meet and greet

"Oh, hey Kiki!" Jaeri greets me with a wide, innocent smile, her hazel eyes flickering between Cal and me. On face value, it seems harmless and pretty decent given the setting we're finding ourselves in right now.

But this is Jaeri we're talking about. The girlfriend of my brother who I avoid at all damn costs as much as I can. In fact, I've felt this odd way about her since the very beginning of her and Hajoon's relationship.

It's not that there's anything wrong with her, per se - apart from her incessant nosiness, and her blunt comments - but I tried to put aside my differences for sake of my brother, you know. I mean, if he sees something worthwhile in her, so can I right?

That sounds so mean...

Either way, seeing her here was the last thing that was on my list of surprises for today, and I'm wearing a magic necklace that holds a damn genie. Seeing her smiling so sweetly at me is making me feel slightly uncomfortable, especially since I don't have Hajoon here to act as my natural shield.

I remember this one time when my mother suggested me, her and Jaeri go for lunch sometime. Safe to say that Jaeri did most of the talking, while my mother tried to listen and I just zoned out for most of it. I haven't been alone with her since.

There's a small moment of awkward silence, and it sort of creates a tension that rises like Mercury in a thermometer. Even Cal, who was pulling faces at the entrance and yapping comments just seconds before, seems to be paying way more attention to the vibe between the two of us than he should.

"Jaeri," I say, forcing a smile that probably looks more like a grimace. A friendly one, at least. "What are you doing...here?"

"Oh, Joonie didn't tell you?" she replies with her usual squeaky voice. Her ruby painted lip never fails to sport her perfect smile. "I work here. Or, at least, I started here. Last week."

Just my luck.

She twirls a strand of her perfectly styled hair around her finger, a habit that's always seemed to irk me. I mean, her hair's in a damn ponytail - what is she twirling it for?

"Oh," is all I say, looking at Cal as my last resort. Of course, the latter doesn't really know what's happening right now, and upon making eye contact with me, his eyes seem to dance with both confusion and mischief.

See, if I trusted the genie any bit, then I would've signalled with my eyes that I would like some assistance in this matter. But knowing what I do of Cal, he'll use the first opportunity he can to tease me about this. Even if he doesn't know who she is yet.

And for as long as possible, I want these two to remain strangers to one another. Because if Jaeri knows about Cal, it'll only be a matter of time before Hajoon knows...

"So, Kiki," she begins again, taking a few steps closer to me. Her eyes shine with intrigue, like she couldn't wait to converse with me or something. "Anything interesting happen lately? Any surprises? It was your birthday yesterday too, right?"

"Let me guess," I mutter under my breath, "Hajoon told you about the necklace Jaeun gave me?" Unfortunately for me, Hajoon can't keep his mouth shut around his girlfriend either. Not that I minded before now, but now we're talking about magic and weird visions.

How many people would hear this and not think someone is delusional or crazy?

"What, no! That's not how I know about the necklace," she says, waving her palm dismissively. "Although, he did mention that he gave you a cupcake. It's so cute, because I'm the one who told him which pastry store he should get it from and be totally listened to me. It just goes to show that I'm really good at giving advice. Just like when you're buddy Jaeun was here and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupt her, my one eyebrow raised inquisitively. "Jaeun was here?"

"Oh, yeah," she says, winking at me. "He totally told me not to tell you, but that necklace looks so gorgeous on you and it definitely brings out the dark shades of your eyes, just like I said it would. Just thought you should know I said that, and-"

"Jaeri, Jaeri," I cut her off again, earning a somewhat unimpressed look from her. "When? When was he here?"

"Uhm, last week, I think?" she answers, sounding very uncertain of herself. "Or was it the beginning of this week? My gosh, so many things happened between then and now that I sort of forgot."

"Okay, well that's fine," I say, smiling all of a sudden. Because we just got confirmation of where the necklace came from, an didn't that what Cal has been badgering me about since yesterday. I unconsciously glance at Cal, a look of cocky triumph on my face already.

Unfortunately, I forgot that Jaeri's face is still trained on mine and when I look at Cal, so does she. From the corner of my eyes, I amcan see her eyes widen in surprise, as if she's only just now seeing a whole other person in the store with me. Although, she greeted us in plural, so she definitely saw both of us when we entered.

"Ah, and who's this?" Jaeri asks, a playful glint in her gaze. "It's not one of your usual group of friendmates, that's for sure."

