On Seulgi’s commute home from work, her bus stop always comes just short of a lively local night market. The local billboard signs and onslaught of targeted online ads (damn you Mark Zuckerberg) consistently reinforce her interest in the daily event, but as the greenest of greenhorns at her new job at a nearby radio studio, Seulgi is overtasked and overworked, and often too exhausted to go out of her way to check it out despite her desperate curiosity.

 

It just so happens, one warm summer evening, Seulgi’s overexhaustion causes her to doze off a tad too long on her commute, causing her to miss her usual stop. Seulgi sheepishly gets off at the next stop--coincidentally the one that drops her off at the night market--and slowly accepts the fact that her mistake had tacked on an extra twenty minutes to her usual walk home. Seulgi figures she might as well take the chance to explore the night market on her way back. Maybe she could snag an iced coffee to make her walk home in the dry heat more bearable.

 

Seulgi is only 5 minutes into her night market experience, but she’s already fought the urge to impulse buy a variety of dumplings, noodle dishes, soups, and incredibly random but adorably cute keychains she absolutely has no need for.

 

“I got you girl,” Seulgi whispers absentmindedly, patting her wallet.

 

After buying herself an iced coffee, Seulgi makes a beeline for the exit, hoping to end the string of temptations to her and her wallet. However, her efforts are dashed when she chances upon a tiny ddeokbokki stand with a hefty line wrapping neatly out of the main walkway.

 

Long line = good…?

 

Seulgi isn’t sure how great her logic is, but she follows her gut and lines up behind a young couple. Seulgi passes the time in line playing Genshin Impact, silently cursing her terrible gacha rolls, and soon enough finds herself very close to the front of the line. When she’s up next, she hurriedly shoves her phone in her pocket and retrieves her wallet, relieved to find just enough cash to cover her meal (she scolds herself for not having checked sooner).

 

“Next, please.”

 

“Hi, just one box, thanks.” Seulgi hands over the cash to the cashier--err, cute cashier--and is more than clumsy in retrieving her change.

 

“And here’s your receipt!”

 

“Ah, um,” Seulgi is a bit too distracted (and flustered) putting her change away in her wallet, so she simply shakes her head in shy response. “I’m good, I don't think I need it.”

 

The cute cashier nods understandably and puts the receipt in her apron pocket. Seulgi mumbles a quick, bashful thanks when retrieving the box of ddeokbokki, and hurriedly rushes off back to her apartment.

 

When she eats in front of her TV that night, she’s not sure if her cheeks are warm from the gochujang or if they still haven’t calmed down from her surprise run-in with the cutie from the ddeokbokki stand.

 

Admittedly, Seulgi isn’t the biggest fan of ddeokbokki, but Seulgi can’t deny she might have more than one reason to make another trip to that little stand.

 

So she does. After a couple weeks of random late nights and spontaneous weekend calls into the office, Seulgi’s work schedule finally solidifies. Relieved to attain some sort of consistency in her new lifestyle, Seulgi decides that Tuesdays and Fridays are the best days for her to treat herself to trips to the night market and the ddeokkbokki she just can’t stop thinking about.

 

More often than not, Seulgi usually waits about 20-30 minutes to even place her order, just like her first visit to the stand. In these busy times, she only has time to quickly greet the cute cashier, shout an enthusiastic “thank you!” to the chefs further back in the stand, and simply carry on with her evening.

 

Other times when Seulgi is lucky enough to catch the stand with little to no line, Seulgi takes the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the stand’s very cute tender, whom she soon learns is named Wendy. She also learns that the two lovely chefs Seulgi often sends her thanks to are Wendy’s grandparents, and over time Seulgi becomes the target of their affectionate doting. Seulgi will sometimes get an extra side dish with her order or a free drink snuck into her bag courtesy of Wendy’s insistent grandfather.

 

“Oh gosh, you really didn’t have to-” Seulgi begins, but is quickly cut off by Wendy’s grandfather shushing her.

 

“You can’t tell old people what to do, we do whatever the hell we want!” the small but lively man laughs with the energy of a figure twice his size, and his wife just quietly chuckles alongside him.

 

“You can always make it up to us another way,” Wendy’s grandma adds, secretly nudging her head over to Wendy and sending Seulgi a not-so-subtle wink.

