After a short bus ride, Sungyeol made sure to be the first one out, extending his hand to Tzuyu for her to get down safely. She simply rolled her eyes and got off on her own. The two were enjoying the cool night in peace and quietness. 

"So how much farther until we reach your home?"

 "Not that much," Tzuyu replied while speeding up her pace slightly.

The sound of their footsteps was melodic; Sungyeol knew this night, this whole day, would mark an unforgettable moment in his life. He couldn't help but let his vision gravitate towards Tzuyu's hands. He wanted to hold them so badly. That's when he thought again to ask her to be his girlfriend. The matrix of his mind was saturated in colors of peach, pink, and scarlet as he delighted in the dream of her saying "Yes."

 He was trapped in pleasant daydreams when Tzuyu looked at him, "Does your stomach still hurt?"

 He felt embarassed, her eyes pierced through his soul, "I'm fine!"

 Tzuyu gifted a warm smile and they both turned the corner. Right when they hit the light emanating from a lamppost, Tzuyu stopped.

She pointed across the street to a fairly large, luxurious, apartment complex,  "I'm home, you can say goodbye now."

 Sungyeol was disappointed, "Let me at least drop you off at your door?"

 "No."

 Sungyeol did not want to end the night like this. He really wanted the third time to be the charm. 

Tzuyu took a sigh, "Fine..."

 For Sungyeol, her short response was as though St. Peter himself called him to enter the land beyond the pearly gates.

Together, side by side, they crossed the street. Love was bursting forth inside him, streams of crystal clear water from the recesses of  his core began irrigating the whole of his heart, flowers began to dance in Sungyeol's heart as a smile crept up his face. Tzuyu casually took a glance at him, at the silly smile he could never hide, she knew he loved her, yet the reason why remained a cipher to her.

Together they greeted the security officer at the entrance and took an elevator up to the 11th floor. They continued to the room at the far end of the hall. Sungyeol stood in front of the door and Tzuyu stood with her eyes fixed on his. The beatings of his heart was like the roaring of the cosmos when it was created, a thousand big bangs rang through his heart, the dark crevices of his heart was illuminated by a thousand suns as he looked her in the eye.

She took a deep breath, "Bye now."

 His response was sincere, truer words never spoken, "I lo-"

Before he finished the word, the door slammed open, busting open his nose, and the semblance of a little girl poked through.

 "Why are you home late?" she yawned.

 Tzuyu groaned before she answered, "I'm sorry, I forgot you and mom were coming to visit."

 Sungyeol moved to see who was speaking, bloody nose and all.

The 8 year old girl fell into dismay, "Who's this, Tzuyu? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!"

 "He's not my boyfriend!" She looked at Sungyeol with a hint of apathy, "he's just a friend from work..." She noticed the blood dripping out his nose, " Look, what you did Momo! "

Sungyeol was confused by the girl's identity, but then he finally noticed the blood as its salty taste was felt trickling down his mouth. 

 "Can I have him then?" Momo asked with her attention zoomed on Sungyeol's handsome mug.

 Tzuyu pulled Sungyeol in and closed the door behind him. He followed along without complaint, of course, when Tzuyu led him to the restroom.

She made Sungyeol sit on the toilet seat and asked Momo where she had moved the first aid kit.

 "How should I know? You live here! I only come by when Mom visits you!"

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but you always love to scavenge around my stuffs, especially for makeup!"

 Momo gave a "tehe," before she pointed to the bottom of the vanity. 

 Tzuyu brought out a couple of cotton balls, poured some rubbing alcohol on them and started cleaning away the blood that had smeared when Sungyeol rubbed his forearm on his nose to get rid of an itch. The moment became dangerous for him. Any more closer and he would be able to feel her breath caress his flesh.

 "I can do it!" he spouted with his voice cracking midway.

 It finally hit Tzuyu, "That's right!," she stepped back and her face was flushed, "I don't have to do this!" She quickly turned around to veil her flustered face. "Momo!"

