They arrived in Dongdaemun, and the place was crowded because of lunch time.

     “Shall we have lunch first?” Jongin said. Mara just nodded. They came to a Korean eatery and sat in front of each other.

     As they waited for the food, Jongin started yet another questions time.

     “Do you hate me?”

     Mara was taken aback for a bit. “No, but…”

     “But?”

     “Sometimes you’re just plain weird. Appearing out of nowhere, talking about this imprinting thingy, and…” Mara felt herself go red in the face. “Whatever you did in the storage room yesterday.”

     “I’m also a regular at that bus stop, though. And I just take the imprinting just as a reference. And what happened yesterday…”

     Mara raised her eyebrows.

     “I can explain that.” their orders came out, and Jongin happily picked up his chopsticks. “But first, let’s eat.”

     Jongin continued his questions as they ate, and the subject had changed into something more common and natural, like their families, schools, college plans, and anything they could talk about.

     Mara tilted her head. “You seem pretty normal, though. I ever thought you could be a bit creepy with all your ‘looking at each other for a long time’ and imprinting. I thought you were just cosplaying a Duksung High student.”

     Jongin laughed, and his laugh was one of a kind. It was loud, explosive, unique, as if he was laughing at the funniest thing in his life. Mara couldn’t help but laugh as well because of him.

     “Oh, you laughed!” Jongin pointed out excitedly. “You laughed! You never even smiled before! Oh wait, I’ve seen it once, when you were at the store. A customer finished paying, and you smiled them goodbye.”

     “This is why I thought you were creepy.” Mara sighed.

     Jongin grinned. “In all seriousness, though, what do you think about what happened to us?”

     “I said I don’t know, I really have no idea.”

     “Don’t you think it was love at first sight?”

     Mara stopped eating, and so did Jongin. A few seconds later, Mara burst out laughing, and Jongin followed suit.

     “Oh my—sorry but—pffft—it’s so cheesy, how could that come out from your lips?” Mara covered with her hands, still laughing. Jongin was laughing too, and his face turned red.

     “I even think it’s ridiculous too. I’m sorry, that was all I could think about.” Jongin said. “Back to the first question, do you hate me?”

     “I have no reason to hate you.”

     “Then do you have a reason to like me?”

     Mara blinked, the question took time to get in her head. “Reason… Uh… Well, you saved me that time… You calmed me down… You took me home… You helped me during my work yesterday… And you’re taking me to lunch now.”

     Jongin beamed, even hung his face down while smiling. “That’s a lot of reasons.”

     “Then what if I ask you the same thing? Since you said that we imprinted each other?” Mara said, then cleared because of nervousness. “Do you have a reason to like me?”

     “Yes, and I only have one reason.” Jongin suddenly turned serious. “I think it was love at first sight.”

     Mara turned red again. “If this ended up here, what’s the use of bringing the imprinting and all those stuff?!”

     “Because it happened to both of us, in a slightly similar way with imprinting. It was just a comparison.” Jongin put a pressure to his ‘both of us’.

     “Why did you think it was love at first sight for me too?”

     “Because if it weren’t love at first sight, you would have put a restraining order to me after what I did in the storage room yesterday. And yet, you let me kiss you again this time, and ended up here, right now.” Jongin smiled in victory.

     Mara couldn’t count anymore how many times she turned scarlet today. She laughed awkwardly and finished her food.

     When they came out from the eatery, it was practically a flood of people outside. Mara couldn’t even decide which turn they should take.

     “Here.” Jongin took her hand. “I don’t want you to get lost.”

     They were walking with tangled hands between all the people, and Mara couldn’t concentrate on their surroundings. Their hands fitted too perfectly, it’s like they wouldn’t let go of each other.

     “Ice cream!” Jongin exclaimed, pointing to a small ice cream parlor. Mara had prepared to break the handholding to take her money, but then the seller handed them two ice cream cones with a smile. “Senior high schoolers who had finished their college entrance exams will have these for free.”

     Jongin cheered. They took the ice creams, and their hands kept tangling after all. Jongin held her hand firmly as they continued wandering the flood of humans, eating their ice cream.

     “Lee Mara, are you enjoying our date? Which one do you prefer, being anywhere else or here with me?”

     Mara nonchalantly kept eating her ice cream, “Well… I need to work soon thou—“ before Mara could finish her sentence, Jongin released her hand and Mara dropped her ice cream from her other hand. “Wha—Kim Jongin!”

     She looked around, and he was nowhere to be found among all these swarming people.

     “Kim Jongin! Kim Jongin!”

     Mara examined her surroundings once again while screaming his name, but he was really not there.

     “Oh God, where is he? Where did he go?” Mara talked uneasily to herself as she walked herself out from the crowd to the side, and kept looking around.

