November 21, 2015

5:07 AM

Cold air brushed softly against Irene’s face; she groaned slightly as the wind woke her up from sleep. That was some good sleep. I just wish it wasn’t cold. The breeze also hit her senses and suddenly remembered falling asleep on the rectangular bench. She was star-gazing whilst having a light conversation with V last night and she must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of it all. She turned to her right and found V still in dream land. He looks so peaceful. She propped her left arm to support head as she admired his features. His hair was slightly tossled from sleep but it made him look more attractive. He had slight creases on his forehead, a pair of beautiful long lashes any girl would get jealous of, a high-bridged nose, and pink lips. He was perfect beyond words; he could even pass off as a real-life manga character or a model straight out from a runway. She also observed his consistent breathing; the way his chest and stomach heaved up and down in a constant manner. At that moment, Irene was too amazed to even bother and started tracing his features as if she was memorizing every detail of him. She started with his hair down to his forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks and chin. She was about to touch his lips when a hand grabbed hers and placed it on his left cheek. “Have you fallen for me already?” V spoke in his low-pitched morning voice with his eyes still closed and a smirk plastered on his face. Irene took away her hand and stood up immediately to avoid further embarrassment. She still had time to appreciate his y morning voice though. No Irene, get a hold on yourself. Geez! That was so embarrassing. She could feel her face getting hotter and was afraid that she’ll look like a tomato if she doesn’t calm down soon. V, on the other hand, was already awake 20 minutes before her but pretended to be asleep to see if she would do something interesting when she wakes up. And his guess was right. Her cold fingers slowly tracing on his face felt light but left tingling sensations. Her gentle touch made him feel like a baby being cared by his mother. He didn’t want any weird thoughts run through his mind so he just imagined himself like that. 

Before V could tease Irene more, she pulled him near the concrete barricade. “Taehyung look! The sun is rising!” Irene pointed and he followed the direction of her hand. The sun was slowly coming out of the darkness to bring light to the rest of the world; a reminder that a new day has come to start things over. At that very moment, both of them knew something good was going to happen. They knew that after all the tragedy they’ve faced in life, all the tears they shed, and all the pain they’ve experienced, this sunrise symbolized a new beginning. Both of them knew that fate has paved the way for them to meet in the most abrupt time so they could both let go of their past completely at a place like the rooftop. Despite being strangers, their pain was similar and both of them gave comfort to the extent that all the broken pieces were glued back together. It might not be the same as before, but it was whole enough to make them feel alive. At that moment, they knew everything will be alright.

“Are you hungry? Let’s go eat breakfast.” V offered.

“Nah, I’m good. I’ll just eat at home. I owe you too much already.” Irene replied. This guy gave her much more than just good company and a killer view by the rooftop. He told her that she will be alright and everything else will be, too. Now he’s offering to eat breakfast and would probably be as fast as lightning in swiping his card so she refused.

“You don’t owe me anything after all those comforting words. I am the one who owes you actually.” V expressed. He didn’t care if his shirt was stained, this girl told him he was strong and brave when he thought he was the exact opposite.

“Seriously? Okay let’s just say we’re equal.” Irene responded with a shy smile that also made the latter grin.

“Alright, what about coffee?” V continued to bargain with the girl. It was still too early to say goodbye to each other and to be completely honest, he doesn’t want her to go. I can’t let you off so easily.

“Okay fine, but in one condition.” Irene gave up eventually. She had to admit that coffee sounded good in the morning and she was actually hungry, but she knew V wouldn’t let her go home yet. I know what you’re thinking Kim Taehyung, and it’s working.

“What is it?” He asked. He’ll do anything just to spend more time with this girl. After a few moments, Irene finally answered “I’ll pay.” V chuckled and did an OK sign.

After moments of light conversation and sweet sing-alongs inside V’s car, they finally arrived at a café called Dreamers. Irene suggested this café because she was a regular customer and it actually opens up early in the morning. She talked about how she would always drop by the place to buy herself a good cup of hot coffee and a chocolate muffin in the morning before going to university. She also talked about how she would cool herself down with their frappes and blueberry cheesecakes before she goes home. Her group of friends also came to like the place that they even went there to study. V listened happily to her and tried to remember all the information for future use.

The chimes rang when they entered the café and was warmly greeted by a lady behind the counter. “Good morning Joohyun! Ah, always the first customer eh?” she said. “Not always but most of the time though. Good morning to you too, Eunbi.” Irene replied as she walked towards the counter with V behind her. Eunbi eyed the boy behind Irene and gave her a sly smile. “And who is the young gentleman behind you?” she asked. “Ah yes, this is Taehyung. He’s a friend of mine. Taehyung, meet Eunbi, she’s the friendliest staff here.” She said as she motioned Taehyung to go beside her. The two bowed to each other and shook hands. “So, what are your orders?” Eunbi  asked, side-eyeing the newcomer and sending knowing looks to Irene, who was mentally face-palming herself. “Taehyung, what do you want?” Irene elbowed V as he was looking at the menu. “I think American would be great.” He replied. “Anything else?” she asked again. “Nope, I’m all good with that. Thanks.” He grinned at Irene. “Okay, so we’ll have one Americano and my usual Cappuccino and a chocolate muffin.” Irene said and Eunbi typed in their orders. She nudged Taehyung and said “Go find us a table.” “I’ll help you carry the orders so maybe later.” Taehyung replied. “No, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it, just go find us a table. Okay?” Irene insisted and Taehyung couldn’t say no to her. He went off to sit at a table beside the glass windows.

