Hyeyoung seemed happier than I was when I told her that I would be having dinner with Baekho that night. 

"How's he like?" She asked with a curious twinkle in her eyes. 

"He's the manager on the campus supermarket. He's nice I guess? Considerate to the part-time workers at least. And he helps me a lot, especially after the accident. I guess he was worried I would still be in pain," as I pulled my favourite hoodie over my head, flexing my arm for what it's worth, "he underestimated this haha." Hyeyoung chuckled.

"Do you have ideas about what to wear for the date? I can lend you a dress!" She said eagerly as she jumped to her closet, rummaging for something that she thought might fit the occasion. 

"Nah, I'll just be comfortable. You know I'm not the dress kind of girl. Besides, it's just dinner. I don't really want to call it a 'date'. It's a bit presumptuous. Honestly all he did was be really kind and helpful at work. And gave me his extra supper once." 

Hyeyoung seemed to think that was the most significant detail ever. She grabbed my arms and turned me around to tug my hair behind my ears, "you're just a part-time worker. Being kind to you and giving you extra food from supper is honestly more than manager-worker relations. Did he ask if you have a boyfriend?"

"Yup. Several times," I conveniently skipped the fact that he asked about Mingyu too, "I think he's just really nosy about his employees in general. He has a terrible intuition by the way-" 

Hyeyoung practically squealed. The last I'd seen her this excited, Mingyu had asked her on her first date. She did not manage to persuade me otherwise about my fashion and had to give in to the boots that I put on. However, I did allow her to untie my ponytail and replace it with a simple hairpin to keep my fringe out of my face. She dabbed a bit of lipstick on my lips before sending me out the door. I grabbed my bag, the one with Vernon's keychain strapped on, and left. 

Me: Hao, this is okay right? *Attaches picture* 

Hao: Ya why not?

Hao: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOU SHOULD PUT ON MORE MAKE UP AND A DRESS

Hao: Sorry that was Qiqi hijacking my phone via Jun the translator

Hao: you're fine. Comfort is the most important, especially when you're nervous. 

Me: I'm not. 

Hao: Not comfortable or not nervous?

Me: The latter

Hao: Really?

Me: It's just dinner. 

Hao: R.e.a.l.l.y.?

Me: Okay not nervous. But like...unsure. This feels weird. He's my manager and I want to think it's a normal meal. But you know

Hao: You think it's not?

Me: Just a feeling

Hao: If you don't mind I did ask Vernon a bit about this guy. He sounds...decent. Nothing really off. Just go with the intention of friends meeting up? 

Me: Alright. 

Hao: Breathe. And just eat. Not as much as you always do. But otherwise, just be yourself.

Believe it or not, I was definitely not dressed for the right occasion. Baekho had turned up in a nice winter coat and had nicely layered a collared shirt underneath with a navy blue sweater. Nothing too grand, but definitely made me look slightly sloppy in comparison. We were dressing exactly like a stereotypical description of ourselves - a mature graduate male bringing the college kid with lazy style. Now that sounded very wrong. I could tell he was trying very hard to hide the initial disappointment with a stiff smile. 

We entered a spaghetti house in the heart of Seoul. Nothing too fancy so my simple sweater-with-jeans did not stand out too much. Yet it wasn't the kind of place I would typically hang out with friends either. We picked our orders rather quickly - him a salmon fillet and me squid ink pasta. I've heard Vernon mention it once and I've wanted to try it since. I guess today would be the day. Baekho must be surprised by my choice, because he raised a brow at me when I told the waiter. 

"So do you play sports or something? I've noticed you're one of the strongest workers we have. That's including the boys," Baekho asked. Glad he was the one starting the small talk. I told him about how I was on the volleyball team, and that I was always running grocery errands since I was the residential assistant. When he asked me about whether those trained me in running quickly across the aisles as well, I told him about how I liked hanging upside down on the swing. Of course, I didn't tell him that was a habit I picked up from Vernon. Baekho nodded quietly, listening to me talk about the uninteresting details of my life. 

"Do you hang out much? I saw your friends coming over a lot...the girl and that really tall guy..." 

I told him about how I was really the kind to just go to the supermarket or stay in my room. Otherwise I just hung out with Mingyu or Hyeyoung and the rest of my friends (he caught on that they were mostly guys) at food places. I mean, how exciting could college life be? Friends and food. 

Our food came right in time when he was asking if I always dressed this casually, which I really did not want to answer. It wasn't offensive, I just did not see why he needed to ask and put this into words. I started on my pasta without directly answering it. 

The pasta was really savoury like how Vernon described it to be. My first thought was to take a picture of my blackened lips and send him a picture, since he did show me a picture of him doing the same once. "Hey, I'm sorry it's a bit rude but I just want to send this to a friend. We've always wanted to try this together and I just promised I'll send him a picture if I ever did so..." 

"Ya go ahead," Baekho replied without looking up from his fillet. Was it just the noise in the restaurant or did I really hear nonchalance in his tone? Whatever, I decided to snap the picture and send it to Vernon either way. 

Me: It's really good!