     “That kid is tall enough to stand out from the crowd though… Damn it, where is he?!” Mara got genuinely scared. She held to her phone inside her pocket, but she realized she didn’t know his number. The horde of people walking here and there in front of her made her dizzy. She closed her eyes and let out a desperate plea to herself. “Jongin-ah…”

     “Yes?” that voice came from behind her. Mara turned around and saw him right there, eating his ice cream. Mara was left speechless.

     “Kim Jongin, what the hell—“

     “See? You were looking for me. You want me to be there. You could just leave if you don’t want to be here.” he smirked. “And, by the way, ‘Jongin-ah’ sounds so nice when you say it.”

     Mara didn’t even know whether to feel relieved because he was there again or punch him right now.

     “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.” Mara said.

     “Okay. But first, you gotta stop the denial, Lee Mara.”

     Mara took a deep breath, and looked at Jongin’s eyes intently. She tiptoed and brushed her lips against Jongin’s cheek. He dropped his ice cream.

     “I’ve stopped being in denial since you started holding my hand.” Mara was amazed by herself to keep looking at him in the eyes when she was saying this.

     Jongin was flustered, but soon he composed himself. “Holding your hand… Right. Are you saying two kisses had no impact on you?”

     Mara bashfully smiled. Jongin smiled too and he took her hand again, holding it even tighter than before.

     Everything felt easier now that they were sharing the same feelings, and they continued their date just like other couples.

     “Do you want me to explain the storage room happening yesterday?”

     Mara turned her head to him curiously.

     “It means that I can still hold onto you and see you in the darkness.”

     Mara suddenly coughed. “That’s a quick explanation.”

     “Because it’s that simple.” Jongin smiled, looking proud of himself.

     Time passed, and unknowingly it was 5 PM. Mara freaked out because of her work schedule, but Jongin calmly showed her a text conversation with Mr. Han on his phone.

Mr. Han, Lee Mara can’t go to work today.

Noted, Jongin-ssi.

     Mara was astonished to see that. “Is being the owner’s grandchild giving you the right to do this?”

     Jongin shrugged. “Because as a boyfriend, I don’t have the right to do so.”

     His words always had two contradicting effects, which were to make Mara blush or to make Mara feel the tendency to hit him.

     But ‘boyfriend’ mainly gave her the first effect.

     Late at night, they went home by taxi and it brought the two of them to Mara’s house first. As Jongin walked her to the door, he noticed Miyoung and Khun’s unlit house.

     “Where are your neighbors?”

     “They’re visiting Miyoung unni’s parents. They’d be back in one hour, they said.” Mara looked at her phone.

     “Do you want me to stay until they come home?”

     Mara disapprovingly shook her head. “No, no, no need to. Go home, it’s late.”

     Jongin sighed. “Okay. Go in.”

     Mara smiled. She went in and closed the door, but then there was a knock on the door.

     “Hey, Lee Mara! Stay behind the door.”

     “What?” Mara said, as she stayed still behind the door.

     “Give a kiss to the door, then I’ll leave.”

     This boy, really, Mara thought. She opened the door, found Jongin still standing there, and tiptoed again to give his lips a peck. “Why kiss the door when you’re still here?”

     Jongin was surprised again, but then he broke into a smile. “Look at you being a pro now.”

     Mara stepped into her house and grinned. “We’re now even.”

     She closed the door, and furtively peeked through the window and noticed Jongin walking back to the taxi, and that precious smile never escaped his face.

     Later that night, Mara called Mr. Han to apologize for not showing up to work today.

     “You must be busy working alone.” Mara said regretfully.

     “It’s okay, I’ve been doing this for six months, when Mr. Kim got off work. I’ve always been alone starting from 3 PM. Did you go out with Jongin-ssi today?”

     “Yes.” Mara felt a bit embarrassed. “Is it true that he’s the owner’s grandchild?”

     “Yes, but the owner, Mrs. Shin Aesook, passed away just days after this store was opened. Now her son manages this store. Oh, speaking of the manager, he’ll be coming for inspection and also I will introduce you formally to him tomorrow at 4 PM. Oh and by the way—“ a sound of a baby crying was heard from Mr. Han’s side. “Oh no, I need to help my wife. See you tomorrow, Mara!”

     Mara was curious with Mr. Han’s ‘by the way’, but she decided to ask it tomorrow. She wanted to ask Jongin further about his family, regarding what Mr. Han just revealed, but she also kept it for tomorrow. Did ‘her son’ mean Jongin’s father, or uncle?

     Her phone rang, and Jongin’s freshly saved numbers appeared.

     “Hel—“

     “You’re still awake? What are you doing, thinking of me? Go sleep now.” Jongin immediately hung up. His voice was like a bell, and she couldn’t get annoyed by it. Instead, Mara just laughed to her phone, and went to bed.

