"Hey, isn't this you?" questions a voice.

I stop picking at my nails, and turn over towards the source, to see a magazine being presented to me.

And there, on the page, really is my face, which makes me blink a little, in puzzlement.

But when I see how I'm wearing that familiar yellow jumper, while accompanying someone else, who's also wearing the same one, but in white, the event flashes through my mind, making me automatically smile.

"Oh, they're out!" I happily exclaim.

My outburst seems to confuse Yejin, as she continues to stare at me in confusion, but after flicking through the pages, to see the rest of them, I then explain to her, in the shortest way possible, of how this came to happen. She's interested, and it makes me happy to hear about her curiosity, but when she suddenly brings the topic over to Kris, it makes me frown. I brush off her nudge, telling her how he's already taken, and then mentally hit myself, for spilling out the secret.

"What?" she says, with an arch of her eyebrow. "He's gay?"

I instantly hush her, and when I scan our surroundings, to see how everyone is in their own worlds, I breathe out a small sigh. "Yeah, he is," I answer. "I promised him that I wouldn't say anything, so don't tell anyone about it, okay?!"

A quizzical look now sits on her face. "Are you sure?" she asks. "I mean, it's just..."

Her voice trails off, so I nod my head at her. "Mmhmm," I hum, in response. "I've even met his boyfriend."

Yejin doesn't say anything to this, but the look on her face, tells me that she doesn't really believe me.

I'm about to say something else, until we see someone enter the front door. The person's presence makes me sneakily smile, because seeing my friend now all nervous, is quite a funny site. Yongguk's eyes search around the place, and when he spots who he's looking for, he now begins to make his way over here, towards the counter. I pretend to have something to do in the corner, so I act as though I'm doing something very serious, when in reality, I'm just counting the packets of sugar.

My nosiness can't help but eavesdrop a bit on their conversation, and when I hear him ask her, "Hey, are you done for the day?" I decide then, that it's probably really best for them to have their privacy.

So because of that, I actually do go and busy myself with something productive, such as recording down today's sales, and the amount of profit made, for our boss. I soon see Yejin go in to grab her things, readying herself for her leave with Yongguk. She tells me her goodbye, and also informs me not to worry about the one or two people out there, as they've already paid for their coffee. I give her my thanks, make sure to tell her to twist the 'open' sign to 'close' on her way out, to which she responds with a nod.

Now that I'm alone again, I continue on with my work, until it's all finished. I put the papers away, and then head back out, to clean the plates and scrapes left behind by the customers, and proceed to keep going, until it's spotless. A loud huff emits from me, as I'm now wiping down the last table, wishing that the other workers, didn't have to leave me so early. Or that I shouldn't have carelessly volunteered to do the closing, on a day like this.

My moping soon turns into grumbling, as out of nowhere, the tinkling sound on the door's bell is heard, indicating that someone's entered, and it makes me inwardly frown.

Why is there always one person, who decides to come in, even though it clearly says that we're closed...?

"I'm sorry, but we're closed—" I begin, only to break my sentence, upon seeing a familiar curly haired male.

Chanyeol beams at me. "Aw, come on; can't you make me an exception?" he says, rather playfully. "Just kidding, there's something that I want to give you." A book is suddenly handed to me, from his hands. "Ta-dah~" he cheerfully chimes. "The company liked the photos with you and Kris, so they went ahead, and published it, in this magazine!" Chanyeol continues on. "They didn't like the first few ones that we took, but they liked the cake fight scenes, so it's just those."

I nod my head, recognising this cover, as the same one that Yejin had showed me earlier on, and gladly thank him for it.

Chanyeol ends up making himself comfortable in a seat nearby, and proceeds to keep me company, throughout the rest of my cleaning. He even offers me help at some point, but I shake my head, and tell him that it's fine. I'm glad that he's here to distract me though, because everything goes by very quickly, and I even forget that what I'm doing, would actually be making me complain and grumble to myself out loud, if I were by myself.

