#02
f i r s t  d a t e ,  f i r s t  i m p r e s s i o n
 

It was lunch time, and Jinki was standing in front of the counter in a cafe a block away from the office building. He brought his camera with him, hung aroudn his neck as he took his order – a crepe with egg, ham, and lettuce, and a cup of coffee. Settling down on a table by the window, he his camera and took a picture of his coffee in front of him. After looking at the result on the screen, he looked at the previour pictures as well.

None of them was related to work, it was Jinki's personal camera and his most prized as well. Before the picture of the coffee, it was the cafe's interior, the people, a cat sleeping on a sidewalk, things that interest Jinki, and as a matter of fact, a lot of things do.

"Oh, Jinki?"

Hearing his name called, Jinki turned to see the owner of the voice. "Tiffany, hey," he greeted the girl carrying a paper bag and a plastic bag with two coffees in her hands. "Grabbing some lunch?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

"You want to join me?" he asked, gesturing at the seat across from him.

"No, thanks. I've got to get Jessica her lunch," she said as she slightly lifted the paper bag.

"She isn't going out of her office?" Tiffany shook her head. "Well, next time, tell her I asked her to have lunch with me, okay?"

Tiffany was a little surprised at her work-mate's statement, but after a short time of thinking, nods her head. "I will. Thanks, Jinki," she smiled. "I'll go first, okay?" and after waving goodbye, she left the cafe.

Jinki smiled to himself. It wasn't a secret that the head-photographer was a bit eccentric, as to his happy-go-lucky personality. He was nice to everybody, polite and respectful, has a weird sense of humor and an incredibly relaxed person, despite his job. He has a good relationship with his acquaintances, men or women, but strangely, hasn't got a girlfriend yet. Though, it was rumored that he was trying to charm the art director.

His only response to it was a chuckle. Everybody knows that Jinki is nice to everybody, but only he knows that he thinks too much about the people around him. But, he doesn't care, though. He thinks it's nice to think about other people. And one of the people he thought about was Jessica.

The art director just bothers his mind. Not her in general, but the way she is. Why does Miss Jung Jessica, the art director of L magazine, has a really difficult personality?

Jinki had heard the rumors going around about her, and some of them were kind of harsh. But it didn't effect him much. Not that he disliked her, no. It's just that he pity people like her. And this is the where the part thinking-about-people-way-too-much came in. Other people might think to just let her be, but Jinki thought otherwise.

He'll see when they go for lunch together.

Jinki smiled again as he glanced at his watch. Lunch time was almost over and he has to go back to the office. He finished his almost-cold coffee, hung his camera around his shoulder, and walked out of the cafe.

Tiffany kept stealing glances of Jessica who was nibbling on an egg sandwich in front of her while looking through designs. Jessica realized this, and shot a look at her.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

Tiffany was taken aback for the second there, before she fell silence for a while, pondering if she should tell Jessica about Jinki's message earlier or not. She was afraid of her reaction, since she knew that Jessica doesn't really like the man. But she did anyway.

"I met Jinki earlier," she began. "And, uh.. he told me, to tell you that, perhaps.. you might want to join him for lunch sometimes?"

Jessica furrowed her brows. "Huh? Why did he told you that?"

"I don't.. know?"

"Well, then tell him, no."

Tiffany frowned at Jessica who was crumpling the paper wrapper and then got up to throw it into the trash bin. "Why not?"

"I'm not interested."

"In what? Having lunch with him, or him in general?"

"Both!" Jessica almost yelled. "I don't know if that guy has the hots for me or what, but seriously, I do not have an interest in him. Not the slightest bit, not at all."

"But, what if it isn't because he likes you? It's only rumors, Sica! Maybe, he's just trying to get on your good side, hm? What about that?" Tiffany tried to persuade.

"Mmm, too bad. He's already on my bad side," Jessica said ignorantly, sitting back in front of her computer. "I told you, Fany. Jinki just bothers me."

"This is what I don't get from you, what part of Jinki bothers you, really?" Tiffany asked, standing in front of Jessica's desk, arms folded. "He's really nice and charming, everybody likes him!"

"Yeah, but I don't."

Tiffany sighed. "Just, at least give him a chance? He's not that bad, and who knows? It might be good for you, Sica."

"I'll think about it later, okay?" Jessica gave her friend a small smile, just reassuring enough until Tiffany gave up and excused herself out from Jessica's office.

She was left alone, finally. Lunch time was over and she had to go back to work. Jessica didn't know what to work on, though. She's finished her work by yesterday, and have made a few layouts for the next issue just this morning before lunch time, but didn't feel like resuming it now. She was pondering on whether to read a home interior magazine while listening to jazz, draw, or even fold origamis, when her gaze landed on a blue folder jammed inside her holder.

