Seulgi scrunched her nose and snuffled again against her own will before putting back her phone into her pocket. This cold was slowly becoming concerning. 

The temperature was in no way going to get warmer and fall was quickly taking place into the city. They were already near mid-November after all, it was no surprise. She fixed the bonnet on her head and proceeded on resting her heavy head on her forearms that were crossed on the wood table in front of her. The air inside this cafe was cold and she slightly shivered under her padding jacket.

"What's wrong?" the man in front of her asked with his eyes glued on his phone. "You're still sick?"

Seulgi hummed.

She was clearly sick but she didn't hesitate one second when Jongin had asked her to go to a cafe at 6 this morning because he felt like it. It wasn't so strange to them to meet so early because that's what they had to resort to in hope of not being caught by fans and make things awkward (they both agreed that fans could have a lot imagination and misinterpret their relationship for lovers, and that, yes that was awkward). But today was different. It was the CSAT so the students who are a big portion of their respective fandoms were busy trying to get a hold of their life and create themselves a bright future so no one was around to bother them.

Indeed this café was pretty empty if not for the two elders quietly playing chess on the table placed at the centre, the man in his forties reading some foreign newspapers near the counter and the two youngsters chattering once in a while at the corner of the café in front of the vitrine where was situated the heater. One was slouched on the table with her full on outerwear clothes, refusing to take it off even if she was inside and the other sitting straight in his chair while playing on his phone.

It was their sixth meeting (or date like anyone else with a little less self-consciousness would have called it) and it wasn't until the third one that Seulgi got used to seeing Jongin so casually. Yes they texted each other often, called sometimes and met when they felt daring enough but reality never really hit her. She was awestruck. Pretending to find it normal and acting all natural when she couldn't really believe this was all happening. Truthfully speaking, it was Seulgi's second nature to be in denial when it came to Jongin so it was normal. I can't believe this is happening, she thought way too many times for someone who had spent a total of 6 and a half hours on the phone with him the previous week.

It was 9:12 and she was slowly (but really slowly) starting to get bored. They talked a lot during the first hour, a little less during the second and at the third, a mutual silence fell upon them. It's not that they didn't have anything to say, on the contrary, many things happened while they had stopped talking to each other and now that the hatchet was buried, the stories couldn't stop flowing out of their restless mouth. It's just that they didn't feel the need to talk. They loved to convince themselves that they had the time to unravel all these stories slowly. It will take as much time as it will take, no pressure, no hard feelings, no secrets, just a lot of time. We will go slowly, they both agreed on the phone. 

So they did and here they found themselves a bit over one month after the episode where they decided to stop playing this game, in a cafe of Seoul doing nothing.

Seulgi started playing with the handle of the fuming cup of hot chocolate in front of her that stayed untouched from the moment it appeared on the table until now. She cautiously lifted her eyes on Jongin who had been playing so intently on his phone for a while now. What could be so interesting about this game anyway, she thought honestly. He somehow mouthed a quiet "what" as if he was aware of her stare.

"Are you not going to drink it?" she tried.

"You can have it, Seul," he said almost as soon as she finished her sentence.

She subtly smiled to thank him and brought the cup to her face before taking a sip of the warm drink. Her pupils dilated and she suppressed a satisfied sigh knowing he would mock her for it. But it was too late. Jongin didn't have to stay away too long from his third fight with this donjon boss to notice how happy it made her just to drink hot cocoa.

The thing with Seulgi is that she didn't need to talk to let her emotions get through. She was emanating with satisfaction with her small hands around the cup, her oversized padded jacket wrapped around her and her red bonnet tightly fixated on her head (with the multicolored pompon on top, obviously). If her goal was to be protected from the cold, it was a success. A chuckle failed him and he started laughing.

"What?" Seulgi asked although she already knew, a smile creeping on her face. "I know I should have ordered the same thing," she said while glancing at the empty cup of mocha latte next to her elbow.

"It must taste good," he said as he kept on hitting the punch sign on his screen. "Give it back."

"I can't, I'm sick," she said as she took another sip. "But thanks, it's really good."

He grimaced and groaned.

"Game over," Seulgi dramatically said as she watched Jongin faking to smash his phone on the table. "Isn't it like your fourth try by now? Give up."

"Third," he corrected her bitterly. "A knight doesn't give up," he explained while putting back his phone into his pocket.

"What's so good about this game anyway?" she voiced her thought.

"How was the radio show yesterday?" he asked at the same time.

She pushed her light brunette hair off her face and smiled. He was indeed concerned.

"It was great, but we talked about the usual stuff you know," Seulgi said. "The album, if we were planning another comeback, ideal types, a few games and we were done."

"Didn't it end super late?"

"Oh no, we were home around midnight," she reassured him.

"And it wasn't hard to talk?"

Seulgi raised an eyebrow and could only break into a fond smile when she realized.

"No I don't cough Jongin. Not yet."

"Be careful," he cautioned. "It's the next stage."

