Gift for Golden_Closet

Gift from ?????

Title of the gift: The Next Part

Pairing(s): Jinyoung x OC

How Many Words: 6,724

Rating: Slight Fluff, Slight Angst, Slice of Life

Warnings: None except a few swear words.

Note to my giftee: Hello Udon! Sorry it came a bit later than others, but it's here! I hope you enjoy it because I had difficulties in what to actually write and I kept changing my mind and the plot itself.  I got through it and try to implement the things you wanted and hope I did it justice! But yeah, hope you like it! =]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Next Part

 

"Are you sure it's okay?" Woorin asked her best friend, Nayoung, as the duo arrived at the venue where The Street's Christmas party was being held.

"Yes, it is. Besides, we're already here and it's not like you haven't done this before." Nayoung replied with a laugh. "Just enjoy yourself."

"Yeah, that was when I was working at The Street, but I don't anymore and probably don't know anyone now."

"There's a few familiar faces you'll recognize."

"Yeah right. It's been like three years."

"Don't forget the ones that has been here like me."

"Yeah, yeah."

The duo entered the venue and were greeted by a well decorated and subtle Christmas theme of gold, silver, white, and blue. There was hardly any of the bold colors of green and red unless it was just a dash here and there. Other than that, it was very beautiful and light.

"Whoever decorated the venue did an amazing job." Woorin complemented as Nayoung agreed. "Yeah. Yubin and Hyelim spent hours on all of this, especially in the last minute details. Mr. Park was very particular about certain things although in the end he just let them do whatever."

"Sounds like him and still not much has changed since."

"Tell me about. So much has happened this year and I'm glad I'm not playing hostess. I left it up to the other girls who wanted to do it and I'm so glad I did."

"True. Anyways, what do you want me to do with this?"

Woorin asked while holding onto a tray of oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies that she and Nayoung had baked earlier. Nayoung pointed towards to her right and to the front of the room.

"Oh, that. You can put it over there with the other food the others should have brought for the potluck. I'm going to be on the other side where the gifts are and you can meet me over there."

"Okay."

The duo bid one another a wave as they went their separate ways. Woorin softly, but briskly made her way over to the long table and scanned it to see where she could place the plastic tray of baked goods. After finding a spot and placing it there, Woorin turned around to find her friend when she almost ran into another body, but was quick to react and move out of their way. It was Nayoung's boyfriend, Mark. 

To this day, Woorin still didn't really like Mark as she felt he was kind of sketchy and weird, but she kept her dislike under the surface and only voiced her thoughts whenever it was just her and Nayoung. If he made her friend happy and wasn't an from what she could tell, then she could allow Nayoung that happiness and not ruin it for her just because she didn't like the guy.

"Hi, Woorin." Mark greeted her with a smile as Woorin did the same, but out of politeness. "Hey, Mark."

"It's good to see you. Didn't think you'll show up to one of these since you haven't attended the past ones. How are you?"

"I'm good and I wasn't, but thought I'll see how it is nowaways. You?"

"I'm doing fine. Is Nayoung around as I'm assumed she invited you?"

"Yeah, she did. She's at the gift table. Nayoung didn't want to come alone since you had something to do before you came here."

"Oh yeah, I did. I just had to pick up Jinyoung from the airport. He should be around here, somewhere."

"Ah, Jinyoung. You invited him?"

"Of course since he'll be coming back to work at The Street again, but at the Itaewon location instead of the one here in Cheongdam."

"I see. That's good. That's real good." Woorin changed the topic. "Anyways, yeah, Nayoung should be putting her gift away and I'm gotta use the restroom."

"Okay. Thanks. It was good seeing you."

"Yeah, likewise."

The two bid one another goodbye as Mark made his way in the direction of where the gifts were while Woorin made a beeline towards the exit. Woorin only came to the party in support of her friend who has worked since it opened, but it was also because she knew that Jinyoung wasn't going to be here at the party. He hasn't been able to attend the previous ones, too, and so she thought she was in the clear. Woorin used to work at The Street located in Cheongdam of where she met Jinyoung. The two were a couple before their breakup three years ago and it didn't end on good terms.

