☙✨💖✨❧

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

When morning came Won Woo woke up to someone spamming the front doorbell downstairs. It was clear that his parents were already gone for the day when the noise did not cease for several minutes, no one was answering the door. “Damn.” Won Woo groaned and threw his covers off his body and tiredly made his way out of his room and down the stairs. He almost tripped on the last two steps and sighed in annoyance, it was too early for any of this. Two days in a row, he can’t. “That better not be you, Soonyoung.” He muttered and looked through the peephole to see who it was. He was a bit surprised when he recognized the person to be Ji Min. What is she doing at my door this early?

The doorbell rang three more times and he finally snapped out of it. “Stop, you’re going to break the doorbell at this rate.” Won Woo said after opening the door with a scolding tone. There she stood waving at him with a smile. She was wearing a pink blouse with black capris and pink converse with white shoelaces.

Her straight black hair was in a half ponytail with bangs and she had a cute clip accessory in the back where the hair tie was. She was even wearing earrings that looked like diamonds. It was like she dressed up for an occasion of some sort and it really had Won Woo in a state of awe. He wondered if she dressed up for him? Did she understand his gestures yesterday? Was this her responding to it? He was admiring her until she spoke.

“Good morning to you, too, sleeping beauty!” She snickered when she saw his crazy bed hair. He pouted and ran his hand through his hair a few times to tame it. “You were sleeping in today? Sorry.” She added with a hint of guilt in her expression. Maybe it was a little too early to come over.

“It’s fine.” He assured her and rested his elbow on the doorframe to lean on it and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “What do you want?” Surely there was something she needed or wanted that included him, why else would she be standing at his front door like this so early in the morning all dressed up?

“Weren’t you going to show me around the city today?” It came back to him. “Did you forget again?” She frowned, disappointment written on her face. “And I’m the one with the bad memory?”

“I remember!” He pouted. “Just give me a minute to get dressed and we’ll go!” He said and ran back upstairs to change and washed up. It was the fastest he’s ever changed in his life, he grabbed the first thing he could which was a plaid shirt to put over his black tank top and black skinny jeans. Now was not a time to be meticulous and he thought they worked together quite well so he went with it.

He gave his messy bed hair a few brushes before grabbing his grey jacket and slipped it on then he grabbed his phone and wallet off his nightstand and was back at the front door with a big smile on his face. “Ready to go!”

“Wow, you weren’t this eager to leave a few minutes ago?” She snickered and backed up a few steps, so he could exit the house and lock the door. “You have your house key, right?” She teased, and he frowned at her before checking. He held it up with a grin and she rolled her eyes. “Anyways, I will buy you breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you can show me the whole city today?”

“That’s impossible.” He looked at her like she was crazy, and she only laughed in reply. “But I’ll try my best.” He said a few seconds later with a wider smile. To be honest, he didn’t mind showing her around, especially if he was getting free food in return. Though deep down inside he wanted to spend this time with her since their time together yesterday was short. He missed his old dance partner a lot and wanted things to be like the good old days when they lived in Changwon, just the two of them. I just hope we don’t bump into anyone while we are out.

☙✨💖✨❧

Won Woo did his best to seriously show her around the city to the best of his knowledge. Despite he’s lived there for three years now, he doesn’t go out much and only knew a handful of areas because of his friends who love to hang out in the city when they can, which would explain why they bumped into some of them yesterday. He was able to show her what she needed to know if she were to come out on her own. He told her where to go if she ever found herself in trouble, too. “Give me your phone.” He suddenly asked once they came to a crosswalk.

“Huh? Why?”

“Just give it to me.” He nudged her in an impatient manner. She pouted and did as she was told. She watched him compose a text to someone and she was about to stop him until he pulled his phone out. The text was to himself. “Always contact me if you find yourself lost or in trouble, okay?”

“Got it. Thanks.” She said in a boring tone but the smile on her face proved she appreciated it. She took her phone back from him and went ahead to create a contact for Won Woo. He did the same. He just simply saved her number and wrote “Ji Min” for the name and stopped there. He was not going to edit it with her around to see. He would be sure to edit it later and make it special. Now that he thought about it, he looked over to Ji Min who happened to take a photo of him when he wasn’t looking and saved it before applying it to his contact picture and wrote the name “Jerk face”. He was annoyed but did not act on it, instead, he just snickered and shook his head. If she remembered who Jerk face is, it would be fine. That made his contact a bit special, right? Wishful thinking.

“I think it’s time you buy me breakfast now.” He said a moment later when the crosswalk signal came on.

“Sure!” She said happily and skipped along beside him while they crossed.

