Living in Seoul was really convenient for many reasons. Everything moved in a fast pace here; people walking on the street, your internet connection, your online delivery, access to information, health service and basically anything. It was a city of dream for many people, broad and variety of opportunities and chances if you compared it to the countryside. Also, it was pretty safe. You don't have to worry about petty thief even if you wandered the street late at night.

However, living in Seoul also meant high living expense. It was hard to start your business and landed a good spot unless you have a load of money. With the amount of money you used to rent a small flat in Seoul, you could afford bigger and better apartment on the outskirt of the city. That was why Chaewon chose to live rather far and spent more time commuting to save on the living expense.

Her flower shop was located in Myeongdong, one of the busiest streets in Seoul with many businesses lining up. She was able to find a good flat with a low price in Hapjeong, but it took her about forty to fifty minutes by train or bus to go around everyday. It was tiring at first but she got used to it in no time.

"Actually, you don't have to do this. I'm being serious. Just drop me by the next bus stop or subway station," she told him. It would take him two hours to go back forth and it was getting late.

"It's okay, I love driving anyway, but it's hard to enjoy it with Seoul traffic in daytime. So I often drive around in the night."

She wanted to protest again but it didn't feel polite, so she swallowed it away.

"Why did you go to Busan?"

They hadn't been far and he seemed to be determined to talk through the ride. Strangely, it didn't make her uncomfortable at all.

"Visiting my parent," her answer came out softly.

"You're originally from Busan? Really?"

He was giving a shot to mimic the famous dialect, which was a fail in her ears. Still, she smiled benignly, though it was almost the hundredth times people did it to her.

"I don't understand why people do it all the time," she said, her eyes focusing on the street ahead of them, "when I tell them I'm from Busan, they always try to speak in dialect."

He chuckled.

"Maybe because it's fascinating, and people say it sounds cool if a guy use it."

"Yeah, maybe. Weird."

He turned to the right by the intersection and they were in Seosomun-dong, still a long way to go.

"Your Seoul dialect sounds flawless though, did you practice it?" he asked.

"No, I don't know, it just came out naturally. Maybe because I lived in Mapo for a long time when I was a kid, so my Busan dialect was never apparent in the first place."

"Your life experiences seem really diverse. Born in Mapo, moving to Busan and now living in Seoul. I've been living in Seoul for my entire life, born here, went to school here, working here."

"Should I be happy or should I be sorry for that?" she retorted jokingly.

He cracked laughing. She was funny in a strange and serious way, he thought.

The ride continued as they talked. It was weird how the questions they gave each other seemed endless when they didn't even really talk that morning. She found out he was in Busan for a business trip after giving him the question. He worked in an advertising business, he told her further away, and there was a filming on one of the beach.

She let him know it was her fourth years into the business but she had been in Seoul for almost eight years.

"I left home right after high school."

"What about college?"

"I didn't go, couldn't afford the fee while juggling between part time jobs."

She was smiling, but he noticed at how for the first time, the glint in her eyes was dim.

"You're doing a great job coming up this far."

"Well, I hope so."

It was a small thing, what he said, but it brought warmth to her. It had been so long since someone told her such comforting words, she couldn't even remember the last time.

It was way past eleven when they reached her flat. It was a small and humble building, unlike his tall and polished apartment. There was no security around, no underground parking lot. The area was quiet but looked nice and somewhat friendly.

"Thank you for the ride," she said facing him directly.

He smiled.

"Thank you for the beautiful bouquet, you don't know how it saved me from a bigger trouble."

She had been forgetting the fact that he was her customer who purchased an expensive flower bouquet for the whole ride. Maybe she was tired. Maybe she was too immersed in their conversation.

"Did she like it?"

She loved flowers and her little shop. But more than anything, it was the positive feedbacks and happy stories that encouraged her to improve the business.

"She loved it. I was ready to recite everything you told me, but I didn't even have to do that. She adored the arrangement and choice of flowers."

It drew a genuine smile on her lips.

