Woohyun’s job didn’t exactly challenge his mental faculties; it didn’t take much brain power to manage a corporate twitter account. He started to grow bored with it, and so he took up a bad habit. He began to read books while on the job, all from various genres. It began with comic books during his lunch breaks, but he even started to grow bored with those. He then turned to the classics and even non-fiction works, even a book about everyday physics. It figured; the moment Woohyun left school, he wanted to learn. Now he had just finished a book about cognition and the psychology behind dreams, which wasn’t as interesting as he thought it would be. There were a lot of stats involved. Maeri would’ve liked it. He needed to read something a bit lighter, which lead him to the crime section of the local library. He needed a thrill, some excitement to liven up his dull work day. Lately the only “thrill” he’s gotten at work was Sungyeol and his anecdotes about his wife’s ongoing pregnancy (but it was more like horror stories than thiller). It wasn’t enough.

“What was his name again?” Woohyun muttered under his breath as he touched the spines of the books on the shelves. He had read of a bestselling crime series online, but he already forgotten who wrote it. It’s  S…something, which only narrows it do to…this entire shelf.

“Are you looking for something?” a soft voice asked, coming from his side. He turned his head and was face-to-face with a woman around his own age, smiling sweetly, awaiting a response from him.

“Uh yea,” he started. “Do you know of that recent bestseller? His name begins with an S, but after that…I’m lost,” he admitted with a chuckle.

The woman put a finger to her lips and pouted in thought for a few seconds. “I think,” she said, scrunching her nose. “This is it,” grabbing a book from off the shelf. She handed it over to Woohyun with both hands.

Woohyun inspected the back for a few seconds. Then he looked up at her with an inquisitive expression. “Are you sure this is the first one? And not this one?” he asked, pulling down another book by the same author.

Her eyes widened for a second, but then returned their smiling state. She quickly grabbed the book that Woohyun had just pulled down from his hands. “This isn’t it,” she said emphatically. “This,” she said, showing Woohyun the cover of the book for a split second before bringing it to her lap. “This is the prequel. It doesn’t make any sense, unless you read the rest of the series.”

Although she was smiling brightly, the woman seemed flustered and was acting very suspiciously. Woohyun raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure?” he asked skeptically.

“100%,” she said, nodding emphatically. “I should know. I read the entire series, except for this one.”

“Then how do you know I won’t get it unless I read the others?” Woohyun inquired with a chuckle. The woman began to avoid his gaze.

“Aaah…I heard it from a friend,” she answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “Anyway, I’m going to check this book out. Have a nice day,” she bid him as she quickly shuffled out of the aisle.

Woohyun watched the scurrying woman with a curious smile on his face. She’s…peculiar. He then turned his attention to the description of the book on its back cover. “The sequel to the bestselling…” he read out loud. “Wait, the sequel?!” He frantically began to search the shelves for the first book in the series, but it wasn’t there. In fact, the only book that was missing from the series was the one the woman had taken away. He could put the two and two together. “Yah!” Woohyun shouted after her. He looked around the shelves, but she was nowhere to be found. “Aish!” he cursed out loud. “That woman tricked me. No wonder why she was acting so weird,” he muttered under his breath.

He put the sequel back on the shelf and walked over to the check-out desk. If he couldn’t get the book, the least he could do (to make his trip to the library worth it) was to get on the waiting list for it, and patiently wait for the book-stealer to finish it. Hopefully she read as fast as she could run. Woohyun still couldn’t find her anywhere, and he only let her out of his sight for a few seconds.

He reached the desk, and no one was there. Great, nothing’s going my way. He rang the bell on the desk a few times, impatiently.  Where is this lady? Or man. Librarians can be men too. I’m an equal librarian-opportunist.

“Just a moment please,” he heard a slightly familiar voice call from the back room. No, it can’t be. But it was. Woohyun’s book-stealer emerged from the room and approached the desk, her eyes fixated on the said book. Woohyun snorted. The sudden noise caused the librarian to snap her head up, staring face to face with Woohyun once again. Her jaw dropped, and she grew pale. He’d caught up with her.

He smiled widely. “I got you,” he said.  Then he began to reach over the desk for the book in her hand. “I’ll just take this, and be on my way.” But the librarian hid the book away from him behind her back. She looked at him with eyes challenging him to “take it if you dare.”

“I already checked this out! It’s mine!” she defended adamantly. “I waited a month to read this book. A whole month! And when it was finally returned, stupid Yoomi put it back on the shelves. I told her several times to set it aside for me, but she said that she couldn’t show me preferential treatment, or something.” Then she realized that she was ranting. Woohyun was watching her slightly confused, but mostly amused. She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I just had to have it.”

