Don’t fall for him.

She had a hard time sleeping because of this sentence.

Don’t fall for him.

She woke up late than she usually was since she had an ineffective sleep.

Don’t fall for him.

She nearly missed the bus at the morning.

Don’t fall for him.

She almost tripped on the stairs on the way to her class.

Don’t fall for him.

She forgot to raise her hand when the teacher called out her name for the attendance.

Don’t fall for him.

Now she realised one thing; those four words are haunting her day. Earlier, she was yelled by the teacher because she was losing focus in the lesson. Fortunately for her, the teacher decided not to give her any detention. Or else her day would be very unfortunate.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked up to find a smiling Naeun, “What are you thinking? Eh, you haven’t packed your stuffs yet?” the girl was staring at her with wide eyes.

“H-huh?” that was Hyesun’s only response.

“School is already over. Jeon Hyesun, you’ve been zoning out the entire day!” Mina took note about her friend’s bluntness that day. She was not being strange, but she was awfully quiet and motionless.

“Really?” Hyesun batted her eyelashes before her eyes wandered around to find the classroom was empty. The only students left were the three of them plus the sleeping L.Joe.

“Are you okay?” Naeun looked at her with concern. Mina softly held her shoulder, “Is something bothering you? You can tell us if you’re comfortable.”

Hyesun curtly nodded and she smiled at their concerns on her, “I’m okay. I just miss my family and I can’t wait to go back, that’s all,” she made an excuse. Even though it seemed like she lied, but it was partly true. She really did miss her family and she was anticipating the weekend to come.

“Glad to hear that. I thought you’re depressed over something big,” Mina smiled. Naeun looked at Hyesun, “What are you waiting for? Pack your stuffs now, let’s get home.”

“You two can go on, I don’t want to make you wait. I’ll be okay by my own,” Hyesun convinced her friends.

Naeun raised an eyebrow, “You sure? Well, if you say so, then we’ll make our way home then.” Mina waved at Hyesun, “See you tomorrow,” as the two walked out the classroom.

Hyesun gave a small smile as she waved back at the girls. Once their figures were no longer seen, her chest heaved as she sighed.

“What’s with the sigh?”

Hyesun gasped at the hoarse voice as she looked to her left side. There was L.Joe tilting his head left and right as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He looked at her as he cleared his throat, “Is there something bothering your mind?”

“N-No, not really,” she stuttered.

“Are you sure? I notice you seem off today,” just like Naeun and Mina, L.Joe also took notice of her strange behaviour.

“I just miss my family, that’s all. I’m going home this weekend and maybe I just can’t wait for the weekend to arrive so yeah,” Hyesun smoothly answered.

“So lucky to be very excited about seeing your family,” he muttered incoherently just for himself to hear before speaking up, “I know what we can do to make you forget about it for awhile,” he grinned.

One of her eyebrows rose upwards, “What exactly we can do?”

“Just say yes to my next question,” he still had that grin on his face.

It made Hyesun’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “Huh? I—”

Before she could protest, L.Joe had cut her off, “Do you want to come with me?”

“Yes?”

∞

“What exactly are we doing here?” Hyesun asked as she stared at the place; her eyes not leaving people who went in and out the big market; which was called Gwangjang Traditional Market.

“Hmm, gaining weight?” L.Joe nonchalantly answered. He looked at the stunned and confused girl and he found her expression amusing.

“You mean, eating?” she asked as her eyes went to him for a second before turning back to where she was looking earlier.

“Yes, eating various types of foods and getting our tummies full. Also, to help you with your homesick disease for awhile,” he teasingly mused.

“How does eating here help me? We can just eat at somewhere near our school, there’s no need to go this far if you just want to eat,” Hyesun shrugged her shoulder; not taking it serious.

“Are you seriously saying that? Eating here worth my fuel, time and money okay?” L.Joe insisted. God knows how he loves spending his time there eating.

“Why? Is the food here that delicious?” the lass asked; completely not expecting a big reaction from him.

L.Joe nearly rounded his eyes at the girl, “Damn, Jeon Hyesun, you’re seriously missing out the food heaven in Seoul.”

“Just to remind you, it’s only my second year in Seoul, okay? How would I know that? Well, whatever about that. Now let’s go and see how heavenly the food is,” Hyesun said and walked ahead the boy.

