Chapter 3 (1/2)

“Does this jacket make me look fat?”

“I think fat makes you look fat.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

“Ravi!” HaKyeon stamped his foot.

“Don’t press those thin lips at me.” Ravi frowned back at the older. “You look fine in whatever you put on hyung… seriously.”

HaKyeon sighed and turned back around to look at his reflection. “I don’t think it’s my color… I think my skin’s too dark for it.”

“You’re skin’s nice.”

HaKyeon’s muscles tensed as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. Ravi rested his head on the older’s shoulder

“Besides,” He said, smiling at him through the mirror, “I think red’s your color.”

HaKyeon choked to pass words through his throat, his skin turning as red as the jacket he was wearing.

“RAVI!” He shrieked, giving the younger a firm chop in the neck. “Who said you could touch your hyung in such a manner? Shame on you! Shame shame!”

Over Ravi’s protests another complaining voice could be heard. HaKyeon stopped abusing his dongsaeng long enough to hone in on the conversation that was taking place right outside of the dressing rooms.

“Come on, this will look really cute on you!”

“I don’t wanna…”

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll make me look like a Christmas present.”

“But it’s half off!”

“But it’s gay!”

“It’s pretty.”

“If you like it so much, you try it on.”

“I can’t - it doesn’t match my skin tone.”

Suddenly a short girl with long brown hair turned the corner. She wore a pair of black jeans and a crisp brown blazer. HaKyeon blinked a couple times, vaguely recognizing the makeup she wore.

“Oh, you’re Raelyn Strickland, aren’t you?”

She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening as she noticed he and Ravi.

“Oh… hi.” She shifted her weight. “I, uh, didn’t expect so see you guys here.”

“What about this?” The other female voice asked, it’s owner rounding the corner.

“No.” Raelyn shot her down, making the other woman frown.

“But why not?”

“Because it’s entirely cheetah print, the back is missing, and your ass will fall out of it.”

She frowned. “You’re no fun.”

HaKyeon blinked as he looked over the woman. “Lucca? Lucca Fure?”

Stopping, she looked over at him, her eyes curious. When she saw him though, her entire face lit up. "Hakyeon~!" She cried out, shoving the garment in her hand into Raelyn. Grinning broadly, she walked up to him. "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in forever!"

Blinking in surprise, Raelyn slowly pulled the hanger away from her face since Lucca had shoved the dress at her. "Um, excuse me." She said, looking from Lucca to Hakyeon as they hugged each other in an excited greeting. They looked at her with huge grins on both of their faces. "But.... You two know each other?!" Raelyn's jaw practically fell to the ground as she stared at them.

"Yeah!" Lucca exclaimed, looking up at Hakyeon for a moment. "We used to live next to each other when we were younger! Him and his younger cousin used to always come out and we would play all sorts of games together...." She sighed slightly. "Speaking of which, is Hyukkie here?" She asked, looking up at Hakyeon.

He laughed slightly. "No, but when I tell him I ran into you, he's going to wish he had been."

"Aw, man, I wish he had come~" Lucca pouted slightly, then looked at Ravi, smiling slightly, a light blush coming to her face when she saw his surprise as well. "Oh my, I completely forgot to introduce myself." Bowing, she laughed. "I'm Lucca Fure."

He bowed back. "Kim Wonsik, call me Ravi though."

"A pleasure to meet you." Lucca nodded, smiling, then looking at Hakyeon. "That shirt looks good on you." She said, smiling up at Hakyeon and tugging on the tags of it slightly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his earlier concern returning.

"Yes I'm sure." She laughed.

"I really don't thi-"

"Hyung~!" A loud voice cried out from around the corner. "Are you guys done, we just finished and-" it cut off the second it's owner caught sight of Raelyn. "Oh, hi Raelyn...."

"Ken..." Raelyn nodded slightly.

"I really hope you weren't planning on getting into that...." Ken's eyebrow raised as he looked at the dress in her hands.

"Yah!" She glared at him. "I wasn't planning on even-"

"You look fine!" The voice of not only Ravi, but also Lucca cut her off and made both of them look over to the three that were standing in front of the mirror.

Instantly, Ken's eyes brightened a bit, his hands releasing the handle of he cart. "Oh, hey~!" He called, smiling slightly.

Lucca turned, spotting him and smiling back. "Oh, hey~ Ken, right?"

Smiling grimmly, Ken took a breath and nodded. "Yes, that's right." He laughed awkwardly as he walked up.

"Oh, you know each other?" Hakyeon asked gesturing from Lucca to Ken. "I had no idea."

"I wouldn't really say we know each other.... We've met though." Lucca chuckled, nodding to Ken. "You guys know each other?"

"We live together." Ken stated before the elder could say anything, laughing awkwardly, feeling like he had been left out of something as he watched the two exchange a small glance.

Lucca nodded slightly. "Really now?"

"But wait, you two know each other?" Ken asked, unable to refrain from doing so.

Laughing at this, Lucca nodded. "That's like the third time that's been asked, this is like a huge repeating circle. Is this all of you?" She asked, looking around.

"Well, no, my brother is coming." Ken pointed behind him to where the cart was. A tall boy with dark hair came up, his eyes curiously looking to see the four that were standing in front of the mirrors. He noticed Raelyn as well, nodding to her. "He's right there, actually." Ken laughed, waving his hand at his brother.

"Alright, so I don't repeat myself a third time, Hakyeon and Hyuk used to be my neighbors. We used to hang out a lot." She laughed as Ken's eyes widened slightly.

Raelyn snorted slightly. "I don't mean to rush you guys or anything, but you do have to be at work here in like thirty minutes." She stated, looking pointedly at Lucca.

"Oh, where do you work?" Hakyeon asked, smiling at her.

Chuckling, Lucca looked at him. "I'm the assistant vetrinarian up at the animal hospital. So I guess I really should go home and get ready.... How about you text me later?" She suggested, looking up at him.

Hakyeon nodded. "Sure~! That would be good. Do you have paper and a pen?" He asked, searching his pants pockets as though he might have some.

Lucca thought for a moment, then pointed at Raelyn and pulled her over by the purse that hung over Raelyn’s shoulder. “You normally have something useful in here…” She stated, opening it and digging around for something. After a few moments of Raelyn grumbling at her and Lucca searching the depths of the purse, she finally protruded a pad of paper and a pen. “Here we go~!” Quickly, she scrawled down her number, then smiled as she held it out towards the boys that were all looking over each other to see what it was. “For you.” She laughed when two hands reached out for it, one of them being Hakyeon’s, the other being Ken’s.

“We can write our numbers down for you too.” Hakyeon held his hand out for the paper, quickly scribbling down names and numbers for her. As he held it out, he nodded. “We’ll leave with you guys.” He decided, glancing at the paper that was in Ken’s hand for a moment, then moving to the changing room to get dressed in his own clothes again.

After paying for their things they were all headed out the door.

“So what did you guys come here for~?” Ken asked, sidling up next to Lucca with a smile on his face.