-

When the clock struck 3 in the afternoon, Chanyeol left the café—though he finished his small meal way before that. He found it astonishing how Eunji accurately guessed the kind of coffee he frequently consume, the one that suited him well. “Yes, I’m on my way,” Chanyeol said to the phone, to Sooyoung.

Him and Sooyoung came to the agreement for them to meet up somewhere closer to where the latter’s home was. Besides, Chanyeol didn’t want his girlfriend to know the place where he had met up with another girl without her knowing.

He stared into thin air—a blank expression was plastered on his face—as he waited for the bus to come and pick him and the other soon-to-be passengers up. Chanyeol kept on thinking about Eunji. For him, she wasn’t the kind of beauty that could be described with words, she was just . . . attractive, and mesmerizing, and fascinating and some other things that, according to him, other girls do not possessed.

Chanyeol closed his eyes and recalled everything that she had said earlier though none meant anything; he just loved how her caramel-like thick and heavy yet sweet voice echoed in his ear.

“What part of me that was so . . . mesmerizing to you?” The question replayed in his mind.

“Just . . . you.” So did the answer.

‘Argh, Park Chanyeol,’ he hit his own head with his fist, ‘You should have said something else.’

He was too stuck up with that idea that he forgot it was the right thing to say as it earned him a ticket to another meeting with Eunji—the time he has yet to know. The murmuring engine of a double-decker bus made Chanyeol looked up; it was the one he had been waiting for.

Chanyeol, being the nice and considerate guy he was, let other people board the vehicle first. His phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out at the same time as he pulled his wallet out to tap his card. It was just Sooyoung and he didn’t want to disturb the other passengers so he put his phone on silent and then waited until the call died off.

When it did, he texted Sooyoung telling her that he was on his way to meet her.

-

The bus came to a halt in front of this apartment complex that hosted around 5 or 6 buildings inside—Sooyoung’s home was an apartment unit in one of those soaring structures. “Sooyoungie, I’m down here,” he said into the phone as he crossed the threshold.

“I’m in the playground,” Sooyoung replied.

Chanyeol had visited this apartment a few times before since knowing Sooyoung. Though, she had never even once introduced him to her parents—not that it mattered to him.

He thought that she was concerned her parents might not give their blessings on their relationship when they know that their daughter’s boyfriend was a college student who spent most of his time watching fashion channel just for the sake of the skinny models and talking about getting laid with his only two friends. And Chanyeol was okay with that futile thought.

“Chanyeol-oppa!” He heard a girl’s voice called out. It was her.

“Hey!” He paced towards Sooyoung who was sitting on one of the several empty swings. “When did you get here?”

“An hour ago,” she said as she motioned to the empty swing next to her.

It was a swing set made for little kids, so the seats were diminutive for their big body and was way too close to the ground for their long legs. “We might as well sit somewhere else.” He eyed Sooyoung’s legs.

The girl stood up and they walked over to the nearest bench where parents would sit on and from where they kept an eye on their kids as they play and interact with other kids and scream and cry.

“Don’t you miss me?” Sooyoung asked as she playfully smiled at Chanyeol

“Hm?” Chanyeol looked to the side and returned her gaze. “Of course I do.” He opened his arms wide and Sooyoung leisurely rest her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist and so did he.

“All I could think of when I was away is to get back soon and see you,” she said with her muffled voice. ‘Sweet,’ Chanyeol thought. “I can’t even be bothered to mingle with my own harabeoji and halmeoni when I’m there.” ‘Now that’s pretty creepy,’ he continued.

They let go a little while later and Sooyoung quickly tidy her hair up. After that, she placed her palm on the back of Chanyeol’s wide hand and smiled at him. He just had to smile back too. It had always been Sooyoung who initiated the first move regarding skin-ship.

It was silent for a moment right there and it was one of that awkward silent moments. Chanyeol missed Sooyoung, he did, but his mind was too occupied with something else that he didn’t make the effort to start a conversation with her whom he hadn’t seen in about a week. On the other hand, Sooyoung was too busy pondering what she could say to Chanyeol that would put his interest at peak.

“Oppa,” Sooyoung nudged at Chanyeol’s arm gently, “What are you thinking of?”

Chanyeol shook his head a little to get him back to reality and then gazed at the bridge of Sooyoung’s nose, avoiding her eyes at best without being too obvious that he was. “Nothing,” he told her. Lie. Undeniably a lie.

She tilted her head and responded with, “Really?” in a cute manner. Aegyo show-off.

He let out a chuckle and stated, “Really.”

“Is there a problem at home?” Sooyoung insisted that there was indeed something that Chanyeol was thinking of. “Or perhaps . . . you’re thinking of a girl?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol said without hesitation.

“Oh?” There was a hint of disappointment on the girl’s face. “Who is she?”

“She’s this cute and sweet girl named Park Sooyoung.”

“Awh, oppa!” Sooyoung’s disappointment turned into glee in the blink of an eye. She then rested her head on Chanyeol’s shoulder and kept on grinning from ear to ear.  “You’re always so cheesy,” she said. ‘Park Chanyeol, you smooth motherf-er.’ He smirked to himself.

He made another mental note to himself: ‘Convince Sooyoung that she’s the only one occupying your mind, check.’

Truth be told . . . he could only marvel about t