“Can you not?” Won Woo frowned and stopped walking, even though he thought it was cute, it was also embarrassing.

“C’mon, it’s a beautiful day, don’t spoil it with your attitude!” She chuckled before grabbing his hand and tried to pull him back into walking while she skipped again. She didn’t want him blocking traffic. Won Woo was a bit surprised and that’s when he noticed the looks they were getting from other people passing them. It could only mean one thing…

What a cute couple!

He looks embarrassed, so adorable!

Couple goals!

He wanted to smile when he heard those comments, but he didn’t want to be obvious when she looked back at him to make sure he was following along. The feeling he got when she held his hand was warm and fuzzy, he could feel that feeling writers write about, how it felt electrifying in a good way. He stared at their conjoined hands and started to remember how close she was standing next to him and holding onto his arm last night when they were standing under that tree. Something about it seemed so intimate to him and his thoughts started to wander. This feels… right. “Hey?” He snapped out of it when Ji Min waved her hand in his face. “What are you spacing out for?”

“Nothing.” He swatted her hand away and cleared his throat to compose himself from his interesting thoughts and started to lead them to the place he wanted to eat breakfast at. “Let’s go.” He could hear her start following him and remained a few steps behind. Something about that bothered him and he looked over his shoulder and saw her smile at him in response. It made him stop walking at once. Am I getting mixed signals? He wondered. Yesterday she was so flustered and avoiding his eyes most of the time, but today she seemed to be doing the opposite. He liked it, but at the same time… he didn’t want to misunderstand.

“What?” She asked and was confused by his reaction. She looked over her own shoulder and thought he was distracted by something behind her, but there was nothing unusual about the view behind her.

“Don’t walk behind me.” He finally said and gestured for her to walk on his left side, away from the road.

“Okay, sheesh.” She snickered and made her way over, but she was secretly flustered on the inside, just the way how it happened sounded like Won Woo was being a protective boyfriend telling his girlfriend he didn’t want her walking behind him out of sight, what if someone tried to do something to her when he wasn’t looking… and of course, he wouldn’t want her getting hurt if she got close to the road near traffic.

But it was all just in her head, it was probably the hormones thinking, the puberty dreaming. Damn, why do I keep having thoughts like this? She wondered after they resumed walking. A couple happened to pass by them and they were holding hands and being lovey-dovey with each other in public. It started to make her think of a love life… I want a boyfriend, is that it? She almost laughed at herself, because it was not like her to be honest, she did not have a clue about dating to start with. No way. School and Dance are important and come first, now’s not the time to be thinking about boys!

The moment they turned around the corner onto a busy sidewalk, Won Woo acted and reached for her hand. She was a bit startled at first but quickly realized why he did that. “Stay close.” He said and started to lead her through the busy sidewalk. It felt like they were going through a snowstorm when Won Woo tried to get them through the small openings.

It seemed like some sort of sale or event was going on and that was why there were so many people crowding the sidewalk. At one point, he lost a hold of her hand and was about to turn and look for her but somehow her hand managed to find him again. Though it felt a bit different, it was probably because of the situation, maybe she was nervous, so her hand was slightly warmer and damp. When they finally made it to the end of the sidewalk he let out a deep sigh like that was the toughest challenge he ever faced. “Are you okay?” He asked and turned around only to be met with someone other than Ji Min. It was his tall friend, Kim Mingyu.

“Hi!” The friendly giant smiled holding a plastic smoothie cup in his other hand that had condensation on it from being cold in the warm weather. That’s where that damp feeling must have come from, his sweating smoothie. LOL

“What?!” Won Woo almost shouted before he quickly panicked and pushed past Mingyu to go back to the crowd. He was relieved when he saw her appear from the crowd with the help of a kind gentleman. Hong Jisoo. He had one arm around her shoulder and a gentle hold on her left hand with his left as well like a Prince guiding his Princess to safety. Won Woo felt very bothered when he saw that, but what was he going to do? There was no reason to get so worked up about it either and be obvious, while he wanted his feelings to reach Ji Min, he did not want his feelings to be known to his friends, at least not yet. He doesn’t want them getting in the way and teasing him about it either.

“I thought I was a goner!” Ji Min collapsed to the ground on all fours and Jisoo was quick to kneel to make sure she was fine. Won Woo snapped out of it hurried over and knelt in front of her and made her take her hands off the pavement.

“Don’t you know how dirty the ground is?!” He scolded. She pouted and looked down at her knee with a concerned look. “Get up.” He said but it sounded like a demand and both Jisoo and Won Woo helped her up when she almost struggled.

