-Please see me-

2/3

            Ari laughed when Woohyun’s crab claw fell from his chopsticks and dropped onto the table unceremoniously. He had taken her to a restaurant near the coast, it was a small place hidden under a tented area next to the small fishing pier; Ari had sworn she explored the whole town but apparently this restaurant was something she had overlooked. It wasn’t the usual kind of place she would go to anyway, it was outdoors but not unclean and seeing as it was a seafood restaurant (namely crabs) there was were thin plastic sheets on the tables to make cleaning up easier for the elderly owners. The crowd of old sea-men definitely wasn’t what Ari was used to either but she actually found herself having a pleasant time in Woohyun’s company.

            “Are you sure you’re not already drunk?” Ari giggled, poking fun at the fact he declined to share alcohol with her when she decided she wanted to drink when they ordered. He had declared that he didn’t drink at all, she didn’t believe him of course but his struggle with his crab claw made it look as if he secretly had two shots when he disappeared to the bathroom a while ago.

            Woohyun gave her a feign look of hurt before putting his chopsticks down and used his hands instead, she watched as he skillfully split the shell open with the scissors to reveal the meat, it looked simple but Ari secretly felt embarrassed not knowing that was how it was supposed to have been eaten. She had spent the last ten minutes trying to the meat out of her piece of crab leg, she wondered if he had caught on and if so why he didn't laugh at her. He noticed her staring and asked if she wanted him to cut open her share too, she nodded with a sheepish smile and he pulled the entire plate over and went straight to it.

            “… So why did you ask me to dinner?” she asked and she saw how his fingers faltered slightly but he quickly resumed his work and looked up at her with a convincing blank expression.

            “I guess because I didn’t exactly pay you back for messing up your camera,” he gave her a strained smile. “I mean Myungsoo’s the one doing all the work…”

            “You’re quite the chivalrous person, aren’t you Woohyun-ssi,” she giggled again as she reached for her glass. He looked up again slightly, not raising his head entirely but eyeing her through his fringe shyly. “What? Did I embarrass you?”

            “Ari-ssi, has anyone ever told you that you’re too forward?”

            “You would be the… second.”

            “Second only?” he chuckled. “… So you’re leaving town tomorrow?”

            “I am, I’ve been here… almost a week now?”

            “Which inn are you staying at?”

            Ari hadn’t even known there was another one in town but told him it was the one walking distance from the train station before asking where the other one was, turned out she really didn’t know the coast area as well as she thought she did, apparently the only other inn in town was opposite this restaurant; she hadn’t noticed a thing when they first arrived here and she leaned backwards to try to see it between the tent flaps. She craned her neck out and finally saw the archway that’s path led to a traditional looking building, Ari stared at it in wonder thinking how an earth she could have missed such a grand structure.

            “Ari-ssi!”

            “Hm?” she turned to Woohyun and wondered why he looked so alarmed, he was pointing behind her and she looked backwards and realised that parts of her long hair had been brushing one of the sailors from the next table over. Ari immediately sat back up straight and stood up with a laugh before walking over to apologise. Woohyun watched in amazement as she shook the middle-aged sailor’s hand sporting a grin similar to the one that the man also had after his friends made a joke, Ari laughed with them and gave them one last word of apology before returning to her chair. Woohyun continued to stare as she picked up her glass of wine and drained its contents in one gulp. “Whoo, that’s nice!”  

            “Ari-ssi… you’re amazing.”

            “Why?” she glanced at him with a brief smile before reaching for the bottle of wine to refill her glass with, it filled only a little over halfway and Ari sighed in annoyance when she realised it was empty. She stared at the glass in her hand and looked back up at Woohyun who still had a kind of stiff posture despite his warm expression. Without giving him an opportunity to argue she pushed the glass into his hand and told him to drink before she ran off to order another bottle and a spare glass.

