Park Ji Ho was fifteen minutes late. He walked inside the café—brushing the snow off his coat as his eyes scanned the space to look for you. Once his gaze met yours, the familiar boyish grin appeared on his face and you couldn’t help but smile back. It had been a while since you had last seen him and there were so many things to talk about.

“Sorry. I had to go back to the company to fetch something.” He hugged you as soon as you stood up from your seat.

“It’s okay. What do you want to order?”

He looked at the table and saw that you had been drinking tea already. “Do you want another cup?”

“My stomach will get upset if I drink another one.” You chuckled and pointed at one of the desserts displayed. “Since you made me wait, just buy me a slice of that strawberry cake.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He said in English and went straight to the counter.

The two of you did a lot of catching up since you had last seen each other in September. The demos that you did for him proved to be very useful as two of those were already being recorded for the upcoming album of their company’s only solo singer. You had not heard of the singer before but Ji Ho told you that her name was becoming more known after singing an OST for a popular drama recently. He shared with you about his plans for the New Year and the music he was planning to work on. And you told him about your work in Tokyo and how strange it was to go back to your normal work in Seoul. He was proud of the accomplishments you made in a short period of time.

“And you seem very happy right now.” His sudden statement caught you off guard. He placed his empty cup of coffee on the table and he was looking at you like he always did whenever he found out a secret of yours.

You visibly gulped and that made the corners of his lips curve upwards.

“Did everything work out with that guy you told me about?” His voice was gentle but you felt unsure to respond. It took a moment before you finally managed to give a small nod.

“That’s good then.” He smiled that affectionate smile you had come to love about him. “You’re at ease.”

Looking down at your hands, you noticed that you had been nervously playing with the fork all the while. There was hesitation in your voice but you thought about how you should be honest with your feelings.

“He’s going away very soon.”

Ji Ho stilled while cutting a slice of the strawberry cake. “He’s going abroad? For work?”

You shook your head as you trained your eyes on the half-eaten cake on the table.

“He’s enlisting.”

There was silence for a while as Ji Ho straightened from his seat and you finally looked at his face. His brows were furrowed as if he was contemplating quite deeply and you remained quiet. The soft chatter inside the café distracted you for a moment until Ji Ho cleared his throat.

“It’s going to be a long wait.” He sighed and your chest felt heavier. "Do you remember that girl I used to date in college?”

Nodding, you remembered his girlfriend whom you never really got the chance to get to know better. She was pretty with long straight hair and a wide smile.

“Everything was going well between us. But then she broke up with me the day before I enlisted… telling me that she couldn’t bear to wait for me knowing that our feelings would change over time.” Ji Ho chuckled—that kind of laugh devoid of any humor. “And after my service, I found out she and another friend of mine were seeing each other.”

“Sorry to hear that.” You said quietly and Ji Ho just smiled—his eyes crinkling at the corners and you just knew he was totally over it.

“It’s a long time ago. I heard they got married recently.”

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it.” He laughed then. “I wonder why I’m never lucky with women.”

The frown that appeared on your face made him laugh even more. “It’s because you’re always working.”

“Ah… I don’t need an earful right now. Going back to our conversation…” He leaned his elbows on the table and held your gaze. “Are you going to wait for him?”

Hearing that question seemed absurd but you couldn’t help but feel shy when you nodded.

“If you’re going to do that, make sure that he’ll go back to you.” He said firmly and you felt the tips of your ears go numb.

It had been three weeks since you were back from Fukuoka. In between their concerts in Japan, you were with Seung Hyun—going to galleries, meeting his other friends, spending hours upon hours talking about everything and nothing, practicing your cooking, and watching films in his villa. There was one time you thought he had really gone crazy when he insisted to go watch a movie he had been dying to see in a cinema. You weren’t even able to enjoy the movie for fear that he might get discovered. Luckily, no one did. But you thought it still took a toll on your well-being. Still, those times that you got to spend with him brought you even closer. And gradually, you got to know more of him… how talkative he was after watching a film he really liked, how he could easily ask you to do anything with just a little pout. Like that one time he got tipsy and went dancing around his living room without any care in the world.