“Won Woo, you don’t have to sound so harsh.” Jisoo frowned and gave him a worried yet scolding look. From what he saw last night, he figured Won Woo had an interesting friendship with Ji Min, but even so, it bothered the older because he was such a gentleman and was raised not to speak to others in that manner even if they were friends.

“He’s right though.” Ji Min spoke up and Jisoo was caught off guard when he heard her agree with Won Woo’s scolding. “I was being a bit dramatic.” She added with a sheepish smile.

“What matters is that you’re okay!” Mingyu butted in after taking a sip of his smoothie, he could tell Jisoo was about to go on a lecture to explain to Ji Min that Won Woo’s reaction was uncalled for and he felt like he should step in and keep the peace. “So, care to explain what you two are doing out together? Again? Hmmm? On a dat-” there was a grin starting to spread across his lips before Won Woo elbowed him in the side. “That hurt!”

“Good.” Won Woo snickered. Jisoo’s expression hardened a bit when he saw his friend’s harsh and violent behavior and he started to wonder why he was acting this way, especially around a girl? The older has always been a bit bothered by Won Woo’s character ever since he met him. Their other friends tried to tell Jisoo that it was harmless and just Won Woo’s unique way of expressing himself, he’s like a tsundere. While he could see it, it was just difficult for him to stand by and condone reactions like those, growing up in a peaceful environment his whole life was not doing him any good and he was always ready to lecture anyone who misbehaved. Because It was not gentleman like at all!

But he did consider that old saying: When a boy likes a girl, they would tease and pick on her because it was their strange way of expressing affection. To express that they liked the girl. Though, he could not be so sure that was the case here. While there seemed to be a decent friendship between the two, they annoyed each other the most out of the brief time he’s seen the two interact. Jisoo was highly interested to see how things pan out with them because now he was confused and bothered. He could only go off what he has seen so far, and he has not seen a lot.

“Would you like to join us for breakfast?” Ji Min’s voice suddenly snapped Jisoo out of his thoughts.

“Why are you inviting them?” Won Woo did not sound pleased at all and that amused Jisoo who cracked a small smile and a laugh. Jealousy? Maybe Won Woo did like this girl?

“Sure! That sounds like fun!” Mingyu answered for the both. “We just got smoothies, but you can’t possibly call that a meal, right?”

“You can if you’re on a diet.” Won Woo muttered, and Ji Min rolled her eyes at that comment. It was clear that she knew he did not like the idea but was insisting on it as if to annoy him.

“Where were you planning to eat? Did Won Woo recommend a place?” Jisoo asked in his calm and kind gentleman voice. “If not, maybe I can help?” It was hard to ignore the snicker he heard from Won Woo, but he managed to do it since Ji Min seemed really interested in Jisoo’s recommendations. Like they always say, the more the merrier!

☙✨💖✨❧

Having breakfast with Jisoo and Mingyu went surprisingly well. Won Woo eventually got over the addition of two people at the table since he focused more on eating while his friends chatted up a storm with Ji Min. They talked about trivial things about each other which he realized this was a good thing, it gave Ji Min a chance to socialize and get acquainted with his friends. In case he couldn’t be around she could rely on them, maybe? Though he doubted it would ever come to that in the first place. It was just a What If kind of situation and it was always good to be prepared.

Just when he thought Breakfast was going to overlap with Lunch, Mingyu and Jisoo took their leave since they had plans already for the afternoon. Ji Min was understanding and thanked the two for recommending a place for them to eat, as well as going with them. It was nice to get to know a little more about Won Woo’s friends. “Your friends are so nice.” She smiled after they left the small restaurant.

“Did you think they weren’t?” He snickered at that comment.

“Well, they have to be nice in order to tolerate your bad attitude.” She snickered back.

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes and thought of where else he could show her around next. He felt like he covered most of it, but there was still a lot more to go. They walked around for quite some time before he wondered if he should just suggest they make plans to cover the rest on a different day and have an actual purpose to go to those places other than just looking at it. It was a little past noon now and he was also thinking about suggesting they eat lunch too. They worked up an appetite after walking for so long.

“Won, is that you?!” He heard another familiar voice call out to them and he let out a defeated sigh. Well, what did he expect when his friends like to go out into the city during their summer break? Of course, he was going to run into them! “Don't hurt me, I don't have your spare key with me today!” The blonde pleaded.

“Hey, are they more friends of yours?” Ji Min asked with a small chuckle and waved when two other guys approached them, one had bleached blonde hair, the other and semi-long dark brown hair that was styled, she honestly thought he looked like an anime character straight out of a manga, she found him handsome, she won’t deny that but she didn’t feel anything more than that. “Hello~!” She greeted and the two stopped and stared like they were shocked to see her. Won Woo wanted to scoff at that greeting because he was annoyed that his friends were butting in again, but he didn’t, instead, he smiled just a bit because he thought it was nice that she was greeting them in such a friendly manner despite not knowing who they were, it was cute.

