You should have been more elated about tonight. You should have been grinning from ear to ear, planning your outfit down to the last detail. And you were happy about tonight. You were excited to spend some real one-on-one time with Huan. Just not at the level you should have been.

For the first time in a long time, you were going on a date with your fiance. That was too strange a notion. Going on a date with your fiance. But something happened when you got engaged and made this move together. It was almost like the honeymoon phase was skipped over completely and the two of you had already settled into the “old married couple” phase where the two of you went along with your own separate schedules and just met at the end of the day to have dinner and go to bed.

Tonight, though, would mix up that same boring routine. Huan was getting out of work early and taking you to a nice restaurant that was way too expensive per plate. But you’d let that slide for the quality time. You kept repeating that to yourself to get you more excited. It worked. A little.

As soon as class was over, you ran to the parking lot, determined to beat Huan home and be mostly ready by the time he got there. With his job, he’d already be dressed up, not needing to change before heading out.

You spent a good ten minutes just staring at the high-end part of your closet; the section that held the fancier articles of clothing that you owned. They weren’t used often, but at least they were there.

Finally settling on a dress that stopped mid-thigh on you and pairing it with a pair of heels that were actually comfortable, you headed to the next step of preparation. You were just putting on the finishing touches, watching yourself in the mirror as you put on a pair of simple earrings when you heard the front door of the apartment opening.

“(y/n)?”

“Coming!” Grabbing your small clutch, you hurried out of the bedroom, almost running smack into Huan in the hallway.

“Well, hello there,” he laughed as he encased you in an embrace close to his chest.

You placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “Hi. How was work?”

He shrugged. “It was work. I’m much happier here.”

That got a giggle out of you. “So, does that mean you’d rather stay here than go to dinner?”

“Not a chance,” Huan said firmly, letting you go and taking a hold of your hand instead. “I made this reservation weeks ago. I’m not just going to cancel them now.”

For some reason, the way he phrased it… No. You were overthinking things and looking for something that wasn’t there.

But why? Your mind had never gone in that direction before. So why look at things that way now?

Pushing it all away, you vowed that you would enjoy tonight. A date with your fiance. This was happiness.

The restaurant was filled to fire code capacity when you arrived. How a fancy restaurant could be fully booked in a college city like this was beyond your comprehension, but it was simply so. The foyer was filled to the point that there was no more seating for those waiting patiently on the next available table.

After checking in with the hostess, you and Huan stood off to the side and out of the way until you were called. It was too loud to try and make conversation, so you stood there in silence, occasionally smiling at each other. Within ten minutes, you were shown to your table, thankfully in a more quiet area of the restaurant where conversation was actually possible. The waiter was quick to take your drink orders soon after you sat down. Huan ordered a bottle of wine without consulting you and refused to tell you the price of whatever alcohol he’d asked for.

“How are your classes going?” he asked, placing his menu off to the side.

The waiter came back, expertly pouring each of you a glass of white wine before leaving the bottle in an ice bucket and taking your orders for dinner.

“They’re going fine,” you replied. “I have a speech to give tomorrow on effects of colors on marketing strategies in different demographics.”

“So, you probably shouldn’t have gone out tonight then, huh?” Huan teased.

Giggling, you shrugged. “I’ve been practicing all day between classes. Ji Yeon even gave it a seal of approval, so I think a little break is fine. There is such thing as overdoing it.”

“Ji Yeon is the girl you met at the library, right?”

You nodded. “Yeah, she is. I really like her.”

“Good.” Huan reached out across the table, taking your left hand in his. He rocked the diamond ring on your finger back and forth with his thumb. “I’m glad you’re making friends here. I was a little worried when we moved all the way out here that you’d be alone most of the time.”

“I understand that your job keeps you busy,” you reassured him with a shrug. “And I’m able to make friends, obviously.”

“(y/n)?”

