Taking out a few coins, I then hand the correct change to the elderly woman. “Thank you, I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your evening,” I chime, with a genuine smile.

She returns the warm gesture. “You’re very welcome dear, and thank you,” she says, emphasizing on the ‘you’ part. “The dish you recommended to me was superb. And on top of your kind service, you can be sure that I will be coming back here again.”

With a grin, I thank her once more, just before giving her a little wave, as she trots out of the restaurant.

My cheerful self continues to watch her reach for the door, when someone else beats her to it, from the outside. In steps Yongguk, and his sudden appearance makes my lips form into a circle of surprise; it's been a while since I've seen him. I watch as he continues to hold the door for the woman, where the two go to exchange small words of politeness, until she’s gone. This sight makes me smile to myself, and when Yongguk’s eyes begin to search around the room, I feel the butterflies in my stomach, as I go to signal him over.

He immediately brightens up when he sees me, with that happy grin, and I can’t help but chortle.

“Hey, are you done for the day?” he asks, once he's in speaking range.

Glancing over to the clock on the wall, I then turn back to over him, with a nod; “Yep!”

The relieved look on his face shows me that he’s happy with my response. “That’s great,” he says. “Do you want to go and get some coffee, after this?”

I lift an eyebrow. “Coffee?” I repeat. “This late? What if I don’t sleep at night?”

This makes him chuckle; “Okay, how about some hot chocolate, instead?”

“Hmm, deal!” I agree, with a beam.

Softly laughing, I then tell him to wait for a bit, just before heading into the back to grab my things.

Subin is there, sitting at the small desk on the side, and is most likely recording down today’s sales, for our boss. As I go to untie the apron around me, I then inform her that I’ll be heading out soon, since it’s the end of my working hours of the day. She tells me okay, and then adds if I can make sure to twist the ‘open’ sign over to ‘close’ on my way out. Nodding, I then give her the affirmative, just before we both say goodbye to each other.

Now out, I then begin to make my way over to Yongguk. “I’m ready,” I inform, while slipping the strap of my purse onto my shoulder. “Let’s go!”

He smiles at my enthusiasm, and then walks over towards the door, to push it wide open. “After you,” he offers, with a gesture of his hand.

I laugh at his playfulness, and then delightfully hop outside.

Walking down the street, the two of us gradually begin to make our way to our usual cafe, that's a couple of shops away. Yongguk starts our conversation off by asking me how I am, and for some reason, my mind goes blank for a few seconds. Although before the pause is too obvious, I end up somewhat shrugging a shoulder, where I then go to answer him with a "so-so". Himchan suddenly comes to my mind, and I let out a sigh, almost spilling this thought out, but thankfully stop myself at the last second. Thanks to him and his stupid need for me to watch that drama with him, not only did I wake up late, but also feeling sore.

You would think that falling asleep in front of the television would mean that you would be resting on the couch, but with Himchan...that's not exactly the case.

A slight shiver runs through my body, and because of that, I begin to stir. My hand then blindingly reaches out for my blanket, but once it comes into contact with a hard, smooth (and cool) surface, the sudden confusion in me, forces me into gradually opening my eyes.

What is this?

Seeing (what looks like to be) the leg of my coffee table, makes me feel even more puzzled than I already am.

And when I eventually sit up from my spot to let out a small yawn, all while turning over to my right, I halt my actions, when I see a certain sleeping blonde.

Himchan is peacefully snoozing away, on the sofa, with his hands neatly clasped together, on his chest. The blanket around him is tucked in such a comfortable-looking way, that it makes him look all snug and content, like a warm, toasted, blueberry bagel. And a troublesome one, I might add. Comparing his cosy-looking spot, to the cold, hard, carpet floor that I had been sleeping on, makes me frown.

How did I end up down here?

I then go to stand up, and when I feel a sudden ache in my back, I wince, trying to stretch out the knot.

But things only seem to go from downhill here, as my gaze finds itself landing on the nearest clock.

Oh no.

My eyes widen, as I breathe in a sharp intake of air. ", I overslept!" I curse, and then hurry myself into the bathroom.

When I'm finished, and practically tumble out of the place, towards my shoes, the blonde bagel on the couch, decides to yell at me.

"Yah, can you keep it down?" complains Himchan. "It's too early for me to hear you rambling."

My head turns over to face him with a glare. "You!" I sneer, in an accusing tone. "You make me sleep on the floor, so now I'm all sore, and on top of that, I'm also late for work!"

Himchan scoffs. "Hey, it's not my fault that you decided to roll down there, by yourself!" he snaps.

Grumbling, I shake my head at him with a huff. "Honestly, I don't have time for this," I mutter, while hastily throwing my essentials, into my purse.

Himchan continues on with the argument, as I attempt to quickly fix up my hair, by running my fingers through it.

And after a couple of pats, I'm then out the door, and am mentally cursing out a string of profanity, as I begin to bolt down the hundred steps of stairs.  

My exhale from thinking about this morning's event doesn’t go by unnoticed though, as Yongguk asks me about it, looking somewhat concerned. I give him a wry smile, and then shake my head, signalling that it’s fine, but because I can tell that he’s still somewhat worried, I pretend that I’m just tired.

I then go on to try and reassure him, by saying how our little hot chocolate will perk me up, and with that, concentrate on leading him there.

———————————————

After getting our drinks, instead of sitting down, we then decide to descend the streets, and just allow our feet to guide us to no place in particular, really.

“So what happened to getting a hot chocolate?” probes Yongguk, with an amused smile.

