With a satisfied look on her face, Soojin finished her last bite of her food.

Myungsoo watched her with a curious look. She noticed him staring and raised an eyebrow to indicate her curiosity at why he was staring.

He opted out with a question instead, “Didn’t I tell you this place had excellent food?”

She scoffed lightly, not saying anything.

Myungsoo blinked at her, presuming that she wouldn’t say anything. He was about to get up to leave when he heard her speak.

“Yes.”

He turned to look at her, startled that she actually responded.

“It was surprisingly good. I think I may come back again.” She thoughtfully mused to herself, “Though I have to try to remember which way you dragged me here. I don’t think I could recall which way it was with all the twists and turns you made.”

“I could always bring you here again,” he suggested.

Soojin looked horrified at that proposal. “And what? Rely on you every time I wanted to eat here? No thanks.”

He chuckled and half-joked, “Well, would you like me to write you directions?”

She turned to him, “Would you? That would be much appreciated. Oh. And a map would be nice as well.”

He blinked at her and smiled, again happily surprised at her honesty.

“Sure, I’ll get something for you.”

He stood up to leave. “Let’s go. The day isn’t over yet.”

Soojin looked up at him. “You don’t say,” she murmured sarcastically. She got up as well, and proceeded to follow him out the door.

“Bye, Mrs. Moon. The food was delicious as always.” Myungsoo said as he paid for the food at the register.

She patted his cheek. “Of course. Who do you think made it?” she winked.

He laughed and waved good-bye.

Soojin followed behind him and gave a small bow to Mrs. Moon. “The food was delicious,” she smiled.

She turned to leave, seeing that Myungsoo had already left the store and was waiting outside.

“Wait!” she heard as she felt a hand softly jerk her back.

Soojin looked back in shock and confusion.

The older woman looked shocked as well, as if she hadn’t expected herself to do such an action.

She looked at bit embarrassed and let go of Soojin’s arm.

“Take care of Myungsoo,” she said softly that Soojin had to lean in to hear her.

“I know you two aren’t dating, but that boy has been through some tough times. He seems happy when he’s with you. So… so take care of him.”

Soojin didn’t know how to respond, not wanting to say anything that might make her feel awkward. Instead she just nodded, trying to understand what the older woman wanted her to do.

She walked to the door, glancing back at the woman who was looking sadly at her.

She exited the door and came face-to-face to Myungsoo who was patiently waiting on the bench outside.

He looked up and took a quick look back the store.

“Were you talking to Mrs. Moon?” he asked. She nodded.

“What were you talking about?”

“You,” she replied.

He looked surprised. “What about me?”

Soojin shrugged because honestly she didn’t know as well. All she knew was that the owner wanted her to take care of Myungsoo. But how would she do that? She had spent most of her efforts trying to avoid him, and yet she had to take care of him? Didn’t that go against everything she had set up to avoid this? But the most important question was “Why?”

She looked at him who was looking curiously at her. She smiled slightly, “Well? Aren’t you going to drag me somewhere else? The day’s ending, you know.”

He grinned like a little boy and stood up abruptly that Soojin, who was standing next to him, sat down in surprise.

He pulled her up and said “Well, let’s go then!”

Soojin let him pull her through the narrow streets and into the main street where the city sounds emerged.

They momentarily stopped, and Myungsoo turned to Soojin.

“So, do you want to go shopping?” he asked. She looked at him with an astonished look.

He continued, “I’ve been thinking that I need some new shirts. And maybe some sunglasses.”

He caught Soojin’s expression. “What?”

“You. You want to go shopping?”

“Yeah? To tell you the truth, I didn’t plan on what we would do after eating, so I assumed that you would like to go shopping.”

She gave him a disapproving look. “Because I’m a girl?”

He smiled guiltily. “Yeah?”

She shook her head. “I sincerely dislike shopping. It’s tedious and energy-draining. I only go shopping if my friends beg me to go with them to give them company, or I need to get some new things.”

He looked confused, “Then what would you like to do?”

“You’re asking me? I thought this was your plan for a date.”

Before he could respond, Soojin spoke first. “But I know a place that I used to frequent back in my high school days. We could go there.”

“Sure! What is it?” he asked curiously and a little relieved.

“You’ll see. It’s quite close by.”

She led him down the street, and finally stopped in front of the building that looked weathered down and beat-down.

He looked up. “An arcade?”

She glanced at him, “You have a better idea?”

Myungsoo didn’t say anything which Soojin took as a silent agreement.

She stepped inside the store, leaving Myungsoo to look at the building with a wary apprehension.

He followed her inside, taking a good look around. He noticed that Soojin was at the counter already chatting with the young man in charge with faded dyed hair who was possibly several years older than both of them.

He silently walked over, stood next to her, and gave the man in front of him an once-over. He couldn’t decide if he liked him or disliked him. All he knew was he had a slightly dangerous aura; this man could fight.

Soojin glanced at Myungsoo briefly, acknowledging his presence, before focusing her attention back to the young man in front of her.

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to come back after all this time,” the young man said, giving Soojin a judgmental look.

She rolled her eyes. “Just because I spent a good amount of time here before, does not mean I am obligated to come here over and over.”

He frowned, “What if I said that I missed you and wanted you to come and visit me more often?”

Myungsoo noticed that Soojin froze ever so slightly before responding, “Wow. Should I take that as a compliment? We all know how those are rare with you.”

“Geez, you’re such a downer. No wonder you have no friends,” he teased.

He looked at Myungsoo. “But I guess I was wrong. I never thought you would actually bring someone here, much less a guy.”

He then gave her a suggestive look, which Soojin frowned at.

“Stop that. It’s not what you think it is.”

“What?” he asked innocently.