            Woohyun was flabbergasted as she skipped away, he looked down at the glass of wine in his hand then up to try to find her but she had her back turned completely as she was speaking to the halmeoni by the counter. Woohyun wanted to wait for her to come back and tell her that he really didn't think it was a good idea for him to drink but that was before he noticed the sailors on the next table snickering at him, it wasn’t in an unkind way but it suddenly felt like it was now his pride on the line. Against his better judgment he emptied the glass and waited for Ari to return with the new bottle.

            “Oh wow,” Ari giggled when she finally returned and saw that Woohyun’s face was already slightly red despite the small amount of alcohol she gave him, she held back another laugh as he asked her to fill another glass for him. Once they both had their own glass they toasted each other with matching smiles before downing the wine. “So what were you going to say earlier?”

            “Huh?” Woohyun was already reaching for a third glass when he turned his attention to her looking like he had absolutely no idea what she meant, she smiled and shook her head letting him get back to his important task of pouring them more wine. It looked like he was fairly relaxed now (if not already a little tipsy) and Ari was pleased to see him finally looking less tense as he did through the whole dinner. “So why are you travelling by yourself?”

            “Me? Hm well, I guess I just wanted to see a bit more of what I don’t know…” she cringed at her own poor choice of words that sounded like a weird jumble. “My parents gave me two years to do what I wanted before I inherit the family business… so I wanted to travel and this was my final stop in Korea.”

            “Where else have you been?”

            “Some parts of China, Taiwan and Vietnam…” she said as she noticed the way his gaze seemed to turn slightly downwards when she met his eyes. The halmeoni appeared by their table to clear their dishes and she wrapped up the plastic sheet leaving them a clean surface to drink on. “I went around Korea, well the places I haven’t been before, and I’ll be heading to Japan after stopping in Seoul for three days.”

            “That sounds fun,” he nodded humbly as he watched her pull the plastic camera out. “Oh no, Ari-ssi… just when I thought I’ve seen the last of that.”

            Ari ignored his words and pointed the camera his direction, his elbows were on the table and his chin resting on one of his palms, he was staring back at her blankly with his mouth hidden behind his fingers. She beckoned him to smile but he refused to but the more she spoke she eventually saw a crack of a smile forming on his lips which he tried to hide by turning away but he moved a moment too slow and she took the photo. He was embarrassed but didn’t complain since she looked like she was having fun and he should just let her if it meant she was enjoying herself, it’s the least he can do after she’s brightened his day and if not his week.

            “So do you want to travel, Woohyun-ssi?”

            “What?”

            “Well when I was talking about travelling you made the face kinda like you were envious,” she smiled knowingly as she put the camera down on the table and had another drink. “… Have you ever travelled out of town?”

            “Oh… did I?” he looked like he was contemplating before he shook his head. “I’m not from here… I’m from Seoul, I’ve been living here for the past year and half.”

            “… You’re from the city?” she quite literally shouted and she didn’t mean to sound as surprised as she did but she really really did not expect that. He laughed and shook his head rather cutely when she told him that she seriously thought he was born and raised here. She then asked the next question that naturally popped to her head – how come he was living here then. It was an expected question, a normal one, but it rendered Woohyun silent. “… I’m sorry, if you’d rather not say it’s okay…”

            “No it’s not that,” he reassured her with a soft airy smile. Ari waited for him to continue, for once not knowing what to do when faced with a delicate situation, she stayed quiet as she watched him open his mouth but click it shut again immediately after. It seemed to be taking a lot for him to even think about, she wondered what could be so precarious and she almost felt regretful for bringing it up. “I… I made a promise with a girl I met here.”

            “…”

            “…” Woohyun looked up at her, even more red-faced than before and looking expectant of her response. She stared back at him, her gaze as if to say ‘and then?’ but either he didn’t understand or he didn't want to but he didn’t speak another word.

            “That’s it?” Ari couldn't stop herself from blurting out, she thought he’d be upset by her reaction but he didn’t look fazed at all as he nodded back with a shy smile, like he was embarrassed to have told her a huge secret of his. She held back her initial skepticism as she leaned forward, pushing the camera out of the way to look at his face again – a habit she seemed to have gotten into in her brief time with Woohyun. “… Can I ask you something?”

            “Yeah?”