“Tae- Taehoon oppa?” Suddenly, I became fully aware of my current situation. Taehoon oppa was the one that came to my aid. 

Great, just great. So first I get pelted with eggs by a bunch a psychotic girls and then my ex-boyfriend just had to be the one to ‘rescue’ me. 

Tch, he must be enjoying himself, seeing me in this state.

“Are you okay?” He asked. I looked away, refusing to let him see me like this. What am I even doing, sitting here?

I tried to stand up and leave but I was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness that caused me to stagger a few steps back. Taehoon immediately caught me in his arms and helped me to sit down while I rubbed my throbbing temples with my index finger. My shirt that reeked of the pungent smell of eggs weren’t helping at all.

Taehoon dug around his bag before offering me a sweet, knowing that it was my low blood sugar acting up again. I turned my head away and jutted my chin out defiantly - I wasn’t going to accept his help. I don’t want to owe him a favour.

“Just take it, Jieun..” He said softly, pushing the sweet into the palm of my hand. Without looking at him, I placed the sweet on the bench and tried to get up to leave again.

But within seconds, I found myself back in his arms again, holding onto him for support. Once I got my footing, I immediately let go. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, before he nudged me.

“Eunnie-ah, it’s not the time to be stubborn now..” He said softly. The way the words came out of his mouth with such endearment made me cringe.

“I don’t need your help,” I snapped coldly, shrugging his hand off my shoulder.

“Jieun, even if you have something against me, don’t take it out on your health, please. Just take it as I’m begging you?” Taehoon said.

He held my hand out and placed the sweet on my palm. I looked up and we made eye contact for a fraction of a second. It was then did I realise that he too, was covered in slimy egg contents. His white long sleeved shirt and his black tie was now unruly and all over the place. His shoes that used to shine were now covered in slimy egg whites. And for a moment, I felt guilty.

Taehoon chuckled awkwardly as he felt my gaze on him.

“We’re both quite messed up, aren’t we?” He let out a small chuckle.

I observed my own attire next. My hair was in knots with bits of eggshell stuck to it, my once baby pink blouse was now stained with splotches of egg yolk and my legs were covered in cuts with dry patches of blood from the fall. In short, I was a wreck.

“Oh .” Taehoon looked at his watch and cursed. “I’m not gonna make it back for the meeting.” He mumbled to himself.

“You better go,” I said, getting up to leave.

“Not like this!” He pointed to his attire as we both let out a small chuckle.

“Come on, let’s go get changed.” He smiled.

“But-”

“No buts! Kaja!” He pulled me along before I could protest.

—-

It turns out that Taehoon was staying in an apartment just at the corner of the street. We arrived at his small 2 bedroom apartment that he lived in alone. He unlocked the front door before throwing his bunch of keys on the coffee table a few meters away.

“Sit,” he pointed at the sofa while I just shook my head.

“I don’t think its a good idea,” I pointed to my soiled outfit as he let out a chuckle.

“You’re right. Just gimme a second, I’ll go fetch you some clothes.” He mumbled, undoing his tie and pulling his shirt over his head, revealing a slightly toned body.

I looked away quickly. It felt weird to see his bare skin again. A few minutes later, he reemerged from his room with a fresh set of clothing and a set for me as well.

“Here, change into these. You should take a bath too, yknow, just to get rid of the smell. There’s a new towel in the bathroom already, so just go ahead.”

He passed me the set of clothing while drying his hair with the towel that was slung over his shoulders.

“Gomawo,” i said softly while he nodded and smiled back before directing me to the bathroom. After I freshened up, I put on the clothes he prepared for me. It was a simple black blouse with some shorts that fit me to a T. The weird thing was that the outfit seemed really familiar yet I couldn’t put a finger on where I’ve seen it from.

Was it from a catalog? A magazine?

“Oh well, why does he have women’s clothes in his house anyway?” I shrugged, eyeing my reflection from the mirror.

Aish, why do I care. It’s none of my business anyway.

“Done?” Taehoon smiled as he saw me exit the bathroom. I nodded slightly. His sudden friendliness was sort of overwhelming, considering the events that happened today.

“Here, I’ll pop those in the washer for you-”

“It’s okay, just give me a bag. I’ll wash it when I get home. I don’t wanna further impose.”

“Nah, just give it to me. You’re not imposing since I’ve already canceled my schedules for today.” He said, taking the bundle of soiled clothes from me and putting them into the washing machine.

“Oh.. Jeongmal mianhe..because of me-” I murmured. This was the feeling I hated - feeling in debt and guilty to someone.

“-Gwaenchana! But if you’re really sorry, have dinner with me?” He asked tentatively, taking small glances at me and back to the floor. I looked at him with a blank expression that wasn’t hard to decipher.

I didn’t want to go to dinner with him.

“-i mean.. You don’t have to.. But since we have to wait for your clothes.. and I’m sorta..hungry too…yknow maybe we could go have dinner?” He made little circles on the floor with his foot while leaning causally over the counter top. I didn’t know what came over me but I actually agreed. Maybe it was the guilt setting in.. oh well.

