47 What on earth...?!

"HEY, APRIL…SO HEE…Over here…" Mia called out as she saw both of them searching for her.

Mia and Hana were at a table in a café. All the girls had decided to meet each other on the first day of the year.

"Happy new year!" April smiled as soon as they came to the table.

"Happy new year!" Mia and Hana said at the same time.

"Happy new year.. you guys." So Hee who was wearing a mask said with a hoarse voice.

So Hee and April sat down in front of Mia and Hana.

"What happened to your voice?" Mia asked So Hee.

"I caught some cold and…cough...cough.." So Hee could barely speak.

"Actually, she went skiing in the mountains with her family," April answered instead of her.

"Oh! Skiing... seems fun!" Mia said.

"It is if you know how to ski! Right, So Hee?" April said teasingly.

So Hee tried to speak, but as her throat was sore, she couldn't say anything. So she stayed quiet.

"Wow, it feels so great when you are this quiet. I can hear the birds chirping, you know?" April said.

So Hee gave her a look and the girls laughed.

"By the way, where is Ye Rin?" asked April.

"She went to the washroom," Hana answered.

"Oh, there she is."

Ye Rin also joined them.

After ordering, they started chatting again.

"Hey, guys!!"

A familiar voice, made all the girls look at the figure who came and stood next to their table.

It was Gyuri!

She was dressed up really well and wasn't looking like the Gyuri, the girls knew.

"…H...Hey, Gyuri…" April said somehow, as everyone was surprised to see her there with her new look.

"Are you guys partying or something? Without me? That's not fair Mia. We are best friends, aren't we?" Gyuri said as she looked at Mia.

Mia stayed silent.

While So Hee, who was not able to say something because of her throat, was now just glaring at Gyuri.

"Y...You look nice today." April said forcing a smile.

"Ow, Thank you! It's a new year after all. I should look my best." Gyuri said.

"She is here with a guy!" Ye Rin, who was silent for all this time spoke up, looking at Gyuri with narrowed eyes.

"I can smell him!" She said taking a sniff in the air.

"Wh-? Haha….That's a strange way to tell." Gyuri said as she gave Ye Rin a weird look.

"So? Who's the guy?" Hana asked sounding as soft as possible, but she was thinking, 'Who's the idiot, who wants to spend time with her?'

"Well, it's a secret!" Gyuri said as she kept her finger on her lips.

"..But I can tell you, as you are my friends!" she winked at them.

So Hee and Hana rolled their eyes, Ye Rin kept looking at Gyuri with her classic narrowed eyes expression; April was looking at Gyuri wearing a fake smile on her face, while Mia wasn't even looking at her and was staring out from the window.

Suddenly, they all heard someone coming.

"He is here! Girls, meet my boyfriend…"

Everyone except Mia looked in the direction.

"…Kim Ray!" Gyuri exclaimed happily as she introduced him.

*Gasp

April and Hana were looking at him with their eyes and mouths wide open.

So Hee stood up from her seat in shock, the moment she saw him.

Ye Rin was now just looking at Gyuri and Ray with her hands folded, shaking her head sideways.

On the other side, Mia who was staring out of the window didn't turn back to see him at all.

'Why did I have a feeling that she will take his name?…. Yet...Another bluff!!….'

As Ray came and saw all the girls sitting there, he stopped right in his way and just kept staring at them.

Gyuri who was standing in the middle of them was looking at them one by one.

"SURPRISE!!!" Gyuri exclaimed wearing a huge smile on her face.

"Y...OU…cough…cough…" As So Hee was going to say something to Gyuri, she started coughing.

But the anger in her eyes was real. Looking at her face, April quickly pulled her down and made her sit down.

Gyuri was just looking at them with a smirk on her face.

April noticed it and then she looked at her brother. "Ray?" she called.

Ray came towards their table hesitantly.

"Is this true?" April asked as he came closer.

"Are you…Are you dating this girl?" She pinned her eyes on her brother.

"I told you, he is. And why are you referring to me as a girl? We are fr—"

"Shut it!" April said still looking at Ray. All others looked at her in surprise.

Mia was now looking down, her fists tightly holding her pants.

"I am asking MY brother. Alright? " And she asked again, "...So...Ray? Is this true?"

Ray stayed silent for a couple of seconds and then taking a deep breath, he said,

"YES! We are dating! And she is my Girlfriend!"

"What???" April literally screamed.

In anger, So Hee just slapped hard on the table.

For the first time, Mia looked at them with her eyes widened.

'It's...It's not a..bluff?!!!'

Gyuri jumped on him and clung to his arm, then she said, "See? I told you."

Mia quickly looked down again, as she was not able to see them like this anymore.

Her eyes started to tear up.

"Are you all right, Ray?" April said as she was looking at both of them.

"Don't you know how—"

"Please…Just...Don't say anything about her." Ray said.

"Huh?"

"She is my girlfriend. And I won't let you all say anything bad about her in front of me."

"Wh-?"

All were really shocked to hear Ray's words.

'What on the earth is going on here?' April and So Hee looked at each other and then at the other girls.

Mia had no courage to look up at them, at anyone.

'I just…I just wanna go away from here….It feels so suffocating…' She kept her hand on her chest.

"And I wouldn't also like it if I hear that someone has hurt her," Ray said looking at Mia specifically.

Mia could feel that he was looking at her. She was feeling really suffocated now.

She kept both of her hands on the table, as she was about to get up from her seat to go,

"We were here to start the New Year by spending some time together. But as you all guys are here, it feels so uncomfortable. Maybe we'll go somewhere else." Gyuri said and then looked at Ray.

He didn't say anything and turned back to go, Gyuri still clinging to him.

"Bye girls." She said and went out of the café happily with Ray.

.

No one talked anything after they went.

"H-ow…dare…she…cough…" Somehow a couple of rough words came out from So Hee's mouth and broke the silence.

April offered her a glass of water, "Don't talk much. It will hurt."

"How is this possible? It feels so weird to see them together." April talked looking at others.

So Hee nodded hard.

"Ye Rin?" Hana said.

"You know all the things right? So do you think that they are really dating?"

"I am not a fortune teller!

It's not like I know everything. I just know what I see. And I really didn't see this coming.

I mean, I knew Gyuri was crazy for him, and she kind of confessed to him on the last day of the semester…"

"What?" April said shockingly. "You knew this? Why didn't you tell us before, that she had confessed to him and that he had said 'yes'?"

"No. I really didn't know, he said 'Yes' to her. Really. Believe me.

I just knew that she kind of said that she wanted someone to..you know… "protect" her or whatever…

Specifically after the incident with Mia in the girl's room…"

At those words, Mia looked at Ye Rin.

"…Which is not true at all…" Ye Rin quickly added.

"…And she was totally hinting at Ray, as she was talking….But…

But I really didn't know, he would make her his girlfriend!

...I thought, he'd never say 'Yes' to date her….

So I just didn't tell you anything….As I felt it was not possible…"

"Huhhhh…." So Hee sighed loudly.

"...But now I think about it again…..Maybe...It was possible…." Ye Rin said.

Mia who was sitting and was listening to all this kept her silence.

The thing just had happened, the scene she had just seen and the words she had heard weren't leaving from her mind at all.