Entering into the kitchen, I rub the sleep out of my eyes, just before letting out a quiet yawn.

It's a brand new day, and once again, Himchan is in here, cooking breakfast. I still find it a little strange to see him in here whenever I wake up, but I'm really grateful for him helping out. Himchan seems to be somewhat natural at this now, and it makes me wonder if he's become an even better cook than me. Thinking about the food, my stomach approves of whatever he's making today, as it lets out a small noise.

The sound perks up Himchan's attention, as he then glances over at me. "Reow, y bed-hair," he comments, just before going back to scooping out some rice.

"Please," I mutter, with a cringe. "There's enough grease in this kitchen already, I don't need you making more, for me to slip over, on my way out." My eyes then do a double-take at the rice cooker; "Hey, where did that come from?"

I don't recall the white cooking device, ever being pink.

Or that it’s decorated with tiny little flowers.

Himchan blinks at me. "Oh, this?" he says, while pointing to the baby pink rice cooker. "I found it in the cupboard, and realised that it's a lot better than the one you were using, so yeah."

With a bent eyebrow, I then give my temple a little scratch, as I try to remember where it had come from.

“Yejin-ah, my precious daughter, this is for you.”

Ah, that's right.

It was a (slightly random) gift from my father, from one of his unexpected visits.

I remember him showing up at my house one day with it, and because I had been angry at him at the time for having to leave so soon, I stubbornly stored it away, and chose not to use it...which then lead to me forgetting about it.

"So I ran into your friend yesterday," announces Himchan, from out of the blue. "What's-his-face; Yongguk, or something?"

Curiosity takes over me, as I return my attention back over to the blonde. "You did?" I ask, with round eyes.

Himchan is oblivious to my deer-in-the-headlights expression, as he gives me a simple nod. He then picks up a few side dishes, and then goes to set them down onto the table. "Yeah, and he got kind of moody at me, when I told him how I'm your boyfriend and stuff," he explains. "He kept saying that I was lying or something, I don't even know, but it was really weird."

Hearing that, I somehow manage to choke on my own saliva, causing Himchan to give me a queer look.

"I—breathed and swallowed at the same time," I wheeze out, coughing some more.

Excusing myself, I then head over to the bathroom, and start to busy myself with my morning routine, all while feeling not-so-good, about the thought of possibly running into Yongguk.

What am I supposed to say, if he asks me about this?

That Himchan was lying, and how it's just an inside joke, from between the two of us?

Letting out a frustrated grumble, I hastily begin to brush my teeth, where I find myself accidentally brushing a tad bit too hard on a part of my gums, causing me to wince.

When I'm finished with everything, and am dressed and prepared to head off to work, I see Himchan cleaning the dishes, in the kitchen.

Halfway while rinsing off the suds from the bowl, he turns around to ask me where I had placed the bills, and I tell him how they're in my room, on my small vanity desk. He nods at this, and then tells me how he'll help go and pay those for me. Smiling a little, I thank him, just before informing him of my leaving. Himchan mumbles a nonchalant "yeah yeah, okay, bye" as I step outside, and shut the door behind me.

———————————————

"Thank you!" I chime, with a beam.

The woman and her husband return the warm gesture with a smile of their own, just before leaving the restaurant.

And as soon as the couple disappear, I let out a small sigh.

There's only ten minutes left until my shift is over, and so far, (thankfully) there's been no sign of Yongguk.

Throughout the whole day, my mind kept lingering around him, and instead of feeling the usual fluttering touch in my chest, it made me slightly nervous. And not in a good way, because whenever my ears would hear the sound of someone entering the place, I would tense up slightly, bracing myself for his appearance, but he never came, and I (for the first time) am hoping that I won't have to be seeing him for...a while.

But maybe I've just been overthinking this, and that it really isn't a big deal, at all?

...Has Himchan's dramatic trait manage to rub itself off on me?

Thinking about this, I shake my head with a small laugh; I wonder what he's doing right now.

The sound of the entrance door being pushed open pulls me back to reality, but as soon as I see a familiar blonde male step in, I nervously gulp.

Yongguk shows me a small smile when our eyes meet, and through the few seconds that it takes for him to stride over to me, I can feel my heart quickening its pace. My insides are anxiously jumping around, but I force myself to keep on a neutral face, as I give him a small casual wave. I know what he's going to ask me, and because I don't want to tell him about it, my mind is desperately trying to conjure up a way to make sure that we steer away from anything to do with Himchan.

But it's hard, because before I can even think of anything, Yongguk beats me to it.

"Hey, we need to talk," he requests.

I put on an oblivious expression, and blink at him. "Talk?" I say, hoping to sound unaware of what he's trying to imply. "What do we need to talk about?" A little (yet slightly) forced laugh then comes out of me; "I'm kind of busy right now, so—"

But Yongguk manages to smoothly cut me off. "It will only take just a couple of minutes or so," he assures.

