𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗘 ─ 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗚𝗪𝗢𝗡

XL. Somebody Once Told Me

"Oh...really??" Sunoo looked down on the floor with a sad look on his face.

Turns out, Ni-ki had already told Jake this morning that he couldn't hang out with them - Jake just forgot to tell anyone until now because he was preoccupied.

It may not be a big deal to others, but for him - it's the 4th time Ni-ki bailed on plans because he had to do something related to his debut - either practicing more, filming or spending time with his bandmates.

"Sorry about that." Jake said.

"No, it's okay. At least now we know." Sunoo responded.

He knew that it could happen - that Ni-ki would be too busy to come, but he still hoped anyway.

Sunoo prepared a lot for this small occasion. He prepared a box filled with his gifts, made sure that there were lots of food - like the cake he told Minji (which she told Levi) to buy, and even invited other friends and classmates of Ni-ki's to drop by and say their good luck wishes to him.

His effort and even his excitement were wasted.

"We can still surprise him another day. I'll go ask him when he can for sure go." Jake said with hopes of making things better.

At that moment, Minji and Jungwon arrived at the meet-up place.

"We're here. So where's Ni-ki?" she asked.

Ni-ki was nowhere in sight. It's a shame, she would have already hugged him tightly if he was there.

"The surprise is canceled. Or postponed rather. We'll do it on another day when Ni-ki is available." Sunghoon answered.

It's just like she thought - he hasn't even debuted yet his schedule is already jam-packed. What more when he starts getting more and more famous?

"Ahh, I see." Minji said, placing the cake box down on the table.

Like everyone else, she sat down and kept silent, wondering what they will do now that the plans are canceled.

"We can always buy another cake right? Let's just eat this one so it doesn't go to waste." She said.

Everyone agreed on it - Sunghoon brought out the disposable utensils so that they can eat the yummy chocolate dessert.

He gave everyone equal slices, saving some just in case other guests drop by later.

"Sunoo, you want some?" Sunghoon asked.

Sunoo didn't say a word. He just simply shook his head before standing up.

"Woah where you going??" Jake asked.

He knew that Sunoo was a bit sad, but he didn't expect that Sunoo would plan to just leave.

"I have a test tomorrow. I think I'll just go study instead of waiting for nothing. See you." he said, quickly leaving the area.

Minji and the other boys looked at each other. They were waiting for Minji to get up and follow him because she is his closest friend, but she did not.

They look at her and wonder why she's not doing anything.

"I've known Sunoo for a long time. With moments like this, he prefers to be alone." she said.

They looked at her and nodded before continuing to eat.

Jungwon on the other hand felt sorry for his hyung. If there's anything he could do to make him slightly happier, he would be more than glad to do it.