“Doesn’t it go against your librarian code of ethics to steal books from your patrons?” Woohyun joked, resting his forearms on the desk as he leaned on it.

“I didn’t start my shift yet sooo…” she said, taking a step closer.

Woohyun laughed. “You’re possibly the worst librarian ever,” he joked.

She put her hands on her hips and huffed. “I have a life besides this job. What do you always act like an…” she looked him up and down, analyzing him. “like an accountant?”

“I look like an accountant?!” Woohyun asked, pouting.

The librarian shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just a guess,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze again. “So ummm…I guess I can tell you when I’m finished with it, if you give me your information. I mean, your library card,” she clarified.

“But I thought you weren’t supposed to show preferential treatment?” he asked.

She looked up at him again. “Like you said, I’m a bad librarian,” she said with a wink.

Woohyun knew that she probably didn’t mean for it to sound so dirty, but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering down that erted path of naughty librarians. He was about to say something in response, but he could hear someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned around and was confronted with a long line of patrons, impatiently waiting to check out their books. Woohyun gave them an apologetic look, and then turned back to the librarian, handing her his card. “Yea, that would be great.”

She took his card and swiped it. As she handed it back she said, “Here you go! Hope to see you soon!”

“Noona, how were you and Woohyun able to move in so quickly into that apartment?” Sungjong asked as he was helping Maeri to organize the items in the back room. They were getting ready for an auction happening the next week.

“Isn’t that a little personal?” Maeri asked, counting the number of portraits, making sure one hadn’t gone mysteriously missing.

“Don’t I have 10 questions left?” he retorted, leaning on one of the several tables.

Maeri lost count of the portraits. “Uh…you remember. I was kind of hoping that you would’ve forgotten,” she replied with a nervous laugh. She then sighed and answered,  “Our parents had it ready for us whenever we got engaged. They even furnished it and everything.”

Sungjong put a finger to his lips and nodded, “Hmmm. That explains the weird  decor.”

Right, he had commented about that at the party, then after that…what happened to him? Maeri wrinkled her nose. She faced the boy and asked, “By the way, what happened to you at our party? You completely disappeared!”

Sungjong stood up straight and crossed his arms, frowning. “ Sora-ssi caught up to me and dragged me to get drinks with her and some of your other friends. They were…interesting,” he said while shaking his head, wanting to forget that night. Maeri let out another peal of nervous laughter. She knew how bad her friends could get, especially Sora, especially around younger, attractive men. They are going to be cougars, I swear.  She was about to apologize, but he caught her off, “But Hoya-hyung got roped into it too, so it wasn’t that bad.”

“Hoya-hyung?” she asked raising an eyebrow. She vaguely remembered that she had introduced the both of them, but they hadn’t said anything besides polite introductions.

Sungjong nodded, finally smiling again. “Yea, we got pretty close. Did you know that his real name isn’t Hoya? It’s Howon,” he stated that fun fact and turned to Maeri, who shook her head with slightly open. How does this kid know more about my friends than I do? Well, I guess technically Hoya is Woohyun’s friend, but friend by association? Sungjong shook his head in disappointment and patted Maeri on her shoulder. “Seriously, Noona, do you even know your own friends?” he asked sympathetically. Then an idea jumped into his head, and he suddenly clapped his hands. “Oh, that reminds me. I saw Sungkyu-hyung at your party.”

“Sungkyu-hyung?” Maeri asked skeptically.  “Did you make friends with everybody?”

Sungjong smiled more brightly and put a hand to his chest. “I’m a very friendly person, Noona,” he declared. Then, a crease formed between his eyebrows, and his eyes were lost in confusion.  “But about Sungkyu-hyung, why was he there?”

“He’s Dongwoo’s new roommate, who was Woohyun’s old roommate, who is now my fiancée. So I guess that makes him….” Maeri began, but she didn’t know quite how to finish. Sungkyu was no longer her client, and he was a friend of a friend.  Is there even a word for that? “My new friend?” she concluded with a shrug.

Sungjong pursed his lips in thought. “Hm…interesting,” he spoke out loud.

“What do you mean?” she scoffed.

“I wasn’t the only one making new friends,” he plainly stated.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing, just stating a fact.”

Maeri flipped her hair dramatically and said in her best vocal imitation of Sungjong, “I’m a very friendly person, Sungjong-ah.”  She then put up 8 fingers.  “8 questions left,” she told him before taking her leave.