 Momo was shaken up, "Yes?!"

 "Stay here to make sure he doesn't steal anything while I go get something to drink"

Momo was full of glee to be have a time alone with Sungyeol. She stared at him as all kids do.

It was awkward for Sungyeol. He was diligently washing away all the blood off his sleeve when he decided to ask who she was to Tzuyu.

 "I'm her sister! I'm also 8!"

 He was humored by her cute voice, "I'm Sungyeol. I'm an adult!"

 "Are you her boyfriend?" Momo asked with eager, shining eyes.

 He smiled when he remembered his just failed confession, "Not yet." 

 "Then," Momo twirled her skirt and played with her fingers, "Will you marry me when I grow up?"

 Sungyeol felt a tender "Awwwww" speak in his heart, then he shut her down in the most polite way possible, he patted her head and ruffled up her hair, "That's cute. I'm sure you'll marry a prince when you grow up."

For Momo, the seconds he spent with her made her experience the pangs of puppy love for the first time. For, Tzuyu, however, the seconds she had spent with him had begun to cause a disturbance. In the kitchen, she had taken out a glass of water and gulped it down. She could not, for the life of her, figure out why she had gotten so flustered in front of Sungyeol. She denied the still whisper that echoed through her mind, the voice that made her doubt, the voice that said "It's love."

She opened the faucet and let the cold water flow, patting her face with it shortly after.

"I'm all done," Sungyeol announced with Momo clinging onto his sleeve, "Thanks Tzuyu."

Tzuyu chose to not turn around, "Yeah, sure. The door's right there," she closed the faucet and refused to turn around with her makeup possibly smeared, "Bye!"

 Sungyeol felt awkward, he could tell Tzuyu wanted him to leave; he thought she might want to spend time with her sister. He patted Momo's head once more and left, "See you tomorrow!"

 As soon as he left, Momo ran to Tzuyu and asked, "Why don't you go out with him? You don't want to be a lonely old lady, do you?"

 Tzuyu playfully snarled her lip, "I'm not old!" she seized Momo in her arms and began tickling her, "Besides, I don't like him. He's just a guy from work... "

Momo pushed herself away from Tzuyu's attack, "Let me keep him, then!"

 Tzuyu stood straight with her hands on her hips, her eye squinting at Momo, "You're too young!"

 

The next day at work, Tzuyu would be bothered by Sungyeol's constant smiling, it was his petty attempt to get her to remember what he considered to be a great night.

 "Stop staring, it's disgusting."

 Sungyeol brushed it off, "That's not what Momo thinks. She told me she wants to marry me, isn't that cute?"

 Tzuyu rolled her eyes and went to take her break. She sat quietly, enjoying her respite, when she noticed Dongwoo  bringing in a suited man to his small office. She found it peculiar at first, but she ignored it after telling herself she should not care. Minutes later, Jinyoung came and told her to help out at the front, Sungyeol had messed up the cash register and neither could fix it.

 "I'm sorry!" Sungyeol apologized while on his knees.

 Tzuyu told him to get up, "No problem, just that it's good there was no customer or anything around..."

 Jinyoung smiled at the little scenario.

After Tzuyu fixed the little glitch that had been encountered she asked Jinyoung, "Did you talk about going to school?"

 Jinyoung scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, surprisingly! He said he knows the head of the school so he can pull some strings for me!"

 "That's too convenient, maybe he could get me into a nice college," Sungyeol mused.

A customer finally came in and interrupted their little conversation. Half an hour or so later, all three saw Dongwoo lead the suited man Tzuyu had seen before to the outside where they both lit a cigarette and talked. 

When Dongwoo came back in, Tzuyu scolded him, "You said no smoking during working hours..."

 Dongwoo smirked and laughed at her sass, "He's a friend I can't say ' No' to!" 

