“Hi, Ms. Jin. It's nice to see you here again.” A young lady approached Yeojin with a smile as they entered a Philippine Cuisine Restaurant inside the same mall. Yeojin smiled and looked at Minho who was then curious why the lady knew her.

“How's everything?” She asked.

“Ahh... There has been a lot of Korean tourists who go here to eat and try our foods after your that featured article was released. You really helped us a lot.” She said happily.

“It's nothing. This place was already popular among foreigners even before I wrote that article.”

“But your article made us even more popular, and again, thank you very much.” She shook Yeojin's hand and that's when she noticed Minho who was silently looking at the both of them. “Oh, yes.. Do you want a table for two?”

“Yes, please.” Yeojin said and looked at Minho, “Let's go?” While Minho silently followed, the lady and Yeojin continued chatting together, talking about this and that regarding the restaurant.

“What should I get you?” The lady said when they finally occupied the table she offered.

“Hmm... Can you give us some of your most delicious dishes? He's new in the country and this will be the first time he's gonna taste a Philippine Cuisine. I don't want his first impression to fail.” She said and even gave a wink to the lady.

“Ahh.. I know what to get. Please wait for a while.” She smiled back and nodded at both of them, and just few seconds later, she was gone and went to the counter to give their orders to the cook.

“Ah!” Minho flicked his fingers together after realizing what the place was. “I read about this place on one of your articles last night! Is this the same place where they serve marinated chicken in soy sauce cooked with fried garlic and bay leaves?” Yeojin nodded and Minho suddenly flashed an excited expression. “Wah. Just by the looks of it in pictures, it looks so inviting.”

“Do you like that? I think that's what she is getting for us. I learned it was really one of the dishes this country is proud of.”

“I'm excited.” Minho rubbed his palms together and smiled sheepishly, then he suddenly thought of something while they were waiting. “You seem so familiar with this place already. It has only been two months.”

Yeojin shrugged her shoulders. “I'm comfortable here. Upon arriving I thought it would be so difficult, but I didn't know that living in a place where no one knows you can feel as comforting as this. It was like.... I can do anything I want to do without being judged at... I can try anything I want to try without being afraid of getting hurt. I don't know... living here feels so different, but I like that feeling.”

“Aahhh...” Minho said as he kept on nodding. “Was that really the work you're going to do when you decided on going here?”

“Well yes.” She answered and looked at him. “Remember when I went to Jeju for three days before? While I was there, someone from my agency called saying I received an offer from a travel agency based in the Philippines who wants me to do covers for the travel magazines they are releasing. I thought I would only be a model, but things changed when I went here, saying why don't I try going around for real and write my experiences about it?”

“So it became like this? You've released three issues already... that means readers received it well.”

“I'm thankful about that.”

Minho silently observed the brightness of her face. He wanted to ask how she felt as the moment. He was certain she hasn't completely moved on. It was just 2 months ago, and he was sure the pain Yeojin felt when she had to give up Jonghyun for Soeun was still there. He knew she could still recall how painful it was. He wanted to know how better she felt at that moment, if all the travels she made helped her adjust, cope up, and move on, but he didn't want to spoil the brightness of her face.

He found the genuinity of happiness on her face. It wasn't a force show of telling him she's happy. She was really happy being in this place, and he thought maybe she found something that she didn't found when she was in South Korea.

He thought maybe she found her self worth, something which will make her more happy. He didn't know. He wasn't sure about this, but he was sure of the contentment and comfort on her face.

“You suddenly stopped talking.” Yeojin said and just when he was about to say anything, their orders came and Minho started eating as the aroma of the dish invited him to eat immediately.

“How are you?” Yeojin asked when they were almost done with eating.

Minho looked at at her and estimated what “you” means. It could either mean “you” as Minho alone or “you” as Minho and the rest of the people she left in South Korea. He decided to go for the first one.

“The day I received the news of going here was the same day I opened my Pasta House.”

“Wah! You opened a Pasta House?!” Yeojin was suddenly excited about that idea. “How cool is that... but, why did you leave it just like that?”

“Because I still love soccer.” He said and shrugged his shoulders as he ate the last slice of chicken on his plate. “Soccer is something I cannot say no to. I liked the idea of coaching the kids, though I know it's something I have no experience with. But I'm confident, you know I learned how to deal with kids.”

His last statement made them both awkward and silent for a while, and that's when Minho knew that Yeojin didn't want to talk about the past, nor mention something about Jonghyun, Soeun, and even Yoogeun. It was still as painful as how she felt it before, and Minho, as friend and as a man, should respect that, and try so hard not to cause any trouble of her feelings.

*** ***

“I'll see you some other time okay?” Minho said as they walked out of the mall and heading towards the bus station. You should take me somewhere else you know I'd find attractive.

“Sure.” Yeojin said and nodded gently. “When we both have our free times, let's arrange a meeting and go somewhere you would enjoy going to. I know a lot of places and we don't have to spend that much.”

“I'm excited.” Minho said and they finally stood at the waiting shed, waiting for a Yeojin's bus. “By the way, where do you live?”

“I live at an apartment in Manila with two other foreign girls. The house is big and comfortable enough though it doesn't look luxurious as how your bachelor's pad looked.”

“Yaah~”

“I'm serious.” Yeojin chuckled. “The apartment is around the University Belt in Manila.. so when I go out, I tend to ride the bus with college students so it makes me feel young. That's the good thing about living in that apartment.”

There were just the two of them in the waiting shed, but as they talked, a woman stood up beside Yeojin with a baby covered carefully in her arms. Yeojin looked at her and find the baby sweetly sleeping in her mother's arms.

“She's beautiful.” She uttered and the mother of the kid looked at her. Yeojin then spoke in their language just to tell the mother her baby was really beautiful.

Just then, the mother gave her baby to Yeojin and said, “Hawakan mo siya (Hold her).” She then gave the baby bag she was holding to Minho.

Yeojin was so engrossed at the look of the baby who was now sleeping her arms. She looked carefree and her face was so soft, someone she wanted to cuddle forever. “Aiggooo~” She whispered when the baby moved her arms a bit while she was sleeping.

“Wait!! Miss!!!” She was surprised when Minho shouted on her back. She looked at her and Minho gave her that surprised and dumbfounded look.

“Why?”

“She ran away! The mother ran away!” Minho said in panic.

“Huh?!” She looked at the woman and saw that she was almost gone from her sight. “Oh My God, Ms, waiitt!!” She shouted but then, the woman was completely gone.

“What are we going to do? She left the baby to you!” Minho said and it looked like he really had no idea what to do.

“I don't know...” Yeojin said and looked at the baby, who had no idea that her mother left her with a stranger just like that.