-

     The next day, Mara arrived at the store exactly at 3 PM after going to school, and Mr. Kim was preparing to leave. Mara bowed to him, and he, as usual, said no words.

     Mr. Han was having a guest in her office, and Mara uneasily prepared for the inspection. She tidied up all the display, making sure there was no speck of dust on the windows and floor, and repeatedly checked herself. She did it all while messaging with Jongin, and he kept encouraging her but suddenly he stopped replying at 3.30 PM. And Mara just remembered to ask him whether Mrs. Shin’s son who managed the store was his father or uncle, but she thought she would find out sooner or later anyway.

     3.40. 3.50. Every ten minutes was spent in vain, and Mara couldn’t even concentrate on scanning the barcodes. She was also worried because Jongin hadn’t replied her.

     4.00. Mara glanced at the parking area, and nobody was there.

     Her phone beeped. A message from Jongin.

ㅁㅏ

     Ma? What was he trying to say?

     Mara kept watching the parking area in case someone was coming, but nobody came besides customers. Nothing happened for the next twenty minutes, but then Mr. Han stormed out from his office. “Mara, there’s no inspection, but—”

     “Oh what a—“

     “Jongin-ssi got into an accident!”

     It felt like something hit Mara in the head. She just initiatively grabbed her bag, asked for the hospital, and dashed outside, tried to grab a taxi while her vision was blurring because of tears on her eyes.

     On the way to the hospital, which was pretty far because it was near Dongdaemun, Mara silently cried. The taxi driver looked like he wanted to ask her if she was okay, but Mara buried her face in tissue sheets. She tried to stop crying once the taxi arrived at the hospital, and she ran to the emergency room. She asked about someone who got into an accident awhile ago, and a hospital staff said that patient Kim Jongin was sent to the operation room on the second floor. Mara got to the second floor, and found two people in front of the operation room; a crying woman and a tense-looking man. Are they Jongin’s parents?

     Mara hesitated to come up to them. She needed to be ready first for questions that might be asked even if she only asked “Is Jongin okay?” to them.

     “New employee.” a scruffy, low-pitched voice called her from behind. She turned around and saw Mr. Kim, the old cashier… In a doctor robe.

     “Sir…”

     “Come with me.”

     Mr. Kim turned around and headed to the opposite side of the floor, comprised of offices. Mara followed him to one of the offices, and on the door was hung an official sign of the hospital that said “Lung Specialist, Dr. Kim Daehwan”

     “Sit.” Mr. Kim, or Dr. Kim pointed the sofa in front of his working table. As he was taking something from a cupboard, Mara sat and looked around the room. There was a family photo on one side of the wall consisting six people—Mr. Kim, his wife, two people that Mara saw earlier in front of the operation room, Jongin, and a young woman, slightly older than Jongin.

     That must be Mrs. Shin, Jongin’s parents, and Jongin’s sister, Mara thought. Oh God, so Mr. Kim is—?

     “Take and drink this.” Mr. Kim gave Mara a can of warm tea, and he sat behind his desk. “My stupid grandchild got into a motorcycle accident near the shopping district after he fought with his father who was supposed to come to the store for inspection today.”

     “Is he okay?” Mara’s voice was shaking.

     “Drink the tea, and calm yourself down. There’s an internal bleeding and the blood entered his lungs, so we needed to take it out in the moment. Drink.” he commanded, and Mara clumsily opened the can and drank the content. “I will advise you to just come at 9 in the morning if you want to visit him, because it would take at least 12 hours until Jongin wakes up, and you wouldn’t want to encounter his parents. My son isn’t exactly welcoming towards strangers.”

     Mara listened closely and nodded.

     “Unless you want to be ripped apart by my son now, and not at the inspection, you can approach him now.” Mr. Kim removed his glasses. “I will arrange to make Jongin’s parents busy for awhile when you come to visit tomorrow, since I am the doctor in charge for him. Make sure you come on time.”

     Mara nodded repeatedly. “Thank you, Sir, thank you very much.”

     “Finish your drink.” Mr. Kim told her.

     “Sir… May I ask… Why are you working at the store?”

     Mr. Kim rubbed his face, and took a glance on the family photo. “Because I have nothing to do before 3 PM.”

     Mara was sure there was something more, but she kept silent.

     “Now is my turn to ask you questions.” Mr. Kim wore back his glasses. “Jongin was set to be sent abroad to live with his sister for college, but a week ago suddenly he rebelled against his father with saying he’s not going. That peaked today, as you can see. Perhaps, the reason is sitting right in front of me?”

     Mara froze.

     “I don’t mind if you don’t want to answer it. I will let Jongin stay, but my persistent son keeps pestering him to go abroad. So you kids have to solve this.”