And then before I know it, the state of the cafe is decent enough, for it to be safely locked up.

I put the keys into my purse, and breathe out a content sigh. "Thanks for staying with me, even though you were probably really bored," I say.

But Chanyeol shakes his head at me, with a small smile. "Nah, it wasn't boring at all," he reassures. "I know how lonely it can be, to clean all by yourself like that, so yeah." He then shrugs his shoulders. "But really, it's fine with me, since—oh, that reminds me!" Chanyeol clicks his fingers together, and the sudden change in subject, makes me a little curious. "Are you doing anything tonight?" he asks, with a tilt of his head.

I blink a little. "Hmm..." I ponder. "No, not really. Why?"

The way that his face lights up a little, tells me that he's happy with my answer. "Well, I have an event to go to," he says. "And I was wondering, if you'd like to come along, as my plus one?"

I stare at him a little—usually, when someone asks you this, it means that—

"...Are you only asking me this, because you've run out of other options?" I question, with a raise of my eyebrow.

Chanyeol is taken aback by my accusing tone of voice. "What? No, of course not!" he hastily says.

My skeptical face is still on. "Mmhmm..." I dryly mumble.

And I guess my act is rather believable, because he seems to be quite flustered, which is quite a funny site.

"No, I actually really like—!"

I can't help but cut him off, with a loud giggle. "Hey, it's okay!" I laughingly say. "I was just playing with you."

Chanyeol seems to be at a loss of words, as he's now blinking those round eyes at me.

And when I continue to snicker some more, I hear him eventually sigh, with a flatten expression.

"So anyway," I lightly continue on. "What time should I be ready by?"

He thinks for a bit. "Seven is good," he concludes. "How about that? I'll come and pick you up at around then, okay?"

I nod my head at him. "Sure," I say. "Sounds good!"

The two of us then exchange numbers, and once that's done, we both part ways, by heading into the opposite direction.

———————————————

I'm excited, as I pamper myself up for this event, and because of the fancy dress code, it makes me all the more curious, of how this will all turn out. It feels like it's been such a long time, since I've been able to go out like this, and pretend that I'm an elegant princess of some sort. With that thought in mind, a giggle falls out of me, as I now pull out this sweet-looking cream dress, that I was lucky enough, to have found on sale the other day.

Zipping myself in it, I then do my make up, and then move onto doing my hair. I decide that having it in a half-ponytail style, goes well with the soft look of the dress, and I'm satisfied with the results. Grabbing my purse, I now make my way down the stairs, in search for a pair of shoes, to complete my look. And as I go to do this, I happen to bump into someone, who seems to also be dressed up, rather well.

Actually, Kris always dresses nicely, but this is looking a little more formal, than what he usually has on.

The two of us blink at each other, (most likely wondering why the other is decked out in such nice clothes) before he goes back to fixing his tie. "I probably won't be home, until late," he suddenly tells me. "Are you going somewhere? Because you look—" Kris suddenly stops speaking, appearing to be somewhat surprised about something. "Grapes," he says, from out of nowhere, which just confuses me more, all together.

"Grapes?" I blankly say, after a second or so. "Are you saying that I look like a grape?"

Kris is now focusing his attention on the sleeves of his shirt. "No," he says. "I just...I bought some grapes today, and thought you might want to know."

I stare at him a little, still feeling as lost as ever. "Okay then..." I unsurely say. "Oh well, I guess looking like a grape, is a lot better than looking like a cucumber." This makes Kris look at me strangely, and so I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders at him. "Grapes have flavour, and are sweeter, so I'd prefer to be something a little more exciting," I explain, with a laugh. "Although cucumbers are good as well, since they sooth away your puffy eye-bags."

By now, with my little murmuring on fruits, Kris’ weird stare is more prominent, until I see him finally turn away, to put on his shoes.

