The next day at the food stall. I park my car a block away and walk to the stall. Yoon Ah is already there. I stop walking and look down at my clothes: striped blue shirt, blue skinny jeans, and a black blazer. I sigh and walk over to her.

“Hello,” I say to her.

She turns her head. “Hey,” she greets back. 

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I just got here.”

“Want to go somewhere else?”

“Where to?”

“Is there anywhere that you want to go?”

“Anywhere is fine.”

“You won’t be hurt again?”

“No. I won’t.”

“This way then.” I take her to my car and open the door for her. 

“Thank you,” she says.

“You’re welcome.” I close the door and walk to my side of the car. I climb in and drive away. “Are you hungry,” I ask her.

“No. I ate already.”

“How about a dessert then? Do you like ice cream?”

“I love ice cream.”

“Great. I know this really good ice cream place.”

“Great.”

We sit in silence as I drive her to the ice cream shop. I park the car and we walk inside.

“What flavor do you want,” I ask her.

“Vanilla,” she replies.

We walk over to the counter.

“Hi,” I greet the lady. “Two vanilla cups please.” I pay for the ice cream. The lady gives us our cups and we go sit at a corner table. “Enjoy,” I tell Yoon Ah.

“Thank you.”

We eat in silence.

“It’s very good,” I say trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah. It’s cold and refreshing.”

Silence.

“So why did you want to meet with me,” I ask.

“I wanted to apologize,” she says. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I wasn’t thinking about your feelings. I was only thinking about mine. I know you were only trying to be friendly.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“If you don’t mind,” she pauses. “I want to be your friend.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. Let’s get to know each other.”

“I’d like that.”

Yoon Ah smiles making me smile.

That’s the start of our friendship.

That night, while in bed, I couldn’t help but smile. Yoon Ah’s smiling face keeps appearing in my memories. I’m so happy that she proposed to be friends. Is mom right? Do I have feelings for her? I just wanted to be friends, but I guess, I do have feelings for her. I like Yoon Ah. She may not like me back, but I’ll try my very best to be patient with her and gain her love.

The next day, I’m lying around in bed with my phone in my hand. I stare at Yoon Ah’s phone number. I want to text her, but I don’t know what to say.

“What are you doing?” I type but erase. “How are you doing?” Erase. “Hey friend!” Erase. “How’s work?” Erase. 

I drop my hands and sigh. What do I say? I raise my hand again.

“Are you working right now,” I send this message to her. 

“I’m on my lunch break,” she replies back after a few minutes. “I can’t chat with you when I’m working.”

“That’s fine. When are you free? Can we meet?” I pause before I send that. Is that too pushy? I erase the last two sentences. “Should I come pick you up after work? Let's go grab dinner.” I send that.

“Sure. I'll pay. I know a great restaurant.”

I smile. “Sounds good!”

“Great. I get off at six.”

I jump out of bed and punch the air. I run to the bathroom and take a shower and pretty much got ready until I had to go meet her. I put on a patterned shirt and skinny jeans. I don’t style my hair. I leave it down as it is.

I’m parked in front of the hotel. I’m sitting in my car waiting for her to come out. When she does, I climb out of the car and wave to her.

“Yoon Ah,” I call.

She turns her head.

I smile and wave harder.

She walks over to me.

“How was work,” I ask her.

“It was fine. Tiring,” she replies.

“I bet, so where’s the restaurant that you want to take me?”

“It’s only a few blocks away from here. My car is in the employee’s parking lot. Wait for me here while I go get my car.”

“Okay.”

She walks to the parking lot, and drives her car out. When I see her, I hop into my car and follow her to the restaurant. 

The restaurant is a very traditional restaurant. All the tables are set very low, so we have to sit on the ground. The menu is written in chalk on the blackboard hanging above the counter.

Yoon Ah takes me to the table near the center and we sit across each other.

“Ms,” a lady says as she sets down utensils and cups down for us. “You’re back again.” The lady smiles.

“Yes,” Yoon Ah smiles back. “Was it another busy day today?”

“It’s always a busy day, but it’s alright! I’m doing what I love, and it makes me so happy to see the customers smile while eating.”

Yoon Ah smiles even wider.

“The usual,” the lady asks.

“Please,” Yoon Ah says.

“What’s the usual,” I ask.

“Yukgaejang, spicy tteokbokki, soondae, and kimchi,” Yoon Ah replies.

“What do you want young man,” the lady asks.

I look at the menu. “I’ll have the bulgogi, kalbi, kimchi, and seolleongtang.”

“Coming right up. Would water be fine?”

“Yes,” Yoon Ah and I say together.

The lady smiles, so Yoon Ah smiles back.

I’ve never seen her smile so much before. She looks very pretty when she smiles. I can’t help but smile too.

“It seems like you come here a lot,” I say. “The lady even knows you.”

“I come here after work a lot,” Yoon Ah replies. 

“Why is that?”

“The food tastes great, and it’s cheap.”

I look at the price, and it is cheap. Cheaper than the restaurant I took her to.

“You look very nice today,” Yoon Ah says.

“Me,” I ask.

