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She took her hand out of her coat pocket to push the door open. The bell hanging above the door jingled at the movement and she stepped inside the restaurant. One of the waitresses greeted her with a smile, asking how many people were with her.

She held up a finger and nodded her head towards the table where she had spotted her friend. The waitress nodded, grabbing a menu and walked her to the table.

Changkyun looked up from his phone when she sat down and he raised an eyebrow at her appearance.

He pointed to her face. “What’s up with you? You look like you got run over by a car and left the dirt on your face.”

Mina frowned, clearly offended by his comment. She took out her phone and the front-facing camera to check her reflection. Her eyes rounded when she saw the smudged mascara and eyeliner underneath her eyes and she quickly rubbed it away with her fingers. She placed her phone onto the table and shot him a glare when she picked up the menu.

“You couldn’t have just told me my makeup was running?”

Changkyun grinned. “I did. In the only way I know how.”

She rolled her eyes, ignoring him. She looked through the wide array of Japanese dishes, in a breath when she couldn’t decide what she wanted to eat. She put the menu down and peeked over to look at what he was ordering.

He looked up. “What are you getting?” She shrugged, looking at the menu again. “I don’t know. I’m not really that hungry.”

“We can get an appetizer and share until you decide you’re hungry later?” he suggested. She grinned and nodded, placing the menu off to the edge of the table for someone to pick up.

“You know me so well.”

The two of them chatted whilst scrolling through their phones. When the food came, they both put their phones away and began eating.

“You work tonight, right?” she asked, shoving another piece of the seasoned fried chicken in . Changkyun nodded, looking up from his bowl of ramen.

“Do you?”

She shook her head, setting her pair of chopsticks down onto her napkin. His eyes lit up and his jaw dropped when he remembered something.

“Oh yeah, you have your date with him tonight, don’t you?”

She nodded, picking up her phone to play with it.

Changkyun leaned back, letting out a low whistle. “What are you guys doing?” She shrugged. “He asked me out for dinner and said he would come pick me up.”

“You didn’t tell him you would meet him there instead, did you?” he asked, his voice deadpanned. She looked at him and shot him a meek smile. “I tried but he said it’d be on the way after work.”

Changkyun shook his head, rolling his eyes at the same time. “You’re so stupid sometimes.”

She continued to eat the chicken, which he had no room left in his stomach for after his bowl of noodles. He picked up his glass of tea and took a sip before reaching over and grabbing her phone off the table.

She looked up to see what he was doing but continued to eat nonetheless.

“He sent you a text two hours ago but you still haven’t replied?” Changkyun asked, having already unlocked her phone and was going through her messages.

She shrugged, reaching over to grab her phone back from his fingers. “I didn’t have time. I was working on a writing job earlier, okay?”
 

She typed in a reply to the two messages, turning off her phone and putting it back onto the table. Changkyun shook his head at her as he continued to sip on his tea.

“What?” she asked, annoyed with his tongue clicks and slow head shaking.

“Nothing. I just feel bad for the guy.”

She sighed, pushing the empty platter away from her. “I’d much rather he gives up after this dinner. I don’t mind being friends but I don’t think we’re on the same page.”

“I know you don’t, Mina, but there’s no harm in going out for dinner with someone to get to know them better. Maybe you’ll change your mind by the end of the night,” Changkyun reasoned, turning to raise his hand at the waiter passing by and asking for the bill.

After paying out at the front, the two of them left the restaurant together. He looked back at her when they stepped onto the sidewalk.

“I cleared my whole afternoon schedule for you. What did you want to do?”

She pointed to the mall across the street with a grin.

“Shopping.”

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Changkyun had dropped her off at her apartment after they spent two hours walking around the mall together.

“Drive safely,” she said, closing the door.

She had just begun walking towards the back entrance of the building when he called out her name and she turned around. He stuck his hand out of the window and she squinted to see her phone in his hands.

She ran back, grabbing her phone with a quick ‘thanks’.

Changkyun watched until she put in the keycode and turned back to give him a wave before reversing out of the parking lot.

He had just gotten out of the parking lot and was waiting at a stop light a few streets down from her apartment when he heard the sound of an incoming message. He took a quick glance at the display screen on the dashboard of his car when it popped up with a new message from her. He pressed the button on the steering wheel to have the message read out loud to him.

“I think left my jacket in the back.”

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Mina stopped in front of her full-length mirror, looking at her reflection.

After Changkyun dropped her off, she had taken a shower and changed into a new outfit. She was now wearing a pair of blue jeans, a simple white t-shirt, and a black cardigan.