And maybe it's just my imagination, but I see his shoulders shake slightly, kind of like what you do, when you're quietly laughing to yourself.

Kris is soon out of the house, and right when I slip on my own shoes, I hear my phone chiming away. I answer it, and it's Chanyeol, who's telling me how he's just around the corner, and will be there soon. With that notice, I throw some more things into my purse, and then lock up the place, before standing outside. And like how he says, I don't have to wait for long, because I soon see a black car, slowly pull itself up into my driveway.

Making my way over to the passenger seat, Chanyeol's lips instantly curve upwards, when he sees me.

"Wow, you look beautiful!" he compliments. "I'm glad I decided to bring you along."

His chuckle makes me laugh along with him. "And you don't look too bad yourself," I say.

I see that instead of his usual curly locks, it's now straightened out, and styled into a stylishly messy type of way, that looks just as good as his normal fluffy hair.

The two of us talk throughout the whole drive to this place, and I come to learn that it's a party of some sort, for photographers and models to have a chance to mingle with one another. Chanyeol says that these sorts of events are a good way to build up your connections, and get your name out there, if you want to be recommended to other various people. He then tells me that there might be a couple of people who would want to meet me, and I suddenly feel a little nervous.

"How do they even know about a plain waitress girl, such as myself?" I say, with a frown.

Chanyeol laughs. "From the photo shoot, silly," he good-humouredly says. "But anyways, just be yourself, and you'll be fine."

I still don't feel very calmed by those words though. "What if I accidentally spill wine on someone's dress?" I worriedly say. "And because I'm your plus one, then they'll shun you, as well!"

"Oh come on, don't say that," he assures, with shake of his head. "You're actually a lot more of a worrywart than I thought you would be. You'll be fine, so just try to have fun, okay?"

My shoulders bit by bit ease up, as I breathe out a puff of air. "I guess you're right..." I eventually mumble. "I'll have fun, by trying everything that they have there!"

Amused by my sudden surge of energy, Chanyeol joins in, and says that he will accompany me with that, also.

———————————————

With my arm hooked around Chanyeol's, he slowly begins to lead me through the room, greeting people every now and then. I politely say my 'hello's to them, bowing here and there, and find that they're actually quite easy to talk to. They seem to enjoy my attempts of jokes, laughing, and I'm glad that my humour is able to amuse them, in some kind of way. Chanyeol then eventually leads me around to all the food and drinks, where the two of us begin to sample a piece of everything.

"Oh my God, this is disgusting," I choke out. "Here, you have to try some."

"What?" says Chanyeol. "Where—?" He immediately chomps into the cracker that I'm holding out for him, without a second thought. "Oh man, eugh—that's nasty!"

"Yeah, I really like salmon, but when it's smoked, it's just really—"

"—eugh!"

Chanyeol's cringing response, makes me fervently nod my head at him in agreement. "My thoughts exactly!" I keenly say.

The two of us proceed to quietly gag at the overly smoked piece of fish, until we find a sparkling drink of some sort, to wash away the unpleasant taste. I'm glad that it was just that one dish that caused me to make twitching faces, as I coughed to myself, because everything else was good. Like this boat-shaped cracker, filled with cheese, and sprinkled with a pinch of herbs—this one was amazing, and I think that it’s thanks to me, secretly clearing away the section, is why they had to keep refilling it with more orders.

As we snack away, Chanyeol goes on, to tell me who's who, and what they do. He even goes on to tell me which person dated which, and if they're still together, or why they ended up splitting, and I find the drama that he tells me, to be rather interesting. Some of them make me shake my head in disbelief, while the others, makes me wistfully sigh, because I can totally visualise it to be set out, like in one of those romantic-comedy type of dramas.

Our conversation comes to a temporary stop, when I see a very familiar model, accepting a glass, from a waiter walking by, with a tray of drinks.

"Isn't that Kris?" I curiously point out.