It was the folder for the fashion editorial Jinki had given her two days ago. Which reminded her, the one that she has to send in with the layout by the day after tomorrow. Jessica pulled out the folder and opened it, to see that the pictures were laminated and were bound neatly. The fashion editorial was doing a cover on simple, casual street style and Jinki had done a good job with his photographs.

The busy scenery of Apgujeong in the background, while his camera focused on the model wearing pretty simple pieces of clothing. The poses seemed like easy and modest poses, but still has a substantial effect on the pictures, making them more lively and natural, and still compelling, somehow. Jinki did a good job managing his models.

Maybe that's why he's good with them, a thought crossed Jessica's mind as she looked through the pictures. Because he's good with a lot of people, too.

At the last page of the folder was Jinki's contact informations–his email, his phone number and his blog address–and information that actually Jessica didn't know, until now. Even though she won't be contacting him much, Jessica saved them in her phone. It won't hurt having his contact, who knows, she could need his help for something urgent some time later. But still, she had to contact him now.

He picks up her call right after the first ring (which made Jessica wonder, is he really that laid-back or does he not have work to do?), letting out a really cheerful, "Jinki here."

"Hello," Jessica said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Sorry, who's this?"

"It's Jessica. Jessica Jung."

"Oh! – Oh, Jessica, hey," she could hear his tone turned bright–well, brighter, once she mentioned her name. "What's up?"

Jessica cleared once, trying to suppress her annoyance on how Jinki uses informal language in talking to her, who might she add, is his superior. "Um, yeah. I'm calling about the fashion editorial pictures.."

"Oh, you've taken a look? How is it?" he interrupted.

"It's pretty good," Jessica gave a short reply. "I've decided on which pictures we're going to use, so, could you send me the pictures through email?"

"Sure, just name which ones. I've numbered it on the folder," said Jinki, and in the background she could hear clicks and chatters of keys, like he was doing something in his computer.

"2, 6 and 7, and 9. I still need three more, so could you send the ones you didn't include in the folder?"

"Yeah, sure," Jinki replied. "It'll take some time to upload, so we might as well just talk?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no," Jessica said hurriedly. "I've kept my email signed in, don't worry. I'll be notified on your email."

"Cool then," said Jinki. This time, Jessica thought that their conversation was over, but suddenly Jinki interrupted again. "Oh, yeah! There's something I wanted to talk to you about," and she fell silence, letting him continue. "Did you get my message? From Tiffany?"

Jessica mentally slapped herself for not quickly hanging up earlier. "Uhhh, yeah. She did," she answered half-heartedly.

"So?"

"So, what?"

"Do you want to go out for lunch with me sometimes?"

Jessica groaned inaudibly. "Um, I don't know, Jinki. I'm kinda busy.." she reasoned. It was a lie, though. Her jobs for the month's issue was already done.

"Come on, Jess. Lunch is only for an hour! Or, perhaps, dinner?" Jinki tried again.

Dinner will be worse, thought Jessica. But she still wasn't sure if she should have lunch with Jinki. "I'll need to check my schedules first..?"

"Jess, seriously. Lunch is already scheduled," she could hear Jinki muffling a chuckle, and in an instant, Jessica felt so silly that she covered her face even though there was no one watching her. "Come on. Shall we go.. tomorrow?"

Jessica massaged her temple, thinking it over once again. It's just one lunch, out of office, with Jinki. It wouldn't feel like the worst moment of her life, right? Not any worse then a certain time in the past that she definitely won't want to bring up. "Okay, fine," she finally replied. "Tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, tomorrow," she could tell that Jinki was grinning like mad, after mouthing yes!-es and throwing his fist in the air. "Should I pick you up at your office?"

"No need, let's just meet up at the restaurant."

"I haven't decided where we're going to eat yet, Jess.."

Jessica bit her lip to prevent herself from groaning. "Then, just.. pick me up at lunch time," she said.

"Roger," Jinki replied. "The files are attached, what's your email?"

"It's [email protected]."

Once again, Jessica heard the chattering sounds of the keyboard, a few clicks, and, "Sent." 

Her laptop beeped, and a notification popped up from the right upper corner of her screen, You've got an email; from [email protected]. "I've got it. Thanks, Jinki."

"My pleasure," Jinki said. "See you tomorrow, Miss Jung."

Jessica scoffed. "Yeah, see you tomorrow," and she hung up, mentally cursing herself for making an appointment with Lee Jinki. She took a deep breath. "It's only lunch," Jessica said.

Yeah, it's only lunch.

