Rumor has it that Son Hyunwoo needs a new car.

Alright, so maybe it’s not rumor so much as Yewon snooping, but the point is that Hyunwoo needs a new car and she’s possibly the only person in all of Seoul who has both the means and motive to help him out. And no, this is not an exaggeration.

It happens like this:

On Monday morning at 11:34pm, Yewon overhears Hyunwoo tell his father their car broke down the day before. From her vantage point, she sees him run a hand through his shaggy hair as he speaks, words short and clipped. The dark circles under his eyes stick out as he lowers his head and sighs. “How am I supposed to make all these deliveries?” he asks, gesturing at the delivery containers stacked one on top of another by the back entrance of the Son’s restaurant. There are an awful lot of them. More than he can carry himself, Yewon thinks, and Hyunwoo can normally carry a ton.

The Son family owns a noodle restaurant in a cheap, crowded neighbourhood where every corner has a similar establishment. Yewon tries to eat at least one meal a day there and can probably recite the menu off by heart by now. In her biased opinion, their food is the best in all of Seoul, even if the restaurant’s ambience is… not. But that’s why deliveries are so important; they are a vital part of the place’s income.

His father’s face pinches in pain. “We can’t afford to get the car repaired right now…” He raises a hand to stop Hyunwoo’s protests before they come. “Can you walk or take the bus?”

Hyunwoo exhales, hands clenching into fists, knuckles white in contrast to his tan skin. “We need a working car,” he insists. “Forget the deliveries. Ma needs it to get out to work every day.”

“Think of the money, Hyunwoo—”

And, fine, this is not the kind of conversation an ‘outsider’ should be eavesdropping on, but in Yewon’s mind she’s not exactly a stranger. The Sons know her by face thanks to her frequent patronage at this point. But she is also the future daughter-in-law of the family, even though they don’t know it yet (Yewon does). It’s her duty to be concerned about their problems because they are her problems too.

Hyunwoo’s lips press into a thin line. His jaw works furiously as if he has more to say, but he eventually shakes his head. Stretching his arms over his head, he mutters, “I’m going to borrow Wonho’s scooter today and try to figure something else out later.” Without a backward glance, he hoists the delivery box over his shoulder and starts walking towards her.

If the sight of his rippling arm muscles didn’t give her heart palpitations before, this definitely does.

Yewon holds her breath. Squeezed in between the faded blue dumpster and the wall, she crouches down and counts to ten until Hyunwoo’s footsteps taper off into the distance. To be safe and ensure no one is around to spot her, she waits an extra ten minutes before stepping out into the alleyway.

Dumpsters are so disgusting. The things she does for love, seriously.

But a car, huh?

The thing is, Yewon can fix this problem easily.

Lee Yewon is not a stalker. Her former best friend once accused her of being one, but Sooyoung is an EXO sasaeng, so what right does she have to say anything?

Rather, Yewon is a twenty something woman passionately in love. The object of her affections? Son Hyunwoo, twenty-three, helping out at his family’s restaurant while attending school part time to become a certified personal trainer. He’s a filial son with a strong sense of responsibility, and although soft spoken and polite, she’s observed him act like a goofball with his friends. Most of all, he’s passionate about his hobbies, his future career, and his family’s business. She’s spent many hours daydreaming about what else he can be passionate about.

No matter how you look at it, Hyunwoo is prime husband material.

Her father would probably disagree, but he dislikes anyone not with a future in law or STEM or politics or… well, anyone whose future doesn’t involve a seven figure salary. It doesn’t matter what he thinks. Yewon knows how to handle him. After all, she’s still papa’s little princess, and if she chooses Hyunwoo, her father will just have to deal with it.

And if she wants to buy Hyunwoo a car, her father will just have to pay for it too.

Yewon steals a car magazine from her father’s personal assistant, but it’s filled with pictures of half- women draped over cars instead of any actual information on vehicles. Irritated, Yewon leaves it on her father’s desk and makes sure to leave the subscriber’s name face up. Explain that, Donghyun.