Turning to search for the source of your name, you lit up at finding it. Ji Yeon was only a few feet away. No longer dressed in her usual jeans, plaid button downs, and camisole, she looked stunning in her little black dress. And she wasn’t alone. A blonde haired man stood beside her, smiling brightly.

“Ji Yeon, hi!” You got up from your seat and went over to hug her. “We were just talking about you!”

“All good things, I hope,” Ji Yeon chuckled.

“Of course.” Remembering your manners, you turned to back to the table. “Ji Yeon, this is my fiance, Huan. Huan, this Ji Yeon.”

Huan stood up and shook Ji Yeon’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. (y/n) has talked nonstop about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too” Ji Yeon smiled. “(y/n) has told me a lot about you. This,” she gestured to the man next to her, “is Minseok, my m- my boyfriend.”

Minseok and Huan exchanged handshakes. The smile that was on Minseok’s face faltered just a bit after he took a deep breath.  He squeezed Ji Yeon’s hand, getting a confused look from her.

“Well, we’ll let you get back to your dinner,” she said. “It was nice meeting you, Huan. I’ll see you tomorrow, (y/n).”

“Okay,” you nodded, waving goodbye. “See ya later.”

The two of them walked off, Minseok whispering in her ear.

“She does seem nice,” Huan commented when you sat back down. “But that Minseok….”

“What about him?” you asked. He seemed exactly how Ji Yeon had described him, gummy smile and all.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “He just seemed like he didn’t like me.”

You laughed. “He just met you, Huan. He’s probably just shy. Since when did you judge people like that?”

“It’s not judging,” he argued. “It’s just a feeling. You’ve never got a feeling that someone just didn’t like you?”

“No,” you deadpanned. “Not after two seconds of meeting them.”

Huan threw his hands up. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m ruining dinner.”

“No, you’re not,” you sighed. “Why don’t you tell me more about work instead?”

And so, with that strange encounter behind you, he went on about the different clients he was working with and how well he was fitting in with his coworkers. The conversation felt normal again and you were lost once in a world of just you and Huan.

Back at home, Huan was quick to change into his pajamas and crawl into bed, laptop open on his knees with just the covers in between.

You took your own time getting ready for bed, changing into your sleepwear and brushing your teeth in the bathroom. When you were done, you slid under the covers and snuggled into Huan’s side.

“Being on the computer this late isn’t good for your eyes,” you commented teasingly.

“I’ll put it away once I’ve finished this proposal,” he promised.

Tracing nonexistent shapes on his arm, you sighed, “I guess we should have just stayed home tonight to finish our work, huh?”

“I thought dinner was rather nice,” Huan countered, eyes still glued to the computer screen.

You chewed on your bottom lip, fighting back and forth on whether or not to voice out loud the thought that was bouncing around your head. Then, you opted to go with the truth.

“Hey, Huan?”

Click, click, click, click. “Hm?”

“I, um, I went to see Kris a few days ago,” you confessed.

The typing stopped. “You did, huh?”

“Yeah.” You sat up to watch his face. “You know, just to catch up with him. See what he’s been up to since I last saw him. A lots happened since then.”

Huan closed his laptop and set if off to the side on the nightstand. “What did you guys talk about?”

“Just life,” you replied. “Finding out what he’s been up to.”

“(y/n)… I don’t think that’s a good idea to do that anymore.”

You blinked. “Why?”

Huan blew air out from between his lips. “I just… I don’t feel comfortable with it.”

“He’s my friend,” you argued.

“Was your friend,” he countered. “You haven’t seen him for years. You don’t know who he is now.”

“Hence why I went to go see him. I’m curious as to who he is now.”

Sighing, Huan took your hand. “I just would feel better if you didn’t see him alone, just the two of you. Can you do that for me? Please?”

You wanted to continue arguing with him, to say that he was being ridiculous. You were an independent woman who could see who you wanted when you wanted. But relationships were about compromise and understanding the other person. You knew that you might be upset if Huan was out hanging with a woman you didn’t really know. So you gave in.

