The two walked around freely, going into interesting shops, seeing a mixture of cute and cool things all around, and some very classical and cheesy souvenirs that were made just for the tourists.  Mingyu had bought several of those, but Maeri didn’t bother with them.

The boy was having fun; he was curious about most things on the shops, and was constantly smiling or laughing. He included her, showing her things he found funny or strange, telling her funny jokes and acting silly, and playing with some toys from the shops; he was being extremely natural and friendly, as if they were actual close friends, not just classmates.

But Maeri couldn’t keep up with him. She found it hard to suddenly act like they were friends, she felt awkward. So she found herself just staring at him with a pretty serious – but also puzzled - expression most of the times he talked to her, constantly wondering if he was crazy. She couldn’t understand his sudden interest in her, and she didn’t even know why she agreed to go with him. But she was almost starting to believe that the crazy one there was really her, and not him. It was completely out of character for her to just accept someone’s company like that.

She was deep in thoughts as they walked around the streets, and Mingyu suddenly stopped, making her snap out of her own mind and back into the normal world as the side of her body slammed into his. It was fortunate that she was walking slightly behind him, because were them side by side, she wouldn’t even have noticed he had stopped at all.

“Do you have somewhere you want to go?”

Mingyu asked her, once again leaning his head down a bit more to see her face. He kept doing that, and it made her quite uncomfortable, especially when he simply stared like that, waiting for a reply. That time she boldly stared back at him, and the silence dragged out for a few seconds, since she was too busy wondering if there was something wrong inside Mingyu’s head to properly think about, and answer, his question.

“I feel like I have been dragging you around. Let’s go somewhere you want to go.”

Mingyu explained, laughing awkwardly, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable with her stare. She hesitated once again, but her expression softened up, and she looked away from his face, her eyes travelling randomly without focus as a certain image came into her mind.

“That place!”

Mingyu suddenly said, and she was startled, looking back at him to find the boy pointing directly at her face. She stared at him wide eyed, a bit too surprised by the sudden loudness of his voice and actions to properly react.

“You just thought of a place you wanted to go, didn’t you? Let’s go there!”

He expanded, a bright smile plastered on his face. But she only felt even more confused. How did he know what she was thinking?

“Are you psychic?”

She bluntly asked, staring at him with a weirded out expression.

Mingyu immediately laughed, since he didn’t expect such reaction from the girl who had barely directed more than three full phrases at him the entire day.

“No, I’m not. It was just really obvious on your face that you have somewhere you want to go.”

Mingyu honestly responded, but her expression shifted into full suspicion – which only made him want to laugh more – so he tried to re-assure her.

“I swear I’m not!”

He added while still laughing, holding his hands up in the air as someone who was being threatened at gunpoint, trying to show her that he was innocent. She ignored his silly actions, and suddenly blurted out a street name at him. Mingyu lowered his hands, but his smile held, and he waited for her to expand.

“There’s a convenience store there.”

She simply said, and Mingyu nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go then.”

The boy naturally responded, and immediately took out his phone, so he could type down the street name onto his map and find their way there.

But his sudden compliance – with no questions asked – made Maeri feel a little bothered. She couldn’t understand why, but she felt the agonizing need to explain herself; she didn’t want him to think that she was a weird kid who searched up a random convenience store before going on a field trip.

“It’s the oldest on the island.”

She started explaining, and he turned his head to her with interest.

“Really?”

“The oldest that’s still open, at least. It’s almost 100 years old. Many stores from that time have gone out of business, but this one managed to stick around. And the owner is a big fan of collecting things, so he displays a lot of old items on the shop’s wall. He’s also kept the original counter and such. It kind of became a tourist attraction over the years.”

She dumped the information on him all at once, and he nodded at her, smiling like he always did.

“Cool!”

He simply replied, and then started guiding her to the way they should go to get to the shop. His absolute teenager answer made her want to roll her eyes, but she held it in, and decided to just not reply at all. If he wanted to call a fascinating piece of history just ‘cool’, then that was his business, she wouldn’t bother herself with it. What mattered was that they were going, and that she was going to get to see it all up close, and not only through picture on the internet.

