“I….I…..how did you….what did you….how?” I asked flabbergasted. I took the pretty rose from him. It smelled absolutely magical. “Thank you for this. It’s really pretty,” I said.

“You’re welcome.” He led me to our table and waited for me to sit down comfortably on the tatami mattress placed on the wooden floor. Then he walked to the opposite side of me and sat down. I looked at him carefully. What is it with these two friends? Dressed in two formal suits, they both looked like complete princes!

He took my rose back and wrapped it back in the sheet of plastic that it came with before laying it on the side of the table.

“I’m sorry for leaving you so quickly that night,” he started. He looked at me with sincerity.

“It’s…it’s okay,” I said. “I didn’t expect you to stay anyways.”

“No it’s not okay. I really wanted to stay but I had some things to take care of that night,” he explained. Unknown to you, he had already promised to pick up his sister at the airport since her flight landed at 12:20am. He was only planning at stopping at the club for a little bit before leaving but after seeing you, he couldn’t leave you sitting at the booth for the rest of the night alone. Leaving at midnight was already pushing it and as expected, he was late by the time he got to the airport.

“I felt really bad for leaving you by yourself," he continued.

“No….no it’s fine. I um……I.....why are you here?” I asked bluntly. “Who are you?” All of a sudden, I got over my anxiety of speaking to this man. I was angry now. Angry that he was playing me like I was some kind of puppet. Angry that he kept apologizing when he didn’t have to. Angry that I didn’t know what was going on and it seemed like he was trying to avoid explaining anything to me.

He seemed shocked by my tone of voice. I know, I know, it was Valentine’s Day and I was lashing out at an absolute stranger! But I was so frustrated that I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t going to sit there the whole night and pretend there was nothing weird about these so-called “random” events.

Jaejoong blinked. His plan wasn’t working out so well.

“I guess I owe you an explanation,” he said tenderly.

Just then, the waiter knocked on the door and came in with a variety of appetizers.

“I…uh…I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I kind of ordered a little of everything,” he said cautiously. I think he was afraid that I’d lash out on him again.

“Thank you….all the dishes look good,” I said. The man had ordered freaking every appetizer on the menu and seeing as the restaurant was probably a high-end one, it couldn’t very well be that the food was cheap. I started feeling bad at how I behaved now…

“Um….you should eat before the dishes get cold and uh…maybe I should start from the beginning,” he said. I nodded in agreement and grabbed a piece of agedashi tofu.

“As you know, or I don’t know, maybe you forgot, but my name is Jaejoong…..Kim Jaejoong. My friends and I, including Yoochun, we’re businessmen in Seoul.“

I nodded again to show that I was paying attention.

He continued. “We…uh….we actually own Primo.”

Yep, you guessed it, my mouth dropped open for the fourth time that night.