universe cafe // exo

- 18 -

   Soojin and Jun-Oh found a picnic table to sit at while they talked and ate their food.

   "I promise I'll bring you back souvenirs from China," Jun-Oh declared to Soojin. "We'll call each other every night, right?"

   Soojin nodded, finishing the last of her milkshake. "We better call each other. I need to make sure you stay safe."

   "Okay, mom," Jun-Oh laughed. 

   Soojin cracked a smile. Her eyes fell down to her phone that was sitting on her lap. She looked through her messages to find a picture of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo's schedule Chanyeol had sent her before. Soojin zoomed in on their next booth.

   "I kind of want to buy some ice cream in a little bit to wash down this food," Soojin brought up.

   "You literally just finished drinking a milkshake." Jun-Oh eyed the empty cup.

   Soojin glanced from the cup to Jun-Oh. "Well, you know... it's ice cream."

   "Alright." Jun-Oh chuckled and stood up from the table. "Let's go."

   "Right now?" Soojin looked at the time. It's only a couple minutes until Chanyeol and Kyungsoo's shift, but Soojin didn't want to get there before they did because a chance for Jun-Oh to talk to Kyungsoo could be missed.

   Jun-Oh nodded. "I really want some too. Come on."

   Soojin slowly rose to her feet and slid her phone into her pocket. "Okay, let's go," she slowly said.

   The two began walking in the direction of the ice cream stand. Soojin slowed her pace, just in case.

   "Why are you being so sluggish?" Jun-Oh questioned. "You usually run down the stairs when I mention ice cream at your house. Remember that one time you almost flew face first down the stairs and it caused you to drop your speaker? You're lucky it's not broken."

   Soojin let out a small laugh. "Yeah, what can I say man?"

   "Did you get that from Lay? He says it in the group chat a lot."

   "Oh no," Soojin sighed. "I hope he's not rubbing off on me."

   Jun-Oh smiled in amusement. "We don't need any more of him running around without constant supervision. It's a good thing he has a sister to keep him in order."

   Soojin looked over at Jun-Oh as she began to laugh. Her head turned back just in time to stop herself from bumping into a rather tall person. "I'm so sorry," Soojin apologized. She looked up to the mysterious person's face to find it to be familiar. "Oh, hi Kris."

Kris gave a short nod while greeting Soojin. "Funny running into you." His eyes drifted over to Jun-Oh, who was a stranger to him. "And, who's your friend?"

"This is Jun-Oh," Soojin introduced. "She was added into the group chat recently."

"Ah," Kris gave her a small smile. "You're Jun-Oh."

"Yeah, I just said she was—"

"It's nice to finally meet you," Kris turned more to Jun-Oh's direction.

"You too." Jun-Oh smiled warmly. "You're friends with the Universe Cafe employees then?"

"I don't talk to them much anymore, ever since I quit working there." Kris shrugged. "I like to do my own thing now."

Soojin took out her phone to peek at the time. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo should be getting to the ice cream booth now.

"But it would be nice to get to know you sometime," Kris added in a smooth tone.

"Oh?" Jun-Oh raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Maybe we could go get coffee some morning?" He let out a breathy laugh. "But not at Universe. That might be awkward."

Jun-Oh pushed back her hair, becoming a bit flustered. "Well—Uh...I—"

Soojin's jaw dropped and she took a step closer to the two. "Um, sorry, but Jun-Oh is busy that day. She's helping me."

"I never said a specific day."

Soojin gulped. "She's helping me all week."

"I find it strange that you're answering for Jun-Oh. Maybe you should let her speak for herself." Kris brought his gaze back to her.

"I mean," Jun-Oh paused, a smile appearing on her face. "I'm not opposed to the idea."

Soojin gasped. "Bu—"

"I guess we can meet at Cafe View that's down the street from Universe," Jun-Oh suggested.

"Sounds perfect," Kris agreed with the idea.