Chapter 3: Penny for my Thoughts

[Jonghyun POV]

I laughed so hard at Onew hyung’s lame joke about the blueberries. Right then and there, the worker came up and handed me a good-smelling tea.

“This is for you, Sir, to help with your insomnia. It has valerian roots and it’s on the house.” I was shocked. She was listening? She weakly smiled and placed the tea on the table.

“A-ah. Thank you.” I looked at her once again. She looks really familiar but I’m pretty sure she’s not the same idiot girl; she sounds eloquent and smart.

“And, please accept these, Sir.”

I changed my mind so quickly when she handed me four pieces of 10 korean cents.

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“You’re that Maneki-neko who bowed up until the door!” I blurted that out too quickly and laughed so crazily while stomping my feet. I can feel the intensity of her embarrassment but she managed to answer me in small, almost inaudible voice.

“Yes. I gave you that earring, too.”

I touched the earring on my left lobe. Ah, yes. I like this earring but I really can’t form any sense from the coins she handed me.

“Uhm… well…” She was starting to unconsciously pull the hem of her apron. Onew hyung was lost in thought as I was busy laughing all the funny bones out of my body.

“I get it now!” Onew stood up with his right index finger pointing in the air, his lips formed like a half crescent facing the ground, a little eureka moment with a pinch of sangtae. Both I and Neki-neko were surprised by this.

“What do you mean, hyung?”

“She gave you the earring with the word “wait” right?” Neki-neko nodded so hard at Onew, all her smart vibes are now gone with the wind.

“And now she gave you four coins right?” Onew hyung is Sherlock-ing.

“Put it together. ‘Wait’..’for’..” What surprised me the most is when they high fived and laughed.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Neki-neko was overjoyed; she did a little thumbs-up dance with her booty slightly doing awkward movements. Onew was crossing his hands across his chest, nodding to her, and raising both his eyebrows like some class idiot who finally solved a math equation.

I cackled, the scene was too funny. I checked my phone and saw that it’s almost 3:30 AM.

“Well then, I’ll wait for whatever is next.” I stood up, smiled at her, and motioned to Onew that we should leave or we’ll be zombies in tomorrow’s schedule.

[Chun Hei POV]

Can I die now? I can totally die now.

KIM. JONGHYUN. SMILED. AT. ME.

The only thing that I can clearly see by that time were two gorgeous backs as they went out to the door and disappeared into the mist of the deep, cold night. I just stood there, not a frozen duck; I’m feeling more like an ice sculpture of a swan. My eyes, heart and soul are still dazed at the memory of our encounter. I looked behind my back; right and left, behind the counter, in the kitchen, no one. I just wanted to check that there was no other person in the shop, only me. He smiled at Han Chun Hei: this poor, ragged, awkward and unimportant girl. He smiled to no one else but me. I will claim that beautiful smile; it was mine and I promise to keep that snapshot of the smiling Kim Jonghyun inside my heart forever.

I want to collapse, or shout, or jump, or roll over the floor in unexplainable genuine joy and fluttering heart. Instead, what I did was to walk back and sit on that same seat where Jonghyun was five minutes ago. I touched the edges of the small table and gently slid to lie on it. I caressed the table top with both my cheeks and smelled it in the hope to have some sort of remnants of his perfume. Of course, there was no other smell but those of blueberries and chocolate. I always have stupid ideas when I’m around Jonghyun, maybe his ‘stupid’ is infectious.

To my utter surprise, soft snow started falling outside. I watched the ramen store across the road, the bright streetlights and now scarce-with-people sidewalks turn white in a matter of minutes. I reached for my phased out phone in the pocket of my apron and played my favorite SHINee song, Selene 6.23. The moment was too perfect to not go with background music.

My love for him just got a bit deeper like the snow that’s slowly blanketing Seoul in this cold but heart-warming early morning.