“Sir.”

Luhan, who has barely taken a few steps into his company, stops walking and turns to face the clerk at the counter.

The lady in the middle says, “Inguk is in your room.” She takes out a twelve-inch orange envelope and hands it to him, “These are the list of interviewees that will be commencing at four this evening, Sir.”

He takes the package, “Thank you.” He continues to walk while eyeing around his business. Oddly, being around the noisy and bratty children who are customers along with their parents at his business put him at ease. Maybe it’s due to him having had some experience with a child.

He reaches his office and as notified, in his black cushioned chair, there is a slouching caramel-colored man in a hooded neon yellow T-shirt. “Inguk, what are you doing here?”

Inguk, Yunho’s younger brother who has become awfully close with Luhan, shifts in the seat. “Trying to come to an understanding of how you can deal with kids.”

Luhan gestures to the younger, leaner man to get off of his seat to sit elsewhere. As they exchanged seats, when Luhan sits down, in front of him is a decorated letter that is clearly an invitation card to a ceremony. He picks it up, placing the orange envelope he has in his hand down. “What’s this?”

“Oh!” Inguk hops onto the adjacent seat. “I almost forgot. Brother’s getting married this weekend. You’re invited.”

Luhan drops the letter, “And you’re only giving it to me now? Just days away?”

“Well, I figured that you’d be so busy and will lose the invitation since you have a lot going on with the current building extension.” He eyes the invitation. “You’re coming right?” He accompanies the next comment with a smirk, “And your date is with that construction girl, right?”

“Her name is Eunji, Inguk.” Luhan reminds him for the nth time. “And she’s not going to be my date.”

“Why, you’re not going to go?”

“You already know I’m busy.”

“But it’s my brother—he was your coach in High School and you even worked under him for two years or something.”

After Hana left him, he was completely broken. Lifeless. Hopeless. He didn’t attend his first year of college with the rest of his friends because he knew it’d remind him of what was lost. When the friends have done and tried everything, they figured it was time to bring in a third party, and that third party was Yunho. They didn’t tell him anything about Taeyang, but they did have to tell him that Hana ran out on them without any explanation. Yunho then offered a part-time job in order to keep Luhan’s mind off of being depressed, and the part-time job was to be his assistant and help coach the underclassmen. It was an easy job, as it was back at the same high school he had recently graduated. At the same time, it took a toll on him because it was the same high school both friends had attended and everywhere he walked and every time he had a chance to be reminded of her—whether it’d be the desks, the baseball bat, the grass, or simply the cloudy weather—he’d fall into another interval of depression.

“Come on, man,” Inguk begs. He stands up, “There’s going to be plenty of girls—single—girls out there, and I think it’s about time you find yourself a mate, if you really want to get rid of that builder.” He tugs at his collar, “And if you go, we can both hit on girls. A solo guy doing that doesn’t look too good, you know.”

That’s the thing about Inguk. He’s a skirt-chaser. He loves women and well, women like him, too. Unlike Luhan, who’s a bit on the rough and edgier side and emits a hard-to-approach aura due to his evolved features, Inguk can easily slide himself into any adult conversation, and the audience will love him. He’s a smooth talker and he makes them feel comfortable right at first glance.

And, it is thanks to Inguk that Luhan realized that he has always loved his best friend.

It happened on Luhan’s twenty-first birthday.

Inguk couldn’t celebrate Luhan’s birthday with everyone else because he was spending the “night” with a “friend,” so to make it up, Inguk had promised to take Luhan out on an adult adventure the next time they meet. At first, Luhan thought it’d be drinking and partying at a club or something. It turned out to be much better.

Until nightfall that it is.

Inguk brought his “friend” and his “friend’s” friend. Both “friends” were girls. The four of them hanged out at the amusement park, as that’s one of the best places for fast interaction. Midway, Inguk and his “friend” disappeared, leaving Luhan alone to his partner. When they were about to leave the park, he received a text from Inguk who gave him instructions on what to do next. He figured that it would be rude to just separate from there, so he followed the direction of taking the girl, Bomi Yoon, out for dinner.

Dinner wasn’t the problem, though.

She wasn’t a picky eater, a nasty eater, or a troubled eater in any way.

The problem was what happened during it.

Bomi was this sweet girl, with a bright innocent-like smile. Her eyes glittered along with the formation of her smile and a slight flush at her cheeks made her seem even more innocent than a child. That impression was all gone and destroyed when she started scratching her foot up against his, almost reaching his most private part.

He thought it was his imagination because a sweet girl like Bomi would never do such a thing; however, her leg continued to feel him. It started down from his ankle, rhythmically making swirls, then it casually brushed up to his thigh. He tried to keep his calm to not embarrass her in case it really was his imagination or a misunderstanding of some sort, but a huge part of him knew that it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all.

