Stranger

.TWO.

Moshi's Carnival
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"Yes she is! And if not, she'll definitely be disappointed if we're any later so could you walk a little faster? Come on, man!" While Doyun was complaining, Seojun was taking his sweet time strolling from the car to the entrance of the Carnival.

"I'm only here because you promised to let me use your PC for gaming," Seojun clarified.

"Mhm, whatever. Use it all you want, just don't break it. Now, please hurry. It's your fault we're late so we had to meet them here instead of the school."

Seojun didn't even try to listen to Doyun as he walked slowly, staring at every step his feet were taking. At the entrance, Jennie, Rosé and Yoongi were patiently waiting for them. They waved as soon as they saw them approaching.

"Sorry we're late. Seojun had a family thing," Doyun explained and the girls nodded in understanding.

Seojun barely greeted them and avoided their eye contact. The baseball cap he always wore made it easier to ignore their eyes.

As they walked through the carnival, lagging behind the rest of the group was Seojun. He continued to walk with his gaze low and only raised it when necessary. It was true that he was late because of a family issue, but he used the carnival as an excuse to leave, which was the only reason he was actually there so he wouldn't be lying to his parents.

Jennie looked over her shoulder and took note of the slow steps he was taking, as if he was purposely isolating himself. With his hands in his pockets, he would sometimes look over to stare at the carnival stands. She hesitated to join him but Rosé went for it instead.

"For someone as tall as you, your steps are smaller than I thought," she teased politely but he didn't seem to react much. "You know, you're a very quiet person, Seojun."

Seeing as Rosé wouldn't give up, Seojun replied with, "I don't really like to talk." He began to stare more at the carnival stands, at other people, at anything other than Rosé herself.

"Is there anything you like to do then?" she asked with hopeful eyes but his answers remained underwhelming and unenthusiastic.

"Not much," he said curtly and there was an awkward silence. Usually, Rosé found it really easy to speak to people. She had a knack for good social skills but Seojun's disinterest made it a little difficult. Even then, she tried to persevere.

"How did you do on the test we had in vocals the other day? Studying History in vocals seems kind of boring, don't you think?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah." Rosé frowned and thankfully, someone else made the atmosphere more alive.

"Yo, Seojun! RM texted and asked for some food. Wanna go grab hotdogs or something and we'll get some other foods?" Doyun suggested and got between Rosé and Seojun. "They found a seat already so let's meet there after. It's down there."

Seojun nodded again and immediately diverged from the group, heading straight into the crowd of people and towards a hotdog stall. Jennie took the opportunity to follow him to the line and once she got there, she stood in front and faced him. Seojun lowered his cap to avoid her but she lifted it back up by the brim.

He saw the little smile she had on her face and turned away to look at the flashing lights of the basketball stall beside them.

"What, am I not hot enough for you to look at?" she joked. He glimpsed at her for a second but didn't say anything and looked away again. "Is it that hard to look at someone?"

"Yes," he replied, hoping she would stop talking. "Especially you."

Jennie dropped her smile but at least he said something that she could reply to. "Why is it so hard to look at me, huh? Aren't I pretty?" She smiled pretty this time, showing off an award-winning smile. He still didn't look at her. "Come on, Seojun, stop being so cold. You're supposed to have fun at carnivals but you're ruining the mood for everyone. At least be nice to Rosé. She's only tryna talk to you."