I had to take a moment to think, because the situation was so weird. I was here, in a Chinese restaurant I’d never been to. Sitting across from a guy I didn’t know. Watching as he scarfed down his chow mein so comfortably, as if we were old pals that went out for dinner after work all the time.

Life is so weird.

As I peered at him, he looked up and caught my gaze. He slurped up his noodles and gave a closed-mouth smile, cheeks stuffed with food.

It made me chuckle.

“Wurt?” he said.

“Excuse me?”

He swallowed his mouthful. “What? What is it? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. It’s just…” So weird, I finished in thought. “So, how do you like work?”

“It’s okay,” he said, picking at his food. “To be honest, it’s just something that pays the bills for me.”

“What work isn’t just for paying the bills,” I responded.

He chuckled. “Actually, I have a second job, and this one… I really, really enjoy.”

“Oh? What is it?”

His broad grin spread across his face. It was so unique and characteristic to him, that I was actually beginning to really enjoy seeing it. “I teach a couple dance classes. At night.”

My eyes bugged out. “Really?? That’s awesome! So… you can dance?”

He pretended to be sheepish about it, but failed. “Neh. I’m rather good. I like to think I’m a danseu machine.” As he said that, he made a couple robotic arm movements in his seat, and I had to laugh out loud. It was charmingly nerdy.

“Yah!” he said with a playful frown. “Why are you laughing?!”

“I thought you said you were good at dancing,” I joked.

“I am! Really!”

“Yeah… I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Is that a challenge, Miss Choa?” he growled, a twinkle in his eye.

“Maybe,” I responded coolly.

“Deal. One of these nights, I’m taking you to my dance class. I’m going to show you how a real dancer does it. I bet I can make you admit that I’m good.”

“Oh, a bet, huh? What’s the wager?”

He thought for a moment, sipping on his soda. I smiled. Then, he lit up. “If you don’t admit I’m a good dancer, then I’ll buy you dinner. If you do admit it, then you buy me dinner… and you dance in one of my classes.”

I pinked a little. And not only because there was a chance that I, a clumsy girl with two left feet, might have to dance in front of him. “So… so either way, we’re going out to dinner?”

“Neh. Majayo,” he responded with a cool smirk. He stared at me with his warm, chocolate brown eyes, and I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks.

“…Deal,” I managed to squeak, before reaching for my water glass. Why am I suddenly feeling so self-conscious again??, I wondered, trying to calm myself down.

Howon chuckled and went back to eating. But just then, I happened to notice that someone was looking in my direction. I met that person’s eye, and felt a strange chill.

Just across the restaurant sat Sunggyu. He froze as our eyes met, his forkful of food only halfway up to his mouth. And without realizing it, I froze too.

What is he doing here??, I screamed in my head. I knew there would be a day that I would see him again, but on this day, it completely caught me off-guard. I wasn't ready to see him. I gave a dry swallow, senses immediately heightened to his general direction.

“Sunggyu-oppa, is something wrong?” I heard a voice say sweetly. Then, I noticed that across the table from him sat a girl our age, with pretty curled hair and fashionable clothes that showed off her petite frame.

I glanced back at Sunggyu. He was still looking at me.

"Oppa?” the girl tried again.

Then, Sunggyu blinked to attention and turned back to the girl. “Ani. It’s nothing,” he said with a charming smile.

I felt the blood drain from my cheeks.

“Howon,” I said.

“Neh?” he replied, finally looking up from his food.

“Something came up… I gotta go.”

“Really? Is everything okay?” he asked with a concerned frown.

I gave a wide, fake smile. I was getting quite good at feigning good cheer. “Yeah. Everything’s alright. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

And at that, I walked out of the restaurant, my heart fluttering hard in my chest.

--

Yeeee some of you said you missed Sunggyu, and to be honest, so did I!! Maybe we could look forward to seeing more of him in the coming chapters ;)   Until then, thanks for the read, don't forget to subscribe/upvote/comment if you like the story, and stay tuned my beautiful readers!!!