▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Probably because she woke up panicking about what the awaiting day will turn out to be like. Or maybe because she really needed to pee.

Mostly the second reason.

When evening sprung after a torturous afternoon consisting of experimentation with Ara's new eyeshadow palettes, frying her already damaged hair with a curler and choosing tacky outfits that would look quite frankly ridiculous in comparison to her other female counterparts, she was glad. Taeyeon had texted her numerously about the meeting point: a hip new restaurant about half an hours commute from her apartment, and all Ara needed to do was hurry the heck up with picking an outfit.

She stuck to a deep purple jumpsuit that clung uncomfortably to her hips; easily corrected by a long black jacket, and let her hair run loose down her back. Slipping on a pair of forgotten black pumps, Ara hastily pulled out her charged phone and left the apartment.

Dusk began to settle around the metropolitan city — it was eight in the evening and the sun was preparing to hibernate for the night as hues of pinks and oranges emulsified to create a picture worthy view. Ara caught the fastest bus to the central of Seoul where most of the nightclubs, bars and restaurants resided. Taeyeon called whilst Ara was seated, explaining she was there at the place and reserving their table.

The place was called a snazzy Indigo, the restaurant emitting indigo LED lights around the outside, and the inside (very expectedly) purple themed also. It looked like it would cost hundreds. Money that Ara sadly didn't have.

It was a shame this restaurant didn't do waiter orders; instead insisting you go to the front and order your meal whilst a waiter delivers your food. The bar was different in a way that you'd take your drinks yourself.

Taeyeon sat casually at the back of the restaurant tapping at her phone before conveniently snapping her head up to see the unaware Ara. Waving her hands sporadically, she managed to recieve the attention of the clueless girl and summon her to the table. She hugged Ara as if they'd just seen each other after many months — otherwise her usual hugs. Unlike the unstylish university student, Taeyeon actually had an eye for fashion. She was wearing a pretty cut off pair of jeans alongside the highest heels and a spotless white leather jacket. Her newly colored hair shined. It looked so good.

"You came early, actually," Taeyeon commented once the two sat down in front of each other. "Don't mind Juhyun's lateness — she doesn't really know the meaning of punctuality."

"That's absolutely fine," Ara giggled before scanning the menus placed in front of them. The prices beside the choices were way too much for her to handle. Hopefully she wouldn't have to pay.

After about ten minutes, Juhyun came shuffling in looking like a million bucks. She was wearing a freaking short sequined dress for crying out loud! However, one look over at Ara and a slight roll of her eyes caused the brunette to freeze on her seat. Then a curl of her lips.

"Hey, guys," she simpered, sitting beside Taeyeon and giving her a side hug. "Sorry I'm late. Needed to do the washing in my house because Junmyeon's a complete wack."

"It's fine, Juhyunnie!" Taeyeon said before nudging her in a playful manner. Ara just wished she could be close to Juhyun like that. Desperate, but it would relieve the unfounded tension. "What do you guys wanna order? It's on me; I want to spoil the bride–to–be!"

Juhyun batted her eyelashes dramatically at Taeyeon. "You already spoil me enough! But I want the tequila cocktail right now, I need some loosening up."

Taeyeon nodded and turned to Ara. "The same?"

"No," Ara shook her head. "I'm not in the mood to drink now, actually. Can I just get a glass of iced lemonade?"

"Iced lemonade and two tequila cocktails coming right up!" Taeyeon announced, leaving the table to order the drinks at a seperate restaurant bar. Juhyun and Ara sat on the table in complete silence for a couple minutes. The latter was looking down at her manicured nails whilst Juhyun scanned the younger down carefully.

"So..." Juhyun began, her words spitting like venom. "I apologize for my rudeness when I came over the other day."

"No, no. It's totally fine. I wasn't offended or anything."

"N--no, let me apologize. You're exactly like Kyungsoo, you know? Always claiming you're not offended. You're so alike."

Ara was lost for words at that moment. Why'd Juhyun have to involve Kyungsoo at the weirdest moment? By the way her eyes were quite narrowed, it didn't seem entirely positive.

So she let out a fake laugh to change the subject away from her neighbor. "Are you excited for your wedding?"

"Yeah," Juhyun concluded as if it wasn't her life being tied to another person for the supposed rest of her life. "It's going to be great. Especially with my personal interior designer, Kim Taeyeon."

"Taeyeon's so nice."

The older grinned wanly. "She is...we've been best friends for a long time. Ever since she got involved with Bird Brain years ago."

Taeyeon arrived laden with a tray holding two cocktails and a long glass of iced lemonade. Ara thanked her politely before taking her glass, and the two alcohol drinkers clinked their glass and took sips.

"Are you guys ready to order?" Taeyeon questioned the two, looking buzzed. Ara was still wondering how did someone pull of such a bright color?

"Yeah, I want the vegan ravioli," Juhyun responded vaguely. "You know, slimming for the wedding."

"You're vegan?" Ara wheezed out incredulously.

That's when Taeyeon burst out laughing. "This girl's been a vegan since she left the womb. She's also allergic to meat, and dairy makes her break out in spots."

Ara almost felt sorry for her. No meat, she thought with a bit lip, that must be hell.

Juhyun was calm, however, at Taeyeon's outburst. "Ara, be a darling and order for us. I'm so lazy and I feel bad for Taeyeon as she's paying and got our drinks."

"Yeah, okay."

