7 ~ Just This Once

The morning of Daehyun's third and final day off work, he decided to go by the café to grab some coffee. As he drove through the busy streets of Seoul, he reminisced the very first time he went to Tranquil Days.

His usual café had closed on him as one of the workers locked the door as he was pushing on it, so he was forced to get his daily latte and cheesecake elsewhere. So you can imagine his bewilderment as he experienced a moment of déjà vu when he pushed on the door of Mihi's café to find that it wouldn't budge.

On the door stuck a note that read: "We are closed for today. We apologise for the inconvenience."

Daehyun raised an eyebrow at this note and huffed. "They're closed for the whole day? What're they up to now?"

He was about to turn on his heels and leave when a face peering through the glass door from the other side scared the living daylights out of him. "Gah!" he yelped, clutching his chest at the sudden scare.

The person in the café opened the door to reveal who he recognised as one of the high school workers. It was Jongup.

"Oh I remember you! You're Daehyun-hyung, right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

He bowed politely in apology before running back into the café, leaving Daehyun to stare at the blank spot Jongup was at just a few seconds ago.

Moments later, a familiar voice called out to him. "Daehyun?"

He stared at Mihi. "Uh… hello." Before she could ask him why he was at the café, Sujin popped up in front of her and beamed at him.

"Daehyun!"

Without sparing another second, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the warm interior. "Come in and I'll brew you a nice, warm cup of coffee!"

Zelo was sitting at one of the tables and looked up at the new person from where he was munching on a chocolate muffin. He swallowed his mouthful and tried to greet him politely, but crumbs of chocolate muffin kept falling out of his mouth, much to his embarrassment.

Sujin eyed the younger boy. "You're cleaning that." Changing her expression as she faced Daehyun, she smiled at him before skipping off to the coffee brewer.

He sat down awkwardly at the table Jongup now sat at with Zelo. "Don't you two have school today?" he asked in an attempt to break the silence. The two grinned as they shook their head.

"Today is the makeup exam day for everyone who failed their practice exams," Jongup replied cheerily. "So for those who passed, they get the day off."

Zelo threw his arms up and cheered. "We're going to Lotte World today!" Jongup copied him as Daehyun watched on in amusement. They seemed so carefree -- which was so much more different to when he was at their age.

Mihi pushed a plate of warm chocolate muffins towards him. "And that's why we're closed for today, if you were wondering." She nodded towards the baked goods. "Help yourself."

Unknowingly to him, Daehyun's eyes twinkled like those of a child as he dug into one. "So you're closing your café for a whole day just to go to Lotte world?"

A hand placed a hot cup of latte in front of Daehyun. "Yup!" Sujin cheered. "It's been ages since I've last gone. And since Jonguppie and Zelo's buddies all failed their exams, they're stuck at school."

Zelo sighed. "I told them to study."

Daehyun nodded after taking a sip of the hot beverage, finally understanding the situation. "So you two asked Mihi-ssi and Sujin-ssi to accompany you two because it'll be strange for two guys to go together?"

Two nodding heads confirmed the answer.

Daehyun glanced at a clock on the wall. "But it's a bit early now to be going to an amusement park. It doesn't take that long to drive there."

Mihi and Sujin exchanged glances before pointing in the other's direction. "She can't drive," they both said.

"She's scared of driving," Sujin remarked.

"And she failed her driving test," Mihi countered.

"And we're too young to drive," Jongup added, pointing to himself and Zelo. The latter snapped his fingers just at that moment as a wonderful idea sprouted in his head.

Daehyun glanced warily at Zelo who was staring intensely at him with a sly grin on his face.

"Say, Daehyun-hyung…" he began. "You drove here in a car, right?"

~~~

"You have a really nice car Daehyun-hyung," Jongup complimented from his spot in the back seat with Zelo and Mihi. Sujin was snugly in the passenger seat.

"Thank you for volunteering to drive us there, Daehyun-hyung!" Zelo piped.

Mihi shook her head at the younger boy. "Junhong, I believe you guilt-tripped him into taking us." He just smiled at her. A little too innocently, she thought.

Daehyun pulled up into an empty parking spot but left his engine running as the others got out of the car. "Alright, you guys have fun."

"Wait, aren't you coming with us?" Sujin asked, glancing at him sadly.

"Uh, no… sorry."

Sujin peered at Mihi with puppy-dog eyes, sending her a telepathic message to get Daehyun to stay. She raised an eyebrow at this action of hers before an idea struck her.

"Daehyun-ssi, join us for a bit," Mihi offered. "Today's your last day off right?"

He nodded slowly, somewhat reluctantly.

"Great!" Sujin squealed. "Then you can come with us!"

It wasn't very long before he was forced out of the car and into Lotte World along with her and the hyperactive teenagers. Mihi trailed behind with a phone to her ear and smiled when she got the answer she wanted from the other end.

~~~

"I… I don't like…" Daehyun stuttered but was cut off by the cheers of Jongup, Zelo and Sujin.

"ROLLERCOASTER!"

