"Yes, this is a lovely surprise," she brightly agrees. "What are you two doing here?"

I nod my head towards our beverages and my (now empty) bagel plate. "Coffee," I casually answer. "You?"

"Me too!" she chimes. "You know, this is a great time for us to do some catching up."

She sounds like she genuinely wants us three to spend some time together, and so all I can pretty much do is nod my head, as she gives us another one of her radiant smiles.

Since Yongguk appears to now be occupied with drinking his tea, I then politely gesture for Jieun to start talking. So then she begins to tell us about her (fairly fascinating) life in Japan, and I make sure to comment on a few things here and there out of politeness, with Yongguk occasionally nodding now and then. And obviously, if you live in a foreign area for long enough, then you naturally come to pick up their language, because I suddenly find my interest perking up, when she goes to reveal how she's now able to understand Japanese.

It makes me think about Himchan, and how he's also able to understand the language, so then I go and ask her to teach me a few common phrases. Jieun goes to teach me the usual greetings of 'hello', and 'how are you'; simple things that you could use within an everyday conversation. Surprisingly, Yongguk seems to know a bit about Japanese also, and it takes both Jieun and me by surprise. Our wonder makes him smile slightly, as he vaguely goes to tells us how he had just randomly decided one day, that he wanted to have a better understanding, in Japanese.

And I'm quite positive that Jieun's move to Japan might have had a slight influence in this, but I keep this guess to myself.

"Ah, this is completely off topic, but..." Jieun then turns attention over to the male next to her; "Yongguk, did you happen to change your number?"

Her dainty question makes him blink at her. "No," he answers. "It's...still the same."

Absorbing that in, it appears to make her a little more confused about something, as she goes to quirk an eyebrow at him. "Oh?" She then frowns a little; "I've been trying to call you, but it doesn't ever seem to go through?"

And when I catch Yongguk swallow a little, it makes me mentally raise an eyebrow.

"You've been...trying to call me?" says Yongguk, with a peculiar poker face. "I'm sorry, but I haven't received anything."

Jieun stares at him for a little, before slowly moving her gaze down towards her drink. "Hmm, how odd..." she mumbles, in contemplation.

I inwardly agree to that, but the more I think about Yongguk's comment, (along with that unreadable expression on his face), something suddenly replays itself in my head.

As I go back to spread some strawberry jam on top of my cream-cheesed bagel, Yongguk's lack of movement, makes me raise an eyebrow at him. The device in his hand continues to shake away, and I notice with each vibration, his eyebrows ever so slowly crease together, as the corners of his lips begin to descend downwards, turning it into a frown. I keep quiet, by placing a bite-sized piece of my food into my mouth, and it's only then, that he decides to abruptly cancel the call.

The memory makes me blink a little, but when I go to peek over at him again, a sudden possibility, makes my eyes widen a little.

Yongguk has been rather fidgety with his phone during our catch up time, and I've noticed that every time when he would go to look at it, he would always seem to try to ignore the buzzing of it.

Could he have been purposely declining Jieun's calls, this whole time...?

Because that would explain his now somewhat stiff behaviour, as he tries to focus his attention to the things outside of the glass window, on his right.

Conversation engages from between the three of us once more, where Yongguk and I very loosely, go to tell Jieun about our lives. She waits for more, but we both tell her that there isn't much, except us both being occupied with our work. It makes Jieun blink that this is the only thing that we have to share, and I sheepishly shrug my shoulders, to tell her that everything is just so-so. Yongguk's knowing eyes glance over at me when I say this, (because he knows that it's not exactly true) and when he nonchalantly agrees with me, Jieun doesn't say anything more.

An unfamiliar tune now starts ringing from out of the blue, and when Jieun goes to answer her phone, Yongguk and I keep quiet for her to take the call. Her conversation with her friend (Sunhwa, I think?) doesn't last very long though, and when they hang up, Jieun tells us that she has to be on her way. Yongguk and I nod with a small smile, as she goes to tell us both once more, how nice it is, to see the two of us again. We both reply back with something along those lines, and it makes her smile back at us in response.

But just before she gets up from her spot, something seems to click in the brunette’s mind, as she signals for our attention again.

"Before I go," she starts off. "I want to let you both know that I'm holding a get-together, next weekend."

"Oh?" I blink at her. "What's the occasion?"

This makes her smile a little. "Well, since it's a little hard to organise when and where to individually see each one of my friends, I just thought...why not get everyone together, at one place?" she replies, with a minor shrug. "This way, I can see everyone at once, and not only that, but it'll be nice for my friends to make friends with my other friends, as well."

