Not surprisingly, Minho felt like grabbing himself a late meal. He knew the small restaurant would be open till ten that night, and thought he'd try and catch another glimpse of Taeyeon. Maybe he'd leave her another generous tip, or at least try and engage her in conversation again.

He had only been in town a few weeks now, and had only known the girl for less than that. Heck, he didn't really know her at all. But she entranced him, and for reasons he didn't understand, he wanted to be around her. He wanted to be near her, and discover more about that shy smile. He wanted to know her life, her secrets, her quirks, her pet peeves - everything about her.

He found himself outside the small restaurant, and immediately he spotted his favorite waitress. She was standing outside, not far away from the door. She was without her apron and her large purse was hanging over her left shoulder.

She was talking with a man. Even from that distance, and even though he couldn't hear a word of what they were saying, Minho could tell there was something tense going on between them.

He picked up his pace slightly to reach the door more quickly.

"I told you, Jonghyun. Drop it!" Taeyeon hissed, looking like she was getting frustrated.

The man across from her clearly didn't share the same emotion. He was smiling while reaching out, trying to touch her arm. "Come on, Tae, don't be like that."

She yanked her arm away of his touch and took a step back from him.

"Why are you playing so hard to get?"

"I'm not playing," she replied, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"Is there a problem?" Minho asked, daring to interfere. He stepped up to the waitress' side, ignoring her wide-eyed stare and instead glaring at the shorter man who was trying to hit on her.

Jonghyun cocked his head and crossed his arms, clearly unpleased about having his time with Taeyeon interrupted. "No, there's not a problem. Who are you?"

Minho glanced down at Taeyeon, who still looked surprised to find him standing there.

"Do you know him?" Jonghyun asked her.

She finally tore her eyes away from Minho and looked back at him, squaring her shoulders confidently. "Of course I know him, you idiot. He's my boyfriend." Unexpectedly, she grabbed Minho by the arm, drawing in closer to him.

Minho made sure not to react. He simply looked down at the young woman, surprised by the pleasant feeling of her arms around his, and the softness of her body against him.

Jonghyun narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't say anything.

Taeyeon also didn't say anything as she pulled away from the short man, leading Minho as she began walking away from the restaurant. He followed her without protest, remaining silent even as they drew further and further away from Jonghyun. Minho glanced back at him once to see him glaring at them, but otherwise staying put.

Eventually, they were far enough away from the restaurant. The warmth left Minho's side as Taeyeon uncoiled her arms from around him. She let out a sigh of relief as she roughly scratched the back of her head. "Thank you," she said, continuing on forward to her unknown destination.

"No problem," he said, feeling a little confused. He glanced back in the direction of the restaurant one last time, before devoting his entire attention to her. "Who was that guy?"

"Just Jonghyun," she answered dully, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket. Her purse slid from her shoulder and swung freely from the crook of her arm. She didn't look Minho's way, just continued to walk the sidewalk. The cool breeze tousled the loose strands of hair and made her dangling earrings dance.

"Should I be concerned?"

"Pfft! No." She finally looked to him, laughing. "He's harmless, just annoying. Very annoying."

"Well good thing your handy boyfriend came to rescue you."

Taeyeon stopped walking suddenly and turned to look up at him, uneasy. "Look, Minho..." she began, but obviously couldn't find the words to continue.

Minho stared down at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. A small smile was on his lips, brought on by his amusement and his admiration for her. She scratched the back of her head again. "I really appreciate that. I shouldn't have lied to him, but I was just really getting tired of him, and..." She sighed heavily, then continued walking again.

He fell into step beside her, waiting patiently as she sorted through her thoughts. "Just consider it a favor," he said in the end.

A light smile touched her face. "Thank you. I owe you one."

"Really?" he asked, "I know how you could repay that favor real quickly."

"Minho..." she drawled.

"Just one date. One date."

She looked at him crossly, and something about her expression was amusing. "You don't want to date me."

"Yes, I do."

She growled in frustration, kicking at a bottle cap that was left discarded on the sidewalk. "What's with you guys?"

"Hey, I have to be less annoying than Jonghyun back there."

"Keep this up and you won't be!"

It was Minho's turn to stop and keep them from walking. Taeyeon stood facing him, with her expression adamant. "One date won't take up that much of your time," he reasoned. "One date. You won't be obligated to go on anymore."

She sighed again, turning away from him and rotating absently in a circle as she weighed her options. "You won't quit bugging me till I agree, will you?" she asked while facing away from him, staring out at nothing.

"Nope."

"Then you'll end up just like Jonghyun, pestering me every opportunity he gets. But he doesn't have money to waste by leaving me ridiculously large tips."

"Hey, it's not a waste," he scolded softly. "You wouldn't be working if you didn't need money. And every little bit counts."

She slowly turned back to face him with her eyes narrowed like they had been narrowed at Jonghyun earlier. "One date," she agreed reluctantly.

Minho was unable to keep back the excited smile that spread across his face.

"One date!" she reiterated, lifting a finger to exaggerate her point.

He nodded and stooped a little so that he was more her height. "What time do you get off work tomorrow?"

"Seven."

"Great. I'll pick you up then."

"Fine," she grumbled, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

"And wear something nice, alright?"

"Fine." She started walking again and he just followed along beside her. They walked about ten more steps. "You don't have to walk me home."

"Maybe I want to."

"Maybe I don't want you to," she replied.

He stopped, realizing he shouldn't press his luck. After all, he didn't want to start making her feel uncomfortable. She also stopped, staring at him awkwardly for a moment.

"See you tomorrow, Taeyeon," Minho said, smiling softly before turning back the way he had come. The waitress watched him for a moment afterward, then growled in frustration before heading home.

"Idiot," she said.