Although Woorin came here with Nayoung and may not have recognized the new faces, but she didn't feel like staying after all knowing there was one face she'll have to look at again knowing memories would resurface without her permission. Unfortunately for Woorin, her escape was intercepted by four familiar faces.

"Oh ho ho. Is that our little Woorin?" Taecyeon cooed upon recognizing her first with the largest grin on his face.

"It is." Minjun confirmed with a gummy smile. "I didn't think we'll be see you again after so long."

"Yeah, hey, hi guys." Woorin awkwardly greeted them. "I just dropped off the food for Nayoung. I was just leaving."

"Already?" Nichkhun frowned. "You just got here. We actually have more games and raffles going on this year. You should stay."

"Um, I dunno. It might be awkward."

"Nonsense. Come along." Wooyoung said as he took a hold of her forearm and pulled her along to where everyone was gathering while leaning down to whisper his next words. "Did you bring any chicken?"

"Wooyoung. We have loads of chicken coming in a few minutes." Minjun stated with a roll of his eyes. "Stop bothering the kids about it."

"I just wanted to know. Can't have enough chicken at these things."

Woorin just continued to smile politely as she got dragged along, but trying to get her arm out from Wooyoungs grip was a lot harder when Taecyeon was on her other side with his smiling face that pulled her in to just go with the flow. Woorin gave up and just hoped she didn't have to interact with Jinyoung at all.

---

"Limbo Queen! Limbo Queen! Limbo Queen!"

Nayoung began the chant to cheer and annoy Woorin as she and five others were still in the running to see how low they could go for limbo. Before Woorin quit. her record was at 36 inches and since then no one has been able to beat it except coming close to it. Woorin cast a glare in her friend's direction only to receive a smirk in response. The crowd began to cheer for the contenders as they limbo underneath the 48 inches, but Minho and Felix were unable to complete it as they ended up falling onto their backs. Now it was just Woorin, Momo, Sana, and Mina left.

"Since we have our reigning queen, Woorin, here with us, let's just go straight to thirty-six inches." Chansung announced happily as everyone agreed except Woorin.

"No, no, no. It's supposed to be forty-four inches next." Woorin informed as her back was starting to hurt and she was glad she opted out of wearing heels in favor of flats. "How about we just end the game and move on to the next one?"

"Should we do what Woorin said?" Chansung asked the crowd as they all disagreed and he smiled at Woorin. "Sorry. The crowd wants what they want."

He and Junho lowered the bar to 36 inches while motioning for the quartet to go on through with giddily expressions. Woorin let out a breath and knew she shouldn't have said yes to Nayoung. She forgot how the managers were persistent in games and such. Woorin mustered up a smile and tiredly bent backwards to maneuvered under the rainbow bar and slowly, but successfully completed the 36 inches. Woorin realized after doing so how much it ached once she was upright and memories from the last time she did it she was like three years younger.

The cheers were loud for Woorin and even louder as the next trio of girls went next. Momo went next and she almost completed it, but she lost her footing and shot out a hand to grab at the bar to catch her fall. This caused her to be eliminated. Sana went next as she kept going up to the bar, but eventually she just gave up as she knew that she wouldn't be able to go that low. Mina was next and for the last three years she was unable to actually complete the stage and only able to complete 38 inches instead.

This year, Mina psyched herself up along with the cheers of her fellow crew and she ended up successfully being able to limbo the 36 inches. Woorin noticed again since they started the whole limbo thing how Mina bent backwards and slowly inched her way under the colorful bar. This got Woorin thinking of an idea that she hoped would end her record to crown someone else. Plus, limbo caused too much commotion for her liking and she only ever went through with it was because she got caught up in the moment.

"Alright, alright. It's definitely best of the best now." Chansung announced as he motioned to the last two contestants with a grin. "It's down to current three year in a row champion, Mina, and three years ago and record holder champion, Woorin."

"Who is it going to be this year? Mina or Woorin?" Junho added with a eye-smile. "Let's find out as we'll drop it down to 32 inches which neither of the two have been able to get to or complete."

