Chapter 23

“Annyeonghaseyo, what can I do for you?!” The waitress, who worked at the restaurant greeted SoEun politely at the time she found out the appearance of SoEun. SoEun nodded her head to the waitress with a nice smile on her face in return.

“I have a reservation under the name Park Chanyeol.” Since Chanyeol was the one who invited her for lunch in this restaurant, SoEun assumed Chanyeol must be used his name to make a reservation for their table. At this point, she told her Chanyeol name without any confirmation.

“Oh yes, one moment please!” The waitress checked the reservation list after SoEun giving out a name. However, the waitress had a difficult to find the reservation providing by SoEun no matter how many times she looked up for SoEun.

“I’m sorry, Miss! I couldn’t find the customer’s name for the reservation. Are you sure that you got the correct name?”

“How can that be?” What the waitress said brought nothing but astonishment to SoEun. She understood that there was a membership restaurant that only allowed members to dine in and make payment. Nonmember customers are required to keep the company with membership customer to get in the restaurant.

“I’m sorry about that! It will be impossible for me to let you in unless you provide me the correct name. Why don’t you give him or her a call for confirmation?” The waitress suggested SoEun make a call to find out the name that used the reservation.

“I checked our membership list on our restaurant. Mr. Park Chanyeol is not one of our members for some reason.” The word from the waitress caused SoEun to search for her phone under pressure. During that time, SoEun realized that she had left her phone in Kris’ office. On that spot, SoEun secretly criticized herself for the absentminded behavior.

At the time SoEun felt helpless, someone who just coming for SoEun walked up to the check-in counter and threw his arms around SoEun’s shoulder. Such sudden movement caused SoEun’s whole body to tense up. Her body got to calm down as soon as Kris’ face hove into view.

“She’s with me, I’m a member here, can we get in now?!” Kris slides his hand down from SoEun’s shoulder to her back.

“Let’s go!” Kris shifted his eyes away from the waitress to SoEun and informed to come with him. Before the waitress could say a thing, Kris led SoEun to the restaurant with his hand still on SoEun’s back.

“Kris si, what brings you here? Shouldn’t you suppose in your office?” On the way, SoEun can’t wait for any longer and turned her sight to her right side, where Kris was standing.

“What do you think?” Instead of answering SoEun’s question in a direct way, Kris pulled out SoEun’s phone from his pocket and held it in front of SoEun’s face.

“Oh! Thanks and sorry for troubling you, Kris si! ” SoEun reached out her hand to Kris and took her phone back from Kris’s hand as she apologized to Kris for his kindness and her clumsiness.

“But you come with me? Have you finished eating your lunch before coming here?” SoEun shoved her cell phone back into her bag. Question and concern began to grow as Kris still keeping her company to the restaurant.

“Yeah, you made me come to you all the way and sacrifice my lunch. So you gotta repay me later.” Kris slid his hand into his pant pocket as he uttered out his words with an indifferent tone. Meanwhile, he was glancing around the restaurant in which to look for some hint of the one who interfering his lunchtime with SoEun.

“What did you mean?...” Before SoEun able to express all her questions, a voice called out for her stopping her in the middle. SoEun recognized the owner of that voice without even turning to where the voice sounded.

She immediately turned her body from her back to the direction where the source of the voice calling for her as well as Kris. It was Chanyeol who inviting SoEun to this lunch date.

Chanyeol waved his hand and called out for SoEun to show SoEun which table he was at as soon as he spotted SoEun’s appearance. Not even that, he also figured out there was someone else that accompanying SoEun. More importantly, it was a guy who shared the same height with him.

Even though questions filling Chanyeol’s mind, he gave out his hardest to hide it and lifted up the corner of his lip to form his best-known smile.

SoEun forced out a smile by hiding her nervousness and she waved back to Chanyeol in response as she lifted up her feet and made her way to the table with Kris following behind her.

“Sorry for the wait!” SoEun apologized to Chanyeol for making him wait as soon as she stopped next to the table. Kris stood next to SoEun with his hand still inside the pocket as his eyes set on Chanyeol.

