Hot Chocolate

for the love of Hoji, and the clan!

The light in the café is dim, and the warm orange glows are cast on wooden shafts, the wood so new if you rubbed them with your palm you would be able to inhale the scent of fresh sawdust. Books of different kinds are lined up neatly on bookshelves; tall ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones, ones with pictures, ones with small font, ones with CD’s attached to it. The carpet is a warm maroon colour, plush and thick you could sink into it and fall right asleep. On these carpets stand tables and chairs, also wooden, and just as new.

Jung Eunji sits in one of these chairs, and uses one of these tables. She is sprawled on the table, her eyes moving from left to right and left to right as she reads. She has been reading for an hour now, waiting for Lee Howon, but she does not mind. She loves reading, and this café serves hot chocolate, which is her second love after reading. Already she has downed three cups of hot chocolate, and is sure she can manage another one.

She is so engrossed in the book she doesn’t heart soft thuds on the steps, or feel a figure draw close to her. She doesn’t even feel this figure’s breath as it leans in close, his mouth just beside her ear as it scans what she is reading. Only when the figure starts to slide its hands over her eyes does she jolt, and a soft smile spreads across the lips as she recognizes the familiar touch.

“Arrived, haven’t you, Lee Howon?”

Howon smiles as her cold hands take his away from her eyes, and he wraps her up in a tight hug, nuzzling into her neck. She squeals, giggling, and tries to swipe him away, but he only lifts her from the chair and spins her around. The employees are staring in wonder, all female, all wanting someone like Howon to spin them around. Howon sets Eunji down, and they are so close the tip of their noses are touching, and they can hear each other’s heartbeats. Howon’s arms curl around her again, and Eunji sighs, leaning into him, her own arms securing themselves around his waist.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he whispers, his lips touching her forehead.

“I’m mad.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I waited an hour.”

“You read.”

Eunji tries to glare at him, but fails when his eyes bore into hers, his eyes filled with so much love it burns right through her.

“I’m angry,” she says, trying hard not to smile as she turns away and plops onto her seat.

Hoya smiles, enjoying her temper, and he takes the seat opposite her.

“Really angry?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What can I do to make up?”

“Nothing, you horrible boy.”

“Can I get you some hot chocolate?”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too, you silly girl.”