Woorin motioned for Mina to go on first with a smile. Mina smiled back with a nod as she went to try the new settings. It was close to either fail or succeed, but Mina eventually was able to pass on through and complete it. Although the pressure was on Woorin, she played along and let out a worry breath as she stared at the new lowered bar, but slowly attempted it. She bent her back as low as she could while trying to pass underneath the bar, but at the last second her head bumped into the bar. Everyone let out disappointed words, but Woorin just smiled as she congratulated Mina in being the new record holder as well as third time champion.

"Congrats as the overall Limbo Queen!" Woorin congratulated Mina as Mina thanked her. "Thank you and you're a worthy opponent, Woorin."

"You're welcome and likewise."

As they moved on to the next game and everyone's attention elsewhere, Woorin thankfully made her way to the food table without any disturbances although she did massaged her lower back while doing so. Except for one person as Nayoung joined her shortly afterwards.

"You lost on purpose didn't you?" Nayoung asked while nudging Woorin.

"What? No I did not. Why would you say such a thing, Nayoung? I would never do such a thing. Ever." Woorin denied sarcastically with a smile while casting Nayoung a look. "My back was starting to ache though. I'm getting old."

"We're the same age. If you're saying your old, then I'm old, too."

"You are."

"True."

"Anyways," Woorin returned her attention to back what she was doing as she scanned the items for what she wanted to eat. "Now, what should I eat?"

Nayoung nudged Woorin again while speaking. "Anyways, have you noticed who's been staring at you since we began?"

"Nope. Don't know who you're talking about."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not. I don't care."

"Yeah, right. You've been avoiding him since the party started."

"It's not avoiding. It's ignoring. There's a difference."

"Oh, c'mon. Same difference either way. It's been like three years. Not like you guys didn't know that you guys broke up."

"That's the thing, Nayoung. We said some not so nice things that just ended the relationship on the spot and we left it like that."

"Bruh, and you forgot to tell me that part?"

"Because it doesn't include you."

"True."

Just as Nayoung was about to change the topic to something else she heard her name being called and rushed over after telling Woorin to stick around some more. Woorin just rolled her eyes as she piled her plate with some goodies before grabbing a few water bottles and headed somewhere else where there was no one else to have her stick around. Woorin actually wandered out of the party venue and up a flight of stairs knowing where she wanted to go. It led her to the rooftop and she was thankful that it wasn't snowing and that the weather wasn't super cold for her to not hang outside since she didn't want to go back inside.

Woorin walked towards the edge and set her plate and bottles on the ground before leaning her arms on the ledge to stare at the city lights. There was just something about the night time setting that always put her at ease. She looked towards the sky and barely managed to spy a few of the stars twinkling down at the city, but it didn't lose it's calming effect on her. Woorin turned her gaze towards the streets below and wondered when was the last time she was able to just relax and enjoyed the scenery around her like. Too lost in her own thoughts and relaxation, Woorin didn't hear or notice another person joining her until he spoke.

"I see that some things never changed." Jinyoung commented as Woorin slowly turned to look at her ex-boyfriend who was also gazing at the city lights.

His profile remained the same as she last remembered, yet different somehow. Woorin's eyes returned forward as she didn't respond and just gazed at the people and car below. The silence between them wasn't awkward as she had expected. It felt like time had never changed with what had occurred between them three years ago.

"If I recall," Jinyoung suddenly spoke, but kept his eyes ahead of him, "We first met on the rooftop of The Street and grew closer after that day. Didn't we?"

---

Woorin was on her lunch break and had taken it on the work's rooftop. No one really spent time here as they preferred to go out somewhere or spend it in the office chatting with the bosses. So for her she called it her own little personal hangout whenever work got stressful or the co-workers got annoying. Today, Woorin just needed time away from the annoying customers that bugged her earlier and the reason on why Nayoung told her to go take a breather because of it. So here she was casually taking a breather and people watching below. Woorin enjoyed it the most when she didn't really have to interact with other people and dealing with their orders and compliants.