Just then, Eunbi flicked Irene’s forehead and snickered quietly. “Yah, what was that for?” Irene rubbed her forehead and glared at her. “That’s for not telling me you have a boyfriend, you sly girl.” Eunbi stuck her tongue at her as she fixes the orders. “He’s not my boyfriend, you idiot. And can you add some waffles on my order?” Irene shot back. “Whatever you say, I think you should hit it up with him. He’s very handsome; you wouldn’t want that to go to waste girl.” Eubi continued teasing Irene. “Just shut up Eunbi.” Irene warned. “Oh, y Joohyun. I’m scared. Oh no! But you have to tell me how the you met that fine specimen okay?” Eunbi placed the orders on the counter and Irene paid for them. “Fine, just…shut up for the meantime alright?” Eunbi did an okay sign and Irene just sighed. As Irene was about to carry the tray, Eunbi stopped her and took the tray instead. “I’m trying to be nice and I don’t want you to trip on air or something. It’ll ruin your perfect date.” Eunbi walked towards the table where V was seated followed by a very pissed off Irene. “Here are your orders. Enjoy!” Eunbi said in her customer-pleasing-slash-waitress-vibe voice and V thanked her whilst Irene sat in front of V. She handed his drink to him as well as a plate of waffles. But I didn’t order waffles. Irene noticed his confusion and quickly said “I ordered that for you. You can’t just have Americano.” She said before taking a sip from her coffee. She wanted him to eat something good before heading home. The corners of V’s lips curved upwards and he softened at the sight of a caring Irene. “Thank you, Joohyun.” He said and started eating the waffles; indeed, they were heavenly. Irene’s ears perked up at the sound of her name; it sounded beautiful. They continued eating until there was nothing left.

“So… now what?” V asked.

“Uhm… we go home?” Irene was unsure of what to say.

“Okay. But can I make one last request?” He bargained again. Just one last thing, Joohyun-ah.

“Sure, what is it?” Of course she wouldn’t turn him down. Anything for Taehyung. Okay that sounded weird.

He hesitated for a moment before taking his phone. Irene’s mind went crazy as she predicted what request he was about to make. My phone number? Oh god. But what V asked took her by surprise…“Can we take a picture?” It was a good thing she had her poker face on or else he would’ve seen how panicked she was. She immediately said yes to avoid any more shocks. Then again, V kept surprising her as he stood up and sat beside her. She was making summer saults in her mind as she felt the familiar warmth that radiated from him. V couldn’t contain his excitement and sat beside her the moment she agreed. It has been a long time since he got this excited about anything. He held his phone up and to take a selca and both of them went closer to each other out of instinct. V had a closed smiled while Irene had her full beam one. Even though they only took one photo, it was already enough for V. They photo was perfect; like a couple who met early in the morning to have breakfast at their favorite hang-out place before going to school. Their smiles were priceless, even Irene thought they looked cute in the photo. V was about to move back to his seat but Irene stopped him and grabbed a hold of his right arm. “Wait, let’s take a selca on my phone.” V felt giddy the moment he heard the girl and sat beside her again. Irene held her phone and both of them smiled. “Can I see?” V went closer to her and she handed the phone to him immediately. “Waah, this actually looks good. We look cute.” Irene blushed at the last statement but quickly calmed herself before she gets redder. V really thought they look cute, heck he thought they were perfect in the picture. I wish the selca was real.

They chatted for a bit more before finally exiting the café. The thought of saying goodbye to each other was hard for both of them, but they had to. It was bound to happen anyway. They may know each other’s real name and past lives, but it doesn’t equate to the fact that they still don’t know each other well. They were still strangers who randomly met at a bar; strangers that led different lives and had different struggles. Yet, the feeling of loneliness slowly crept up into their minds that they found it hard to articulate their thoughts. Do we really have to do this? V was staring at Irene’s side profile as if he’s memorizing it. This girl was the most unexpected person to ever come into his life and he could still not believe that she made the most impact in it so far; even more than his past love. Some people will just surprise you. Those were her mother’s words and he finally made sense out of it. She really did surprise him. Now that their time was almost over, he sighed.

Irene was mentally debating whether or not to meet V’s gaze. She could feel him staring at her but it didn’t bother her; she knew he wanted to spend more time with her. It wasn’t awkward at all for her maybe because she got used to his stares in overnight. She wanted to spend more time with this random guy she met at the club; a random guy who melted the glaciers wrapped around her heart.  He entered her life without permission or warning, but it didn’t matter because it was probably the highlight of her story.  Now that they reached the end of their adventure, she started to feel empty.

“Are you sure you want to ride a bus? I mean, I can drive you—“ V spoke but was cut off by Irene.

“I’m really okay Taehyung. You should go home too and get some rest.” Irene said and V sighed again.

“Alright then. I guess this is where we say goodbye?” V awkwardly said whilst rubbing the back of his neck. He gave up on his hopes to spend more time with her and shook of the feeling. You don’t want to be a creep Kim Taehyung.

Irene smiled at him and said “Not exactly a goodbye though. Who knows? What if we meet again randomly on the streets or at another club?” She could feel the disappointment in his words and tried to say something funny just to lift up the mood. But the things she said earlier were somewhat true. The world is small after all.

“So instead of saying goodbye, what about see you soon?” V suggested. He gained new hope and actually prayed in his mind that they could meet again. “Yes, we should you that instead.” She chuckled. I really do hope we could meet again.

“See you soon Joohyun.” He said softly and winked at her. Both of them laughed out loud after that.

“Very sneaky Taehyung, but yeah… see you soon.” She imitated his wink and another round of laughter came along. Soon enough, V started walking backwards while waving his hand at her. She did the same and smiled brightly before turning away and heading to the bus stop. V reached his car and quickly went inside whilst Irene hopped on the next bus. Both were satisfied with the things that happened to them over a short span of time. It was truly an adventure they never expected to do and an experience they will never forget.

See you soon.

-->XOXO… Joohyun.

See you sooner.

-->Taehyung.

THE END.