He was just the new colleague, a fresh graduate that Soohyang never really spoke to, but the bright smiles he greeted anyone that walked through their lab doors with ever did make her think fondly of him as a person.

The first time they spoke was when they were assigned to be in the same team for a research project even though they were in different sub-sections of their department. It was the first time they were leaving the company laboratories together after a late meeting into the night, that they finally had a real conversation and realised they actually lived in the same apartment complex.

“Ah, Eunwoo ssi, you take the train in this direction too?” Soohyang wondered aloud as they stepped onto the same platform.

He turned towards her, and with his shining brown eyes, he nodded. His eyes noticed the way her hair landed on her shoulders, as opposed to the usual ponytail he had observed in their lab sessions. “Yes,” replied politely Eunwoo.

Soohyang could not help but be flustered by his response, and realised only then that she had been on her edge the whole time since they were left alone by the others. She wondered if it might have anything got to do with the first sight of Eunwoo without his white coat. Clearing , her trembling eyes slowly trailed away. “W-Where do you get off?” Soohyang tried her best to continue the conversation, even though her lips were stuttering for a reason she did not know.

Eunwoo held a small smile on his lips. “Seobbinggo Station,” he softly answered.

With her large eyes, Soohyang turned and looked up at the young man who stood a head taller than her. “Me too,” she spoke with an expression of surprise.

“I live in the Shindonga Apartments,” Eunwoo proceeded to explain himself.

“Heol,” the sound departed her lips before she knew it. “Me too,” Soohyang said once again.

His eyes revealed that he was slightly stunned. "I live in Block 11," he continued.

"Ah," Soohyang almost heaved a sigh of relief, "Block 15 for me." 

Wait, she paused in her thoughts, that's just across the road!

“Sunbaenim, you can speak comfortably with me,” his next statement startled her even further. Soohyang could not help but puzzle over how he spoke so calmly despite the weight of what he had just said.

She was by then glaring at him, with her eyes widened to the size of spoons. 

Soohyang was thankful the train came before she could make any reply. However, her relief was short-lived. Once they had stepped off the train, Soohyang was terribly troubled about how the two were to make their way home in the same route with that topic in conversation.

“Are you going home straight?” the question came out of her lips as soon as they exited the station. She might have been too eager for the conversation to divert. 

He had looked around before answering her question. “It’s late and dark, we should walk together,” his reply was not direct, but it did answer her question. More than that, it created more questions in Soohyang’s mind. 

Perplexed, Soohyang did not give any reply.

“By the way, please don’t hesitate, I feel awkward if you’re speaking formally,” Eunwoo continued to speak.

By then, Soohyang could not contain her thoughts. “You’d have to call me noona if we were to speak comfortably,” she did not realise her words until she had heard her own voice. Silently, Soohyang wanted to give herself a hard whack on her head.

Wake up! Soohyang screamed internally, What do you think you’re doing? 

“What if I want to?” Eunwoo answered without any wavering.

No, she tilted her head, What is this kid doing?

"Andwae," Soohyang did not realise that she was thinking aloud.

"Oh," he chuckled a little, "you're speaking comfortably," his eyes turned into crescents as he gleamed.

For a moment, Soohyang felt her heart stop seeing the million-dollar eye smile up close. Catching herself in her daze, Soohyang internally chided herself for the foolishness. She felt her cheeks heating up as she could not help but question: is he making fun of me?

"Anyway, let's get home quick. As I said, it's late and dark," Eunwoo decided to let the subject off, adjusting the strap on his shoulder as he spoke.

Soohyang stooped low, her eyes not leaving the ground as they continued their walk back to their homes in silence. His apartment block is nearer to the station, she thought, that should be a relief. 

"Oh, we're here," Soohyang only spoke again when the lights from the buildings indicated their arrival at the apartment complex. They halted their footsteps, and turned to face each other. 

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Soohyang gave Eunwoo a small wave of her hand as a gesture of farewell. Turning away before Eunwoo could make a response, she hastened her footsteps to proceed to cross the road that would lead to her apartment block.

However, she was pulled back by a strong arm as a car whisked before her eyes in the dark. 

"Be careful!" Eunwoo sounded worked up. Soohyang found herself leaning against him, her face in his chest. 

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered as she balanced herself again. They fell into yet another silence, one that was unbearably awkward. 

"Thank you," she said to break the silence, "I'll get going."

Before she could leave, she was stopped by a grip on her arm. "I'll walk with you. You shouldn't take the elevator alone," Eunwoo plainly stated, and began walking ahead after turning to check the road for any cars.

"What?" Soohyang furrowed her eyebrows and remained frozen in confusion, but walked on to catch up with him. 

The elevator ride was the longest Soohyang had ever felt in her life. When she was finally at her doorstep, she felt as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders and that she could finally breathe again.

"Well, thank you," Soohyang gave Eunwoo a small bow, "you should get going now," she said.

Eunwoo reciprocated the bow. "See you tomorrow, noona," he smiled as he heard his own voice intimately addressing her. He watched as a flustered Soohyang frantically searched for her keys while he pressed on the elevator button and got in as the doors opened. 

Soohyang released a deep sigh once Eunwoo was out of side. 

What on earth was he doing, she thought, to a senior colleague seven years older than him?

"Someone walked you up?" her mother's question was the first thing that greeted her in her arrival home. 

"What?" Soohyang found that she may have responded a little too aggressively.

"Are you finally seeing someone?" her brother's voice always got on her nerves, but that day something in his tone irked her further.

"No?" she was almost shouting. "Wait, why are you home today?" she whipped her head around with a glare in her eyes. 

"Relax, your brother is just dropping things of," her father nonchalantly found his way into the conversation. "What's wrong with seeing someone? You should start seeing someone, Soohyang ah, you're turning thirty and I don't even know when I can see you get married," he shook his head behind the newspapers in his hands.

"Appa!" Soohyang whined before stomping her feet into her bedroom.

"Yahh, you know the fortune teller said she can't get married before she turns thirty-" she shook her head hearing her mother's muttering. 

"Then just let her see someone, she's too old for affairs and divorce anyway-"

Her brother cut her father off, "Affairs and divorce don't have age limits?"

Soohyang closed her eyes shut and released a grunt, wondering if they even know that she was listening to them all. 

"Yahh! Have your dinner!" her mother shouted from the kitchen as she slammed the door behind her. Soohyang thought again about the ruckus, and could only heave a sigh and shake her head. 

author's note:

i just wrote the second half last night im not sure if i'll edit or change anything after more rounds of proofreading LOL also IT'S SO CHEESY HAHA