A few minutes later Woorin's quiet moment was interrupted when she heard the door slammed open and a male voice sputtering angry words into the afternoon air. She languidly turned her head to look over her shoulder at who it could be and saw that it was one of the new guys that was recently hired a week or two ago. Woorin coudn't recall his name, but if her memory served her right with Nayoung's updates about all things work related then he should be Jinyoung. If not him, then it would be the other guy named Jaebeom. Woorin wasn't sure as she hasn't gotten the chance to work with either of them yet, but then again she didn't really care for the newbies until she had to deal with them during her shift.

Woorin returned her gaze back to people watching as the guy hadn't noticed Woorin as he continued to pace angrily while muttering to himself continuously nonstop. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was kind of hard not to when she was still within the vicinity of hearing him rant. Letting out a long sigh after checking her phone to see how much longer she had before her break was over before turning to look at the guy again.

"Hey." Woorin called out to him which got his attention and making him even more alert than before. "If you wanna rant, then please do it elsewhere or more quietly. Some of us are trying to enjoy the peaceful quietness of this afternoon weather before returning to work and dealing with customers. Thanks."

Woorin shot him a forced smile before resuming her thing before he came along.

"I can rant however I like. This space isn't just yours to use." Jinyoung retorted.

Woorin didn't bother turning around, but she did held up her hand to wave at the air in a whatever motion.

"Sure, yeah, whatever. Go ahead, but don't blame me if something happens to you."

Jinyoung joined Woorin at the ledge and she slightly edged away not liking her personal bubble being invaded. She also didn't bother to pay him any attention and continued with her people watching until her lunch break was over.

"Is that a threat? Do I need to file a compliant with one of the bosses about that?" Jinyoung inquired. "Are you someone I should be cautious of?"

Woorin lazily looked over at him with a bored look. Before she could give him answers her phone's alarm beeped indicating that her break was over. She pushed off from the ledge while backing away with a smile directed at Jinyoung before turning around and heading back down to resume her shift.

"Hey, wait! I'm being serious here!" Jinyoung called after her, but Woorin just waved him off and exited the rooftop without a second glance in his direction.

---

Woorin let out a scoff with a roll of her eyes and a laugh. "No, Jinyoung. Not exactly."

"Oh, right. I remember now. You bullied me for the next few weeks after that incident." Jinyoung stated with a small smile.

"Not even. I had to clean up after you so many times that you could keep your job even though I don't get why I even did that." Woorin glared at him. "I don't know anyone who could've ed up so many times on the Beaver Tail Choco Banana. It's so easy to make and set up."

"Why are you getting so worked up about that?" Jinyoung laughed. "That was like years ago."

"Because every time you messed up it came out of my paycheck." Woorin revealed and Jinyoung frowned. "Wait, seriously?"

Woorin didn't answer him and faced the night sky instead.

"Woorin." Jinyoung called for her attention, but she didn't give in as Jinyoung continued speaking anyways. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it didn't matter." Woorin replied.

"Yes it did. You got shorted when it was all my fault and you could have easily paid for your schooling faster."

"It's all in the past, Jinyoung. Forget about it."

"Ho-"

"I said to forget about it, Jinyoung. Okay?"

Jinyoung dropped the subject as the silence fell between them again. This time there was a slight shift in the air and after a moment or two, Jinyoung didn't want it to come between them again.

"So why did you agreed to go on a date with me when I caused you to probably hated my guts entirely?"

---

"Can you like not schedule me and Jinyoung on the same shift?" Woorin asked Nayoung one day as the two were at Nayoung's house watching a drama.

"What's wrong with working with Jinyoung?" Nayoung asked turning to face her friend.

Woorin looked over at her with an annoyed look. "He's still messing up despite working there for like four months now. I hate cleaning up after him."

"That's weird. He's been doing fine when I work with him. The same with Ayeon and Nakjoon, too. He works just fine when we're on the same shift with Jinyoung."

Both Nayoung and Woorin returned their attention back onto the TV.

"He's probably messing with me then since him and I didn't have a good first impression. Then again, he's an idiot and I'm just done with yelling at the new kids."

