Seunghyun had always been told he was a lucky person.

He was never picked by the teacher to read out English textbooks or to solve a math question on the blackboard, and he’d never lost a game of rock-paper-scissors in his life.

In fact, he is such a lucky person that once – he’d gotten 5 “Get another one for free!” popsicle sticks in a row, and probably would have got himself another one if only the convenience store owner hadn’t refused to give him his last popsicle thinking that he’d cheated in some way.

So, two weeks after his re-encounter with Lee Seungri, Seunghyun is still expecting a phone call to tell him he’d won the free coffee VIP card, and when the expected call never came after another week, Seunghyun finally remembered that he never left his personal contact details with Lee Seungri.

So exactly three weeks after he first stepped into Lee Seungri’s café, he found himself standing in front of the wooden door again.

He only realized that the sign above the café read “마주치다” ,

“Majuchida…” He read out loud, feeling the syllables roll off his tongue easily.

To meet unexpectedly.

He wondered if his meeting with Lee Seunghyun six years ago in that Starbucks was really unexpected, or was it some plan in destiny, an alignment of fate, a certain that was written in the stars.

He chuckled at himself as he pushed the door open, it opened soundlessly.

Lee Seunghyun stood at the counter where he was last time, and if he was surprised to see Seunghyun again, he didn’t show it.

“Welcome.” He said as Seunghyun walked through the door, his hands already hovering above the register, “What can I get you?”

“What happened to the pretty bell above the door?” Seunghyun looked up and blinked at the empty spot above the wooden door.

Seungri paused for a moment, as if to process what he had just asked before answering, “You mean the chime? An elderly customer really liked it so I gave it away.”

“Oh.” Seunghyun’s shoulders slumped as he walked towards the counter, and if his eyes didn’t deceive him, Lee Seungri would almost say that the tall man was pouting.

“You can get one of those from online for really cheap.” The fact that such a childish expression would appear on such a manly face over something so trivial made Seungri smile. “I can give you the link of the store I bought it from if you like.”

Choi Seunghyun gave him a look that reminded Lee Seungri of a wounded puppy as he nodded slowly, “Ok.”

Seunghyun ordered his usual iced americano and sat down at the same bar stool he sat at last time. The café was quiet during this time of the day, with only light chatter coming from scattered tables around the cozy café.

“So…” Seunghyun sipped his drink as he stared at the jar beside the counter where the receipts went. He wet his lips slightly before turning his gaze at Lee Seungri who was keeping himself busy by cleaning the bar aread.

“When are you going to draw the winner?”

Seungri blinked at him in confusion before following his gaze to the jar.

“Oh, the winner’s already been drawn.”

Seunghyun raised his eyebrows at him, sceptical because he never got a phone call.

“It was?” He asked again, just to be sure.

Seungri nodded.

“Are you sure you drew it fairly? There was no biased factors at all?”

Seungri blinked at him twice before nodding again.

“Oh, ok…” Seunghyun turned back to his drink, looking defeated. “Are you sure?” He asked again as he stirred the ice cubes around with the straw.

“We draw a new winner every month, so maybe you will get it next month?” Seungri offered.

“Ok….” Seunghyun sighed before reaching into his coat pocket and taking out his phone. He handed it to Seungri, who looked at him in confusion.

“Give me your phone number, so you can send me the link for the pretty bell.” He glanced wistfully at the spot above the door again.

“Also, call me when I win the draw.”

*****

“This is Choi Seunghyun. Save my number. ”

The text message came in around 10 minutes after the man left the café.

Lee Seunghyun found it funny that an adult man- and such a mature-looking and polished one at that, would be so stubborn over a lucky draw.

Another text came in almost instantly after the last one:

 “Also send me the link.”

He smiled to himself as he read it, he always thought Seunghyun had been the weirdest of the bunch.

He looked at the spot above the door that Seunghyun had almost spend half a minute staring at before he left. The door to the café opened to a group of young girls, and without the sound of chimes, Seungri almost would have missed it if he wasn’t already looking.

The sound of that chime was quite pretty.

“It’s ok. I want to buy another one anyway, what kind do you want? I’ll buy your one together to save shipping cost.” He replied after ringing up the orders.

The café was getting busier as it approached peak hour, Lee Seunghyun put down his phone where it lay forgotten for the next few hours.

It was already night time when had a chance to pick up his phone again, the doors to his café closed as he was counting till.

He reached for his phone to use the calculator, there were two unread messages that’d been lying in his phone for the last few hours.

“Ok.”

 “I want the same one as you.”

*****

Kwon Jiyong shot a glance at Choi Seunghyun who had been smiling at his phone like he was holding an unlimited edition bear brick instead of the iPhone that he'd been using for the last 3 years.

“Hyung, are you dating someone?” He arched his eyebrow, Seunghyun rarely played with his phone while they had gatherings, since almost everyone who would ever contact him usually was already sitting at the same table as he is.

Soohyuk and Xin were busy today, so it was just the four of them- the childhood friend quartet. And he doubted that Soohyuk and Xin would text Seunghyun about anything that’d make him smile like this.

Choi Seunghyun glanced up to blink at him.

“Dating? Seunghyun hyung?” Daesung rolled his eyes, “Please, I would be glad if he even steps out of his gallery willingly and talk to someone about something besides art.”

Seunghyun only smiled.

The rest of the group chuckled as Youngbae turned his attention to Jiyong instead, “So, you've been quite free lately?”

Jiyong- being one of the biggest kpop stars of Korea, was usually busy flying around the world holding concerts, and tours or doing promotions all over every well known TV station. It was rare for him to join them in their usual night outs, and the last time he did was three weeks ago, which is very recent in Jiyong terms.

