Doojoon talked to Beast’s manager, and Junhyung got a break. One week.

One. Whole. Week. One week to cool off, and hopefully get over his “Eun Mi issues.” And he was going to get over it, alright. He was going to use that week to find her.

-----

Junhyung walked sullenly down the streets of Seoul with his head down, cap pulled low, and his hands shoved into the pockets of his slightly over-sized sweatshirt. He knew where he was going, and his heart thudded painfully the closer got to his destination.

Of course, he hadn’t bothered to see if his “destination” was still were it was. It had been YEARS since he’d last been there. Fortunately, when he to the street he hadn’t set foot on for close to three years, he looked up and across the street and felt a piece of his heart fall off from the already cracked mess in his chest.

A Starbucks was in his line of sight; the one that Eun Mi worked in when they met. This place and the nearby park were the only two places that they had in common. He swallowed nervously and crossed the street, approaching the Starbucks – but he froze when he was a few feet away from the front window. A thought had occurred to him: he was famous now. He was about to walk into a highly populated coffee shop and order something. He would look suspicious enough with a hat and sunglasses indoors, and the person taking his order would more-than-likely recognize him if he took of his sunglasses.

So, he kept walking. He shoved his hands in pockets and cursed himself as he walked past the coffee shop. He glanced over his sunglasses into the coffee shop and did a double take – the girl cleaning tables looked eerily familiar. He stopped and watched her; he knew that it wasn’t Eun Mi, but… Then, a memory hit him.

-

“Eun Mi!” He called over to her, walking into the Starbucks. She perked up when she heard his voice and turned to smile at him.

“Oppa!” She smiled, waving from her spot behind the counter. “You’re kind of late if you want a drink; we close in five minutes,” She gestured at a clock hanging on the wall.

“Actually, I want to ask you something…” He had walked in so calm and collected, but now that he was leaning on the counter in front of her he was starting to lose his cool.

“And what would that be?” She smiled, walking over and leaning on the counter as well, putting her face inches away from his.

“Would you -”

“Yah!” Another girl in a Starbucks uniform appeared beside Eun Mi and wrapped her arms around Eun Mi’s shoulders. “Back off, she’s mine!” The girl declared, sticking her nose in the air.

“Yun Hee!” Eun Mi laughed, hugging the girl back. “Oppa, this is my best friend, Yun Hee,” She moved one arm to gesture at the girl, who glared at Junhyung and stuck out her tongue. “Really, Yunnie?” Eun Mi  laughed.

“Yunnie?” He mumbled in disbelief, watching the exchange between the two.

“She’s a few months older than me, making her my unnie,” Eun Mi smiled and nudged Yun Hee.

“And I love my dongsaeng!” Yun Hee declared overdramatically, tightening the hug.

“Yun Hee!” A man on the other side of the Starbucks called. “Quit goofing off and finish cleaning tables so that we can close up!” Yun Hee sighed and slowly let go of Eun Mi, glaring at Junhyung one last time.

Once she was on the opposite side of the coffee shop, Junhyung whirled around to Eun Mi and blurted out, “Eun Mi-ah, would you go out on a date with me?” Eun Mi stared at him in shock, but slowly smiled and nodded.

“I would like that very much, oppa,” she told him, reaching over the counter and grabbing a napkin and pulling a pen out of her pocket. She scribbled some numbers down and handed him the napkin. “My phone number,” she said, pointing at it with the pen. “You come here enough to know my work hours!” She winked at him, and he could feel his cheeks turning red. He slowly grinned and nodded vigorously.

“I’ll call you tonight or tomorrow!” He said, backing up towards the door and waving. However, as soon as he turned around he turned into the doorframe. There was a chorus of laughter from everyone in the Starbucks, and he shook his head. “I meant to do that!” He called before stepping out.

He was fighting his urge to skip when a female voice called out to him, “Yah!” He stopped and turned around, surprised to see Yun Hee leaning out of the door. “You’d better treat her right!” She yelled.

-

It was definitely Yun Hee. Her hair was a lot shorter than the last time he saw her, but it was definitely her. If anyone could help him find Eun Mi, it would be her.

Kim Yun Hee had not had a good day. First, she had overslept that morning and almost missed her bus. Thankfully, she hadn’t; if she had, she would have been really late, and the manager’s leniency towards tardiness was often determined by how late you were and how often.