She turned to the left and right, checking her outfit. She nodded in satisfaction and walked back over to her vanity table to put on a few accessories. She tried on the different pairs of glasses she had and she settled for the red pair with wide rectangular frames.

Just as she had finished putting a ring on, her phone rang and she jumped when the vibration sounded through her table.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, I’m outside. Come down whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay, see you,” she replied, hanging up.

She grabbed her purse hanging over her chair and walked over to put on her shoes. She hesitated between a pair of boots and the ones with heels. She finally settled on the ones with the added height and left her apartment.

She walked out and looked around the parking lot. She frowned when she realized that she didn’t even know what type of car he drove. She took out her phone and texted him.

A few seconds later, he replied.
 

She looked to her right after reading her message. She spotted him looking down at his phone in said car and walked over. She gave him a small smile when they made eye contact and he unlocked the car for her to get in the passenger seat.

“Did you have work today?” He asked, looking up at the rear view mirror and looking back to check if there was anybody behind him before reversing.

Mina looked over at him and when she made eye contact with him again, she quickly turned the other way.

“I had some work in the morning, yeah,” she replied, keeping her eyes out the window. She scolded herself for being so awkward and quickly found the courage to turn back to him and start a conversation.

“How was work for you?”

Even though she only saw his side profile, she could see that his lips tugged upwards and he smiled.

He was indeed good looking. He had a cute nose and small lips. His skin was always perfect and his lightly tousled brown hair suited him perfectly. Even his eyes were cute and she found it weird that was the only word she could find to accurately describe them otherwise.

“It was interesting. One of the kids in audience asked me if the dolphin liked me because it kissed me.”

She laughed at his reply and his grin only grew wider, pleased that he made her laugh. He did a double-take at her when her laughter died down.

“Your glasses are cute,” he said. Her eyes rounded, not expecting the sudden compliment and she turned to look at him.

He chuckled, seeing her wide eyes. She ducked away, his bright smile making her cheeks flush. “Thanks.”

There was something about the way he complimented her that made her feel the sincerity through his tone of voice. He always had a bright smile on his face and whenever she worked with him, she would notice how his high energy rubbed off onto everyone around him.

They made small talk with the radio playing in the background the whole way to the restaurant. She ducked her head down to look out the window and see where they were when she realized they were now downtown.

“I picked a Korean restaurant downtown,” he said, glancing at her. “I remember you saying that you liked spicy food.”

She nodded, slightly taken aback that he had remembered that small detail.

They got out of the car when he finally found a parking space and they walked together into the restaurant.

“I’m sorry, this place doesn’t take reservations unless you have a group of six or more,” he apologized, opening the door for her. She shook her head. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s fine.”

It was a busy hour and they had to wait in line for a table. The two of them stood near each other in the small walkway outside of the main waiting area that was already full.

She was standing in front of him with her back against the tinted glass window. She looked away when he had to move closer because people walked past them to leave.

She turned her head to peek at him and now that she was up close to him, she realized that he was still a few inches taller than her even with her heels on. She was also close enough to him that she could smell the faint smell of cologne. He was wearing a casual grey long-sleeved dress shirt and for some reason, the only thought she had in her head was that he looked ridiculously good in it.

He looked down at her and caught her gaze. “Is it too stuffy? We can wait outside.” She looked up at him and shook her head. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

He smiled. “Okay.”

They waited for another few minutes before their number was called and they followed the waiter to their table.

She thanked the waiter when he handed her a menu and she opened it to look through everything. After picking her dish, she closed the menu and placed it down.

Minhyuk, surprised that she had finished ordering so quickly, stared at her. “You’ve picked already?” She nodded, reaching over to point at the dish she had selected on his menu.

He chuckled. “Ah, a spicy soup.” He continued to look through the menu for a bit more and gave his order to the waiter when he returned a few minutes later.

“Do you like spicy food?” she asked, feeling bad that he had been the one asking her questions the whole car ride.

“Nope,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’m really bad with spice, actually. I had a friend switch out the avocado in my sushi for wasabi once and I still haven’t forgiven him since.”

She laughed. “That’s a clever prank.”

He leaned an arm onto the table and placed his chin onto his palm. He tilted his head at her and she blinked back, confused as to why he was staring at her so intently.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I thought you didn’t wear glasses. I’ve never seen you wear them before,” he pointed out. She unconsciously reached up to adjust them at his comment.

“I usually wear contacts at work. It’s easier when I have to look through the camera lens when I don’t have my glasses hitting against it every single time.”

His mouth fell open into a round oval and he nodded in understanding.

“You look cute with glasses but you also look pretty without them,” he complimented again.

This time, she smiled and thanked him back with a smile that mirrored the one on his face.

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