Chapter 20 - 20 questions in getting to know you

Serendipity was definitely more crowded than it had been the last time I went there. That time had been with Soojin. Soojin who was mad at me for exactly that what was occurring now. Me going on this outing with Daehyun and therefore me and Daehyun having ties.

The hustle inside made me realize that Serendipity was indeed a hotspot for students, since I recognized some people from my school. They were mostly students that were a grade above me, though there were a couple of students who I knew were in Chaerin’s class.

‘’There?’’ Daehyun asked as he pointed towards an empty spot. It was one of the few spots left. Most of the good spots - nearby the window - were already taken. I didn’t really care about spots or anything.

‘’There is not much of a choice, isn’t there?’’ I asked jokingly.

He shrugged, ‘’I guess you’re right,’’ he answered as we made our way towards the said table. I sat down and dropped my bag. Daehyun did the same.

It was silent for a moment. Only the noises from the people happily chatting away to be heard. Daehyun was typing something on his phone and I eyed the menu card that lay on the table, acting as if I were engrossed in that thing. After all, it was better than awkwardly watching Daehyun – being busy with his phone.

‘’So what do you want?’’ He finally asked after he had put his phone away.

‘’You are not planning on paying for me aren’t you?’’ I asked with a raised eyebrow. I really wasn’t comfortable with the idea of people paying for me like that. I worked to earn and spend my own money.

‘’Of course I am.’’

‘’What is this, a date or something,’’ I mumbled under my breath, regretting those words the moment they left my lips. I hoped Daehyun hadn’t heard me.

‘’It is what you want it to be,’’ he answered with a smirk I hadn’t seen in quite a while. He had definitely heard me. Was it weird that I was a bit unsettled with his answer?

‘’Okay,’’ I only shrugged, trying not to give away my slight disappointment.

‘’So what is it going to be?’’

‘’I really can’t pay for myself?’’ I tried one more time, hopeful.

‘’Nope. Not a chance. What type of guy would I be if I were to let a girl pay for herself when I have asked her to come with me? And plus, this is me repaying you,’’ he smiled faintly. So this was only because he felt indebted to me, I thought as I faked a smile.

‘’Alright. I’m going to go crazy on you then,’’ I playfully sang before firmly grabbing the menu card once again. I heard Daehyun mumble an oh God which caused me to roll my eyes playfully.

‘’I’m only kidding. A mango smoothie and a slice of cheesecake would do,’’ I said, shoving the menu card in front of me again, ‘’pretty please,’’ I added jokingly. See, I could do this. This not-being-awkward thing. He mouthed a got it before making his way towards the counter. Leaving me alone.

I slumped in my chair and sighed. It would surely take him some time to be back since the queue was quite long. And so I got my phone out of my bag, trying to look at least a little bit occupied. That’s when I realized Chaerin’s message, which I hadn’t answered.

Chaerin: Hellooooooooo are you ignoring me?

Chaerin: Goddamnit you are!

Chaerin: You are always on your phone. SO ANSWER ME!

Aerin: Relax, I'm here

Chaerin: Hmmpff finally. What was taking you?

I contemplated on what to answer her exactly.

Aerin: I’m actually kind of busy…

Chaerin: With what? It’s Saturday

Chaerin: You’re never busy on Saturday

Chaerin: Unless you’re working.

Chaerin: Which you aren’t on Saturday usually

Chaerin: Sunday is working day, right?

Aerin: Alright Chaerin, I get it

Chaerin: So? Care to elaborate?

Aerin: I’m at Serendipity

Chaerin: …

Chaerin: With?

Chaerin: Don’t tell me you forgave Soojin :/

Chaerin: That’s so like you… you really are a softie

Aerin: Daehyun

Chaerin: JUNG DAEHYUN?

Chaerin: WHUT

Chaerin: You sure are working fast ^^

I looked over at Daehyun’s figure. He was now being helped by the girl behind the counter.

Aerin: It’s not what you think

Chaerin: Isn’t it?

Chaerin: What are you wearing then?

