One day out of the blue, Yoojin and Sunggyu were suddenly called out at eight in the morning by Myungsoo and Hweji, whose faces were both gleaming with the bright idea they were about to let the other two in on.  “We need to have a group outing.”  Hweji said with emphasis on the need.

When the two newcomers didn’t say anything and just sat there with sleepy faces, and bodies leaning against one another, Hweji raised an eyebrow at them. 

Myungsoo nudged her,  “What did you expect after calling them out this early? They went out clubbing last night. I think they’re still a little drunk… or at least Sunggyu is.”  They both watched as Sunggyu’s hand s its way slowly up Yoojin’s thigh before she slapped it away and nudged him in the ribs. 

“Yeah,”  Hweji laughed at the sight,  “Yoojin doesn’t usually stay affected by alcohol for long but Sunggyu— wait, they went clubbing?”

“What’s your bright idea for this group outing?”  Yoojin successfully evaded the forthcoming interrogation.

“To the Dublin Zoo! You haven’t been to it yet, right? Actually, I don’t think any of us have.”

Yoojin furrowed her eyebrows.  “But you hate animals?”

“I’ll endure it today, just for you, baby girl. Okay?”

“The Zoo is in the Phoenix Park. One of those places I was telling you about.”  Sunggyu mumbled sleepily with his cheek still resting against Yoojin’s shoulder. 

“Oh! Then sure, we’ll go. Wait. Why are we going so early though?”

Myungsoo and Hweji shared a look before the former cleared his throat.  “Well, we just wanted to make the most of the time we have left with you before your exams begin.”

-

By the time they arrived in Phoenix Park, Sunggyu had sobered up for the most part.

He apologised to Yoojin first in case he did something weird, but she only shook her head at him and smiled.

In the zoo, Hweji kept just pointing out things coolly from a distance, while Yoojin was a lot more excited and tried to drag her closer to the cages only to be held back since Hweji was terrified of animals.  Even the fully sealed cages where no animal could bounce through the glass, Hweji refused to get close, which was funny because she had been the one who came up with the plan from the start. 

The two boys just trailed behind them with amused gazes. 

At some point, Sunggyu and Yoojin were left alone by the two others who said they’d go and buy snacks. 

“Hey,”  Sunggyu said quietly, grabbing Yoojin’s wrist lightly to get her attention, “Let’s just ditch those two. They’re no fun.”

Admittedly, Hweji wasn’t allowing Yoojin to have any fun, and Myungsoo just seemed to be in a foul mood whenever Hweji wasn’t poking fun at him. But still, Yoojin nudged Sunggyu again, shaking her head as she chuckled.  “We can’t do that.”

“Okay, okay. Fine but blease stop doing that.”  He pouted slightly, rubbing his ribs with his hand that wasn’t holding Yoojin’s.

-

After only an hour in the zoo before they decided to leave, Yoojin was finding it hard not to complain about how disappointing that had been for her.  However, somehow she managed to keep it in.  It was Sunggyu who couldn’t hold his tongue. 

“We should go and check out the woody area back there. It’s fun, I promise.”  He pointed in the direction he was hoping to lead the group next, but his arm got quickly pushed back down again.

“Absolutely not!”  Hweji screeched.  “There’re wild deer out there. Lots of! Just! No!”

This actually caught Yoojin’s attention though.  “Really?”

“No.”  Hweji repeated firmly, holding Yoojin’s arm and shaking it almost desperately.  She gave her a gaze that clearly conveyed her full hatred towards the idea of putting herself in a position where wild life can come and eat her alive.  “If you go I will banish you from my coffee shop!”

As if that makes a difference to me anymore.  Yoojin’s gaze was fixed on Sunggyu instead, whose eyes were telling her the same thing he had suggested earlier about ditching the others.  

He smiled a little, as if the telepathy between them was real and not imagined.  One of his eyebrows raised just slightly, as if waiting for her answer.  And all it took was one subtle nod from Yoojin before Sunggyu wrapped his hand around her's again and the two made a run for it, laughing together at the high-pitched screams full of pointless threats that Hweji let out after them.

And that’s how Yoojin and Sunggyu finally ended up alone together, strolling around in silence and examining the slightly woody and swampy looking area of Phoenix Park.  In all honesty, Yoojin found this part of the park even more exciting than the Zoo itself, and this place was free of charge. 

Then, there was a click of a camera and she turned around only to find Sunggyu take another picture of her. 

