Eunbi watches uneasily as Jeonghan savours the food before him, nodding with smiles and hums of acknowledgement.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Jeonghan realises her long halt between the meagre bites she takes.

Eunbi’s uneasy pupils dilate and her shaking fingers release the cutlery they have been tensely gripping onto. Glancing at Jeonghan by rolling her eyes up, she retracts her hands and places them on her lap.

“I’m sorry,” Eunbi starts with a cracking voice, not knowing what else to say.

Jeonghan, too, loosens his hold of the cutlery and allows his hands to slide down.

“I feel like I know where this is going,” he says, rather calmly despite hints of solemnity.

Jeonghan’s receptiveness gives Eunbi courage to speak. “You’ve been very nice to me, but-” she pauses to search for words, “I’m afraid I can’t return anything if you’re asking for more, if this isn’t all just my imagination,” she finally finds it in herself to the words she softly says with her eyebrows angled upwards in their inner corners, her eyes cautious and apologetic.

“I was,” Jeonghan speaks, with much clarity that takes Eunbi aback. “I was indeed wishing for more. I don’t know you well because I’ve only met you just a week ago, but- as you know, I’ve heard about you, seen you in pictures- I do, like you,” Jeonghan confesses, rather composedly.

“I…” Eunbi gapes for a moment, “I really appreciate it. I’m thankful for the kindness you’ve shown me, but I- I’m really sorry, I can’t return it,” Eunbi dips her head when she says.

“You dressed up so nicely to see me, only to reject me,” Jeonghan mutters and looks down bitterly.

“I’m sorry,” Eunbi can only apologise. She keeps her head down and lets her hair cover most of her face.

“Pardon me asking, but,” Jeonghan continues speaking, much to Eunbi’s surprise, “is there someone else?”

Eunbi’s breath stops short. Her fingers roll into a soft fist, and she finds herself unable to speak. When Jeonghan sees no reaction from Eunbi whose head is still hung low, he releases a short, weak chuckle, “It seems so.”

“Jeonghan ssi-” Eunbi finally looks up, her face with guilt written all over.

Jeonghan shakes his head. “It’s okay, I’m okay,” he smiles. “Really!” he chuckles a little when Eunbi does not look convinced. "I could tell you only came to meet me because of your mother."

“Do you love that person?” Jeonghan asks next.

The question stuns Eunbi. The vision of Yuna’s angelic smile in her mind causes her heart to flutter within her. “Well, love… It’s too soon to say,” she answers softly with embarrassment.

Jeonghan cannot help but smile, “I hope things go well for you.”

Eunbi finds herself unable to react to the unexpected comment.

“Let’s eat,” Jeonghan pushes the corners of his lips into a smile once again, the smile that always seemed so welcoming and warm to Eunbi’s heart.

Yuna lies down on the couch for a rest after an hour on her cello, her eyes staring at the plain ceiling as she takes in calm, regular breaths.

The serene environment is disturbed upon the ringing of her phone. Sitting up, she wonders who the call could be from as she looks around for the mobile phone. Eunbi couldn’t be calling amidst her date, could she? A tinge of annoyance and confusion lingers in her thought.

She sees it on the dining table and walks over to pick the call up. “Umma? What’s up?”

Upon the words in her mother’s agitated voice, Yuna’s jaw drops when she lets out a loud gasp. Immediately bringing her hand to , her tears find their way down her rosy cheeks before her voice from her lips.

Within the hour, Yuna finds herself packing and running out of the apartment, hailing urgently for a cab at the main road and hastily requesting for the journey back home.

“And then I had to go all the way back within an hour and my boss was the most amused by my circumstance,” Jeonghan animatedly tells, showing gestures with his hands.

Eunbi laughs heartily, a sound sweet to Jeonghan’s ears. He watches the early autumn wind against her face and through her hair, as Eunbi holds on one hand the ice cream and another hand combing hair away from her face.

Jeonghan wonders if his anecdote was really entertaining, but as he has come to notice, he thinks, it is Eunbi who gets tickled easily.

