She didn’t like small spaces. Dark corners and areas especially weren’t her cup of tea, but unfortunately as she ventured more into the windowless office, the darker it got. Usually, stores would have emergency exits hidden somewhere in case of a fire, logically in the back or a door in an office. Nayoung chose for the latter, but the darkness surrounding her didn’t exactly help her in her search for an escape. The utter silence that hung in the market wasn’t entirely comfortable either. Nayoung shuddered at the cold and squinted to somehow see better in the dark, holding out her hands to pat around her surroundings and find her way.

The beady divider that hung from the door pane began rattling and startled Nayoung as she was still walking in the dark. Because of her jump, she ended up bumping into one of the file cabinets against the wall. The hollow metal clattered like a sudden burst of thunder.

“Sorry!” a deep voice said through the darkness, paired with a hand clasping onto her lower arm, “Didn’t mean to scare you there.”

Nayoung’s heart was still beating fast, rushing the blood through her ears. She didn’t reply, as she was still trying to calm herself, but allowed the man to lead her into the dimly lit store again.

“Did you happen to find anything in there before I gave you a heart attack?” Kai said with a smile as he let go of Nayoung, his gaze scanning her before he glanced around. The lights of the lanterns weren’t enough for them to properly read the labels of the displays around them, but still Nayoung caught Kai’s sharp jaw and the way his cupid’s bow formed perfectly above his pouty lips.

She pushed her hands into the pockets of her coat. “It was too dark.”

When the store owner killed the lights, she must’ve also turned off the heating--Nayoung’s hands were freezing and the air felt colder. But somehow her mind wasn’t exactly with the way her body-heat was decreasing by the second, but by how impossibly lucky she had turned out to be.

The guy that visited The Grind every single day; her crush and savior; Kai was standing right in front of her as he too was locked inside of the corner market that was supposed t be open twenty-four seven.

What were the odds?

“I didn’t catch your name?” Kai said after a while and leaned against one of the metal grids. Nayoung looked at him strangely, though she hadn’t meant to because she was still confused of how the higher ups had managed to get them together in this one store.

Kai didn’t catch on as he continued. “I figured since we’re stuck here together, might as well get familiar with each other, right?”

The simple meetings at the coffee shop were nothing compared to the one at the moment, Nayoung realized. Because back then she had another role--a host that served the customers--so she could act accordingly. Right now, however, she was simply Nayoung and he was simply a handsome stranger that she didn’t know and was locked up with in some random place. How should one act?

“Nayoung.”

Kai nodded and reached out his hand for her to shake. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile, waiting patiently.

“Yeah,” Nayoung responded awkwardly and took his hand, internally feeling herself turn into a hopeless pile of goo because of the simple touch. His palm felt soft against hers but the tips of his fingers were calloused and rough against her skin.

“I’m Jongin,” Kai’s-- or rather, Jongin’s voice pulled Nayoung back. Jongin, the name echoed in her mind and settled there, nestling comfortably in her conscious. She smiled at him, nodding before his hand slipped away and Nayoung was left surprisingly disappointed.

Jongin slipped his hands into his pockets, them there to warm up faster. “Not exactly your regular first meeting, huh?”

“If it were, yeah,” Nayoung said but only confused Jongin; she bit her tongue when she realized how it had come out and when she saw the questioning look on his face, she saw no way back but to explain. “We’ve met a few times at The Grind. But back then I only knew you as...Kai.”

Thinking for a moment, realization dawned upon Jongin when he took a better look at his companion. A wide, misplaced grin washed over his features and he pointed at her. “You’re the girl from behind the counter!”

“Yeah,” Nayoung said, trying to remain neutral, but she felt herself grow warmer when Jongin kept his eyes on her, smiling. She didn’t know what he wanted from her and, honestly, kind of expected him to explain the whole two-name issue. His lips just kept forming the dazzling smile she liked so much.

Luckily, Jongin caught on and pulled them out of the foreign yet comfortable silence they had found themselves in.  

“Right, about Kai,” he said and chortled as he rubbed the back of his head as if embarrassed, “it’s sort of a nickname and since I feel uncomfortable just giving out my name like that, I don’t know. It sounded pretty smart in my head.”

When he let out a nervous chuckle, Nayoung shook her head. “No, I get it! It makes sense.”

She smiled because God only knew how many times she had come up with seemingly smart ideas and Yewon shot it down like a pigeon in the sky.

And maybe she didn’t want Jongin to feel like an idiot. A cute idiot.