I frowned at her message.

Aerin: My yellow cardigan

Aerin: And a black T-shirt

Chaerin: OHMYGOD

Chaerin: It is definitely what I think

Aerin: What’s that supposed to mean?

Chaerin: It means that you are dressing up in that I-pretend-not-to-care-about-my-outfit-so-I-go-for-something-casual-but-I-have-been-thinking-it-through-and-this-piece-of-clothing-happens-to-(casually)-look-nice-on-me outfit

Aerin: You sure love to make sentences like this…

Aerin: With the hyphen and all

Chaerin: Not relevant Aerin

Aerin: Yeah well, this meeting doesn’t really mean anything

Chaerin: Of course it does

Aerin: Whatever. He is coming

Aerin: I’ll talk to you later okay?

I was about to put my phone into my bag again. Daehyun was almost here, carrying our orders. The last thing I read from her, was so typical like Chaerin:

Chaerin: DON’T TALK-TO-YOU-LATER ME!

Chaerin: AERIN YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS

Chaerin: DON’T SCREW UP! IN THE NAME OF UPCOMING LOVE!

I chuckled and shook my head in amusement, reading those last sentences, before actually putting my phone away. She was crazy.

‘’What’s so funny?’’ Daehyun asked as he put our tray on the table. Apparently he had ordered the same as I did.

‘’Nothing,’’ I answered before grabbing the smoothie and sipping from it. ‘’Thanks by the way. You really shouldn’t have done all of this,’’ I said as I motioned towards the whole tray, referring to the treat.

He shrugged, ‘’I wanted to.’’

I nodded sheepishly before I sipped my drink again and took a bite of the delicious cheesecake. As did he.

‘’You know. This isn’t as nice as your mothers,’’ he remarked as he poked in his cheesecake, examining it with somewhat of an adoration.

I chuckled, ’’Yeah, but well… it’s still very nice.’’

He nodded and there emerged yet another silence. I focused on the menu card again, simply because I wanted to look occupied while Daehyun was staring at me. His gaze made me nervous and he wasn’t even trying to hide his stare, which added to the embarrassment I felt. I figured that I must’ve looked stupid with the way I was eyeing the card. We had already ordered. Why would I look at that card again?

‘’Hey they also have Red Velvet cake,’’ I spoke awkwardly. Wanting to say something, anything.

He nodded.

‘’Hey let’s play a game,’’ he said all of a sudden before he sipped his drink again. I watched how his plump lip in the liquid. The sight made me feel quite hot and above all: it made me hold my breath.

‘’Game?’’ I asked suspiciously after I had exhaled, ‘’what game?’’

‘’20 questions in getting to know you.’’

‘’Is that an actual game or are you making things up again?’’ I asked, referring to that one time he had insisted in playing some vague game at Jin’s party too. That random game.

‘’I honestly don’t know,’’ he laughed this heartwarming laugh before taking a bite from his cheesecake.

‘’Alright. So how do you play it?’’

‘’You got to ask me 20 question which I have to answer truthfully. The same applies to me. I also got to ask you 20 questions which you have to answer truthfully. We can take turns. It doesn’t really matter in what order we ask things. And you have to speak in honesty,’’ he said, the last sentence sternly.

I frowned. I guess he was making something up again. The only 20-questions game I knew about was the one where you were only allowed to ask questions that could be answered with a simple yes or no. Then through your questions you were supposed to find out what word or person was written on your card. But this was clearly a different game. ‘’I assume you can’t win this game?’’

‘’Not really,’’ he laughed sheepishly, ‘’you only get to know each other.’’

I shook my head playfully as I mumbled a weirdo. He said nothing, so I guess he hadn’t heard me.

‘’You start,’’ he said before downing the last remaining of his drink. How nice, me unoriginal Aerin, gets to open the game, I thought.

‘’Hmm,’’ I hummed, trying to come up with a good question. It was quite tricky – and hard. In order to actually learn things about him I had to ask clever or, at least, interesting things, but if I were to pry too deep he would assume things. Such as me liking him. And I definitely didn’t want him to think that.

