When I got inside the house I checked my phone for messages; I found a few ones from a very excited MinSeo who wanted to know how everything had been. I quickly texted back to tell her I would be calling her tomorrow, hoping it wouldn’t wake her up in the middle on the night. I was feeling exhausted, more due to the trip in the motorbike than to the date itself, so I took a quick shower and went to bed.

The next morning, as it was a free day for both of us, MinSeo and I met in the centre to walk around and have lunch together.

“I’m sorry your dress is all wrinkly,” I apologized as I handed her the bag containing the piece of clothing. “The laundry shop did not have ironing service.”

“It’s okay; I can do it myself at home. And considering how often I get to actually dress up, it may well un-wrinkle on its own.” She put the bag with the dress inside the big red purse she was carrying and stared at me. “Now, don’t put up a fight and tell me how it was. Lee and I made our bets and I want to know if I’ve won.”

I laughed at the comment and asked.

“What do you want to know?”

“Are you together now? Can I make a post on Instagram saying I’m Oh Sehun’s girlfriend’s best friend?”

“No, you can’t!”

“So that means you’re together,” she said triumphantly.

“No, we’re not. We barely even know each other!”

“Wasn’t there any kind of flirting or naughty proposition? He’s kind of hot even without knowing him personally, you know…”

“I know. But none of that!” She was starting to get on my nerves.

“Oohhh, so you like him,” she mocked. “What about a kiss?”

“Nope.”

“Were you even trying?”

“Okay, stop there. We’re just friends.” MinSeo pouted slightly. “In fact, I don’t even think he’s interested in me in that way.”

“That’s disappointing. But do you think someone living the life he’s living would take a random girl out without the intention of something else?” she asked. “I believe they can’t date around as easily as we can.”

“Well, maybe he did fancy me at the coffee shop but after talking to me, he did not like me enough to take it any further.”

“But didn’t he ask you to meet another time, or mention something you two could do together?”

“Well, he said that I could pay for the next date if I was feeling bad for letting him pay all the dinner…” MinSeo hided a laugh.

“How do you even feel bad for that? I told you that would be happening!”

“Yeah, but it was a very expensive place!” We were going off topic. “Anyway, he also mentioned that he would like to meet again when we said goodbye, but he may had said it out of courtesy.”

“Or he may not,” she speculated. “We will have to wait until he texts, or calls, or reappears in any way. So yeah, what did you talk about?”

“A few things. We chatted about the food, about language learning…” That made MinSeo roll her eyes. “I told him I’m looking for modelling opportunities.”

“Did you?” and she didn’t sound ironic. “I bet he was surprised.”

“Well, he was. But I don’t really get why.”

“You’re just not that type of girl. I’m not talking about intelligence and all that, but you seem to have very little interest in fashion or the celebrity world,” she explained. “You could have been a teacher, or a business woman, or a stay at home wifey, but a model? I also thought it was weird when you first told me.”

“I want to try it seriously. It does not have to be my life long profession, but I want to know about all that,” I said while pulling down at the hem of my shirt. “He also told me a bit about himself, the group and how he got into the kpop business and all that stuff.”

“That’s funny,” she chuckled.

“Why so?”

“He’s making sure you’re not a stalker.” When she saw my confused expression, she quickly explained. “I don’t know how detailed he was when explaining that, but I don’t expect he gave away too much. Those are things any fan of the group knows.”

“So are you calling the fans "stalkers”?“ I mocked.

"No, but those people, and I can include myself in the pack, know a lot of things about their lives without them having explicitly spoken about it. If I were in that situation and were to date, I’m sure it’d be refreshing to meet someone who does not know even my blood type.”

Looking back with some more perspective, he surely hadn’t given away many details about himself or his life. Neither had I, as I avoided talking about sensitive subjects like my parents, or explaining about my family here. But again, what else could be expected out of a first date? You’re going out of the first time with someone you most likely don’t know, so you just try to have the least awkward time possible and make sure the other person is not a complete or a psycho.

“So,” I started talking again, “who’s winning the bets?”

“Myself, of course”, she grinned. “I was mocking you all the time before, we’ve spent a good amount of time together at work and outside, enough to be able to guess you may or may not do in a date. The odds were all against Lee. But we both honestly thought there would be at least a kiss. Are you such a prude?”

“I’m not!” I assured. “At least, I don’t really think I am. I was kind of waiting for it as well. Not because I wanted it! But that what people do in firs dates, don’t they? Get to know each other a bit and maybe kiss, then decide if they want to go on…” She raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t know! The whole night was fine, but the goodbye was a bit awkward to me. So that’s why I think he does not like me that way. And I’m just fine with that! I can always use having more friends.”

“If you say so…”

For the rest of the morning, we just walked around shopped a few items, in case I ever needed to dress a little fancier again, I didn’t want to depend on MinSeo in those occasions. At lunch time, we grabbed some sandwiches and ended up sitting in a bench next to a lake in a nearby park.