Just then, Won Woo noticed his friend Junhui giving him a teasing look after they introduced themselves. Soonyoung was asking why they were out together like this. “He’s been showing me around the city!” Ji Min answered. It was the truth. “My older brothers are busy with work, so I didn’t really have anyone to show me around. I moved here from Changwon just yesterday.” She explained and started to get shy towards the end since Soonyoung was watching her intently like he was mesmerized by her or something. She thought he was zoning out, but he proved her wrong when he responded with a pouty That’s NO F.U.N.

Soonyoung frowned before quickly smiling again. So this is why he didn’t show up for the morning run this time? He didn’t expect this at all. He also wondered if this new girl had anything to do with Won Woo’s past? “Has Won done a decent job so far?” He’d find out soon enough.

“I’m not sure.” She giggled when Won Woo gave her a betrayed look. “I’m sure he’s done the best he can.”

“His efforts should be enough.” Junhui chuckled and dodged Won Woo’s elbow when Ji Min looked away for a brief second when she heard a car honk their horn.

“We were just on our way to lunch, were you two doing the same?” Soonyoung asked and Ji Min nodded in reply. Won Woo could already tell where this was going. “Do you want to join us?”

“Sure!” She beamed and looked to Won Woo who only sighed and agreed. “That’s no way to react when your friends invite you to lunch!” She slapped him on the shoulder. Both Soonyoung and Junhui held back their laughs when Won Woo pouted from the hit. “You can always go eat somewhere else, ALONE.” She added, and Won Woo’s expression faltered a bit. She had a point. He should not be making such a fuss about this in the first place. He could be at home right now, all by himself with no one to eat his microwaveable TV dinner with. He should be a little more grateful.

“Sorry.” He muttered in reply and gave an apologetic look to his friends who were more than understanding.

“It’s fine.” She assured him with a pleased smile, she was glad he understood what she was getting at. “So, do you guys have any recommendations on where we can eat?”

“Of course! Leave it to me!” Soonyoung chirped before leading them off to their destination.

☙✨💖✨❧

Eating with Soonyoung and Junhui was not that bad and Won Woo enjoyed it. Now that he realized this was something not a lot of people get to do, he was not going to ruin it with his attitude. He supposed it was just the idea of his friends teasing him about Ji Min is what made him try to avoid it all. It seemed whenever there was a girl involved among their friends, everyone would gang up and tease one of them. It happened with their friends Jihoon and Jeonghan, but the positive outcome in all of this was those two were happily dating cute and kind girls who made the guys happy. Won Woo wondered if that’s just a process everyone must go through when getting a girlfriend in a large group of friends. His turn would be soon, wouldn’t it? Only if he can avoid getting found out.

“Hey, Won Woo.” Junhui’s voice snapped him out of it eventually.

“Huh?” He turned to see his friends were looking at him with slightly concerned looks on their faces. And then he noticed Ji Min was missing from the table. “Where did she go?”

“She left to take a phone call from one of her brothers. She’ll be back.” Soonyoung explained before his face got serious. “Won… she’s so nice.”

“Here we go.” Won Woo looked away to avoid their intense stares. Here comes that teasing he had been thinking about not even a minute ago.

“She’s really pretty, too,” Junhui added on.

“And?” Won Woo glanced their way. He really was just thinking about this 45 seconds ago!

“She has nice hair.” Soonyoung shifted in his seat a bit like he was getting ready to list many other things too. And he did. “I like the perfume she’s wearing.”

“Me too,” Junhui claimed with a grin. “Her outfit is pretty nice, too.”

“What are you two even going on about?” Won Woo was a bit lost now.

“Are you jealous yet?” Soonyoung asked with a hint of a smirk.

“...” Won Woo could not believe it. “No. Not in the slightest.” He knew it, he knew they were going to gang up on him and about hanging out with a girl. He doesn’t want to be found out like this, so he put up a front, that tsundere front.

Soonyoung laughed. “I mean, you’re not interested in her at all? I thought surely you’d have some sort of thing for her since you’ve known her longer than the rest of us?” I do. He thought and resisted on saying so.

“... no.” Won Woo said flatly. “Don’t assume things.” Even though you’re right. He wondered if he admitted his feelings, what would they do?

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out, would you?” Soonyoung already likes her? But they just met! He was amazed at how his dancing friend fell fast. Won Woo doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but he supposes it’s different for other people. This started to really bother him, and his mood soured. He’d really ask her out?