Cal Monroe, who has been quiet since the start of this conversation, suddenly beams upon being paid attention to. His blue gaze is suddenly fixed on Jaeri, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's plotting something or the other.

"Well, that's because I'm not her friend, dear miss Jaeri," he says, taking a few steps forward with a bit more sass than is quite necessary in the moment. "I'm actually way more than that."

"What?" Jaeri gasps, followed by a snorting type of laugh. "Wait, don't tell me... Kiki! Are you finally seeing someone?"

I frown, shaking my head 'no' immediately. I told you I didn't trust the genie to help me in this situation.

"Aw, Mimi boo," Cal coos, now close enough to touch my shoulder. He doesn't, for obvious reasons - because even though the shock thing mostly happens when it's skin to skin, I'm grateful that he's not stupid enough to tempt unknown things right now. "Are you shy? You weren't so closed off to introducing me this morning."

"Introduce you to who? Hajoonie?" Jaeri gasps again, basically squealing with excitement. "Oh my soul, so this is official? How long has this been going on? Is it super serious? Oh my soul, does your mother know about him?"

"Cal, don't say another word," I hiss at him instead, glaring daggers into the side of his head. Once more, he digs a large pot of lies that I just need to happily follow through with, even though I'm still the worst person to climb in that particular boat.

But of course, he just chuckles, thoroughly enjoying the chaos he's causing. "To answer your one of your questions, miss Jaeri: we haven't been going out long, but I'd like to think it's somewhat serious. I mean, I was simply captivated the moment I saw her, you know. To the point where I thought to myself that she needs to get the best gift in the world."

"Oh my soul, that's so romantic," Jaeri coos now, fanning her hands in front of her face to dry imaginary tears. "You should totally give my boyfriend some tips, you know. The last time we had a date, he just took me to this fancy restaurant. Which was nice and all, but nothing beats something out of the box, you know?"

My head flips back in Jaeri's direction, trying my best to hide the look of befuddlement on my face. Hajoon always put in effort when it came to her, and now she's saying that he should think outside of the box? See, there's a reason why I don't really like her.

"See, you totally get me," Cal says, and to my surprise, he rests a palm on my waist. It's on the cloth, but the touch still manages to send sparks through my person. "That's why I think your help would be totally useful. You say that Jaeun got that stunning advice from you regarding this necklace?"

Jaeri's heart-emoji eyes train themselves back onto my necklace, a dazed look still on her face. My frown deepens, because by the looks of this whole thing, she's pretty much getting charmed and hanging off of Cal's every word.

I don't like that. You know, because she's my brother's girlfriend. Nothing else.

"But of course," she says, twirling her hair again. "Look who's such a good listener."

"Well, I can't have my girlfriend's best friend outshine me in the birthday gift department, you know?" Cal responds with a wink, as of him and Jaeri have a secret agenda of their own or something.

Jaeri nods knowingly, still twirling her hair. "Oh, I totally get you," she says, tilting her head a little bit. "I mean, the best friend should never be fancier than the boyfriend, right? I mean, if I even knew that Kiki here had a boyfriend to begin with, perhaps I would'nt have hyped up the necklace so bad. Can you belief he wanted to get her some tacky penguin figurine? Ghastly, I tell you."

"He wanted to get me a penguin figurine?" I ask suddenly, paying way more attention to that part than to whatever nonsense she was spewing in the beginning.

She redirects her attention back to me, her eyes immediately catching Cal's palm around my waist. See, never fails to be nosey. "Well yeah, it was drenched in, like, sparkles and stuff, and to be honest, it was kind of an eyesore. I'm so glad that other old lady bought it yesterday - now I never have to look at the weird thing ever again.

A sparkling penguin... the same as the onesies.

Jaeun wanted to buy me that instead of the necklace. There's a small tug in my chest - a good one - knowing that if Jaeun hadn't been influenced by my brother's girlfriend, he would've gotten something way more in line of the status quo of our friendship: silly and fun.

Which means that all the thoughts that have been circling in my head since yesterday regarding Jaeun's intention can rest, right? Not to mention, I hardly think that the penguin has a Cal Monroe in it. Or any ties to the crazy magic voodoo that's been overcoming my life lately.

Though, on the other hand, Jaeun is the most hard headed person I know. There's no way he would've bought it just because someone told him to. Which means... I don't know what it means. All I know is that if Cal doesn't stop feeding lies to Jaeri right now, I'll find myself in so much shit that it'll be impossible to climb out of it.

