The following week passed quite uneventfully, which for Misun was a relief. She was also able to sleep well, which, in her opinion was a miracle. A couple of days more and it was like the trip to Seoul didn’t happen at all. Even though she really missed Sehun’s friends, she was not that keen on refreshing her memory on what happened that day. Sehun who was as thoughtful as always, didn’t bring up the subject on his own accord and also was tactful enough to change the topic of discussion whenever it went dangerously near anything related to Seoul or the trip for that matter.

“Pass me the list.” Sehun murmured, his nose inches away from a paper he was poring over. Both Sehun and Misun were at the clinic, helping Kris out. It was an extremely busy day with a lot of patients and Kris’s assistant, Mi Rae found it difficult to handle them alone. So, Kris had given them a call and asked them to come over and help. Misun gladly took up the job of guiding the patients in and out of the building, while Mi Rae assisted Kris with the consultation. Sehun on the other hand, settled himself on the nearby desk and did all the paperwork; Kris was quite meticulous with his work and kept the records regarding who has visited him till date and what kind of treatments are they undergoing, whether there is an improvement in their condition or not and so on.

“Here.” Misun placed the paper Sehun was looking for on the desk on the way back to the consultation room, now guiding an extremely old lady who looked like she would faint any moment.

“Thanks.” Sehun called out and took the paper with a smile. Sehun’s experience with report writing helped him to finish the work in the blink of an eye and soon he found himself wandering aimlessly within the building, making small talks with the visiting patients. He caught a glimpse of a furiously blushing Mi Rae when he passed the consultation room once, which had it’s door wide open.

“You put in the wrong date.” Sehun heard Kris say in the gentlest voice to Mi Rae. Mi Rae stuttered out an apology and quickly edited what she had written on the records of the patient who was currently inside the room. Kris has never talked this way to another person apart from Misun as far as Sehun could remember. Even a dull witted person would understand that something was going on between the two. Sehun smiled widely and hurried to find Misun. She definitely should not miss the fun.

“What’s the rush?” Misun said, irritably when Sehun kept tugging her arms. She was arranging fresh flowers on a vase in the visiting room.

“You’ve got to see this!!” He said with a manic glint in his eye.

That evening, Misun decided to make dinner. Both she and Sehun returned home for lunch and didn’t go back to the clinic, but instead worked on Misun’s new project from her company. She made veggie stir fried noodles (Sehun was vegetarian and she still remembered how he struggled to make fried eggs the other day to make her feel better) and made omurice for herself and Kris.

“He is coming!!” Sehun gesticulated madly at Misun. He had been spying on Kris’s arrival for the past half an hour by crouching under the living room window. Sehun half ran towards Misun who was plating everything on the kitchen counter top.

“Honestly, I have never been this excited since my graduation ceremony.” He joked and high fived Misun with a sly grin on his face. Sehun jumped up and down on the balls of his feet as though struggling to contain his excitement.

“Behave.” Misun pinched his arm just as Kris opened the door and came in looking exhausted and oblivious to the mood in the house.

“Smells good. I suppose Misun made dinner tonight.” Kris nodded appreciatively as he breathed deeply though his nose.

“That hurts, Kris. Real bad.” Sehun said with mock hurt on his face.

“Let’s be honest, Sehun. I’m not denying that you can’t cook. It’s just that what she makes is more edible than yours.” Kris said  as though he was consoling Sehun and made his way straight towards one of the chairs.

“This is divine.” Kris said as he loaded his mouth with a spoon full of Omurice.

Misun and Sehun exchanged a silent glance of understanding.

“But you would definitely pick Mi Rae over omurice any day.” Sehun prodded, carefully gauging Kris.

Kris’s reaction to Sehun’s statement was priceless. His fingers went slack and his fork fell on his plate with a loud clatter. His face became the color of the setting sun and clashed horribly with his blonde hair. He also managed to choke on his food and had to down a glass of water to clear his windpipe.