“Yea, I asked to stop all activities to focus on writing my new album.” Jiyong pushed his sunglasses further up his nose even though VIP booth of the bar was already dimly lit. “I'll be quite free for the next few months.”

“I guess at your level you don't really need to go on reality shows anymore huh?” Daesung asked, looking like a proud mum.

Jiyong shrugged, somehow he looks tired and worn out even when his eyes weren't visible behind his shades.

“I still have to do promotions when the album is released, but I guess concerts earn more money so the company has no problem with that.” 

“Oh…. Hey, any progress with that pretty girl we saw last time?” As if sensing his stress, Youngbae quickly changed the subject with a light-hearted chuckle.

Jiyong shrugged, “We met a few times, nothing special.”

Meaning she was probably another one of the girls that Jiyong would text all day, take her out to dinner and spontaneous romantic getaways, but never put a label on.

“How about you?” Jiyong raised his eyebrows suggestively at his bestfriend, “Any progress with not dying a ?”

Youngbae shot a heated glance at Seunghyun as if he hasn’t gone out of his way to make the latter’s life as miserable as possible for the last three weeks already.

“She is a nice lady. Pretty, devout Christian, my mother likes her.” Youngbae smiled and shrugged, “We met a few times, for dinner only.” He emphasized the ‘only’.

“So you like her?”

Youngbae smiled shyly, his eyes curling into crescents as he nodded slowly, “She’s a nice girl.”

“Yah well done!” Jiyong clapped his friend on the back.

“When can we met her?” Daesung piped in, obviously ecstatic that the forever-single Youngbae was finally getting some action.

Youngbae scratched his head hesitantly, “I don’t know, it’d not like we’re… official yet.”

“Ya, hyung!” Daesung tutted at him, “If you really like her you can’t continue like this, you said she’s a good girl, she might get snatched up before you even dare to make a move!”

Jiyong nodded in agreement as Youngbae hummed thoughtfully.

“Then how?”

It was Seunghyun that spoke, out of the blue. The whole table turned to look at him in surprise.

He was looking down at his phone he ran his thumb across the dark screen.

“How do you make someone like you back?”

The table fell silent as he looked up at Jiyong, his eyebrows locking with sincerity as he stared at Jiyong as if expecting an answer from him.

Jiyong frowned under his gaze, “I guess… you just have to treat them nicely.” He answered after a moment.

“Ah..” Seunghyun nodded before letting his gaze fall back onto his phone, “I'm nice though…” He muttered under his breath, dejected as he tapped on his screen just to see no new messages.

The other three stared at him in fascination.

“Hyung, are you really dating someone?” Daesung asked, his small eyes widened and his voice sounded like he couldn't even believe himself what he was asking.

Seunghyun shook his head slowly.

"Oh." Daesung sighed with a 'I thought so' kind of  chuckle "Because I almost thought-"

“But I have someone I like.” Seunghyun cut him off abruptly.

The news seemed to take a moment to settle into their heads as the other three finally gaped at him in utter surprise.

“WHAT?” Daesung, “Wait, like a real person?”

Seunghyun frowned at him, “Rude.”

Youngbae slowly turned his gape into an awkward chuckle, “No hyung, it's just surprising, that's all.”

Unlike Youngbae, Seunghyun had dated girls during university, but even then, they'd never heard him that say he "liked" any of them.

His relationships were always initiated by the girl, and it seemed like Seunghyun would just always accept because he found no reason to reject them. But sooner or later, his girlfriends would start complaining that he was too different than what they thought, that he was too boring and never went out and as his girlfriend, they feel even less close to him than normal friends.

His last relationship had been the longest-  at three months, after that he stopped dating altogether. Even more so after graduating and opening his gallery, he would hardly ever step outside that they had to force him to come out every Friday just to make sure he was still alive. Youngbae would even make a point to stop by his gallery every so often to check up on him.

But when Youngbae found that Seunghyun communicated with his artists just fine, even to the point where he would be talking nonstop as they listened politely. They figured out that unlike Youngbae who never dated because he was the type to marry his first love, Seunghyun was just the type to still be a golden bachelor when he grew old and would probably die surrounded by his art.

That's what they thought until now that is.

“Yes, very surprising.” Daesung nodded firmly in agreement.

Jiyong seemed the most calm as he recovered from the shock and looked at Seunghyun with a smile, “What's she like?”

Seunghyun cocked his head to the side and pondered for a long moment. He remembered the way Lee Seungri made his coffee, his gaze intent as his long eyelashes brushed batted with every blink.

“A pretty person.” Seunghyun beamed. “Pretty and kind.” He added as he remembered they way Seungri smiled at him when they first met.

“Woah. This hyung.” Youngbae sighed, “I guess all artists are romantic.”

“Yea even the ones who only pretend to be an artist by buying other people’s art.” Daesung laughed, losing no chance to take a playful stab at Seunghyun’s career.

“Can we meet her?” Jiyong asked, his expression unreadable behind his dark glasses.

Seunghyun paused and shook his head.

“Ah, wae?” Daesung complained. “I want to see if she's real or not!”

Seunghyun looked down at his phone.

“If you meet. You’ll fall in love with that person too.”

Jiyong raised his eyebrows as the other two burst into disbelieving laughter.

 “Must be a really good person.”

Seunghyun's phone screen blinked.

One new message from Lee Seungri: "Ok."

He looked up at Jiyong and smiled, “Yes."

"The best person I’ve met.”

*It seems like referring to someone you’re talking about as “That person” (그 사람) is quite common in Korean.