“Why are you in such a bad mood?” Junhui asked a moment later. It was clear that Won Woo was bothered now, and they couldn’t be sure if it was because they were teasing him about it or if Won Woo did not like Soonyoung asking if he could ask Ji Min out.

“Because you two are annoying.” His tone was harsh, and his friends suddenly seemed guilty for their antics. They supposed they didn’t think about the kind of character Won Woo was before doing that. With their other friends, they were just a bit flustered and eventually gave in and admitted things, but Won Woo seemed so harsh and serious. Honest mistake.

“Sorry.” They apologized, and Ji Min returned to the table a moment later.

“What did I miss?” She frowned. She instantly noticed the mood when she approached their table again and wondered what went on while she was gone.

“Nothing.” Won Woo answered and the other two remained quiet. She knew Won Woo must have said something that put his friends in down moods and she was not sure how to help with the situation without making things worse.

But did she ever listen to herself, no. “I guess they couldn't handle your bad attitude as much as your other two friends, Gongchan and Dracula.” She said with a slight snicker. It was supposed to be a joke but then again, it seemed more like an insult. And insulted Won Woo was. He glared at her before getting up and leaving the burger joint they came to. “Oh, crap.” She muttered while watching him leave.

“That was kind of mean.” Soonyoung innocently said, he honestly did not expect her to say something like that to Won Woo, but he supposed they have known each other longer, she didn’t mean for it to hurt Won Woo’s feelings.

“I know.” She gave a weak laugh. “Even though I meant it as a joke. He usually doesn’t get upset when I say stuff like that, but I guess since it was in front of his friends…”

“Well, we’re partially to blame for his bad mood as well.” He admitted. He didn’t want her thinking it was all her fault.

“Really? What happened while I was away from the table?” She was curious about it now that he mentioned it.

“Uhhh.” Soonyoung wasn’t sure if they should tell her so they struggled to come up with something but failed.

“I get it, it was a guy thing.” She chuckled. “No need to tell me then.”

“We’re sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too.”

“Will he be okay?” Junhui asked a bit hopeful. “Even though we’ve known him for 3 years, we still don’t know a lot about him or his personality. He doesn’t seem to open up that well to others.”

“I see.” She nodded and looked backed to the exit Won Woo walked out of. “I guess, he still needs time.”

“Needs time?” Naturally, they were going to be curious at her vague response.

“Well, something happened to him years ago, nothing tragic but it hurt him emotionally. It’s probably not my place to say it but, I guess it’s still affecting him.” The atmosphere suddenly felt tense and she managed a small smile to fix it. “Thanks for eating lunch with us, despite how it ended. I’m sure things will be okay after a bit. Don’t worry.”

“Right.” They were happy to see her being positive about it. “Are you going to leave off on your own?” Soonyoung seemed worried about that.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll get a hold of him, no worries.” She assured them.

“Wait!” Junhui stopped her before she could leave their table. “At least save our contacts just in case. We’d hate for you to get lost if he gets stubborn and doesn’t answer your calls.”

“That’s probably a smart idea. Thanks.” She nodded and handed her phone over to them, so they could enter their names. When they were done, she reviewed it. Junhui entered his contact name as Jun and Soonyoung had entered his name as Hoshi. “Why Hoshi?”

“It means Star in Japanese. I want to be a star when I grow up!” He said excitedly, and it was adorable the way his eyes even twinkled, she could tell he was passionate about it and she really admired that.

“I’m sure you will be with that shining attitude!” She said with a bright smile of her own, it almost made Hoshi star-struck himself. “I’ll see you guys around, later~!” She said before heading out of the burger joint.

“Wow, Won Woo is lucky,” Junhui said once she was gone.

“Yeah, I’m kind of jealous.” Soonyoung snickered. “Where can I find a girl like that?” He complained and dropped his head while Junhui laughed at his defeated expression.

“Wait, you’re not really thinking about asking her out, right?” Junhui asked and saw his friend hesitate on answering.

“Of course not!” He said with a nervous laugh. “We just met!”

“Isn’t that how it goes sometimes?” Junhui chuckled and referred to the clichés about handsome guys asking pretty girls out at social gatherings.

“Shut up!” Soonyoung pouted and started to clean up at their table. Now he was getting teased! Instant Karma.

“It’s okay if you want to, she doesn’t really belong to anyone, right?”

“... do you think I have a chance?” He asked and saw Junhui break out into a wild grin. “I hate you!” Soonyoung complained and stormed off to throw their trash away. He set himself up for teasing now.