“I think I maybe should plan something for the next time we hang out, in case he decides to contact me again…” I tried to say that in the most casual way possible, but I was definitely not successful, as MinSeo gave me a funny look.

“You say you don’t like him in that way, do you?” she laughed. “But if that’s your way of asking for advice, something very common for couples to do is to go to the park next to the river Han and have a picnic there. Kind of what we’re doing right now,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me, which made me laugh.

“That sounds nice, but it’s maybe a bit too out there. He said he liked the place he took me to last night because it was very private.”

“I see…” She stayed quiet for a while, thinking. “I don’t know, then. Seoul is a very big city and there are lots of places to go, I’m sure you haven’t seen most of them. Why don’t you look up a tourist guide, find something you feel like doing and take him along?”

So, of course, the next stop before heading back home was the nearest tourist information office, where I got an English Seoul guide.

******

The conversation I had had with MinSeo actually made me more nervous about the possibility of Sehun making an appearance anytime soon than what I would have been on my own. Over the next couple of days I found myself staring at my phone more often and usually casting glances every time the sliding doors of the café opened. Part of me was convinced he was just being polite when he mentioned meeting for a second time, but still the other part of me hoped he was being sincere. Apart from MinSeo and the occasional phone call to my grandfather, I had no other social interaction, so any addition to that was more than welcome. And also, there was my pride, which did not really want to accept the possibility that he may not be that interested just after one date. Work was of good use to keep me busy, but when I got home I had nothing to do, and to my shame, I found myself lurking around the internet about him and his Exo stuff. I watched the official music videos and kind of started enjoying them. Then I also watched some fanmade videos, but luckily for me, the inside jokes were too many for me to keep up with them and that’s what made me give up.

Finally on Wednesday afternoon, when the café was the quietest and I was just putting clean plates away while having a chat with MinSeo, the door slid open and he came in. As soon as MinSeo saw him coming, she disappeared to the kitchen, but I was quite sure she would be eavesdropping through the not completely closed door.

Sehun approached me smiling.

“Hi. I’m sorry I did not contact earlier, but I’ve been busy”, he apologized.

“Oh, I thought you would be coming around the shop any time, so I didn’t really notice”, I answered making a hand gesture like it was no big deal.

“No, I mean it,” he looked at me in the eyes. “I know it’s not very courteous to leave the other part waiting for you to contact, I just have not been able to do so even though I wanted to”.

“And I also mean that it’s okay. It’s no biggie”. I finished stacking the plates in the cupboard and walked back behind the counter. “Do you want me to serve you anything or do you just want to chat?”

“I mainly came to see you. I didn’t think just a text was appropriate after keeping you waiting around”.

“I see…”

“But a cup of coffee is always welcome”, he said in a light tone, to which I turned back and started preparing what he’d asked for. I could feel him looking at my back as I moved around gathering everything I needed and it was making me really nervous. I felt so awkward as I fiddled with the coffee machine while I was waiting for it to heat up; he was clearly waiting for me to start chatting and I didn’t know what to say. It was much more uncomfortable now that we were in public and anyone could see us interact further than the normal waitress-customer relationship.

“Did you make any progress in your search?” he asked while I poured the black coffee in the cup, obviously referring to the modelling job.

“Not really. I have been working all this week, so I haven’t had the time”. I did not have the heart to tell him just last night I had received yet another email from an agency I had sent my CV and photobook to, telling me I was not what they were looking for. I began questioning whether it had been a good idea to tell him such a private thing. After all, the knowledge only provided him with the possibility of making comparisons between me and the many other models he probably knew and who were in fact successful.

“It’s okay. But don’t give up. Chances can come from any unexpected place, so you just have to keep on looking for them,” he tried to encourage me, which I appreciated, but was of no use after the previous night’s disappointment. “But in fact, I came here to ask about my second date.”

“Your second date?”

“Our second date. Have you already decided what you want to do?” he asked, reaching with his arms over the counter to take the cup I was handing him.

“Well, I may have, but shouldn’t it be a surprise?”

“Do you have any means of transport so you can take me there? Because if you don’t, I’m afraid it’s going to be me driving us,” he said in a snarky tone.

I rolled my eyes and put my hands in my hips.

“You will know the day we meet and not any time before that!”

“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender and laughed. “But will you be telling me what should I wear?”

“Nothing too fancy. It’s just going to be a casual hang out.”

“Aren’t you even going to tell me what color you will be wearing? We can match outfits!”

I balled up a paper towel and threw it at him after making sure no one else was looking at us.

“Understood, nothing fancy, just casual,”‘he said after dodging the ball. “Now I’m sorry to leave such wonderful and non-violent company, but I have to go work so I can put food on the table. I guess I will be seeing you around the rest of the week, but if I don’t, see you again on Saturday?”

“Okay. I’ll text you with the details.”

“I will wait impatiently for your text, Jeong”.

“Bye, Oh.”

Right after he left the building, I darted through the door to the kitchen to talk to MinSeo, as even after reading the whole tourist guide, I still didn’t have any particularly brilliant idea.