Maeri and Woohyun finally understood why people were reluctant to go on couple dates with Sungyeol and Soyeon. They were a little…intense. Both of them were so eager to get acquainted with their new friends that their friendly double date was starting to resemble an inquisition. Maeri was regretting wearing a long-sleeved dress. Their constant questioning was starting to make her sweat, like a criminal in the hot seat. Even Woohyun, who normally kept cool in situations like this, started move around nervously. He was drumming on Maeri’s thigh under the table, who was patiently enduring his nervous jitters.

“What are you guys going to eat?”  “How did you guys meet?” Sungyeol and his wife asked at the same exact time.

“Oh, I like her question better. Answer hers,” Sungyeol demanded, pointing at Soyeon.

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck. “What was the question again?” he asked. He didn’t hear it because although Sungyeol had a naturally loud voice, Soyeon could match him, decibel for decibel.

“How did you guys meet?” Soyeon happily repeated. Her and her husband were looking the other couple expectantly.

“The first day of high school,” Maeri answered quickly.

“Aw! Come on,” Sungyeol scoffed.  “There’s got to be more to it than that.”

“Well,” Woohyun began, casting a quick glance towards Maeri before proceeding.  “We lived right across the street from each other. We stepped outside at the same time. I noticed that we were wearing uniforms from the same school so I suggested that we walk to school together.”

Soyeon clapped her hands then put them up to her cheeks. “It sounds like a scene from a movie,” she cooed.

“And it would’ve been,” Woohyun said with a laugh, pointing at his fiancée.  “If Maeri hadn’t broken out into a sprint right after I asked her.”

Maeri hung her head and explained herself, “I thought that he was ert or something. My dad had just given me a big speech that morning about the dangers of teenage boys because it was my first time at a co-ed school.”

“I was wearing the same uniform!” Woohyun exclaimed.

Maeri faced him and shouted right back, “I wasn’t thinking straight! I’m not good in the morning.”

“Yea, I know that now,” he responded, putting his arms around her shoulders. Maeri leaned into him a little. Woohyun then mouthed to his coworker, “bad morning breath.” Sungyeol broke out into a peal of laughter, and Maeri hit Woohyun in the thigh and shot him a nasty glare. Woohyun yelped a little, knowing full well that he probably deserved it.

Sungyeol watched them, being thoroughly entertained by their relationship. “So did you guys date in high school?” he asked.

“No,” Woohyun and Maeri were both too quick to respond.

Soyeon raised her eyebrow, confused. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure,” Woohyun sputtered. There was more than one reason, he was sure, but he didn’t exactly know how to express them.

The vague answer seemed to satisfy the inquisitive couple, for only a second. “So when did you start dating?” Sungyeol asked.

“Uh, recently,” Woohyun replied. Like two weeks ago.

“When’s the wedding date?” Soyeon asked, directing her question towards Maeri, whose lips were tightly closed. She had decided to let Woohyun take care of the answers, but Soyeon wouldn’t let her off that easily.

“We haven’t set it yet,” Maeri answered sheepishly.

“Are we invited?” Sungyeol asked desperately. All of the sudden doubt had entered within his mind.

Keep this up and you might not be. “Of course,” Woohyun answered with the most genuine smile he could muster to mask his inner thoughts.

“How many kids do you want?“ Sungyeol’s new attack had taken them both by surprise. At that time, Maeri had taken a sip from her glass of wine, and she inhaled it down her wind-pipe when she heard the question. She immediately started choking.

Woohyun patted her on the back gently and waved to the married couple, telling them that she was okay. “Uh…” he tried to answer, but he had no words. He really wanted kids, three of them, but he hadn’t even approached the subject with Maeri. All that he knew about Maeri and babies was that she thought that newborns looked like aliens. She had said that about his niece, who Woohyun thought looked like a ray of sunshine in human form.

Soyeon quickly came to their rescue. “Hubby, they probably haven’t thought about it yet. They just got engaged,” she defended them, patting Sungyeol gently on his chest.  Then she turned towards Woohyun and Maeri, who recently stopped coughing. “So do you know what you’re going to name your kids?” That question is even worse, Woohyun thought.

“What?” Maeri muttered. Woohyun slowly took the wine glass from her hand. If they were going to keep asking questions like this, he didn’t want Maeri to go into another coughing fit. After all, they were in a fancy restaurant. Coughing up a lung was frowned upon in places like this.

“Sorry,” Soyeon immediately apologized with a laugh. “We have babies on the brain, and having a hard time finding a good name,” she finished, staring lovingly at Sungyeol, who nodded in agreement.

“How about Woohyun?” Woohyun proposed with a chuckle.

