"So, where do you want to go today?" Wonwoo asked as he started the car. Yerin sat on the passenger's seat and was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do for the day. Everything happened so quickly. She was not really planning to go somewhere, mainly because she had already decided to stay at Junhui's place and do some cleaning. But since Junhui had an unexpected guest, Yerin had to change her plan and come up with something else.

"We could go to the mall, if you want," Wonwoo suggested after noticing Yerin's silence. It was an exciting day for him and he should not blow it up.

Yerin sighed, "I think I shouldn't go to the shopping center right now," she turned to look at Wonwoo with an apologetic face, "I always go there five days a week for work."

"Oh," his eyes widened after realizing that she was right, "Yeah, of course! It's your day off. Why am I going to bring you to your workplace. Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay," Yerin giggled, "Most people go to the mall to unwind and to enjoy their day off, but it's different for people who work in the mall."

An awkward silence fell between the two afterwards. Wonwoo's gaze was fixed on the road ahead them and so was Yerin. The two were just driving aimlessly around the city since Yerin had no idea where to go and Wonwoo was too nervous to suggest anything else to her.

It felt like he was not himself, Wonwoo thought. He would usually be the cool and talkative one whenever he went out for dates and it would always be easy for him to lead his date wherever he liked. But that time, it was different.

"Ah!" Yerin suddenly exclaimed which almost startled Wonwoo, "Let's go to the hospital today," she beamed.

Her choice of destination surprised him, "Ho--Hospital?"

"Yeah," Yerin nodded with an enthusiastic smile on her face, "I am going to visit my dad."

-

"…and here is the necktie I bought when your father and I went to New York last month!" Mrs. Wen was already on her ninth necktie and it seemed like she still had hundreds of neckties inside her bag; neckties which she specifically bought for Junhui. The young man just sat beside her like a dutiful son and did not bother interrupting her. He just plastered a smile on his face and nodded as Mrs. Wen explained where and why she bought those ties.

"Look at the color!" Mrs. Wen held the necktie against Junhui's cheek, "This deep blue color certainly suits your skintone!"

"Yes, thank you," was his only response.

"Oh! I also bought something that will match this necktie!" Mrs. Wen hurriedly opened another luggage and rummaged through the clothes inside. After a few minutes, she pulled out something that shocked and embarrassed Junhui at the same time.

Mrs. Wen waved it around like a handkerchief, "I bought you boxers!"

"Mom!" Junhui immediately blushed at the sight of the underwear that had the same color as the necktie, "Wh--Why did you buy that?!"

Mrs. Wen was quite confused with her son's reaction, "Why not? What's wrong? I thought it would be nice to have matching neckties and boxers."

"Who would even want to have a matching necktie and boxers?!" Junhui retorted, "It's not like people are going to see that the underwear matches the necktie!"

"Well, you should still wear this," Mrs. Wen grinned, "No one's going to wear this at home. This really fits your size--"

"Mom!" Junhui interrupted, "Thi--This is too much. I'll go check if the pasta is cooked," he muttered before going back inside the kitchen to check on the fettuccine he was boiling for lunch.

-

Wonwoo and Yerin were on their way to Mr. Jung's room. Wonwoo was carrying a basket of fruits they bought from the fruits stall outside the hospital; he was compelled to buy them after Yerin told him how Mr. Jung had been in the hospital for months already.

"We're here," Yerin remarked before knocking on the front door. Wonwoo was nervous; indeed, he was excited to spend the day with Yerin, but he did not expect that things would escalate quickly and he would be meeting her father so suddenly.

"Come in," Mr. Jung's voice was heard from the inside. Wonwoo and Yerin entered and greeted the old man.

"Hi, dad! How are you?" Yerin spoke before giving her father a kiss on the forehead. Mr. Jung froze as he observed the tall, young man carrying a fruits basket behind his daughter.

"Oh, by the way, this is Wonwoo," Yerin smiled as she motioned her hand to ask Wonwoo to move forward, "He is a... friend," Yerin grinned nervously after realizing that she did not have any idea of her relationship with him. She could not even mention that he was Junhui's friend because she was sure that Mr. Jung started disliking Junhui after the incident that happened when they were in second grade.

"Um, good morning, sir," Wonwoo greeted meekly, "I brought fruits, so I hope you'd like them."

Mr. Jung was still at loss for words. His well-lighted room seemed dark at the sight of a young man being with her daughter. His eyes were just fixed on Wonwoo; he was clearly mortified.

Noticing her father's silence made Yerin anxious, "Wh--What is it, dad? Does something hurt?"

Mr. Jung just raised his left hand, signaling at Yerin to keep quiet. He cleared his throat and, while faking a weak and frail voice, he spoke, "Young man, you are a friend of my daughter, you say?"

Wonwoo nodded nervously.

"Where did you meet? Do you also work in the shopping center?"

"No, sir. We met at a chicken restaurant."

"Oh," Mr. Jung's eyes widened, "You work at a chicken restaurant?"

The mood suddenly became tense. Wonwoo could already feel that Mr. Jung was already interrogating him and was suspicious of him.

Unfortunately, Mr. Jung was not considering to let him off the hook while they were there, "Where do you work, young man?"

"Um, I run our family restaurant in Myeong-dong, sir."

"Mm-hm," was Mr. Jung's only response, which only severed Wonwoo's uneasiness. Yerin knew well how her father could be mean sometimes, so she immediately acted to lessen the tension between the two.

"So, um, dad!" she interrupted, "How have you been?"

Mr. Jung's expression quickly softened at his daughter, "I'm doing well, sweetie. Dr. Choi said my health is regaining steadily. Just a few more examinations and laboratory testings and he said I could be discharged from the hospital."

"Really? When?" Yerin beamed.

Even if Mr. Jung already knew that he only had weeks left before being discharged, he still shook his head as a response and acted like he still had no idea about when he would be discharged from the hospital.

"You should tell me when you'll be leaving," Yerin forced a smile.

"Ah don't worry, I'll let you know once it is all settled," Mr. Jung responded as he patted her daughter's back.

And Wonwoo was still frozen in his place, still holding the fruits basket he bought for the old man.

"So, they're not gonna offer me a seat or something?" he thought to himself.

-

The doughnut shop was only a few meters away from the hospital, but since it was a weekday, there were only a few people inside. Sowon being one of them.

She had been reading a lot of articles about how that shop served the best honey glazed doughnuts, and being the food enthusiast herself, she did not miss the opportunity to drop by after her shift to test them out.

However, not all things happen according to plan.

"What do you mean you've ran out of honey glazed doughnuts?!" Sowon was devastated.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the cashier responded, "The deliveries for the honey glaze got delayed because of a delivery mistake. The supplier said they will deliver the ingredients next week."

Sowon could not believe what she just heard. She did the most by traveling from the shopping center to the doughnut shop just to buy those doughnuts; it was probably her unlucky day.

The cashier noticed how upset the customer was, so she decided to direct Sowon's attention to the other doughnuts inside the display counter, "We have other flavors to choose from, ma'am. What do you want to try?"

Sowon still looked gloomy. She glanced at the other doughnuts but none of them attracted her attention.

"You should try the white chocolate-flavored ones. They're good too," a voice beside her spoke. Sowon quickly turned to look and much to her chagrin, it was Seungcheol.

"Wh--Why are you here?!" she stammered. For the past few days, she had been trying to avoid the doctor but it always seemed like they were always meeting in the most inconvenient moments.