Narrator POV

“You got paid?”

“You got a new house?”

“You got a girlfriend?”

“OMG STOP,” Shownu rolled his eyes and wondered why the food at an extra expensive restaurant came extra slow.

“Then explain why you suddenly decided to take me out for steak at lunch when you didn’t become a billionaire, move out of that rat pit, or get laid?” Ara crossed her arms expectantly.

“Okay, first what does me getting laid have anything to do with taking you out?” Shownu asked exasperatedly.

Ara shrugged, “It seems like something you’d do to celebrate you losing your virg –…”

“Okay gosh, I get your point,” Shownu rolled his eyes again.

“So,” Ara’s eyes sparkled excitedly, “What’s the special occasion?” 

She was so cheerful. It just made Shownu’s task a lot harder.

“I… I uh,” he fumbled for words, “I need to tell you something.”

“O-kay…” Ara wondered what he was getting at.

“I um… Café Curb got a full house reservation.”

“That’s great!” a smile sprayed over her lips, “It means you’re one step closer to becoming a billionaire.”

Gosh why is she so hyped right now Shownu wondered. Just this morning at the bridal shop, even though she didn’t express it, Shownu could feel her low energy like an invisible mist. A few hours passed and now she was shining like the sun.

“It’s on the 25th,” he finally revealed.

The grin on Ara’s face froze for a millisecond before she quickly rearranged her expression, “Oh so you’re up to me as compensation,” she smiled again but this time it didn’t reach her eyes, “Well in that case I accept your grooming.”

“No,” Shownu clarified, “I don’t need to be there. The other workers are all going and –…”

“Shownu go.” Ara shook her head, “I already told you to not skip work for me anymore. One day K.Will is going to get mad and fire you.”

“Then let him fire me,” Shownu shrugged pretending like it was nothing, “I can always find another job.”

Ara raised an eyebrow, “But you love your job.”

“Yes,” Shownu admitted, “But I also love you.”

“I love you too,” Ara confessed, “But I’m not ready to give up my job for you.”

“Please,” Shownu crossed his arms, “You were trying to get yourself fired on the first day.”

“I mean my job at Halmoni’s!” she clarified, “Anyways,” Ara cleared , “My point is that we’re not kids anymore. I like you. You like me, we help each other but at the same time we need to think about our future. Shownu one day you’re going to get married and have a little Shownu running around, you’re going to need a stable job. You shouldn’t waste your time on me.”

“Why do you make it sound like I’m the only one that is going to have a family?” Shownu’s heart clenched. 

Ara gave him a sad smile, “We all know that’s how it’s going to turn out anyways.”

Shownu felt his insides protest. It had always been like this. Once in a while the sensitive topic of growing up appeared. It was always Ara teasing Shownu about falling in love. She’d be the one to encourage him to find a girl. Whenever he had to work overtime at Café Curb, Ara would ask if it was because he met an attractive customer.

She had always expected him to move on while she stayed in the same place and Shownu… well Shownu never had the heart to ask if she had met a cute boy at work because... he wasn’t sure how he’d react if her answer was yes…

or more precisely Shownu was afraid of Ara answering yes.

“Anyways back to the previous