"On the note of things that are pretty and ugly," Cal says, his thumb grazing over my hip ever so slightly, "do you think you could browse the place for something gorgeous to give to my lovely Mimi here? Something in the exact same calibre as the necklace Jaeun got her, please?"

"Oh, but of course, mister...?" Jaeri asks, still very wooed by every word the genie had to offer. I almost scoff, but then remember the facade we're putting on.

"Cal," he replies, charming smile on full display. "Cal Monroe."

And with that, Jaeri disappears back into the antique store; but not before offering Cal another wink along with her departure. I frown after her, then remember that Cal is still holding me at my waist.

I instantly flip around, making him drop his hand as quickly. He doesn't look shy or regretful about it, however, and in a way, I'm not surprised. "I cannot wait to fake breakup with you, because this fake dating nonsense has gone on long enough," I all but rap the moment my potential future sister-in-law is out of earshot. "What the heck was that about? Do you know how quickly she'll go and blab to my brother now? The whole point of our arrangement is that few people are supposed to know. Few, Cal. Do you know what that word means?"

"I can resite a thesaurus like my own name, Kiama," he says in a calm voice, mischief never leaving his gaze. "Trust me, I know what 'few' means, darling." He looks very smug with himself - as freaking usual - and casually begins walking in small circles around me.

"That still doesn't explain what you just did!" I hiss back, feeling the same level of irritation from the restaurant come right back tot he surface. "What was with all the 'best friend can't do better than boyfriend' nonsense? Why did you send her to get something of the same calibre?"

"Last time I checked," Cal answers nonchalantly, clearly unbothered by my temper this time round, "the whole point of us getting to the correct antique store was to find out more about the items that were around the necklace prior to Jaeun's purchase. I was merely sending someone who knows the place to go get it for me."

I open my mouth to retort something, but nothing comes out. Mostly because I realise that that is actually a really good plan. "Well, then," I huff, still unwilling to accept defeat, "you could've told me or something."

"And reveal to your blabbermouth friend that we aren't really a couple and looking for something potentially magical in this building?" Jaeun asks, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

I sigh, realizing that he's right again. Maybe it's because I'm used to Cal either speaking in tongues or not having answers to things that I automatically assume that he's just acting on impulse and stupidity at this point.

"Still..." is all I respond with, crossing my arms over my chest. "Whatever."

"Aw, is my schnookems unhappy that I made a plan of action without her?" he teases, taking a taunting step forward.

"Don't call me that," I say with a glare, but I don't step back like I intend to. "And firstly, she's not my friend. She's my brother's girlfriend. Secondly, what was with the hand on my hip?"

"Well, I needed to sell the happy couple crap, didn't I?" he says with a shrug, blue eyes sparkling for a second. "I could tell she ate it up."

"And we both could've been set ablaze by the slightest incorrect touch," I say back, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. I can feel the headache from earlier threatening to make a mighty comeback. "Or is that irrelevant now?"

Cal rolls his eyes, taking another step closer to me. By now, we're literally face to face, out noses centimetres from one another. I glare up at him, and Cal - with all his magical aura and presence - glares back down at me.

Our eyes engage in a battle of sorts, and as childish as it sounds, I refuse to blink the whole time. I mean, if this is how I prove that I'm tougher than the genie, then so be it.

Our silent standoff continues, each of us stubbornly holding our ground. The air seems to crackle with an odd tension, filled up with all the things we have said to one another, and all the things that still want to be said. You know, his snarky comments and my curt comebacks. It's totally bizarre, but at the same time, it's totally fitting.

The only silver lining of this alience between the two of us is that we finally reached one of our destinations. My only hope is that this trip isn't for nothing.

"Oh my," comes the voice of Jaeri all of a sudden, making me jump back in a fright. "Sorry, didn't mean to ruin the moment there, lovebirds."

My face basically lights itself ablaze, and I choke on my spit trying to think of a fast defense for the position we were just in. To the outside eye, it totally looked like we were going to...

Nope, no. No way! That will never happen!

"No problem, miss Jaeri," Cal answers, smirk all too evident in his face. "My Mimi here sometimes just can't help but fall in love with my gorgeous eyes."

I mentally roll my eyes at that comment, outwardly still trying not to die by the hands of my own saliva.

"Well, I don't blame her," Jaeri says, face all dreamy-like. "I've never seen eyes so beautiful. They're all nice and warm. Like a chocolatey brown."

To this I frown, standing up straight again. My head snaps in Cal's direction, my confusion seeping over.

Chocolatey brown? What?

***