Chapter 2

Yuri dropped herself onto the bed and looked up at the clock on the wall which it read 3am. She had just gotten home from the karaoke place. She had fun with Luhan but she knew that he was only a customer to her and she was only a hostess to him. The ringing of her samsung galaxy note 2 startled her and she saw that whoever was calling her had their number hidden. She answered the call with a weary, “Hello.”

“Hi Anna.” The voice said, on the other end.

“Hi.” Yuri replied, startled.

“Can you guess who I am?” The guy asked, on the other side of the phone.

Yuri thought hard and replied a no because only Jaejoong had her number but the guy on the other side of the line definitely wasn’t Jaejoong, “Who are you?” Yuri asked.

“Just give it a guess.” The guy replied.

Yuri didn’t know why but she instinctively said, “Your Luhan Oppa, right?”

She heard the guy on the other side chuckled and reply, “Yes, its me. How did you know?”

“I guess it was instincts.” Yuri replied. Then she heard another guy talking next to Luhan and before she realized what was going on, she was talking to another guy by the name of Donghae. He was at the karaoke as well and apparently, Jaejoong had used Donghae's phone to record Yuri's number down. Yuri was in a blur because she heard the two guys arguing over the phone and trying to snatch it away from each other, trying to talk to her. She heard the both of them talking to her but she couldn’t catch on to what they were saying because it was all in bits and pieces. She made an excuses for them, saying that they were drunk but she still couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated by the way they were treating her and she could feel anger rise within her. After all, it was already late and she wanted to go to sleep. Obviously to her, the guys weren’t going to let her go that easily.

“What’s your number?” Luhan ask her, over the phone and Donghae's voice had subsided.

“Huh?” Yuri asked, confused “Aren’t you calling me now?”

“Yeah, but this is Donghae's phone and he won’t give me your number so can you give it to me again, please?" Luhan explained.

Yuri gave him her number again, but she had to give it to him about five times because the phone kept on being grabbed by Donghae and Luhan had a hard time writing the number down. When he finally got it, Yuri wearily said, “I need sleep now.”

“Oh, yeah. I'm sorry to keep you up Anna.” Luhan said, on the other side of the phone, “But just one more question. Are you free tomorrow?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m free.” Yuri replied, feeling her energy draining and dozing off once in a while during her talk with him, “How about dinner together tomorrow?” Luhan asked.

“Up to you.” Yuri replied, surprised and now much sure than ever that Luhan was definitely drunk. How could a guy she only met twice at such a place ask her out for dinner and have hardly talked to him?

“Okay then.” Luhan said, “I think my friend wants to say goodnight to you.”

Yuri heard the phone rattling before hearing Donghae's goodnight and sweet dreams. Yuri sighed as she hung up the phone. She was extremely happy to be able to relax and get some sleep. Yuri was feeling sleepy when she heard her phone ringing again, and saw that it was Luhan calling her again. She groaned and picked up the phone, “What?” Yuri asked. Her voice was cold because she couldn’t believe he was such a hassle.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to say goodnight and sweet dreams.” Luhan replied.

“Well, goodnight to you, too.” Yuri said. She couldn’t believe it. She was already falling asleep and he had to wake her up again.

“I will call you tomorrow...I mean, today.” Luhan corrected.

“Okay. Goodnight again.” Yuri said, and hung up. Before drifting off to sleep, Yuri reassured herself that Luhan was drunk and that he wouldn’t call her, let alone asked her out to dinner, “He probably doesn’t even know what he talked about after he wakes up.” Yuri muttered to herself, and before long, Yuri was fast asleep.

The next day, Yuri got up feeling sick due to all the alcohol she drank the other night. She had a quick hot shower before settling down to watch tv and was startled by the ringing of her phone. She checked the caller id and it was on private. She picked it up, thinking it might be Donghae again, but when the voice said hello, she knew straight away it was Luhan.

“Hey.” Yuri said, shocked.

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Luhan asked.

“Because I thought you were only joking when you said you had call me.” Yuri explained.

“Well, I promised I had call you so I did.” Luhan responded.

“But you sounded drunk yesterday.” Yuri replied, “I thought you had forget that you said you will call me.”

“Did you think I was drunk last night?” Luhan asked, “Well, I wasn’t. I was awake as anyone can be, plus I miss you.”

“Right.” Yuri said, taking him unseriously because how can someone miss her without even knowing her that well? “So, you still free tonight?” Luhan asked.

“Why?” Yuri questioned back.

“Because if you are, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me.” Luhan said.

Yuri was quiet for a while. She thought about how much she could trust this guy to go out to dinner with him but for some reason, her heart and mind told her at the same time that she shouldn't, “Okay.” Yuri replied, after a while, “But you will have to pick me up because I can’t be bothered catching the train to go anywhere.”

“Of course, I will come pick you up.” Luhan said, “I wouldn’t want a pretty girl like you walking on the streets by herself at night.”

“Fine. Pick me up at the train station in the city at 8pm.” Yuri replied.

