Chapter 1

 

~Encounter One~

A girl with black hair, which almost came to her shoulders, flips through papers on a clipboard as she walks through the mall. Sighing, she writes something down. “I don’t get why I have to do this.” she whispers to herself. Looking up, she makes sure that she was walking in the right direction. She then looks back down at the papers and writing something down again. Flipping through the papers, she writes down different things.

 

A minute later, she feels herself fall to the ground. “Oww.” she whispers. Straightening her glasses, she looks around to sees her books and papers scroll around the ground. “I’m so sorry. Miss…” a male voice apologizes. The girl nods. “My name is Samona Nagase.” she says. She then looks up and her eyes widen. “Henry Lau?” she asks. The guy tilts his head. “You know who I am?” he asks. Samona raise a brow. “Of course.” she says pointing up.

 

Henry looks up to see Super Junior posters hanging all around. He then looks back at Samona. “Oh, right.” he says. Henry then looks around at the paper. “Oh, let me help you.” he says. He then helps Samona picks up the dropped things. Once everything was picked up, the two stands up. Henry then looks at the books that he had picked up.

 

“Oh, you play the violin?” he asks looking at Samona. Samona nods. “Yeah, but not very good at it yet.” she says. Henry shrugs. “How long have you played?” he asks. Samona tilts her head. “Umm, I first started when I was 8 years old, but had to stop. And now I’ve been trying to get back into playing.” she says. Henry nods. “Finding a good teacher could help.” he says. Samona nods. “Yeah, that’s true.” she says.

 

Henry then holds the book out to her. “Thank you.” Samona says taking the books. Henry nods. “No problem. Sorry for bumping into you.” he says. Samona shakes her head. “No, it’s my fault for not looking where I was going.” she says. “Thanks for helping me pick everything up.” she says. Henry smiles. “Of course.” he says.

 

Samona looks up at Henry. “I’m sorry,” she says. “Because of me, you’re probably late to getting somewhere you had to go.” she states. Henry shakes his head. “No it’s okay. I wasn’t in a rush, or anything.” he informs. Samona nods. Seconds later, a ringing catches their ears. Samona digs into her pocket and pulls out a cell phone. Opening the phone, she looks at the screen. Moments later, another ring goes off, and Henry, himself, pulls out his phone.

 

“Oh, seems now I have to go.” Henry states. Samona nods. “Same here.” she says puts her phone back in her pocket. She then looks up at Henry. “It was nice meeting you.” she says. Henry nods. “Same to you. You seem like you’re very interesting.” he says. Samona smiles. “That’s good to know.” she says. “Hope to meet again.” she says. Henry nods. “See ya.” he says. The two then walks off, going their separate ways.

 

 

~Encounter Four~

Samona sighs as she looks down at the paper in front of her. She sat at a table that was part of the outside setting of the restaurant she was at. She looked over papers that were scrolled about on her table. As she sighs again, a waiter walks over to her table and sits down a cup on a clear area of the table. Smiling, Samona looks up. “Oh, thank you.” she says picking up the cup. The waiter nods before turning and walking away. Taking a sip from the cup, Samona looks back down at the paper in front of her.

 

As she start to write something on the paper, Samona hears the girls at the table next to her begin to. “Do you think that’s really him?” one of the girls asks.

“I don’t know do you?” another one asks.

“It looks like him.” a third one says.

“I think its him.” the fourth and last one says.

“I don’t see any of the others with him.” the second girl says.

“Well, you cannot expect to see them all together every time.” the third girl says.

“That’s true.” the first girl says.

“It really looks like him.” the fourth girl says.

“It really does.” the third girl says.

“Maybe one of you should go over there and check.” the first girl suggests.

“Are you kidding?” the fourth girl asks.

“Yeah, you expect one of us to go over there?” the second girl asks.

“Right, why don’t you go over there?” the third girl asks.

“What? Me go up to someone like him?” the first girl asks.

“And you think that we would have the courage to do so?” the fourth girl asks.