“Dance with me.” He said in English and you couldn’t help the giggle that came out of your mouth when he swayed his body to Melody Gardot’s If The Stars Were Mine.

“I do remember you telling me I’m a terrible dancer.” He rolled his eyes as he took your hand and made you stand up.

“I don’t care about your dancing.” Smiling softly, he s an arm around your waist and pulled you closer. His next words were too unexpected you could only burrow your face on his chest. “I just want to hold you close.”

When the part came, Seung Hyun swayed the two of you a little bit faster and you both sang along. Your feet jumped from side to side as you circled around the spacious living room. You were laughing because he was totally controlling your movements then. Because of this, you started to become dizzy so you locked your arms around his neck and he stopped jumping then. Feeling euphoric, you sang the next few lines.

If the world was mine, I'd paint it gold and green
I'd make the oceans orange for a brilliant color scheme
I would color all the mountains, make the sky forever blue
So the world would be a painting and I'd live inside with you

The bright smile that appeared on Seung Hyun’s face would be forever imprinted in your mind.

“Look at you smiling like a schoolgirl.” Ji Ho’s voice broke you out of your reverie and you blushed scarlet. “Care to share what you were just thinking of?”

You were spared from getting more embarrassed when your phone vibrated on the table. Ji Ho’s eyes briefly glanced at it as you quickly excused yourself and went in a corner without any customers.

“Y/N-ah! You’re going to my ramen shop later, right?” Seungri’s voice came from the other line.

“Yes. Seung Hyun-ssi mentioned it to me earlier.”

Seung Hyun had texted you a few hours ago about Seungri’s birthday celebration. You had greeted Seungri through LINE but he had never read it. He was probably too busy to read all the messages sent to him.

“Happy Birthday, Seungri-ssi.” You lowered your voice at the mention of his name.

“Thank you.” You could almost see his smile. “Top-hyung has been going crazy without seeing you for five days. Make sure that y--”

“Shut up, you bastard!” Seung Hyun’s distinct voice suddenly shouted at the background and you stifled a laugh.

“We’ll see you later.” Seungri quickly hang up and you were left with a huge grin on your face.

Ji Ho insisted to drive you to Cheongdam-dong since he was late and wanted to make it up to you. He didn’t probe about your earlier topic any further sensing that you were probably embarrassed to talk about it. He parked the car at a corner near the ramen shop and his sudden quietness made you look at him.

“I’m happy that you’re happy…” His gaze was soft. “Truly.”

Filled with sudden warmth, you reached out and hugged him. “Thank you, oppa.”

Ji Ho patted your back and then pulled away—his eyes getting more serious.

His next words shocked you.

“But if T.O.P ever hurt you, I will not hesitate to kick his . Got it?”

He grinned at the dumbfounded expression on your face. “I didn’t even mention his--”

“His enlistment is on the news.” He rolled his eyes as if it was incredibly obvious. “And who else could be with you other than him?”

You shot your hands up in front of him as you started to panic.

“Don’t tell anyone!”

“I won’t.” He laughed. “You know me.”

Your heart was racing wildly against your chest and it took a moment before you found yourself laughing. Ji Ho was just watching you and you started to feel more at ease—putting your trust on the person who had been by your side when you were younger. And you felt so grateful then… to have met such a remarkable person in your life.

“Go. They’re waiting for you.”

“Let’s meet again soon.” You hugged him one more time before you went out the car and walked towards the ramen shop.

Everyone was gathered inside Seungri’s new ramen shop. The youngest member was a ball of energy even though you knew he was tired from their show in Japan and their shoot earlier. You gave him a box of cupcakes you bought at the café and he was all smiles as he guided you to sit beside Seung Hyun. The older man was quietly looking at you as he sipped his beer and you felt how he went rigid when your side connected with his.

“I hope you’re all doing well.” You said to everyone in the table—the managers and the stylist had already greeted you when you entered. And then you thought if they also knew about you and Seung Hyun by how casually they were treating you.