“He’s funny. Isn’t he funny, Maeri?” Sungyeol said, laughing along with his friend.

“Uh, yea,” Maeri answered, smiling at her friend.

Soyeon opened , about to ask another question, but a waiter had approached their table. “Are you ready to order, sir?” the waiter asked Sungyeol, who was the closest to him.

“Haha I haven’t even looked at the menu yet. Can you give us a minute?” he asked with a nervous laugh. The waiter acquiesced and left to serve another table. Sungyeol then turned to the rest.  “Sorry about all the questions,” he apologized. “We should probably pick out what we should eat now.” They all then turned their attention to their menus. Silence finally overtaking them, there was an end to the questioning…for only a moment.

As the evening wore on, miraculously Sungyeol and Soyeon did seem to exhaust their bank of questions. Maeri felt like she could finally breathe, and Woohyun was just happy that he could finally speak now. In fact, he had just finished telling them a story about him and Maeri from their college years as the four of them were walking back to their cars.

“I’ve never seen her so drunk before,” he told them, trying hard to hold back laughter. The rest of the group had succumbed to it, while he was telling the funny story. “She even threw up on the cop’s shoes! She’s lucky that I was there to talk the cops out of pressing charges.”

“And to drag me back home,” Maeri admitted, hanging her head in embarrassment.

Woohyun nudged her playfully. “You were much lighter back then,” he joked.

 Maeri shoved him back and glared. “You were a lot nicer back then,” she retorted.

“Hehe you guys already fight like an old married couple,” Sungyeol giggled. Woohyun had to agree.

“It’s getting cold,” Soyeon suddenly confessed. She shivered and pulled her coat closer to her body.

“Come closer. I’ll warm you up,” Sungyeol said quickly pulling her into a hug and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, warming her. Maeri watched them with a smile. Sungyeol then turned his attention from him wife and stared curiously at the other couple. “Woohyun-ah, why are you standing so far away from Maeri? You guys are a couple, right?” he joked.

Woohyun hadn’t even noticed, but he and Maeri were standing 5 feet apart from each other, with both of their hands in their pockets, both shivering in the crisp night air. Woohyun laughed. Some habits died hard. He had a hard time remembering that he could increase his level of skinship with her beyond the level of friends. He suddenly pulled her into a hug too, mimicking what Sungyeol had just done. “Of course we are. See!” Woohyun argued as he pecked his fiancée on  her cold cheek, earning a quiet gasp from her.

Soyeon giggled at the sight. “Hehe, Maeri, you’re blushing,” she said poking her new friend in the cheek.

“I’m just still not used to him acting like this,” Maeri confessed, burying her cheeks in Woohyun’s coat.

“Aigoo! You guys act like you haven’t kissed yet,” Sungyeol teased. “You have kissed, right? On the lips?” He ended pursing his lips and making kissing noises. Soyeon hit him playfully, giggling.

Woohyun and Maeri exchanged nervous glances. “Of course! What kind of weirdos get engaged without kissing first?” Woohyun argued, his voice being louder than usual. Then he gently shook Maeri. “Maeri’s just shy,” he said, placing the blame on her.

Maeri excepted it willingly. “Yep, very shy,” she admitted.

“You guys are cute. I’m so glad that we’re friends,” Soyeon happily said, yawning at the end. She looked at her husband with sleepy eyes, her head slowly resting on his shoulders. “Yeol-ah, what time…is…it?” she spoke before she closed her eyes.

Later that evening, Maeri and Woohyun were laying in their bed. Maeri was flipping through a tabloid, wearing her old glasses from high school, which were round with thick purple frames. They made her look like a violet owl. Woohyun was watching the news, barely paying attention. His mind was occupied with another thought. He looked over to his fiancée and tugged the sleeve of her pajama top. “Honey, give me a kiss!” he cutely begged. Maeri quickly pecked him on the cheek, smiled, and returned back to her magazine. Woohyun pouted. It wasn’t what he wanted. “No! A real one on the lips,” he clarified, pointing to his pouting lips.

Maeri put her magazine on the nightstand and stared at Woohyun curiously. “Is this because of what Sungyeol said?” she asked. Woohyun turned away, slightly embarrassed that she could analyze what was bothering him. She laughed. “We have kissed before. We weren’t lying.”

“Yea, but that was in high school,” Woohyun muttered. It was weird that they hadn’t actually kissed yet since they’ve been engaged (besides the occasional pecks on the cheek). It was like he kept forgetting the steps in between, but speeding towards the end goal. What was wrong with them?

“I guess it has been a while,” she admitted, chewing on her lower lip.

