04

baby steps

On an early but lovely Tuesday morning, Seulgi is seen sitting at a booth at a McDonald’s nearby the academy. The scent of brewed coffee and sweet maple syrup lingers in the air. Indie songs are being played through the speakers, adding coziness to her present mood. Aside from her, only a few customers consisting of working adults and joggers are there. The occasional chatter from some aren’t a bother at all. Everything seems to be in its good place.

Earlier, she has woken up to the morning with a surprisingly pleasant mood; hence, she has made the decision to go to the fast food chain to have a plate of hotcakes. Along with her syrupy and scrumptious warm hotcakes are two pieces of hash browns and a cup of hot chocolate. The great food she is having tells her that the rest of her day will progress on smoothly. She really hopes it does.

As she enjoys her first piece of hash brown, she taps on the Messenger icon on her phone’s screen. She scrolls through unread messages until Wendy’s message from last night comes into her view. She promptly taps on it, reading the contents of the message.

Let’s meet after your class, pronto. yOU NEED TO TELL ME HIS REACTION AT YOU GIVING HIM YOUR PRINGLES

The sight of him popping a Pringles chip into his mouth with a teasing look instantly plays in her head, making her scoff. Yet it has also made her smile a small one. At least he is okay with her gesture at apologizing.

As she composes a reply to her dear friend whilst taking another bite of her food, a sudden presence of another person seems to alert her senses. Her gaze slowly looks up from her phone to the culprit who has taken the couch in front of her.

Mino.

Having seen the startled look on Seulgi’s face, Mino smiles and chuckles at her reaction (while also fighting off the urge to smirk at her for the sake of teasing. He can’t have her morning start off bad.) He removes himself from the straps of his gray backpack, then he places the bag on the farther side of the couch.

“Good morning,” he greets, his smile turning into a big grin.

“Uhm… G-good morning,” Seulgi greets back, stuttering in the process. She gives him a sheepish smile as she places her hash brown down on her tray to tuck a few loose hair strands behind her ear out of consciousness.

“Is it okay if I leave my bag here for a sec? I’ll go order breakfast real quick,” Mino casually asks.

‘Maybe he’s just gonna leave his bag here with me; then once he gets his order, he’ll leave,’ Seulgi thinks to herself. Then she looks at Mino, nodding her head at him.

“Sure,” she tells him.

“Cool.” Mino grins once again. “Mind if I eat here with you?”

His question sends Seulgi in a fluster, making her look down at her unsent message and fake a cough. ‘Why on Earth is he doing this?’ she thinks in horror, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.

“I don’t mind, really,” she still replies in kindness although uncertainty is apparent in her tone. She begins typing away on her phone, albeit her fingers are tapping on the virtual keyboard quite furiously.

“Thanks! Want me to get something?” The latter stands up, mindlessly running his palms on the front of the pockets of his jeans to feel for his wallet. As soon as Seulgi hits the send button and press the lock button of her phone, she glances up at him to shake her head. Mino hums, taking it as a no.

“Aight. Be back later,” he nonchalantly says in assurance, waving as he walks away.

Placing her phone down and leaning back in her seat, Seulg