♡ 7

I lean against the stall door, waiting for the dots to appear that signal Sunghoon is typing. They aren't coming, though, I know that. Oh my God, what did he mean by that? Is he going to show Heeseung?

I am surprised Sohyun hasn't come in asking if I am having stomach problems, I have been gone so long trying to deal with her stupid brother. Should I ditch her and go back to his place? Why did he even need me there? I could do the script from anywhere!

I sigh and go back into the cafe. I find Sohyun and she smiles, sliding my tea over to me.

"Are you okay? You were gone for a while."

"Fine." I nod. "I got a call."

"From who?"

"Sunoo." I lie, hoping she doesn't ask anymore follow up questions.

"Did you see that stupid Tiktok my brother just posted?" She asks, looking down at her phone.

"I don't follow him." I reply. She knows this. She turns her phone around to show me the video. It was a "Get Ready With Me" video and it mainly consisted of him shirtless in his bathroom.

"Does it look like he's getting ready for a date? He doesn't usually style his hair unless he's seeing someone."

At the end he winks into the camera and I hand it back to her. He did look very attractive with his hair style up and the sleek black button down. He uses a lot of skincare. I didn't see any of that when I was in there.

"I mean, he could be doing it for the video." I shrug. "This was probably taken weeks ago."

"You're right." She nods, taking her phone back. "We would have seen if there was a girl in his life."

I tell myself that it wasn't done this morning and he didn't get dressed up for me. But, of course, he has to prove me wrong as him and Heeseung walk through the cafe doors, Sunghoon in the exact same outfit with the same hair as in the video.

"Hey," Heeseung smiles widely as he pulls out a chair next to Sohyun. "Imagine running into you two here."

"What are you two doing?" Sohyun asks, looking at her brother as he sits down next to me. "I thought you said you had plans."

"We do. After we eat." Sunghoon replies, not looking at me. I can't tell if he has shown Heeseung or not.

"What are you guys doing today?" I direct my question to Heeseung, trying to feel out if he knows anything.

"I'm not sure. It was last minute when Sunghoon called me..."

"No it wasn't. We made these plans weeks ago?" Sunghoon cuts him off, obviously caught in a lie.

"We did?"

"So you got all dressed up for Heeseung then?" Sohyun asks, taking a sip of her tea.

"This is not dressed up." Sunghoon rolls his eyes.

"It took you long enough to do." I say and he smirks.

"Watching my Tiktok?"

"Only because Sohyun showed it to me."

"I'm sure that's it."

"Could you two not start?" Heeseung interrupted. "Sunghoon said he had this really cool new webcomic to show me. You guys like those, too, right?"

"Ooo, yes!" Sohyun nods and I feel the blood leave my face. I look out the corner of my eye to see Sunghoon chuckle.

"Sunghoon," I say before anyone has the chance to ask him to show them now. "Why don't we let them eat and you can come with me to pick out skincare."

"Skincare?" He wrinkles his nose. "No thanks."

"Come on!" I grab his arm, pulling him out of the chair. Heeseung and Sohyun say goodbye, but we are already out of the door.

"Unhand me!" Sunghoon pulls back his arm, brushing it off as if I made it dirty.

"Are you stalking me now?"

"My sister told me where you guys were. It isn't stalking." He folds his arms.

"Why are you doing this? I told you I would finish the script and have it to you."

"And I told you to do it at my place."

"I can do it anywhere! Your sister texted me a SOS, I had to go."

"A SOS? Is she okay?" He looks back toward the restaurant and for a moment I see him click into concerned big brother mode.

"Yes."

"Then what was the SOS?"

"I can't tell you that. It's confidential."

"What are you, her fucking therapist. I am her brother. Tell me!"

"No."

"Tell me or I go in there and show them that comic they are all so desperate to see!"

"You've got to stop holding that over my head!" I can't take him stressing me out with this anymore.

He walks past me, back toward the restaurant.

"She slept with Jake and was freaking out, okay? But you can't tell her I told you!"

"She what?" He yells. "She lost her virginity to Jake?"

"Virginity?" I laugh. "You are fucking clueless. She isn't a virgin."

"She's not? When did that happen? With who? Where was I?"

"I'm not telling you any of that and I have no idea where you were." I shake my head, trying to figure out what he is thinking. "Were you wanting to be in the room when it happened? Take pictures for a scrapbook or something?"

"Stop being gross."

"You're the one asking these dumb questions."

"Point made."

"Can you please agree not to show Heeseung OR Sohyun my comic if I agree to work with you on this script?" I look at my phone.

"Fine. When can you be back over?"

"Why do you have to physically see me doing it?"

"To make sure you are. What about tomorrow afternoon?"

"I can't. I will be at work." I shake my head. "I can do it Tuesday after classes at five?"

"That's good. And then the weekend?"

"I have the sleepover at your sister's Saturday night." I shake my head.

"Fine. I guess I am not in too much of a hurry." He agrees, nodding.

"Thank you."

"When are you going to update?"

"Update?"

"The comic?"

"Oh," I ask, feeling embarrassed to talk about it outloud. "I don't know. I haven't had time to draw or anything."

"I see that Heeseung, Sunoo, and Jungwon have characters, but I am not in there." He puts his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels.

"Why would you?"

"I am important!"

"Not to me."

"Peaches..." He says in a warning tone and I laugh.

"Stop reading it!"

"I can't. I'm invested now."

"Hey! Are you two ready?" Sohyun asks and she and Heeseung walk up to where we stood. That was fast. Heeseung must not have eaten anything.

Heeseung and Sunghoon leave, still not saying what their plans were. I tell Sohyun I have homework to do and go back to my dorm, starting on the script. I get a rough draft of one episode sent to Sunghoon later that night.

My roommate stays at her girlfriend's on Sunday nights, since they both have early Monday classes and her girlfriend's dorm is closer. Whatever gets them out of here is fine by me. I have just pulled out my Ipad to start drawing when my phone rings.

"What?"

"You are so rude." Sunghoon answers and I can hear his eyes roll. "The script is good. When you are over here Tuesday I will have you help me film it."

"Now I am a cameraman, too?"

"You are whatever I need you to be, Peaches."

"You make me sound like a slave." I put my Ipad on my side table and lay down in bed, the phone beside me. So much for drawing.

"You are my slave. Have you not picked up on that yet?"

"You seriously have a death wish, don't you?"

"Insubordination." He laughs. "What are you up to?"

"What?" I ask, kind of caught off guard. Why did that sound normal? "I... um... I was drawing."

"Seunghee?" He asks. "Make sure you get the positions and body parts accurate."

"I am going to hang up now."

"No, wait." He says as my finger hovers off the red end call button. "Are you adding a character for me?"

"If I did, I would have him killed off."

"You are so mean."

"Look who's talking." I laugh, surprising myself. Since when do I laugh with Sunghoon Park?

"What time is your shift tomorrow? You still work at the restaurant in the ice rink, right?"

For the next hour Sunghoon keeps me on the phone talking about normal stuff. It is weird a first, but after awhile I find it easy. Pretty soon I am drifting off to sleep, listening to him talk about how his Tiktok account started.