“What are you talking about?” He wheezed clutching his chest.

“Aw, someone’s in love.” Misun cooed, as she swooped across the table and kissed Kris on the cheek.

“Don’t know what you guys are talking about” Kris mumbled, but his body deceived him. His blush was now creeping down his cheeks and Misun saw the back of his neck as well as his ears flaming. Misun and Sehun exchanged knowing smiles. But thankfully, both of them didn’t push the subject much and Kris was able to eat the rest of his food in peace.

Sehun left soon afterwards wishing them a good night’s sleep, which left Kris alone with Misun. As though warning bells were ringing on his head, Kris silently tiptoed across to his room, trying hard not to draw attention to himself.

“Kris?” Misun called. Kris froze and scrunched up his face in defeat. He took a deep breath and turned around to look at Misun, who was sitting on the couch, patting the space beside her, clearly indicating him to come and sit beside her.

“I’m not going to eat you up.” Misun assured him.

Kris reluctantly sat beside Misun.

“So?” Misun prompted.

“So what?” Kris asked innocently.

“I like Mi Rae. She is a nice girl.” Misun encouraged. Kris didn’t say anything and slumped on the seat.

“If only it was as easy as that.” Kris sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I admit that I like her and I think she likes me too, but she distances herself from me whenever we get too close. It’s like she has built a wall around herself, not letting anyone in. Besides, she treats me with way too much respect .She also thinks that I’m too good for her and that she doesn’t deserve me. She has a lot of insecurities too.”

“Like what?” Misun urged.

“She considers herself beneath us just because she was brought up in a village and because she hasn’t had proper education. She also is bothered about the fact that she is too poor to hang around with the likes of us. Trust me, I have tried so many times to make her feel comfortable around me, but it has never worked out till date.”

“Well, I would say that you haven’t tried hard enough.” Misun said with a patronizing look.

Kris simply stared.

“What do you suggest then?” Kris asked after a minute’s silence.

“Leave it to me and Sehun. We will find a way.” Misun promised.

Next morning, Misun explained everything to Sehun that had happened the previous night after he had left. Misun had to admit that Sehun was the best when it came to planning. Sehun remained silent for a couple of minutes and then he enquired about Kris’s schedule the coming Sunday. Misun told him that Kris would be going to Seoul to pick up his order of medicines. Sehun didn’t waste much time and called one of his friends who owned a nice restaurant in Seoul and reserved a table for dinner. Both of them then pestered Kris , who finally got fed up with their nagging and called Mi Rae and asked her whether she could go with him to Seoul and help him pick up the order. Misun and Sehun waited with bated breath for Kris to hang up.

“She said she will come and help me.” Kris said and let out a huge nervous sigh. Sehun and Misun both celebrated the news.

“Thank me after you guys get together.” Sehun hastily said before Kris could thank him for the dinner reservation. “And make me proud, Kris.” Sehun added and patted Kris’s shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, Sunday arrived and Kris bored both Misun and Sehun to death , asking questions after questions about what to wear for the trip and whether he was looking good with his new hairdo. In the end, Sehun and Misun dragged him to the door and literally kicked him out and slammed the door on his face.

“Finally, he is leaving.” Sehun informed Misun as he observed Kris’s car speeding up the dirt road.

“Okay, now what are we going to do?” asked Misun. “We have a full day ahead of us and I’m not in the mood to work.”

“Well, we can visit that place we discussed the other day, because the passes that I managed to procure will be expiring soon.” Said Sehun, his eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of the adventurous day ahead.

Both of them briskly got ready for their visit, as they didn’t have much time to waste. Misun dressed lightly because according to Sehun, it will be slightly hotter today and will be sunny. Sehun also was dressed in light clothes and both of them quickly packed some food in cloth hampers to take with them since polythene bags are not allowed inside the forest. They got into a bit of argument about how to get to the destination. Sehun kept insisting that his bike would make