☙✨💖✨❧

Ji Min could not find Won Woo on her own after leaving the burger joint. She thought to try to find him without asking him directly where he was, she thought her sense of direction was not that bad until she found herself lost, like super lost. She was in a place she didn’t recognize. There was always google maps she could follow from but reading maps was not her thing and her data was too slow to process actual live directions for her to follow, either, perhaps she reached her data limit already. Let alone, did she even remember what her street address was yet? Damn.

She hated how her phone decided to not cooperate with her when she tried opening her brother’s text from the other night with his address. Just her luck that her phone would fail on her at a time like this. She sighed to herself before finding a place to sit down, she needed a break from walking.

She sat there by herself for a short while. She thought to give it about an hour before she tries to contact him, or if he contacts her, if her phone would cooperate then. She knew he would feel guilty for leaving her alone with his friends and would ask her if she was still with them or not. The moment she tells him no and that she is lost, she was sure he would come to her rescue. What can I do to pass time? She thought looked around the area. That’s when she saw a live video of a girl group promoting their latest comeback on a music show on a TV shop across the street and focused on it. AOA Heart Attack.

She listened to the lyrics and couldn’t help but think of Won Woo when the lyrics described the guy with sharp eyes. Falling in love at first sight was also mentioned. At first sight? She chuckled. Well, it seems like it could be that way after three long years. Wait, no. She shook her head and caught herself thinking weird things. Definitely not, not like that. She zoned out about it until someone sat next to her and bumped her shoulder. She wasn’t going to scold them, but when she didn’t hear an apology yet, it did start to bother her. When she looked to her left, she saw Won Woo sitting there with a straight face watching the cars pass by on the road. “Tch.” She snickered before returning her attention to the video. She could feel her cheeks get warm but willed herself to ignore those weird feelings in her chest just now. They sat there in silence until the video was over.

“Who was that? They look familiar.” Won Woo spoke a moment later.

“AOA. They just made a comeback and it’s catchy.” She muttered.

“It’s good.” He simply said before looking at her. She seemed to be flustered by the way her gaze was down and she was fiddling with the hem of her shirt. He wasn’t sure if it was the reflection of her pink blouse on her cheeks or if her cheeks were flushed red. “Are you hot?” He worried.

“Oh?!” She gave an awkward laugh. “Maybe! I mean it is summer after all.” She pointed out and fanned herself with one of her hands and avoiding looking at him.  

He frowned. “You went off on your own to find me?”

“Well, yeah.” She said with a sheepish laugh. “I was confident that I could find you, but my phone decided to turn against me and I wasn’t able to use google maps to figure out where I was… so I just took a break and sat on this bench. Though, I had a feeling you would come back and find me, so, congratulations! You found me before I could find you.”

“What’s my prize?” He asked with a small snicker.

“Dinner.” She grinned, and he just smiled at that. His mood was better now after having some time to cool off. She was glad, because talking about it was not going to help in the slightest. Moving forward seemed like the best thing for now. They could revisit this day later and talk about it. “What shall we eat this time?”

“Hmm…” Won Woo thought about it and stood up once a place came to mind. He gestured for her to follow him and she happily walked beside him on his right side, away from the road.

☙✨💖✨❧

“Hello!” A girl happily greeted after approaching the table with her boyfriend. “Are you on a-”

“No.” Won Woo interrupted her before sighing and turned to Ji Min. “More of my friends, unfortunately.” They had come to a pizza joint a few blocks from where Won Woo found Ji Min earlier. They had just made their order a moment ago, but he did not expect more of his friends to join them at their meal today. It seemed like they were never going to eat alone today.

“Yah.” The pretty male next to the girl frowned, he did not appreciate Won Woo’s introduction. Ji Min, on the other hand, was staring at him, like she was star struck suddenly. “Hi.” He waved with a smile.

“Hey, snap out of it. He has a girlfriend.” Won Woo nudged her, and she luckily snapped out of it in time before the french fry she stuck in almost fell out.

“I know, my boyfriend is gorgeous, such a masterpiece, it’s okay to stare and admire his beauty, I won’t get mad.” The girl explained before coming around to sit next to Ji Min and stare at her boyfriend as well. The pretty male just chuckled and ran a hand through his long locks like he was showing off. Won Woo groaned in response.

“He looks familiar.” Ji Min barely got out and turned and noticed how pretty the girl was, she felt shy for a moment. She had long black silky hair and fair, flawless skin. Her eyes were pretty and decorated with shimmery hues of pink and cat winged liner. Her gradient lips were even stunning to look at. And so she almost asked herself, who is prettier, her or her boyfriend?! They’re the most beautiful couple I’ve ever laid eyes on! She couldn’t help but be a bit envious.