"Hey yeah, you're right," says Chanyeol. "I didn't know he'd be coming. He told me that he wasn't going to come, but...I guess he probably changed his mind?" He tilts his head over into Kris' direction. "Do you want to go and say hi?"

I nod my head, liking the idea. "Yeah, why not?" I answer.

Both Chanyeol and I soon make our way over towards him, and surprise him with a greeting.

With me being here, or that I'm here with Chanyeol—I'm not really sure which one is the one that's responsible, for making such an inquisitive look, to appear on his Kris' face, but it's a little funny.

"Hey Kris!" greets Chanyeol. "Glad you ended up coming. And if you're wondering about Subin-sshi here, I brought her as my partner."

"Partner?" repeats Kris.

I shrug a shoulder. "You know," I say. "As a plus one?"

Chanyeol nods his head with a grin. "Yeah, I just thought it'd be good to bring her along," he says. "And so far, she seems to be fitting in nicely, so it's great."

Kris looks like he's about to say something, but someone calling out Chanyeol's name, seems to stop him. Seeing this, Chanyeol excuses himself from us, to make his way over to them, for some conversation, leaving just Kris and I. And it's as though it's a repeat of what happened in the studio, because right when I turn over, to talk to Kris, I see him already busy with a few others. So I just resort to quietly sipping away at my drink, and wait for either of them to be finished.

But as I look at Kris, and see him politely talking to a few females, I realise that...he's quite popular, amongst the girls.

And if I'm seeing things right, one of them is being a little too giggly with him, and is constantly finding a way to casually touch his arm and whatnot.

She's definitely flirting, that's for sure, and it makes me feel a little sorry for her, because she's unaware of how her gestures have no effect on him.

And it's not because he's not interested, (I think?) but because...well, he doesn't exactly swing that way.

The girls are soon beckoned over by others, giving Kris the chance to dismiss himself from them, and a part of me is relieved, because now I won't have to be standing here all by myself.

I'm about to make a comment about that, when I suddenly feel a pang of pain, in my stomach. I ignore it at first, but it zaps me again, making me cringe slightly. My hand automatically places itself over my stomach, hoping that the discomfort will stop, but it doesn't. I think it's due to me shoving in all of those crackers, and exotic cheese so quickly, so my belly's now suffering. Straightening myself up, I try my best to look as natural as I can, but I don't think it’s working.

"Hey Kris," I loudly whisper. "Where's the bathroom?"

He blinks at me a little, but then directs me over to a place across the room, and I rapidly thank him, before bolting off over there.

Squeezing my way past a couple of people, I make sure not to cause too much of a commotion, by weaving myself through every manageable gap. I'm soon in the bathroom, and when I occupy a cubicle at the speed of light, my entire body freezes, upon a new discovery. The pain in my stomach, is not because of the combination of things that I've eaten, or how fast I've mixed them all together, no. It actually has nothing to do with indigestion, and because I'm in so much denial, I check the date on my phone multiple times.

And when I see that it's not lying to me, I groan to myself, all while wondering what to do now.

If I stuff my underwear with tissue, it'll be too late, by the time I get myself down to the nearest convenient store—!

A sudden ringing from my phone, brings me away from me depressive thoughts, but that doesn't mean that it's completely distracted me, from the anxious feeling.

It's an unknown number, but I pick it up, anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hey," speaks Kris' uncertain voice. "Are you okay...?"

I don't know what to say, so I respond with a wimpy cry.

"...I'm guessing that's a no?" he says, after a moment of silence. "Lay wants to say hi, and he won't stop bugging me, until he gets to. So when you're feeling better, come outside near the—"

"Kris," I interject, while praying for the best. "Sorry, I just...I really need some help right now, and it'd be great if you could do that for me."

"Uh...okay then?" comes his unsure voice.

Biting down my lip, I then deeply inhale, hoping that my breathing will somehow calm me down. "Oh God, this is so embarrassing," I shamefully mumble. "But I need a pad; I need a pad, and I need it fast."