The sun shined so bright and I had a lot of things I did that day. It was one exhausting day indeed. That day, I drove home by myself because Seungcheol had a basketball intense practice to be chosen for the main team for a big game, so he didn't drive me home nor picked me up. I was so hungry that afternoon, so I stopped at the nearest McDonald's and parked my car. I just turned off my engine when a guy beside me opened his door and hit my car hardly TWICE. Feeling upset, I quickly got out of the car and came to him.

 

"Oi!" I yelled, "Can't you be more careful?!" I said in an angry tone. He actually didn't leave a scar on my car, but of course I was upset, it was a new car.

 

He turned around and locked his car. "I'm sorry, is it okay?" he said while bowing down to see the body of my car.

 

"Just please be careful next time," I said, still annoyed.

 

"Okay, I'm sorry," he apologized again. I walked away, not responding his apology. I got back into my car to grab my wallet and phone then I locked the car. The guy was already gone to the restaurant. When I entered the restaurant, I accidentally queued next to him. His cashier served him first than me. When he was waiting for his food, it was finally my turn to order the food. The cashier was preparing my food when he talked to me again.

 

"Hey, I'm really sorry for what happened," he said. I, surprised, turned to him. "You already said that," I told him. Realizing maybe I was too mean, I took a breath and this time, I apologized, “Sorry, I was over. It's a new car."

 

He widened his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he said. I managed to smile to him. "You know how you always take care of your things, especially when they're new, and then out of nowhere somebody comes and breaks them? Most of my things that are broken were broken by other people, not me," I told him. He nodded, agreeing. "That's life," he said.

 

"I guess."

 

The cashier came with my food and told me the price I have to pay. Suddenly, the guy gave his card to the cashier. "I'll pay."

 

I, surprised again, immediately tried to deny. "It's okay, please don't. You didn't even leave a scar on it."

 

The cashier, confused, just watched our conversation. "No, it's okay. Please accept it, at least it's what I can do," he insisted.

 

"It's insuranced, don't worry!"

 

"Excuse me, could you please decide now?" the cashier said. I sighed and I finally agreed to let him pay for my food. The cashier took the guy's card and she did the paying process. I grabbed my money and gave it to him.

 

"What's this for?" he asked.

 

"My food, duh," I answered. He smiled. "You don't have to," he said.

 

"Yes, I have to," I insisted.

 

"You don't have to pay me," he said, "if you agree to eat with me."

I gawked, shocked at what he just said. "What?"

 

"You heard me," he smiled, while fixing his white snapback he was wearing backwards. I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

 

And so, that day, I had lunch with a stranger who just hit my car.

 

I ate my french fries in silence, feeling awkward, not knowing what to say, until he started a conversation. "So, what's your name?" he asked. I thought for a while. Should I make up a name? I mean, once I tell him my name, he could track me or something. It's the modern era. You could search people on the internet. Plus, he was a total stranger and who knows if he were up to something? He could hurt me.

 

So, I made up a name.

 

"Lilly," I told him. "What's yours?" I asked him. Now that he knows 'my name', I have to know his name too.

 

"Soonyoung," he answered, and I'm pretty sure it was his real name. "How old are you?"

 

"Seventeen," I answered shortly.

 

"Oh, same," he said.

 

"What school do you go to?" I asked.

 

"I go to School of Performing Arts, you know, the one located near the mall?" he said and I remembered one of my friends go to the same school.

 

"Oh, School of Performing Arts," I said, "do you know Katherine Alexandra?" I tested him, making sure he really went to the school.

 

"Kathy with the long black hair?" he asked and I nodded. Knowing that he knows my friend, I felt relieved.

 

We chatted throughout the lunch and he was actually a nice guy, so I wasn't afraid to tell him where I go to school, too. If he wants to hurt me, I have Seungcheol anyway. It could be handled.

 

We walked out of the restaurant as new acquaintances.

 

"Be careful," I told him when he was about to open his door. He bowed to me and say, "I'm sorry once again," he smiled and I replied his smile.

 

*

 

Two weeks later, I went to the mall near the School of Performing Arts to find something to buy for my mom’s birthday. I was looking at some watches when a guy approached me. “Lilly?”