“Can you please not? There are deer over there.”

Sunggyu shook his head with a small smile, gazing at the pictures he took,  “The deer aren’t suddenly gonna disappear from this park, Yoojin. And I come here all the time,”  he snapped another quick photo of Yoojin looking at him with a puzzled gaze,  “But when’s the next time I’m going to see you here musing on the deer like it’s your first time seeing them? It’s a rare sight.”

“And what’s the significance of you documenting this rare sight?”

“I might make it a cover of my album one day,”  he shrugged, flashing a smile as he dodged Yoojin’s failed attempt at smacking his chest by taking a step backwards.  This caused Yoojin to slip on some loose sticks on the damp ground, almost making Sunggyu drop his camera just to catch her before she could fall.

He barely managed to wrap his arms around her waist before her back could touch the wet ground.  Still, even in that potentially dangerous position, Yoojin did what she had set out to do and smacked his chest. 

Sunggyu chuckled,  “Hey, I think I just made up for my playful comment just now. I didn’t deserve that.” 

“What do you want me to do, take it back?” 

“Kiss it better.”

“Aren’t you gonna let me stand on my own feet before asking me to do something like that?”  she questioned him with one raised eyebrow,  “I’m not really in the position to even move right now in fear I might fall.”

“That’s right. What would you do without me? And I could just drop you.”

“Do it,”  she told him with a daring smirk,  “I bet your conscience won’t let you.”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and decided not to take her up on her challenge. 

Yoojin laughed happily, moving away from him to go and explore some more. 

Admittedly her feet were soaking by the time they made it out of the tiny woods and approached a picnic tables.  With how dark it was under the trees that let no light through, they half-expected it to be brighter outside, but instead found the sky almost black. 

It was still too early to go home though, so they stayed and chatted some more. 

“It’s been a while since I went out and got so dirty in a jungle-like habitat.”

“This is Phoenix Park, not a jungle.”

They both laughed about it, and Yoojin nodded,  “It was nice though. I feel like a kid again.”

“You grew up in Seoul though, right? How did you find yourself in jungles?”

“Well not exactly jungles, but my parents were big hiking freaks when I was younger and sometimes brought me along on their trips.  They often went so far off the trails that I cried until I fell asleep and was brought home in my dad’s arms,”  she laughed a bit at the memory,  “and now I miss those times.”

“Once again, Miss Shin, this is where we are different. I hate getting dirty.”

“Then consider yourself lucky, Mr Kim, that you didn’t let me fall earlier. Things would have turned brutal.”

Sunggyu reached over to wipe some dirt off her cheek, musing on her smile. 

“Your words don’t match your gentle expression, and to be quite honest I think that makes me a little scared of you.”

She nodded.  “Oh, you should be.” 

Then there was a short moment of silence.  The only sounds that could be heard were their own quiet breaths.  Sunggyu eventually broke it by speaking out what appeared to have been on his mind for a while.

He reached for her hand slowly.  “I’m glad I got the chance to meet you, Shin Yoojin.”

“You’re not about to confess your love, are you?”

“No, no.”  he chuckled and took her hand in his, gently caressing it with his thumb,  “Just wanted to let you know that I’m happy.”

“I’d be happier…”  she began, but trailed off without finishing her thought.  She didn't have to.

The gentle caresses from Sunggyu continued, which let her know the message probably reached him without having to be spoken.  And that’s what she loved about, Sunggyu.  As much as there had been some uncomfortable misunderstandings on her part, at least Sunggyu appeared to understand her without her having to paint the whole picture for him.

-

By the time they arrived at Hweji’s shop at the end of the day, the older female practically screamed at Yoojin again about having banished her from the shop.  And not just Yoojin, but Sunggyu too.  She almost threatened to call the police, which earned some snickering from Myungsoo, whom she then also threatened with more anger than Yoojin had ever seen in her friend in the last few months. 

“I’m sorry, Hweji. It’s not like I dragged you with me though…”

“But still! It was supposed to be a group outing.”  Hweji said, causing Yoojin to feel bad.  It was not nice of her to ditch her friend who just wanted to spend the day together.  After all, who knew when they’d get another chance to go out with the four of them together again?

“I'm sorry,”  Yoojin jutted out her lower lip in the saddest pout she had ever managed to muster for Hweji, immediately prompting Hweji to pull her into a rather uncomfortable hug over the counter. 

“I hate you so much!”

“I love you too.”  Yoojin whispered.