I blink. Once, twice.

 

“He fell asleep so soon? After all that coffee?” I scrunch my face up in amazement. “Nice to meet you too, Kim Namjoon-ssi.”

 

Somewhat taller than Taehyung, I have to raise my head higher to meet his eyes. A strong sense of familiarity hits me.

 

“Oh? Strawberry cake!” Namjoon beats me to recognising.

 

That’s right. His pinkish blond hair, long arms and legs, this vibe. He was that shy customer at the café who I thought was weird.

 

Namjoon bends down to look closer at me. “What is this expression supposed to mean?”

 

“If only you had such confidence at the café that day,” I say, shaking myself. Then, softly, to myself, “I would’ve asked for your number.” I cluck in disappointment.

 

“What?” Namjoon laughs. “That was because I had such a pretty lady like you in front of me. How could I have not been nervous?”

 

I roll my eyes. “What were you doing in there anyway? You’re making too much noise this late at night.” Pushing past him, I let myself into the room.

 

The shelf has been reloaded with books of authors whose names I can’t pronounce. There are Korean books, English books, as well as Japanese ones. I stare at the collection in awe. On the table, an expensive-looking figurine sits with an awkwardly reattached arm.

 

Namjoon, embarrassed, rubs the back of his neck. “I might have broken a few things while trying to unpack my stuff…”

 

“Taehyung wasn’t exaggerating when he said you were the God of Destruction.” Walking to the table, I pick up the figurine. The arm detaches suddenly and my heart almost falls with it. It clatters noisily onto the table.

 

“That kid’s still in the middle of an operation,” he says.

 

I raise an eyebrow at him. “At this rate, you’re going to end up with a table death.” I sit in the chair and closely study the broken limb. “There’s superglue in the fridge somewhere. Can you go get it for me?”

 

“Be right back.” He runs off and returns several seconds later. On his way in, he stubs his pinkie toe on the doorframe.

 

I shake my head in disapproval and take the superglue from him. Then, picking up the figurine again, I carefully add a bit of glue onto the joint and firmly hold the two pieces together.

 

“Don’t touch this until it dries completely,” I tell him, getting up from the chair. “But the room looks too small for all your things,” I say, glancing around.

 

Namjoon sighs. “I know, right? I was so surprised Jin hyung agreed to do this.”

 

I apologetically cast my gaze down to avoid his eye contact. “Sorry about that… I was going to start looking for another apartment today anyway so don’t worry. I’ll move out soon enough.”

 

“That wasn’t what I meant!” He hurriedly says, but I wave him off.

 

“It’s okay. It’s late, you should go to sleep—,” I stop myself just in time, “I’ll let you be now. Let me know if you need any help.”

 

Before he can say anything, I return to my room. Sitting on my bed, I feel like every ounce of sleepiness I had in me just minutes before has totally evaporated. Exhaling a deep sigh, I pick out a book from my own shelf and flip to the bookmarked page.

 

When I wake up later that morning, Namjoon has already left, leaving me a note on the dining table.

 

 

He didn’t have to report to me but it’s nice that he’s this considerate. Wait, does he know the apartment passcode? What is his phone number? Why am I worrying? I’m sure Taehyung would have told him. Brushing everything off, I prepare for another day of work.

 

My footsteps towards the café feels unusually heavy today.

 

“Good morning,” I greet when I enter. Hani looks up from her phone and waves brightly.

 

“Wow, look at your dark circles,” she comments. “Have you not been sleeping well?”

 

I shake my head. “It’s just pretty hectic in the house now, with the new tenant and all.”

 

“You look like you need a break. Club after work?”

 

I sigh. Hani and I are both working two shifts today and I don’t know how tired I’ll be by the end of the day. “I’m not even dressed for it.”

 

Hani clicks her tongue. “You know I always have an extra set of clothes in my locker,” she says.

 

I hesitantly agree only because I have no excuses not to.

 

Luckily, the morning passes by relatively peacefully.

 

“Hello, can I get an iced americano please,” a voice chimes and I look up from the register to see Namjoon smiling down at me. “Oh, and a chicken pie too.”

 

“One iced americano and a chicken pie,” I repeat. “Anything else?”

 

“What, no ‘Can I have your number?’” He jokes and I feel the corners of my lips rise involuntarily.

 

I laugh. “Namjoon-ssi, you’re holding up the line.”