They arrived in front of the stop, and both unconsciously stopped right before going in, taking time to look at it from the outside first. It was very unusual looking, and it definitely had its own character that set it aside from the other shops around.

“Wow, it’s really different from the convenience stores from nowadays.”

Mingyu mentioned, and Maeri nodded absentmindedly. They were used to sliding automated glass door, air-conditioned ambience, bright lights and blinking signs. That shop had none of that; it was simple, but at the same time over the top, as its walls were filled up with various quirky items.

It took Maeri a second or two to properly process that he had actually said something though, but then she snapped back to reality and responded properly.

“But I’m sure that the products inside are the same as the other shops. Only the building is historical anyway, not the food they sell.”

She said, already seeing that there were a lot of popular snacks on the shelves, and even a fancy and quite new looking refrigerated session, that seemed quite out of place with the older vibe of the store, but she didn’t blame the owner for wanting to properly store his items; if he was still using the first refrigerator he ever bought for the shop, she would be suspicious to eat anything out of it, since something that old definitely wouldn’t be working properly.

Without warning, Mingyu started moving again, and he went right in. She took a second, watching his back as he slowly moved away from her. But then her eyes went back to the shop’s interior, and she walked in as well.

Mingyu wandered around comfortably, seeming more interested in the food than anything else, but Maeri looked at her surroundings with admiration. Countless frames were on the walls, of pictures, posters, drawings, and whatever else she could possibly imagine, she would eventually find around those frames. And behind the counter there were multiple shelves displaying old paraphernalia, things that could possible seem meaningless, but which were carefully taken care of and preserved. She was amazed that such a simple place could contain so much history. Those were old things that would never earn a spot in a museum, since they were deemed not important enough, but she found them fascinating nonetheless.

She walked slowly, looking around with care, making sure she was seeing everything. Every small thing she could see seemed so interesting. She completely lost any notion of time as she gazed at those walls; she was completely immersed in the pieces she was observing. But suddenly, and for what seemed to be no reason whatsoever, she snapped back to the real world, feeling somewhat alone. And that was because she was; she turned around, and Mingyu wasn’t there with her anymore.

She started looking around in all directions, suddenly feeling very aware of herself and her surroundings. The boy wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The shelves of the store were quite short, and above them she could properly see the heads of other customers, but Mingyu wasn’t among them. She looked all around the shop, corner to corner; he was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t there anymore.

A sudden panic rose up in her body, as rushed thoughts raced through her mind. She was alone, isolated again. Did he abandon her? She couldn’t help but picture him going away, and she felt that it was completely justified; she was being cold to him the entire time they were together, it was obvious that he’d dislike her. But even though she was used to being by herself, a sudden fear invaded her once she realized that she was alone. She didn’t want to be alone. But it felt like it was too late to be thinking that; if she didn’t want to be alone, she should have treated him better.

A large hand was heavily placed on her shoulder, giving her a fright and making her jump slightly as she turned around to see who it was. Mingyu was right there, standing next to her with that same ridiculous smile he always had on his face.

“Hey. Were you looking for me?”

He naturally asked, but she was still too affected by the frantic state her own mind had put her on. Adding onto that the scare she just got from suddenly being touched, and seeing Mingyu just standing there, her heartrate was definitely accelerated. But there was another sudden snap in her mind, and she felt herself completely normalizing, her body relaxing and her heart softening its beats. She suddenly looked up at him with a mixture of anger and confusion on her face, and she was completely unable to hold back the words that came out.

“I couldn’t see you anywhere! You’re so huge, how can you just disappear like that? What kind of magic was that?”

She asked, starting to chuckle mid-way through, feeling that the situation was completely silly, and getting a bit embarrassed for overreacting on her own. As she managed to calm herself down, and her airy laugh soothed down to a smile, it was then that she finally realized the look of fascination Mingyu was starting at her with.

“What?”

She asked as she got serious again, a very defensive tone in her voice. His stare made her feel uncomfortable. She had just acted naturally and laughe