Things were significantly better after that trip to ice cream. I did my best to be earnestly sunny and cheerful, and it felt good to make a more positive second impression on Woohyun. By the end of the night, he was even sheepishly calling me “Noona,” which made Sulli laugh.

“Thanks for the treat… noona,” he said as we parted ways.

“Aniyo! Any time! It was nice hanging out with you two lovebirds,” I said, shooting them a wink. “Let’s do it again soon?”

“Neh!” Woohyun said. “Maybe we could even get together for dinner again! With hyung!”

At his words, an awkward silence filled the air. Sulli glanced over at me, and I shifted in my stance a little.

“…Er, if not dinner, then something else…” Woohyun said, struggling to recover. Then he grinned broadly. “Anything is fine with me. Really.” Then, he gently took hold of Sulli’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “Sulli. Want to go for a short walk with me?”

My dongsaeng nodded quickly, cheeks pinking a little. I rolled my eyes in playful disgust.

“You two be safe, hm? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” I called, turning to make my way back into the house. They didn’t respond, already whispering and giggling to each other as they walked, hand-in-hand, down the street.

I had to admit it. They were quite cute together. And it made me glad. I smiled involuntarily as I walked back inside.

And almost ran headlong into my mother.

She was carrying the laundry basket, and still hadn’t seemed to forgive me for the dinner fiasco. On seeing my broad smile, she frowned and snorted.

“Mm. Finely happy now, huh?” she said sarcastically.

I immediately dropped my smile and remembered to feel bad about my poor behavior. Omma shook her head in slight disappointment.

“Oh. Choa. By the way, don’t make any plans for next Wednesday night. We’re having company.”

I frowned. “Company?” We never entertained.

Omma shot me a look. “Did I stutter??”

“Aniyo.”

“Then do as I say. And this time, I expect you to be on your best behavior,” she said curtly, before she disappeared down the hallway.

“Neh…” I called after her, still thinking.

It couldn’t possibly be Sunggyu and Woohyun. Otherwise, Woohyun would have made mention of it tonight.

Right?

Thinking about Sunggyu coming back into my house for dinner sent a very weird shiver down my spine. I somehow felt a wild cacophony of emotions, none of which I could properly identify. Would Sunggyu really come back?, I wondered. Then, I pushed the thought out of mind and headed up to bed.

*******

Another predictable day at work came and went. I checked my wristwatch. Five o’clock on the button. Time to leave.

I packed up my things as Sungjong prattled on about his after-work plans. I vaguely heard him say something to the effect of “Noona, you should come out with me sometime. You can’t live life in a bubble, you know!” To that, I think I nodded in mock-earnest agreement, though in my mind, I was mentally running through the list of grocery items that I could justifiably go to the market for. Other than that stupid frog pen that I had yet to buy.

“Alright Sungjong, gotta go. See you tomorrow!” I said with exaggerated cheer.

“Neh…” he responded.

I briskly took my leave, tracing my way back to the main hall. When I passed the boss’s office, I threw him a small wave.

“Good work today, Choa!” Myungsoo said as he yanked at the knot of his tie, trying to loosening it. He shot me a cool smirk, and I remembered how lucky I was to have a nice and laid-back supervisor. Not to mention, good-looking too.

“Thanks, boss. You too!” I called.

When I turned the corner, I saw the elevator doors just beginning to close.

“Hold the elevator!” I called, running towards it.

A hand shot out just in time, and as the doors drew open, I came face to face with the new guy. For some reason, the sight of him caught me completely off-guard, so for a moment, I halted, standing in the hallway and staring at him with a confused look. I can’t explain it, but for some reason, I started thinking that this moment felt… weirdly predictable. Like the beginning of a cheesy TV-movie romance.

The feeling nagged uncomfortably at me. Though I don’t know why.

“You… uh… coming in?” he finally asked. I realized what I was doing, and immediately gave a small bow and jumped in the elevator.

“Sorry about that, I was just… hm…” I trailed off, not really knowing what to say. I met his eye, wondering if he thought I was weird, but instead of judging me, I saw that he was smiling.

I smiled back, and gave a small chuckle. “Hey, aren’t you the new guy?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“What was your name again?”

“Howon,” he said, reaching out.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Choa,” I said, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, too,” he said.

Then, we both took a deep breath, and suddenly, that dreadfully awkward silence unique to elevators came in full force. I tried to find something interesting to point out, anything, but everything from the elevator music to the wallpaper to the clothes I was wearing was boring and incredibly mundane. I began to panic for a topic, and in doing so, the awkwardness around us only seemed to magnify.

Think, Choa. Think!!, I screamed at myself. That nagging feeling only worsened. I decided to just take the plunge.

“So anyways--”

“Uh so--”

We tried talking at the same time, and then both stopped abruptly. He gave me a look that read Go-ahead.-You-first and I shook my head and replied with a look that said No-you-go-first. We went back and forth for a moment, until finally, our mutual ridiculous broke the awkwardness and we both chuckled out loud. I peered at him once more, and he met my eye and grinned.

“I really don’t like small talk,” he said with an apologetic shrug.

“Me too,” I agreed. “…Though, what should we talk about then?”

“Hmm… work?”

“I thought you said you didn’t like small talk,” I said with a playful roll of the eyes.

He pouted a little in thought. I watched with interest, and then decided to joke with him.

“We’re already down to the fourth floor…”

“…”

“Three… no, two more floors to go…”

“…”

“Time’s running out, Howon--”

“Do you like Chinese food?” he finally said. When the words were out of his mouth, his eyes popped open, as if even he was surprised by them.

I cocked my head, taken aback. “Do I like… Chinese food?” I repeated, stretching out each word. I chuckled involuntarily—it was such a weird question! But the look on his face was suddenly so full of seriousness that I quickly brought my hand to my mouth to stop myself.

“…Howon. Out of all things, that’s what you want to talk about?”

“Y…yeah. Yeah, I guess so.”

I tried to wrap my head around it, frowning in thought.

“Well? Do you?” he asked.

“Uh… sure?”

“Good,” he said, breaking out into his broad smile. “There’s a restaurant across the street that I want to try. Let’s go.”

“Mwo?? What… now??”

“Of course. Why not?”

“I just… I have to…There are things that I need to…” Then, I stopped myself.

What was I really doing tonight? What was I really doing right now? I thought for a moment, and had my answer. Nothing. I had absolutely nothing planned. Except to pick up some stupid frog pen at the market.

I looked at him once more to check if he was really serious. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for my response, and there wasn’t a single hint of jest in his expression.

“Um… okay,” I finally eked out.

And at that, he broke into a beaming grin, but only for a moment. We reached the ground floor and the elevator doors drew open, and he led the way out with a determined bounce in his step.

--

This is a good weekend. I'm feeling the storyline, so here is a double-update. Enjoy!!