Wait a minute, why should I have to be concerned about his whereabouts?

He's a grown man, he knows how to take care of himself; I shouldn't always have to be by his side, to assist him with every little thing.

Pushing these thoughts aside, I then decide to shrug off the idea finding Himchan, and just letting him fend for himself.

He'll live, it'll be okay.

With that thought in mind, I then begin to browse through the shops on my own, and just relish the alone time. I manage to buy myself a new pair of jeans, along with a couple of stockings. There was a sale being held at a hair accessory stand, so I went and bought myself a packet of bobby pins. It's strange how I always manage to misplace these things, even though there are so many of them.

After some more browsing done, I spot a ddeobokki cart nearby, and feeling the slight tingle of hunger, it encourages me to happily make my way over there.

"Ahjumma, one plate of ddeobboki, please!" I merrily request. "And may I also get extra fish cake with it?"

The middle-aged woman shows me a warm smile. "Of course," she says, as she goes to scoop up my serving.

Handing the plastic plate over to me, she then warns me to be careful of it being hot. I nod at her kind words with a beam, as I go to hand over the correct change, to which she gratefully accepts. The woman then goes to serve a couple of kids, so then I put my attention back to the food, and begin to eat it. The rice cake's consistency is good, and the sauce is seasoned just right, so it's great.

And because it's just been freshly cooked, it makes me feel even happier, to be eating it.

When I'm finished, I bid the woman my farewell, just before disposing the plate and toothpick into the trash nearby.

I'm about to head into a cute-looking clothing store, when without warning, I feel something grab a hold of my arm, where it then goes on, to spin me around.

"There you are!" exclaims a voice, filled with relief. "I've been looking everywhere, for you!"

Surprised, all I can seem to do is blink at the blonde standing before me.

Himchan's face is laced with worry. "Why did you just leave me like that?" he whimpers.

"But I—"

He suddenly pulls me in for a tight hug; "Next time you disappear somewhere, you have to take me with you!"

"Himchan—"

"I got lost, you know?!" he blurts out. "I thought you had abandoned me, or something!"

"No, I—"

"And then you know what happened?" he dramatically announces, while pulling me away. "I had to hide from this old man, who kept trying to sell me something!"

Himchan continues to ramble on about his (by the sounds of it) misadventure, and at the speed rate that he's talking, I know that he won't stop, unless I harshly interrupt him.

"Himchan!" I yell out, as loudly as possible.

"What?!" he snaps.

Rubbing my temples slightly, I then slowly exhale out, as an attempt to keep me calm. "I told you that I was going to be at the bathroom," I state.

Himchan crosses his arms together. "Yeah, but what kind of bathroom trip takes half an hour?" He then narrows his eyes at me; "I bet you ran off, and were secretly oogling at other guys behind my back, huh? That, or you have diarrhoea, and are too embarrassed to tell me."

I give him an odd look; "What?"

Himchan continues speaking, in that conceited voice of his. "But why are you checking out other guys, when I'm here?" he says, with a pout. "Your eyes should be on me, and only me."

I raise a skeptical eyebrow at him. "So...I'm forced to keep my eyes on you, while you're allowed to let your imagination run wild, with every other female, passing by?" I then give him a pointed look; "Yes, I saw you looking at that chick's , while we were in that shop back there."

Himchan doesn't say anything, and just as I'm about to laugh at how right I am, I stop myself, because that 'look' on his face, tells me how he's clearly zoning out.

Turning around to see what he's gazing at, my eyes find themselves landing on a girl, who is currently talking away on her mobile phone. The poor girl is oblivious to our staring, as she continues to animatedly speak away, into the device, giggling here and there. I look at Himchan, then back at the girl, and when I see how her chest is quite...ahem, big, I return my attention back to the blonde, to give his arm a slap.

"Ow, what did I do this time?!" yelps the blonde.

"You were staring at her s!" I hiss, feeling somewhat irritated.

"Yeah, and?" he admits. "She has a nice rack."

A scoff comes out of me, as I shoot him a look of disbelief, just before shaking my head at him. "Fine, if you're allowed to check out other people, then so am I!" I declare. My eyes quickly lock onto a random male, standing a couple of meters away from us. "You see that guy over there?" I subtly tilt my head in his direction; "Well, he has a nice ."

Himchan blinks at me for a bit, just before narrowing his eyes. "Lies!" he yells out. "I know you're lying."

"How am I lying?" I challenge, with an arched eyebrow.

The blonde smugly crosses his arms together; "Because I have the best !”

And then as if to prove his point, Himchan suddenly begins to do a ridiculous strut around me.

I immediately reach out for his arm, to prevent him from moving any more. "Stop that!" I command, but find myself slipping out a giggle, from how absurd this cat-walk is.