"I'm so happy to hear that," she sighed in content, "next time, try to find out her favorite flower. Your girlfriend would like it even better."

Joongki stared at her in silence for a few passing seconds. She looked delighted and...radiant.

The smile was still plastered on her face as she looked back at him, eyebrows arched as if questioning. Somehow, his intake of breath was heavy as he told her.

"Not a girlfriend, it was for my mother. It's her birthday today."

"Oh, really? That's a relief then."

His eyes widened at her ambiguous verdict and she realized it immediately.

"No, no, please don't get the wrong idea. I just had been worrying if it was right for me to accept a ride from someone's boyfriend on her birthday night. It's a relief that I don't wrong anyone."

The urge to flirt with her emerged in a swift. He didn't know why, he just wanted to see how she would react. But he held back, she might freak out and he might be look like a erted man flirting to someone he just met.

He laughed awkwardly.

"Happy birthday to your mother, may she always be blessed."

He asked his self, was it the same woman who sat beside him this morning? From his vague memory, his seatmate had a kind of awkward vibe around her, but the one in front of him this moment was relaxed. She smiled a lot and seemed to be the type to speak whatever on her mind. What was this? Why weren't they talking on the train?

Well, you were sleeping the whole time, Fool!

"Then, I'll get going," she said, unbuckling the seatbelt. "Once again, thank you so much for the ride."

"Nah, no worries."

She opened the door and got off the car while smiling and bowing to him before shutting the door close. She stood in front of the building, waiting for him to drive away. But he rolled down the glass window, shouting for the last time.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Moon Chaewon-ssi."

.

Her daily routine started by waking up around six or seven in the morning. On the days she didn't feel lazy she practiced yoga and meditation, or went for a jog around the neighborhood. Many people perceived her as a positive person, but her closest one knew how she had been trying hard to battle her anxious mind. Exercising was just one of many ways she used so she could begin her day with a feeling that she had done something to make her self felt better.

Another thing that she must have by the beginning of her day was caffeine. It was also one of a few luxuries that she gave her self, a coffee grinder and various equipments for home brewing. Instead of going to café or coffee shop, she preferred to make her own coffee even if she had to pay more for the coffee beans. After taking a shower, she would grind the beans that wouldn't be stocked for more than two weeks and brewed her self a cup of fresh coffee. Then, she was good to go.

Sungjae would've been waiting for her by the time she reached the shop. The boy always came early to her amazement. She tried to beat him and left her flat earlier than she usually did, but she failed every time. It was as if the boy had an ability to read her mind and intention.

"Ya, do you put a camera in my place?" she asked jokingly one day, that was replied by a grumpy answer from him.

"Noona, if I have the money to waste on a camera, you know exactly where I will install it."

She remembered slapping his arm really hard at that time.

"Eyy, there you go with your erted mind again."

He meant his girlfriend's place, of course.

The girls usually took turn in shift, unless on a busy day or on the day they got new stock deliveries. They were opened from 9am until 10pm, so they changed the shift by 15.30pm to make it equal.

"Myungsoo is coming today, Noona."

Sungjae informed her while they were changing the water.

"Yeah, he told me yesterday. He said he's going to buy a new domain for our website and he will change all the displayed pictures into new ones. Brace yourself for the extra work, Yook Sungjae, Son Seungwan!"

"Aye, Ma'am!"

The guy they had been waiting for came a little bit before lunch, donning his all black outfit. They had a small office on the back of the store, and there they gathered in front of his opened notebook as he explained the design and concept he was aiming for.

"Everything is perfect, but Kim Myungsoo, could you please chose a brighter color? Why are you using pastel color? It's spring right now, not autumn." Seungwan protested by the end of his presentation.

Chaewon and Sungjae nodded simultaneously in agreement.

Myungsoo took his time to think before answering coolly. "Okay, I'll change it."

Their meeting ended up in less than an hour while they talked about further details and eating their delivery lunch.

"When do you want to take pictures for the new display?" Chaewon asked him.