“He’s been mistaken as Ren from NU’EST a few times, that’s probably why. But it’s honestly just the hair!” The girl snapped Ji Min out of it with her explanation. “I know how you feel, Ren is my bias.”

“Mine too!” Ji Min’s shyness didn’t last too long and they suddenly squealed together. When two fangirls from the same fandom meet, a new friendship is born. A strong one at that. “My name is Ji Min!”

“Soo Min!” The girl equally shouted. “Who else do you like in NU’EST?!”

“Minhyun!”

“Me too!”

“Who do you not like in KPOP, honestly.” Won Woo rolled his eyes before his friend joined him on his side of the table. “You’ll be known as Ren from now on. She already calls Jisoo, Gongchan.”

“I suppose I should embrace it then.” His friend chuckled before they turned to the pair of fangirls. “Can you at least introduce me properly?” He asked to his girlfriend.

“Right, so his real name is Jeonghan.” Soo Min explained, and they could hear the two guys snicker at that. “By the way, don’t you think Won Woo looks a little like Uknow from TVXQ?”

“Really?” Ji Min looked at Won Woo and tilted her head. “I don’t see it.”

“What?!” Soo Min almost shouted and looked betrayed. “How can you not see it?!”

“I just don’t.” Ji Min said with a sheepish laugh, Won Woo noticed something though… she was blushing. This time he knew it wasn’t just the color reflecting off her blouse or from the summer heat.

“Don’t worry, she likes to lie a lot.” Won Woo spoke up with a small smirk.

“So… like are you two on a-” Jeonghan was saying but was instantly cut off.

“No.” Won Woo said flatly and glared at him a bit. Instant Karma. “She’s a friend from my hometown, she moved to Seoul yesterday. That is all. I was showing her around the city since her brothers were too busy to do so.”

“How nice of you, Won Woo~!” Soo Min cooed, and he sighed, he was irritated, he knew a repeat of this afternoon was bound to happen. “Too bad though, this could have turned into a double date!” Yeah, too bad. If only things were different right now.

“No, no, no.” Ji Min shook her head. “Wouldn’t it be better if Ren was my date, could you imagine it?!” That sentence bothered Won Woo and Jeonghan noticed it plain as day, but he was not going to point it out and give his friend a tough time. Despite he really wanted to, but it was too soon to be teasing him like that.

This time, Won Woo did not have such a fun time eating with his friends. He remained quiet for the most part while Ji Min got more acquainted with Soo Min and Jeonghan and when they started dating and Ji Min was happy to hear all about it. They were very open about how the two met in high school. Jeonghan was a year older and they started dating when Soo Min was a second year and he was a senior. Ji Min thought it was interesting and wondered how things went after he graduated, which they explained.

She thought their relationship was rather cute and it started to make her think about being in a relationship herself. She glanced at Won Woo, for what reason, why? It just sort of happened and she noticed him glance at her at that moment. Their eyes locked and she stared at him, and he stared back, slightly confused before she looked away, flustered. Why?! What the hell! She felt like she was going crazy for a moment. Luckily, the couple didn’t notice since they were too busy staring at each other, Jeonghan watching and listening to his girl intently and with awe, Soo Min was getting distracted by him but managed to continue telling their story to Ji Min.

Then their pizza came and they all dug in after Ji Min told them to have some, since the pizza was big enough to feed all four of them. She planned to buy something extra later to make it up to Won Woo for this. Near the end of their meal is when she noticed he was not really enjoying himself and she started to worry about it, it seemed like the couple noticed it as well and luckily cut things short without making it obvious as to why.

“It was nice meeting you, Ji Min!” Soo Min said happily after the bill was paid, they wanted to help pay it but Ji Min insisted it was fine. They thought it was really nice of her to pay for their meal and promised to pay for the next. “Let’s stay connected, okay?!” She asked and pulled out her phone to exchange numbers.

“Sure.” Ji Min thought it would be nice to have a female acquaintance she could rely on at least. “See you around then!” She added quickly once their numbers were exchanged, Won Woo had already started to leave the restaurant without her and she didn’t want to get left behind.

“What’s with him?” Soo Min pouted and watched Ji Min catch up to Won Woo down the street.

“He’s probably just annoyed about the teasing we did on him and that new girl.”

“But we were just joking!” His girlfriend frowned and looked guilty. After three years of knowing Won Woo, she was able to get a bit closer to him recently along with another friend of theirs, Jihoon. They were starting to talk more and meet more and so when they bumped into him with another girl, you could say she felt a bit shocked and confused. She’s never heard about this girl before but he hasn’t really opened up to her much lately either so how would she know? “Gosh… I guess, we really have to be careful around him. He seems to be full of surprises.”