I slowly nod my head, taking that in, to then tell her that I think it's a nice idea. Yongguk agrees, and our interest in her event makes her beam at us. A sudden beep from her phone informs us that she's just received a text message, and after taking a quick glance at it, she then apologises, for having to rush her leave. We both tell her that it's fine, and she quickly tells us how she'll make sure to text us the rest of the details, when she's able to finalise the booking of a place. And with that, Jieun then hastily rushes outside, lightly jogging to where ever it is that she's supposed to meet Sunhwa.

My gaze slowly returns itself back to Yongguk, where as if on cue, the two of us then breathe out a small sigh, at the same time.

And because of our in sync action once again, it makes the both of us eventually softly laugh at each other. 

———————————————

Taking off my shoes, I then go to set down my purse, just before making my way over towards the dark haired male. Himchan is currently folding up the laundry, and when he sees me, his face automatically lights up to greet me. I laugh a little at his enthusiasm, just before seating myself down nearby, to help him out with the chore. And as I go on to fold up a shirt of his, Himchan begins to tell me about his little adventure today, of assisting Mrs. Lee out, at her shop. Apparently, he helped rearrange the layout of her entire stall, telling her how things would look better placed here or there, to which she agreed, and went through with.

Himchan then goes on to tell me how she was praising his sense of taste, and that he has a talent for designing things. I find myself slowly start to think about this, and become aware that it’s somewhat true, as I begin to examine the outfits that I'm folding up. Although the clothes that I've bought for him are plain, it's just hit me that Himchan has somehow been able to work around that, by making them all magically look better, somehow. I'm not quite sure how he's able to make everything that he wears look flattering, but I'm quite envious of his skill to pull everything off.

"So," begins Himchan. "How's Mr Angry Eyebrows?"

"Yongguk is doing alright..." I softly say. "He's a little iffy about seeing Jieun again, but I know he'll be okay."

"See?" says Himchan, in a blasé tone. "I told you there wasn't much to worry about."

I give him an unamused look, which makes him beam at me.

"Anyway, guess what I found out today?" he asks.

"What?" I say, motioning for him to continue on.

"A little thing called 'fanfiction'..." he slowly says, with a slight shrug. "Have you heard of that before?"

I ponder about it for a bit. "I think so?" I eventually say; the word does sort of ring a bell. "They're stories written about idols by their fans, right?"

"Correct," he answers. "I thought they were based on famous people, like, famous people, such as that beaver boy, and wrong direction group, but oh, was I ever so wrong."

His tone is now just overflow with sarcasm, and the amount of mockery in it, just makes it very obvious that he's upset about something.

Himchan suddenly whacks a sock down in front of him, and the abrupt action makes me recoil back a little. "Does BangJin mean anything to you?" he demands, with a suspicious expression.

I warily draw my eyebrows together, as I bit by bit, fold up these pair of pants. "Is it supposed to mean something to me...?" I cautiously ask.

An annoyed sounding grumble is what I receive as a response. "Well," Himchan starts off, while crossing his arms together. "Apparently, that's you and Yongguk's stupid couple name."

This brand new piece of information takes me off guard, and because of that, it makes me feel even more confused.

Himchan continues on. "And you know what?" he says, rather dramatically. "It gets even worst!"

I open my mouth to try and say something, but my curious side decides that it's probably best to see where he's going with this.

"The website that I found it on, had this little 'M' next to it, and because a majority of the other stories didn't have that little 'M' next to it, I thought it was special," he rapidly explains. "But special is an understatement, to describe what I accidentally read."

Feeling a little nervous, yet still slightly confused, (because what is this website, and how did Himchan find it?) I just brace myself for this "horrible thing" that he's "accidentally read".

"Because you know what it was about?" Himchan doesn't even give me time to attempt a guess, as he grumpily goes on; "Here, why don't I reenact it out for you?"

I give him a weird look, as he goes to clear out his throat.

Now clutching a fist to his chest, a melodramatic expression sits on his face, as he goes to straighten up his posture. "Her cheeks warm up, as he reaches out to carefully caress her," begins Himchan, as though he's reading part of a script, that belongs to a soap opera show, of some sort. "Yongguk's touch makes Yejin shyly look up at him, and through their affectionate gaze, a blissful smile, gradually appears on their lips..."

As soon as I hear my name, my eyes enlarge, and a laugh doesn’t fail to choke out from me.

But Himchan dismisses my reaction to the side, as he halts his weird monologue. "Do you see how wrong that is?" he states. "First of, you blushed. You don't 'blush' when Bang Yongguk goes to touch you like that, you bite his hand off, and then tell him that you're taken by Kim Himchan!" The unimpressed male frowns, as he proceeds on with his complaining. "And why do you two sound so in love with each other? Is there something that you're not telling me? Why, I think so, because have a listen to what happens next!"

