Aejin sighed, puffing out her cheeks as Hyungwon's car pulled up to the mall. The past two weeks had been filled with revisions, more conferences, meetings, and several angry phone calls to people who didn't understand the difference between blood orange and red.

At least three times each week, Hyungwon would message her, offering to go out to dinner after work. It sounded amazing, but everytime Aejin thought she'd be done in time, she ended up staying hours later than she'd ever imagine.

No matter how late, however, Hyungwon would wait. She'd apologize, wanting to make excuses, but her quiet match would just shrug and tell her it was no problem and ask if she wanted a ride home. She'd accept, he'd drive her home, drop her off, and then go home. Which honestly melted Aejin's heart a little bit. But the melting froze over with the reminder that she was the one who kept being late and cancelling on their plans. 

No more, she had decided that Friday. Her weekend was clear, and she immediately stopped Hyungwon at their lunch break before he went out with his friends. He just looked down at her curiously, waiting patiently for her to speak.

"We're going shopping Saturday." Of course, he didn't disagree. They decided to have Hyungwon pick Aejin up and then head to the COEX Mall. It'd be a bit busier than she'd like, but at least they'd finally be able to have a date. Of course, Aejin had talked about all the stores she wanted to take him once they headed that way, but Hyungwon simply nodded and hummed in response as he drove.

Then Aejin had resorted to pouting, not enjoying being ignored or having an inresponsive person at her side. But he was growing on her, she'd admit. 

"You coming? You were so excited on the way over..." Hyungwon's voice echoed in her head, making her jump. He had opened the door for her. How gentlemanly. And he commented on her conversation to their destination. She blushed, not knowing how to respond.

"I am, sorry! I was thinking...of where to take you to first!" Aejin recovered rather well, she thought, taking his arm and walking towards the mall after the car was locked. 


Honestly, Hyungwon could care less about this shopping trip. But Aejin seemed happy to be in the stores, tossing things at him and asking him to try them on or his opinion on the article of clothing. He looked down at his dark hoodie and plain jeans. Was... something wrong with these? He didn't know.
 

His date pulled out a bright shirt, showcasing it to him. "So???" She seemed eager for a positive reaction, but Hyungwon didn't have one. However, he'd ask her something.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

Aejin blinked, looking at him like he had asked why the Earth revolved around the Sun. He stood his ground.

"I know you're cute, but you've literally worn that hoodie everytime we see each other, and this is a date. I just... I don't know, looking good makes me feel good, and I guess I..." She didn't finish the statement, shoving the shirt at him. "Just try it on. It'll look nice with your dark hair."

"...Okay... Are you having fun?" Hyungwon asked. He was just tryng to be nice, regardless of how out of place he felt right now. This whole thing was new and really weird for him. 

Aejin stopped to glance back at him. "Are you?"

He went with his gut reaction, which was a shrug. When Aejin groaned and stomped off to the men's jeans section, his heart dropped a little. He felt bad. She was trying to do something to help them bond, and here he was, not caring.  He sighed, following her.

He hoped that Joo Seung wasn't actually watching them like his friend had half-joked about. He'd get in so much trouble for making Aejin upset. Hyungwon trailed behind his date, glancing at the types of jeans available for men. He didn't even recognize half of brand names, much less knew the difference between the styles. What was the point of relaxed and loose jeans being different? Weren't they the same? 

His eyes caught sight of a pair of jeans. Rips above the knees, a nice regular wash, and slightly fitted, it looked like from the picture next to the display.

"Aejin, I like these." She was shocked at the sudden interest of Hyungwon in clothing, but her smile made him sigh in relief and had a small twitch at the corner of his mouth. 

Aejin seemed very pleased with his interest, picking out a few tops and jackets that could be paired with it (she said something along the lines of "you have a very classic style, which you can mix and match with basically everything, good choice!") Hyungwon wasn't paying that much attention, but she was happy and that was all he wanted right now.