“I like it,” she said but once again wanted to glue shut because her lips seemed to be looser than usual. Jongin chuckled appreciatively and Nayoung knew she would never get enough of hearing his addicting voice.

Jongin puffed up his chest, squaring his shoulders. The action drew Nayoung’s eyes to his clothing; a dark sweater covered his lithe upper body, not exactly built for the cold weather outside. He was tall, dark and handsome but it made Nayoung question Jongin’s level of strategical knowledge.

However, she also wondered whether he lived that close by that he could just hop in and out the store without a coat, or was simply not bothered by the cold.

“I forgot my jacket,” Jongin said when he caught Nayoung staring at him, and wiggled his body to heat himself up. “Getting locked up in a cold corner store wasn’t exactly on my To-Do list.”

He was obviously joking but Nayoung didn’t crack a smile; it was hitting the minus degrees and this boy was strutting around as if he was asking for pneumonia.

Deciding to be a good Samaritan, Nayoung slipped past Jongin into one of the aisles. She had spotted some camping equipment earlier, so she figured there must be something to fight the colder weather. She didn’t wait for Jongin to follow her, not even bothering to share what she was planning, as she scanned the racks until she found what she was looking for.

“There,” she said with a hint of self satisfaction and grabbed a clear package from the lower rack.

“Nathaniel,” she called for her companion, ignoring the way her heart pounded in her chest when the name slipped so casually from her lips. Her fingers poked through the plastic cover to free the fleece blanket.

Jongin soon joined her and quickly caught the soft blanket that Nayoung had flung at him.

“It’s not exactly coat-worthy but it works,” Nayoung said and slipped past Jongin to the front of the store. Jongin was still staring at the blanket in his hands, somewhat surprised at the outcome of the situation, but soon a smile formed on his face.

“Thanks,” he said, but Nayoung caught his voice and threw a casual ‘no problem’ over her shoulder as she was making her way to the counter. Jongin joined her, this time with the blanket wrapped securely around his shoulders and followed her movements.

“What are you doing?” he asked as Nayoung continued to rummage through her tote bag.

She didn’t respond when she pulled out her wallet and began counting her money. “My conscious will not allow me to steal,” she said and pressed her lips together when she had gathered enough money for the blanket, and left it near the cash register.

Jongin chuckled. “What a good citizen you are.”

“Damn right,” Nayoung said as a joke, half a grin on her lips. “So now what? There isn’t a way out, it’s barely past ten-thirty and we don’t have a key. Isn’t this store supposed to be open twenty-four seven anyway?”

Jongin hummed and pulled the blanket tighter around his arms. “Yeah, I thought so too. Maybe call the police?” he asked when he spotted a phone behind the counter, but Nayoung simply frowned.

“Isn’t that only for emergencies?”

“Well, this seems like a pretty big one to me,” Jongin said.

Nayoung shook her head, not agreeing. “I say we wait until the lady returns. Since it’s a twenty-four seven market, shouldn’t she be back in half an hour or something? Maybe she went to pick something up.”

“At eleven in the evening?”

“I don’t know old people schedules, okay? Maybe she had a cat to feed.”

Jongin chuckled and Nayoung’s frustration began ebbing away. For a moment she had forgotten that she was locked up with her crush Jongin, aka Kai, the handsome regular from the coffee shop she worked at.

For a moment she thought she could function like any other normal human being when in a sticky situation.

But here she was, finding her brain shutting down on her because Jongin had chuckled. She couldn’t help but feel like a pathetic woman at the moment.

“Since there is no way out, maybe we should try to find a radiator or something so we can warm up,” Jongin said, pulling Nayoung out of her reverie.

Now that he had mentioned it, Nayoung indeed felt colder than before so she agreed--it was also a great way of getting away from Jongin for a bit to set her emotions straight. They went their separate ways in search for a source of heat. After five minutes of looking around, all they had found was a boiler and a few cups. They also had scavenged some tea so the two decided to make use of it.

They were seated against the warmest wall of the store, which was connected to the next-door building.

“I’m not a fan of chamomile tea.”

Nayoung let out a soft snort and took a sip from her tea. “Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice. Why not, though?”

Jongin was silent for a moment, as if he was figuring out how he should answer the question. He leaned his head back against the wall. “I’ve never thought about it, actually,” he said. He lifted the steaming cup to his lips to take a sip, his face contorting into a grimace after.

