“Okay, whatever,” Seth said, ignoring the lingering smirk on Jae’s face. He wished he could slap it off of him. “I’ll as-”
“Hey boys.”
It was Seth’s turn to smirk. And Jae’s turn to turn completely red. It was so easy to notice it too. Against Jae’s porcelain appearance, his blush appeared so vividly.
Anya sauntered up to them. Today, her back hair was pulled back into a braid, and she was wearing a set of denim overalls. If Seth were in Jae’s position, feeling the feelings Jae had, Seth too would be blushing furiously. Until he remembered that that’s exactly how he reacted, whenever Jae brought up Nina.
“I bought some fries from the fish and chips place, if you wanted some,” she announced.
She settled beside Jae on the grass, crossing her legs, and placed the fries right in the middle of the little triangle she’d created.
“How was class today, Anya?” Jae asked, his eyes trained on the fries. Seth knew his interest wasn’t in the fries. Anya shrugged, her fingers tearing into her wrapped burger.
“Nah, I didn’t have class today, I just spent the morning in the studio working on my major piece. Been mixing vocals for two hours.”
Seth had no idea what that all meant, but it was intriguing anyway. Most of all, Jae appeared totally immersed in what Anya had to say.
“Before you know it, you’ll be one of those big shot producers,” proclaimed Jae, as he nudged Anya’s sides. She met his gaze with an amused expression, and pinched him back.
“So, when are you going to sing for me, Jae? I can make you into a popular kpop artist if you want.”
At that, both Seth and Jae burst into laughter. Jae couldn’t sing for the life of him.
“Oh, I wish,” Jae chuckled.
“Well, I still want to hear you sing, anyway,” Anya responded, and from the softness of her voice, Seth suddenly felt like an intruder.
He could feel the shift in Jae’s mood; the way his posture had straightened, the way his body turned toward Anya. It was pathetic in an endearing way.
He took this moment as a window.
“Actually, Anya,” Seth began. At this, Jae’s neck shot toward Seth, “Jae had something he wanted to ask you.”
He could practically feel the laser beams that Jae was attempting to shoot out of his eyes to incinerate Seth. It was probably a dick move, Seth knew, but if this ‘date’with Nina was going to happen, then he would be dragging Jae down with him.
He’d deal with the consequences later, which would definitely be Jae’s wrath and a big punch to the head, probably. Anya perked up in interest, however, at Seth’s words. She turned to Jae expectantly.
“Yeah?”
Jae, still wishing death upon Seth with his eyes, turned and met Anya’s. He breathed in. Breathed out.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to, you know, hang out sometime,” he began, “Sometime being this Saturday. With Seth and his friend. Four of us hanging out. Saturday.”
Seth held up his hand, sensing a ramble that would not end for a while.
“We’re going to hang out in the city, just as a little breather from uni, does that sound good?”
A ghost of a smile was floating on Anya’s lips, as she glanced back at Jae. He didn’t meet her eyes. Again, trained on the fries she’d placed earlier.
“I’m free Saturday,” she said. She bumped Jae's shoulder. “Pick me up then?”
“Oh yes, of course,” Jae responded, finally meeting her gaze.
Seth smiled. Before he realised, it was his turn to ask Nina.
“It’s basically about this girl who accidentally swallowed the soul of this, like, century old fox being, you know? And because of that, she has to move in with the guy and figure out a way to get it back out of her, since that’s his whole soul right -”
Nina was explaining to Seth, and basically theentiretrain carriage since her voice carried far, the plot of a new k-drama she’d started. Seth nodded along, though he’d already been lost from the mention of a century old fox. He’d have to ask her to rewind back to that. Explain it all again.