L.Joe looked at the girl’s back figure as he shook his head.

“Get moving, L.Joe!”

∞

Both of the teens first went to a stall which sells giant mung-bean pancakes. A woman in her late 30’s welcomed them with a smile. They both took a seat as the girl’s eyes stopped at a man who seemed to be indulging the taste of hot pancake next to them.

Right then, the earlier lady fried the pancake in front of them as she told them to wait for a little bit longer for the pancakes to fry completely. L.Joe gave her a small smile as Hyesun just stared at the pancake with amusement.

Now I can feel my tummy growling. “I’ve never seen a pancake this big. And it smells so good,” she carefully whispered to L.Joe’s ear so no one would hear her. She didn’t want to be labelled as retarded, you see.

“Wait until you get a taste of it,” he whispered back at her just to find they were actually leaning close to each other. He backed away in an instance.

“Okay kids, now you can eat it,” the lady told the hungry-looking teens.

Without wasting a second, Hyesun quickly grabbed one with her chopsticks as she took a bite, “Ah! It’s so hot!” she yelped as she dropped the pancake.

“That’s why you shouldn’t be impatient! Did you burn your tongue or something?” he asked as he slowly blew air onto his pancake.

“I broke my tooth as well,” she made a bad joke. She picked up the pancake again and blew air onto the pancake before slowly biting it. Her eyes unconsciously closed; savouring every taste of the delicious pancake, “Oh God, this is so appetizing! The taste is so amazing that even the word amazing can’t describe it well! It just melts in my mouth and I swear I don’t want to lose the taste of it like gosh!” she talked in a very fast motion and not to mention, full mouth too.

Luckily L.Joe still could understand her words and he bit back a smile seeing how she was enjoying the pancake and him enjoying his too.

Once they had finished eating, L.Joe handed some notes to the owner lady and the lady smiled as she took it from the young lad, “Next time you come, don’t forget to bring your girlfriend again. She seems to be so cute and she fits you well too,” the woman giggled.

Hyesun; who was chewing the last bite of the pancake stopped as she heard that. There comes the typical scene in a fan-fiction where the girl is always mistaken as the boy’s girlfriend by some stall ahjummas. Seriously, how did they simply assume so just because a girl and a boy hang out together?

L.Joe sheepishly smiled at the lady, “I will, aunty. Thank you,” before turning to Hyesun, “Let’s go,” he purposely took her hand in his which made the girl baffle but she didn’t pull away her hand since she kind of liked it that way?

The woman giggled again at their little skinship as she yelled, “Don’t forget to come again you two lovers!”

∞

Next, they stopped at a stall where it serves traditional foods like gimbap and tteokbokki. After spending around 20 minutes there, they went to a beverage stall where all kinds of drinks could be found there. Before going back, Hyesun told L.Joe that she wanted to buy some pancakes to bring home. She gave him a funny reason saying that she was afraid if she suddenly craved for it at night so he couldn’t help but to give in.

Around 7, they arrived in front of Hyesun’s apartment buildings. She hopped off the motorcycle and took the helmet off her head before giving it back to L.Joe. The latter took the helmet from her.

She fixed her hair as she gave a genuine smile at the boy, “Thanks for the evening. I really enjoyed every food there, next time we’re going, I want to try every single food at the market! And it’s going to be my treat, okay?”

She sounded too cheerful in his ears which made him smile, “Alright, be sure not to forget that.”

Hyesun nodded; too enthusiastically, “I’m going now. Get home safe and make sure to text me once you’re home,” she said as she started to walk far from him. She gave one last look at him and waved her hand at him, “Goodnight, boyfriend.”

The word ‘boyfriend’ that came out from sounded so natural which made his heartbeats went into a fast speed, “Goodnight and see you at school tomorrow, girlfriend!” he shouted back.

She wasn’t looking back at him and even fastened her pace which made him a little bit disappointed but he shrugged it off. Damn L.Joe, you’re thinking too much.

Without him knowing, the girl was blushing madly as she tried to calm down herself. Right then, L’s words flashed in her mind.

Don’t fall for him.

Right, I shouldn’t fall for him and I’m clearly not falling for him.