Mihi didn't like roller coasters either so she quickly came up with a plan to sit out the ride of death. "Since there's an odd number of us, I'll sit out so then you four can sit two-and-two."

Daehyun whipped his head toward her. "Wait, you don't have to sit out. You go on and I'll sit out."

He felt a sense of relief as he walked away from the ride but was unexpectedly pulled back with the vice-like grip of Sujin.

"Nope, you're going on. Let's go!"

"Have fun!" Mihi waved, feeling a little bad about making Daehyun go on. But there was no way she ever wanted to go on one of those again.

The four eventually boarded the ride and Mihi couldn't help but laugh when she saw Daehyun cling onto the safety harnesses for dear life when they plunged down a steep slope. Amongst the screaming of all the other riders, she was sure she could hear Daehyun's distinct screaming the loudest.

By the time he got off, he was staggering unstably and didn't exactly look at his best. Sujin looked fine whilst the other two were jumping up and down excitedly on the spot, chanting "Again! Again! Again!"

*We really shouldn't have made him go on…* Mihi guiltily thought as she helped him to a seat. He sent her the best nod of appreciation he could in his condition.

The laughter of a sixth person suddenly cut through the air. "You're looking great Daehyun!"

Daehyun looked up to see the irritating, laughing face of Youngjae, who obviously found his current state hilarious. "Shut it, Youngjae," he snapped. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Mihi felt a tug on her arm and saw that Sujin was hiding behind her, face chalk-white. "What is he doing here?"

Youngjae and Mihi answered at the same time. "Mihi invited me." "I invited him."

With a look of disbelief plastered upon her face, Sujin shifted her eyes between the two before she stomping off on her own.

She ignored the calls she got from the others and instead broke out into a run. She was angry at Youngjae for coming, and she was angry at Mihi for asking him to come when she knew that she was uncomfortable with him around.

But most of all, she was angry that she was like this, angry that she was unable to let go of whatever happened in the past.

When she was sure she was far away enough from the others, she slowed down and noticed that she was at the game booth section. The one with the bow and arrow caught her interest.

"Are you interested in playing this game?" the young man running the booth asked. Sujin nodded and took the bow and arrow in her hands. Her first shot missed the board and she frowned.

"Here, I'll show you how to use it," the guy offered before moving beside her. "You hold it like this and aim like this." As he was explaining to her how to use it, he got closer and closer to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to hold her hands. She felt extremely uncomfortable and tried to move away -- only to find that she couldn't budge. The guy had  trapped her between his arms.

"H-hey, let go of me!" Sujin spluttered.

He smirked at her. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here by yourself anyway? I can keep you company."

"No!" she refused. "Get away from me!"

Sujin tried to retaliate but her strength was no match for his. Suddenly, another force plucked him off of her and threw him away to the side.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, trying to take advantage of her," her saviour spat. "I could easily get you fired for that, you pathetic, despicable excuse of a human!"

Sujin stared at her saviour's broad back, which gave her a warm sense of protection. *Who is he?*

The rest came as a blur as she continued staring at her his back figure, but she was sure that the guy who harassed her was taken away by security. He finally turned to her, revealing his worried face to her.

Her eyebrows furrowed in recognition. *Wait a minute… I know this guy!*

"Youngjae?!" she screeched in incredulity. "It was you?!"

He nodded a little sheepishly. "Are you ok Sujin? That creep didn't do anything else to you?"

She shifted her gaze to the ground. "I'm ok… Thanks." She heard him breath a sigh of relief.

"Thank god…" he whispered.

She was starting to have conflicting feelings erupt within her. Youngjae seemed so genuinely worried for her and even personally came after her.

"You know…" he started, making her look at him. "You run really fast for a girl, Sujin-ah. Do you know how hard it was for me to look for you?" He started laughing good-naturedly. Sujin turned her head away.

"You didn't have to bother looking for me."

Youngjae clucked his tongue at this. "Yes I did. Now wipe that sullen look off your face, it doesn't suit the place we're at."

She frowned up at him.

"You came here to have fun, right?" he continued, before holding out his hand. Sujin just stared at it.

"Come on. I bet the others are worried sick about you. Let's go!"

Youngjae smiled at her encouragingly.

She felt her defences slowly beginning to break down, slowly caving into the charms of when she first met him those many years ago. With a bit of hesitance, she finally slipped her hand into his outstretched one. Youngjae was surprised that she actually did so. He studied her turned-away face and saw that despite her slightly irritated expression, there was a faint tinge of red upon her cheeks.

Youngjae swallowed down a grin that was threatening to break out and led her back to the others.

As they were walking, Sujin snuck a peek at his face.

*Just this once…* she thought to herself, as the two continued to walk hand-in-hand.

---

It's been ages since I last updated and I'm sorry, but we can all blame homework, tests and assignments for that ;P
A little Su-Jae moment at the end there, haha. 

This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I decided to divide it into two chapters instead. So the second part will be up somewhat soon :D:D:D
And welcome new subscribers!