 

I turned to him. “Uh… S-Soonyoung, right?” I guessed.

 

“Yeah! What a coincidence that we meet again,” he said and I just chuckled. “What are you doing?”

 

“I’m buying something for my mom’s birthday,” I answered.

 

“Oh,” he said. “You came by yourself?”

 

I nodded. “You?”

 

“Same,” he said. I shot him a smile. “Can you help me decide between these watches?” I asked. “Of course,” he said and he looked at the watches.

 

After I finally decided which watch I would like to buy for my mom, we hung out for a while. I felt like eating a yogurt, so he accompanied me to the yogurt shop.

 

I gave my money to the cashier to pay our yogurts. “I’m paying this time,” I told him. “Aigo, you don’t have to,” he said. I bought a plain one with lychees while his was strawberries for the topping. It might sound like a date, but trust me, I didn’t think of it that way. It was just like two friends hanging out at a mall after school. Totally normal, right?

 

Without realizing, we hung out for two hours straight. I had to go home because it was getting late to be out on a school night.

 

“Whoa, it’s 6 p.m. already,” I said.

 

“Is it?” he asked and I showed him my watch, a little too close to his eyes deliberately, just to mess with him. “Aigo, I can’t see,” he said and he grabbed my wrist to zoom out the watch from his vision.

 

“I have to head home. It’s a school night,” I told him.

 

“Me too,” he said. “Where did you park your car?”

 

“Near the first entrance. You?”

 

“Um, near the second entrance,” he said.

 

“Oh. Guess we’re going different directions then,” I said.

 

“I’ll just go through the first entrance, it’s okay,” he said.

 

"No, it's okay. I can go by myself.”

 

"No, really, it's fine. I want to."

 

“Why? It’s kind of far, right?” I asked.

 

“Not really. It’s fine. Let’s go,” he said and he stood up straight.

 

He walked me to the first entrance door of the mall. Why? I didn’t know. But what I know was, I was kind of impressed by his politeness to walk me. He had been so nice, I felt the need to tell him the truth about my name.

 

“Before I head home, I want to be honest with you,” I told him. He looked at me, kind of surprised and confused at the same time. “Okay… What is it?”

 

“My name is not Lilly,” I told him. He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

 

“My real name is Rachel. I’m sorry, but we were strangers when you asked for my name,” I told him, kind of afraid he would get offended. He went silent and I waited for his reaction. Suddenly, he cracked and then, I was the one who was confused. “Why are you laughing?”

 

“Did you just think that I would kidnap or do crime things to you?” he asked.

“Well… I don’t know! But we were strangers back then and you hit my car!” I said. He laughed some more. After he was done laughing, I carefully asked him, “You’re not, by chance, mad or offended, right?”

 

He finished the rest of his laughs. “Are you crazy? Of course not!” he said. “It’s funny how you thought I was a crime.”

 

“Well, you can’t trust people these days, especially the ones you just met,” I said.

 

“That’s right. You’re smart,” he said. “So what’s your real name?”

 

“Rachel.”

 

He cracked again.

 

“What now?” I asked.

 

“It’s just so far from ‘Lilly’,” he said and I joined his laugh eventually.

 

“Well, then…” I said, “guess I have to head home now.”

 

“Oh, yes…” he agreed.

 

“Bye, Soonyoung.”

 

“Bye, Rachel.”

 

I waved him goodbye then walked to my car. "Eh, Rachel, wait!” he called me and I turned to find him running towards me. “Um… may I have your phone number?" he asked me. At the moment, I was kind of afraid if Seungcheol would find out that someone wanted my number. He never admitted it, but he is definitely the jealousy type of guy. But, I guess, I’m not going to tell him about Soonyoung anyway—although we were just friends—moreover about the day we spent. It would light a fire to his axis. So, I answered, "Okay," and gave him my number. We waved goodbye for the second time then I walked to my car. I sat on my seat and before I hit the gas, I checked my phone.

 

Choi Seungcheol, two missed calls.

 

“Hello?” I spoke over the phone once I got home.

 

“Hi, Little Miss Busy,” he teased me.

 

“Sorry, I was at the mall,” I apologized, “was buying something for my mom.”

 

“What did you end up getting her?” he asked.

