[CONTENTID1] 003 [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] Absolutely Bizarre [/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3] 

“Here are your books.” 

The cashier handed Eunseo her books placed delicately in the plastic bag. “Thank you for coming here,” she said with a smile. 

“Thank you,” Eunseo replied back, delighted that the books she had bought were now hers. “Have a nice day!”

She was done with the first week of showing off the city to Baekhyun. Currently, this day was a nice contrast from the previous, where she didn’t have to frantically search for a lost city boy nor fall into the salty, ocean water. As of the moment, it was just Eunseo and her books, where she will be reading peacefully in the cafe connected to the bookstore.

Making her way toward the cafe settled in the far corner of the bookstore, she stood in front of the register, already having an order in mind. 

“Hey there, the usual?” An employee stood at the register, immediately recognizing Eunseo from her frequent visits. 

Eunseo nodded, “The usual.”

“That will be 3200 won,” the employee said after processing her order. 

With the money readily in her hand, Eunseo handed it to the employee’s hands and proceeded to the queue line afterwards. Luckily, the cafe wasn’t running as busy as it usually was and by three minutes, her iced americano was finished. 

“Thank you,” Eunseo smiled as she received her coffee in her hand. Turning around to find the best sitting place to read, she frowned seeing all the tables by the windows were occupied by at least one person. As she scanned the area all to the end of the wall and in the far corner, she noticed someone familiar, her eyes widened knowing who it was.

Baekhyun sat alone in the corner with black headphones over his ears, occupied with whatever he was doing on his iPad. He looked so peaceful alone, it would’ve been terrible of her to ruin it with her presence. But it could be a wondrous opportunity to get to know him more, yet she didn’t want to ruin their day of having alone time. As Eunseo was stuck in a dilemma, she decided to walk over to Baekhyun. It wouldn’t hurt to pop in and just greet him.

“Baekhyun? Hi, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Eunseo greeted, instantly turning his attention from his iPad to her. 

With widened eyes, he removed his headphones immediately and rested them around his neck before saying, “Hi Eunseo.”

“Uh, do you mind if I can sit across from you, all the window seats are taken,” Eunseo nervously chuckled, hoping he wouldn’t mind or else it would’ve been more awkward than it was already.

“I don’t mind,” Baekhyun smiled to her relief, moving his iPad to the side, leaving more room for her belongings.

As Eunseo placed her coffee and books on the wooden table, she sat herself down across from Baekhyun. Silence began to grow between them to her surprise, it seemed like he was warming up to her yesterday yet now it felt like the day they went to Yi Sun Shin park. 

“So, what are you doing here,” Eunseo asked, hoping to alleviate the awkwardness between them. “I thought you would be spending time with your grandmother on your free day.”

“No,” Baekhyun shook his head lightly. “I didn’t want to bother her further so I decided to spend some time for myself in a new place.” He paused as he crossed his arms on the wooden table before asking, “H-How about you?”

Too bad, his time for himself ended with Eunseo’s sudden appearance. 

She nodded and sighed, “I uh, come here often to read books - and like you - spend time for myself.” Eunseo took a sip of her iced americano before continuing, “You know, it’s funny we both came here for alone time, only to see each other,” she chuckled.

How crazy was it that of all places, she would meet Baekhyun here.

“It’s bizarre,” Baekhyun chuckled and then glanced down at her bag on the table before turning back to Eunseo. “What books do you um, read?” He gestured with his head pointing toward her books.

Eunseo eyed her bag of books and shot a smile. Taking the two books out of the bag, she showed the covers to Baekhyun before looking at them. “They’re romance books, It’s been a while since I’ve read some new ones.”

“Oh.” His tone shifted in some way, it didn’t seem positive, like he was already disinterested. “Romance,” she heard him grumble under his breath.

Eunseo’s face dropped. His sudden change in behavior and tone reminded her of that day in Yi Sun Shin’s park after she described the park, at that time she was unaware of what he was disgusted of but today, she found her answer.

“Yeah, romance,” she responded with a forced smile, not expressing any change from her positive tone. “Do you read them?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “Not really.”

Completely understandable, not a lot of guys like him would really read romance novels. Her curiosity continued with, “How come?”

“I’m just not really interested in romance.”

“The genre itself?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun’s lip formed into a thin line before continuing with, “...and the whole idea of it.”

Now that was weird, someone who didn’t find interest in romance. As someone who completely attached the idea of love and romance as a personality trait of hers, it didn’t slide so well for Eunseo. She felt herself tense up from his words. She set her books down on top of the bag.

“The whole idea of it?”

“Yeah, just love and romance. I don’t really… enjoy it.” 

Eunseo sat up in her seat afterwards. Who wouldn’t enjoy the idea of love and romance, the most beautiful emotion to exist? Who wouldn’t enjoy being loved by their significant other? Who wouldn’t enjoy experiencing life with your partner through pink and red lenses?

“How come you don’t,” Eunseo asked, as curiosity and disbelief coursed through her mind. 

“It’s a waste of time,” Baekhyun stated as he leaned into the table. 

Eunseo felt stiff from his claim. Love is a waste of time? She could scoff at that statement. 

“I beg to differ,” Eunseo said as her eyebrows started to narrow. “Love isn’t a waste of time.”

Baekhyun remained neutral, he was emotionless as always. “It’s all based on unrealistic expectations that anyone can hardly fulfill. It’s demanding all of your physical and mental effort to keep it alive, just for it to go down the drain when it starts to fade.” His hand on the table started to ball into a fist but soon relaxed as he concluded it with, “It’s simply a waste of time.”

Eunseo remained speechless at his reasoning. This was the longest he had said and it was complete and utter bull. Curiosity no longer was present within her as it was replaced with anger spreading like wildfire in her entire being. 

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Eunseo stammered. “What made you think of it that way?”

Baekhyun was silent. It seemed like he was about to answer her question but could only sigh and shake his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Eunseo inhaled to calm herself down. “Love isn’t wasteful nor unenjoyable as you’re saying as it is. It’s an emotion that’s important to us. When you’re with someone you love, you feel happiness, passion, and a sense of security with them. It’s what we all need and strive for, it’s a natural thing.”

“That’s what they say, but it’s not true.”

She felt like giving up at that moment. It was a bit early into the argument