Himchan goes to give his throat another clear, just before returning back to that weird narrator voice of his. "His hands slowly move down her waist, and when they finally reach her inner thigh, he begins to it. Yejin mews, as the motion makes her willingly spread out her legs, for him to—"

"Stop!" I frantically yell out. "Himchan, this is weird!"

And thanks to my vivid imagination, I now feel a light wave of heat suddenly splash itself onto my cheeks, making me feel a little squirmy.

"I told you it was weird, but you—" Himchan stops his sentence, and when I peep up at him, I see that he's staring at me. He continues to examine me for a bit more, until something seems to connect in his head, as it makes his suddenly jaw drop down in disbelief.

"What?" I ask, as coolly as I can.

"You're...no, you're blushing, aren't you?!" he accusingly points out.

This makes my eyes widen slightly. "Of course not!" I fib.

But because of my fast retort, Himchan manages to see through my lie. "Yes you are!" he cries. "You were imagining it, weren't you? Or even worst...you were reliving the memory of that night!"

"What?!" I splutter out. "Hey, stop being ridiculous!"

With fake tears in his eyes, Himchan now goes to feign sadness, by pretending to cover his face, with his hand. "Ugh, I should have known that this was going to happen..." he says, with a dramatic sniff. "I mean, it was all over the title! A Steamy Night in Hotel 301."

I stare at him for a bit, before pursing my lips into a firm tight line. "You're making this up, aren't you?" I ask, in exasperation.

Himchan looks up at me, and his artificial 'sobbing' is now gone. "No I'm not, it's actually there," he says.

I still feel a little doubtful though, and so I give him a skeptical look; "But how did you remember that, word for word?!"

"Because I'm so angry at it, that it's stuck in my head!" he grumpily says.

My hand meets with my forehead, as I let out a tired groan. "But it's a fan-made story..." I say, making sure to emphasis, and stress out the key words.

"Yeah, but do you know how weird it is, to read something, about you making love to someone that isn't me?" he stresses.

I dismiss his comment to the side. "How did you even find this?" I incredulously ask.

Himchan shrugs his shoulders. "These school girls were looking for a certain flower, and I just happened to hear one of them say—" He takes a deep breath, before attempting to speak in the most feminine voice that he can manage; "She updated, did you read it?!" Himchan then (thankfully) returns back to his normal voice, and proceeds on. "They said something about 'BangJin', and because I heard that it has something to do with Yongguk and you, I got curious, and asked Mrs. Lee if I could borrow her laptop for a bit, and yeah."

"I see..." I dimly mumble.

"Thankfully, there isn't a lot, but you know what I'm going to do?" says Himchan. "I'm going to message you and yell at them."

I blink at him; "Who?"

Himchan squints his eyes together, with a pout of displeassure. "The one responsible for BangJin existing," he mutters.

I can't help but shake my head at him, with a little laugh. "Oh my goodness, please don't," I lightly say. "They're just having a little fun—"

"—By posting about you and your best friend?" retorts the unhappy male. "Come on, if it was about me and you, then maybe I'll let it slide, but with you and Yongguk is a no-no, okay?"

This whole situation is insanely embarrassing, and because I don't want to talk about the absurdity of it anymore, I then try to steer the conversation topic towards something else. "Are you hungry?" I calmly ask, while pushing a sock to the side. "Because I’m kind of in the mood to eat, so..."

My fading voice is the result of me now heading into the kitchen, but right when I go to open the refrigerator, Himchan speaks up.

"Oh, don't bother with that," I hear him say, from within the lounge room. "Because we're low on supplies."

And as soon as I hear that, my eyes find themselves staring into a rather empty fridge.

Some lettuce leaves, water, and half a bottle of juice, are the only things that are currently sitting in here, and even with these editable items, they aren't exactly dinner material.

I hear Himchan's voice speak up again. "You ate the last egg this morning," he says.

A little confused, I then shut the refrigerator, and then make my way back outside, with an arched eyebrow. "What?" I frown a little at him. "Wasn't that you?"  

Himchan looks up from the neat pile of folded clothes, to let out a scoff. "I swear it was you," he skeptically says.

His remark makes me furrow my eyebrows together, but when I realise the likelihood of us engaging into a (rather petty) argument of who ate the last egg, it makes me sigh.

So then I push this to the side, and then, deciding that we'll eat out tonight, motion for Himchan to go and get ready, as I go to put the clean laundry away.