"Oh!"

Soohyun jolted as he heard the woman next to her exclaim together with the sound of a rubber bullet hitting the target. He looked over his shoulder and saw the woman elated with her fists clenched. This is the fourth time he coincidentally played along side the woman, and it's the first time he saw her actually shoot down a target. It's also the first time he saw her looking so bright.

The last three times he saw her, it looked like the woman was just mindlessly shooting bullets, her mind pre-occupied with whatever thoughts she had that made her look so gloomy. 

The woman clearly surprised herself too as she quickly bowed apologetically his way after she yelped out of excitement. This was the first time their eyes had truly met and Soohyun merely timidly bowed his head too before returning his attention to his own targets.

"Oh!" He heard the woman exclaim again, as it turns out she had hit the 120-point target this time. He watched her run to the prize counter, where she excitedly hopped as she received the fluffy white teddy bear as her prize.

Albeit briefly, their eyes met, and a small, shy smile escaped his lips as the woman skipped out of the arcade.

 

Gayoung skipped on the pavement with the fluffy white teddy bear in hand. She can't help but smile to herself as she thinks about how her serendipitous arcade "playmate"'s shooting technique helped her finally hit the target's bullseye, resulting to her new cuddle buddy finding a new home in her arms. 

For the first time in a while, Gayoung felt pure joy. Nothing grand, nothing ludicrous, just plain joy. She was finally content with herself, after so desperately seeking for love in the wrong places. This time—

"Ah!" Gayoung lost balance and was about to fall when she suddenly felt a pair of arms catch her.

She was surprised to see that it was the man from the arcade. Her heart suddenly felt like it wanted to jump out of her chest. It happened in a blink of an eye, and all she could muster to say was, "Oh... Thank you."

Just as she was about to keep walking, her body whiplashed back as the heel of her shoe was caught on the drainage cover.

"Y-Your heel," the man said as he awkwardly tried to bend down to help, but Gayoung was quick to get down first and remove her heel stuck from the ground

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," she mumbled as she put on her shoe again.

"There, it's okay now. Thank you," she awkwardly said with a bright smile, as they timidly bowed to each other again.

She proceeded to walk again leaving the man behind, however her heart somehow couldn't keep still as the butterflies in her stomach fluttered around.

하나.

둘.

셋.

넷.

다섯.

여섯.

일...

 

"저기요!" Excuse me!

Gayoung halted in her steps. A silly grin formed on her face but she tried her best to purse her lips and act natural as she turned around to look at the man who had just called her.

"Do you... perhaps have time for coffee?" the man asked, rather meekly, with a hand lightly scratching the back of his head. This image made Gayoung's brain go haywire. Her mind started overthinking, however her lips couldn't stop itself from smiling.

The man started to take small steps towards her. She bit her lower lip, hesitating.

"I...can spare an hour or two," she finally replied, and proceeded to walk forward.

He was flustered at her acceptance to his rather sudden invitation, and rushed to the spot of the pavement beside her, matching her pace as she walked. There were awkward smiles on their faces as they walked side-by-side on the street, both holding fluffy teddy bears in their arms.

 

"Uhm..." he breaks the warm silence and extend his hand. "I'm Hwang Soohyun."

Gayoung looked at his hand and shyly took it, replying, "Bang Gayoung." They shook hands, which they quickly withdrew right after. 

"You have a pretty name," he said looking at her.

She awkwardly laughed at the sudden compliment. She almost hated how much cheesy lines like that affected her as she felt her heart beat even faster.

"Thanks," she simply replied. Her eyes wandered around and spotted a cafe at the corner of the street. "Uh... how about we grab a coffee there?" 

Soohyun looked at the shop she pointed at. He chuckled softly and asked, "Really? Do you wanna eat there?"

"O-Oh, I mean that was just the first thing I saw so I thought--- uhm if you had a place in mind, we can go there," she replied, flustered at the thought that he might've assumed she had poor taste. This is a new and awkward situation for her so she really jus