“You know, I didn’t really know much about what you do, your job,” Eunbi says, “it’s nice to hear about it.”

Jeonghan smiles. “This doesn’t change your opinion of me, does it?” he lets the hopeful question slip.

The smile on Eunbi’s lips drop slightly and slowly, and she shakes her head.

Jeonghan laughs at the answer he has gotten. “Well, there’s good in that too, I wouldn’t want you to think worse of me after telling you more about myself in general this afternoon.”

Eunbi, relieved that Jeonghan is able to keep the situation at ease each time, laughs and shakes her head again, “Nothing of that sort.”

Eunbi enjoys her ice cream as they stay seated in the park, watching as families and couples go by, as dogs on leashes trot by. She gazes into the horizon with the sun in her eyes, and watches as the waters glisten.

“Is the ice cream good? You like sweet stuff?” Jeonghan asks.

Eunbi turns and nods her head. “Thank you for this,” Eunbi lifts the ice cream up as she refers to it.

Jeonghan shakes his head. “It’s my pleasure. Stop thanking me already,” he says as he recalls Eunbi’s initial (rather strong) objection to Jeonghan’s treat for her.

“How’s your housemate like?” Jeonghan asks next.

Eunbi freezes at the unexpected question. “Why.. would you ask?” confused, she manages to reply with a question.

Jeonghan shrugs. “Just curious? You mentioned you lived with a housemate.”

Eunbi takes the question with no offence and begins thinking of an answer. The thought of Yuna makes her cheeks flush slightly, and she looks down in a small smile. “She’s very nice, we do a lot of fun things together,” she simply says.

“You seem to like her a lot,” Jeonghan’s statement holds no deeper meaning, though for Eunbi it does.

“She’s special,” Eunbi smiles, feeling the thumping of her heart clearly in her chest.

They enjoy the rest of their time together anyway, Eunbi not wanting Jeonghan's plans to go to waste. Before they depart for their separate ways, Eunbi thanks Jeonghan again for their day out.

“Don’t apologise again,” is his reply. He chuckles, relieving the tension between them, and Eunbi releases a soft chuckle as well. “It was really nice meeting you, and it’d be nice if we could stay friends though it’s not going to be easy for us. Thank you for meeting me, on all three occasions,” he beams as he expresses earnestly his gratitude towards Eunbi.

Eunbi, too, breaks into a warm smile that reflects the sunshine falling on her face. “I should be the one thanking you. It was my pleasure.”

When they finally walk away from each other, perhaps the setting sun is hurrying her, but Eunbi finds herself quickening her pace in renewed anticipation to see Yuna again. Yes, she enthusiastically declares to herself, meeting Jeonghan was definitely a wonderful thing, for Eunbi to now understand her feelings towards Yuna. Certain memories of her time with Yuna run through her mind on her way home, and she remembers: Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

Smiling to herself, Eunbi makes a confirmed decision to inform Yuna tonight about her plans to go for the auditions.

“Unnie, I’m home,” Eunbi calls out delightedly before realising that none of the lights are switched on despite that night has fallen. “Unnie?” she tiptoes into the dark, still home and finds it empty. Reaching for the switches, she looks around before hearing a beep from her mobile phone.

Fishing for it in her bag, she unlocks the screen immediately upon getting it out and reads the message shown. [Eunbi, I’m sorry for leaving without a word, my grandmother has just passed away because of a and I’m now back in Ilsan.]

Eunbi gasps, bringing a hand to . Her eyelids quiver as she tries to get hold of herself, deliberating over what she should do.

Has Yuna ever given her address? Eunbi buries her face in her palms as she tries to remember. She frantically reaches scrolls in their chat when she remembers Yuna had ever did send her a message with her home address before moving in during the summer.

Eunbi dashes into her room and immediately throws on the first black pieces of clothing she sees in her wardrobe.

a/n: i decided to update now while waiting for my piano teacher to arrive... hope this update finds you well, i had a pleasure writing it. it was actually fun writing jeonghan x shinb but that's all here i guess :) do leave some comments! thank you for the support for this fic always i know it's not easy w the niche musician concept ><