When he saw her eating comfortably, as if she didn’t know what was going underground, he became irritated because although she might be thinking that he was aroused, he definitely wasn’t. Who liked to be bothered while eating, anyway, let alone dining with a stranger and not knowing whether the food was going in the mouth or up the nose.

He finally had enough when he felt her leg making its way towards a sensitive area, so he dropped his spoon, pushed his seat back, crossed his leg and glared at her. This received her attention and she looked up from the spaghetti she was slipping on. She even used her doe-eyes to blink at him.

“I’ve had enough. What’s up with you?” He rudely questioned her.

At first, she played dumb and asked if his dinner had something wrong. He bluntly said that it was her who was wrong. She torn away from the acting and showed her real self. She explained that she was “helping” him before the actual physical activity as promised. He hadn’t heard anything about a promise, so when he inquired for more information, she spilled that his friend Inguk had asked her to comfort his aching heart.

A confused and annoyed Luhan explained himself and his intention and then excused himself, leaving her to find her own way of transportation. He irritably drove to Inguk’s place to get a better understanding as to why his friend would set up such a thing. When he arrived, he had unintentionally interrupted his friend’s “fun” and after stressing that he was not willing to wait for an hour to talk, the lady left the house, unhappy, and muttering a curse word under her breath.

“What’s the problem, man?” Inguk asked, on the bed, completely and thankfully covered by the blanket. He reached down to the floor to get his boxers. “You weren’t supposed to be back for another two or three hours.”

Luhan explained to Inguk that what Inguk did was unnecessary and disrespectful. He also asked about what was the “aching heart” that the lady referred to. Inguk explained that he had overheard his brother and Luhan talking about a girl that left Luhan and was the reason why Luhan had been in a slump for the past two years. Luhan explained that the girl was his friend, not some type of lover or anything.

Inguk disagreed, commenting that friends don’t go through such a heartbreak or even get this depressed when a “friend” leaves. He then dropped the bomb that if the girl Luhan was hurt over for wasn’t a girlfriend or a crush, why couldn’t Luhan just have a little fun since the girl did consented and there is nothing wrong with consensual intimacy between adults.

That was when it hit him.

“She’s not her.” Luhan spoke those words monotonously as a wave of shock washed over him.

That day was the start of his solo bliss. He celebrated the new founding with Inguk by hopping onto the bed and giving him a tight hug, thanking him over and over again.

“So, you going?” Inguk asked again about his brother’s wedding.

“You know what?” Thanks to Inguk whose presence triggered an idea, he picks up the envelope and eyes it, conveying a joyous expression. “Tell Yunho hyung I can make it and I’m bringing a surprised date.”

“What?” Inguk’s eyes widen and his mouth gapes open. “Who? Do I know her? It’s not builder-woman, right?”

Luhan doesn’t answer and only gives a sly smirk at the man across his desk. Perfect excuse.

*

“Lunch? Now?” Hana, talking on the phone with Eunji, glances at the black and white clock hanging at her right in her office. “My lunch break isn’t until another hour later.” With her free hand, she stacks a few documents over one another and staples them. “I’d like to have lunch with you, but I don’t think it’s possible.”

“Wait, okay?” Eunji asks on the other line.

Hana waits and puts the black phone pressed in between her cheek and shoulder. She gets up and walks over to a white five-cubed drawer unit. She opens it and drops the stapled documents in it. When she closes it, Eunji comes back on the line.

“We can wait. I’ll text you the place, so come by, k!” And just like that, she hangs up.

Hana removes the phone and utters, “We?”

*

“You made it!” Eunji and Hana hug from outside the meeting place for lunch. “We hope this place is fine.”

“About that,” Hana says, as the two step inside, “Who is ‘we’?”

Eunji purses her lips together and scrunches up her face, as if she had committed something bad. “I’m not alone…and the person with me is…”

“G’ Afternoon Hana.”

Hana’s stops walking and her heart almost pops out of her chest. Two tables straight down from where she is at sits a suited Luhan, unconcernedly waving a hand at them. She pulls Eunji to the side, “What is this?”

“So Luhan is right. You don’t like him?” asks a worried Eunji.

Hana gasps, “What?”

“Well, you know that I work for him, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with me? Or eating lunch with him?” All of her defenses are up. She begins to wonder if Eunji was told anything about her own relationship with Luhan.

“He has an idea and we talked about it, and it involves you, but he told me that you seem to not like him.” She backs away and grimaces, “Is it because of what he did at the party?”

Hana can’t think with everyone around her also talking at the top of their lungs, so she says to her friend, “Let’s go talk outside. I think I need air.” She walks away without her friend. What is going on now? Outside, she can see through the glassed window that Eunji has quickly gone to chat with Luhan who only nods and then Eunji runs back out to meet her.

“Sorry, I wanted to tell him we’re talking out here.”