Though her brief attempt at educating herself on cars fails, she doesn’t stop thinking about the Car Dilemma even as she slides into her usual seat at the Son’s noodle place five minutes before noon. Setting her limited-edition designer bag on the table, she opens the menu, bites her lip, and closes it again. It’s a mark of how often she comes here that none of regulars bat an eyelash at this. They know Yewon likes to pretend to look at her options though her order rarely changes. What can she say, her heart’s set on one thing.

While she waits for one of the staff to come take her order, Yewon looks at the door leading to the kitchen. Most days, her only glimpse of Hyunwoo is through it. He works in the back but rarely deals with seated customers. But she can’t spot him now, just hears chatter coming from there, shouted orders and laughter from a myriad of different voices. When the door finally swings open, Hyunwoo’s younger brother comes out carrying plates of food in his hands. He shoots Yewon a quick, distracted smile when he sees her and Yewon smiles back. “I’ll be there in a sec!” he calls out.

Five minutes stretch into fifteen. Yewon’s stomach protests (quietly, thankfully) and she’s preoccupied with trying to silence it that she doesn’t notice the figure looming over her table until a deep voice clears its throat and says, “Your order?”

Hand on her stomach, Yewon’s frown fades into a forcefully neutral expression.

Oh God.

Oh God.

She would recognize that voice anywhere.

Yewon slowly raises her head to see none other than Hyunwoo standing in front of her, notepad in hand. He’s dressed casually in a white shirt and blue jeans, his right knee poking out through a ragged rip in the denim fabric. Hair slightly damp, like he just came out of the shower, his expression is as blank as always though she thinks she can see a hint of amusement in his eyes which tells her he had to have heard.

She wants to die.

“Um!” Her voice comes out like a high pitched squeak. Hyunwoo’s expression remains impassive. “I—” What is she supposed to say to her future husband and the love of her life without preparation? ‘I love you,’ maybe, but there are other people around who don’t know her or him or… anything. She could always order, but her usual meal flew out of her head the minute she saw Hyunwoo’s face. “Ex—excuse me—”

Scrambling for the menu, she knocks her arm against the full glass instead, but Hyunwoo’s hand shoots out to steady it before the water can spill all over the table. Yewon’s fingers curl around the menu as she bites back a gasp. She wants to hide her face or better, sink into the floor and drain into the gutter outside, but she does neither, just stares at Hyunwoo’s large hand and the glass of water. “You okay?” he asks, slowly pulling away. “I can come back if you need more time.”

“No—!” Why did she blurt it out so loudly? Her cheeks turn pink. “I’m ready! To order. I promise.” Because she still can’t remember what she usually gets, she peeks at the menu and mentions the first thing she lays her eyes on. “One spicy jjampong, please.”

Hyunwoo doesn’t make a move to write it down. “You… sure about that?” He scratches the side of his nose and adds, “Thought you couldn’t do spicy food?”

Yewon’s heart stops. Does her remember her? Well, not her but her preferences? Has she ever told him she can’t handle spicy food? It seems unlikely; Yewon has never managed to speak to him without stuttering, knocking something over, wheezing, or all three. This is probably the least embarrassing of their interactions, sadly.

She knows this is a setback considering they’re supposed to eventually get married (they will), but Yewon has time to work through that. Hopefully. Her father makes her see a shrink twice a week and Yewon might as well learn how to deal with important things during that time. Like her inability to talk to her future husband rather than go over the same old crap about her mom and her social life, blah blah blah.

So. She’s optimistic, even if the thought of Hyunwoo looking at her makes her want to pass out.

“I…” She covers her flaming cheeks with both hands. “M—Maybe not. Um, just the… naengmyeon then…”

Hyunwoo gives her a short, jerky nod. She thinks it’s approval. “It’s hot out so good choice.” See? He scrawls down the order and turns to leave. Yewon almost heaves a sigh of relief until he pauses and says something under his breath. She has to strain to hear—”Sorry if I make you uncomfortable,” before he’s gone too fast for her to react. Whatever response she might have given dies in ; she doesn’t have the courage to call after him. All she can do is stare and clench her hands into fists, hoping he’ll come back.

