Eunsook stares at her book, closing it after reading the same sentence for the fifth time. It’s her third try at getting through this chapter but she just can’t seem to do it. The story is just so awful and poorly put together, she wonders how it ever came to be course material. It’s just as well that she’s finished with it since the waitress is bringing over her food.

The plate of crepes and fruit is set gingerly in front of her, along with some honey, and then another plate of the same is set across. Eunsook looks up at the girl before her and raises a brow.

“Do you mind?” She asks, in a rather cute tone, “It’s my break, and it’s so lonely in here at night.”

Eunsook looks around and finds that she is in fact the only other person in the restaurant. She can’t really find a reason to reject the girl, so she nods and the other takes her seat. As they start eating, in mostly silence, Eunsook takes her time to look over her dining partner a bit. The nametag pinned to her classic pink uniform says “Junghee” in bold black lettering. Eunsook thinks it’s a pretty name; a pretty name for a very pretty girl.

“Aw, thanks. That’s sweet of you.” Eunsook freezes with a piece of melon half way to . There’s no way she said that out loud. It’s 2am, yes, but she can’t be that tired. Junghee’s face says otherwise, with the cheeky smile and the blush on her face.

“I, um, I didn’t…. I’m Eunsook.”

“Well, Miss Eunsook, you’re also a pretty girl with a pretty name.”

“T-thanks.”

On the outside Eunsook is mostly calm, save for her red face. On the inside she’s ripping herself apart with embarrassment. Her hands shake as she eats, and she can’t even look at Junghee anymore for fear of saying something else stupid. That doesn’t matter though, because the light-haired girl seems determined to keep up a conversation.

“What were you reading?” she asks, swirling a strawberry around in the honey on her plate and eating it.

“Oh, uh, just something for school. It’s not very good.”

“What’s it about?”

Eunsook thinks to herself for a moment. Her sleepiness is fogging up her brain and making it hard to come up with a good summary.

“It’s a really poorly developed love story about two people who meet by chance at a restaurant and fall head over heels for each other.”

“Jeez, really? That sounds terrible.”

“It’s totally unrealistic, and it reads like bad fanfiction.”

Junghee giggles at that, and if Eunsook weren’t already afraid of sounding creepy she would say how cute the sound is. Junghee in general seems pretty adorable, just from the short time they’ve spent together. Small in size, but with a bright personality and easy to talk to. Eunsook finds herself wondering how someone like her got stuck with the graveyard shift and not something around rush hour.

“Alright, well, I’m about finished. How about you?” the other girl says, eyeing Eunsook’s empty plate.

“Yeah, I’d say so.”

Junghee nods and gets up, taking both of their dishes with her. Eunsook is left alone again with her only her terrible book as company. She looks at it with mild disgust. Who are these people trying to fill the heads of young people that love just falls out of the sky like that? It’s naïve to think that would ever actually happen. Eunsook shoves the thing roughly into her purse, completely tired of it for the night, just as Junghee returns with her bill.

“Junghee?”

“Yes?”

“This says I don’t owe anything.” Eunsook stares at the paper. Yes, those are definitely zeroes at the bottom, along with a doodle of a smiley face.

“Think of it as a thank you. I never have anyone to talk to this late, and you were really nice.”

She blushes at that, and Junghee smiles at her. She can’t think of anything to say, so she just nods, returning Junghee’s smile with a bright one of her own. The other girl goes back behind the counter and waves to Eunsook as she leaves.

It’s not until she gets home that Eunsook actually looks back on what just happened. The more she thinks about it, the more she thinks it could have been a scene in her awful book. Her cheeks still heat up when she thinks about Junghee’s smile, or her giggle. But no, that’s ridiculous, Eunsook can’t possibly like her that much after one meal. She pulls the bill out of her pocket again and looks at it. It wasn’t a cheap dinner. By chance she flips it over. Scrawled on the back is a message, “Thank you for sitting with me! Let’s do it again some time.” followed by what Eunsook can only assume is the rest of Junghee’s schedule for the week.

Eunsook’s eyes widen in disbelief. She has to sit down she’s in so much shock from it all.

“Oh god.” She whispers to herself, “I’m in a teen romance novel.”