“Don’t stress about it. He’ll get over it as long as we don’t keep doing it.” Jeonghan was not the type to keep joking about something his friends did not like, so there really would not be a next time happening. But he too was shocked and interested in finding out more about Ji Min. As far as he knows, he’s never heard about Won Woo having a friend back in Changwon, he was sure their other friends didn’t know about this either, not even Mingyu who is the closest to him. He doesn’t want to think Won Woo was keeping it a secret, he was sure it wasn’t anything like that. They’d learn more as time goes on. Once Won Woo and Ji Min were out of sight, the couple took their leave as well.

☙✨💖✨❧

“Hey?” Ji Min asked when they were two blocks away from the pizza joint. They had been walking in silence ever since, it was fine at first, but she started to notice it was not a good silence, it was not a comfortable silence, but a tense silence. “Something wrong?”

“No.” He simply replied. Well, that was better than not answering like he would do most of the time. Things were not as serious as she thought, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried.

“Okay.” She said, and they continued to walk in silence. She wanted to ask why he seemed bothered during dinner, but she could already tell how that would go down, he would not want to talk about it and say it was nothing, so it was almost pointless to even ask about it. They eventually came across a park moments later and took a seat on the bench to take a break from walking. The sun was getting close to setting by now and it just showed how long they had been out in the city, the sky once nothing but hues of blues and white were now turning pink, orange and purple. It was quite beautiful and she could almost see some stars start to twinkle. A lot happened while they were out here, and Ji Min started to think about it all.

It was nice, but there were times she wished things happened differently. It’s difficult to wish things were different, there was always going to be good things and dreadful things when wishing something like that. Like… she would not have been able to meet some of his friends, and he would not have had an enjoyable time eating with other people. She remembers the time they ate dinner with his mother and sometimes both of his parents back in Changwon. His parents managed to come home more than her own and so, it was nice to eat with others, like a small family. She really missed that after they moved away. Always got to be grateful for what we have currently. She thought to herself with a small sigh. But how could she be grateful for Won Woo being in a bad mood?

When she turned to look at Won Woo, she could see he seemed lost in thoughts about things as well. The expression on his face told her that he was not having such a good time and she started to feel bad, naturally. They were out here because of her. “Do you want to go home now. I think that’s enough for today, right?” She spoke up and he managed to snap out of it and looked at her. “I’m sure you’ve had enough of my irritating self for one day, too.” She added with a weak laugh. “I know you probably want to be alone right now and-”

“No.” He interrupted her. “Don’t assume that.”

“But-”

“I know I have a bad attitude. Maybe my other friends couldn't exactly handle it… but I know you can.”

“... true.” She had to agree. He pouted at her but shook his head with a light chuckle.

“Thanks.” He said with a small smile. “For putting up with me in the past and for putting up with me even today.”

“Sure, we’re in the same boat. I can have a bad attitude at times as well and… I understand why you are the way you are, so it’s okay. You’re forgiven Jerk Face.” She grinned, and he snickered at her comment before bumping his shoulder with hers. “So, shall we go home now? It’s been a long day hasn’t it?”

“No. I’m not ready to go home… not yet.” His expression faltered a bit and she knew why... the moment they get home would be the moment they become all alone in their lonely houses while his parents and her brothers are away working late into the night. “I’m not ready to be alone yet.”

“That makes the two of us.” She flashed him a cute smile and he stared for a second until she spoke again. “Want to go catch a movie or something? I’ll pay for everything.”

“Really?” Like a date...

“Yeah, Jaehwan gave me a card to use yesterday before he went to work after lunch. Might as well put it to beneficial use, right?”

“You’re like a walking bank.” He chuckled now that he recalled how she paid for all his meals today, she even covered his friends’ meals as well when they ate together because she insisted on it. It was probably to give them a good impression and the friendly thing to do.

“I might be.” She snickered and held up her wallet. “He told me to buy what I need and not to worry about the prices, so I took advantage of it for today.”

“Wow.” He couldn’t help but feel bad, he knew what that was like and he could tell she seemed slightly bothered about it as well. She was right, they are in the same boat. “Then let’s watch two movies and buy out the whole showcase of snacks.”

“Let’s do it!” She was now ready to splurge on fun.

Chapter Three~!

Mingyu: Ohhhh, is he going on a date~?!

Won Woo: Not you too…

Mingyu: I don’t get it, you keep thinking of how you wished it was a date?!

Won Woo: Well, why don’t you keep your nosy nose out of my head?

LOL