Mino reached Hongdae in no time. Even though The Assembly was located at Apujeong but it was still not too far from Hongdae. Yonghwa and Jungshin wanted a location that was not too far from everything but at the same time away from the hustle and bustle. Mino circled around the block where the club was located to look for a place to stop. However, that night was club night so it meant that the roads are packed with cars. He took out his phone and dialed a number that will be forever be etched into his mind.

“Hello?” The loud noise from the club made it difficult to hear each other.

“Taehyun, I am waiting outside the club for you.”

“Mino, come and join in the fun!”

“Taehyun, I am tired. Just come out and I will send you back.”

“Mino… I can’t…”

“Taehyun? Taehyun!”

Damn it! Mino scolded the air. He tried calling Taehyun back but there no answer.  He sighed out loud since it looked like he would be in for a long night. After circling around for another 15 minutes, he found a parking space out of sheer luck. He took a 5 minute walk to the club and another 10 minutes before he could finally get in. Nam Taehyun sure made him did the weirdest things.

The place was crowded and dark but Mino finally found Taehyun dancing with 2 guys by the bar. He squeezed his way through and reached him in no time.

“Mino! You came, let’s dance!” Taehyun breathed into his ear causing shivers to dance down his spine.

Before Mino could even react Taehyun had already pulled him into the middle of the dance floor. Mino always had this notion that he was born with two left feet so he could never dance decently to save his life.  Even when he went to the club with the guys, he would normally be on the sidelines. Yonghwa would be doing some weird twists, Jihoon would shuffle his feet coolly, Jiho would be popping and locking and the two youngest strut their stuff being the best dancers out of the entire male gang. Mino was not one to embarrass himself on any given occasion, definitely not on some random dance floor.

“Why are you not dancing, Mino?” Taehyun’s breathless voice was sounding really tempting…. so deliciously tempting.

When Taehyun pressed his back against his body and swayed along to the music, for a few moments, Mino was too stunned react. However, unconsciously, he began to sway along. Taehyun wound his arms around his waist while Mino’s hands encircled the slim waist. Both were lost in their own little world. The music turned towards slightly that was more of an up tempo beat and that was when the spell broke.

Feeling slightly flushed from the encounter, Mino smiled nervously at Taehyun who had turned around to face him. He wrapped his arms around Mino’s neck, smiling to hide the real feelings he felt at that moment. He hugged Mino for a moment before letting to hold Mino’s hand and let him to where his friends were and mouthed a quick goodbye. Taehyun then dragged Mino out of the club, Mino who was just followed blindly because he could not think of anything except the feel of Taehyun’s hand holding his.

“Where is your car?” Taehyun asked once they stepped out.

“Ermm… that way.” Mino pointed to the left still feeling a little dazed.

~~~~~~~~~~

The early bird from the nearby park chirped cheerfully outside his window to wake him up. It seems that they have built a nest just outside his apartment. He was still in the wonderful haze where he swore he could still feel the imprint of Taehyun’s hands in his from the night before.  It was not the first time they held hands.

In fact, Mino was Taehyun’s first boyfriend. They met in university when Taehyun was a sophomore and Mino was in junior year then. They unintentionally even match-made a love struck Yonghwa with Taehyun’s sister, Seohyun.  It led to marriage two years later with a kid on the way now.

Mino thought they had something good going on. One could imagine Mino’s surprise when Taehyun asked for a breakup after one year being together. It had been three years since then and Mino had always stood at the sidelines watching as Taehyun spread his wings and fly. However, no matter what happens Mino would always be there, rain or shine.

“Hyung?” Jonghyun knocked from the other side of the door.

“Yes?”

“It is time to get up. You are supposed to be there by 10am.”

“I am getting up now.” Mino yawned.

“What time did you get home last night?”

Jonghyun will forever be worrying about his brother. It was not because he hates Taehyun but he just disliked how Taehyun seemed to keep his brother dangling on a string. However, with that being said, it was not helping that his brother would always rush to his side at any given moment.

“At about 3am or so.”

“I made breakfast.”

“Sure, I will be right down after I freshen up.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Taehyun woke up with a start with the from all the clashing of pots and pans outside his room. He reached for his phone to see the time and was surprised that it was only 9am in the morning. Yawning and giving himself a good stretch, he kicked away his blanket and headed to the bathroom to wash his face.

“Good morning, what is with the loud commotion?” Taehyun yawned again as he asked.

Yonghwa put his index finger to his lips to indicate that silence was needed but it was too late as Seohyun turned around to point at Taehyun.

“Yah! What time did you get in last night?”

“About 3am or so?”

“So late?!”

“oh stop it, noona, do you need to be so annoying so early in the morning?”

“You see! You see!” Seohyun looked accusingly at her husband.

“Morning!”

Taehyun silently grabbed one of the freshly baked buns and pulled Jungshin out of the kitchen.

“Ermmm… bye!”

“Noona is so annoying.” Taehyun could not help but grumbled as they stood in their little garden.

“Her hormones are haywire, she is pregnant after all. You probably caught her at the wrong timing.”

“Why are you always so sensible?” Taehyun looked at his brother-in-law and hooked his arm around Jungshin’s.

Jungshin patted his shoulder.

“I need to go. Please do me a big favor and stay out of trouble.”

“Aye captain.” Taehyun gave a small salute.

“Oh ya come by to The Assembly later. I made a new dish which I wanted you to try but you did not come over last night.”

“Sure I will be there around lunch time.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The wedding was a small and intimate affair. The bride was stunning and the groom was dashing. The air was filled with love and one could tell from the way the couple looked at one another.

Mino often wondered if he would ever find the same kind of happiness of it would ever happen. He would then laugh at himself. He knew it would never happen anytime soon unless he could stop placing Taehyun as his main priority. In face, that was the main reason why his relationships after Taehyun would not work out because his partners were never Taehyun.

“They look so good together isn’t it?”

Mino turned around to the  source of the voice and came face to face with a cute and petite girl who looked like she was one of the bridesmaids.

“Yes, indeed they do.”

Weddings often made people feel all nostalgic all the time but Mino prefer to just  do his job and stay low especially that day since he did not get enough sleep the night before.

“Are you the photographer?”

It was definitely a weird question that she was asking since Mino was holding on to a DSLR camera.

“Yes, I guess you could say so…”

“Nice equipment.”

“Ermmm… Thanks?”

“I am bored.”

“And I am working.”

“I am Lee Hi by the way.”

“I am Mino.”

Lee Ha Yi was minding her own business and feeling very bored when she saw him. He has a beautiful jaw line that defines a man, just like her father. His cute toothy grin whenever he look into his camera screen. His fingers deftly clicking away while moving stealthily through the crowd, capturing every moment.

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

Mino gave the girl an annoying look.

“I do and I am think I am in love with you” she ends her statement with a sweet smile.

This girl is unbelievable and totally weird.

“Well, I do not.”

“Why? It is a beautiful feeling.”

“If a guy tells you that, give him a slap. Chances are he just wants to get into your pants.”

“Let’s go on a date.”

“What?!”

“Date, you know where two people go out and have fun.”

“Ermmm, no thank you.”

“Can we exchange phone number instead then?

“Ermmm... oh look at the time, I have to go now.”

 Yong was packing his equipment at lightning speed while muttering crazy woman under his breathe. Lee Hi was shyly smiling and kind of staring at him most of the time.

“See you later...” the last word came in a whisper “alligator…”