And I'm not sure how much of our conversation she's just heard, but Subin suddenly walks by, and encourages me to go with him. "Yejin-ah, it's okay; you can go, since your shift is—" My co-worker's eyes roam over to the clock on the wall, and then back at us; "—pretty much over."

I shoot her a look of disbelief, but she just grins at me, gives Yongguk a polite smile, and then makes her way into the back.

Smiling a little, (and hoping that it doesn't look like a grimace) I then tell Yongguk to wait for me, as I go to get my things. He nods at me, just before I quickly hurry off into the back, wondering what kind of lie I'm supposed to come up with, now. Subin is over at the sink, squeezing out the excess water of her cloth, and before I can sneer at her, she beats me to it, with her teasing tone of voice.

"'We need to talk', huh?" she cheekily quotes. "Do I sense some trouble, in paradise?"

I pull off my apron with a huff. "Trouble in paradise?" I splutter; "We're not even together!"

Subin shrugs a shoulder, with that mischievous smile, still sporting her lips. "I know, but with the way you both interact, and how he comes here to walk you home sometimes, it's just..." Her voice trails off, where she then eventually lets out a dreamy sigh; "You've been crushing on him, and by the sounds of that 'we need to talk', I think your feelings are about to be reciprocated."

My cheeks tint with some pink, at the thought of Yongguk confessing to me, but because of what Himchan had told me this morning, the flustered feeling quickly subsides. "It's...not like that," I uneasily say, with a frown. "He honestly just sees me as a best friend, or a younger sister, at most."

"Hey, you never know," she comments, with a wriggle of her eyebrows.

I let out a sigh, and flatten my eyes at her. "Seriously, if you think we'll become a couple, then that's like me saying that you and Kris will get together," I dully state.

Subin blinks at me; "Yah, I told you already, that's not possible, because he doesn't like women."

I shake my head at her for umpteenth time. “Do you honestly think that Kris is gay?” I say, with a raised eyebrow. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but...I don’t know, it doesn’t seem very believable.”

My co-worker makes a face at me. “I told you already, didn’t I?” she says. “I was waiting for the elevator one time, and when it opened, I saw him with his friend, Lay.”

“And your point is...?” I say, while gesturing my hand out.

“Lay had his hands on Kris’ zipper pants!” she reveals. Subin then inches closer to me, with a hushed voice; “And you know what that means, right? That they were in there for a...ahem...quickie?”

I give her a weird look, just before shoving her away. “Aish, you can’t do anything in an elevator,” I say. “Maybe it was a misunderstanding?”

Subin gives me a sceptical eyebrow; “And what may that be, eh?”

I shrug my shoulders; “I don’t know, maybe Kris’ zipper got stuck, and Lay was just trying to help him out?”

“Yes, that seems plausible,” responds Subin, rather sarcastically.  

I laugh a little. “Hey, you never know,” I nonchalantly say, repeating her words from before.

This makes Subin click her tongue in annoyance. "Can we stop talking about him?" she grumbles. "I don't like Kris; he's...not really nice."

Further amused, I chortle at her muttering, and would love to continue on with this conversation, but because I'm reminded of how Yongguk is outside waiting for me, I then quickly grab my things, and say goodbye.

———————————————

Now outside, the two of us begin to do that thing, where we allow our feet to aimlessly guide us to wherever it takes us. The sun is in the middle of setting, so the sky is a gradient of oranges to blues. Yongguk hasn't brought up the forbidden topic yet, so I'm still trying to buy some time, to try to figure out how to answer him, if he (which I'm certain he will) decides to spring it up on me. Yet at the same time, I'm also trying to keep him occupied with my rambling, and am just hoping that he's forgotten about wanting to 'talk' to me.

But Yongguk must have also been using my rambling, as a way to find a way to plan out his thoughts, and piece together his words, because he's suddenly ready.

"So I bumped into Himchan-sshi the other day," he starts off, making me inwardly groan. "And he's a...very odd guy. Interesting, but quite odd. He said that you two are dating, and that you both live together?"

I let out a defeated sigh, not knowing what to say after this.

Yongguk can sense my uneasiness, as his expression softens. "Yejin-ah, I—" he pauses for a bit. "I...must sound extremely nosey to you right now, but I can't help but feel a little surprised, to hear how my best friend is suddenly in a relationship."

"No, it's...it's okay," I force myself to say, sounding rather timid. "I...I guess I can see why you would want to know..."

A humourless smile then forms on my lips, as I let out another small huff.

"What's wrong?" queries Yongguk.

