"It was the slightest touch but the moment burned."
 

“Hey. That’s my seat.” I said with a blank face, thinking it was cool to look cool and icy before him. Good gods, he looked at me and smiled. It was sweet and melting. His eyes looked dreamy like he just woke up from a century of sleep.

“Excuse me?”

I shook my head, trying to be aware of the situation. I am making a fool of myself. Pull yourself back. Act cool. “I said that’s my seat.” And folded my arms into my chest and tried to pull off a pissed look. Of course, the seat was not my issue. I was just trying to start a conversation to push through further interaction. For artistic purposes, of course, as I was thinking of him as my male protagonist. Nothing less but there were more reasons.

He laughed. Wait. HE LAUGHED. AT ME?

His laugh reverberated in the whole cafe. And people looked at our direction, obviously interested with what was going on. I looked back and saw a couple smiling back at us, trying hard to keep from laughing. I looked back at him and he, too, was trying to hold his extra laughs. I stared at him for a long time, waiting for him to calm down. I do not know if I would get pissed getting laughed at or I would get all crazy because he looked so adorable when he laughs. Either way, I had to maintain my cool guy charade.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

He just shrugged his shoulders and then took the chair from the adjacent table and positioned it opposite his - or should I call my - seat. He patted the chair and motioned for me to come sit with him.

“What was that all about?” I asked again, now seated, and with my arms still folded over my chest. And now confused why I actually obeyed him.

“Hi. I’m Yoon Jeonghan. And no, I’m not going to tell. Also, this is not your seat.”

I looked at him puzzled. And also shocked. I was about to reply when I saw him quickly collecting his sketches. From what I caught, he drew the same person but of different perspectives. The guy looked too familiar. He wore leather jacket, loose shirt and pants, and rubber shoes. The details I could not make out of because it all happened too quick. I thought that I have seen the guy somewhere...

Until I realized it was me. 바보, Cheol-ah. How could you not recognize yourself.

He drew me. All the while I was studying him, he was studying me too. And I did not even notice it. He looked a little flushed like he was a kid caught stealing food from the fridge at midnight. He quickly lifted his cup and sipped. He completely forgot about his sketches when he invited me to seat with him. 바보.

“That was me, right?”

It was his turn to look shocked.

“No need to lie or bluff your way out. That was me. Why were you sketching me?” Normally, you would get wilded out that someone took an interest of you. Especially a stranger. But since I was interested in him, as well, I did feel the flattery. I caught his attention.

“For artistic purposes, obviously.” He retorted. “And I caught you looking at me, too. From the counter.”

I chuckled and winked at him. “For artistic purposes, obviously. You are a really nice piece of human anatomy.” I caught his cheeks turn a few shades darker for a moment. Then it was gone. I knew I had him flustered a little bit but I decided not to push it to a topic.

I coughed. “By artistic, I mean, I want to model my male protagonist like you. You see, I’m a novelist.” I leaned in on the table, closing in on our  big physical gap.

“What am I supposed to do then?” He looked at me, his lips looking quite amused. The thing that surprised me more than his amused smile is that he did not even question my novelist background. Usually, I get a few creased foreheads and some wide-eyed reactions. Sometimes, I even get a few are-you-serious laughs. If you would take a look at me, I am sure novelist wouldn't have been your first guess, too. There were times that I get asked what novels have I written before. All were flops but I did not care. I did not write all for the money. It was also for myself and for my readers, no matter how few I got.

“I don’t know….”  I trailed off.

He looked at me intently amused with what I was going to say. So I decided to be a little naughty. I quickly rose from my seat, causing the table to shake a little bit. And I leaned in a little more, closing in our physical gap with only a few millimeters to spare. I did not care that people were looking at us. Or the fact that I spilled his coffee onto the floor. I only cared about this moment. Because moments like this cannot be recreated. 

And then I whispered into his ear, my voice surprisingly rougher than usual and my breath, “Date me? So I could get to know you better.” Then I slightly turned my head to look at him.

I did not intend for my lips to slightly brush on his cheek like a very light kiss. 

 

He quickly turned his head towards me and then our eyes met. And locked. First, it was panic then it slowly turned into something close to curious.

 

I saw something, it was faint but I saw it. Like it was a sudden outburst of something that I wasnt familiar about but it felt so good. And I knew from the look he gave me that he saw it, too.

And for a moment, our worlds weren’t just black and white.