fa·vour

An act of kindness beyond what is due or usual.

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August 18 (Saturday)

Oh Sehun had walked Han Kyung Mi home on Tuesday. And the day after. And after. It ended up being an extemporaneous, silent agreement between them. Subsequently to that eventful encounter in the rain, they both seemed to catch hold of an advantage to this arrangement. For Kyung Mi, she realized that it would be wiser to return home with an acquaintance. It was safer, and it made the journey home less boring, and it gave her almost no chance to think about Gongchan. Well, the moment she got home would be a whole different story, of course. As for Sehun’s case, well — the reason appeared to be unclear for the time being. He looked like he didn’t mind accompanying her and it was done willingly. He was, after all, quite the enigma.

Kyung Mi woke up at a reasonable time on a plain Saturday morning, about half an hour past eight. She stretched in a languorous manner, knowing that she no longer needed to sleep in. She had far more than enough rest yesterday. Her Friday night was quiet, as it always had been — even if Gongchan surprised her with random phone calls during those type of nights. She blinked hard, the sunlight streaming into her room windows, which Kyung Mi had carelessly forgotten to draw in the curtains. As a consequence, the light blared in her sight and it gave her a stinging sensation. She frowned, and proceeded to reach out to her thick-framed spectacles. She equipped her darkened lens, and smiled. It made her feel a lot better.

She did the regular things that people would do — showering, brushing their teeth and anything pertaining to a category like this — and descended the staircase. She peeked at the kitchen before entering it, and saw that her parents alongside with her older sister were already consuming breakfast. Kyung Mi was almost aghast at that, since she thought that they would only be setting up the place instead of the scenario that was taking place right now. Shrugging it off in a happy way, she walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning!” greeted Kyung Mi cheerfully as she quickly took her place to have her share of breakfast. Polite replies were given, but nothing more after that since they were busy eating and savouring the food. Talking and chewing at the same time were prohibited in this household.

“Kyung Mi, are you doing anything today?” asked her mother pleasantly. Kyung Mi contemplated as she chewed on a tasty sausage, wondering as well. Admittedly, the female thought that she was supposed to get something or look forward to a particular event; but she just couldn’t remember. Her eyes flickered to her mother’s.

“I can’t remember,” answered Kyung Mi dolefully, poking at her food lightly. “There’s this nagging feeling that tells me that today is something to look forward to, but I just don’t know…” She squinted, only for a bit and her face returned to its usual amiability.

Her father chuckled at that.

“Then you can go out to the grocery store and get your favourite fruit or something,” suggested her father, nodding briefly. “I would get some for you, but I believe I may be staying overnight at the office today…” The reaction of his family members to his last statement was obvious. They were a little upset at that, since he was already out often due to his work. Kyung Mi tried to change the gloomy atmosphere.

“Ah, alright,” grinned Kyung Mi, agreeing to it. “I’ll do that, dad. That’s a really great idea. Thank you.” Min Jae smiled at her sister’s seemingly childish remark, but she did agree with it.

“Have fun at work, dad,” added Min Jae as she watched him get up from the breakfast table. He acknowledged it and he walked out of the house.

Later, Kyung Mi had finished her breakfast and her sister had already returned to her room to study. It seemed like she never did anything else aside from eating, sleeping and studying. It was quite pitiful, in Kyung Mi’s opinion. But her thoughts did not linger long on that matter. Kyung Mi did a few chores in the house and after lunch hour, she exited the house. She quickly made her way to the grocery store and began looking for her favourite item. She supposed that a fruit to munch on sounded like a nicer idea than drinking a fruit-flavoured drink. She paced around the huge premise with an elated smile in her simple search for raspberries.

Obviously, Kyung Mi headed towards the fruits aisle, so that it would ease her apparent hunt. The place was significantly filled with people, but not too many. She didn’t need to worry about bumping into strangers, at least. She peered into the berries section, and smiled when she saw the variant types displayed there. At first she only let her eyes roam on the aforementioned berries, but then she couldn’t spot her beloved fruit. She frowned immaturely at that. She let out an inaudible sigh before muddling the pile. Caught up in her search, Kyung Mi had not realized a certain someone who chanced to be in close proximity with her when she took up a fruit.

“I found the raspberry!” laughed Kyung Mi to herself in sheer delight. The person beside her blinked at her once, perhaps the person was even holding a bewildered and perplexed expression for a moment or two. Suddenly, she became aware of the fact that the other had witnessed her oddness.