 

“I ended up buying her a watch,” I answered. “How was the practice?”

 

“I got it. I was chosen to be in the main team.”

 

“Really? Congratulations!”

 

“Thank you, Jagi,” he said, “but there’s like an addition practice, you know…”

 

“Okay…” I said, “When is it?”

 

“Hmm… this Friday…” he said.

 

“Wait, on my mom’s birthday?”

 

“I know. That’s why I called you, I wanted to tell you.”

 

I went silent. I mean, I support him for everything he does that he likes and are good for him, but at the time, I really, really wanted him to be on my mom’s birthday. It would just mean so much to me, because my parents already think of him as their own son and he was already so close to my family. He even plays with my younger cousins.

 

“I’m really, really sorry, Jagiya,” he said, “I’ll make it up to you.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Do you want to watch a movie? I’ll treat you on Saturday night. How does that sound?”

 

I faked a chuckle. “You don’t have to.”

 

“Of course I have to, if that would make my girl happy,” he said, “does that sound good to you?”

 

“Hmm…” I muttered, “I don’t know.”

 

“What do you want me to do then?” he asked softly.

 

“I just want you to come.”

 

He sighed. “Jagi, I wish I could…”

 

“Me too.”

 

There was this pause that was filled with just silence before he spoke again, “Are you… mad?”

 

“No, I’m not mad, I’m just… kind of sad that you can’t be there,” I answered. “But, anyway, I support you, so good luck,” I added.

 

“Thank you for understanding, Jagi. You’re the best,” he said. “I’ll treat you on Saturday night, okay? Oh, and could you please tell your mom I’m sorry?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Bye, Jagi. I love you.”

 

And then, I was sad. It was just as simple as not coming to your mother’s birthday, but I guess, if he could make me happy by doing simple things, he could also turn it the opposite with the simple things too, right? Well, I guess, the one who could make you the happiest could be the reason behind your sadness.

 

*

 

Thank God it’s finally Friday. It’s the start of the weekend and you could stay up late, watch movies, or go bowling. That Friday, as mentioned before, was my mom’s birthday. We went out for dinner with our family as usual. I also gave her the watch and she was in love. I took a picture of her with the watch and uploaded it to my Instagram account later that night, when I arrived in my apartment. Just after I uploaded it, an iMessage came in my inbox.

 

Soonyoung: Hey :D

Me: Hiii.

Soonyoung: What did your mom think of the watch?

Me: She’s in love!

Soonyoung: Really? That’s great then!

Soonyoung: It was my choice, wasn’t it?

Me: Yeah.

Me: Thank you for helping me decide.

Soonyoung: No problem.

Soonyoung: By the way, I just found a yogurt shop that sells a black yogurt.

Me: Black yogurt??? How does it taste??? :O

Soonyoung: It tastes sooo good.

Soonyoung: You should try it sometime.

Me: Hmm… Scared but curious LOL.

Soonyoung: I swear it’s good, I would recommend it.

Soonyoung: And it said it’s good for your health.

Soonyoung: It can prevent you from some diseases.

Me: Interesting…

Soonyoung: What are you doing tomorrow?

 

Is he asking me out?

 

Me: Um… I’m not sure.

Soonyoung: If you’re free, I could take you to the shop.

 

The next day would be Saturday. That means, Seungcheol would take me to the movies.

 

Me: I’ll text you later.

 

*

 

My phone rang twice the next morning, waking me up from my sleep. I opened my eyes to see that Seungcheol was calling. “Hello?” I spoke sleepily.

 

“Good morning, Jagiii,” he said. I yawned. “Good morning,” I sleepily answered.

 

“Were you still asleep?” he asked.

 

“Yeah…” I answered. “What’s up, Seungcheol?”

 

“I’m really sorry, but I think I’ll have to cancel tonight again,” he said. There was a pause before I asked again, “Why?”

 

“Coach just called me that there’s going to be a team meeting later at 6,” he elaborated.

 

“Oh,” was all that came out of my mouth.

 

"Hey, what if you just come here to the meeting?" he suggested.

 

Is he serious? I mean, I support him, but basketball is a hundred percent not my thing. Besides, my presence would just be a disturbance. What am I going to do there?

