universe cafe // exo

- 19 -

"By the way, are you just roaming around by yourself?" Jun-Oh asked Kris.

Kris nodded. "I don't really know many people here besides my old Universe Cafe friends. I'm just here for the summer, which is when I come to visit. My home is in China."

"Oh really?" Jun-Oh's expression lit up. "What part?"

"Guangzhou, Guangdong," Kris answered. "Born and raised. I spent a little time in Vancouver, Canada before returning."

"Wow." Jun-Oh brightened even more. "I'm going to study in Guilin, China next year. I wouldn't be terribly far from you."

   Kris shrugged. "Five and a half hour drive, but I would be more than happy to meet up with you." A sly smile played on his face. "Guilin is beautiful."

   Soojin stood to the side of their conversation, clenching her fists and lost on what to do.

   "So, do you want to... hang out with us?" Jun-Oh asked, a bit shy.

   "BU—" Soojin tried to stop her.

   "Really?" Kris beamed.

   "N—"

   "Yeah, of course." Jun-Oh nodded.

   "Thanks." Kris smirked. "Where are you headed to now?"

   "We're going to get ice cream."

   "Uh," Soojin pushed her way into the conversation. "Maybe, Kris, you could wait here while we go—"

   "Great, I love ice cream." Kris and Jun-Oh started walking to the ice cream truck.

   Soojin stood frozen for a second before placing her hands on her head in distress. She quickly caught up to them, but was still worried about the situation.

Chanyeol poked his head out the window when he caught sight of Soojin. "Is that really Soojin again? And Jun-Oh?" Chanyeol grinned at the sight, but it soon dropped in a flash when his eyes fell on Kris. "Um, and Kris?"

Soojin ran over to the window, nearly running into the ice cream truck. She started to give a fake laugh. "Why, what a coincidence this is. Let's see, I'll have—" she leaned in closer and lowered the volume of her voice significantly, "we have a huge problem. Kris just asked Jun-Oh out and she said yes. They're going to Cafe View sometime this week."

Chanyeol widened his eyes at the information. He kept his voice the same volume as Soojin. "This isn't good."

Chanyeol's eyes shifted over to Kyungsoo's window as he took Kris and Jun-Oh's orders. Kris even paid for both of their orders.

"This is really bad." Chanyeol took off his 'Universe Cafe' cap to run his hand through his messy hair.

"Oh no." Soojin covered her mouth. "What if Kyungsoo feels jealous or upset out this?"

   "Dammit, we need to fix this." Chanyeol put his hat back on and sighed heavily.

   "What's next on the agenda?"

   "The dunking booth in an hour. Then, fireworks."

   Soojin bit the inside of her cheek. "We have to get them closer at the dunking booth, or else the magic under the fireworks isn't going to work."

   "Part three," Chanyeol began with a nod. "Get them closer. This is a huge step, but it's crucial."

   "And the first part of the step is get Kris away," Soojin added. "Once he's out of the picture, it should roll more smoothly from there."

   "I can take care of him." Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at Kris.

   Soojin gave Chanyeol a weird look. "That makes it sound like you're going to kill him."

   "I never said I wasn't going to." Chanyeol cracked his knuckles.

   "There will be no blood on our hands tonight, you hear me?"

   "Who said I had to draw blood?" Chanyeol winked. "Poison."

   Soojin smacked her forehead and slowly exhaled.

   "I'm just kidding," Chanyeol told her. "I'll try my best to get away at some point to distract Kris."

   "And if you can't, I'm sure I can scare him away." Soojin smirked with mischief.

   "That shouldn't be hard." Chanyeol's eyes scanned her. "I'm surprised you haven't already."

   Soojin huffed and flicked his forehead. "Just get me some green tea ice cream, Sasquatch."

   Chanyeol rubbed his forehead and snickered. "Okay, okay."

   Jun-Oh walked over to Soojin with Kris right by her side. They both had ice cream in their hands. "What's taking yours so long?" Jun-Oh questioned.

   "You know," Soojin shrugged, "just got a bit distracted with some conversation."

   "Cute," Jun-Oh commented.

   Chanyeol popped his head back out the window and handed Soojin her ice cream while she paid him. "Thank you, have a fantastic day," Chanyeol told Soojin with a warm smile.

   "No, thank you. And you have the same." Soojin returned the expression and started walking away with with Jun-Oh and Kris.