ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 | 97-line AU

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟼: 𝙴𝚠𝚠 𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚘

￩ - Is getting catapulted to the sun by NASA also an option? - ￫

"So... mind telling me why you're grinning like a maniac from ear to ear?" Saerin questioned as she examined Ava with a sharp look, "What did you do now?"

Ava looked up and shook her head with a chuckle, "I did nothing. Lady Luck was on my side for once, and I was able to avoid a land mine for once."

"That land mine being?" Saerin questioned amused as they leisurely strutted towards Sue's for their free time.

After Leedo and Ava had left for their lecture together, Saerin had been quite worried due to Ava's unpredictable behavior when her patience got tested. Something she had completely lost towards Leedo but, much to her surprise she seemed to be in a better mood than before.

Unlike Jaehyun she couldn't take on a casual and non-biased attitude between Leedo and Ava. Saerin knew the hurt Ava had felt at that time, and although she wouldn't resent him for it nor ignore him now, it didn't sit well with her that he had never properly owned up to it.

"Getting paired with Geonhak for a class project," Ava placed her hand over her heart on her chest, and let out a relieved sigh.

Saerin could only let out a heartfelt chuckle as at times Ava's innocence was unexpectedly cute, especially compared to her usual bad bitch attitude, "Kai would meet us at Sue's right?"

"Yess, I can already see her," Ava pointed at a table at the far back of the restaurant, and sped up her step, "Kai-" she paused mid-sentence as she saw Jaehyun sitting next to Kairi at the table and blinked surprised, "Why are you here?", she questioned him as she so far only had asked Saerin and Kairi to join her.

"Ava!" Kairi looked at her friend surprised but the said persons gaze remained fixed on the male, until the relationship between her friend and cousin finally dawned on her.

Jaehyun in the meantime refrained from saying anything as he knew this would get amusing. He had come across Kairi by pure coincidence in the corridor and when she had mentioned friends, he had never expected it to be Ava and Saerin.

"Oh Lord, He's your coffee prince isn't he?" Ava rubbed her temples and sat down on the chair with a deep groan, "Why this thing out of everyone Kai?!"

Kairi gaped at Ava with big eyes and open mouth as she had never seen her behave like this towards a stranger. She could only classify this behavior as rude, "Ava how can you be so rude to someone you just met?!" She tried reasoning with her friend and shot Jaehyun an apologetic smile, but at most he only seemed amused by Ava.

"I've known him ever since I was born," Ava causally waved away Kairi's protests as Jaehyun watched everything with a blank expression, "I would've to say a lot more for him to be even slightly offended. Especially compared to the things he tells me on a daily basis and the insults we've shared in the past. Don't you agree Mr. Coffee Prince?"

The only thing Kairi could do was stare at them with big eyes, and Jaehyun tried his best to suppress his grin. There was no way he would ever get over the adorable fact that Kairi was so easy to tease.

He made a mental note for certain things he wanted to ask her during their first date, after hearing Ava's words. He knew that if he asked her now she would die from embarrassment, and he wanted to spare her that despite the overload of adorableness she was showing now.

"They are cousins," Saerin chirped into the conversation  at the right time like an enlightening angel and their surnames finally connected in Kairi's head. Saerin in the meantimr pulled out an apple from her bag and slowly took a bite from it with an amused look.

"Oh my god," Kairi hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment, as she couldn't believe that she had been so oblivious. Ava had told her many times that her cousin studied at the same college, but she had never thought it would be Jaehyun. Especially since they only lunched with the three of them when possible, "How could I not have known?"

In fact Kairi had only become friends with them a short while ago despite them being extremely close. This due to Kairi changing majors later on and ending up in a few basic classes like advanced English with Saerin. Through her, Kairi had become friends with Ava and the rest had been history.

"Out of all the people in the world, why did you have to go for my baby?!" Ava glared at Jaehyun as she pulled Kairi into a hug, and he prepared himself for a blood battle but, before either of them could protest she stated, "Well, I would rather have it be you than anyone else. You're not that bad. I guess...you pass."

"I do?" This time even Jaehyun and Saerin seemed surprised and Kairi looked up at Ava with a happy but also flustered expression.

"Well...we just moderately can't stand each other's presence for more than three hours every day," Ava shrugged as she planted a kiss on Kairi's forehead and let her go, "Apart from that, we get along pretty well."

Kairi sat up with a blush on her cheeks and awkwardly cleared her throat, "I think you're misunderstanding something Ava. There's nothing going on between us. We're just going to chill this week, right Jaehyun?"

She looked at him for support but her jaw almost dropped to the floor when he mentioned quite casually, "I actually like you."

Ava immediately nodded her head approvingly and high-fived Jaehyun, "Nice one, just go for a direct kill, or she'll be too oblivious to understand you." whilst Saerins grin widened at this free amusement.

"I mean Aren't we going on a date this weekend?" Jaehyun cocked his heart to the side with an innocent expression although on the inside he was enjoying the teasing.

Suddenly a fifth voice interpreted the scene, "Don't fall for it, that guys a meticulous fox." And Kairi let out a relieved sigh as the attention got averted from her. Her heart couldn't handle this much stimulation.

"Wow, look who's alive," Saerin grinned at Eunwoo, Mingyu and Leedo as they made space for them at their table, and Eunwoo grinned back at her, "Look who's awake."

"I don't know who that is, but she's vomiting on you with her eyes dude," Leedo tapped Eunwoo's shoulder and pointed at a table across the room, occupied by a single girl who quickly looked away.

"Is that your neighbor?" Mingyu immediately turned his head towards the table but surprisingly made eye-contact  with Yi-soo and raised his hand to wave at her.

"You know Lilia?!" Eunwoo asked him surprised and Mingyu proceeded to explain his story from that morning as Jaehyun nudged Saerins side and asked, "Where are the loudspeakers and JK?"

"Dunno, I think Yug made a new dance routine or something and wanted to show JK," Saerin shrugged it off casually but, she felt a nauseous feeling bubble up inside her again, as she thought back on their conversation after the lecture.

Before Jaehyun could pry any further Ava groaned and almost slammed her phone to bits on the table, "Are you kidding me!" She groaned deeply.

"Your phone did nothing to deserve such treatments," Saerin shook her head as she pulled the phone away and read the email that had made Ava upset, "...nope, your phone still does not deserve this treatment despite the landmine you stepped on."

All the others looked confused except for Leedo who, at that time, had received the exact same email as Ava and was feeling totally different emotions compared to her.

"How can two people drop out at the exact same time from a course?" Ava protested as she raised her head and caught Leedo's gaze, "I'm not sure but, I'll be counting on you from now on partner." He answered with a smile.

Upon hearing this oblivious to Kairi, Eunwoo and Mingyu, Jaehyun exchanged a worried glance with Saerin as Ava tried to come with terms with her sudden fate...