He doesn’t.

His younger brother brings her the naengmyeon and later, the bill. Yewon doesn’t see Hyunwoo for the rest of the week and the dull ache in her chest intensifies with each passing day. She wishes… she wishes she had told him, “You don’t make me uncomfortable in a bad way.”

Maybe there are problems she needs to deal with before she heads to the car dealership with her father’s credit card. Then again, Yewon is really good at running away from her issues (and denial—can’t forget denial).

Every story has a beginning. Yewon and Hyunwoo’s is on June 13, 2015. The date is etched into her heart and soul and will be their official anniversary no matter when they actually get together.

Yewon had left the all-girls university late that day, having stayed behind to study for exams. Her father always sent a driver to pick her up and bring her home—the streets were dangerous—but that day, the car was parked across the street from the campus entrance.

And waiting right outside the gates was the idiot leech who refused to accept that Yewon was not interested in dating him. She didn’t want to label him a stalker. He never followed her home, though he hung around outside her school and trailed after her whenever she tried to go anywhere. She’d told him to leave her alone countless times but he just wouldn’t listen. His persistence terrified her.

Don’t be there, don’t be there, don’t be there… The whispered chant caught in as she spotted him. His face was obscured by shadow, but she could imagine the self-satisfied smile he must have been wearing at having caught her alone. His hand s out and caught her wrist as she tried to skate past him to the car. “Yewon, I was waiting for you! I’m glad you came to me.” His face was too close to hers and her skin crawled.

“Let me go.” She fought to keep her voice even and controlled, trying to twist her arm out of his grip.

“Go where?” His smile widened. It was chilling. “You’re not going to leave me so soon, are you?” When he spoke, his alcohol breath washed over her and made her want to scream.

“Let me go,” she repeated, trembling. Tears picked at the corners of her eyes. “Just let me go—”

A hand settled between them, gripping the creep’s arm tightly. “Let her go.” Hyunwoo. His voice was calm, almost casual, but there was something hard about it that brokered no argument. “Or do I need to teach you some manners?” He squeezed the creep’s arm until the latter yelped and pulled away. Yewon whimpered and hid behind Hyunwoo’s broad back, eyes shut.

“It’s none of your business,” the creep said. “She’s my girlfriend—”

Hyunwoo twisted around and for the first time, Yewon looked into his warm brown eyes. “Miss, is this your boyfriend?” he asked gently, like he was talking to a skittish deer—and he was, in a sense. Yewon quickly shook her head and he hummed. “Thought so.” When he turned back around, his expression was stern, bordering on angry. “Leave now.”

The creep did as he said, not willing to argue with the tall, bulky man who could probably break him in half. Yewon stuck behind her saviour until she couldn’t see the creep anymore. She was gripping the back of Hyunwoo’s shirt like it was a life raft, but he didn’t move or tell her to stop until she finally felt safe enough to step back. Her hands were still shaking though, and when he turned around, he looked at her for a long, silent moment before pulling her into a hug.

And God, he was so warm and comfortable and safe that Yewon couldn’t stop herself from burying her face in his chest. Heaving sobs spilled out of her as he held her, resolute, and told her, “I’ll stay with you as long as you need me to.”

In that moment, she fell in love. She could sense it happening, like she’d lined herself up at the edge of a cliff and decided to jump into the depths below.

His warmth engulfed her for almost ten minutes before her driver finally decided to come out and investigate. Hyunwoo gave him the basic details of what happened before leaving seeing Yewon to the car and saying his goodbyes. She couldn’t tell him anything except for ‘thank you.’ Somehow, that seemed inadequate in light of the kindness he’d shown her.

He took off without much else, and Yewon spent the next few weeks dreaming about him. She wanted to know more about her savior, but he never showed up near her university again so she had to get creative.

It took a lot of detective work to track him down. Literally. She hired an actual private investigator to find out as much about the mystery man as possible. After a week, the P.I. returned with a thin file. She devoured it overnight though it was exam season and she should have bee