‘’What is your favorite animal?’’ I asked after a while. It was a quite lame question, but it was a safe one.

‘’I quite… like dogs, I guess? So dogs? Not all breeds though,’’ he answered unsurely. I was more of a cat person, I thought as I nodded sheepishly. What a lame question. Now I only have nineteen questions left. It was his turn now.

‘’What is your favorite movie?’’

‘’Sunny!’’ I answered excitedly before sipping my mango smoothie. I watched Daehyun as he was eating his cheesecake in satisfaction. He seemed definitely content, almost like a little kid.

‘’Sunny,’’ he repeated as he moistened his lip, deeply concentrating, probably recalling the movie, ’’oh that movie. You look like that actress.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’That actress who played that quiet, pretty girl who smoked.’’

‘’Min Hyorin?’’

‘’Exactly! You look like her,’’ he said with a wide grin.

‘’No I don't,’’ I answered sheepishly. She was a beauty whereas I wasn’t.

''Yes you do.''

''Not really.''

‘’You do,’’ he stated as it was a fact. I figured that there was no arguing with him since he was convinced that I resembled her. And so I asked another question to put a stop to this pointless disagreement.

‘’Uh, who is your famous crush?’’ I was kind of curious about the answer to this question since it was definitely a better question than the previous one.

‘’Shim Saimdang,’’ he answered immediately. It was like he was not even thinking his answer through.

I frowned. ‘’Seriously?’’ Wasn’t that the woman on the 50,000 won bill? Wasn’t she kind of old?

‘’Yes. And that was another question. You have fifteen questions left now since you asked extra things with the previous question too,’’ he answered casually before taking yet another bite of his cheesecake. I gave him a dumbfounded look. He seemed dead serious.

Somehow his answer had disappointed me. I didn’t know if I could take him seriously. He had said that those questions needed to be answered honestly though so he wouldn’t lie himself, right? Otherwise that would be quite hypocritical. Maybe he had weird crushes… on old women on bills.

‘’Who is your celebrity crush?’’ He asked in return.

‘’Not quite original huh?’’ I teased.

‘’Yes it isn’t original but quite interesting nonetheless. Now you have only fourteen questions left though and you still have to answer mine,’’ he grinned cheekily. I rolled my eyes.

‘’Whatever,’’ I spoke softly before answering his question, ‘’Kim Do-Jin, known as Won Bin,’’ I answered, carefully watching Daehyun’s response. He seemed unfazed with my answer, which made a lot of sense but disappointed me nonetheless. He only chuckled, ‘’and with you a thousand others,’’ he stated the obvious.

‘’Yeah well. That’s how it goes with crushes who are famous. Unless you crush on people on bills. I don’t think any average person would do that,’’ I shrugged jokingly.

Daehyun began to laugh. Quite loud too and it was a laugh I really liked in that moment. He had this sort of deep laugh which could become very high-pitched too. ‘’I guess you’re right about that. So what do you like about him?’’

‘’I don’t know. He’s just so handsome, like his lips… they are really luscious, I mean plump. Eh… nice. And his nose is perfect too. Everything is just so right about him,’’ I answered dreamily, forgetting that I was talking to Daehyun.

That was until he bursted out in laughter again. ‘’Whoa, I never would’ve thought that Park Aerin was such a fangirl.’’

I laughed sheepishly as response. ‘’I’m not really, it’s just. Never mind shall we go to the next question?’’ I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. He wasn’t meant to see this fangirl side of me, it seemed a bit dorky.

‘’Yeah okay. But that was another question. Just so you know.’’ He grinned cheekily once again. Daehyun sure had pleasure in being an absolute smartass.

I groaned, ‘’Come on don’t be like that. You’re no fun.’’

‘’Says the girl who spends all of her free time in bed,’’ he remarked playfully.

I knew it was a joke, I knew. But still, the thought of him seeing me as this boring girl - as he had stated - did hurt me. So I just faked a laugh, trying to brush this stupid feeling off.