I nibble on my lip a little, just before burrowing my face into the palms of my hands with a groan. "Ugh, I don't know what I'm doing," I truthfully murmur. "Yongguk-ah...I'm an idiot, for thinking that I can help him out."

Even though my eyes are shut, I can feel Yongguk's stare on me. "What do you mean?" he carefully asks. "Help out whom? Do you mean Himchan-sshi?"

A simple nod is all I do, for my reply.

Yongguk continues on; "Are you perhaps, pretending to be his girlfriend, to help him chase away some unwanted attention, of some sort?"

I quietly shake my head at his guess.

"Then...what is it?" he gingerly questions. "Actually, you...don't have to tell me exactly what's going on, but—"

I've made up my mind.

Yongguk has always listened to my thoughts, and I always feel a lot better afterwards, from listening to his advice, with him being so understanding, so...

Straightening up my posture, I then remove my hands away from my face, and look at him. "Yongguk-ah," I begin, wincing slightly. "Promise me that you won't get angry, okay?"

A little puzzled by my wish, he blinks at me, and then frowns a little. "But...that always means that I will...?" he uncertainly says.

I shake my head at him. "No," I mumble. "You can get angry at me for everything else, except for what I'm about to tell you."

Yongguk doesn't speak right away, but when he does, his voice is wary.

So I slowly, and very hesitantly, start to inform him of my situation. Starting from the very beginning of my encounter with Himchan, where I had to hit him, to get him off of me, I can tell by the way Yongguk's eyebrows are raised, that he wants to say something, but because he's so well-mannered, he keeps his mouth zipped tight, and allows me to go on. He looks genuinely surprised, when I go to tell him how Himchan and I had been coincidentally bumping into one another, through some absurd twist of luck, but then his brows slowly crease together, when I go on to inform him of how my bike ended up being ruined.

Yongguk shakes his head at this, and I can tell that he is not amused one bit, which makes me automatically start to remind him of his promise for not getting angry. He slowly nods with a sigh, and then beckons for me to proceed on. I do, and when I go to explain to him about Himchan and his memory loss, a mixture of shock and befuddlement, crosses over his face. Like the good-listener he is, Yongguk continues to listen to everything else that I have to say, and now that I actually hear my plans on helping Himchan being said out-loud, I can't help but want to give myself a slap, for even thinking of this.

It's simply ridiculous.

"So...you're doing this all...for your bike..." says Yongguk, rather slowly.

I can't help but squirm a little, at his stern voice. "I know, it was kind of stupid of me—"

"Stupid?" echoes the blonde, incredulously. "That is an understatement, honestly, what were you thinking?!"

Alert, the sudden volume increase in his voice makes me stutter; "I-I wasn't thinking—"

"You should have been!" he reprimands. "In what right mind, would anyone think that it is okay, to bring home a complete stranger, just like that, huh?" He continues on, obviously very disappointed in me; "And taking him home doesn't seem to be enough for you, because you went and gave him a new identity."

Yongguk proceeds to shake his head at me, muttering away, to show me his obvious disapproval.

And due to his previous thunderous voice, a few people walking by, are now giving the two of us a peculiar look, and I'm not sure why, but a heavy feeling is suddenly churning, in the pits of my stomach.

I swallow the uncomfortable lump in my throat, when a heavy silence suddenly dominates us. "You said you weren't going to get angry at me," I attempt to joke, with a wry smile. "I thought...I thought I could—I'm sorry, I should have known that this is something for me to keep to myself."

Guilt immediately melts over Yongguk's features, as his brows draw together in concern. "No, I...I'm sorry, I—" he stops for a bit, as if to carefully recompose his thoughts. "Yejin-ah, I really shouldn't have raised my voice at you, but...I'm just worried."

I look down at my hands, feeling the fault. "You shouldn't apologise," I murmur. "You have every right to get angry, I mean; even I'm angry at myself, for jumping into such a thing."

Silence takes over us next again, as we both find ourselves diving back into our thoughts, not sure of what else to say. I can feel myself being numbed by the various amounts of negative emotions, currently whirling around within me, and making me feel down. My eyes quickly glance over at Yongguk, but seeing that stern poker-face expression makes my shoulders slump down a little.

He's obviously upset, and knowing this, makes me want to crawl into a hole, and just stay there for a while.

Swallowing down my nerves, I then force myself to break the uncomfortable ice. "You know, you don't have to worry about me so much, I mean...Himchan's actually not that bad," I quietly admit.

Yongguk doesn't respond to this, and I silently regret for attempting to ease up the atmosphere.

We suddenly come to a stop, where he tells me how he has a gig to perform tonight, and I wish him luck.

And when we go to say goodbye, he shows me a small smile, but because it doesn't exactly reach his eyes like his usual ones, I feel my heart sink a little more.