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Five hours early...

"I told you to go left, and I would go
right! Ugh!"

Soobin cringed as his friend, Beomgyu
screamed at him for causing their team to die in a game. He grabbed one of the headphone speakers away from his ear, trying to save his eardrums in the process, "Yeah, yeah. New game."

"I'm not playing with you. You're shit
at this!" Soobin could hear Beomgyu
smashing something through the
voicechat, he could only roll his eyes. It was just a game.

"Who cares? This is lame anyway,
Taehyun had said. Another friend of
Soobin's.

Soobin found himself unable to contradict Taehyun's opinion. The trio frequently engaged in playing Valorant, to the extent that it became boring and unexciting. They had exhausted almost every combat game available, and no fresh releases were on the horizon. Activities that were once enjoyable now felt like a tedious chore.

"Y'all wanna go to the arcade?"
Taehyun suggested.

That's not a bad idea, Soobin thought.

"Didn't we go, like, last week?"
Beomgyu sounded like he was eating
chips.

"Ew, don't talk with your mouth full,"
Taehyun said, repulsed at the sound
of his chewing. Which only made
Beomgyu chews more intensely through the voicechat.

"Fine. You can stay home, then," Soobin said.

And that's how he ended up at the
mall...

Taehyun and Beomgyu were battling
each other at the shooting range
Whoever hit the most targets won
easy enough. Beomgyu may have
complained about the arcade also
being "boring," but he ended up begging to come as well.

Soobin could only laugh at his friends
silly competitiveness. The three had
been best friends since childhood,
which made their bond quite
unbreakable. At least, that's what it felt like.

"Ooh, ooh!"

"Get it!"

"You're missing!"

"Get on my level."

"Shoot it!"

"Yuh. Get on my level."

"It's right there!"

"Y'all can't beat this!" Beomgyu
gestured to himself.

All three of them were laughing as if they had all the time in the world to spare. Following their enjoyable experience at the arcade, Soobin proposed the idea of proceeding to the food court.

They played rock, paper, and scissors to see who would be the one to pay. Taehyun lost. Figures.

While Taehyun stood in line for
Panda Express, Beomgyu leaned and
whispered to Soobin, "Hey, how's your sister?"

Soobin swatted him away, "What about her?"

Beomgyu shrugged. He seemed to have a solemn expression, "Just wondering. You said she got a new guy, right?"

Soobin could see the way Beomgyu's
eyes filled with sadness as the thought
of Kara with another guy crossed.
Soobin knew of Beomgyu's little
crush on Kara since forever. The kid
just made it so obvious. He blushed
whenever she talked to him, he smiled whenever he looked at her and constantly asked about her. He felt a bit bad for his poor friend. Just a bit.

Soobin cleared his throat, "Uh, oh, yeah. New guy."

"What's he like?"

Soobin shrugged, "The same as always
Beomgyu brows creased, "Well, that's
not good, right? I mean, shouldn't we
help her if that's the case?"

After considering it for a while, Soobin realized that Beomgyu's suggestion was influenced by his own emotions. However, Soobin acknowledged that Beomgyu did have some valid points. It seemed that Kara was unable to recognize the warning signs when it came to the men she wanted to date.

Perhaps what she really needed was someone who could provide her with proper guidance and direction in her love life.

"And you're not just saying that
because you're jealous, Beom-ie?"
Soobin ruffled Beomgyu's hair.

Beomgyu smacked Soobin's hand away, "Of course not," his ears turned pink. "I'm just worried it'll end up like the last times. And don't call me Beom-ie!"

Soobin was also quite worried. He
wondered what he could to save his
sister from her own doom.
Taehyun returned to the two with their food.They sat at an empty table in the food court. Ready to into some
Panda Express!

Damn, I gotta use the bathroom.

Soobin stood up. It must have been all
that sweet tea he drank earlier. He
groaned at the thought. He was just
about to eat! The bathrooms were all
the way across the food court near the
stairs, how dreadful.

"Be right back!" He shouted as he left
Taehyun and Beomgyu looked at each
other in confusion, they shrugged it off and continued to eat.

Soobin scurried across to the men's
restrooms as fast as he could, until he
something quite familiar came across or someone.

Soobin did a double-take as he passed
Charlotte's, it was an expensive
clothing store for women. So, why the
hell, was Yeonjun there?

He'd recognized that weirdo, emo,
two-face, punk anywhere. Soobin
hovered at the glass window outside
of Charlotte's, trying to get a glimpse
of Yeonjun. And maybe who he was
with...