Dongwoo then called Jinyoung over and told Sungyeol and Tzuyu to take care of the shop while he gets Jinyoung enrolled at school.

The two were alone again, Tzuyu sensed some tension begin to develop between the two of them, strange because this was not the first time they were alone.

She was about to speak when Sungyeol spoke out first, "So...did you sleep well yesterday? I had trouble fighting diarrhea."

 Tzuyu laughed, that's what she needed- to laugh.

 "Wow, you wouldn't be laughing if you were in my postion."

 Tzuyu took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, it's just so funny." 

 Sungyeol remembered her off sense of humor and smiled at her cuteness.

 Once she regained her composure, Tzuyu let out her complaint, "You know, my mom witnessed everything last night and told me she restrained herself from coming out to meet you. She thought you were my boyfriend."

 Sungyeol felt touched, "That's great!"

Tzuyu glared at him, "That's embarassing, not great!" 

A customer, a woman wearing shades  and expensive clothing came in and made her order. Tzuyu and Sungyeol exchanged glances, with their expressions speaking their thoughts, "Who's this? Shades inside?"

The lady had sat before Sungyeol  finished preparing her order, so he felt compelled to bring the order to her table. The lady took off her glasses and introduced herself as Irene. Sungyeol nodded in acknowledgement and stepped away, but the lady called him, almost seductively.

Tzuyu was perplexed once she saw Sungyeol take a seat and begin to speak with Irene.

It wouldn't be too long when Irene left and Sungyeol returned to Tzuyu.

 "Who was she?"

Sungyeol yawned, "Just some lady called Irene."

 Tzuyu felt the urge to continue asking, "How come you talked with her for so long?"

 Sungyeol was dense, not questioning her curiosity, "Just talked businesses, I guess. Something like a sales lady, she was..."

Nothing much happened after that, a few customers came in, but that was it. It wasn't until around 6 again that Dahyun and Jinyoung swung by. 

 "He got me in! I was able to stay for the day too!"Jinyoung proudly announced.

 Sungyeol smiled, he was only happy to hear things work out for his friend. He also knew that through school Jinyoung would be able to get closer to Dahyun. It made him feel like a father somewhat after thinking about Jinyoung go off into the world. 

While Jinyoung was talking about his first day at school, all Dahyun could do was stand still and stare intently at Sungyeol. She was idling around by the entrance, she kept fixating on navigating through her heart, to find out whether she still liked Sungyeol or not. She pondered what was truth, never had ambiguity so deeply seeped into the farthest reaches of her soul. Then Tzuyu came and stood by her.

 "How come you've been so quiet?"

 Dahyun felt happy Tzuyu was the first one to begin a conversation, "Just thinking."

 Tzuyu noticed Dahyun glimpse at Sungyeol. She felt anxious, but could not put her finger on why she felt such way. One thing was clear to Tzuyu, however. She knew Dahyun kept glancing at Sungyeol, so she asked, "Thinking about a 'what' or a 'who'?"

 Dahyun took a deep breath and stretched out her arms some,

"Doesn't matter anymore. I made my decision."

 "About what?"

She looked at Tzuyu and smiled, "You could have Sungyeol. I don't think I love him anymore."

 Tzuyu scoffed and pretended to barf, "Yeah, I don't like him."

 "Yes, you do," Dahyun patted Tzuyu's head as though she were a child, "Trust me I know."

 "You're wrong."

 "Then how come you're so defensive."

 Tzuyu paused, "I'm not being defensive."

 Dahyun was on her high horse, she had witty look, "You're trapped in the web that has been weaved, but you don't know it."

 "What web? " Tzuyu furrowed her brows and looked at Dahyun with the thought that she had gone nuts, "What are you talking about?"

 Dahyun nudged Tzuyu with her elbow, "Trust me, you'll know!"

Jinyoung then came by, interested in what the two were conversing. Tzuyu noticed Dahyun's demeanor changed, she seemed more girly all of a sudden. 