"Sunday?"

Suddenly, it reminded her that she should be somewhere else on that day, the matchmaking her mother had arranged the week before.

"Hmm...Sunday?" she pondered. Maybe this was a good excuse to use so she could cancel the appointment.

"Okay, Sunday. Anyway, how much should I prepare for Minseok's fee?"

Minseok was scribbling on his notebook when his answer came out casually.

"He agreed to do it for free."

"For free?"

Chaewon frowned.

"Kim Myungsoo, even if he is your friend, he's someone who works as professional photographer. The website is like the face of our shop, it's a big deal to us. We can't just use his service for free when he is doing us a big favor."

Sometimes, she really couldn't decipher his way of thinking. Just like the guffaw that he showed even after her good amount of lecture.

"Kim Myungsoo, stop joking around."

Myungsoo reached for the hand of the woman whom he had followed for years. He had been there since the first time she opened her small shop, when she started from the scratch. It used to be just the two of them. She ran the shop and he helped her with the supply while he juggled two other jobs to pay his college tuition. He had graduated and worked as a freelancer for some media outlets but he insisted to stay and helped her with the shop in the way he could. The affection they had for each other was deep, as if they were born as siblings who shared the same bloodline from the beginning.

"It's nothing like what you think, Noona. He agreed to not receive money as payment, but I have another deal with him, so don't worry."

"What do you mean by that?"

Her frown grew deeper. His answer didn't appease her at all.

"There is always the right time for everything. You'll find it out later."

Chaewon trusted him, but Myungsoo could be up to many mischievous things at times.

"I'll smack your head if you do anything weird," she concluded.

.

Joongki's day always started at eight in the morning. In the summer, he would shower twice a day, in the morning and night (it could be thrice on a really hot day), but when the weather was rather chill, he would only wash his face and brush his teeth before going to the office.

His mother fancied his place because it was luxurious, but the only reason he chose it was because it was close to his work place. Seoul traffic could be really annoying if you went around using a car everyday. It was more convenient to use the subway, or to walk by feet. And that was what he did every day. He left the apartment by 8.30am, stopped by the coffee shop to get his daily dose of Americano, and just by another five minutes, he would be arriving safe and sound on his desk.

The day would be spent reviewing projects, attending meetings, or supervising the creative process. Sometimes he would work overtime until late at night, but there are also rare times where the meetings or the shoot ended earlier, and his co-workers would pester him to go out and grabbed some drinks.

He liked alcohol. He liked the light feeling when he was getting drunk, but he restrained his self from drinking. He tried not to drink often. Even in a social situation, he tried to stop way before his limit.

He got teased a lot for that. People said he was too tight and proper, conventional even. But he brushed it off easily. He was not a goody two shoes person, he was just afraid of what he was capable of doing when he lost the control over his consciousness.

"There is a change of plan," Joongki announced. "We have to send the final copy by Tuesday, which is two days earlier than the original contract. The bad news, it seems like some of you have to work overtime," he paused, sending glances to his subordinates who immediately slumped on their seats. "But, the good news is, more bonuses, guys. So, get your lazy asses to work fast if you don't want to spend your weekend in the office."

The whole room cheered loudly at the mention of bonus payment.

"Good luck on working on the weekend, Guys!" One of the scriptwriters shouted over to direction of the editing team. The rest of the technical team who had finished their tasks cooed in.

"Guys, let's go drinking on Friday night and clubbing on Saturday!"

The cheers got louder with people agreeing, while the editing team slumped even more on their seats. Some were cursing.

"I'm skipping the club this time guys," exclaimed Minseok, the photographer.

The whole room turned to look at him in bewilderment. Kim Minseok, the king of partying, said he was not coming? What was happening?

Minseok knowing how his colleagues stared at him as if he was losing his mind, talked smugly.

"I'm helping a friend taking pictures for a flower shop website."

A few male stuffs exchanged a knowing look at his answer.