Also, she hadn’t had enough sleep the night before. She needed at least seven hours of sleep and to wake up on time. By missing both she had been in a sour mood all day. And she didn’t look or act as nice as she usually did, which is why her boss gave her bus-duty that day.

She hated bus duty. She’d had that job for the first year that she’d worked at that place, and she’d been sick of it after she’d been doing it for less than a month.

“You just aren’t in a position to work the cash register today,” her manager explained. Although his reasoning was sound, she was still in a bad mood. And it was only made worse when a certain friend of hers called during her lunch break…

-

She flopped into a chair in the back corner, heaving a sigh of relief. She had fifteen minutes before she had to go around and gather all of the plastic utensils, empty cups, dirty napkins, and other kinds of crap that people leave lying around on the tables and then clean said tables. The large bin she had to carry was starting to strain her arms, and she was tired.

She heard a song playing from her pocket and sighed, reaching in and grabbing her phone. “Yoboseyo?” She sighed.

“Yun Hee-ah, we have a problem,” the male voice on the other end of the line sounded worried.

“Hyunseung?” She sat up a little bit, wrinkling her forehead in confusion and worry. “I haven’t heard from you in awhile, what’s wrong?”

“It’s about Junhyung -”

“What?” She yelped, shooting up in her seat. She remembered where she was and glanced around nervously, seeing all of the people looking at her like she was crazy. She jumped up and rushed to the bathroom, sitting at the far end of the counter with the sinks. “What happened, Hyunseung?” She asked.

“A few days ago he just randomly made the decision to look for Eun Mi!” He blurted out.

“What?” She gasped. He couldn’t do that! Eun Mi was just starting to get over him! “He can’t do that! She’s just starting to get over him!” She voiced her panicked thoughts.

“Exactly,” he groaned. “And hyung talked to our manager about giving Junhyung a few days off to ‘cool off and get over this Eun Mi business,’”he told her, his voice laden with sarcasm.

“That’s stupid!” She snapped.

“Yes, it’s very stupid,”he said. She then heard a faint ‘hey!’ in the background.

“Hyunseung… Where are you right now?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“A dressing room. Don’t worry, Junhyung isn’t here.”

“Where is he?” Yun Hee felt a tinge of panic.

“I have no idea,”Hyunseung mumbled. “He got the whole week off, so he’s not here.”

“Do you think he’ll use that time to look for her?” Yun Hee asked.

“I know that’s what he’ll do,”he responded.

-

For the rest of the day, Yun Hee was on edge. This was the place where those two had met, and where they spent most of their time.

They used to sit by the window, watching people pass and letting Junhyung talk. He always talked, and Eun Mi always listened. Another reason Yun Hee didn’t like him: he always talked about himself and never listened to Eun Mi. She could have written a biography about him, but Yun Hee doubted he would’ve been able to write so much as a preface about Eun Mi.

Yun Hee let out a sigh of relief when the day was over. “Yun Hee-ah, you look tired,” the manager said, smiling at her. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home? Get some rest; I’ll finish cleaning up and close up today.” Yun Hee stared at him with hanging up, but grinned and nodded. At least something good happened today!

She gathered her things and left, waving over her shoulder at the manager. As soon as the door closed behind her she heard someone say her name and tap her shoulder. She shrieked in surprise and whirled around, clutching her bag to her chest.

“Yun Hee, relax! It’s just me! It’s Junhyung!” The man wearing the large hoodie, hat, and glasses waved his hands, trying to get her to calm down, and reached up to pull off his sunglasses. She clutched her purse tightly to her chest, panting heavily from her moment of panic.

“What… the… hell?” She snarled once she regained her composure.

“Look, I need to talk to you,” he sighed, lowering his eyes and shifting nervously on his feet.

“About Eun Mi?” She hissed. He looked up a little bit to meet her eyes, saw how angry she was, and quickly lowered his gaze again. He could only nod, afraid of saying anything else. “Why should I talk to you?” She snapped, shifting away from him.

“I need your help -” he began to say.

“- I don’t owe you any favors!” She snarled, turning on her heel.

“I’m desperate!” He called after her, his voice breaking. Yun Hee stopped in mid-step and made the mistake of looking over her shoulder. She met his eyes and could see into them – she saw a broken man. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at the ground, contemplating.

“I got off work early, so my bus doesn’t come for another fifteen minutes,” she declared, nodding ahead of her. “You’ve got until then.”

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As you can see, I'm on a roll! If I'm-slash-you're lucky, I'll be able to get in at least two more updates before my break is over! :D