Chapter Text
Kaning likes to think of herself as someone who doesn’t shy away from confrontation, while she’s not as fearless as Gorya, she’s still headstrong in her own way. Of course, in the case of their friend, Juni, she’s not embarrassed to admit that she’s practically hiding from her.
They’re only an hour into their shift at the flower shop when her phone rings again.
“Are you going to get that?” Ren asks, curiosity getting the better of him when he sees Kaning field yet another call.
Neither Gorya nor Kaning know why F4 like hanging around their tiny flower shop so often (they literally own yachts ) but they’re used to their random visits. Today, it’s MJ and Ren lazing around the store, with MJ glued to his tablet while Ren sketches the interior of the store.
Juni (12 missed calls)
“She’s been trying to call you for nearly an hour now,” Gorya informs her absentmindedly as she rearranges a bouquet of purple flowers. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m ignoring her,” Kaning sighs as she locks her phone to end the thirteenth call.
“Who's Juni?” It’s MJ that asks, finally pulling away from whatever is on his tablet, seemingly confused at the mention of a name he’s never heard before.
Juni, Gorya and Kaning had all attended the same elementary and middle school but after Gorya moved to Kocher High School, she didn’t see much of Juni anymore (they still text a lot and occasionally chat over the phone but both of them are always so busy, they haven’t had the chance to catch up in real life).
“That’s Juni,” Gorya nods her head to the girl crossing the street towards their flower shop, frown etched onto her face.
Kaning blanches.
“Shit,” it’s a testament to how flustered she is that Kaning swears as she scrambles around the store trying to find a spot to hide. Briefly, she considers making a run for it out the door but decides against it when she figures that it’s too late and Juni will see her, she then thinks about hiding behind the boys (they’re tall enough to hide her easily) but she sees the stupidity in the idea as soon as she thinks of it.
Gorya, on the other hand, is at complete ease and just watches in amusement as her friend frantically moves around the store. By the time Kaning tries to crouch behind the counter, Juni is at the door.
Juni hasn’t changed much since Gorya had last seen her a few months ago; her defining features are still the exact same. She still has wildly long hair that she rarely ever puts up — even during the humid summers — and she still has a splatter of freckles across her nose over skin that has tanned well thanks to years of playing soccer.
“Kaning! I can see you!” Juni slides the door open roughly and storms over to her to shove her phone in Kaning’s face. “”Look! Thirteen missed calls and — oh, hey Gorya, long time no see!”
She shoots Gorya a quick friendly smile before rounding on Kaning again. Juni’s arms are full of books, folders and loose paper which she unceremoniously dumps onto the table, nearly knocking MJ’s ipad off the edge as she does so. MJ looks surprised but remains tactfully quiet and just makes room for her belongings.
“This is Juni,” Kaning waves her hand in her friend’s direction. “Juni, this is MJ and Ren.”
If Juni is flustered by their good looks, she doesn’t show it although Kaning supposes that she has always been one-track minded (it comes with being captain of the soccer team, on the student council and a straight A student).
“Hi, hello,” Juni greets them halfheartedly, not paying them much mind before she turns to Kaning with an indignant expression. “What's the point of having a phone if you’re going to decline all my calls?”
“What’s the point of calling me if you already know my answer,” Kaning retorts, folding her arms — Juni is possibly the most persistent person she’s ever met so she needs to start off strong if she has any hopes of combatting her.
“You haven’t even given me the chance to plead my case!” Juni exclaims as she opens one of her many notebooks to showcase a well put together list of arguments (color coded and everything).
“Nothing can convince me to do it!” Kaning shakes her head vehemently and avoids looking at the paper, knowing that she’ll probably agree by the second point.
Before, it used to be Kaning who would play peacemaker between Gorya and Juni as they had strong personalities but now Gorya only watches, entertained by their bickering.
“Isn't it a little flattering? You were voted the most eligible female student in your grade!”
“I’m not a piece of meat!” Kaning huffs back. “It’s practically prostitution!”
“It is not — it’s just a person paying to … spend time with you...” Juni trails off, cringing slightly when she hears how it sounds.
“That sounds an awful lot like prostitution!”
As their conversation gets more heated, MJ and Ren swing their heads back and forth between the girls like they’re watching a tennis match.
Finally taking pity on Kaning, Gorya decides to jump in, “Wait, prostitution? What’s going on?”
