𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗘 ─ 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗚𝗪𝗢𝗡

VIII. Threat

It was almost lunch time and just like yesterday, everyone was going to crowd Jungwon once again. But he saw it coming.

Before the bell had rang, he prepared himself, putting his wallet inside his pockets.

He did not want to be trapped by students who constantly sought his attention - so he had a plan to leave as quickly as possible.

*RING*

That's his cue. As soon as he heard the bell ring, he immediately got off his seat and out the door, not giving anyone a chance to keep him in the room.

Minji on the other hand, was laughing at him. Despite other people thinking that Jungwon was being mean to her earlier this morning, she knew that he was only teasing her - because he himself said it.

But it made her think, why the sudden change? Was it because she told him she eagerly wanted to be his friend? She thought - was it because of that that Jungwon changed his attitude to her?

Whatever the reason may be, she was thrilled that Jungwon is interacting with her. Her hopes of being friends with Jungwon rose up.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to go with him? You're his guide aren't you?" Niki asked Minji as he approached her.

She kept forgetting that she had responsibilities of guiding him and making sure he was comfortable at school.

"Oh right! I keep forgetting!" Minji grunted as she face-palmed herself.

She hurriedly fixed her things and placed them back in her bag, before leaving as soon as possible to catch up with Jungwon.

"We'll be at the usual place!" Sunoo shout to Minji - which she replied with a thumbs up.

---

Silence filled the table as two men were staring at each other. One sometimes looking away, finding the situation awkward - while the other one kept looking dead into the eyes of the other.

"It was only a joke..." Sunghoon said timidly.

"You make sure of it. If I ever find out that you're really only being friends with Minji to use her..." Heeseung said.

He made that "you're dead" gesture at Sunghoon before taking another bite of his pizza.

Meanwhile, the people who told Heeseung - Jay and Jake - were laughing at Sunghoon.

"Snitches." Sunghoon said under his breath as he rolled his eyes at the two.

After a little while, Jay gently tapped Jake's arm - telling Jake to say something.

Among the three of them, Jake is the most comfortable in talking to other people. He was basically like their spokesperson.

"So...uhh Heeseung hyung, how long have you been friends with Niki and the others?" Jake asked.

"I've known Sunoo since we were little, he was my childhood friend. Our parents are friends.

Then I've known Niki and Minji for about three years now ever since they went to this school."

Once again, they were all very silent. It was hard to communicate without Niki - their mutual friend.

They had a few small talks here and there, but they weren't that talkative yet because they haven't known each other for a long time.

It's only been 5 minutes since they were waiting for the others, but to them it felt like hours.

Until Niki and Sunoo finally showed up.