 

“Too bad,” he says, but slips a piece of paper across the counter anyway. I see multiple lines of numbers written on it. “It’s all of our phone numbers. Save it in advance in case.”

 

I nod. “Thank you.” Then a bit louder, “Please wait for your orders over at the collection counter, thank you. Next order, please.” I quickly keep the paper into the back pocket of my jeans.

 

During break time, Hani leans over and narrows her eyes at me. “Who is he?”

 

“Who is who?” I ask, my mouth full of bread.

 

“That cute guy who passed you a message or something like that earlier!” Without warning, she sneaks her hand into my pocket and pulls out the paper I’d stowed away there. “What is this?”

 

I shrug. “Phone numbers of potential landlords?” I lie. “He’s a senior from school. He found that that I’m looking for a new house so he’s introducing some people to me.”

 

“Tsk,” Hani passes the paper back to me. “And here I thought the peach blossoms were finally blooming for our Lee Hyekyung-ssi.”

 

“Let’s not get too carried away, okay, Shin Hani-ssi?”

 

After another shift, we finally knock off and Hani busies herself with fussing over me in the back room.

 

Hani sighs. “You look so good with makeup I wonder how you’ve lived without until now.”

 

“I’m well acquainted with makeup,” I argue. “I just don’t do smokey eyes on a daily basis like you do.”

 

“Whatever. Now put this on and we’re ready to go.” She hands me a tube of red lip tint and I slide the product onto my lips with a practiced skill. Other than the fact that Hani’s skirt is too short for me, I feel almost ready to go relieve all of my stress on the dance floor.

 

The club is already bustling when we reach. Grabbing a beer each, Hani waltzes onto the dance floor while I stay along the periphery. I down my beer too quickly and have to squeeze through the crowd to the bar for another round.

 

“I’ll have the same as her,” an all-too-familiar voice rises above the blaring music. Grabbing my bottle, I turn to walk away.

 

An arm stops me.

 

“Lee Hyekyung,” he calls me.

 

I barely manage to pull myself out of his grasp. “Oh Jaehoon. What do you think you’re doing?”

 

A hint of sorrow flashes across his eyes. “I know what I did was wrong, but you never gave me a chance to explain myself.”

 

“There is nothing else I want to hear from you,” I spit. If I could shoot lasers with the intensity of my gaze, I would have grilled this jerk twenty times over.

 

“Hyekyung-ah, please just give me one more chance!” Jaehoon cries, latching onto my arm again.

 

I swing my arm to shake him off but my beer drops in the process, the glass shattering onto the floor. People in the area stop to stare at us. Angry and embarrassed, I storm off. Only have I stepped out of the club do I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Not wanting to spoil Hani’s night, I leave on my own after sending her a simple text message to let her know I’m gone.

 

My first thought was to go home but now that my body has gotten its first taste of alcohol in a long while, the temptation to go for more is too hard to resist. After getting off the taxi, I walk around the neighbourhood and finally find a cart bar some few blocks down. In the heels borrowed from Hani, my feet are starting to blister.

 

I find a seat and order a bowl of udon and two bottles of soju.

 

Oh Jaehoon… He was the last person I’ve been living with. After moving out of my school hostel, I couldn’t find anywhere else to stay so a friend at school offered to put me up. She had been staying with her older brother then but since she was going to move in with her boyfriend, she has an extra room to spare. That brother of hers was Oh Jaehoon.

 

We got along well and sometime down the road we eventually got together. Everything was good between the both of us except that Jaehoon kept suggesting that we advance our relationship up a notch and that we…

 

I rejected him every time. One day, he came back from a gathering drunk and…

 

I shudder at the thought. He never got what he wanted that night but I wasn’t in the right state of mind then so I just went and reported him to the police. They gave him a sentence of a few months because apparently, that wasn’t his first offence.

 

It’s been about a year since that incident and I just cannot forget about it. No matter how hard I try to put it behind me, Jaehoon would always show up at the most crucial times to remind me.

 

“Another bottle of soju here!” I order.

 

The auntie walks over. “Miss, you’ve already had five bottles, and we’re closing soon.”

 

Blinking my eyes, I glance over my table.

 

1… 2, 4… 6… 5… 6…? 7, 8… What was I counting? I shake my head.

 

“How much do I owe you?” I ask instead. Paying for the food, I leave the tent.

 

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