Taeyeon was sceptical about Juhyun's antics, but gave Ara her debit card nonetheless. She hurriedly whizzed through tables to the order area and stood in the small queue to order.

Juhyun snapped her head to her apparent best friend as if Ara was behind her. "Why'd you invite her for? You told me it was a girls' day out for only us two so we could plan the wedding theme further! And to catch up!"

Taeyeon felt extremely guilty for telling Ara that Juhyun initiated the meetup when she didn't even know Ara was attending. It was all set up by her in a way to mediate the tension that was lingering before the wedding happened. Taeyeon really wanted Ara to belong in their clique instead of being ostracized by Juhyun who obviously had an important role in their group.

"Ara's actually super sweet," she found herself defending her cute friend. Taeyeon loved Ara — more than Juhyun. She was kind, funny and reliable. Also, Kyungri was in love with her too which was even more adorable. "If you got to know her more, you'd realize. Hence why I invited her today."

"Clearly I'm not seeing this sweetness. She acts so cold to me."

"Don't you think it's because you act cold to her? She's scared, Juhyun. She just wants to belong. Why aren't you letting her? If you don't want to do this for her, do it for Kyungsoo."

"I don't know..." She trailed off, feeling fairly guilty.

Taeyeon realized her friend was faltering and continued. "Kyungsoo really likes her, you don't understand. They've surprisingly become such good friends. Honestly? Apart from you, I haven't seen him this happy because of a person. You disliking her affects him a lot, don't you think?"

Hearing this made Juhyun's heart pang. She didn't know why and how, but it hurt. But she knew it was absolutely true. Every single word. Which made it hurt even more.

Taeyeon was hurting too. That someone as pure and loving as Ara could be disliked for no specific reason — she felt horrible when the university student arrived back at the table with an innocent smile not knowing what had occured earlier.

—

"Baekhyun's insisting that we match our outfits on the wedding," Taeyeon giggled whilst biting into her steak that she'd ordered. "I assure you it'll never happen."

Juhyun was struggling to eat through her laughing. "Why not? I think it would be cute!"

"Uh, excuse me? Cute? I don't want to be part of those cringeworthy couples who match. I have some dignity, thank you very much."

"Is that why you're always all over him when we go out with the guys?"

That made Taeyeon and Ara's eyes widen simultaneously. The dissed was silent after that, realizing Juhyun had struck her with a very hot rod, and Ara was biting down chuckles. It felt good that she was able to get closer to Juhyun; although still a little awkward.

"Ara, have you ever dated?" Juhyun initiated with a raised brow. She probably expected the girl to be a newbie to the whole relationship thing. She was kinda right.

"I had a thing with some guy back in High School," Ara explained to her own surprise. Only Seungwan and Mira knew about this. "It wasn't really dating, more flirting. We admitted our feelings to each other, but we kinda kept rescheduling our dates. Turns out we never even had our first date and he began another thing with some girl. They're still together to this day."

Juhyun let out a sound of pity. "That's so sad. What's his name?"

"Jongin."

To Ara, just saying that name spurted heartbreaking memories that she just wanted to forget.

"Don't worry about him, Jung Ara. You'll find a guy that will sweep you off your feet and treat you so much better than that loser anyways," Taeyeon passionately tried to cheer her friend up. "You're great, just remember that. And if a guy worthy enough doesn't come around, I'll be your boyfriend."

Ara almost choked on her pasta. "I'm flattered, truly, Kim Taeyeon. I'll take up your offer."

The table erupted in giggles, which was nice. It was weird, though. How was Taeyeon such a breath of fresh air — full of laughs and smiles and just so refreshing? Yet Juhyun was very...reserved? Ara couldn't come up with a precise enough word. As time goes on, maybe she'll be able to decipher what Juhyun represented. Right now, it was quite negative. For sure.

They stuffed their stomachs with just the dinner itself without even having dessert. Taeyeon had to unbuckle her jeans after bloating a lot too. It was ten in the night and the trio just wanted to get back home and sleep off their dinner.

"How are you guys getting back?" Taeyeon inquired, standing up with difficulty. Ara shrugged.

"The bus, I guess."

That caused Taeyeon to panic. "No, no! You're not taking the bus at this time. It's creepy! I'm ordering you a taxi. I mean I'd force Baekhyun to drive you back but we're visiting his parents outside the city."

"Leave off the taxi nonsense, I'll drive her home," Juhyun shockingly offered. Ara had to pinch herself to make sure she was still awake. Even Taeyeon was speechless for a while.

"Thank you, Juhyun! I'm glad you're not thinking about your hair or something first."

Ara was still dazed. "Thank you, I appreciate your offer. If that's okay with you, obviously."

"More than okay. I pass your apartment on the way to my house so it's fine."

They left the restaurant to find Baekhyun standing on the hood of his shiny new car tapping mindlessly on his phone. His head turned up to see the three girls and he waved like a madman.

"Did you girls have a blast?" He asked in a cringey way, Taeyeon moving to slap him lightly on his head.

"We had a grand time," Juhyun responded.

Baekhyun then turned to Ara when Taeyeon was hugging Juhyun. "Is everything okay with her Majesty?" Definitely meaning the bride. For the first time in her life, Ara found herself nodding her head with a smile plastered on her tired face.

"You know what? It actually was."

—»

Hey! An update, as usual, to you all! Please continue to make me smile with a vote and comment