 

Now interested in the ongoing conversation, Samona turns toward the girls. She then lightly taps one of them on the shoulder. The four girls turn and look at her. “Do you need something?” one of them asks. Samona shakes her head. “No, I just wanted to know who you were talking about. Sounds like a celebrity or something.” she says. The four girls nod. “Yeah, but we do not know if it’s actually him.” another says. Samona tilts her head. “Who is he?” she asks. The girls point to their left.

 

 Turning in the direction that the girls were pointing, Samona looks across the street. At the store across from them, two guys stood looking at the display. Adjusting her glasses, Samona tilts her head as she looks at the two. She then smiles when she recognizes one of them. “Henry-Oppa!” Samona calls out. The two guys across the street turn around. Samona waves as they spot her. “Hey Sam.” Henry greets back waving.

 

The guy next to Henry pulls on his arm. Henry looks at him and nods. Waving to Samona again, Henry turns and follows the guy down the street. Smiling, Samona turns back around in her chair. “Wait… You know Henry?” one of the girls asks. Samona looks at the girls. “I’ve ran into him a couple of times before.” she says. The girls nod. “Oh, you’re so lucky.” one of them says. Samona shrugs before turning back to her table.

 

 

 

~Encounter Six~

“Hey, Samona, do you think you can stay longer?” a guy with light brown hair asks. Samona turns from the cloths rack she was at and looks at him. “Huh? Why do you need someone to stay later, Jin-Sang?” she asks. The guy looks at her. “Because Hei is sick and can’t come in today. I just need someone to stay until Jung comes in.” he says. Samona sighs. “Well, it’s time for me to clock out right now. Why can’t you ask someone else?” she asks.

 

“Because you’re better to look at.” Jin-Sang says. Samona rolls her eyes as she turns back to the clothes rack. “Yeah, yeah, just be sure I get paid for this over time.” she says. Jin-Sang nods. “Well of course.” he says. Once done with the clothes rack, Samona turns back to Jin-Sang. “So what else needs to be done?” she asks. Jin-Sang shakes his head. “Nothing, just manage the cash register for now.” he says.

 

Samona nods before turning and walking to the front of the store. She sighs as she walks behind the cashiers’ desk. Seconds later the desk phone buzzes. Samona presses the speaker button. “I was just with you Jin-Sang. What do you need?” she asks.

“How did you know it was me?” Jin-Sang’s voice calls from the phone.

“Oh geez, I wonder if it might be because the phone said office, and you the only one in that area right now.”

“Oh… right.”

“So what do you need Jin?”

“Oh, I need you to look up the entry codes for shoe pricing.”

“Shoe pricing? I’m sure they’re S865159521 and S8471564912.”

“Huh, really? You replied quickly.”

“Because I’m sure that’s it.”

“Well can you look it up in the code book to make absolutely sure?”

“Where is the code book that should be in the office?”

“I don’t know, I think one of the other managers moved it. I can’t find it.”

“Eh, okay. Hold on.”

 

Sighing, Samona looks around. She then bends down and look around at the cabinet doors, trying to decide which one to open. Adjusting her glasses, she randomly opens one and looks around at the books inside the section. “Well, did you find it yet?” Jin-Sang’s voice asks. Samona stops and turns toward the phone. “Well, can you give me time to look for it first?” she asks. “Be patient for a minute, Jin.” she says. Samona rolls her eyes when she hears Jin-Sang sigh.

 

Samona turns back to the cabinet and continues her search. Not finding the book in the first cabinet, Samona moves on to the next one. “Where the heck did that book go?” she whispers to herself. A minute later, someone rings the bell on the desk. “Oh, umm, just a minute ma’am and or sir, I am looking up something for my manager, I will be with you in a minute.” Samona says. Getting no answer from the person, she takes it as an okay and returns to looking for the book.