‘’What is the biggest lie you ever told?’’ I asked all of a sudden. In hopes of distracting myself with another question and therefore another topic.

He ate the last piece of his cheesecake before looking up to me. Right in the eyes. ‘’I don’t lie, so I don’t know. Maybe as a kid I told lies? Such as that I hadn’t stolen my brother’s homework when my parents asked me if I did, something like that.’’

His statement raised a couple of more questions. He doesn’t lie? Come on, everybody does.

‘’Why would you steal your brothers homework?’’ I tried to ask in a jokingly matter.

‘’So the perfect student would get into trouble because he couldn’t turn it in. It didn’t really work though. He would just do all of it over again so that he could still hand it in,’’ he laughed bitterly. I rested the palm of my left hand on my cheek, my elbow leaning on the table as I looked at Daehyun with narrowed eyes.

‘’Why would you want your brother to get into trouble?’’

‘’Just because,’’ he shrugged. There seemed to be more to this but with the way Daehyun was acting - not elaborating while he clearly stated that we would speak in honestly - I didn’t want to pry any further. This seemed to involve family matters and it was just a stupid game anyway: not an interrogation. I sipped the remaining of my smoothie.

‘’When and with who was your first kiss?’’ He asked now that it was his turn. His question almost made me spit out the liquid in surprise and I immediately sat up straight, looking to my right, avoiding his curious look.

I swallowed the liquid slowly. ‘’Those are two questions,’’ I stated in order to stall, or maybe change, the topic.

‘’Yes I know. Answer them,’’ he responded casually.

‘’I, uh,’’ I began, trying not to come off as a total loser. Truth to be told was that I hadn’t had my first kiss yet. And despite being quite at that age already I didn’t think of that as a problem nor big deal up until now. Up until Daehyun was making me realize that, maybe, I was missing out on a few things.

‘’Don’t tell me you haven’t?’’ He asked amused.

‘’Three questions,’’ I said, still trying to stall the topic.

‘’You haven’t,’’ he stated convinced, ‘’really?’’ He asked, now, dumbfounded.

I wasn’t keeping count on his remaining questions anymore. He probably had asked about four of them. I awkwardly cleared my throat before trying to come off as cool as possible about me never being kissed. ’’Well yeah. Why is that so surprising?’’

‘’Well because we’re at that age to, you know… plus someone like you, never been kissed, it’s a bit… surprising,’’ he answered slowly, unsurely.

I didn’t understand what he was trying to say. That age to you know? No I didn’t know. Was he referring to doing it or something? Was he saying that I was terribly behind because I was supposed to be that far – judging by my age? And what did he mean with: someone like me? He sure was making no sense to me.

‘’I don’t get what you’re saying,’’ I said sheepishly.

‘’Well. You look like the kind of girl, guys would like to kiss,’’ he shrugged once again, playing with the straw of his finished drink.

‘’How could someone look like that? Are you saying that I’m pretty and therefore kissable looking or something?’’ I joked awkwardly, not expecting any serious answer from him.

But I seemed to be often wrong about Jung Daehyun. ‘’Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying,’’ he answered straight-forwardly. I noticed how he tried to reach for his cheesecake, only to be reminded that it was already eaten.

‘’Thanks… I guess,’’ I answered awkwardly, not knowing where to look, after a long silence. Daehyun laughed his nice laugh, apparently not uncomfortable with this whole situation. While I was.

‘’How about you?’’ I asked, sincerely curious about him now. It wasn’t a question I would randomly ask but since he had done it, I assumed that it was okay for me to ask it now. Besides, I wanted to shift the topic from me to him.

He played with his fork, scraping the little remaining cream of his plate. ‘’I think I was… thirteen or something? Maybe fourteen. I don’t think you know her, though she is in our year. She used to live in Busan too,’’ he spoke nonchalant.

My curiosity got the better of me and therefore I asked something that made me seem, maybe, a bit too curious about his previous love life. ‘’Who?’’

‘’You’re quite curious.’’