     Mara swallowed. Going abroad?

     The office phone rang, and Mr. Kim signaled Mara to go, with the last message not to let Jongin’s father see her wearing Shin’s uniform. Mara got out from his office, and actually found the task not to show up in front of the operation room so hard because he just wanted to see Jongin. His parents were still in front of the operation room. Mara half-heartedly left and went back to the store.

     “How’s Jongin-ssi, Mara?” Mr. Han asked worriedly.

    Mara shortly explained Jongin’s condition, and asked Mr. Han to continue working in his office.

     “You look pale, do you want to go home?”

     Mara shook her head and assured him she was okay. I need to distract myself and spend the hours to make the time go faster.

     Mara looked at Jongin’s last message. He must be calling for her.

     Tears brimmed on her eyes, and she quickly grabbed tissue. She needed to wait until next morning, then she could meet Jongin that time.

-

     Right at 9 AM, an assigned nurse accompanied Mara to Jongin’s room, and his parents were not there, as promised.

     Jongin was lying on his bed, with small bandages on his arms, and a thick bandage peeked from his hospital gown on his chest. His face was unharmed, probably the magic of full-face helmet. He smiled at her, and Mara felt like crying.

     “Wow, Grandpa never really gave me a gift, but he got me a really big one today. Do I need to get into an accident first for a gift?”

     Mara sat beside his sickbed and took his hand.

     “Don’t talk too much.”

     “But I want to talk to you.”

     “Do I have to kiss you to shut you up?”

     “Please do.” Jongin smirked. Mara rolled her eyes.

     “What were you doing in Dongdaemun?”

     “I want to look for the huge lollipop you pointed on our date. I want to give it to you after the inspection, because I’m sure as hell the inspection was not going to be good even if you’re perfect from head to toe, because of my own father.”

     “Don’t make me cry.” Mara begged.

     “When I crashed, it was evening, but everything started to be dark. And I couldn’t prove what I said to you, that I could hold onto you, and still see you, in the dark.”

     Tears drop to Mara’s lap. “It’s because I wasn’t there. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

     “It’s not your fault, silly.” Jongin said, squeezing Mara’s hand. “But I’m sure you’d always be there, next time, when the world turns dark for me.”

     Mara nodded. “I will.”

     The nurse signaled that Mara needed to go out immediately. Mara nodded, and the nurse went out again to guard the room.

     “I’m going. Get well really soon.”

     “I’ve talked so much, aren’t you going to do something in case I talk more?”

     Mara laughed, wiped her tears, and bent above Jongin’s sickbed to kiss him. He made a motion of zipping his mouth comically, and waved her goodbye.

     Mara went out feeling lighter, but she forgot to talk about Jongin being sent abroad.

-

     It took some time for Jongin to recover, and they communicated through their phones. They discussed Jongin’s father’s plan to send him abroad, and their conversations usually went nowhere because Jongin didn’t really know what he should do to make himself stay here.

     A month later, Mara was still working in Shin, and she got admitted to the law school of Seoul National University, and Jongin still hadn’t fully healed. Jongin kept sending vague messages that his father kept pushing him to go to his sister, and Mara could hardly think about her own business.

     One day, Mara sent Jongin a picture of Miyoung and Khun’s newborn baby boy, and he claimed that he was way cuter than the baby.

Then send me a selca.

Okay.

     Instead of a selca, Jongin sent Mara a picture of presumably a letter, and Mara zoomed in. It was an acceptance letter for Kim Jongin from the medical school of Seoul National University. Mara re-read it to make sure what she was seeing, and another message popped out.

I forgot that Dad said he wouldn’t send me to noona if I could get into med school. I was sure I couldn’t get in, so I gave up already, thinking I had no other choice but to go, but this thing arrived to our house this morning.

     Mara covered with her hand and started laughing loudly because of disbelief, thankfully the store was empty. She re-read the letter and the message again and again, and laughed again.

     “Why is the cashier laughing like that? How creepy.”

     Mara lifted her head, and Kim Jongin stood up in front of the counter, with his leather jacket, holding his white helmet, with the South Korean flag sticker.

     “What—why—how—“ Mara looked at the parking area, and his motorcycle was neatly parked there.

     “Let me look at those eyes.” Jongin stared at her. After some time, he bent and quickly kissed her lips. “I could look at you forever, but it would be a waste just to do that.”

     Mara smiled and stood up. She threw her arms around him.

     “This counter is annoying.” Jongin patted the cashier counter that separated their bodies as he hugged her back.

     “Congrats on your admittance.”

     “Congrats on us.”

     A customer entered the store, and they broke the hug. Jongin awkwardly went through the shelves pretending to shop, and Mara said a welcome greeting. They glanced at each other, and hoping the furthest distance that existed between them would be no more than this one.