"No, Woorin. You can't be like that. You have to teach and nuture these kids." Nayoung mused from what their big boss would tell them.

Woorin shook her head while letting out a frustrated breath. "Hell no. He's ing up so much that I'm getting my paycheck cut."

"I thought you talked to Mr. Park about all of that."

"Yeah, I did, but he just told me that he'll reimbursed me at the end of the year for all of that."

"That's dumb. You're supposed to wait until the end of the year to get your money back?"

"I know and something like that, yeah."

"But paying for school isn't a big deal, right?"

"No. Mr. Park and I had worked something out and so it's going well for now."

"Okay, good to know. Anyways, maybe you make Jinyoung nervous?"

"Nervous how? I'm the one that helps him the most even when there's others that can do that. Like you."

"Maybe he has a crush on you." Nayoung mused as Woorin rolled her eyes. "This isn't grade school, Nayoung."

"Hmm, that's not what Mark's been telling me."

"Can I even trust your boyfriend's words?"

Nayoung rolled her eyes. "I know you don't like him a whole lot, but he's not that bad."

"I dunno. He's shady as ."

"You just don't like him because he broke your laptop that one time."

"Yeah, because he broke my laptop. Mine. Not his. Mine." Woorin defended and clarified. "How is someone gonna break someone else's property just because he got angry that he lost in World of Warcraft?"

"He did said that he was either gonna fix it or buy you a new one to make up for it." Nayoung reminded Woorin. "But you refused his offer."

"I know. Maybe I shoudn't have because I ended up turning in my essay late that week."

"You passed the class didn't you?"

"I did, but I had to spend my hours in the library without my laptop."

"Anyways, back on the other topic," Nayoung said as she returned them both onto the topic of Jinyoung, "Don't you think it's kind of obvious that he's messing up so that he could get your attention?"

"That's a way to get a girl's attention by ing up so many times and deducting her paycheck."

", I dunno. Why not ask him?"

"Yeah, right. I ain't gonna ask his about that."

"Maybe you don't have to." Nayoung grinned mischievously while holding her phone for Woorin to see the screen. "How about a double date then?"

---

"Is that why you and I were each other's date on their date that day?" Jinyoung asked with a laugh as the memory came to mind.

"Uh, correction. You and I were third and fourth-wheeling that night. We weren't on a date." Woorin clarified. "We just happened to enjoy the other's company without feeling hostile and annoyed."

"By hostile and annoyed, you meant yourself, right?"

"You're still annoying as ever."

Jinyoung chuckled as Woorin side-eyed him.

"I wondered what made me fall for you."

Jinyoung stopped chuckling and looked over at her with a small smile.

"Wasn't it my good charms and fashion sense?"

Woorin shook her head with a laugh.

"Not even. Those were just bonuses."

"Oh, really? Tell me more."

"Shut up. Don't get all smug about it."

Jinyoung laughed once more before speaking again. "Well, why you're still wondering what made you fall for me, should I tell you what made me fall for you?"

---

"You're staring again." Jaebeom said as he nudged Jinyoung to focus on the task at hand.

"Was it obvious?" Jinyoung asked while glancing around the work space.

"Not to her at least." Jaebeom chuckled before looking at the dessert plate that Jinyoung had been working on before making an unsure face. "I don't know what you're gonna do, but you're gonna have to fix that and fast before Woorin finds out you messed up again."

Jinyoung glanced down at the Beaver Tail Choco Banana plate he was working on for a customer and groaned.

"Where's BamBam when I need him. He can totally distract her and make her forget all the messed up I made today."

"Too bad he's off. Jackson does a pretty good job.

"Not today. She sent him to the store because she couldn't handle his excessive chatter today. Ugh, she's gonna kill me."

"She can't. She doesn't want to be a murderer or go to jail."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Because I heard her muttered it one time the other day when you dropped the mac and cheese in front of the customer and then served another customer the ham and cheese sandwich when it wasn't even theirs."

Jinyoung closed his eyes in frustration while letting out a groan. He wasn't sure why he was messing up so much and more today than any other days, but for some reason Woorin was seriously a major distraction on his part.