 

“Ah ha.” she sounds out as she pulls a blue book out of the cabinet. Flipping through the pages, Samona stands up and turns to the phone. “Ha, I told you Jin.” she says after stopping on a certain page and looks it over.

“What? What is it?” Jin-Sang’s voice asks.

“The codes you asked for. I was right, they’re S865159521 and S8471564912.”

“Really, that’s them?”

“Yeah, I told you that I was sure about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, what page did you find them on?”

“On page 6 in section B.”

“Okay thanks. It’s strange how you remember those.”

“Not really. Remember that’s the area I started in. Anyways, you should know this stuff; you’re one of the managers.”

“True, but why learn it when I have you to look it up for me.”

“Don’t be surprised when I ask for a raise. Or for your position.”

“What? Hey are you ser–”

“Oh, got to go, have a customer.”

 

Laughing softly, Samona presses the end button on the phone. “er.” she whispers. She then clears . “Okay, sorry for that.” she starts as she turns around. “How can I he–” she stops when she recognizes the person on the other side of the desk. “Henry-Oppa.” she says. Henry smiles at her. “Hey Samona, nice to see you again.” he says. Samona lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

 

“Ah, Oppa, we keep running into each other.” she says. Henry nods. “I know. Should we be taking this as fate or something?” he asks. Samona smiles. “I will if you will.” she says. Henry nods. “Then I guess we are.” he says. Noticing the items that Henry held, Samona holds out her hand. “Oh, let me ring those up for you.” she says. Henry nods and hands her the items of clothing that he held.

 

“So, I didn’t know you shopped here, Oppa.” Samona says as she scans the items. Henry shrugs. “From time to time I do.” he says. “I didn’t know you worked here.” he adds. Samona nods. “Yeah, have for a while now. But I used to work in a different department so that must be why Oppa haven’t seen Me.” she says. Henry tilts his head. “You keep calling me Oppa. Exactly how old are you? You don’t seem that much younger than me.” he says.

 

Samona stops tapping the screen of the cash register and looks at Henry. “I would find that very flattering if I was older than you. But I’m not.” she says. Henry laughs softly. “Trust me, it wasn’t meant as an insult.” he says. Samona nods. “Okay then. Now, to answer your question, I am a year… 3 months… and umm, 13 days younger than you. So, you’re Oppa.” she says. Henry tilts his head. “Well technically I wouldn’t be Oppa.” he says.

 

“Technically you should be Ge-ge.” Samona says. “So would you prefer Oppa or Ge-ge?” she asks. Henry shakes his head. “How about you just call me Henry?” he asks. Samona smiles. “I think I can do that… Henry.” she says before turning back to the cash register and pushing a button. “Okay, Henry, your total is $23.86.” she says. Henry hands her the money as she turns to him. Taking the money, Samona turns back to cash register and pushes a few buttons.

 

“Okay, your change is $1.14.” she says. Samona turns back to Henry to see him leaning on the counter and holding out his hand to her. In his hand sat a phone. Raising a brow, Samona takes the phone and replaces it with the change. “So, why are you handing me your phone?” she asks. Henry looks at her. “I want to exchange numbers.” he says. Samona nods. “Of course.” she says.

 

Samona presses a few buttons on the phone. She then looks up at Henry. “Okay, now to make sure I didn’t put the number in wrong…” she starts before reaching into her pocket. She pulls out a phone and hands it to Henry. Henry takes the phone and looks at Samona. “Okay, let’s see.” Samona says. She then presses the call button on Henry’s phone. A second later the phone in Henry’s hand rings.

 

Pressing the talk button, Henry puts the phone up to his ear. “I’ll say it’s the right number.” he says. Smiling, Samona puts the phone she had up to her own ear. “Ah, I think you might be right.” she says. Henry smiles. “Good to know.”

“So what are you thinking now?” Samona asks.

“Well, I was thinking that I should ask you if you were doing anything after work.” Henry states.

“But you don’t because?”

“Because I have work later.”

“Ah, yeah, that wouldn’t work.”