Leaning over to the nightstand, Huan turned off the lamp and pulled you in close to him as you both lied down to go to sleep.

Deep down, you knew that Huan was right. You didn’t know who Kris was now. Seeing him alone again would be a very bad idea. Staying away that situation would probably be easy enough. All you had to do was avoid going to the shop again. Easy enough. 

You hoped.

**

“How did the speech go?” Ji Yeon asked as you sat down across from her.

It was a nice day outside so the two of you had agreed to meet at one of the stone tables in the beautiful courtyard. A slight breeze kept the air from being too hot, but too bad to the point where your papers were flying everywhere. Fluffy white clouds floated across the blue sky while groups of students walked by, chatting about classes and their plans for the weekend.

“I think it went well,” you smiled. “I don’t think I missed any of my points. The only issue is that my professor is a master of the poker face. She gave away nothing as to if she liked it or not. That’s going to stress me out until she puts the grade in.”

Ji Yeon waved it off. “I’m sure you did perfectly fine. It sounded amazing when you did it for me.”

“Thanks,” you sighed. As much as her encouragement helped, you knew that you wouldn’t be completely calm until you knew the results of your presentation. Needing to take your mind off of it, you turned the conversation over to Ji Yeon. “How’s your project going?”

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I’m still having a hard time pinning down what I want the theme to revolve around.”

“You’ll figure it out eventually,” you encouraged. Her big project for the semester was worth a major percentage of her grade for this class. You wished you could be more helpful, but neither of you cared for the few ideas the two of you had come up with already.

Ji Yeon’s phone rang from it’s spot on the table. “It’s Minseok. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” you nodded.

As she stood up and walked a little ways away to talk on the phone, you pulled out a notebook and started going over your notes, highlighting certain parts that you thought might be important later on.

“Hey, (y/n).”

You jumped, messing up your highlighting in the process. Kris sat down across from you, smiling at you.

Looking over your shoulder, you tried to figure out where the hell he came from. “What are you doing here?”

Kris shrugged. “My brothers go to school here, so I came to see them since I’m not at the shop today. I saw you and thought I’d say hi.”

“Oh.”

Somehow, you were slightly disappointed in that. Then you remembered your promise to Huan.

Standing up, you put away your notebook. “I’m sorry, Kris. I have to go.”

“Why?”

You frowned at him. “What?”

“Why do you have to go?” he elaborated.

“Because I shouldn’t be alone with you,” you answered honestly.

“Shouldn’t be alone with me?” The look on Kris’ face said he was insulted by the the comment. He, too, stood to his feet, coming close to you. “Why not? That didn’t seem to be an issue when you tracked me down earlier this week.”

You gaped at him. He really had the audacity to push that back onto you. “Yeah, well, I’ve talked to Huan since then and he said that it made him uncomfortable.”

Kris snorted. “Uncomfortable, huh? Sounds like he’s feeling a little threatened by your childhood friend.”

“He is not,” you spat. What was up with him right now?

“Really?” Kris scoffed, leaning up against the table. “Then why doesn’t he want you to reconnect with a friend from when you were eight?”

Unfortunately, you didn’t have a good comeback for that. Not one that would stop any further argument, anyway. “Look, Kris, it’s nothing personal. And I do want to see you and be friends again, but Huan is important to me and if he doesn’t like this then I’m not going to risk him. I’m sorry.”

“Whatever, (y/n),” Kris mumbled. “When you’re ready to be your own person again, let me know.”

Before you could retort, he pushed off of the table and left. A minute later, Ji Yeon came back and could read your conflicting emotions all over your face.

“Did something happen?” she asked.

“No,” you lied. The situation was just too complicated to explain. And it was giving you a headache. “Still just worried about the speech results.”

Jiyeon nodded, but definitely didn’t believe you. “Okay. Well, try not to think about it then.”

“I’ll try,” you sighed. Much easier said than done.