‘’So were you,’’ I countered immediately. He chuckled, probably realizing that I was right.

‘’Kim Jinah, I don’t believe you know her,’’ he spoke casually. He was partly right, I didn’t know her. Though I knew of her since I had seen her text him once. It made me wonder about the kind of relationship they have - or were having - but of course I didn’t ask further about that

‘’You’re right. I don’t know her,’’ I responded. My response made him smile faintly, as if he was relieved about that fact.

‘’Who is the most handsome guy you have ever met?’’ He asked now. His question surprised me because there was only one answer immediately popping up in my mind. I was unsure about telling him the truth, however. Daehyun sure liked to ask questions of this sorts. Juicy love related questions that is.

‘’Met as in, I know of the guy or I actually know the guy?’’ I asked in order to stall answering him. I knew very well that he was referring to the latter.

‘’The latter,’’ he answered, much to my disappointment.

I was silent for a while. Contemplating whether I should be honest with him right now. Would he assume things if I would be speaking my truth?

‘’You,’’ I answered unsurely after a while. Regret washed over me the moment I noticed Daehyun’s amused and teasing expression. I was embarrassed, to say the least, but I was also quite proud that I had bluntly said it. Daehyun was also being honest with me after all.

‘’How about you, who’s the prettiest girl you ever met?’’ I quickly asked in return. Not giving him the time to respond to my answer. I must admit that I was anticipating his answer, though I knew I wasn’t supposed to keep my hopes up. Daehyun probably knew so many pretty girls.

‘’Now I have to say that it’s you. Otherwise I’m coming of as a jerk,’’ he laughed good-naturedly, not knowing that this statement alone was quite offending already. He was already telling me that it wasn’t me, yet out of courtesy he would lie.

‘’No you have to speak the truth, remember?’’ I faked a laugh while playing with a lock of hair. Maybe I wanted him to say that it’s me, though I would know he would be lying.

‘’Hmm,’’ he hummed as he carefully thought his upcoming answer through, ’’that’s a tough question. There are so many pretty girls.’’ I laughed awkwardly as he said that.

‘’I think… Yuna maybe? Or… Yeah, I guess Yuna,’’ he concluded. It would be a lie if I said that his answer didn’t create this sort weird, quite painful, feeling in my chest. I should’ve seen his answer coming. I knew, this answer was coming as a matter of fact. Yet it still hurt.

‘’She… she’s pretty,’’ I said softly. I glanced over my unfinished cheesecake, my appetite was gone now. There fell a silence but Daehyun broke it like there was nothing going on and I figured that for him, there was nothing going on.  

‘’If you could change one physical thing about yourself, what would it be?’’ He asked. He sure was creative with his questions. He knew just what to ask to keep the conversations interesting, juicy and going.

A face like Choi Yuna’s wouldn’t be bad, especially not now, I thought immediately. I wouldn’t answer that, however. There were a lot of things that I felt like I physically lacked in. My way too pointy nose, my dull-looking eyes and my legs that could have been longer were one of the few things that could use a change.

‘’My eyes, I guess,’’ I answered after a while. My answer caused Daehyun to frown. He looked quite surprised.

‘’Why? They look nice,’’ he narrowed his eyes at me as he looked deep into my eyes. It made me look away.

I became flustered due to his sudden compliment. Though it still wasn’t much of a compliment enough to ease the uneasiness I had felt with the previous question. And so I just nodded before mouthing a simple yet awkward thanks. There fell a silence once again and Daehyun was looking at me with a: you don’t take compliments very well kind of expression. His brows were slightly furrowed now and it was the same expression he wore that one time at Jin’s party when he had actually spoken those words out loud.

‘’Hey you want something else? I’m still hungry,’’ he laughed as he grabbed the menu card in front of me. He examined it carefully. I shook my head, though I doubted that he were able to see me since he was that focused on the card.

It was only then that I realized that Serendipity had died down a little. The queue wasn’t long anymore. Instead all the people were seated, probably either on a date or meeting with friends. It made me wonder what I was actually doing here with Daehyun. Was this a meeting or a date? The answer was the former, though I wanted it to be the latter.