 

"No, I’m good. You have fun and good luck," I told him. I was actually kind of upset because he blew out our plans two nights in a row, but I really didn't want to start a fight. I was afraid it would affect his mood later and his presence to the meeting would not be good. It's not even 10 in the morning yet and my mood already decreased. Just then, I remembered Soonyoung's offer, so I texted him to tell him that I was free that day. Of course, I didn't tell Seungcheol, because he would get mad and super protective about that I'd end up not going anywhere. Besides, Soonyoung and I were nothing but friends.

 

*

 

"Hey, Lilly—I mean, Rachel," he teased me when we met. I laughed. "Please forgive me," I told him.

 

"No," he said, "there's nothing to be forgiven about."

 

We went to eat lunch first at Soonyoung's favourite restaurant. "So, why do you like this restaurant so much?" I asked him while eating my bibimbap.

 

"Hm," he began, "first of all, you could see that the design of this restaurant is kind of fancy. But, when you see the price of the menu, it's like so cheap for a fancy designed restaurant like this," he explained.

 

"Hm, guess I agree," I told him, "and they also taste delicious."

 

"That's the most important thing. It's cheap, it's fancy, and it's delicious," Soonyoung concluded.

 

Funny how we just clicked to one another. I knew more about him from the lunch. He dances and likes to make dance choreographies. He won some champions here and there and I thought it was amazing. In return, I told him that I love music. He loves music too and we ended up talking about it a lot. He even recommended some songs for me to listen.

 

After lunch, we went window shopping for a while. I went to see some shoes and he accompanied me. He even gave his thoughts about the shoes of my choice. I also accompanied him to some clothing stores. He said he wanted a new jacket or a cap. I noticed that he always wear a jacket whenever we meet, including our first time when he hit my car.

 

"It's just my style. I love jackets," he said, when I asked him why he always wear jackets.

 

"What if it was a hot day?" I asked again.

 

"I'd... still wear it. Well, depends, actually. If it wasn't too hot, I would," he replied. I nodded. "What do you think of this one?" he asked for my opinion on the brown leather jacket and a blue cap he's trying on. I looked at him carefully and he actually looked really nice. The brown leather jacket and the blue cap suited him well.

 

"I like it," I commented and he flashed a smile at me, making me smile back at him.

 

By the time we finished the window shopping, it was already 4 p.m. Finally, we went to the yogurt shop. We had to cross the street to get there. The light turned green and we were allowed to cross the street. Maybe because it was crowded and we had to move fast, he held my hand. He acted so casual about it and it left me kind of speechless and nervous. I felt kind of awkward because it wasn't my boyfriend's hand, but I managed anyway, didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

 

He bought the black yogurt first so I could taste it before I bought it. He went with the strawberries as the topping, as always. After he paid it, he scooped a spoon full of the yogurt into his mouth. "Yum," he commented and then he scooped another into my mouth. "It's good, huh?"

I nodded, agreeing. Then, I bought one for myself. While waiting for my yogurt, I turned to Soonyoung. His teeth and upper lip were all black. Finding how cute he was, I laughed. He was confused. "What?"

 

"It makes your teeth and lip go all black, though," I said. He laughed to himself then I grabbed a tissue on the cashier counter to wipe his mouth. “There.”

 

“Thanks,” he said as he looked at me kind of confusedly, but his lips formed into a small smile eventually.

 

That day, because I was actually kind of tired of driving, I went by subway to the meet him.

 

"Really?" he asked how do I go home when we were about to split. I just nodded.

 

"I'll drive you," he decided himself.

 

"No, thank you, that's okay," I denied.

 

"It's night. I insist.”

 

I chuckled. "Soonyoung!" I called him. "What?"

 

"It's only 7 in the evening!"

 

"Still, it's getting dark."

 

"It's always dark underground in the subway, day or night."

 

He chuckled. "Well... Fine, you're right. But are you sure?"

 

I nodded, convincing him.

 

"Well if you change your mind, call me."

 

I smiled at him. “Thank you. And, by the way, thank you also for the day.”

 

“No, thank you. I really had fun. I wish we could do it again some other time,” he said.

 

"Me too," I said, and I actually meant it.