“There’s nothing! This is!?” Chanyeol waved his hand again in front of his chest to ease SoEun’s unnecessary worry. Seconds later, Chanyeol shifted his sight to Kris and asked about Kris’s identity.

“Ah, he is…” Sensing Chanyeol’s eyes laid on Kris’s direction, felt the awkwardness from the distance. Her sentence got cut off by Kris when SoEun trying to speak up.

“My name is Kris Wu, it’s nice to meet you! I’m a friend of Kim SoEun. ” Kris introduced himself to Chanyeol. Then, Kris reached out his hand to offer a handshake with Chanyeol whose identity still unknown to him.

“Nice to meet you, Park Chanyeol, an old friend of SoEun. So are you going to join our lunch?” Chanyeol greeted Kris with a smile showing his brightest and whitest teeth and they both shared a handshake a bit longer than usual.  

“Do you mind? You guys are not having a date, aren’t you?” Finally, Kris pulled his hand out of the handshake as he deliberately inquired Chanyeol about his purpose for this lunch invitation with SoEun.

So here you are, Park Chanyeol. You’re way good looking than I imagined, and get that smile that could have made many girls fall for it once they see it.

According to what I learned from Kim SoEun and her diary the other days, you were the one who had a feeling for Kim SoEun, and also the first one who dumped her two years ago. What would be your intention after this two years absence? Is this a coincidence? Or your premeditation? Your partner stood you up. Or you just want to catch up with her?

“Oh, of course not! New friends are welcome. Don’t just stand there, take your seat! SoEun ah, sit down!” With the smile still plastering on his face, Chanyeol gestured SoEun and Kris to have their seat. SoEun nodded her head to move to the booth, which was across Chanyeol’s seat, and Kris took the seat next to SoEun. SoEun threw an unnoticeable glance at Kris as he scooted over the booth.

“SoEun ah, Sorry for the short notice! But you made it here just in time! Isn’t Kris si giving you a ride? You don’t drive as I know!?” Chanyeol fixed his outfit once he was being seated again. The smile never vanished on Chanyeol’s face even thought bewilderment still filled up his mind.

“Oh no, I was in Kris’s office before coming over and I forgot my cell phone when I was packing up. Kris showed up to return my phone.” SoEun looked up after hearing Chanyeol’s words. She rose up her right hand in front of her chest and waved it to show her denial to Chanyeol’s assumption as she explained the situation to him simultaneously.

“Oh I see, So Kris si what career are you doing?” Listening to SoEun’s explanation, Chanyeol asked Kris about his occupation as he observed the dressing outfit of Kris. No way he was a peer with SoEun. A neat suit and tie in solid black. Working at the office.

“Nothing great! Just helping my family to run our fashion design business. SoEun was with me not long ago just for my lunch delivery she made for me.” As giving out his response, Kris inadvertently mentioned the truth that SoEun was with him before coming at her invitation for the lunch date. In order to give out other weird reaction, Chanyeol nodded his head to what he just heard from Kris.

At the time, the waitress came up to Chanyeol’s table and put down two bowls of soup that Chanyeol ordered while he was waiting for SoEun’s arrival.

“It is lobster bisque, I know you are a seafood-holic. So I guess you might like it. For Kris si, I thought there were just SoEun and me for this lunch date,…” Chanyeol turned his way from SoEun to the waitress who just finished serving them the order and about to walk away. He was going to add another soup for Kris, but SoEun stopped him as soon as he finished his sentence.

“Can I add one more lobster bisque?!”

“NO!” SoEun was about to scream when he trying to stop the order by Chanyeol. The next moment, embarrassment started to envelope the area around Chanyeol’s table. SoEun awkwardly pulled up a smile and explained herself by saying so.

“Kris is allergic to shellfish. He’s now on his recovery. We want one minestrone vegetable soup instead and a pasta primavera with chicken just for now. We’ll order the rest later.” SoEun carefully picked a healthy meal for Kris without looking at the menu. Witnessing SoEun ordered the food like a pro impressed Chanyeol for some reasons and caused Chanyeol unable to take his eyes off her.

We just haven’t seen each other in two years, but you’ve been changed, SoEun ah. Deep in my memory, the things around you were the pastries and ahjussi, and those were the stuff you know and care about.