"Oww, Kim Minseok, it seems like there is a flower in the flower shop, huh? Ya! Is it that girl you told us before? What was it, the friend of your friend from the flower shop down there?"

The smile on Minseok's face turned really wide. It was enough of an answer for his colleagues. The room got really noisy after that, some were teasing, some were rooting for him. They had been working really close by each other that the talk of their love lives couldn't be avoid and often was a mass consumption. Once you told someone about your crush, the whole team would know it by the end of the weekend.

They left the meeting room still booing at Minseok's smugly face. The boy took all the teasing gladly, pissing his single male colleagues even more.

"Are you going, Gwanjang-nim?" the guy asked when their eyes met.

Joongki smiled at him.

"Well, they'll make a fuss if I don't, right?"

"But you're going to leave before the second round."

"That's me being considerate, you punk! I should leave before you guys get too drunk that you start badmouthing me in front of my face. How uncomfortable it would be?"

They laughed in unison at his wit. Minseok didn't deny it because it was true sometimes. Joongki was a good senior but he had a tendency to be such perfectionist and it gave them a hard time when the projects were piling up.

"By the way, I just remembered I haven't returned the camera that I borrowed. Do you probably need it for this weekend?"

"No, it's alright, Gwanjang-nim, I'm going to use the other one. How is it so far, Gwanjang-nim?"

"I haven't been able to go hunting properly, but I started to enjoy it again. The feeling is coming out. It's not as awkward as I first tried it out. I'm thinking of buying myself one."

In high school, Joongki had the chance to join the photography club, but soon in his senior year, he stopped practicing the hobby. He had long forgotten about it until recently he started developing interest again.

"You should see the pictures that I took and give me feedback on it, be my teacher."

"Teacher, what kind of nonsense," Minseok smiled bashfully, "you have the basic understanding of composition and lighting already there won't be much for me to tell you. Maybe because you haven't used digital that much so it might seem a little bit complicated, Gwanjang-nim."

Joongki nodded at his words. At his time, digital camera was too expensive unlike these days. Analog camera was more affordable for student like him.

"Ah, if it's not on Sunday, I want to come to see you working for the flower shop, but I have an appointment that day. We never got any project like that before, I think it would be a really good experience for the future. Also, I want to see the girl who makes you look smitten."

After working for Minseok for two years, it was the first time Joongki saw the boy blushing red until it reached his ears.

"What is this? Ya, you're not the type to be like this over a girl. There must be something with this one. She must be really pretty, eh?"

Joongki thought Minseok would rip his mouth one of these days if he kept smiling like that.

"Yes, Gwanjang-nim, she's pretty and she smiles a lot."

He slapped the younger man's back hard after that.

"You're making me envious. Eyy, must be good for you, huh? Good luck then! But watch yourself, you punk. You can't look like this in front of her, like a fool. Really, I can't stand seeing you right now. I'll leave first."

He chuckled hard, hitting Minseok's arm once again before leaving the lover boy.

She smiles a lot, Minseok's words were replaying inside his mind as he walked away.

Somehow, the image of Chaewon appeared before him. She smiled a lot too, he remembered.

Yes, he agreed, girls who smile a lot are on another level of beauty. They are charming.

Joongki sighed. There was this sudden wish to see her.

"Moon Chaewon, I should've asked for her number," he grumbled.

.

Author's note:

Hello again ^^ I know some of you are waiting for the update of The Progress of Love, for that, I'm really sorry. I tried writing the Chapter 7 for it, but it was really hard to write a word. On the contrary, my idea is overflowing for this story. It's as if it has a mind on its own. It's taking over my mind and it keeps developing on its own, sometimes it went out of the plot that I have written down LOL. I hope you enjoy this update. It would be lovely to read your thoughts on this story. I'll see you on the next update (whether it's The Progress of Love or The Changing Tune, or I might be writing a new one shot, who knows LOL).

Anyway, it seems like AFF is having a trouble right now, the default editor is not working when I'm updating. Pardon the inconsistent font format, I'll edit it later when it's working.