This makes a sly grin appear on his face. "See, you are lying!" he triumphantly points out. "If you're laughing, then you're lying. Tsk tsk, Yejinnie is such a liar; liar liar, plants, for hire!"

My hand meets with my forehead. "Oh my goodness, it's pants on fire!" I correct, with a shake of my head.

"Whatever," huffs Himchan, with a roll of his eyes. "But anyway..." he begins, now in a more gentle tone. "Were you really, um..." Himchan's voice trails off, and I can see a somewhat guilty look flash over his face. "I mean," he quickly says; "I guess you were right about the sweater, and...yeah..."

With the way that he's slightly nibbling on his lip, and how his eyebrows are creased together, I think I know what he's trying to say, so I find myself softening a little.

"It's okay," I eventually say, with a sigh. "I'm not angry...sort of."

"I knew it!" he cries out. Pointing an accusing finger at my shopping bags, Himchan then frowns; "See, you got so angry, that you went and shopped without me!"

I dully stare at him for a bit. "That's true," I casually admit.

Himchan lets out a dramatic gasp. "But you said that you were going to treat me!" he childishly wails. Clutching onto my arm, he now begins to shake me; "Yejin-ah, you promised to reward me!"

I groan, as he continues to blabber on, his nonsense now mainly just consisting of gibberish.

And as quickly as he had started, the fake tears in his eyes, suddenly come to a stop, along with his actions. "Unless..." he murmurs, with a shifty-looking glint in his eyes; "You want to pay me back, through 'other' methods, if you know what I mean?"

Disturbed, I quickly throw his comment to the side, and point towards a random direction. "Aw, look at that bunny!" I lie, and then start to jog away from him.

"Where, what bunny?" asks Himchan, oblivious to my fib. "Yah, wait for me!"

As Himchan catches up, I can't help but laugh a little, to myself.

Was he a gullible person from before, as well?

Or does he trust me that much right now, to believe every single word that I say to him?

The latter makes me feel a little shamefaced, to know how I've been taking advantage of him like that.

"Ugh, can you stop making me run?" complains Himchan, taking me out of my thoughts.

I give him an odd look. "I'm not forcing you to run," I reply. "You can crawl, for all I care."

"But if I do that, then I'll lose you, again!" he whines. "And I really don't want a repeat of that, so..."

As Himchan's voice trails off, I turn my head over to look at him, curious to see what else he has to say.

"So because of that," he continues, now sounding a bit brighter. "I've thought of a solution."

I'm about to open my mouth to ask him what it is, when something takes a hold of my free hand.

Looking down at it, I then watch as his fingers slowly interlock with my own.

I stare at our connected hands for a bit, just before returning my gaze back to Himchan, to see him beaming down at me.

"I'm smart, yeah?" he chirps, with a cheesy grin.

I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, so smart, that you can hire some plants," I tease, referring back to his incorrect phrasing of the 'liar' joke.

Himchan pouts. "Hey, at least my pants aren't on fire!" he retorts.

This makes me chortle, where I then go to show him a small smile. "Alright, where do you want to go?" I ask. "And this time, when you pick something up, make sure that it's actually worth the price."

"Hmm," hums Himchan, as though he really is thinking about it. "I can't make any promises though, because when I want something, then I have to have it."

I instantly pull my hand away from his own; "Yah, if you want jeans that cost 300,000 won, then you can forget about it!"

Hearing this causes him to chuckle, looking very amused. "I'm kidding!" he chimes, rather playfully. "Geez, I've learnt my lesson, so I think I'll be going after jeans that cost around 299,000 won. Better?"

An aggravated noise leaves my mouth, but right when I'm about to give his arm a slap, he somehow manages to swiftly clasp it, in his own.

The unexpected movement catches me off guard, but I find myself becoming even more surprised, when he suddenly pulls me in, so that I'm now pressed against his chest once more. I can now feel Himchan resting his cheek on my head, as his other arm goes to gradually wrap itself around me. The hug is surprisingly comforting, but even so, I can't help but feel as though there's an urgent feel, or a 'need' in this embrace.

And when I hear the small sigh come out of him, I let my body gradually relax.

"Himchan..." I gently call out. "Are you okay?"

Unlike his usual straightforward self, he doesn't reply right away, which instantly tells me that there's something wrong.

After a few more seconds, he finally pulls away from me. "Of course I'm alright," he responds, rather cockily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I stare at him for a little, not sure how to word my next words.

"Can't I hug my girlfriend, without being questioned?" he asks, while arching an eyebrow. "Aigoo, come on; let’s go over there!"

I decide not to say anything more, and just allow him to tug me into the direction that he was pointing at.

And as I follow him closely, listening to him talk about what he should buy, I find myself softening, at the sight of our intertwined hands.