Daehyun stood up all of a sudden and told me that he was about to get something extra. I said nothing, just let him be. He was back rather quickly and he had yet another cheesecake, this time with a coke. What surprised me was that he had also bought another mango smoothie, which he handed to me.

‘’I didn’t as-‘’

‘’I know, but just do me a favor and take it. Oh yeah and finish your cheesecake, otherwise I can’t guarantee that I won’t eat it myself,’’ he interrupted with a grin.

‘’Okay, daddy,’’ I mocked him, a faint smile on my face. It was quite cute that he had bought me that smoothie. It was also quite cute that he would eat my cheesecake. His cheesecake counter would be on three then. Or two and a half actually.

‘’I like it when you call me daddy,’’ he said with wiggling eyebrows.

I bursted out in laughter. And I guess it both surprised myself and Daehyun since his eyes widened in amusement.

‘’Eew, that’s really sick Daehyun,’’ I tried to say in between my laughs. His comment and the face he had been making were so wrong yet amusing and I actually couldn’t stop laughing for a while. It made me forget about all of those previous hurtful and awkward moments, minutes ago.

The corners of his mouth curled up in a wide smile and though he wasn’t making any sound it seemed like a genuine smile. It was so wide that I really took notice of his perfectly white straight teeth. I also noticed how his right canine was somehow higher than the rest of his teeth, a flaw that I found really cute – and y.

‘’I’ve never heard you laugh like this,’’ he spoke.

I shrugged still laughing, silently telling him that he was probably right.

‘’So let’s continue,’’ he began amused, ‘’Tell me something embarrassing about yourself,’’ he finished with a devious grin. He really had questions I wouldn’t dare to ask him myself unless he would start with it. Though this wasn’t a real question: more of a request.

‘’I have really bad mourning breath,’’ I answered without thinking. Covering my mouth when I realized I had actually told him that. Another burst of laughter emerged from Daehyun and he dramatically wiped his imaginary tears away.

‘’Really? Let me smell then,’’ he said playfully as he closed the proximity between us. He was bending over the table trying to get closer to me. I pushed him away by the shoulders once he got really close. He almost lie on the table by now and we were in public. He didn’t seem to care though.

‘’No! And I said morning breath,’’ I almost exclaimed, still holding on to his shoulders, trying to push him off.

‘’Yeah right, lies. Prove it to me then,’’ he laughed as he sat in his chair again. I shook my head sternly in response which in turn made him smirk.

I playfully put my hand in front of my mouth, breathing in and checking the state of my breath. It was okay in my opinion and so I challenged him. ‘’It’s all good. Come at me and I’ll prove it to you,’’ I smirked in return – which was definitely a first.

He crawled over the table again and his face was just inches apart from mine now. We locked eyes and it made me hold my breath. I did nothing and that’s when Daehyun spoke up: ‘’See you’re chickening out now,’’ he whispered closely allowing me to smell his breath. It smelled like cheesecake and mango, as expected. I breathed out carefully, unsurely. After that Daehyun sat in his chair again. ‘’It smells like cheesecake and mango,’’ he shrugged, ‘’not bad,’’ he grinned now. And I did too, realizing how childish and ridiculous the both of us were acting – in public.

I felt really relaxed by now. As if Daehyun was actually a friend. A friend I happened to like a little, romantically. And so now, I wanted to know. I truly wanted to know the bold thing I was about to ask. Though I had a hunch about the answer already.

‘’When and who is the last girl you kissed.’’

He stared at me. Probably surprised with me asking such a bold question. He in a breath, something he tended to do a lot when he was about to speak – I’ve noticed.

‘’Yuna.’’

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. My hunch was right. I was about to say something, something in order to make it seem like I wasn’t slightly affected. This had all been my own fault and I regretted the question instantly.

‘’It was a long time ago,’’ he said before I could say anything.

‘’Define long,’’ I tried to joke.

