A Talk With Friends

The coffee house was warm as the two stragglers entered, bells ringing to alert people to their entrance.

Sunhwa sighed in relief as she felt the warmth from the coffee house hit her full force. Joonmyeon chuckled as he looked over at her, shaking his head as he ruffled her hair gently.

At the contact, her entire body went stiff, and she looked up at him curiously when he pulled his hand away. “So, what do you want?” he asked quickly, attempting to recover from the intimate gesture that she seemed to not appreciate whatsoever. “My treat.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she replied quietly, her body slowly relaxing from the contact only a few moments before. “I have money…”

But he cut her off. “I’m afraid I can’t let you.” He smiled when she looked up at him, seeming to be a little confused. “I asked you here, so I should pay. Besides, the guy should always pay on a-”

She cut him off this time. “Don’t say date,” she demanded, her quiet voice becoming icy cold within a matter of moments.

Joonmyeon blinked. “I was just going to say on an outing,” he quickly, sheepishly, amended, realizing that he was just about to call this little talk a date.

Stupid.

He cursed himself inwardly, wondering just how he could be so stupid when it came to Sunhwa. She wasn’t like Jinri, who would whine about how she could pay for herself or offer to pay first, but Joonmyeon wouldn’t let her. And when Joonmyeon offered, she never declined, unlike Sunhwa, who clearly hated to be babied at all.

“Since this isn’t a date,” she looked at him, one eyebrow raised challengingly, “I’m perfectly capable of paying for myself.”

And Joonmyeon deflated.

He took pride in being a gentleman, the type of guy who would open doors for a lady, pull out her chair, or offer her his coat. Most of the time, he showed it by paying whenever he was out and about with a girl. He liked it when girls let him do things like that for him.

It was one of the reasons that he loved Jinri so much.

But Sunhwa was stubborn as a mule and as independent a girl as he’d ever seen. She made it perfectly clear she was fine on her own.

She opened the door for herself. She never let him know that she was cold. She demanded that she paid for herself. And Joonmyeon was sure that she would surely pull out her own chair or just get a booth.

Very unlike Jinri.

Jinri made sure to always walk behind Joonmyeon so he would open the door for her. She shivered and openly complained that she was cold. She always let him pay for the two of them, no matter where it was. She never sat down unless he pulled the chair out for her first.

It was almost refreshing, to see a girl who could do things on her own without having to be asked to or having to rely on a man to do them for her.

Joonmyeon had never even looked twice at a girl who was as independent as Sunhwa. While Chanyeol’s girlfriend, Jimin, appreciated chivalry, but liked to do things on her own, Kris’ girlfriend, Andi, downright hated it. And Joonmyeon had never been attracted to their personalities. Sure, he knew they were pretty, but they weren’t his type.

And so, according to that, Sunhwa wasn’t, either.

Right?

“Suho?” He snapped out of his thoughts to see Sunhwa standing in front of him. She held out a tall cup. “You weren’t responding, so I just bought us both peppermint hot chocolate,” she explained.

Gratefully taking the cup, he replied, “I’ll pay you back for this.”

She just shrugged. “No need,” she said, her modesty and independence clear in just those two words.

Joonmyeon blinked as she practically floated towards an empty booth in the crowded coffee shop, taking a seat gracefully near the window. She looked towards him, waiting for him to take a seat in the seat across to her.

When he did, there was silence.

Neither wanted to speak first, not knowing what they wanted to say.

Although the silence was awkward, it was peaceful. Joonmyeon almost didn’t want to break the silence. But he knew that he had to say something, anything.

“Hey, Sunhwa?” She looked over at him from where she was staring out the window. “Can I ask you something?”

She shrugged, seemingly not caring that he was about to ask something. “You can ask whatever you want, but my answer will depend on the question. I’ll answer if I want to,” she replied.

He smiled a little. He’d expected such an answer from a girl like her. “I was just wondering… why a girl like you, someone so young, is working in the red-light district.” He didn’t notice her entire body language changing, her hands clenching her coffee a little harder. “I mean, I don’t mean to pry, but… don’t you have a family looking for you?”

For a few moments, she didn’t say a word. He was worried that he’d insulted her with his question.

“Sunhwa, I’m sorry, I…”

“No.” He stopped speaking once the simple, two-letter word left her pale lips. “My family consists of Changmin and the girls at Red Midnight. I don’t have any other family, and I sure as hell don’t need one,” she continued coldly, her voice taking on an edge that Joonmyeon had never heard from her before