The Scientific Method • Kim Junmyeon

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The air was cool and biting, the breeze that drifted through the Hankook University campus did nothing but make students shiver further into their scarves and sweaters. Haewon however, sat hidden away in the warmth of the campus cafe where Minseok worked. The older boy would often sneak her free hot chocolates when his boss wasn't looking.

Usually while she was there she'd either be accompanied by Junmyeon or Jongin, the former so that they could study for upcoming physics exams together. This time, abnormally, she was joined by her Junior friend, Byun Baekhyun. The brown haired boy was playing with his half eaten gingerbread cookie whilst complaining about the weather being too cold for how early it was into Autumn.

"Why did you even call me here in this frigid weather when you have so many other people you could have invited, doesn't Myeon usually come with you to this cheap place?" He questions, looking at the girl from across the table with a questioning gaze.

Softly, Hae closes her laptop, where she was frantically typing up her essay on Isaac Newton. "Junmyeon was busy meeting someone, Jongin and Sehun have the dance convention, Chanyeol and Jongdae are setting up a prank in Professor Kim's office, and Kyungsoo and Yixing are probably in town buying groceries. But I obviously asked you to come because I love your oh so enjoyable presence."

Ignoring the sarcastic comment, Baekhyun takes a thoughtful sip of his latte, "That's the fourth time this week that Junmyeon cancelled on one of us to go 'meet someone', maybe Yeol was right and he really is doing drugs."

"I doubt it," Hae shakes her head and adjusts her glasses, "He has asthma, he couldn't smoke even if he wanted to."

"Um hello, he could be taking edibles of injecting himself with something."

The black haired girl rolls her eyes. Adjusting her sweater, she stands up and pushes her chair in, signalling for Baekhyun to follow her, getting a whine in response.

The two step out onto the campus, bidding goodbye to Minseok who still had two hours left on his shift. Hankook University had a nice campus, there were many hidden places one could go if they really needed time alone, a big plus was that the open-aired campus was full of nature and wildlife amongst the modern lecture halls and other facilities.

Haewon's favorite place was the football field, she often found herself studying there with some of the other boys while the remainder of their group were out practicing with the rest of the school team. Oddly enough some of their rag-tag group of nerds were actually athletic. Sadly, the sport wasn't in season and wouldn't be starting up again until next Spring.

Rubbing her numb hands together, Haewon hesitantly glances over at her friend. "You know maybe Kyungsoo was right, Jun might just have a girlfriend and not be telling us."

The chemistry major inhales deeply, meeting her gaze with a look that showed just how done he was with her, "You know there's this great saying by Mark Twain," he clears his throat, "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

"Baek, I'm being serious." She lets out an exasperated groan, she should've just stayed at the cafe with Minseok and have gotten his thoughts on the matter.

"So am I," He throws his arms up in obvious annoyance, "if he had a girlfriend he'd have told us, he isn't the type to keep stuff from us, and honestly if he doesn't trust us enough to tell us he's dating someone then why are we even friends? It's such a stupid thing to hide."

Baekhyun made a fair point. It really made no sense for Junmyeon to ditch them with no explanation. Plus, as much as the group was full of immature goofballs, it's not like they'd have a negative reaction at Junmyeon having a girlfriend, if anything they'd throw a party celebrating that his lifetime of singleness had finally come to an end.