“Do you not want to kiss me now?” Woohyun pouted, trying to goad her. “Do you not find me attractive anymore?”

Maeri faced him, her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose. She smiled coyly. “You’re hot stuff, sweetie, and you know it,” she said, ending with a growl.

“Prove it,” Woohyun dared, moving closer to her.

“Okay,” she quietly responded. Maeri slowly started to lean in, closing the distance between their lips, centimeter by centimeter. Woohyun kept his eyes opened, curious if his shy friend would actually see it to the end. She closed her eyes tightly and puckered her lips slightly, her glasses almost completely fallen off her nose. She looked so…nerdy, like a geek in a drama before the stereotypical makeover. Woohyun couldn’t help but to snort at the sight, sending a puff of air from his nose to assault Maeri’s face. She immediately pulled back and grimaced.

“You have toothpaste right there,” Woohyun used as an excuse for his actions. He wiped the crusty toothpaste from the corner of . He was lucky that Maeri was so messy. She probably wouldn’t have liked hearing that he thought she looked unattractive.

“You do too!” Maeri yelled, shoving him away and wiping the toothpaste remnants herself. Woohyun looked at his reflection in the mirror by their bed. She was right; he had some crusty white foam on his chin. He quickly and roughly rubbed it off. After it was gone, he decided to give it another try, and he leaned closer to Maeri who was still frowning. Once she noticed what he was doing, she pushed him away again. “Nope! Moment’s ruined. No kiss for you!” she exclaimed gruffly, sinking down into the pillows, turning away from him.

“But Hoooooooney,” he began to whine, tugging on her shirt again. To his surprise, Maeri quickly faced him and pecked him on the cheek.

“Dongwoo-ah!” Woohyun yelled as he was knocking loudly on his old apartment door. Then the door opened, revealing a confused looking Sungkyu. “Oh, it’s you, Gyu-ah,” Woohyun answered, barely being able to hide his disappointment.  “Is Dongwoo home?”

“Hey! Is that Woohyun?” Dongwoo asked before appearing by his roommate’s side.

Sungkyu turned to him. “Did you invite him?” he asked quietly.

“Yea, he’s going to watch the game with us. I told you about it earlier,” Dongwoo explained. “Come on in,” he commanded, pulling Woohyun by the arm and dragging him into the apartment.

“I must’ve forgotten,” Sungkyu muttered under his breath as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Woohyun looked around his old apartment. It had already started to look different and unfamiliar, and he hadn’t be absent from it for more than a month. Sungkyu already was making his mark. Woohyun felt his heart drop a little. It used to be his home. Then something displayed prominently in the middle of the room caught his eye. “Whoa! It’s Lil Woohyun! You’re still alive!” he exclaimed as he ran towards the parting fish he gave Dongwoo. He tapped the glass bowl, watching the fish swim speeding around.

“Of course he is. We take good care of him,” Dongwoo responded with a chuckle.

“We?” he asked, turning to the roommates. “Sungkyu does too?”

“Yea, I feed him sometimes,” Sungkyu answered, coming over to the fish bowl and waved to the red fish. “And he’s kinda cute.”

Woohyun looked at him and smiled. “Of course, he takes after me,” he said sarcastically, but Sungkyu looked at him in such a way that Woohyun didn’t know if he caught his facetiousness.

“Do you want something to drink?” Dongwoo called as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Yes,” Woohyun and Sungkyu answered at the same time. They looked at each other and let out an awkard laugh.

“What would you like?” Dongwoo asked, digging through the fridge.

“Beer please,” the two spoke in unison again. This time they exchanged a glare.

“Hahaha. You guys are funny,” Dongwoo said, trying to alleviate the tension. He walked back with three beers; he handed two of them to his friends. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” they said together for the third time as they grabbed for the beers.

“Stop it!” Sungkyu demanded as he took the beer and walked towards the couch.

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” Woohyun muttered, narrowing his eyes on Sungkyu’s back. He imagined his head spontaneously exploding.

“Come on, guys. Let’s sit down,” Dongwoo said with a nervous laugh. He knew that the two were awkward together, but he didn’t know it was this bad. “The game’s about to start,” he mentioned, ushering Woohyun over towards the couch.

It took them a while for the three of them to organize their seating arrangement. Dongwoo had sat on one end of the couch, and Woohyun and Sungkyu were both wanting to sit by him, refusing to sit next to each other. Dongwoo finally noticed this awkward struggle and scooted towards the middle of the couch, putting the matter to rest. Then a overwhelming silence overcame the three of them.

