Chapter 6

Outing with Byunghun

   “Geez Byunghun, where are we going!?”

Annoyed, I ruffled my hair as Byunghun dragged me through the streets of Seoul. Many people were passing by, and they were giving us weird looks, since we did look like a couple consisting of a hyper boyfriend and slacker girlfriend. Not cool.

   “Oh, and just so you know, we’re going on a little outing, since it’s the weekend and we’ve known each other for four days. In fact, I’m going to give you a little tour of our local residence.” He said, enthusiastically. Pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, he started reading.  “First, we’re going to have lunch, don’t know where but we’ll manage. Then, the mall, since that’s a necessity for all you girls, and lastly, I’ll introduce you to Teen Top. Sounds like a legit plan?”

  “Yup. But still, what if Teen Top winds up hating me?”

  “Why would they? You’re not a bad person. Just don’t sweat it.”

  “Okay…”

Byunghun pulled me up to a small box-like room that smelled like food. I sat Walking up to the counter, he talked a bit with the old woman behind it. She seemed very friendly.

  “L.Joe, you’ve grown, so much! Last time I saw you was when, three years ago? Oh! And you’ve also gotten yourself a girlfriend, she is very pretty-“

  “No, she isn’t my girlfriend, she’s just a good friend. Anyways, I would like to order one Dukbokki, and two bowls of seaweed soup.”

  “Very well! Since you’re one of the only ones here, your order will be coming shortly.”

Returning to the table, he sighed. From what I could tell, this place meant a lot to him.

  “You know,” He said, “When my parents were our age, they visited this place every so often. They don’t anymore…but that’s not the main point.”

The woman placed our orders on the table, and even I had to admit, it smelled amazing.

   “This place means a lot to you then?”

   “Yeah. You know what, let’s just eat.”

                                                                                                             ***

Ever since I was little, I had always thought shopping was really quite useless. What necessities do you gain from frolicking in brand clothing stores? Nothing, besides expensive clothes that you’re going to wear like three times before they get too tight. I looked around and found L.Joe subconsciously twiddling with a rack of hair bands. I started at him weirdly.

     “L.Joe!” I shouted. “What are you doing with those hairbands?”

     “Eh? Oh. I, uh, had nothing to do.”

He rushed towards me, and w