-chapter two-

You had fallen asleep quite fast that night when you finally reached your apartment. You had been exhausted from crying and just getting out of the wet clothes and into your warm and cozy pajamas had basically done the rest.

As you woke up the next day your head felt like exploding and your eyes were so swollen that you had a hart time opening them. For a few seconds you didn't even know what happened last night, again suppressing the events that had hurt you so much. But looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror, looking at your puffy, red eyes and your tangled up hair you started to remember. The pain washed over you, as you looked at your pathetic reflection.
You really needed a shower, not only to get this face back to a kind of normal stage but also to wash it all off. Or at least.. to try doing that.
With that decided you slipped your pajamas off, turned the shower on and took a long, hot shower.

As you were done you felt a little bit better. It didn't help with the aching heart but a gaze into the mirror showed you your old, usual face. At least if you tried to ignore the sadness in your eyes. “Get yourself together..” you whispered to yourself and pinched your cheeks, before you wrapped your hair in a towel turban and your body into your soft and warm bathing gown.

Your thoughts being everywhere and nowhere at the same time, you made your way to the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do with the day. You were on vacation for at least two more weeks and usually you would've spend a lot of time with Yugyeom. You two had trips planned and today would've been a trip to Jeju island to.. No. You had to stop thinking about that. To distract yourself you looked around your kitchen, as your eyes stopped at the silver thermos cup that you had forgotten about already. This stranger..

On the spur of the moment you rushed into your bedroom to put on proper clothes. You decided to go with a black, highwaisted skirt, warm tights, a cropped burgundy sweatshirt and your favorite cozy scarf. Since your hair was still wet you put it up into a messy but cute bun.

Still in a hurry you searched your whole apartment for the light blue umbrella, eventually finding it neatly put away next to your entrance door. You weren't even sure why you were in such a hurry, you didn't even know if he would be there. If you'd ever see him again. And you especially didn't know why it was so important to you, but it was. Before leaving, you stowed the cup in your small backpack and checked yourself for the last time in the mirror hanging next to the door in your corridor.

You looked tired and the sadness was still obviously there but you looked half decent. That should be good enough, after all you didn't know him.

.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:**.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:**.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:*

It was pretty warm and sunny for a December afternoon as you reached the square which the playground from yesterday belonged to. A lot of people had been gathered in the streets, sitting in front of the Café right across the street, wrapped up in blankets and warm clothing.

Your eyes darted around, trying to find the blond haired guy from yesterday, but all you could see was an ocean of black and brown. The laughter that reached your ears felt as if everyone was mocking you. Apparently there was nothing you could do right. You weren't able to keep your boyfriend and now you weren't even able to thank the stranger that looked out for you. Fighting back the tears that once again tried to roll down your cheeks you started walking towards the coffee shop that had the best view on the playground. At first your steps where hesitantly but with every step you took you got more confident.

As you found a good place to sit down -not outside but inside at a window- a waitress immediately came to your table, asking if you were waiting for someone or if you already wanted to order.
“A Caramel Macchiato, please.” she smiled and nodded, leaving you and your thoughts behind as she went to get your order ready.

For some reason you couldn't get yourself to leave this coffee shop. You watched groups of friends come and go, watched dates end in good an rather bad ways -both of them hurting equally- and ordered about four cups of coffee before you realized, that you hadn't eaten in over 24 hours.
So instead of ordering a new cup of your favorite you ordered a bagel with cream cheese. While waiting for it you again looked around the square. The sun had been setting by now since it got dark at around 5pm at this time of the year. “I should just leave when I'm done with my food..” you whispered to yourself, lowering your gaze onto your hands.
Remaining in this position you didn't look up again, until the waitress placed the plate on the table in front of you.

“Thank you.” you mumbled, giving her a halfhearted smile. After she left you alone you started to eat. Usually you really liked cream cheese but for some reason you couldn't really taste anything. As you were about to fall into the gray, deep hole once again, you suddenly spotted someone and your stomach dropped. Immediately you put your bagel down, after still having more than half of it left. This couldn't be. This must've been another bad dream. Was it possible to have a nightmare in a nightmare? Quickly grabbing your backpack you tried to get a proper amount of money out of your purse without having to call the waitress over. As you were about to get up and leave you heard the familiar voice.
“Sojin?” Your intestines felt like hot coal in your stomach.
“Hello, Yugyeom.” you said in a toneless voice, not looking at him but the girl that was waiting only one step behind him, looking at you with perked eyebrows.
You could just feel how both of them where inspecting you from head to toe and you where glad you actually put some thought into your outfit before leaving.
“I didn't expect to meet you here today.” he smiled shamelessly.
You could feel both anger and sadness starting to seethe under your skin and all you wanted was to do was to punch him. He didn't look sad or sorry at all.
“I can tell.” you finally answered, looking at the girl and him for a second, before fixating a point just slightly to the left of his darn handsome face.