“SoEun ah, it’s been a long time that we’ve been apart. I never knew that you are the connoisseur at Italian.” Chanyeol cannot help and asked SoEun about her transformation.

“Not only Italian. There still so many things that you don’t know about her. Kim SoEun also expert at French cuisine or you can say that she’s a qualified pastry chef as well as a cooking chef.” Out of nowhere, Kris chimed in and cleared out Chanyeol’s doubt instead.

“Kris si, I think you’ve mistaken something. SoEun and I knew each other when we were young. I know here well more than you expected” Kris’ remark made Chanyeol can’t help but to refute. The days that we’ve been through were unforgettable to SoEun and me. Who do you think you are? To judge me about my acknowledgment of SoEun.

“The Kim SoEun you know is the past her, but not the Kim SoEun now right before your eyes. The one that caused her transformation is-” At the moment, SoEun suddenly stretched out her hand to Kris and covered his mouth to prevent him from continuing his sentences. Kris confused and saw SoEun’s nervous face out of the corner of his eye.

Soon after, they both exchanged a glance as SoEun hinted him to stop talking. Such scenario reflected into Chanyeol’s vision and a trickle of jealously moved through him, but he dismissed it because curiosity of SoEun and Kris’s relationship won over his jealously.

“Ha, ha, Chanyeol ah, are you not hungry? Why do we order something? I am hungry. And the soup is getting cold.” SoEun tried to smile off the intense atmosphere between Kris and Chanyeol and the awkwardness she caused. She randomly changed the subject as she witnessed the steaming bowl of soup turned to cold slowly.

Knowing SoEun’s intention, Chanyeol put his thoughts aside and ordered his lunch as well as SoEun’s. The soup SoEun ordered for Kris had arrived afterward. Next moment, they started their meal with the soup first.

“You are not a member here, how can you make a reservation for this lunch?” SoEun broke the silence by expressing out her thoughts while she ate the soup.

“I am not, but my friend is! She left before you came. I met her in Venice. She’s my partner, but just can’t make it to the party with me due to some family issue.” Chanyeol explained the situation to SoEun indifferently. Without knowing, the use of his words caused SoEun choking on a mouthful of soup.

*cough* SoEun coughed hardly. Seeing this, both Chanyeol and Kris subconsciously grabbed a napkin on the table for SoEun to wipe . Kris beat Chanyeol to it and wiped SoEun’s mouth for her, who was still coughing. Kris and Chanyeol both waited until SoEun expelled the soup from by herself.

“Feeling better?!” Chanyeol asked in concern as soon as he noticed that SoEun stopped coughing. Chanyeol balled his hand into a fist under the table simultaneously. SoEun just nodded her head to show her response.

“Can’t you just be careful? The soup is already not that hot, how can you still choke on it?” Blaming was all you can hear from Kris’s sentence, but concern still filled his voice.

“…” SoEun remained silent while she pounded her chest in a light motion. She had no intention to make any response since the reason that made her choke was Chanyeol’s statement about ‘his partner’. So right now, I was just a fallback plan to you!? SoEun was self-depreciating somewhere deep down in her heart.

After the little incident, the lunch date ended with the discussion about the upcoming charity ball. SoEun played a role as a listener most likely the entire conversation.

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Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter after almost two years. I am sincerely sorry for such long delay. I am facing writer's block with this story for a long time. I will try my best to update this fanfic. As a fan of SoEun, I bet you all have watched SoEun's recent drama with JongHyun. I just want to say it is difficult for me to move on with this couple. Also, the ending made me disappointed and unsatisfied. Therefore, I would like to write a fanfic about this couple. I know that I already had few unfinished stories. But sometimes I would like to open up a new story whenever new story idea comes to my mind. So I would like to ask you guys for opinion to see if you guys want to read some jongsoo couple fanfic. And do you guys prefer a sequel to that man oh soo or a fanfic based on their real name? 

Back to this fanfic, how do you like this new update? I hope you guys enjoying this unexpected lunch date. Let me know you guy's thoughts about the first meeting with Chanyeol and Kris.