“This is nice,” Dongwoo said, breaking the heavy silence. “Us three. Hanging out. My old best friend and my new best friend,” he ended, putting his arms around the both of them.

“Old best friend?” Sungkyu asked, with hurt eyes.

“You know what I mean,” Dongwoo began, moving his hands around excessively because he was growing nervous. “Like childhood friend. Gyu, you’re still my best friend.”

“Then what about me?” Woohyun argued, his eyes looking even sadder.

“You too, Woohyun,” Dongwoo responded comfortingly. Then he broke into a nervous fit of giggles. “Guys, you can have more than one best friend. Stop acting weird.”

“I’m not acting weird,” the both of them shouted in unison.

Sungkyu hung his head and scoffed, “Maybe we are.”

“Yea,” Woohyun admitted, biting his lower lip. Then the three of them all started to drink from their beers at the same time, and they wordlessly watched the game.

After a half an hour, Woohyun couldn’t take it anymore. He becoming aggravated with one player on the team, and the player just messed up again for the umpteenth time. “Oh come on! He should passed it off when he had the chance,” Woohyun yelled at the screen, slamming his empty beer can on the table.

“Yea number 6 was wide open down the line,” Sungkyu commented pointing at the open player while they were watching the replay.

“The guy is selfish,” Woohyun scoffed. “He only cares about his stats.”

Sungkyu laughed. “Which even aren’t that good,” he complained.

“Yea, the day he wins MVP is the day my mom wins Miss Korea,” Woohyun joked. Dongwoo leaned back and happily watched these two friendly interact. He hadn’t seen them this in sync (well besides the whole speaking like they had telepathy) since they sang at noraebang. Maybe this little friendship he made would actually work out like he wanted. Woohyun then gestured towards Dongwoo, still facing Sungkyu. “Dongwoo actually likes this player,” he stated.

Sungkyu  turned to his childhood friend. “What? You’re blind!” he exclaimed. Great. Now the both of them were teaming up against Dongwoo. Maybe his plan was working too well.

“What? I think that he has a lot of potential,” Dongwoo defended himself, being a fan of the player since his rookie year. Sungkyu was about to speak, but his voice was cut off by a loud knock at the door. “Who is it?” Dongwoo asked, not remembering he had invited anyone else.

“I don’t know,” Sungkyu admitted as he got up from the couch. He walked over to the door and looked through the spyhole. “Oh it’s Hoya! I forgot that I invited him,” he said to the other two. Then he opened the door and welcomed in the newcomer. “Come on in!”

“Oh, Woohyun-ah!” Hoya exclaimed, not expecting his work-out buddy to be there. Woohyun himself didn’t expect to see him either. “What are you doing here?”

“I used to live here with Dongwoo,” Woohyun responded, pointing to his old roommate who waved to Hoya. “How do you know Sungkyu?”

“We teach at the same school,” Hoya answered, gesturing between Sungkyu and himself.

Sungkyu walked up by his side. “Hoya, have you met Dongwoo?”

“No. I don’t think we have,” Hoya replied, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

“Aish! That punk is doing it again, hogging the ball,” Woohyun interrupted, pointing at the screen. The player had just missed another goal.

“What a jerk!” Sungkyu scoffed.

“Come on, the shot almost went in,” Dongwoo tried to defend his favorite player.

“And he had a better angle on the goal that the other guy,” Hoya said, agreeing with Dongwoo.

Dongwoo faced the newcomer and smiled. “Hoya, I like you. You can sit next to me,” he said pushing Woohyun off of the couch, making room for his new friend. Hoya gladly sat next to him. Dongwoo then glared at the other two. “You guys can sit together. Haters,” he demanded.

“Rude,” Woohyun mumbled as he sat next to Sungkyu.

“Maeri-ah!” Sora yelled as she ran into the back room. Maeri was busy doing inventory. Debah had put her in charge while she tried to establish another shop in the next town over. Sora was practically panting in excitement. “Stop whatever you’re doing, and come check this guy out!” she demanded.

Maeri rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look up from the computer screen to see her coworker slobbering over yet another customer. “Sora-ah, I already told you. I’m engaged. And you’re married,” she said, trying to brush her off.

“I’m separated! Practically divorced,” Sora defended herself, stamping her foot for emphasis. “Plus it doesn’t matter. Even women happily married for 50 years can still appreciate a very, very attractive man.” She walked over to Maeri who still hadn’t given into her goading. Sora shook her friend by her shoulder. “Gah! You can stop for like two seconds. It’s not like we’re all going to die, if you don’t finish inventory right away.”

“I might die,” Maeri joked, shrugging Sora off.