Nayoung grinned at this and slouched against the wall. “As far as I remember, you always get either Frappuccino or coffee shots, so maybe you’re more of a coffee person?” she said, resting her warm cup on her thigh. The warmth spread from her leg to the rest of her body and for a moment, Nayoung was content.

“But that’s the thing, though,” Jongin said, “I’m convinced that the first peoples found some dirty swamp water, took a sip, liked it, and titled it as ‘coffee’ since it fit the taste.” He winced for good measure and almost shuddered under his blanket. “It’s poison.”

Nayoung laughed out loud at this, surprising Jongin. But as she continued laughing, a smile of his own tugged on his lips.

“Then why do you even come to us? We only serve coffee or anything that is remotely caffeinated,” Nayoung said after her laugh had died out and only a few chuckles escaped here and there. She wasn’t a fan of coffee either but she needed the job. She didn’t expect it but the whole barista idea suited her well and was actually fun. Even though Nayoung had to taste all of the drinks when she began working at The Grind and found it a horrifying experience, she came to like some of the drinks as time went by.

“I don’t know,” Jongin said with a smile and took another sip from his tea, the taste becoming less of a problem each time.

They remained seated like this for the next twenty minutes, sipping from their warm cups and talking about the basic things in life as they unknowingly got to know each other a little better.

When Jongin noticed a soft snore coming from next to him, he turned and found a dozed-off Nayoung, her head lolling around. Chuckling, Jongin set his now cold cup on the floor next to him and moved his makeshift jacket to drape it over the two of them. He wondered if she’d mind him sitting this close to her, but desperate times called so he really didn’t have a choice. He cocked his head to the side as he took his position again, his head leaning against the wall, and watched amused how Nayoung seemingly continued to struggle to stay awake. After another minute, he dared to somewhat move the hood of her coat to his shoulder so she had a pillow, and settled her head against it.

It wasn’t comfortable for either of them, but again, decisions had to be made and it wasn’t like Jongin minded either.

Nayoung stirred a little but no more than this, she settled back into her sleep and dozed off again. Glancing at his cup, something about chamomile being sleep-inducing arose in his mind and indeed, he felt himself getting a little drowsier, though nowhere near knocked out like the girl next to him. He chose to turn off his phone so it wouldn’t wake Nayoung and, smiling softly, he leaned his head against the wall again and rest his eyes for a moment.

A few minutes of shut eye wouldn’t hurt anyone.

A sudden sound tugged Nayoung out of her sleep and pushed her into a drowsy state of questioning everything around her. It all started with her cursing whoever had woken her, then she felt a puff of warm air consistently ghosting over her cheek. She jolted away when she found a face way too close for comfort to hers, resulting in her knocking over her empty teacup which eventually startled Jongin out of his sleep. Then, when reality hit her in the face to wake her properly, the sound of keys and cold air pulled her towards the entrance of the store. The shuffling of slippers against the linoleum floor became the sound of her savior.

The lights flickered on and Nayoung had to adjust to her sudden bright surroundings when she was struggling to wake her legs. Hopping up, she hurried to the counter. The old shopkeeper checked her surroundings but was quick to spot a young lady in her store, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“I thought I forgot to turn off the lights but by God, what are you two doing inside of here?” she exclaimed, shuffling from behind the counter to approach Nayoung. The latter figured Jongin had woken as well and followed her, so she didn’t question it, but as the old lady was still storming at her, she wasn’t sure what to do when the woman began spouting accusations.

“Were you two here to steal something? I leave for two hours and this is how the local youths repay my services? How dare you!”

Nayoung jumped back, knocking into Jongin who caught her and moved her out of the way of the woman.

“What do you have to say for yourselves?” the shopkeeper continued, waving her hands at them.

“We were locked inside when you left, ma’am,” Nayoung tried to reason with the lady, but she didn’t seem to believe the story as she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“I always check the store before leaving, so stop lying!” she said and grabbed Jongin and Nayoung by the arms to push them to the entrance. “I will be a good person for now and let you off the hook, but don’t you ever dare come back! Now scram!” she yelled and pushed the two out of her store, face contorted with anger.

“Yes ma’am, sorry for the intrusion!” Jongin apologized and dragged Nayoung out with him down the street. They didn’t stop until they reached a fork in the road, a few hundred feet away from the shop. Jongin was lucky that he had managed to keep the blanket over his shoulders because it was a lot colder outside than inside the store.

Nayoung, on the other hand, was still silent and kept glancing back at the supermarket, as if trying to make reason of the situation.