“Yes, you. I’ve never seen you in something so casual. You’d usually wear a blazer with a t-shirt. You’d also wear dress shoes, but today you’re wearing sneakers, and your hair is down. You’d usually put your hair back.”

“Thank you,” I smile. “I don’t think I look all that great.” I did put effort into it though. “So this is the style that you like,” I ask her.

“Not particularly,” Yoon Ah replies. “You look,” she pauses. “Normal. Like a regular person.”

“I am a regular person.”

“You’re a celebrity. Celebrities are humans too, but they’re definitely not normal. They live a totally different life from us.”

“I agree.”

The lady comes out with our food and places them in front of us.

“Thank you,” Yoon Ah smiles.

“Enjoy,” the lady smiles back.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Enjoy,” the lady tells me.

The lady walks away.

Yoon Ah grabs her spoon and takes a sip out of the yukgaejang soup. She hums. “So good!”

I pick up my spoon and take a sip of the seolleongtang soup. My eyes widen and take a big bite out of the soup this time. “It’s great,” I say.

“I told you.”

I take a bite out of everything else. “I see why you like this place now,” I tell Yoon Ah. “This reminds me of when I was still living with my parents. My mother would always make me these kind of dishes, but now that I’m a celebrity, it seems like I’m always eating food that has a rich taste to it. I’m not saying that I don’t like it because those food taste amazing, but having traditional Korean food is always the best.” I smile and eat the bulgogi.

Yoon Ah smiles at me, so I smile back at her.

After we’re done eating, Yoon Ah pays for the bill.

“I can pay for it,” I say.

“It’s okay,” Yoon Ah says. “I pay for this one. You can pay for the next one.”

“The next one,” I ask amused. “When will that one be?”

“How about this friday at seven? I get off work at six.”

“Sounds great. Where do you want to go?”

“The pasta place you took me last time. I want to try the pasta again.”

“Great. I’ll make reservation for friday at seven.”

She smiles.

“Excuse me,” the lady from before says.

“Yes,” Yoon Ah asks.

“I have a question.” She looks at me. “Are you V from BTS?”

“Yes,” I reply.

“Oh my,” the lady sings. “My daughter loves you! Is it okay if I take a picture of you?”

“Of course,” I say.

The lady smiles and take out her phone. She aims it at me, so I pose for the picture.

“Thank you,” the lady sings. “Thank you! Next time you come, I’ll make sure to give you a discount!”

“No,” I say. “You don’t have to. Please don’t. Treat me like you would treat your other customers.”

“You’re so kind and humble. Alright. I’ll do as you say.”

“Thank you,” I say. “Have a great day.”

“You too!”

Yoon Ah and I walk out of the restaurant.

“Thank you,” I say as we walk to our cars. “The food was very delicious, and it brought back memories.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“I’ll see you friday then.”

“See you friday.”

We climb into our own cars. I watch as Yoon Ah drives away. Then, I did as well.

The next day, for dinner, I go out to shop for groceries. I wear a t-shirt and skinny jeans to the market. It’s similar to what I wore when Yoon Ah complimented me. As I’m shopping, so many people are talking. Some even recognize me as well. They would ask me for a picture and an autograph, but I rejected them saying that I’m on break, so I can’t be giving any out. Soon, they’ve left me alone. I’m still walking around the market looking for items to buy. I stop by the ramen aisle and look at the different kinds of ramen. I’m trying to look for the seafood flavored one since that’s my favorite. 

“Kyun Soo Jin,” I hear someone say. 

I freeze in my spot.

“Isn’t that the man you’ve been looking for,” the voice says.

Are they talking about me? 

“Oh my! Yes,” the voice says. “You have really good eyes!”

I hear the footsteps coming for me. I want to run, but my body is frozen. What do I do? What if she catches me again? The footsteps walk past me. My head turns, and I see a girl walking over to a guy looking at the fruits. I sigh, and I am able to move again.

Different girl with the same name.

I grab the ramen and quickly go to the checkout line.

I’m in the kitchen making myself dinner. I eat in silence and get ready for bed.

That Friday, I do nothing in the morning, but when the afternoon rolls around, I start to prepare myself for the dinner date. I take a shower, brush my teeth, and put on something casual. I remember Yoon Ah telling me that I look great in a t-shirt and skinny jeans, so I wear something like that again. I run my fingers through my hair and shake my head. My hair bounces and stops when I stop shaking my head. I smile in the mirror. My hair looks great without even having to style it. After I am done, the time is four.

Darn. I got done a little early. 

I don’t know what to do. I pace back and forth, but the time is moving slowly. I sit on the couch and touch my phone, but the time is moving by so slowly. I start to nibble on food, and the time suddenly turns to five.

I have an hour left. If I keep eating, I’ll be too full.

I decide to go out. I drive around and window shop. Surprisingly, the time passes by very quickly. Before I know it, the time is six. I am about to drive to Slumber Heaven, but Yoon Ah calls me.

“Hello,” I say as I pick up the phone.

“Hey, I just got off work,” Yoon Ah says.

“I’m on my way.”

“No. Don’t come. Let’s meet at the restaurant.”

“Do you remember where the restaurant is?”

“I do.”

“Alright. If you arrive first, the reservation is under my name.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at the restaurant then.”

We hang up.