But somehow, Jessica felt slightly uneasy because of it. Maybe because it was the first time she had made a personal lunch appointment in a while–a really long while–and with a guy also. Other than Tiffany and some girls in the business, she doesn't really have much friends, especially guy friends.

But just so you know, Jessica Jung isn't nervous about going out for lunch with a male colleague.

Not at all.

Honestly, Jessica dreaded today.

She was just sitting around her office, examining some works that are already done, and suddenly it was lunch time. 

She didn't expect Jinki to show up right at the beginning of lunch time to pick her up, not at all. The only thing she's expecting from him was a sudden cancellation of their meeting. But then again, that didn't seem impossible at the time being, so she thought it would be better if she checked on herself.

Standing in front of the body mirror at the corner of her office, Jessica fixed herself from head to toe. She was wearing a white butterfly-blouse, tucked inside her salmon knee-length skirt, and a pink blazer over it. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail and drooped over her shoulder.

"Aren't you looking dazzling."

Jessica quickly turned around to see Jinki leaning against the door of her office. "Oh! – Oh, hey.. you're here," she stammered, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Jinki chuckled. "I was just playing around, Jess, you look very fine," he said.

"Not dazzling?" Jessica raised a brow.

"Don't get me wrong, you are dazzling, even in casual clothes," he smiled. "But, I thought, the way I said it was kind of.."

"TMI," she cut him off. "Thanks, anyway."

"It's fine. So, should we go now?" Jinki glanced at his watch.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Jessica said and grabbed her bag, and they both exited her office.

Tiffany was eyeing her and Jinki playfully, saying, "Have a nice meal, you two," which Jinki replied with a "will do", and a strained, irritated smile from Jessica. They walked out of the art department, walking side by side with stares and whispers along their way out of the building.

In spite of Jessica's totally irritated mood, Jinki was being casual as ever, walking beside her with his hands inside his jeans pockets. "So, where do you want to eat?"

"You decide, I don't really go out to eat much," Jessica replied.

"Okay, then. Let's go eat pasta, what do you think?" he suggested. "I know a good italian restaurant a block from here."

"You sure know a lot of restaurants.." muttered Jessica. But truthfully, she loves italian food; she thinks it's one of the countries with best cuisines, so she agreed. "Fine. Let's have lunch there."

Jessica and Jinki walked to the block full of restaurants and cafes. It wasn't a long walk, and both of them didn't talk much; or actually it was Jinki who kept blabbering about great restaurants he have eaten at and how Jessica should try them, and she only hummed in response, her mind wandering somewhere else into Seoul's nice weather. They arrived at the restaurant; it wasn't a big, fancy restaurant, just a small italian house with the classic balconies, plants hung on pots and classic music. The two of them chose a seat next to a window, and ordered a spaghetti aglio oglio for Jinki and cream spaghetti for Jessica.

"You don't want any pizzas? Original italian pizzas are different from american pizzas, and they certainly taste more italian," Jinki said.

"No, thanks. The two of us won't be able to finish it anyway, don't you think?" Jessica answered, uninterested. Eventually, they only ordered spaghettis and two glasses of lime tea.

After the waiter left, Jinki started a conversation. "So, what did you think about the fashion editorial photographs?"

"It was really good, I actually think you showed a very good technique in taking pictures," said Jessica, smiling a little at the change of topic.

"Really? Thanks," Jinki smiled in return. "But really, in which part do I show good techniques?"

Jessica thought for a while. "In the angles from which you take the pictures from, it had a really great effect. And the model, the model. Did you tell them how to pose, or something like that?"

"I did, actually. Basically I only told them how they should be posing, but high-end magazine models like them sometimes kind of cold and ignorant–it's not like their posing in a runway, right? I showed them how casual they should be posing, but still emphasizes the I'm-a-model part, like this," Jinki showed a pose from the model where she was eating a popsicle and looked at the camera with a surprised expression. He imitated it in a funny way, making Jessica laugh.

"Oh! I remember that one," she giggled, but then suddenly remembering that it was Lee Jinki who acted silly, and she didn't like being silly. "Uhm, yeah, she showed really good expressions."

"I know, right? Hara is one of the best," said Jinki, playing with his glass of lime tea. "But, honestly, I don't really like telling my models how they should pose in front of the camera. I think candid pictures are more valuable, because they can't fake the expressions."

"I see.. Speaking of that, though," Jessica paused for a while to take something out of bag, which turned out to be the folder of pictures Jinki gave her. "Since I've already gotten the files, here."

Jinki looked at the folder for a while and pushed it back to Jessica. "No, you have it. I have the original files."

"But.."

"It's fine. I know you're into fashion."

Jessica was surprised. How did Jinki know that she likes fashion? But still, she didn't want to admit it. "What do you mean?"

