Half an hour.

Half an hour was exactly how much time passed since 7:25, the specific time you and your date had agreed to meet at. You were more than certain, the clock above the cafe’s entrance indicated so.

You thought it would be a good idea to get there five minutes early, but apparently you thought wrong.

7:55 and you were still isolated at the table you had claimed in the corner, still waving off any waiters and waitresses who attempted to serve you.

“It’s okay, I’m just waiting for someone,” you told them those very words every single time.

Oh how you came to regret letting those words leave your mouth.

Locking eyes with a woman who had turned back to glance at you before she exited the cafe, you had to resist the urge to walk over to her table and finish the caramel macchiato and last few bites of a bran muffin she had left behind. Regardless of your personal preference, you just needed something to tame the hunger that had built up inside of you.

    Avoiding any sort of food or beverage prior to your date was another one of your ‘brilliant ideas’ you were applauding yourself for, right before you were about to mentally slap yourself for making such decisions.

    Sighing inwardly, you just came to realize that the woman who had just left was also another customer you entered with around the same time period. You avoided the gaze of any other customers that entered the premises, eventually landing your gaze on a nearby waitress.

    “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe I could take your order right now if you’re ready,” she took out her notepad and pen, ready to take any order you would give her.

    Smiling politely, you gave her a nod. “Yeah, I’m sure my date wouldn’t mind if I got a head start.”

    Another mental slap for yourself, still expecting that date of yours to come and join you. Bonus follow up slap for mentioning your date to someone at all.

You gave the waitress your desired order to momentarily distract yourself from your negative thoughts, but they eventually resurfaced once she walked away.

    Gaze drifting down you your phone placed on the surface of your table, another idea sparked up from the depths of your mind. At first you were a bit hesitant to think about it, considering how well your previous ideas during the day impacted you right now. But then you realized that it was, in fact, a rather brilliant idea.

    The last chance for your date to redeem themselves before you would officially call it quits.

    Tapping the ‘Phone’ icon on your screen multiple times, you quickly swiped over to the keyboard feature that displayed all main digits on the screen.

    Your fingers tapped on the digits you memorized without hesitation, going at such a rapid pace that didn’t allow much time for you to process each selected number.

    Not that you cared at this point. In this state of desperation, you didn’t even check the final result before selecting the ‘Call’ button, bringing the cellular device to your ear.

    Mere seconds after the dialing sound rang, it stopped, indicating that the person you had called picked up.

    Taking a deep breath, you managed to utter a quick “What do you think you’re doing?” before continuing to ramble to your date who currently stood you up.

    “It’s been over half an hour! We agreed to meet up tonight, remember? I hope you forgot or something, because I didn’t think of you as someone who would blow me off after all we’ve done together. I thought we had something going between the two of us, but I guess not, huh?”

Silence was the only thing to come from the other side of the line. At this point, your were fuming.

    Your mouth opened to drop another load of harsh words, but you were interrupted.

    "Uh, who's this?"

    While your jaw snapped shut, your heart dropped. The owner of the voice, whoever it was, had a deep one. It was pleasant and attractive sounding, but that wasn't the point. It was unfamiliar, and it certainly wasn't the voice that belonged to your date.

    "Oh jeez," you muttered in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. I must've dialed the wrong number,"

    "No, no, it's fine! I get it," the guy on the other side of the line exclaimed.

    "I'm sorry, I swear I won't bother you again," your cheeks began to heat up as you spoke. Every word you uttered felt like a part of you dying.

    "Wait," you bit your lip when you heard him from the other end of the line. "I thought you were waiting for your date?"

Sighing inwardly, you adjusted your seating position before responding. "I am, er, I was."

"I can be your date, actually. I don't really mind, just text me where you're at and I'll make up for whoever stood you up!"

"I wasn't stood up!" you declared much more loudly than you had intended, earning a few looks from others around.

"You don't have to go through the trouble, honestly. I was about to leave after my order came, but if you insist... I'll text you. But I won't get my hopes up," lowering your voice as you bent closer towards the surface of your table, you went proceeded to text the number the current address of the cafe without leaving the call.