“Ah,” chuckled Kyung Mi softly with a simper. “Greetings, Sehun.” Her eyes flickered towards him and the grocery basket that he was carrying with his right hand. It had a few things, but she wasn’t too sure what it was. She wondered if the smile on his face was merely an imagination of hers alone.

“Kyung Mi,” acknowledged Sehun with a quizzical look, eventually gesturing towards the fruit that she was holding. “I suppose you were looking for a raspberry?” At that, Kyung Mi smiled and nodded.

“It’s in my hand already,” stated Kyung Mi patiently, waving the aforementioned hand. Then Sehun looked troubled, but his expression returned to one of lesser emotions.

“… That’s a salmonberry, Kyung Mi,” chuckled Sehun airily. “It has an orange tinge, if you didn’t realize.” Kyung Mi blinked blankly as her gaze returned to the fruit in her hand, at a loss of how to respond. The classmate silently walked over to the berry pile and picked out a juicy-looking raspberry.

“Here,” said Sehun, picking up the fruit and showing it to her. She still appeared to be shocked, and so he sighed.

“Right,” mused the boy. Strangely, the male took off to the paying counter and handed over the items that he was holding. And that included Kyung Mi’s raspberry.

It took her three seconds to snap back into reality.

“Wait!” called out Kyung Mi as she ran in Sehun’s direction. He merely glanced at her, and almost mockingly, he tilted his head to one side. Unfortunately, she had arrived too late since he already paid for the products.

“I know I was being weird, but you shouldn’t have paid for me,” said Kyung Mi judgingly. A small frown appeared on his forehead, and he nearly bit his tongue in his attempt to respond with the least words possible.

“Consider it a treat, Kyung Mi,” said Sehun with a deadpanned face. There. That should suffice. It did work, and it brought a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Sehun!” said Kyung Mi genuinely. “You’re really nice.” A surprised expression was shown on his face, and he had not bothered to hide it.

“Oh,” said Sehun inaudibly, pondering on that statement thrown at him. Eventually, they left the grocery store and they found themselves walking with each other, despite the fact that there was no need to do so. Perhaps they have already been used to the thought of being accompanied by each other, even though it was a relatively new thing. She spoke in an animated manner with Sehun. Astonishingly, Kyung Mi actually found it easy to express to Sehun. In spite of the way the other had portrayed himself, something told her that he wouldn’t judge her actions and such. She easily ate the raspberry without a second thought.

“Bubble tea…” murmured Kyung Mi wistfully when she saw a boy walking by with the aforementioned object of desire. Sehun’s eyes flickered knowingly at her general direction.

“I know a place with bubble tea and some desserts,” suggested Sehun plainly. Her eyes widened at his suggestion.

“Ah — don’t feel obliged,” said Kyung Mi rashly, feeling guilty that she accidentally voiced out her thoughts. He blinked only once.

“Nearby,” reinforced Sehun. This time, she blinked.

“Uh, don’t you need to get your grocery items home for your family?” asked Kyung Mi slowly, partly curious as well. After all, it was not often that males did the grocery shopping. Well, of course Gongchan was an exception.

“This one’s on me,” continued Sehun in a flat tone, implying both the objects in the grocery basket and his suggestion. He raised an eyebrow at her lack of response. Kyung Mi carefully considered his idea. If she was to accept, surely it was the first time that she had gone out with a male that wasn’t Gongchan. On the other hand, even if Sehun did it out of kindness to help her craving, it appeared to her that he did not resent her company. Or else, why would he willingly walk her home every day during the weekdays? She eyed him warily. She had no clue why he suddenly began approaching her, but if there was a vile motive; she had yet to sense it. So she knew her answer.

“Thank you,” accepted Kyung Mi with a soft smile. And that induced a ghost of a smile to adorn Sehun’s face.

“Let’s go,” whispered Sehun lowly. He led her to the shop that he had mentioned earlier, ignoring the attention that was on him due to the peculiar grocery basket. He opened the door for her like a gentleman, and the others in the shop would either label them as a couple or a guy who was trying to get on the girl’s good side. Well — it wasn’t like Sehun or Kyung Mi noticed them speculating. Kyung Mi noted that Sehun was quick to order at the counter — and pay, actually — as he had not even glanced at the menu.

“… I ordered the correct flavour, right?” asked Sehun thoughtfully. She smiled and nodded as a response.

“Well,” quipped Sehun as he took the buzzer that would indicate when their order would be ready. “Let’s grab a seat.” They made their way to the seats that were next to the huge windows, but the air-conditioners had caused condensation to occur upon the surface. So no marvellous view of the surrounding place could be seen. Slowly but surely, Kyung Mi began to feel the awkwardness seeping between them. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it felt like an awkward date? She looked up to give a restrained, polite smile when she saw him looking at the condensed surface.

