught sooyoung's interest. so, just reassure that she's okay."

"i-i don't get what you mean. i m-mean, i do! but why ask for a favor like this? wasn't sooyoung a bit more of an independent type?"

the two looked at each other as if they grew concerned.

"look, sooyoung may seem like she's got everything under control, but we can't read minds," jungeun sighed. she added, "don't get us wrong. we love sooyoung. it's just that she talks the least to us. she never opens up her problems to us."

"i know it sounds a bit selfish. we respect sooyoung's privacy, nevertheless," hyunjin looked down. "she's been off lately. way odder than usual. we tried calling her a few times to see how she was doing. apparently, she's still ill and she asked us not to come over to not catch it."

"just-" jungeun held both of my shoulders. "please, look out for her for us. we know she's just as important to you as she is to us, jiwoo-yah."

somehow i wondered.

was it because of the reason she cried that day?

i never wanted to force an answer out of sooyoung. they were right about one thing that i'm sure of: sooyoung always made it seem like she's composed. indeed, we don't know the whole story.

but, i'm willing to risk it all for her.

i saw sincerity in her friends' eyes. the friends sooyoung trusted with all her life even though she hasn't shared a lot of it.

i like yves, but i'm her friend first.

so, i'll do it for a friend of a friend.

and for someone i like.

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