“So then how about in two days, on Friday, around noon.”

“Oh my, Mr. Henry Lau are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well, I think…I think I just might be.”

“Oh that’s interesting. But how would I reply if my answer was no?”

“Well you can reply: No thanks, I have something planned already; Sorry, I’m in a relationship; or Sorry, I’m not interested.”

“Ah, fascinating.”

“So am I to take that as you saying no?”

“Nope, actually the opposite; Yes thanks, I have nothing else planned at that time; Happily, I am not in a relationship; and Of course, I’m interested.”

“You really are an interesting one.”

“I applaud myself on that, so thank you.”

“So what is your interesting mind telling you now?”

 

“Well, that we’re wasting each other’s phone batteries talking to each other on them when we’re face to face.” Samona says. Henry laughs. “I agree.” he says. The two hangs up the phones and trade them back. “So are you really asking me out on a date?” asks Samona. Henry nods. “Of course, since bumping into you at the mall, something about you really caught my attention. And I want to get to know you better.” he says.

 

Samona smiles brightly. “That’s really flattering to hear. Very smooth Henry, very smooth.” she says. Henry smiles. “Thank you. Oh, look at you, you’re blushing. How cute.” he says. Samona covers her cheeks with her hands, touching her glasses lightly. “Oh I am not, don’t say that. It’s just hot in here.” she says making Henry laugh.

 

“Okay, I have to get going. Manager should be calling soon saying that we have to stick to the schedule.” Henry says. Samona nods. “Of course, and I need to get back to work.” she says. She then hand Henry the bag with his purchased items in it. Henry takes the bag and looks at Samona. “I’ll call you sometime tomorrow.” he says. Samona nods. “Okay, I’ll be sure to answer It.” she says. Henry smiles. “See ya later.” he says. Samona smiles and waves bye as Henry turn and walk out of the store.

 

Putting her phone back into her pocket Samona lets out a breath. “Oh my god, I can’t believe that just happened.” she whispers to herself. “That really just happened.” Samona turns and looks around the desk. “Oh, yeah.” she says as she spots the blue book that sat on top. Grabbing the book, Samona bends down and places it back in the cabinet.

 

“Hey Samona…” Closing the cabinet back, Samona stands up. She then spots Jin-Sang walks toward her. “Oh, hey what’s up, Jin?” Samona asks. Jin-Sang stops next to the desk. “Was that actually Henry Lau or was I seeing things?” he asks. Samona nods. “Yeah, that was really him.” she says. Jin-Sang looks at her. “You two seemed to be acquainted. Do you know him?” he asks. Samona nods. “Yeah, for a few years now.” she says.

 

“You know him because of Super Junior, right?” Jin-Sang says. Samona shakes her head. “No actually I met him a couple of times before he joined SM. He probably hasn’t remembered that yet.” she states. Jin-Sang shrugs. “Seemed like he remembered you.” he says. Samona nods. “Probably, I’ll see next time I run into him.” she says pushing her glasses up onto her face. Jin-Sang nods. “Okay.” he says.

 

“Now onto something else.” Jin-Sang says. Samona looks up at him. “Huh? What?” she asks. Jin-Sang leans against the desk. “Are you doing anything Friday?” he asks. Samona nods. “Oh, sorry, you asked too late. I have plans.” she says. “You should have asked this morning.” she says. Jin-Sang sighs. “Ah, I knew I should have.” he says. “I guess next time.” he says. Samona shrugs. “Depends on what goes on.” she says.

 

“True, now onto something else, again.” Jin-Sang says. Samona raises a brow. “What is it this time?” she asks. Jin-Sang shakes his head. “Was you serious about stealing my position as one of the managers?” he asks. Samona lets out a laugh. “Calm down, no I wasn’t.” she says. “I don’t want to be a manager. And if I did, why would I take your job?” she asks. “I would take someone else’s or I’d just wait until a position was open if I wanted to be one.” she says. Jin-Sang nods. “Ah, true.” he says.