Why was he there? Why is he
shopping at a store for women? Was he alone? Was he perhaps with another woman? Did Kara know he was here? All these thoughts ran in Soobin's mind.

There is only one way to find out.

Soobin marched into Charlotte's, with
no plan in his head, no rehearsed talk,
but he was ready. There was no other explanation as to why Yeonjun would be shopping for.

Soobin marched into Charlotte's, with
no plan in his head, no rehearsed talk,
but he was ready. There was no other explanation as to why Yeonjun would be shopping for women dresses, like what even?

"Hey!" Soobin yelled.

Yeonjun turned, completely appalled
by who was shouting at him. He
scratched his head, "Aren't you Kara's
little bro?"

Yeonjun gave a look of confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Soobin pointed his finger at Yeonjun's
face, his face was flushed of anger, "I
should be asking you that!"

Soobin strided past Yeonjun, bursting
into the changing rooms. Yeonjun
ended up holding back Soobin a bit,
placing his hands firmly on Soobin's
shoulder. Yeonjun couldn't fathom the
scene he was making, "What are you
doing?!"

Soobin brushed off Yeonjun's hands
and turned to face him, "Where is
she?!"

"Who?! Kara? What are you on about,
man? You just came out of nowhere!
Wanna calm down a bit. People are
staring." Yeonjun nudged his head to
the people around them staring as if
they were criminals. Two men raising
their voices in a women's store, doesn't seem normal.

Both of them moved aside and walked towards the waiting area, where it appeared that Soobin's mind had regained a sense of reality, and he started to calm down a little.

"Wanna try again, bud? You seem
like you're ready to have a proper
conversation," Yeonjun crossed his
arms.

Soobin sighed, "Why are you in here?
Are you by yourself or something?"

"Who's asking?"

"I am," Soobin declared.

"What's it to you? You just came and
made a total scene, now you expect me to do as you say?" Yeonjun tapped his feet with annoyance.

'Fine!" Soobin huffed impatiently, "I'm
sorry, I just didn't expect to see you
here. At the mall."

Yeonjun eyed Soobin suspiciously.

"And I came to say hello. Hello. So, why are you here?"

At that point, a lightbulb clicked within Yeonjun. He figured Soobin must have thought he was with another woman. That's why he's asking. That's why he barged in like a crazy person. That's why Soobin was looking at him like he wanted to murder him.

Yeonjun pinched his nose bridge and
sighed, defeated, he explained, "I'm
shopping with your sister."

"For?"

Yeonjun gave him a look, 'really?' he
said with his face.

"Clothes-right." They were standing in a clothing store.

Yeonjun chuckled, "I'll let it slide
since I find your brotherly act for
Kara adorable. But cut it with your
impulsiveness, it's only cute once."

Yeonjun was a little hurt. Soobin, would I think he'd cheat on Kara so easily, but he knew of her past. It was a given that Soobin would react this way, but Yeonjun wouldn't tolerate it.

Soobin rolled his eyes, "So where's
Kara, then?"

"Changing, duh."

Soobin stayed quiet. He'd wait for her
to come out. If she would come out. He knew Yeonjun probably wasn't lying, but he'd like to confrm
So they stood for a few seconds in
silence.

"Hey, wanna come to my brother's
performance?" Yeonjun asked out of
the blue.

Soobin displayed utter disgust, "And
why would I go anywhere with you?"

"Because your sister is coming and
she wants you to join along, for some
reason." Yeonjun smiled sarcastically.

Kara was going with him? She had
only been dating him for a week and

She was already meeting his family?

Soobin could only trust his churning

gut as it screamed. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

There was no way he was going to let

Kara go anywhere alone with this guy.

"Okay, sure. I'll go." He shrugged,
trying to act nonchalantly.

Yeonjun couldn't help but suppress a chuckle as he shot Soobin a questioning glance, curious about the unexpected shift in his attitude. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Before Soobin could try to give a
smart-ass answer, Kara stepped out of
the changing rooms. Her hair looked
disheveled, and she had a long black
dress hanging from her arms.

Once she saw Soobin standing with
Yeonjun, she blinked in confusion,
"Soobin..? What are you doing here?"

Yeonjun grabbed Kara's jacket and
gave it to her, and he explained how
Soobin had agreed to come along to
the event. She continued to blink, not
knowing what to say.

Soobin gave a half-ass smile, "Who
knows, it could be fun."

It was definitely not going to be fun.

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