 "Just a heart to heart!" Dahyun slyly spoke.

 Tzuyu was frustrated, she felt her head begin to hurt and went to sit in the break room for a little while. A few minutes later, after Dahyun and Jinyoung left, Sungyeol stopped by to see if she was doing fine.

 "Yeah, just a little migraine or something," Tzuyu said as she stood up.

 When she took a step, she nearly collapsed, but Sungyeol caught her in time. Like out of a drama, their eyes, their lips, were only a small distance apart.

 "You okay?"

 Tzuyu shoved Sungyeol, causing her to fall on her bum.

 "I'm sorry," he was bashful in his speech, almost as though he were a girl, " I got too close, didn't I? "

Seeing Sungyeol shy irritated her, "It's fine, I'm okay!"

 Sungyeol was apolegetic, "It looks like there won't be anymore customers today, how about we close and I walk you home."

 Tzuyu felt a heat cover her face and questioned why she felt such a phenomena.

 "Tzuyu, how about it? I don't want to let you go home in the state you are."

 "Fine," she relented.

While Sungyeol closed the shop, Tzuyu stood outside dealing with her nerves. She felt jumpy whenever her eyes casually drifted over to Sungeyol. The two walked at a rather leisurely pace, Sungyeol wanted to make  sure she was fine after nearly collapsing.

 "Will Momo be home tonight? She's cute."

 Tzuyu nearly tripped, but caught herself. She was irritated again, "How should I know?! "

 "Sorry, just..."

 Tzuyu felt bad hearing his apology, "I'm sorry, it... it's just. "
Sungyeol nodded, "I understand, it's just happens, you can't help it..."

 "Can't help what?"

 Sungyeol swallowed his spit, "To every girl, I mean..."

 Tzuyu was in disbelief, she gasped and afterwards hit Sungyeol with her bag, "Are you stupid?!"

 Sungyeol cowered away, "I'm sorry!"

 She took a deep sigh, "You're just so clueless, you have no tact ," she looked at his eyes and felt her heart pulsate like crazy. Tzuyu's heart didn't permit her to keep looking, she stared at the ground while quietly muttering, "You can't just make those 'time of the month jokes'..."

 "I'm sorry, it's just, yeah I have no excuse- I didn't mean for it to come out as a joke though, I'm sorry."

Tzuyu refused to respond, and in silence they continued the way to her home. 

Sungyeol followed her up to her apartment door, he waved bye but Tzuyu never once turned around to see him.

When Tzuyu opened the door she expected, for some reason or another, for Momo to have fallen asleep there, by the door. She expected Momo to ask and ask about Sungyeol, about what he likes and stuff like that. Then she got chills when she began to think why Momo would ask that. 

Tzuyu was pensive, "Maybe I want to talk about Sungyeol...But why?"

Tzuyu slipped off her shoes and walked barefoot, slowly heading to her room, the cold floor didn't bother her. What did bother her was seeing her bathroom door open. She stood and stared at the toilet, and the scene of her cleaning up Sungyeol's busted nose played through her mind. She took a small step into her bathroom, as to not make a noise although, no one else was there but her. She took a deep breath and began to question whether she had developed feelings for him.

When she stared at her mirror, she saw a phantom, she saw Sungyeol hug her from behind. It frightened her, causing her to stumble and fall on her .

 "I need to sleep, don't I?"

 She hastily took a shower and readied herself for bed. She fell asleep rather quickly, quicker than she ever would have guessed.

 

Tzuyu dreamt of Sungyeol that night, a drama that jostled her awake. She dreamt she was cutting up some fruit, and then Sungyeol quietly came by and embraced her from behind. It was as though they were newly weds. She giggled when he dug his chin into her shoulder, it was ticklish, but she loved it. Sungyeol gently pulled  her hair behind her ear and kissed her neck softly, and then her cheek.  "I love you," they told each other...