"I'm surprised Woorin has this much patience and controlled of her anger to deal with how much you've ed up since you started." Jaebeom stated with a laugh as Jinyoung cast him an annoyed look. "Me, too, but I'm completely fine when she's not working. I don't mess up at all."

"Maybe she makes you nervous, Jinyoung." Jaebeom reasoned, but grinned mischievously. "In a different way than normal."

"You might be right, Jaebeom." Jinyoung agreed with a defeated sigh. "There's no way another human being can have that high enough tolerance of my clumsiness without wanting to throttle me to death by now."

"I just gotta ask man, but what is it that you like about Woorin?"

"She's very patient and has high tolerance of others. Also, she's kinda cute when she's mad."

"Wow, but hey, if you think of Woorin like that, then shouldn't you be thinking of a way on how to make it up to her?"

---

"Oh, so you're the culprit that would leave me a caramel latte in my locker before my shift?" Woorin accused Jinyoung with a look.

"Yes. That was me and before I knew that you didn't like coffee." Jinyoung explained. "I could only assume since that's what you would order before you left home."

"I only bought that for Nayoung because she likes that."

"Do you do everything that Nayoung asks?" Jinyoung mused as Woorin scoffed. "No. Just when I need her to get off my back."

"Besides, I already had a feeling it was you who left them there." Woorin admitted with a small chuckle.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jinyoung asked in shocked. "I would have changed the drink or maybe got you a dessert instead."

"Because you were happy in doing something small for me and I didn't want to ruin that for you. It was kind of cute and sweet." Woorin admitted. "Plus, Nayoung got her free drink and in return she would give me mine."

"Which would be the winter-melon and almond bubble tea."

"Yeah."

Woorin was gonna allow another moment of silence fall between them, but Jinyoung once again wouldn't allow it.

"So why did we break up?"

"Because you wanted to travel and I wanted to stay here." Woorin answered without hesitation.

---

"Woorin! Woorin! I did it! I did it! It happened! It actually happened and I actually got accepted!" Jinyoung exclaimed as he entered The Street with his acceptance letter in hand while Woorin was in the middle of making a caramel latte art.

"Hold on, Jinyoung." Woorin told her boyfriend as she was in the midst of finishing the drink.

"Okay, Chan, here you go, but please be careful with it." She informed another co-worker as she set the small cup onto a small plate for Chan to run it out. "Please make sure this customer gets the toast all warmed up, too. She's very particular of her order. Thanks."

"Already took care of the toast, Woorin. Thanks." Chan stated with a bright smile before running out the order.

 Woorin finally turned her attention onto Jinyoung. "So what's up?"

"Here!"

Jinyoung enthusiastically shoved the letter into his girlfriend's hands as Woorin scanned the content of the letter before flashing a smile at her boyfriend.

"Wow, congratulations, Jinyoung! I'm super happy you got accepted to Juilliard. That's super fantastic."

"I know and I can't wait for the both of us to travel to New York City this summer so that you can see where we'll be staying for fall semester and-"

"Whoa, whoa, Jinyoung. Slow down." Woorin said with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean by us?"

"You're gonna come with me right?" Jinyoung asked with a curious expression. "It's everything we've been talking about for months now."

"Well, yeah, Jinyoung, but that was for you. Not me."

"I don't get it."

"Jinyoung, I don't want to leave Seoul."

"I applied to Juilliard so that we could travel and see things outside of Seoul, Woorin."

"That's nice, Jinyoung, but I never told you that I wanted to travel outside of Seoul though. I thought we were going to try the whole long distance relationship thing."

"No, Woorin. We were going to stay together and do things together without being apart from one another."

"But Jinyoung, we never really talked about it. That's just you assuming what's best for the both of us."

"Well, at least I'm thinking about our future."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You've been so busy lately that you cancelled on our dates six times already. Plus I haven't even gotten the chance to hangout and cuddle with my girlfriend without work or schoolwork getting in the way of it. I some times wonder if I even have a girlfriend at all."

"Well, I'm sorry that I've been a bad girlfriend, Jinyoung, alright. Also, I'm more focused on working to make money to pay for my schooling to get a higher education, too. Not all of us have Daddy and Mommy paying for it without worrying about it."