“Eunji,” Hana grabs onto her friend’s hand. “it’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just…I—” she tries to come up with a good lie but nothing crosses her mind. “—okay, my son is his brother’s god-child, and personally, although I root for you two and-and would like for you to get with him, it’s weird for me to be around him—especially when we’re both strangers.” She makes sure to have stressed the last comment. “I hope you understand.”

Eunji deeply inhales. “Why do you feel weird around him? Are you sure you’re not bothered about what he did to you?”

“No, no!” Hana furiously waves her hands. “I’m fine, really. Um,” she scratches the back of her head, “I’m sorry, but I can’t have lunch with you and him. Take this as a chance to have a lunch date together.” She turns around and walks away.

“But, Hana,” Eunji stops her, “He has a great idea! For you and Taeyang!”

I knew it’d be something related to Taeyang. She puts on a smile and turns back around. Her eyes come across Luhan’s intense stare at her through the windows and she ignores it. “I’d love to sit, eat, and chat together about it, but I’d like to not have myself or my son be involved.”

“Okay, fine,” Eunji discouragingly comments. “It’s really for me.”

“I thought he had the idea?”

“It’s still his idea, but the reason why I’m going along with it is because…well, I kind of have a motive behind all of this.”

The two girls look at one another.

Eunji embarrassingly confesses, “I want you to help us get together.”

*

“Thank you very much,” Luhan says as he puts out a hand for a shake after signing a business contract with Hana. “It’ll be a pleasure to work with you and your son.”

Hana hesitates but after she sees her friend slightly budges her head at the hand, she holds in her emotions and fakes a smile. “Yes, it’ll be a pleasure.” She shakes hands with him and she briefly feels an electric spark between the hands. She quickly pulls away and adds an apologetic smile after it. His hands are still as rough as ever. “I’ll be heading back now, so you two enjoy your—”

“Hana,” he abruptly stands up, “if you don’t mind, let me take you back to work. I saw you came by taxi and since I was the one who requested for your service and time, it’s my duty to send you back.”

“No, thanks.” Her limit is slowly reaching an end. “I came by taxi, I go by—” From behind Luhan, Eunji silently pleads to Hana to go with Luhan to take this as a chance to help improve the relationship between Eunji and Luhan. “—actually,” I’m going to regret this. “I’d be glad to take a ride from you.”

*

Hana and Luhan stand outside of Luhan’s car to wave goodbye and watch Eunji drive out.

As soon as her car disappears after turning a right at the stop sign, Hana faces Luhan, “You don’t have to drive me anyway, but we need to talk.”

“Won’t you be late to work then? I can tell this is going to be a long talk.”

“You don’t know where I work and I absolutely don’t—”

“—you’re a pediatrician and you work at Seoul Children Center.”

“How…?”

Luhan chuckles as he disarms his car and opens his car door, “Don’t worry. My brother didn’t tell me. I got it from Eunji.” As he gets in, he says, “Come on, I’ll take you.”

She unwillingly gets in and buckles her belt. Looking ahead to avoid his gaze at her, she asks him, “What else do you know about me?”

“You’re in denial about your feelings for me.” He purposely says with a grin as he steps on the gas pedal to reverse out of the parking lot.

“Am not!” She glares at him and the two of them lock eyes for a quick moment before they look away. “Since we’re on that subject, Eunji’s a beautiful—”

“—she knows how I feel for her already.” He shifts into drive and slowly makes his exit out of the plaza and onto the street. “If you’re planning to hook us up, don’t bet on it.” He quickly peeps at her, “I love you, and I hope you’re mature enough to not do such a childish and petty act of service just to keep me away from you and Taeyang.”

She scoffs. “Petty? Childish?” She puts a hand out, “Then what about you coming up with this business plan of making Taeyang your promotional logo and whatnot,” she puts out another hand, “and even requesting information from Eunji and using her to do this?” She puts her hands down and slumps into her seat. “I think that’s also petty and childish of you, too.”

With one hand, Luhan ruffles her hair while chuckling at how she had angrily responded back to him. “This is why we’re a perfect match.”

She shoves his hand away and mutters to him, “Just drive, please.” Her hot cheeks begin to redden so she faces the window.

“Got it, my lady.”

*

The friends reach Hana’s work place and as he parks the car, he says to her, “Wait, I have one more thing.”

She unbuckles her belt and waits.

When he’s finished parking, he opens the glove box and takes out an envelope. “Remember Yunho hyung, our coach back in high school?”

Hana nods, curious as to where he’s going with this.

“He and Nicole noona are getting married this weekend!” He expected a surprised expression from her, but all she gives him is a blank look. “They’re getting married,” he repeats.

“Yeah, I heard that. And?”

“Let’s attend together.” He adds a sincere smile. “I’m sure they will be happy to see you after your long absence. And, our friends are going to be there, so we can all hang out.”

“I’m busy.” She’s ready to open the door and get out when he stops her with his hand on her arm.

“It’s not for me, but do it for Coach.”

W