Looking down at my latte, I then give him a meek shrug of my shoulders. “I changed my mind,” I reply, with a sheepish grin.

I’m not sure how this happened, but somehow, the two of us ended up sitting on the concrete steps, which overlooks the Han River. With its silky waves, glistening in the gradually setting sun, the combination of these two is just perfect, for me to be sitting besides Yongguk, in a comfortable silence. I think if there’s one person who I can sit down with, and not feel awkward for keeping quiet, then I'm pretty sure that it’s him.

Maybe it’s because of the times when we’ve come together, to write and compose, we just eventually learned to understand the peace and quiet from one another?

Thinking about this, it makes me glance over at him, and it’s as though he has just read my mind, because he then turns his head over, to meet my eyes, as well.

The two of us are both equally surprised by this action, and proceed to show it, by blinking for a bit, until we can’t help, but let the smile gradually spread across our faces. Soft laughter and chuckling come after this, as we then eventually focus our attention back towards the river in front of us. I have to nibble down on my bottom lip, to prevent myself from giggling some more, which will most likely make Yongguk question me.

Although thankfully, something is able to make me temporarily forget this bubbly feeling, as it approaches us, from out of the blue.

A white, fluffy tabby cat can be seen slowly stalking its way over to us, in a sleek manner. The feline lets out a soft meow, as it goes to brush itself against us, with a curled tail and all. Yongguk reaches out a hand to softly pet it, and as a response, the cat purrs, showing him its contentment. I also decide to show it some affection, and as the two of us are showering this kitty with gentle , I can’t help but quietly laugh to myself, feeling amused, at its (somewhat) grumpy-looking face.

This cat looks like Himchan, when he goes to pout about something that he doesn’t like, and the resemblance is quite funny.

“The cat looks like who?” asks a voice.

Snapping back to reality, I blink for a bit, where I am then met with Yongguk’s puzzled eyes, hinted with a small fraction of curiosity.

Did I really just think of that out loud?

“Oh, just a friend of mine,” I casually say. “He’s the one that you saw with me, before.”

And as soon as that last sentence slips out, I mentally scold myself, for continuing the topic.

Thankfully, Yongguk doesn’t say much, and just nods with a small “oh”, which I feel grateful for.

He’s about to say something else, but as that happens, the two of us suddenly hear another voice cut in from nearby.

“Princess!” exclaims a young girl, looking extremely relieved. “There you are; I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Yongguk and I both watch, as the girl continues to make her way over to us. She then goes to ask us how we found her pet cat, and we tell her how we didn’t, since it had willingly come over to us. The girl looks somewhat surprised, but then quickly tells us her thank you, just before cradling the fur-ball in her arms, and then hurrying back over to her family, in the distance, somewhere.

"Cute cat, huh?" muses Yongguk.

I nod in agreement; "Yeah, and very soft, too."

Silence envelopes us for a couple of moments, until Yongguk speaks up.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what you said before,” he starts off, rather softly. “About Jieun, and…”

The mention of her name perks up my curiosity, as I patiently listen to him.

Yongguk plays around with his (now empty) coffee cup, looking as though he’s trying to find the right words to piece together. “I think it’s about time that I finally forget about her, like how she’s forgotten about me,” he concludes.

This is something unexpected, and what makes me more surprised, is the somewhat self-assured aura, that's suddenly radiating from him.

My excitement slightly slips out of me. “R-Really?!” I exclaim, with astonished eyes.

Yongguk slowly nods, as the corner of his lips inch upwards. “Really,” he verifies, and the assertive glint in his eyes, confirm me his words. “It feels great, to finally move on, I think I can just scream it out.”

“Well if yelling it out will get you to feel better, then why not?" I joke, with a chortle.

And just like how unexpected this topic is, I'm a little startled, to see him suddenly rise up from his spot.

My eyes go back to widening themselves with surprise, as I watch Yongguk take a few steps forward. I blink, and then, when I'm able to snap myself out of this bewilderment, and am finally able to find my voice again, I then ask him if he is really going to do it. Yongguk doesn't say anything, except turn around, to give me this mischievous look, and it's enough to tell me that he's serious.

Cupping his hands near his mouth, he then begins to vent out his relief, towards the river, as I continue to watch him, still somewhat stunned at how he was actually doing this.

And as Yongguk finishes his confession with another loud cheer, I smile to myself, feeling the effects of his content words.

He then turns around to greet me with a gummy smile, and I chortle. My giggling then becomes louder, as I suddenly spot a few stares, and because of this, it causes his beam to turn into a shy one. A few people walking by, had happened to hear his loud cheering, and because of that, their curious eyes were (and are still) set on him. There was also a small group of young girls nearby, who were giggling amongst their friends, while older people, blink at him in confusion.

The entertainment doesn’t stop here though, because I also manage to hear a young child ask their parent what that "yellow-haired ahjussi" was saying, and this didn’t hesitate to make me laugh even more.

Embarrassed, Yongguk then hurriedly makes his way back over to me and takes a seat, all while ducking his head down in a bashful manner.

"So how does the yellow-haired ahjussi feel?" I tease, in a playful voice. "Much better, yeah?"

Yongguk shakes his head at me good-naturedly, but then nods his head, with a hum as a response, to my question. "Yes, he's feeling a lot better, actually," he replies, playing along, with a chuckle. "Even though the end result is a little embarrassing, but I'm happy."

Hearing his assuring words makes me feel at ease, as a warm smile slowly makes its way onto my face.

Because as long as he's happy, then I guess that's all that matters.