At Gorya’s interference, Kaning’s hopes soar. Hopefully, her best friend pulls through and sides with her.
“Well, the school swim team made it to regionals and so I’m organising a fundraiser,” Juni explains, not taking her eyes off Kaning. “I thought the most fun and easiest way to get money is to set up a charity auction date and when I sent out a survey asking who would be the best candidates, Kaning got the most votes so I signed her up to be one of the dates.”
Any hopes Kaning had of Gorya helping her out quickly diminishes when Gorya throws her head back and laughs loudly.
“Oooh,” Gorya immediately begins to tease her, and Kaning’s cheeks bloom red when she sees MJ laughing as well.
“Juni, I’m not doing it,” Kaning insists.
“Listen, it’s just one date and out of all the fundraisers we ever do, date auctions always bring in the most money,” Juni tells her and Kaning knows that she’s probably got a pie chart in one of her folders to prove it. “And you’ve got the most votes we’ve ever had so you’re bound to rake in a lot.”
“You didn’t include yourself in the survey!” Kaning accuses her with a glare. “Or Luna!”
Luna is another one of their friends that Kaning is certain would’ve also received a lot of votes — she has an inkling that Luna probably managed to talk her way out of getting involved (she’s always been good at that).
“Irrelevant,” Juni waves off her indictment. “And I’ve already made like a hundred flyers so it should be fine. Unless you have a boyfriend I don’t know about.”
Foolishly, Kaning’s mind wanders to Kavin — she’s seen him quite a fair bit since their run-in with Tesla and he never hesitates to flirt with her. She knows it’s in his nature and that it means nothing (he’s got hundreds of girls at his beck and call, why would she be different?) but just because her brain knows doesn’t mean her heart does. And her stupid traitorous heart can never be still whenever she’s around him.
Maybe going on a date (even if it’s for a silly reason) might help her stop thinking about Kavin so much (it’s starting to get embarrassing).
“I…” Kaning begins to falter in her stance and she quickly scrambles for something to say before Juni can jump at the opportunity. “What if the guy who bids on me is a creep?”
“Listen, I’ll set up the time and place for the date too so it’ll be safe and I’ll personally keep an eye on you two,” Juni promises and truthfully it does soothe Kaning’s fears a little, especially seeing as Juni is a Khan 8 in Muay Thai. “And if we make budget, I’ve made arrangements so that the leftover money can go to funding the music club!”
It’s the last part that pushes her to agree; she’s been trying to get the pianos replaced for months now (they’re so badly tuned, it’s impossible to get through any pieces).
“Okay fine,” she finally relents and Gorya lets out another laugh.
“It’s for a good cause,” Gorya says encouragingly, although Kaning is almost certain she’s only saying it so she can tease her even more about it. “It actually sounds like it might be fun!”
“I'm glad you think so, Gorya,” Juni turns her attention to the taller girl with a grin. “I signed you up too!”
There’s a moment of silence where no one says anything — Ren, who’d been quiet the entire time catches MJ’s eye and they both share a look. Even Kaning thinks that Juni’s finally gone ahead and signed her own death wish.
“Are you crazy?” Gorya breaks the silence and all but leaps across the table towards Juni. Despite having not seen Gorya in months, Juni is still familiar enough with her to manage to dodge her when she attempts to put her in a headlock.
“Well, it’s a community fundraiser so anyone can participate!” Juni says defensively, “And the photo I used for Kaning had you in it too and people were interested so I capitalized off it.”
“I’m going to capitalize your face!” Gorya exclaims as she tries to yank Juni back by the bag strap. Thankfully, Ren decides to step in and hold her back.
Despite Gorya’s wrath, Juni seems laidback and merely glances at her watch.
“Okay listen, I’m running late but I’ll text you the details later,” Juni gathers all things and waves them off, seemingly unbothered by Gorya’s threats to shave her hair off her in her sleep.
Juni is halfway down the street (she’s a fast walker) when an unfamiliar voice calls her. “Juni!”
She tries to ignore it but he calls her again and jogs to catch up so she grudgingly stops and turns to face MJ.
“Yes?” She tries not to show her impatience (convincing Kaning took a bit longer than she expected so she’s already running nine minutes late) but she’s sure it seeps through with her short tone.
“Can I grab two of those flyers?” He asks her with a slight smirk. “I’ve got a couple of friends who’ll definitely be interested.”