“So dramatic,” her friend responded, crossing her arms.

Then Sungjong joined them in the backroom, sticking his head through the threshold. “Noona! The hot guy is looking for you,” he stated. Did he just call the guy 'hot'? Maeri wrinkled her nose, wondering how much of that was Sora’s corrupting influence.

“Me?” Sora asked expectantly.

Sungjong shook his head and pointed to the woman behind the computer. “No, Maeri noona. She’s the manager. He’s looking for the person in charge,” he explained.

Maeri finally gave in and stood up, peeling herself away from the computer. “Well, okay. Now I guess that I have no choice but to check out the hot guy,” she said with a smirk. Then she left the backroom to deal with the rumored to be attractive costumer.

Sora turned to Sungjong. “Did he say anything about me?” she asked.

“Yea, he asked if the drooling lady was okay,” he answered before following Maeri.

Sora immediately wiped and inspected her hand. “I’m not drooling,” she stated showing Sungjong’s back her dry hand. Then a smile crept on her face, having found the silver lining. “Wait. He asked if I was okay?!” she happily exclaimed.

Maeri walked up to the desk, where the “hot” guy’s back was leaning against it. Well, he’s tall. I’ll give him that. She put on her professional smile (which involved a lot less gums and teeth than her regular one) and spoke, “Hello. How can I help you today, sir?”  Then the man turned around, and Maeri felt as if she was transported back into high school. “Myung…Myungsoo-ah?!” she exclaimed in shock.

“Maeri-ah! You work here?” Myungsoo replied, his mouth hanging slightly wider also being surprised. Man, he looks the exact same. No…he looks better. Damn! He just looks good. Maeri and Myungsoo had gone to high school together (with Woohyun too). She had a massive crush on him in their last year.

“Yep.” Maeri laughed nervously. Then she tried to regain her composure and not to revert into her silly, hormonal teenage self. “So what brings you here?” she asked coolly.

Myungsoo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I saw online that you had a vintage camera  going up for auction. I was wondering if I could see it beforehand,” he said, ending with a laugh.

“I’ll go check,” Sora volunteered, eager to interact with Myungsoo again. She disappeared into the back room. Then Maeri noticed Sungjong watching, while trying to hide in the doorway. Once he caught Maeri staring at him, he quickly slinked around the corner. He’s acting weird.

Maeri shook her head at her two bizarre coworkers and turned her attention back to her old classmate. “So you’re interested in a camera?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered enthusiastically. “I’m a photographer.”

Maeri laughed. “Actually, I’m not surprised. You always had a camera glued to your hand during high school,” she explained. Back in school, he was on the yearbook and newspaper staff, being the official photographer for each. In fact, that was how they met. He was taking pictures of her soccer team. Eventually she gathered the courage to talk to him, and they became friends. Well, whatever we were.

“I did?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. “I just like it,” he admitted hanging his head to hide his embarrassment.

Maeri propped her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands. “It’s good to do what you like. I’m happy for you,” she confessed.

Myungsoo rested his arms on the desk too and leaned in closer. It reminded Maeri of their interactions in high school. “What about you? Do you like doing this?” he asked.

“Hm,” she thought for a while, looking down at the desk. “Yea,” she finally admitted. “It’s a little dusty and lame, but I enjoy it.”

Myungsoo scrunched his nose. “Lame? Who thinks it’s lame?” he asked.

“Woohyun,” she answered, rolling her eyes. He always and her love for “rotting” furniture. “Do you remember him?”

“Nam Woohyun?” he asked. Maeri nodded. He smiled broadly. “Of course. You…you guys still talk?”

Maeri put up her hand, showing off her ring. “Well, we’re engaged,” she admitted.

Myungsoo unexpectedly grabbed her hand and inspected her ring, looking at it with wide eyes. Then he realized that he was acting weird and let go of it. “Oh, congrats,” he said with a sniff, trying to be cool.

“What?” Maeri asked with a laugh. She had never been able to understand his 4-D personality. Him staring at her ring was just par for the Myungsoo course.

“It shouldn’t be surprising given how close you two were, but it’s just that you guys seemed more like siblings in high school,” he admitted. “I never thought you two would get together. I didn’t think he was your type.”

“Really?” Maeri said raising her eyebrows.  “Who’s my type then?”

He looked around awkwardly. “…Me.” He responded with a laugh.

“Hehe yea,” Maeri giggled looking down at the desk again. “I forgot about that.” Lies! But just play it cool. Don’t let him see you sweat. Don’t be that teenage girl again!

Myungsoo looked down at the desk too. “Yea, high school...” he mused, his voice drifting off into the open air.

