47. All Too Suddenly

The restaurant Jonghyun told him to go to was a few blocks away from the office and WE Design headquarters. It was not the usual lunch spot for office workers around the area since it has more of a fine-dining theme to it so despite the lunch hours, it was not as busy and noisy as the other restaurants.

It was the woman who booked the table and she chose one that was the closest to the entrance and Yonghwa soon realized that she wasn’t there yet. According to Jonghyun, the woman he was meeting already knew him. The suspicion lingered since they had this on-going thing of throwing pranks at each other. A waiter walked to him and asked if he could get him anything while he was waiting for his company. He politely declined and was somewhat thankful for the sudden interruption of his wandering thoughts. As the waiter started walking away, Yonghwa caught sight of a woman entering the restaurant. She was wearing a tightly-fitted business suit and he grimaced inside realizing that Jonghyun knew his type too well. But there was more about her that made him grimace.

Damn. Yonghwa cursed seeing the way the woman’s hair fell just a little above her shoulders. It was then he recognized that Jonghyun definitely pulled this one on him. If she was not really an interior designer, then he better think fast of a good excuse not to make this lunch longer than Jonghyun expected it to be.

The woman stopped in front of the reception and started talking to the man behind the counter.

Just then another woman came in, Yonghwa felt the drop in his stomach.

Seohyun stopped just behind the woman and she appeared to be looking for something inside her bag.

. Yonghwa grunted to himself once more.

Was she there to meet Yuri? What if she saw him and the woman?

He was definitely going to murder his friend if this ended badly for him.

Yonghwa took a deep breath when the woman entered the restaurant but passed him by. Now, his attention was focused solely on Seohyun who was on her phone for a few second. Minutes later, she talked to the receptionist, nodded and moved to the side to give way to the couple behind her. After a while, she walked in the dining hall and looked around then placed her phone inside her bag.  It was when she looked up again that she spotted him. He raised an awkward hand at her to get her attention that she smiled and walked to him.

“Oh, Oppa…” she smiled upon reaching him then her eyes shifted on the empty chairs, “Are you meeting someone?”

Yonghwa prayed that the woman would come in late— better yet, cancel the appointment. He stood and pulled a chair closest to him, “Seohyun, have a seat.” She looked a bit hesitant but she sat anyway, then he asked, “Are you here to meet Yuri?”

She gave him a soft laugh then eyed him with a playful grin, “I asked the question first…”

He sighed, “I’m here to meet an applicant.”

“An applicant?” Seohyun raised a brow then frowned as she asked, “Why not in the office?”

“She— uhm, the applicant currently works at another company…”

She nodded thoughtfully then smiled, “So you’re thinking of pirating her?”

Yonghwa laughed then nodded, “In some sense yes, but it’s not decided yet. We still have to talk”

“I see…” She replied then shifted from her seat, “Uhm, maybe I should get going? She might be coming…”

Yonghwa looked at her worried and confused how to handle this situation. Should he ask her to join them? Or should he just let her go? “Are you here to meet Yuri?” He decided to inquire first.

The way she held his questioning stare confused him even more. Slowly, she her lips and he couldn’t help but think that she looked as if she was guilty of something. His brows pulled together as he probed further, “Seohyun? Why are you here?”

“I’m here to meet someone…’

He frowned, “Someone?”

Her eyes twinkled until she could no longer hold in the laughter that was bubbling from inside. Finally, she giggled then eyed him with mischief as she spoke, “Exactly how slow are you?”

Yonghwa stared at her for a moment until his brows pulled on his face, “Was this a set-up?”

She put a hand on and nodded, “I’m sorry, Oppa. There was no other way…”

Instead of getting upset, he took a deep breath and sagged on his seat— realizing that he didn’t need to worry at all. Finally, he found himself smiling, “Damn, you scared me…”

“Scared you?”

She looked at him questioningly with the same twinkle of mischief in her eyes obviously unaware of the dilemma he thought a few minutes ago seeing her walk in the restaurant. He even thought of hiding under the table. “Nothing…” Yonghwa shook his head with a chuckle, “Seohyun, is this about last night again? We settled this already, didn’t we? I thought—”

“Oppa,” she swallowed, surprised of herself for deliberately cutting him off. Then, continued with a small smile, “Oppa, will you let me explain first?”

“Fine…”

“When you suggested this last night, I automatically replied. I should have kept it to myself for a while and thought about it. If I did give it a moment to think, I would have realized your true intention.” She smiled closing her eyes and nodded, “You’re right, I need a break. And… and, yes, I want to spend time with you too…”

Yonghwa nodded reaching out for her hand; he smiled when Seohyun took his as if thoughtlessly. They both looked at their hands entwined between them. Looking at them, his chest tightened from this sudden weird sense of possessing something solely his. This hand— Sometimes, Yonghwa wondered to himself if this feeling existed before. He couldn’t remember how this started but there was something different in everything.

All too suddenly— all too suddenly.

She studied him carefully. He was still looking at their hands and for some reason, Seohyun was feeling the sudden change. It was only for a few seconds but her heart was beating too loud. Was there something she said that made him like this? Was it wrong for her to admit that she wanted to spend time with him too?

Seohyun suddenly remembered what he said before— not to fall for him.

Her hand slipped off his grip so suddenly that he looked up to her with those wondering eyes. Seohyun smiled nervously and hoped that her discomfort would not be too obvious, “Really Oppa, you didn’t realize it the moment you saw me?”

For a moment, her question rattled him as if she was asking about another situation. Yonghwa frowned trying to remember until he realized where they were, “Oh, when I saw you come in? Here?”

Seohyun nodded aware that he seemed to be confused over something and it made her even more nervous but she managed to add playfully, “Yes, here… what are you thinking?”

He sho