She was satisified with her haul she had convinced Hyungwon to buy. Next, she'd have to convince him to throw out a few older things in order for him to make use of the new clothes, but hey, one step at a time. As Aejin considered possible ways to ask to see his closet without sounding really creepy, her lower body was suddenly thrown back by a small but mighty force.

What??? She shouldn't be getting her monthly visitor, she just had it a week and a half ago -- she looked down, her eyes widening when she saw a little girl standing in front of her and Hyungwon. The little one's eyes were wide, and her previous smile had dropped off of her face as she realized she was looking at strangers. Oh god. Aejin wasn't ready to deal with kids, no way --

"Hey there, what's your name?" Her neck almost snapped with the amount of force she used to whip her head towards Hyungwon, who was on his knees, smiling kindly, and the girl was immediately smitten, telling him her name, what she was doing here, etc. Aejin just felt her mind reeling and an ache making its way along her shoulders and up her neck.

Who was this man and where was Hyungwon???

The young girl was just all to eager to talk to her date, and the more they talked, the warmer Hyungwon seemed and the more confused Aejin got. What the hell was happening? 

A few minutes later, a woman appeared, out of breath and cheeks pink. Apparently, this was the girl's mother, because once the initial fear of losing her kid melted off her face, she was  going between scolding the little one and thanking Hyungwon for his kindness and for stopping her.

"It's no problem, ma'am, I love kids." Hyungwon replied, his tone light and warm. Aejin stood there dumbly, not even registering the fact that the mom and child had left and Hyungwon was looking at her blankly again.

"Aejin?" Hyungwon asked. She was staring blankly at him, slightly open. He blinked.

"Aejin, please stop staring." He requested. It seemed to snap her out of her trance.

Aejin shook her head, focusing on him once more and her lips pursing. "I'm going to figure you out, Chae Hyungwon."

"What???" 

"If this date has shown me anything," Aejin explained, walking by him,"It's that you're a good guy Hyungwon. We'll get there."

Hyungwon wasn't sure what that meant, but he was willing to go along with it for now. Aejin was pretty entertaining, despite her strange fascination with dressing him.

_________________________________________________________________________


"Jinhee, you can't keep running off like that, you could've gotten lost and then we'd be late!" Haejin sighed, running a hand through her hair. Usually, she wouldn't be this upset over her daughter running off, it happened more often than she could count with all of the energy she had, but today was important to her.

Jinhee had a playdate with 'Auntie Dara' and 'Uncle Jiyong' today. She was almost embarrassed to ask her friends for a few hours off so she could go on a date, but honestly, the second she mentioned it was because she was seeing this guy again, Dara all but screamed that they'd do it, no matter what.

Her jitters returned as the idea of going on another date with the younger man invaded her mind. It was definitely different than what she was used to, but she thought Namjoon was cute and the fact that he wasn't scared off by her dropping the 'dead husband and nine year old child' bomb was enough to encourage her for a second date.

....The dimple helped his case, too. 

Dongdaemun wasn't close, but not too far from the COEX, which worked out well for Haejin. Namjoon wanted to keep it very casual, asking if it'd be alright to take a walk around Dongdaemun's Design Plaza. There were lot of things to do there, and with the weather  being clear and nice for winter, he didn't want to pass up the opportunity.

She caught sight of her date from a little ways away, his blonde hair making it hard to miss. "Namjoon?" She laughed a little when the young man jumped and looked at her with wide eyes before his shoulders relaxed a little. At least she wasn't the only one jittery and nervous today.

As they walked, it was nice to relax and talk about their jobs. For Namjoon, he was all too eager to talk about his adventures of being a teacher. Some kids were too funny, and he lamented on how often they had smart and intelligent answers to his questions, but he couldn't encourage such behaviour in school. 

"I'd be in so much trouble if kids went around saying half the stuff I told them to only say in my class." He shook his head, his blonde hair falling in his eyes. She resisted the urge to push it back. A little too forward right now.

At one point, Haejin was reminded of something a particularly bad student in this case did that was similar to a bratty bride she had to deal with last week. When she brought this to Namjoon's attention, the younger man was almost doubled over in laughter, his eyes squeezing shut as he gasped for air.