“I found it!” Sora proclaimed, rushing back with the camera in her hands. “Here it is, Myungsoo-ssi. Is there anything else I can do for you?” she looked at him expectantly, batting her eyes. Way to play it cool. Wait. Did she her blouse? Sora!

“No, I’m good,” he answered, paying attention to only the camera, carefully inspecting it from every angle. “When’s the auction?”

“Next week,” Sora quickly answered, cutting off Maeri. Maeri glared at her coworker for being desperate. Sora shrugged, not having any shame.

Myungsoo handed back the camera to Maeri and smiled. “Okay. Then, I’ll see this and you at the auction,” he said and turned around to leave. But then, he remembered something and turned back around. He pulled something from his coat pocket and handed it to Maeri. “Here’s my card, if you need a photographer for your wedding. Congrats again. Tell Woohyun that I said hello,” he added and waved goodbye.

“Will do! Bye bye!” Maeri called after him as he left. Man, that was a trip down memory lane, she said as she inspected the card, which Sora immediately tore from her hands and ran off into the back room.

But before she could chase after her (she could really use a photographer for the engagement photos at least), Sungjong came out of his hiding spot and looked at her curiously. “Noona, you know him?” he asked.

“Yea,” Maeri admitted, maneuvering herself around him, walking into the backroom. “I had the biggest crush on him in high school. He was almost my first kiss,” she admitted. Then she quickly bit her lip, letting more slip out then she intended.

“Almost?”

That evening, Maeri and Woohyun fell into their normal nighttime routine. This time she was flipping through a fashion magazine as Woohyun was in the middle of a group chat on his cell phone. The news was still on,  but it was more just background noise. “I saw Myungsoo at work today,” she admitted as she turned the page.

“Really?” Woohyun responded, typing words into the phone and chuckling at his friend’s response.

“Uh huh. He’s a photographer now,” she spoke again.

“Really?” Woohyun answered, his attention still focused intently on the phone.

Maeri smirked and put down her magazine. “He looks just about the same. Still really ridiculously good-looking,” she said needling him.

“Really?” Same answer.

She turned to face him and crossed her arms. “He’s waaaay more handsome than you,” she joked, sticking out her tongue.

“Really?” Woohyun said, typing once again into the cellphone.

Maeri frowned. “I’m thinking about chopping off all of my hair and dying it green,” she said playing with the ends of her hair. She looked at Woohyun who was still texting, but there was a slight smile breaking on his face. He maybe was listening to her, but pretending not too.

“Really?”

Maeri had to resort to extreme measures. “I’m going to take a shower. Do you want to join?” she asked, pulling her collar to expose a bit of her skin.

“YES!” Woohyun exclaimed throwing down his phone and practically leaping from his spot.

Maeri threw her pillow at Woohyun who was now standing. “Now you listen, you ert!” she yelled.

He dodged the pillow effortlessly and popped back up. “Sooo…does the offer still stand?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Maeri grabbed his pillow and pummeled him. “NO!” she screamed.

“Yah!” he yelled back, smiling. He grabbed the pillow that she threw at him and jumped on the bed. He started to hit her back, standing while she was laying down in the fetal position. When he stopped for a moment. She quickly stood up and renewed her attack with her fluffy weapon. But Woohyun would not back down, easily parrying some of her blows and returning with some of his own. This pillow fight continued for a while. Both of them using the mattress’s springs to add force to their attacks. The mattress groaned under their jumping. The only sounds that could be heard was their grunting and the mattress squeaking.

Then they heard a strong thumping coming from below them. Their neighbors had had enough of their mischief and noise. “Yah! Yah! YAH! Keep it down….freakin’ newlyweds,” their neighbor below bellowed.

Maeri and Woohyun immediately stopped and collapsed onto the bed. Maeri looked at her friend with wide eyes. “Did he think that we were…” she started but wasn’t able to finish. Their neighbor had come to exact wrong conclusion, but who would expect an innocent pillow fight from a couple their age?

Woohyun looked at her and burst into laughter. A laughter that was so overwhelming that he gripped his sides and began to toss and turn onto the bed. Maeri joined him, rolling around, clutching the pillow to her chest. Eventually the laughter died down as they both developed cramps in their sides. Both were struggling to regain their breath. Woohyun looked over and saw Maeri laying there, slightly panting, smiling. Even in those glasses, those really hideous glasses, she looked pretty. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. She brushed his cheek with her hand, reciprocating his kiss. After a few second, Woohyun pulled away, and both of them smiled sweetly at each other. That was until Woohyun smacked her in the face with his pillow again.