 

Tzuyu woke up and immediately covered her face with her pillow and let out a scream. Her eyes were glued to the ceiling as she began to question why she had such a dream. Her finger delicately touched the area Sungyeol had kissed in her dream, causing her to shudder.
She couldn't sleep a wink afterwards, her blanket was covered in sweat and her pjs were also soaking. She changed into more breathable clothing and began to distract herself by thinking other thoughts, feebly attempting to fall asleep- all those thoughts impelled her to further drift away from sleep.

The existential questions that haunt all humans, Who am I ? Why am I here? What is my purpose? troubled her.

A grasshopper's song made things worse for her, she debated whether or not to kill it. She could see it from the corner of her eye, all it would take was the slap of a shoe. But she opted not to kill it, the song became a source of consolation. She pulled open the curtains, letting in some moonlight. It was wonderful, but she was still without sleep.

Her concern for attaining sleep, looking at the red digits on the clock change without stop, began to terrify her. It was a night of insomnia.

 

She looked horrible at work the next day, the red veins in her eyes could not be unseen, and she got cranky as soon as she saw Sungyeol.

 "It's your fault!"

 Sungyeol marveled at the redness in her eyes, "What happened to you?"

 "It's your fault, " she looked him dead in the eye, "I don't know why, but it's your fault I couldn't fall asleep."

Sungyeol apologized over and over again until she finally vented out a deep breath through nose, her arms crossed, and succinctly replied, "I forgive you then."

 Sungyeol, of course, had not even the remotest idea why she blamed him; he just apologized because he felt compelled to do so. Tzuyu, too, had only the faintest idea why her dream of him forced her sleep to go away.

When Dongwoo came in around noon and saw Tzuyu looking miserable, he told her to take the day off- that she might scare off the customers otherwise.

Tzuyu thought about his offer, but immediately refused once she saw the Irene woman step in.

Sungyeol was about to take her order, but Tzuyu butted it in and did it in his stead.

Irene sat by the entrance, and gestured with her hand for Sungyeol to come. He took a step, but Tzuyu firmly held onto his hand.

 "You can't just have a talk during working hours."

Sungyeol hesitated, "Dongwoo's in the back. It'll only be for a bit."
 

Tzuyu let him free, scowling at Irene, identifying her as a siren that lulls sailors to a deathly repose. But, Tzuyu began to question this type of resentment. She began to question why she should even care. She felt her heart fragmented, divided into pieces- of which she encountered some she never even knew where there.

 

 "It's like there is a piece of me that wants him... That loves him."

 

Tzuyu drew herself away to the back. She couldn't handle it anymore: Why, all of a sudden her heart had stirred the waters of love. It angered her, the fact of her not having the reigns over her emotions that were now as wild stallions, bursting out of the stable, trampling everything underfoot that stood in their way without any restraint whatsoever.

She saw Dongwoo step out his office door.

 "I'm sorry, I think I'll take up your offer and go back home now."

 Dongwoo saw the way in which she spoke, he knew something was off, but chose not to address it, "Sure. Go home."

 Tzuyu thanked him and took off her apron. She just wanted to go home and be alone.

But Dongwoo stopped her, "Uhmm, it might be a bad time, but,"
Tzuyu was hasty, "But what?"

 "I sold the store and new management is coming to take over in around 2 months while all the paperwork gets wrapped up...so you may or may not lose your job."

 Tzuyu left her jaw dropped.

 "Yeah, you remember that suit from yesterday?" Dongwoo's mouth was dry so you could hear his tongue make an obnoxious noise, "Yeah, I sold it to him...That's why I was kinda relieved with Jinyoung going back to school. Don't wanna have him be a bum at home."

Tzuyu nodded, "Okay, thanks for giving me a heads up. I'll begin looking for work beforehand."

 Tzuyu ran off through the front door, forgetting Sungyeol would be there. She avoided him, seeing he was still talking with Irene.