“Do you ever have days like these?” asked Sehun rhetorically. He almost laughed, and proceeded on without a reply.

“Because trust me, you would,” said Sehun in a manner that seemed like he was talking to himself. But he wasn’t. Kyung Mi knew that he was addressing his topic to her.

“But don’t forget,” continued Sehun quietly as he began drawing on the condensed window with his right index finger. “Despite the days when the clouds don’t seem to dissipate, every day can be a day where you can put on a smile and find one good thing to look forward to. And then suddenly, the world doesn’t seem so bad after all.” He silently ended his impromptu talk with a depiction of a smiling sun shining down on an abandoned, ruined city.

Kyung Mi’s eyes widened at that, finding it to be almost genius somehow.

“You express well!” complimented Kyung Mi with a twinkle. Sehun’s lackluster expression remained. The buzzer suddenly rang, and so his head jerked up slightly.

“Ah — I’ll get the food,” declared Sehun and he walked to the counter. Left alone, Kyung Mi was still awed about what he had done earlier without needing to. She continued gazing at the drawing on the condensed window when her cellphone began ringing. Flustered, Kyung Mi nearly dropped her phone before answering the call.

“Hello?” greeted Kyung Mi blankly, since she forgot to look at the caller’s identity. How silly.

“Kyung Mi?” echoed a clear male voice. “You forgot?” With those few words, Kyung Mi felt panicky. Eventually, her mind managed to identify his voice.

“Ah, Gongchan?” stated Kyung Mi in a slow, delaying manner. She shut her eyes tightly; able to imagine how he would be reacting since she was forgetting something about today that concerned him.

“You wanted to celebrate my birthday, and I have time today,” chuckled Gongchan softly through the phone. “Where are you, little girl? I’m at your house. Did you get lost at the grocery store? It’s been hours since you left, apparently.” Her eyes shot open, feeling like a fool. How could she have forgotten? It was just Tuesday when she was feeling so upset like the child she was, and now that he was waiting in her house — she was out with Oh Sehun. Well, not a planned meeting but still.

“Kyung Mi?” urged Gongchan gently. She knew she had to make a decision quickly. She glanced worriedly and guiltily at Sehun who was returning to their place. She was going to leave, and she would apologize and make up to Sehun as soon as she could.

“I’m coming home, so please wait,” responded Kyung Mi almost desperately, and firmly hung up. Sehun placed the tray down on the table and sat down.

“Here’s your bubble tea,” said Sehun as he handed it over to her. Kyung Mi took it, murmured her thanks and gulped before speaking the next few hurried and muddled sentences.

“I’m so terribly sorry, Sehun,” said Kyung Mi apologetically. “I already had something planned for today, and I really forgot. It’s entirely my fault, and I promise you that I’m not ditching you. I will make it up to you somehow! Gongchan, and then I— uh— thanks for the bubble tea!” Making a swift bow, she stood in front of him rigidly with the bubble tea to see his response. That would be the most decent thing she could do for him, at least. He actually offered her a warm smile.

“Don’t worry about me,” assured Sehun as he picked up with a fork to poke at his cake. “I’m fine with solitude.” Kyung Mi acknowledged his reply, and turned to walk out of the place.

“Oh, and Kyung Mi,” added Sehun with an expressionless face. She turned to look at him with a puzzled face.

“Enjoy your date,” said Sehun deliberately. At that, Kyung Mi coloured to a great extent and she ran out of the shop. She was so certain that she saw his amused expression. He was turning out to be a decent acquaintance, and she still felt like she was ditching him. Well then. She was definitely going to make up to him.

“I’m back!” almost yelled Kyung Mi as she burst into her place after removing her shoes. “Gongchan?” He looked at her from across the room quizzically.

“Here,” laughed Gongchan heartily as he broke into a smile. She beamed, and he approached her. He was about to pat her head when he paused halfway.

“What made you forget?” asked Gongchan sincerely. “And where did you get the bubble tea?” He had made such a remark, since there was no bubble tea being sold in the grocery store. Plus, that sounded disgusting anyway. At that, she smiled lightly.

“I just forgot,” admitted Kyung Mi. “I’m sorry. As for the bubble tea…” Various images of Sehun flashed past her mind’s eye.

“How about we just say that I chanced to meet someone different today,” chuckled Kyung Mi, waving the bubble tea slightly. “But we don’t need to dwell on that. Come on — we’ve got a belated birthday to celebrate.”