“Don’t act so naïve. We all know what you’re suggesting. And it’s not true,” she grumbled.

“Right. Sure,” he drawled out, winking at Myungsoo and giving a huge grin.

He noticed Soojin glaring at him. “I believe I said too much,” he laughed.

He passed several coins to Soojin and waved them off. “Go have fun, little ones.”

“Thanks Dongwoo,” Soojin smiled and walked towards the games.

Myungsoo stared at Dongwoo for a little longer, his current assessment of him constantly changing with every word and action he did. He decided that he did like him. He did have a slight dangerous aura, but he figured that only came when he wanted to. Overall, this person was a friendly cheerful guy.

Dongwoo noticed Myungsoo staring at him and smiled at him. He motioned him to come closer, and Myungsoo approached the counter so that he was standing in front of him.

“You close to Soojin?” he asked.

Myungsoo thought carefully and slowly said, “We know each other enough to call us friends, I suppose.”

Dongwoo grinned, “That’s good. Soojin never goes out. In fact, it took me a while for me to convince her to frequently come here.”

He then frowned, “But now I feel that she’s gone back to being that reclusive girl when I first met her. She always told me that she never felt it was necessary to go out.”

He smiled happily at Myungsoo. “But now that I see you with her, I have a feeling that she might go out more often like a normal person.”

Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo carefully, “You really think we’re going out?”

Dongwoo looked surprised. “Wait. You guys aren’t? I thought she was just embarrassed to admit the truth. Well, I’ll be.”

Myungsoo smiled, “Yeah, we aren’t dating. But you never know what will happen in the future.”

And with that he walked away and towards to where Soojin was.

Dongwoo stared at Myungsoo’s retreating figure with a slight shiver down his back. He didn’t know why, but his fighter’s instinct kicked up when he saw Myungsoo, as if too, had seen more fights than he should have. But he also felt that even though that’s true, he wasn’t the person who initiated those fights, but rather the one who fought to protect. Just like him.

When Myungsoo approached Soojin, he noticed that she was causally waiting for him. She looked up when he came closer.

“Hey. Thought you got lost. That would be a story to tell.”

He smiled, “Were you waiting for me?”

She nodded, and pointed her head to the machine next to her.

“I wanted to challenge you to a little dance battle,” she said, a smile breaking out on her face. “And because it’s always more fun with someone to compete with.”

Myungsoo smiled at her innocent and childish air. He stepped on the platform as Soojin pushed coins into the slots to start the game with a large smile on her face.

"I still can't believe you've won after I crushed you twice. It's as if you been secretly holding out on me the first two times," she grumbled. She walked to the door.

She waved as she opened the door, which a twinkling sound resonated through the arcade to indicate the entrance or rather the exit of someone.

“Bye, Dongwoo. It was nice to see you again. I might come again,” she said with a grin.

Dongwoo rolled his eyes and laughed, “You’re such a joke. But do come again.”

Myungsoo followed Soojin out the door, and he also turned to give a small wave. Dongwoo smiled and peacefully thought that both looked rather happy next to each other.

They walked beside each other, each to their own thoughts when Myungsoo spoke up.

“You like him? Dongwoo?”

Soojn looked at him in surprise and turned to look at the ground.

She hesitated, “Liked. Liked is the key word. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.”

It was Myungsoo’s turn to look at her in surprise. He had expected her to deny it fervently and not so willingly, like any other person. But then again, she wasn’t like any other girl.

She seemed to catch on what Myungsoo was thinking.

“You’re confused on why I replied so easily?” she asked.

He hesitated before nodding slightly.

She sadly smiled. “I want to say it’s because I gave up.”

“You confessed?”

She shook her head, “I never told him a thing.”

“Then why…”

She interrupted him, “I gave up because I didn’t do anything. I don’t even really know how to explain it. I've been harboring feelings for him for the longest time, but I just didn’t do anything. When I realized how important communication was, I felt that it was too late. I waited too long. So I decided to just leave things how it was. We were already too close.”

She had realized that she had told Myungsoo a bit too much for her liking, but once she started talking, it was as if she couldn’t stop. She had never told anyone much about her feelings, but Myungsoo had a way to pull words out of her without her knowing.

Myungsoo pondered over her words. “You… you don’t regret it?”

She frowned then shook her head. “Somehow, no, I don’t. Sure, some feelings still stir when I see him, but overall, I think the attraction died down a little. Now, I sort of see him as a good friend who's rather good-looking.”

She shrugged, “But then again, even I’m not that sure of my feelings. Who knows? Maybe I subconsciously still like him, and I'm just trying to force my feelings down." She stopped when she heard her phone ring. She pulled it out to see that her brother had sent her a message.

She gasped, “Oh no. It’s this late already? My mom’s going to kill me.” She turned to Myungsoo. “Look, I have to go.”

She paused, “As much as I don’t want to admit it, I had a nice time today. Thanks.” She then pointed at him. “Now that my debt is done, I don’t owe you any favors anymore.”

She waved good-bye and rushed away.

Myungsoo watched as she quickly scurried away, laughing a little.

Myungsoo found their conversation rather refreshing. Most of his life, he had dealt with too many liars and cheaters for his taste. So when Soojin actually told him her true and honest feelings without much hesitation, it made him smile.

It made him smile because she was right. Communication was important, and he had failed to realize that before. Maybe if had knew how essential it was, he would have lived a different life. But if he had, he possibly wouldn’t have met Soojin. And he wasn’t sure if he wanted that.

A/N: Gah. Where I am I going with this? I know what I want in parts of the story, but I feel like I’m wandering all over the place. Do you guys feel that? Or is it going smoothly for you?

Well anyways, once again, thanks for reading and see you next time!