"And I offered to help you out with that, but you're so stubborn to accept it."

"Offering to pay for my schooling is totally and absolutely hella different than paying for our dinner dates, Jinyoung."

"It's the same difference, Woorin. They're both getting paid for in the end. Right?"

"That's not how relationships work, Jinyoung." Woorin let out an exasperated sigh.

"Maybe this relationship between us isn't working out after all." Jinyoung reasoned in all seriousness.

Woorin shot him a slightly hurt look. "Is that how you feel about us?"

"Some times, yes, I do." Jinyoung admitted honestly.

Woorin scoffed. "You're unbelievable."

The tension in the air caused Woorin to finally take noticed of her surrounding when she felt a tap on her shoulder from one of her co-workers. 

"Um, Woorin, I need change in register two." Jae informed her a bit hesitantly. "I'm out of five hundred won coins."

"Yeah, um here." Woorin said as she handed Jae her keys to take care of it. "It's the smaller one with green markings on it."

"Thanks."

Jae scurried away to leave her and Jinyoung to their own thing. Once he left, Woorin realized that she and Jinyoung were still out in the open of The Street and saw that the other workers and customers could hear their conversation and see that the couple were having a lover's spat. She hated when personal things happened at work like this and needed to get it under control.

"Look, Jinyoung," Woorin returned her attention onto Jinyoung, "Let's talk about this later. I still have to work." Woorin suggested with a pleading look. "OK?"

---

"We never got to talk later, did we?" Jinyoung asked with a regretful tone.

"No, we didn't." Woorin confirmed matching his tone.

The two didn't look at one another as they kept their attention to the view before them. Allowing the memories of the past to fill in the space around them once again. That night when they were supposed to talk about the whole New York City thing, Woorin had to stayed late and closed because Nayoung got food poisoning and couldn't work. As for Jinyoung he had to pack and get ready for his trip overseas and had to take care of the necessary paperwork. 

Eventually in the end life got the better for the both of them and they were unable to find the time to work it out and have that talk. By the time the two did have time, Jinyoung was already miles away in another country and Woorin had just finished her final exams. It was too late for a talk and so it was too late to mend the bond between them. Their relationship ended then and there at The Street and neither wanted to give in and contact the other to talk it out.

"You wanna know something?" Jinyoung suddenly asked as Woorin answered promptly. "Not really."

Jinyoung rolled his eyes as Woorin chuckled. "What is it? You're gonna tell me anyways."

"I wanted to call you these past three years, but I figured that I would be fine and that the feelings would fade over time. It never did."

Woorin didn't respond and Jinyoung continued taking her silence as a positive thing.

"I wanted to see if you were doing fine, Woorin. I really wanted to know if you were happy and living life without me in it or if you were just as miserable as I was knowing that the person you loved wasn't right by you." Jinyoung admitted as he confessed his thoughts and feelings over the past three years.

"Well, you've seen me and I'm just peachy." Woorin shot him a smile, but Jinyoung noticed that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Are you though?"

"It's life, Jinyoung. I lived and got through it. I'm still here, aren't I? It wasn't easy, but I was able to live my life and I don't regret it. Maybe, except for one thing."

"Would that one thing be about us?" Jinyoung asked hopefully. "Because honestly, I kept thinking about the last conversation we had and realized they were said out of frustration and that we were still young in love, but I regretted how we ended that day three years ago."

"I get it, Jinyoung. I really do and maybe it was or maybe it wasn't. Still, we had our own paths to take and live. Life got in the way when we made our decisions to do so. That's the only way we'll flourish without someone or something holding us back from recognizing that."

"I thought relationships were always about compromises and that's why you and I were unable to agree with what was right for the both of us at the time."

"No, Jinyoung, that wasn't it."

"Then what was it, Woorin?"

"Our relationship fell through because we didn't collaborate right."

"Huh?"

Jinyoung was confused by what Woorin meant and at that moment the both of them turned to look at the other.