You were still thinking about Kris and his challenge as you made dinner that night. You were your own person. You were also just considerate of the the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

Huan came from work at his usual late time and greeted you quickly before heading for the bedroom to change. When he came back out, he kissed your cheek before stealing a taste of the pasta sauce simmering on the stove.

“Would you stop,” you chastised. “It’s not done yet.”

“I know,” Huan chuckled, “but your sauce is always amazing. And I’m hungry.”

“Well, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.” To save the rest of the sauce, you covered the pot with a lid and let it finish cooking along with the pasta.

“By the way, babe,” Huan took down plates from the cabinet to set the table, “next week I’ve got to go out of town for work.”

“Oh, yeah?” you turned to him. “How long?”

“All week,” he replied. “I won’t be back until the following Monday.”

You pursed your lips. “Okay. I guess I can survive until then.”

Huan shook his head. “You always do.”

**

You spent the weekend with Huan, neglecting your homework to be with him as much as you could before he left for his business trip. And you enjoyed it a majority of the time.

However, every once in a while and without a single provocation, your mind would wander off to Kris.

What was he doing at this moment in time? Was he upset after your last encounter? Was he smiling and laughing with his “brothers”? Was he happy?

Those were not questions that you should have been asking yourself or thinking about at all. But there you were, doing it anyway. What was worse was the moments Huan caught you in deep thought. You lied each time, saying it was just school and the papers you had coming up occasionally crossing your mind.

A sense of guilt weighed you down as you dropped Huan off at the airport Monday morning. Your fingers wanted to take over the wheel and go see Kris at that stupid shop. The reason why escaped you. Why this urge to see him, make sure that he’s smiling and content, was constantly plaguing you kept escaping you.

He’s just someone you knew when you were eight, you told yourself. There was no reason or cause for any of this.

He wasn’t that special. He wasn’t some lost hero that had saved you from the tower before disappearing into the woods and leaving you alone. He was simply a person that you spent time with as child, someone who was there in your memories and had made you smile and laugh. That was it. It shouldn’t be affecting you like this.  

The sun was almost completely gone by the time you got out of class on Monday. With a sense of urgency that always came with the dark, you hurried to the now mostly empty parking lot with the thought of bed on your mind.

But you didn’t even make it to the edge when you saw a familiar figure under a streetlamp right up against the sidewalk.

Leaning on his car with his arms crossed, Kris gave you a little wave.

You simply rolled your eyes and kept on walking towards your car.

“You’re really not going stop and say hi?” he called out after you.

Whirling around, you yelled back, “What exactly do you think you’re doing just showing up here?”

Kris held his hands up as he slowly approached you. “I just want to talk.”

“You just want to talk?” you scoffed. “Fine. Then talk.”

He shook his head. “Not here.”

You didn’t move as he got close enough to grab your hand. When you didn’t pull away, he started to lead you back to his car.

“Whoa, what do you think you’re doing?” You tried to yank free, but his grip was just strong enough to keep you in place.

Opening the passenger’s side door of his car, all he said was, “Get in.”

What the hell? “No.”

“Please, get in.”

“No,” you emphasized.

This time, he simply pointed to the empty seat. The fact that you gave in so easily was insane. You should have ran, yelled at him, or did anything else besides sliding into that empty seat.

Without another word, Kris shut the door and rounded the hood of the car to take the driver’s seat. He put the car in drive and then took off out of the campus parking lot and down the street at a speed that was certainly well above the legal limit.

Everything past by you in a blur, but you could still make out the fact that he wasn’t taking you in the direction of your apartment or his shop. In fact, the buildings around you were thinning as the forest came closer.

Bracing yourself, you pushed back into the seat. There was no way to tell where Kris was taking you or why. What you did know was that you weren’t feeling as guilty or anxious as you should have been.

In fact, you were feeling at ease - safe, even, as the gauge reached over ninety miles per hour - and that was worrying you the most.