"How... How can a grown woman be like that?!" He managed to get out, "That's insane. And that can be normal in your day?"

Haejin nodded, laughing herself. "You'd be surprised how many brides throw a fit over cake and how the baker can't possibly mix three or more flavours into the batter without it being horrible."

"Weddings are insane." Namjoon shook his head, calming down a little, "It loses it's signifiance when you worry about 'stuff' rather than why you're doing it in the first place."

"Very insightly, Mr. Professor." Haejin smiled, nudging him lightly. He blushed, shrugging sheepishly. Afterwards, the two fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying the others company. Until, that is, Haejin caught sight of a game set up across the way.

"Look, a chess board!" She pointed out, her smile widened. "I love this game, I don't have anyone to play with me properly.. Jinhee has her own rules she likes to play by."

"Well, m'lady," He grinned at her, "You happen to be in the company of someone who also enjoys chess and plays by the rules."

"You really want to play? I get competitive." Haejin warned, but was already sitting down on one end and resetting the board. Namjoon chuckled.

"I'm sure."

And with that, the game began. Haejin had to admit, Namjoon was a stratgetic player and could guess her moves when she tried to close in on a piece -- just as she could keep an eye on his stray pieces creeping closer to her end of the board. 

Namjoon grabbed his rook -- only to hear a cracking noise from his grip. His face paled as he looked down, seeing three pieces of what used to be a rook crumble to the board. Haejin's jaw dropped. She knew they were into the game, but... wow. 

"!" He hissed, his fingers trying to pick up the broken pieces, only to have more pieces scatter and fall around the board. " --" He kept cursing.

"Just stand up and walk away, Joon." Haejin jumped into action, tugging his arm away from the board.

Namjoon seemed determined to clean up, a cute but at the moment, irritating gesture, "Wait, I'm sorry, --"

"Stand up. And Walk. Away. Joon." She emphasized her words, and suddenly Namjoon was up and following orders, his arm still in Haejin's grip as they scurried away from the broken and scattered chess pieces.

The further they got away from the board, the harder it was to hold in her laughter. The image of his face, the whole ordeal, and then his fear when she the mom voice -- she couldn't help it.

She laughed harder than she did when they were talking about their jobs. Namjoon flushed, "I warned you that I was clumsy and broke things --"

"I know," She gasped inbetween laughs, "But I thought you meant the typical things -- not a chess piece. How do you even --" She couldn't finish, her giggles overtaking her once more. Namjoon allowed her to have her laugh, looking bashful about the whole event.

"It's a gift." He offered, and Haejin smiled. "Sure, that's definitely what it is." Namjoon blushed again, feeling more bashful than ever. 

"It's okay, I don't mind it either way. I'm having a lot of fun." Haejin said, squeezing his arm. He managed a shy smile.

"I'm glad I can amuse you."

Haejin just smiled and they continued walking like this towards the station after realizing the time. Jinhee's playdate was almost over.

On the way out of the Plaza, there was a wall that guests were encouraged to write and draw on. Namjoon tugged her over. "Wait, let's do this. I'll draw you and you draw me."

Haejin raised her eyebrows. "Really? I thought you couldn't draw."

He shook hie head, "I can't. But it'll be fun!" He offered her a marker. She shrugged. Why not? Haejin took it and started drawing.

They only gave themselves two minutes to do their masterpieces, and unvieled the works once finished. The drawings were awful -- Namjoon had a mole ("It was your dimple!" She insisted) and uneven eyes, while Haejin had a unibrow due to her hair and larger lips than she had.

Namjoon shook his head as he dated the drawing, "We really are bad."

"Yeah," Haejin agreed, "Jinhee draws better than we do."

Namjoon was quiet for a minute, and Haejin took it as him concentrating beofr ehe quietly said, "I'd love to see her artwork one day."

Haejin felt her heart stutter, and she nodded. "Maybe one day..."

Author's Note