12 ~ Two Kisses

Sujin had unknowingly dozed off into a light slumber as she snuggled into her cosy blankets. The soft clanging of pots and utensils coming from the kitchen had ceased to a gentle knock on her bedroom door. The sound caused her to shift a little in her sleep, and the person outside entered when he did not hear a reply.

The room was filled with the scent of the porridge wafting  from the bowl Youngjae balanced on a table tray in his hands. Carefully, he made his way over to the bed and placed the tray on the adjacent bedside table. A smile flitted across his face as he stared at her sleeping figure. She was adorable.

A mini debate was going off in his mind as to whether he should wake her up or let her sleep.

*She looks so peaceful right now. I shouldn't disturb her sleep.*

*But then the food will get cold if she doesn't eat it now.*

*I suppose I could just heat it up again later…*

*… buut, it's only good for you when you eat it freshly made.*

He let out a deep breath and shifted his attention back to her face, just as Sujin coincidentally opened her eyes. Needless to say, they were both startled.

*What is he doing in my room?!* Sujin screeched in her mind as she gaped at him with wide eyes.

Frantically, Younjae stabbed a finger in the direction of the steaming bowl. "T-t-t-this! I made it for you… it's finished!"

Sujin blinked as she let the memories flow back into her consciousness. *That's right, he came because I was sick.* Her eyes focused on the appetising bowl of food. It was vegetable porridge. She hadn't eaten since the night before and had to bite her lip to stop herself from drooling. She sat up in bed and was about to reach over to grab the tray when another blanket was wrapped around her shoulders.

"It's cold," Youngjae simply said before placing the tray on the bed. Not a second was wasted as she instantly  began gulping down mouthfuls in order to soothe her famished self. Youngjae had never felt happier to see someone eat, because 1, he had personally cooked the food, and 2, as corny as this may sound to others, she was someone special.

Youngjae was pleased as she swallowed the last mouthful with a smile on her face. "Hopefully that was to your liking," he laughed.

Sujin ducked her head a little in embarrassment of how ravenously she must have eaten in front of him, before nodding. "It was nice. Thank you."

Awkwardness filled the atmosphere yet again as silence crept between them.

Youngjae had no idea where he got the confidence from, but the next thing he knew, he had already blurted the question he had been dying to know the answer to since the moment they met again. He had asked her once before in an unsuccessful attempt, but now that their relationship had improved a fair bit, he thought the chances were better.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Sujin-ah?"

Sujin's heart jolted, as she had not been expecting those words. Staying silent, she avoided eye contact and turned her head slightly to the other side. Youngjae daringly reached out to hold her chin with one hand and turned her to face him, startling her yet again.

"Please stop avoiding me," he sincerely pleaded. "So why have you been running away from me?

"Do you really not know?"

She gathered together her nerves and looked him in the eyes. "Do you really not know the reason why?"

He stared back at her in genuine confusion.

*Seems like he doesn't* she thought. *But how could he not? They were HIS words, after all.*

She pushed his hand away from her face while maintaining eye contact. "If you don't know, then I don't want to talk about it."

And just like that, things turned sour between them all over again...

Or so she thought.

Youngjae caught her by surprise by getting up from his seat to lean towards her. He cupped her face in his hands as she lost her strength from their proximity to even push him away. He was glancing down at her with an expression which made the butterflies in her stomach flutter wildly.

"I'll wait. I'll wait until you feel comfortable enough to tell me all of your thoughts. I'll wait for you."

And with that, he pressed his lips to her forehead.

~~~

"You look a little different lately, son."

Daehyun glanced at his father weirdly as they walked inside the shopping mall.

"I agree with your father, Daehyun," his mother added with a chortle. "It's kind of like you're… glowing, with an unknown happiness about you."

She shot him 'that' look. "Did you get a girlfriend, Daehyunnie?"

Before he could even deny it, his father cut in. "You know how our son is, so it can't be a girlfriend. It must be a girl who's not his girlfriend 'yet'."

He winked at his wife as the two of them chuckled together knowingly. And for some reason, Daehyun couldn't find it in himself to outright deny it. His parents noticed and stopped laughing altogether.

"Is it really?!"

Daehyun could feel his face heating up. "Uhh, n-no."

"Yeobo, there really is a girl!"

"No wonder he was staring at that teddy bear before."

Daehyun turned away in embarrassment only for his mother to push him in the direction they came from. "Now go and get that teddy bear for her. We can send ourselves home."

"Good luck son!" his father called out before the two walked off in an obviously brighter mood.

He stood frozen in his spot as he watched their two figures get smaller and smaller as they walked further and further away.

Was he really going to get that teddy bear?

Well, it was really cute and even had a coffee mug design on its tummy. It seemed like her style.

The familiar store soon caught his eyes as he made his way back. He stared at the soft toy through the glass display window for many minutes before finally finding the courage to step inside.

~~~

Mihi was humming to herself as she closed the café, yet again, by herself. But despite that, her mood was always up as high as the clouds whenever her brother and father, her only family left in the world, came back to visit. Sujin had been getting better from her cold and would be coming back to work soon. But when Mihi visited her during the past few days, instead of blowing up at her for telling Youngjae her address like she had expected she would, Sujin instead burrowed into her bed covers and refused to come out, choosing to speak to her through the thick sheets of material rather than face to face.

 And, strangely enough, all of this happened after Youngjae's visit.

She smiled to herself at this memory. *Something must've happened again.* The sudden jingling of the door bell caught her attention.

*Oh no!* she panicked. *I must've forgotten to lock the front door!*

Hurriedly turning around, she was surprised to see a sheepish Daehyun standing near the entrance.

"Oh, Daehyun-ah. What are you doing here?"

The questioned shifted nervously on his feet and avoided any eye-contact whatsoever, which was very uncharacteristic of him. Mihi eyes shifted to the hand he had behind his back.

"Daehyun?"

He suddenly took a few long strides until he was right in front of her. After a few days of inner turmoil as to whether he should give her the teddy bear or not, he finally decided that he should just man up and do it. Why should it be such a big deal to him anyway?

Well, he had an idea what the answer could have been but he just didn't want to admit it. It just didn't seem like the Jung Daehyun he always was.

In a flash, Daehyun had whipped out the teddy bear from behind his back and held it up in front of Mihi, who stepped back and blinked a few times at the abrupt move. Not a word was exchanged as she studied the fluffy, brown soft toy in front of her. It had a cute design and a picture of a coffee mug printed on its tummy with the words 'Coffee Time'.

She let out a delighted laugh. "Aw it's cute! Where did you get it from?"

Daehyun tried to cough away his embarrassment. "I-I bought it."

Mihi just nodded her head without taking the toy from him. "Ah."

Then there was silence as they just stared at each other.

Daehyun furrowed his eyebrows a little at this. *This doesn't seem right. Doesn't the person usually take the gift they're given?*

"Y-yah, Bang Mihi. Take it already, my arm's starting to hurt."

The look of confusion on her face quickly turned to astonishment.

"It's for you," Daehyun hastily said, looking away to the side again.

Noticing his awkwardly shy behaviour, Mihi burst out into smiles. "Oh, thank you Daehyun," she said, taking the bear from his outstretched arm. He peeked a look at her as she stared fondly at the soft toy in her hands and couldn't help but smile as his heart soared.

"Thank you, Daehyun," she said again, smiling as bright as the heavens. "Thank you so much."

Right then and there, something took over him.

Something known as 'courage'.

And the next thing he knew, he had leaned forward on impulse and pressed his lips on hers.

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It's been a while, but here's a new update ^^ Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to the three subscribers who upvoted!