"That cafe's pretty close to my house! Lucky you," mused the boy on the other line.

"Yeah, lucky..." you echoed with a tinge of sarcasm. More like unlucky. "What's your name?"

"Changkyun. See you soon," he ended the call without giving you the chance to speak, let alone introduce yourself in return.

You lost track of the mental slaps you had given yourself. It was already embarrassing enough that your date had bailed on you, but now this 'Changkyun' guy had volunteered to take their place?

Despite being grateful for his offer, half of you wanted to run out of the cafe right now and block his number, never to speak of the experience again.

But you knew you couldn't. So you sat in wait.

8:20 and the waitress who had taken your order just brought the food and beverage to your table. Just as you bid her thanks before she walked away, the entrance door swung open.

    In came a young man that panted as if he had just finished running a marathon. Still, he was beyond attractive and his focused gaze as he scanned the area made you realize that he was probably the guy you had gotten off the phone with not too long ago.

    Perhaps  it was your prolonged stare that caused him to meet with your gaze, but whether or not it was the young man seemed to lead himself towards your direction.

    “Are you Changkyun?” you questioned, not wanting him to initiate the conversation.

    “I am what I am,” he responded with a cheeky grin, taking the seat across from you.

    Choosing not to linger on his rather unique response, you introduced yourself quickly before taking a sip of your beverage.

    “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” Changkyun grinned, revealing dimples that curved in the cheeks of his flesh.

    His genuine smile and overall presence felt like a weight lifted from your shoulders, and that was enough to get you to smile back. “You didn’t keep me waiting any longer than my original date did.”

    “Ah right, your original date stood you up.” All the kindness and sincerity in his expression shifted into one so playful and mischievous, you almost tipped your drink over.

    “I wasn’t stood up!” you exclaimed far too loudly than you would’ve liked, giving off a sheepish smile to those who you had claimed with your outburst. Even Changkyun snickered a bit when the waitress from before came over, asking him if she could get him anything.

    After putting an order for an Iced Americano, your new date flashed you a devilish smirk. “Hey, I get it, it might take awhile to get over but at least you get to be with someone even better,” Changkyun gestured to himself with both of his thumbs.

    You rolled your eyes in response shortly before you let out a laugh. It wouldn’t be the first time the young man would cue your laughter, as his humorous and down to earth personality made your heart flutter. Conversations with him just flew so naturally, it was almost as if you had been dating him for ages rather than the past few minutes.

    Those few minutes rolled into half an hour, then beyond, and a quarter after 9:00 a waiter in the cafe was politely asking you two if you intended on leaving soon.

    “Ah, you’re closing up? Sorry about that. Let me pay for our stuff so we can get going,” Changkyun declared after you were approached by the waiter, standing up from his seat with his wallet in hand.

    “No, no, wait! Changkyun, let me pay,” you raised yourself from your own chair, but your date simply sent you a wink before handing over his credit card.

    With your attempt turning out futile, you grabbed your coat that hung from your chair and sighed. “You’re too nice to me,” you admitted to Changkyun once he returned.

    He shrugged with another smile. “I know.”

    Giving him a friendly smack on the arm, the two of you ended up sharing another laugh in unison as you walked out the door together.

    “I… I actually had fun tonight,” you admitted. Bracing yourself for another one of his playful replies, you were surprised to feel Changkyun’s fingers intertwined with yours instead.

    “It doesn’t have to be just tonight,” he eventually responded to you with words. “We could do this again.”

    “We should,” you corrected with a smile, adding Changkyun to your phone’s contacts with your freehand. He watched as you chose a cute emoji to put along side of his name, and chuckled when he witnessed you deleting the text conversation you had with your former date.

    “I’ll be sure not to ditch you or anything too.”

    Gawking at his latest addition to his statement, you gave him a mock shove before he draped an arm around your shoulders.

“I wasn’t stood up,” you echoed your words from before, though this time you couldn’t resist the pouty frown Changkyun gave you in response. Quickly going up to peck him on the cheek, you added “Because you came as my date instead”.

“That’s right,” the young man grinned widely. “And if your original date didn’t bail, we wouldn’t be here together.”

And for once in that night, you were glad about it.