Well it's true she had sometimes a runny nose and a small fever but she wasn't coughing yet. She shrugged it off by convincing herself it would go away like the many other colds she had gotten before this one. She wasn't promoting now and the rehearsals for the year-end awards were not starting before next week: she was fine. 

As Seulgi was about to open to say something Jongin beat her to it and said:

"Do you want to eat some stew?"

She suppressed another smile.

"Can you read my mind?"

"Hungry people think the same way," he smiled back. "Let's go Seul, we got a bear to heal."

He proceeded on taking his light trench coat from the chair next to him and his scarf while Seulgi got up and waited for him at the side. That was the convenient side of keeping everything on: she was ready to leave the moment they decided to. 

"Don't you think you're slightly overdoing it?" Jongin asked as he rolled his scarf around his neck and pointed at Seulgi's padded jacket.

"Why? You think it's too much?" she timidly asked, becoming a bit self-conscious of her attire.

"Well, we're still over 10 degrees…"

"But I still got a cold," Seulgi hesitantly explained more to convince herself that she didn't look ridiculous than to retort to Jongin's remark.

"Yes, I know you need protection," he sighed in defeat before opening the door to go outside. Seulgi gasped at how even the streets were empty before returning her attention back to Jongin. "Must be protected at all costs."

"Are you mocking me?" she asked while fixing her bonnet tightly on her head. She was determined to not let her cold get worse and Jongin wasn't helping her much with her resolution.

"No," he chuckled at the pompon. "I'll protect you."

Seulgi's brain stopped functioning for a second and her cheeks responded on their own with a light shade of pink.

"By paying you a nice and hot stew," he smiled at her.

"Of course," Seulgi sighed after zipping up completely her winter coat. "Of course."

Maybe it was a bit too much after all.

They arrived to the restaurant in no time as it was situated two blocks away from the café and steadily took place in a corner where the heater was for the second time today. Jongin said she was obsessed and she couldn't find the will to deny it anyway.

This place was a lot more lively than the previous one and there were a bit more people. It must have been because of the recent changes of temperature that got everyone a cold that they decided to eat some stew even if it was before lunch time. Seulgi called it a brunch and Jongin laughed at her occidental antics.

"But that's how Wendy calls it," she said as she went through the menu.

"Why don't you just say that you're eating before noon?"

"Because it's fancier," she answered. "And funny too. What about the kimchi jigae?"

"Okay but what do you call it when you eat between lunch and dinner? Dunch? Linner?" Jongin said with a heavy Korean accent to mock her.

Jokes on him because she was the one who ended up laughing heartily and he was swooned by her. Again. 

They settled on for the homemade kimchi jigae for two with a few side dishes and fried dumplings for Seulgi because she loved them that much with peppermint tea.

"You'll get back on track in no time if I'm the one to protect you from your cold so take your coat off," he said as he bent over the table to take off the bonnet of her head.

"Don't do this!" she ranted. "My hair is messy."

While Jongin was busy laughing at her, Seulgi tried to rearrange her new out of place hairstyle into something prettier but there was no hope without a mirror so she just kept on passing her fingers through her hair to tame them a bit. It didn't matter anyway because she knew they would end up in a bun.

With her coat taken off, her hair up in a bun and a satisfactory smile on both of their faces, Seulgi and Jongin continued to wait patiently for their food to arrive in silence.

Jongin took out his phone and Seulgi grimaced.

"You're not going to play this ridiculous game again, are you?"

"No," he said as he scrolled down some list. "And this game is not ridiculous. What is ridiculous is me not being able to finish this damn donjon."

"You'll finish it later," she almost whined. "At home. When I won't be there."

Jongin raised an eyebrow and looked at her with a knowing smile.

"Alright, sorry, you have my full attention now. I shouldn't neglect you like this."

"That's not what I meant," Seulgi said sheepishly. "You can stay on your phone, I don't care," she continued as her cheeks took a brighter shade of pink.

It worked.

Jongin kept fiddling with his phone while Seulgi was doodling on the napkin next to her chopsticks with a pen she bought in Japan with an adorable bear on top. So childish, he thought. I should get one for myself too.

Seulgi was almost done with her third drawing of a bear eating noodles when her phone started vibrating in her pocket. It could be Irene or her manager who needed to contact her for a sudden change of schedule so she quickly took it out to see the caller ID. She sighed when she saw Jongin's name appear on it.

"What are you doing?"

"Why is there no picture of me assigned?" he asked after snatching quickly the phone from her hand.

"That's not important," she concluded before going back to her doodles.

"That is so important," he corrected her while clicking on his contact's information.

Seulgi internally let out a sigh of relief and praised herself for having never succumbed to her fantasy of naming Jongin something cringe-worthy on her phone. Jong-bear or Best Friend or Mr.Bear or Nini with a heart. She could only shiver when she thought of the consequences these names could have for her. Oh thank god I'm not completely crazy, she thought.

Jongin became suspicious while going over her contact lis