I checked the time for the third time in less than two minutes. I hadn’t been able to get Brian or his annoyingly gorgeous smile out of my head since last night. I had gone to bed last night, thoughts of his soothing voice and beautiful smile running through my mind, even after I had fallen asleep.

I checked the time again. Quarter to eleven. Although he didn’t say so last night, I was assuming that he worked the same shifts every night, which means he would be finishing in fifteen minutes…

I glanced at the time again before grabbing my purse and heading out of my apartment. I made my way down the road, my palms growing sweaty with nerves. I rubbed them against my jean clad thighs as I neared the store. I stopped at the same corner where I had watched him playing with the cute cat only twenty-four hours before. I peeked around the corner, but there was no one waiting outside today. I tried to catch a glimpse of him through the windows of the store, but it looked empty. I knew the register was hidden from view from where I was standing, so I could only assume that he was there.

I hesitated. What if he thinks I’m a weirdo for turning up here again? What if he only said what he said last night to be nice? I sighed at myself. “Come on, woman up. Just go into the store, buy some ramen and feel out the situation. If it turns out that he was just being nice yesterday, then at least you’ll have something to eat.” I squared my shoulders and flicked my hair back away from my face before heading towards the store.

I pushed open the door of the store, Brian’s voice instantly greeting me. “Welcome- oh! It’s you!” a grin spread across his face when his gaze landed on me. That’s a good sign, right? He gave his customer his change and I held the door open for the other customer to leave. “I didn’t think you were coming.” Brian said, still grinning at me. “I wasn’t sure either.” I said, a laugh of relief making its way out of my mouth from his positive reaction to seeing me. He glanced at the time, “You just made it as well. Another five minutes and my shift would have been over.” I smiled as I approached the counter.

“No cat today?” I asked. He chuckled, “She came by earlier, but she might still be hanging around. She’s quite clingy.” He chuckled. Gods his voice is so pretty. “Were you okay walking down here alone at this time of night?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice. I nodded with a laugh, “This is the quietest neighbourhood ever, I didn’t even pass anyone else until I got to the store.” He nodded, “That’s good. I was worried about you out there at this time of night. Even though this is a quiet neighbourhood, you should still be careful.” He added.

“What about you? You walk home alone every night after your shift. And don’t pull the ‘I’m a guy, so I can defend myself’ card on me.” I challenged back, my grin showing that I was just teasing. He held his hands up in a show of mock innocence, “I would never! But I can run quickly if need be. Anyone tries to mess with me they’ll need to catch me first.” We both burst out laughing at his words.

We both turned around as the same boy from yesterday came through the door, this time looking a little more alert than he had yesterday. “I’m not late!” he shouted as soon as he opened the door, his face turning red when he noticed that Brian wasn’t alone. He quickly bowed to me, “Welcome. Sorry!” he said before he rushed behind the counter, Brian playfully ruffling his hair as he went passed him. “That’s Dowoon.” He said, pointing to the open office door where Dowoon was hanging up his jacket. “And that means that I’m off duty.” He said as he pulled off the store’s vest that he had been wearing over his t-shirt.

“Are you hungry by any chance?” he asked. I nodded, “Starving actually.” I chuckled. “And your store has the best selection of ramen in the whole neighbourhood.” Brian smiled at my words, obviously pleased that I had agreed to eat with him. Thank god I decided to come here tonight.

Brian quickly briefed Dowoon on what the younger boy needed to know before we wandered up the ramen aisle. “Pick whatever you want, it’s on me.” he said, flashing me a smile. “Don’t be silly.” I said. He shook his head, “You came all the way down here in the middle of the night and I was the one who asked you if you were hungry, the least I can do is pay for your food.” I smiled and gave in, quickly picking my favourite ramen from the shelf.

He paid for our ramen and he made both of ours while we chatted. He was so kind and attentive and it seemed to be genuine. There are a lot of people out there who faked being nice, but with Brian, it seemed to just be natural to him. He carried both of our cups of ramen to the small seating area outside of the store, the steam clearly visible in the cool night.

“Thank you for the food.” I said happily before tucking into my food. Our conversation flowed easily as we ate. It felt like we had known each other for years and not only a day. I can’t believe how much he felt like an old friend. He told me that he was interested in music and was working at the store part time to help fund his studies. I could have listened to him talk all night. We talked about our hopes and dreams until late into the night. It was only when he noticed my shivering did we stop.

“Oh my god, look at you! You’re shivering so badly, I didn’t even notice!” he said as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around me. “It’s okay, you’ll need it. You’re only wearing a t-shirt, I’m wearing a sweater!” I protested as I tried to take off the jacket, but he grabbed the lapels and wrapped it firmly around me. “I’m not the one shivering though.” He countered, flashing me a disarming smile. I had to admit that I couldn’t argue with that. Even without his jacket he didn’t look like he was feeling the cold at all.

“Come on, we should head back.” He said as he stood up. We slowly made our way back towards our apartments. We finally reached the fork in the road where we had to part ways. I tried to return his jacket but he just held it around me again. “Keep it. You can return it the next time we meet up.” My heart soared at his words, knowing that he wanted to meet me again. “How about we exchange numbers? That way we can arrange to meet up sometime?” I asked, feeling momentarily brave. I swear I had never been as nervous before in my entire life as I was in that moment as I waited for his response. He smiled widely at my words. “That sounds good.”

We exchanged numbers, matching smiles on both of our faces. “You should hurry and get home, it’s already so late.” He said, his voice laced with care. I nodded, “You too, you must be tired after your shift.” He smiled at me, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll call you, okay?” he promised. I couldn’t hide my smile as I nodded. “Good night.” I waved to him as I turned and walked the remaining distance to my apartment, the same smile that had been on my face last night still painted on my lips for the second night in a row.