“Nayoung?” Jongin asked after a moment and glanced down the road before looking back at the girl.

Nayoung lightly shook her head, mouth agape and looked up at Jongin. “She seemed so fragile and sweet.”

At this, Jongin remained silent for a moment before he burst out in laughter. His fingers clutched at his blanket to keep it from falling from his shoulders because of the shocks that ran through his body. Nayoung wasn’t even surprised because she understood how amazed the words had left her lips, and felt herself smile as well. For one, Jongin’s laugh was so endearing and hysterical, she didn’t know what to do with herself. And two, this was absolutely not how she thought her day would end.

After a moment, Jongin settled down and wiped away a few tears that had escaped.

“Well, that was something else,” he said with a broad smile and wrapped the blanket tighter around his body again.

Nayoung noticed and hummed. “You should get home, before you catch a cold,” she said and pulled her tote bag closer onto her shoulder. Jongin nodded and sighed, his warm breath visible in the cold air.

“So I guess I’ll see you?” Jongin said after a moment of silence.

Nayoung nodded subtly and averted her eyes to the clear dark sky, eyeing the twinkling stars with ease. “Yeah.”

She didn’t know why she felt this way but somewhere a nostalgic vibe had settled between them and Nayoung felt strangely attached. It had only been a few hours but she felt like he had been around longer, like they were childhood friends that met up again. Nayoung hummed to herself and gave him a small wave before passing Jongin into the left fork of the road, when she heard him again.

“It was nice to officially meet you!” Jongin called once more. “Although the circumstances could’ve been better.”

Nayoung turned to look at him, still walking. “But that’s boring,” she said. “This was fun,” she added with a smile and waved once more before picking up her pace to get home as soon as possible. This wasn’t how she expected her day to end but in a way, she was satisfied.

Feeling a smile tug on his lips, Jongin watched Nayoung walk away until she crossed the empty street and disappeared from his sight. He sighed, snuggling into the fleece blanket that still hung from his shoulders, and chose to follow Nayoung’s example of going home.

When he arrived after ten minutes, Jongin didn’t even bother turning on the lights. It didn’t take long for him to get to his kitchen to grab a snack before shuffling over to the bedroom. When he began undressing to slip into his pajamas, however, he came across his phone which he had turned off in the supermarket. Turning it on, it flooded with unread messages and missed calls, and Jongin chuckled because he had completely forgotten about his initial mission. Quickly changing, he hopped into his bed and chose to return the missed calls. He heard the dial tone once when the receiver clicked and a loud voice attacked him.

“Kim Jongin!”

Said man held the phone away from his ear at the loud exclamation but put it back when it was silent again. “Hey Chan, sor--”

“Don’t hey Chan me! Are you out of your damn mind? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? Why didn’t my call go through! Where were you?” Chanyeol continued his rant, though Jongin was happy to hear his best friend was so worried about him. It also soothed him in a way because when he had left Chanyeol’s apartment earlier, their mood wasn’t the best. But judging from his tone right now, Jongin could make out that they were good for now.

“I’m sorry man, I completely forgot I had turned off my phone. I got locked in when I was at the store,” he explained while turning off the bedside lamp and lying down, pulling his comforter up to his chin.

“Locked in? How did that even happen! Are you okay?” Chanyeol exclaimed, to which Jongin explained what happened and Chanyeol was left even more confused than he already was. “When did you get out?”

“After two hours when the owner found us.”

“Us?”

At the mention, Jongin was reminded of Nayoung. “Yeah, I was locked up with a girl,” he explained but he wasn’t aware of the subtle smile that curled his lips when he spoke.

Chanyeol, however, was.

“Oh a girl, huh?” he obviously insinuated but immediately snapped out of it. “Wait, after two hours? And you never bothered calling? I thought you were being an and left!”

“I guess it kind of slipped my mind.”

“Must’ve been some great meeting for you to forget about me like that.”

Jongin chuckled. It was great--unfortunate but fun. Strange how his day turned out to be because he never would’ve expected for this to happen with a stranger he apparently knew from the place he visited so often. Come to think of it, he did recognize her when he found her on the floor but not fully until Nayoung had explained about The Grind. It was funny how life could turn out.

Before completely dozing off, Jongin yawned and thought of his bag that was still at Chanyeol’s, so he asked if he could drop by tomorrow to pick it up. But before Chanyeol could respond, Jongin had already changed his mind.

“Hey change of plans, wanna join me somewhere tomorrow before class?”