“Okay. See you then.” Luhan said.

Yuri thought that he was going to hang up but in fact, he didn’t. He and Yuri continue talking, getting to know each other and before Yuri knew it, she had been on the phone with Luhan for more than three hours. She told him that she had to go get ready and hung up.

Luhan was already waiting for Yuri when she arrived. She looked around and asked, “Which one is your car?” Luhan nodded at the taxi that was parked in front of him with a driver inside.

Yuri raised her thick eyebrows, asking for an explanation.

“My license got suspended for two years for speeding so I can’t drive.” Luhan explained.

“If you told me, I would have met you at the restaurant instead of asking you to pick me up.” Yuri replied, feeling guilty. She knew it was quite expensive from his place to hers in a taxi and she didn’t like the feeling of owing anyone anything but this guy in front of her knew exactly how to make her feel guilty.

“So, where do you want to go?” Luhan asked.

“You decide.” Yuri replied, as Luhan opened the taxi door for her.

They had Japanese cuisine together and Yuri had asked Luhan to call her Yuri instead of Anna.

“What? You told me a fake name?” Luhan asked, feeling a bit upset.

“Well, no one uses their real name at the Seoul Nightlight.” Yuri explained, “Plus, I wouldn’t have told you if I didn’t consider you as a friend.” Yuri said honestly. She was starting to like Luhan more and more but of course, it was only a friendly like.

“Okay.” Luhan said, “You have such a sweet name for such a sweet girl.”

“Thank you.” Yuri replied, feeling her cheeks turn hot.

After dinner, the two of them were bored and decided to catch a movie together. It was half an hour before the movie started so Luhan suddenly said, “Can we go out for a second?”

“What’s wrong?” Yuri asked, holding onto the tickets.

“I want a smoke.” Luhan replied.

“Oh.” Yuri said, before heading out towards the streets.

Luhan offered her a cigarette but Yuri just shook her head.

“You don’t smoke?” Luhan asked, rather surprised.

“No, I don’t. I hate the smell of cigarettes.” Yuri explained, scrunching up her oval-shaped face at the thought of smoking.

Luhan looked at Yuri incredulously. Here was this girl that worked as a hostess at a karaoke bar but she doesn’t even smoke.

“What?” Yuri asked, noticing Luhan's stare.

“You are different.” Luhan replied, “I mean, every girl that works at the karaoke bar smokes.”

“Well, now you know one that doesn’t!” Yuri retorted, feeling a bit upset that Luhan should compare her with all the other girls there. She wanted to tell him she was only working there because she needed the money, not because she liked it.

“Okay, okay.” Luhan said, holding up his hands defensively, “I was just amazed. Anyway, the movie is going to start soon.” He said, as he put his cigarette away.

The movie wasn’t as good as Yuri had thought it would be but she did cry in some parts. Luhan couldn’t help but laugh at her when he saw a teary eyed Yuri walking out of the cinema.

“What’s so funny?” Yuri sniffed.

“You are so cute.” Luhan laughed, “What’s there to cry about in that movie?”

“You don’t understand. It was so sad when the guy died.” Yuri replied, blowing her nose.

Luhan looked at the girl in front of him. Was he wrong? Was he wrong to think that she was just another girl who was only attracted to his money? He thought she would have been like the other girls because he knew if he took one of the other girls out, they would definitely have tried to cling onto him but here was Yuri who didn’t even want to touch him as far as he was concerned.

“Can you take me home?” Yuri asked, breaking into his thoughts.

“Sure.” Luhan replied, as he waved for to a taxi.

On the way home, Yuri told Luhan that she was going to quit at the karaoke bar soon.

“Then why did you work there in the first place?” Luhan asked.

“Because I was curious.” Yuri replied, not wanting Luhan to know that she was only working there because they paid fairly well.

“Well, I’m happy for you.” Luhan replied, “Because the first time I set my eyes on you, I knew you didn’t belong in such a place.”

“Really?” Yuri asked, her big, almond-shaped brown eyes widening, “And when was that?”

“The first day you worked there.” Luhan replied.

“But I didn’t even see you there.” Yuri said.

“Of course, you didn’t see me. You were too busy keeping the other guy company.” Luhan replied, smiling at her, “But I noticed you.”

Yuri looked thoughtful and said, “I don’t think I even said a few words to you until yesterday.”

“I know, but you are just too pretty to go unnoticed.” Luhan replied.

Yuri laugh as the taxi approached her house. She bid Luhan a goodnight before getting out.

“I will call you tomorrow.” Luhan said, as he waved bye to Yuri.

As the taxi made its turn, Luhan turned to looked at Yuri's fading shadow. He felt something warm in his heart and realized that somehow, Yuri had stepped into his heart. He knew it was wrong to feel this way about a girl he hardly knew, especially when she was just a hostess. Was she worth it? To put things into its worst context, the girls that worked there were just a bit above a e. Can he really be falling for her? But his heart gave him the answer. He liked her.