~~~~~~~~~~

The tinkling of the bell indicate the arrival of customers and Jonghyun who was helping out as he normally does on a Sunday, look up the greet the new arrival.

“Annyeongha...seyo” the words faltered away when he saw who it is.

“Annyeong.”

Juniel had been contemplating ten thousand times over in her mind to go over to The Assembly ever since she found out from her best friend, IU that Jonghyun works there every Sunday. She berated herself constantly about her silly little crush on a guy who does not know she exist. Looks like she made the wrong decision because from his tone of voice, he sounded kind of disappointed to see her.

Technically though, it was not like Jonghyun did not know she exist. It was just that Juniel was a pretty popular girl in their university so who would not know of her. However, Jonghyun did not think too much about it. He knows a lot of guys were going after her but he saw her more than just a pretty accessory on their arm. She was very talented, dedicated and pretty talented. To him, they were just kind of in a different league.

“Table for one?” Jonghyun asked.

“Yeah…” Juniel was nervous.

He sat her at the verandah since she was alone and it was a really beautiful day. He passed her the menu and mumbled that he will be back to take her order.

Juniel sighed. How was she ever going get him to notice her? Perhaps she should mention that she had seen him at class before or maybe that she was IU’s best friend? Oh dear, she wondered as Jonghyun was walking over to her table once more.

“Ready to order?” He smiled at her and Juniel felt like she was melting into a puddle.

“Ermmm... what’s good here?”

Jonghyun went on about some new taco kimchi dish and some sort of goguma latte. Juniel was too caught in staring at him while he was passionately delivering his speech.

“So what will it be?” Jonghyun asked again.

Juniel embarrassingly came back down to earth.

“Ermmm...yes sure that will be it”

“What?”

“Oh .. I mean what you recommend sounds well. I shall have that”

“Err...ok then”

A puzzled looking Jonghyun went to the kitchen to place the order. Not really sure what she really wanted and too shy to ask her, he just scribbled down his favorites and handed it over to Sooyoung who works with Jungshin.

When Jonghyun came over with her drink, Juniel cleared and trying to gather her courage to start a conversation with him.    

 “You… Ermmm… look familiar.”

Jonghyun looked up, surprised at that question.

“Ermmm, yup I go to Design Communications 218 and Interior Design 110 with you. But I do not think you would know me.”

Feigning surprise, Juniel put on her best smile, “Yes right! I mean yes right as in now I remember now.”

Jonghyun smile and Juniel totally melted into a happy puddle.

“I am Juniel.” She puts her hand out.

Jonghyun took his hands in hers, “Song Jonghyun. Nice to meet you.”

“Same here.” Juniel smiled, “So you work here huh?”

“Just helping a friend out since I have nothing to do on Sundays anyway.”

“Oh...it is...”

The bell from the kitchen tinkled, indicating the food is ready.

“Sorry. I have to get that.”

“Oh right... yes of course.”

Jonghyun felt sorry he had to cut her off in the middle of their conversation but what needs to be done needs to be done. He went around dropping the orders in each table and took her orders to her table last

“Here you go.”

Juniel had been silently berating herself ever since the ringing of that wretched bell. She felt so embarrassed and wished that the floor will open up and eat her up whole.

“Oh thanks...”

“Ermmm, sorry about just now.”

“Oh no, I should be the one saying sorry because you are working after all and I should not be like disrupting your work. I mean ...”

Jonghyun cuts her off, “Of course not! Anyway, Ermmm ... enjoy your meal”

“Sure.” Juniel smile but disappointed nonetheless.

Oh well, another time perhaps. She had been nursing this crush from the very moment she set eyes on him. To say that it was love at first sight would be a little bit too far fetched but there was something about him that was just different from all the other guys. No one know about that except for her best friend, IU, who had been pestering her to do something about it besides gushing on and on about Jonghyun.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hihi, back with chapter 2... Enjoy, no silent reader please...