“Great! Let’s go.” He smiled enthusiastically.

“Hold on, gimme a second.” I said, fishing out my phone and quickly sending a message to Wooyoungie.

[To Wooyoungie]

Woo-ah, I can’t cook lunch for you guys today. Mianhe. I’ll make it up to you.

Once I was done, I looked up and him and gave him the signal to go. “Kaja."

— “We’ll have a set A and a set C please.” Taehoon told the waiter as he took our orders.

We were at an italian restuarant that was close to our high school - the same one we used to frequent.

“And for drinks?”

“Umm I’ll have a cappucino and a lychee mocktail for this lady - is that alright?” He looked at me. I gave a small smile before nodding at the waiter.

When we used to dine here, I’d always order a lychee mocktail without fail.

He remembered.

“So..”

“So…” I echoed after him. An awkward silence soon followed by, both of us not knowing what to say. I fiddled around with the cutlery on the table while he continuously sipped on his iced water.

Finally, the tension was broken when the waiter approached us with our drinks.

“Thank you,” we both said at the same time while the waiter gave us a small smile.

“So..” Taehoon looked up from his steak and at me. “There’s something I need to say to you.”

“Mmhm?” I mumbled, spooning some spaghetti into my mouth.

“I’m sorry.” I choked violently.

“Woah, relax. Have some water.” He pushed the glass towards me while I sipped the water, trying to control my coughs.

“Wow.” I finally muttered.

“Wow?” “I wasn’t expecting that..” I mumbled, ending off with an awkward chuckle. “For that day, yknow. I’m.. Sorry.” He muttered.

“It’s okay.”

“But just to let you know, I really mean every word I sa-”

“Look Taehoon, I had a rough day. All I want now is to have a peaceful dinner, disregarding the fact that you’re my ing ex who broke my heart. I don’t want to get confused and hurt all over again, I don’t want to have to make anymore decisions today. I just want to eat in peace, is that too much to ask?” I snapped, almost exasperated. I was cranky and tired and certainly, the last thing i needed was some of those ex-lover's drama.

“Woah, okay. I won’t pressure you, don’t worry.” He said, both hands up in the air, with an amused expression plastered on his face. I scrunched my face and sighed before looking down to continue with my food.

—

Taehoon’s car pulled up in front of our house. Everything was pitch black inside except for a single room on the second floor. Was nobody home?

“Wow, that’s a rather huge house..” Taehoon said, breaking my train of thoughts.

“Yeah,” I murmured, undoing my seatbelt. 

“Doesn’t it get lonely? I mean, staying in a big house all alone?” 

“I don’t stay alone,” 

“Oh, right. Your umm boyfriend, stays with you right?”

“Boyfr- OH YEAH. Yeah yeah, he does.” I grinned nervously. Right, my boyfriend, Junho.

“I’d better get going, its late.” I glanced at the time displayed on his radio screen that read 02:51. 

Dinner had taken longer than I expected and we headed for some ice cream before we went back to get my clothes. I hesitated for awhile when he asked for us to grab some ice cream together but Taehoon insisted that it was just a friend thing. 

Oh well, it was not like I was in the position to reject him. I did owe him a favour, after all.

"Alright, have a good night." he smiled.

I nodded, opening the car door. Peering in one last time, i gave him a friendly wave. "Drive safely, it's dark. And i'll return you the clothes if i have a chance to." 

"Keep it, it was yours anyway." He nodded and drove off before i could speak.

What did he mean by those were mine?

I sighed and shook my head, too much was going on today. Fumbling with my bag, i dug out my keys and opened the door. The house was pitch black. I looked around and braced myself to expect someone to jump out and kill me but there was no one. No one at all. 

Shrugging, i placed my keys on the table and took off my shoes before walking to turn on the lights.

All of a sudden, a voice spoke.

"Where have you been?"

---

"AHHHHH!" I clutched onto my chest while i stared at the person sitting quietly on the sofa. "YAH, YOU SCARED ME. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING, SITTING IN THE DARK? DO YOU KNO-"

"-Where, have you been?" Junho said sternly.

"I was..i was.. i was out with a friend.." I stuttered.  His gaze pierced through me, making me nervous.

"What friend?"

"Some…some friend."

"What friend?" He repeated again.

"…Taehoon o..oppa." He slammed the table and stood up from the couch, walking towards me with strident steps.

"Ju-" Before i continued, he pulled me into a forceful hug. His hot breath brushed across my neck and sent a tingling sensation down my spine.

"Do you know how worried i was?" His voice came out weak and exasperated. He nuzzled his face in my hair and continued to wrap his hands over my waist. I stood there like a log, shocked from his behavior.

Slowly, i patted his back reassuringly. "Jun-"

"You don't know how scared i was.. You didn't pick up your phone, you didn't tell anyone where you were. What if something happened to you?" He mumbled, squeezing me against his body. He sounded like a small kid and i  could sense fear in his voice.