‘’Some months ago,’’ he said taking the last bite from his cheesecake. He looked at mine, still unfinished, cheesecake with a glint of hope in his eyes and in response I shoved my plate towards him before fiddling with the straw of my smoothie. I wondered what months meant. It could be ten, it could be three. I knew better than to pry further into that however. I had already asked a risky question and though I felt unsettled with his answer I knew that that feeling was entirely to blame on only me. I had asked it after all and he was only being honest, like we had agreed upon.

‘’What is it you’re afraid of?’’ He asked. He had asked it so quickly that it almost seemed as if he wanted to change the topic, but I was probably imagining things. I wondered if we hadn’t surpassed our twenty questions already. The both of us.

‘’You’ll think it’s stupid,’’ I muttered before sipping my drink.

‘’Try me.’’

I sighed. Only thinking about it made me cringe and only seeing a picture of it would make my insides turn. It was a real stupid phobia of mine. And though it was common, mine was a bit more extreme than the average person with the same anxiety.

‘’I’m afraid of spiders, like really bad. I wouldn’t say I’m afraid because that’s an understatement. It’s really a phobia and these creatures scare the living hell out of me,’’ I said in one breath.

Daehyun’s brows furrowed in amusement and then he began to laugh, ‘’seriously?’’

‘’Don’t laugh at me. I’m really, dead serious about this one. And I absolutely hate it when Chaerin teases me with it as she sends me pictures of them. It almost makes me pee my pants and I even dropped my phone once when I had enlarged the picture she had send me,’’ I said showing him the burst in the right corner of my phone. How I hated Chaerin for that one.

‘’That can’t be… they are more afraid of you then you are of them. Plus they don’t do anything. No harm at all. Aren’t you exaggerating?’’ He laughed good-naturedly.

I was somehow a little pissed about him stippling this out for me. I know that those creatures are more afraid of me, but that doesn’t change how I feel whenever I would see one in a picture. Let alone, seeing them in real life. It was a stupid anxiety, but it was still a serious anxiety and I hated being mocked for it. So I faked a smile and that’s when Daehyun downed the last remaining of his coke, leaving nothing behind to eat or drink.

At some point he grabbed his phone and eyed it carefully. Then he eyed his watch, which was weird since he could’ve checked the time on his phone. ‘’Aerin there is somewhere I need to be… I’m so-‘’

‘’That’s okay. We have been here for a long time,’’ I tried to reassure him as I was looking around the café. It wasn’t as crowded as before and the faces were all strange to me now. It only meant that people would come and go while we were staying. We had been here for some time. A quite long time.

‘’I can drop you off?’’ he offered with a smile.

‘’No that’s ok-‘’

‘’Just let me drop you off,’’ he firmly said before bringing the tray back to the counter. There was really no way to ever win against Jung Daehyun. I grabbed my bag and unlocked my phone checking the tons of messages Chaerin had left me. All along the lines of Aerin you are actually having a date now and you have to tell me everything. Her last message was sent more than an hour ago.

I put my phone away and that’s when Daehyun came back and motioned for me to follow him. So I did and quickened my pace in order to walk beside him.

‘’Thanks… for wanting to ride me home and this treat,’’ I said shyly.

‘’This date you mean? You know that isn’t a problem.’’ He smirked as he searched his backpack for his car keys. And I just stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. My lips automatically curled up into a smile after the realization of him considering this a date. Daehyun was still busy searching for his keys and I took the liberty to take all of Jung Daehyun in.

I thought about how the day had been up till now. It sure was a nice day where I had learned quite a lot. Both good and bad. It was as if I was solving the pieces of Jung Daehyun one by one. A day with him was like a rollercoaster of emotions: I could laugh freely one moment, while I could feel hurt only a slight second after that. It was a cycle that only existed whenever I was with him. Jung Daehyun had this sort of effect on me.

Jung Daehyun was a mystery.

And I still don’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

But for now it felt good.

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A/N: This sure was a long chapter, but I hope that you guys enjoyed it nonetheless!