Junjin walks into the small restaurant. It was a surprise to hear from her so soon. He smirks and says under his breath “I thought she would wait at least a week”

He is seated and waits for her. Checking his watch and sees she is late. 

She won’t stand me up, right? He thinks

After a few more minutes he looks up and smiles as he sees her walking towards him. 

“Hi” he stands 

“Hello, Mr. Park” they bow to each other before seating down.

“I apologize for being late, something came up at the café” she bows slightly again. 

He shakes his head “it’s ok, I understand” 

She grabs the menu and hands it to him “I hope you like this place, it’s one of my favorites”

He takes the menu and flips through it “It’s my first time here but the food looks good” he hands the menu back to her “you can choose; I trust your judgment” he smiles at her.

She chuckles “ok, if you don’t like it it’s not my fault” calls the waiter and orders their food. Suddenly she feels awkward, she can’t look at him and doesn’t know what to say. 

“So…” they both say at the same time making them laugh.

“You go first” he says 

She thinks for a minute “Ummm…I just… there was something I wanted to say but” she shakes her head and chuckles “but now that you are here I don’t know what to say” 

He nods “I am sure there is a reason you called but for now let’s just have a nice meal”

She takes a sip of water and nods. The food arrives and they eat while making small talk. No business talk (for now, that talk cannot be avoided) just getting to know each other. 

His phone rings “excuse me, I have to take this” he gets up and heads outside. 

She sits alone mindlessly looking through her phone.

 I guess he is not that bad she thinks and laughs softly

“What’s so funny?” he sits 

“What? ... Oh nothing” she pauses “is everything ok?” she puts her phone back on the table.

“Yes, just work. You know how it is” he smiles at her

She nods “of course. Would you like some dessert?” 

“I would love some and…” he gives her his biggest smile “some coffee but… from your café”

She looks at her watch “I think that could be arranged” she gets the bill “let’s go then” 

He grabs the bill from her “I got this” 

She takes it back “I invited you so it’s on me” she grabs her things and walks to the register before he can say anything. 

“Thank you for the meal, I enjoyed it” he tells her once they are outside. 

“My pleasure” she takes out her car keys “you brought your car?”

He pats his pant pocket where his keys are “yes”

“Ok then, you know where the café is so I’ll see you there” she bows and heads to her car. 

He gets in his car and heads to the café. He replays the dinner and although it was awkward at first he is happy he was able to see a different side of her. Although he already decided to work with her, he wants to make her wait a bit longer. 

When he arrives she is already waiting for him outside of the café. He has never seen her this relax but as soon as she sees him he can see her tensing up again. 

“You beat me” he raises an eyebrow “were you speeding?” 

“Never” she laughs “It’s chilly, let’s go inside”

He opens the door for her and they step inside. He is greeted by the strong delicious smell of coffee and her enthusiastic staff. 

She points to the table “have a seat while I make your coffee” 

 He sits and watches the process from afar. It’s late and there are a few guests, the feel of the café is different from his first visit. The soft sound of the chatter of the guests, the sounds of the coffee machines, the soft music playing over the speaker. Every sound in perfect harmony, he allows himself this moment to relax and let all of his stress melt away.

She brings him back from his thoughts.

“Sorry, did you say something?” he says as he looks up at her. She stands in front of him with a tray in her hands full of drinks and pastries.

“Let’s go upstairs” she motions towards a table by the window, two women are staring and giggling as they look at them “might be easier to talk without your fans eavesdropping” she says in a joking tone. 

He stands and takes the tray from her “I see… you want me all to yourself” 

Hansoo laughs softly “we have business to talk about, privacy would be better” she leads them upstairs. 

The second floor is empty and quiet, she leads them to a table by the window, Junjin follows and they sit. They are alone for the first time and sit in silence for what feels like forever. 

Hansoo avoids looking at him before talking about working together she has to apologize, she has to clear the air. She opens to talk and closes it again feeling extremely awkward. 

Junjin can see that she wants to say something but is hesitant, he decides its best to just talk about work. “I have read over the contract and…”

“Before we talk about that” she interrupts him “there is something I need to say” she starts biting her lip, a nervous tick she has had since childhood. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior from when we first meet” 

He shakes his head “it's not necessary, we don’t have to talk about that”

She looks at him and makes eye contact “it is if we are going to work together…. I mean if you have decided that… we should start fresh” 

Junjin is about to protest but sees the serious look in her eyes “ok if that is what you want to do, go ahead”

As she decides what to say she has a hard time looking directly at him so she looks past him “ I am sorry for overreacting, I was angry about something else and took it out on you” she pauses “Ummm… although I still think you did have some fault… it was also my fault” 

He laughs softly even in her apology, I’m still at fault. 

She looks at him and as if she was reading his mind says “I guess I’m not very good at apologizing… I’m sorry. I’m not usually like that” she avoids his eyes, no need for him to know how she really does have a short temper. 

“Apology accepted” he extends his hand for a handshake and they shake hands

 “You have a great thing going on here and I would like to be a part of it…even if it’s in a small way” he looks around “it’s a nice cafe”

She smiles softly “ thank you” she takes a breath “ I will send your manager all the paperwork and the schedule” 

Junjin grabs the cup and takes a sip “perfect, I can’t wait”