“So..” he coughed slightly. “Are you.. here alone?” it felt like someone punched you instead.
The awkward smalltalk was killing you and he was such an.. .
“Well.. I..” but before you were able to finish your sentence you suddenly felt a presence next to you.
“I'm sorry, I'm a little late, something came up.” This voice.. you looked up and there he was. The blond stranger from yesterday, his face half hidden behind a mask, his blond hair almost hidden under a snapback but it was definitely him. You'd always recognize this voice, even though you only heard it once.
Just for a short second your eyes met, before he looked over to Yugyeom.
“I think your date is waiting for you.” His voice sounded polite but somewhat.. cold. Yugyeom raised his eyebrows. He looked like he wanted to make a nasty remark, but a quick glance at your and then the girls face apparently made him change his mind.
“You're right. We will be going then.” They just looked at each other for a short moment and you could basically feel the tension in the air. Then Yugyeom looked at you for one last time.
“We'll talk again, Sojin.” He smiled at you but it almost felt like a threat, before he turned around, put his arm around the shoulders of the other girl and gently pulled her along to a table that was as far away from yours as possible.

You could hear the stranger sigh behind his mask, before he turned around and actually sat down at your table, across from where you sat just moments ago. Hesitantly you sat down, too. For a few moments the two of you just looked at each other, before you cleared your throat.
“T..thank you..” you mumbled and watched him, as he tilted his head. You couldn't see his lips due to the mask but at his eyes you could tell, that he was smiling.
“Don't mention it.” with this a silence came over the two of you, but this time it wasn't really pleasant but awkward. Every now and then you could hear Yugyeom laugh and with every time your mood dropped a little more.
“Don't listen.” The stranger suddenly whispered and you jerked as you just now realised, that he had leaned over the table into your direction, inspecting you with a warm gaze. You tried to smile but you knew, that it didn't really work out.
“Y..yes.. You're right..” He nodded, but before anyone of you could say something else the waitress came to your table again. This time she was looking at the boy.
“Can I bring you something?” He thought for a second, looking at you.
“Bring her the same thing she was drinking before. Nothing for me.” the waitress nodded and left.
“You shouldn't..” you started but he shook his head.
“Don't worry. I want to.” contracting your eyebrows you looked at him. Why would he want to buy you coffee? Why did he do all these things for you? Suddenly you remembered something.
Quickly you reached under the table and grabbed the umbrella, awkwardly handing it over to him.
“I.. uhm.. Thank you for this. Really.” Again you could just guess that he was smiling, by the way his eyes changed.
“I'm glad I was of help.” He took it and put it next to his chair.
“I also brought your cup! I was hoping to meet you here again so that I could thank you and return everything to you!” you said while searching in your bag.
“Keep it. See it as a present?” He said, tilting his head. You looked at him for a while but ended up not protesting.
“Thank you..” you whispered once again, which made him giggle.
“You say that a lot, don't you?” awkwardly you shrugged your shoulders.

“So.” he leaned back into the chair, waiting for the waitress to leave after she brought you your caramel macchiato. “This is what you've been drinking before?” You nodded, taking a sip and looking at him over the edge of your cup. “I made a good decision then. Yesterday, I mean. I just thought I'd order my favorite. Apparently you like it to.” He took his cap off while talking, to run his hand through his hair. Then his eyes scanned the room, before he sighed and put it back on. You frowned as you watched him, but decided to not say anything about his behavior. Instead you nodded.
“Yes, caramel macchiatos are my favorite! I was really surprised when I realized that it was in the cup.”

Like this the two of you talked about this and that. You often noticed his almost nervous glances around the coffee shop and how he always tried to hide a little behind his snapback when people came past your table but you never pointed it out. But as the afternoon passed by and it began to be early in the evening you noticed, that he was checking his watch quite often.
“You should actually be somewhere right now, shouldn't you?” you smiled intently as you watched his facial expression. “Is your girlfriend waiting for you?”
His eyes immediately locked with yours. “I don't have a girlfriend.” he said in a stern voice. You raised your eyebrows in surprise.
“But you are right, I should be somewhere right now..” he slowly added, eyeing you up. You slowly nodded and -again surprised- noticed, that you actually felt a little disappointed. Even though the two of you had only been talking about irrelevant things you felt at ease with him and even when your thoughts went to Yugyeom every now and then -especially when you could hear his laugh- he somehow managed to distract you from most of your bad thoughts.
“I really don't want to hold you up. I'm already so thankful, I don't want you to get into trouble because of me.” He nodded slowly, looking at you. He seemed to be thinking. Then you could see, that he came to a conclusion.
“I really need to leave now, but..” he digged through his pockets, pulling out a piece of paper -the same paper that had been attached to the thermos cup- and started writing something on it. After a few seconds he handed it over. As you read what it was you couldn't help yourself but smile.
“Finally, a proper smile. It suits you.” He winked at you as he got up. “Don't stay for too long after I left. “ his glance flickered over to Yugyeoms table and you understood, nodding immediately.

With this the stranger got up, pulling his baseball cap further into his face and stopping next to you for a short moment. It looked like he wanted to do something, as his hand jerked into your direction just slightly, but he seemed to have stopped himself.
“See you, Sojin.” he whispered and before you could reply he was gone.
A little confused but still with that smile on your face you looked back at the slip of paper in your hand. A few numbers had been written onto it and beneath it he had written “Jimin”. So the blond stranger was called Jimin. You liked the name and for some reason it fitted him perfectly.
Without really thinking about it you finally finished your bagel and then packed your things to make your way over to the counter. As the waitress that had been accountable for your table saw you she seemed surprised .
“Can I help you?”
“I wanted to pay, I'm..” but she shook her head.
“The boy you had been with already payed for everything before leaving in a hurry.” You tilted your head. “I.. oh.. Okay.. Thank you.” you stuttered, before turning around and -without looking at Yugyeom once again- you left the café.

'What a strange evening.' you thought to yourself, the paper still in your hand as you made your way home.