"I know you were an intern at a fashion magazine in your college years, and I've seen some sketches of outfits in your organizer that Tiffany sometimes take to make schedules for you and me. I thought you might've developed some kind of passion for fashion," he explained, grinning.

"You did a background check on me, didn't you?" Jessica interrogated, regarding the fact Jinki knew she had been a fashion magazine intern before.

He chuckled. "What can I say, you're interesting."

"And you are certainly mind-blowing," she muttered loudly, being sarcastic. "Thanks, anyway."

"Are you mad?"

"No, actually. Being honest, I was just slightly flustered."

Jinki smiled. "Good to know."

Until their food came, Jinki and Jessica talked about light matters like work and everything that was going on around them, not getting into the personal things–yet. It was kind of amusing for Jessica to find herself interesting to Jinki, even though she knew he has a lot interests for other things. And she somehow knew from the way he talks about her, the interest was nothing like love interest, it was just plain curiosity. He himself was quite appealing as well, but Jessica knew better; she told herself she wasn't interested. But she did manage to know a few things about him out of their conversation.

It was only unimportant little trivia; like he's an only child, his parents' occupation, where he went for college, little details about his passion for photography and stuff like that. Jessica didn't say much about herself, she doesn't like talking about that to someone who's not too close to her. But she enjoyed the conversation anyway.

It went quiet when they were eating, only the light clinks of forks and spoons against the plate. Jinki would glance at her sometimes, before taking a big twirl of spaghetti into his mouth, and smiling as he chewed. Jessica didn't notice though, she kept eating quietly and cleanly. After they both finished eating, Jinki called for the waiter, asking for the bill.

"How much should I pay for?" asked Jessica when Jinki was reading the bill.

"Oh, no need," he stopped her who was pulling her wallet out of her bag. "I'll pay. It's not much, anyway," and as he said that, he put a fifty thousand won bill on the bill book. The waiter took out a change of a hundred won and gave it to Jinki, and left their table. "Should we go now? Lunch time is almost over."

Jessica was dazed for a second there; it's also been a long time since someone treated her to lunch. "Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go."

Making their way along the sidewalk, Jessica and Jinki was quiet for a while, then he asked her a question, "Was it good?"

"What was?" she returned the question.

"The food, duh."

"Oh, yes. It was.. classic italian?"

Jinki laughed. "You have great taste buds."

"Hm, thanks," said Jessica, and that time she realized that she hasn't thanked Jinki for the lunch before. She was relieved that Jinki didn't mention it at all, how she didn't thank him. "For the weird compliment and the lunch as well. It was nice."

"Don't mention it," Jinki shrugged.

A few minutes later, they arrived in front of the art department. People were whispering again, but Jinki still acted casual, checking his phone, and Jessica just pretended that she didn't hear.

"I still have some work to do, is it okay if I leave now?" asked Jinki, putting his phone back at his pocket.

"It's fine. Thanks again," Jessica gave her usual small smile and then bid goodbye towards him, who was walking away while returning the wave. She decided she should be going too, and made her way towards her own office.

Tiffany was on the phone when she got there, and Jessica was glad, because that meant she won't ask her about what happened at lunch for the time being. But when she was about to open her door, she quickly hung up–harshly, that Jessica could hear the phone practically slammed shut–and squealed, "Tell me what happened!"

Jessica sighed, and turned to her, "Just call me later, go work!"

"Aw, but I really want to know what happened.."

"Don't be a busybody. I'll tell you later, okay, Fany?"

Tiffany pouted. "Fine, I'll call you once we both get off work," she said, and went back to her seat.

Jessica only smiled and entered her office. She put her bag on her desk, and slumped in her chair, letting out a big sigh. That lunch with Jinki wasn't as bad as she thought it would be–it was quite nice, actually. A simple lunch with a co-worker in a restaurant near the office, talking about unimportant things. But it was relaxing, for her. And she would like to experience it again.

"But not with Jinki," she gasped, realization hitting her. "Not with him. It was the first and last time for him!"

Jessica thought, she wasn't supposed to enjoy it. It was only lunch, for god's sake. She had told herself many times; it was only lunch. Then, why did she liked it so much?

Probably because of the food, the delicious italian food. None other than that. It couldn't be because of Lee Jinki. Impossible.

Jessica slapped herself, groaning, "Snap out of it!"

© hellopsr stories, 2012

Second chapter, and it's longer than the first! When I was drafting, it initially was chapter 2-3, but since the third chapter was too short I decided to merge and edit it into one chapter. This is Jessica and Jinki's first real interaction other than doing business and stuff. He's such a sweet guy, isn't he? But Jessica is so in denial, LOL. Keep commenting and subscribing, lovelies!