"It's all about the collaboration between two people working on it together without losing themselves, Jinyoung. If we compromised all the time, then we would always lose a bit of ourselves over time in doing so."

"Is that what happened to us?" Jinyoung genuinely asked. "Did we compromised too much that we ended up losing one another?"

Woorin shook her head with a sad smile before answering him. "No, Jinyoung. We didn't do either. We just went with the flow without any direction of how our future together would be like and assume in our own way of what would be best for us."

"Well, that was then, Woorin." Jinyoung cast her a smile. "How about now?"

"You seriously want us to start dating again?" Woorin asked not sure if she should amused him or not.

"Yeah. Why not? We didn't leave on good terms the last time we saw each other and it's been like three years since then. I think we can start a whole new chapter or maybe even another book to the series." Jinyoung reasoned before casting her a charming smile. "Besides, you haven't told me why you fell for me in the first place."

"Okay, another chapter or a book. Wow." Woorin laughed at the idea before biting her bottom lip as a giggle escaped. "I honestly don't know, but I do know that I just liked you, Jinyoung. I probably still do and maybe why I even tolerated your presence again."

"Well, I'm going to take that as a good thing because I still like you, too, Woorin."

The pair genuinely smiled at one another having righted their little mishap three years ago. Jinyoung took one of Woorin's hand in his and just as he was about to do something, the rooftop's door banged opened revealing two of their ex-co-workers, Youngjae and Jimin.

"Hey, it's so pretty up here. Wow, it's amazing." Youngjae said in awe with Jimin beside him. "Yeah, I told you that you could see the night sky and the city lights below. Yerin mentioned it last time when she was up here."

The new duo were about to walk towards the ledge and explore the rooftop before catching the other pair and sheepishly apologized. 

"Oh, we're sorry. Didn't think anyone else was up here." Jimin apologized while tugging on Youngjae's hand. "Let's go, Youngjae, and leave them alone."

"Yeah, sorry. We didn't mean to interrupt anything important going on between the two of you." Youngjae apologized as he let Jimin tug him away.

Before Woorin could correct the duo's misunderstanding, Jinyoung beat her to it, but continuing the misunderstanding.

"C'mon, Youngjae and Jimin. Woorin and I just made up and were about to kiss."

"Okay, okay, okay! We're leaving and we won't tell anyone to disturb you guys." Youngjae informed them with a laugh as Jimin waved at them with a bright smile. "Congratulations on getting back together you two."

"Thank you!" Jinyoung thanked the duo as the door slammed closed once they left.

"You're such a liar!" Woorin lightly punched him in the arm with her free hand. "That's not what we were doing at all."

"Which part? The getting back together, the making up, or the kissing one?"

"Neither." Woorin deadpanned trying to release her grip from Jinyoung's as he chuckled, but firmly held onto her hand with a mischievous expression.

"I'm pretty sure it was two of them and then the third one I was gonna do just now before those two came and interrupted us."

"You're such a jerk, Jinyoung. I can't believe you were gonna steal a kiss so soon after making up and what not." Woorin eyed him suspiciously while trying to move away from him. "I'm re-thinking this whole us thing again. I think I wanna end it with the last chapter and discontinued the book series."

"No, no, no. What happened to the whole collaborating thing?"

"I dunno, but we can talk tomorrow. Just let me eat my food even though it's like cold by now." Woorin said as she removed her hand out from Jinyoung's and went to pick up the plate she had brought earlier with her. "Yeah? Seems like a good idea, no?"

"That depends, Woorin. Are you gonna be the one that goes overseas and I stay in Seoul this time around?"

"I'm pretty sure Seoul is gonna continue being home for a long while, Jinyoung. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good, because returning home now seems more welcoming than ever before."

"I'm sure it is." Woorin commented with a knowing smile before picking up a chocolate covered strawberry and offering it to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung opened his mouth indicating for Woorin to feed him. She rolled her eyes, but stuffed the treat into his mouth with a laugh. Jinyoung covered his mouth with one hand as he ate the thing whole, but smiled nevertheless knowing that he and Woorin were good again. Good again to start another chapter of their lives, but this time with each other in it.