 

Seulgi nervously laughs off the suggestion, pretending not to know what the old woman was implying. She thanks the eccentric pair once again for their generosity and then turns her attention to the cute cashier.

 

“Thanks Wendy! I’ll see you on Friday!” Seulgi doesn’t expect a response, as Wendy is busy helping a customer, but when Wendy sends her off with a wave and a gentle smile, Seulgi is filled with more than enough energy to carry her throughout the week.

 

Three months after her initial discovery of the ddeokbokki stand, Seulgi fumbles nervously with an index card in her pocket. She had scribbled her phone number earlier on it that day in anticipation of her Friday visit to Wendy’s ddeokbokki stand, hoping she could muster the courage to ask the very cute cashier out on a wholesome brunch date.

 

When she steps off the bus, she grows quickly concerned when it appears as though the night market has tripled its usual attendance. She pushes past a few people waiting in a line that extended well into the main walkway, and finds herself in shock at the monstrous line beside her beloved ddeokbokki stand.

 

Its usual six-to-ten person long line, for some reason now extends past thirty, and Seulgi begins to seriously debate whether it’s worth waiting 2 hours in line for a carton of ddeokbokki she had already eaten dozens of times (and the likely possibility of complete and utter rejection). She briefly catches sight of Wendy’s high ponytail, and sighs, siding quickly with her nervous gut.

 

Seulgi roughly drags her hand through her hair in frustration before walking past the stand. All the internal pep talk for nothing. Maybe she'll just try again next week.

 

Tuesday comes and the line is in the same state.

 

Maybe she'll try again on Friday.

 

Friday comes and Seulgi begins to wonder if there’s some kind of divine intervention happening.

 

She takes a seat at a less populous pop-up cafe right across the ddeokbokki stand. She nurses a hot coffee in her hands now that it was well into the cool fall season, and does a search for ‘ddeokbokki Incheon’ on her phone.

 

Seulgi gets a dozen more hits than she expects.

 

 

 

 

Seulgi rolls her eyes at the obvious click-bait titles, but skims through the second article to confirm her suspicions. She almost bangs her head against the table when said suspicions are indeed confirmed.

 

 

Seulgi closes the article, looks back at the long line of men (and occasional old lady), and groans in frustration. Now that she’s gone viral, Wendy’s certainly getting hit on more than she’d like.

 

Seulgi knew better than to add to such unwanted attention--her plan was done for.

 

She thumbs the index card she’s carried around with her for the past week, and feels her heart constrict. She feels like she might as well just take the L now than later.

 

Heartbroken, Seulgi drops her ddeokbokki schedule and goes back to getting off at her regular bus stop on Tuesdays and Fridays. Not seeing Wendy is probably her best bet at getting over the rejection (which didn’t happen, but probably would have, Seulgi believes). Seulgi reminds herself it’s also a chance to save money, which is always a win in the long run.

 

A couple of months pass, and Seulgi still admittedly isn’t one for ddeokbokki, but oddly finds herself craving it one particularly cold winter evening. It’s almost midnight, but she dons a large black sweater, hides her messy hair under a maroon beanie, and braves a quick trek to the corner store.

 

She enters the small store and nods politely at the sleepy cashier. She makes her way to the frozen section and picks out the cheapest ddeokbokki option she could find. On the way back to the register, she suddenly feels a craving for strawberry milk, and doubles back to the chilled section in search of the drinks.

 

Seulgi pales when she realizes she isn’t the only late-night customer in this corner store, and feels her ears grow hot when she realizes she recognizes said customer.

 

 

In a self-inflicted panic, Seulgi hurriedly rushes to the cashier with her frozen 1am snack, but notices the girl coming up right behind her is... her.

 

Seulgi quickly signs for her things and rushes out the door, her pace seemingly matching the speed of her heartbeat.

 

Relief washes over her as she makes her way across the street, and with every step, Seulgi is able to breathe a bit easier--her heartbeat coming back down to its usual pace. She pauses just long enough to put her headphones in, and continues her walk home.

 

She’s about halfway home when she feels a tap on her shoulder, shocking her enough to elicit a small yelp.

 

“Oh no, I’m sorry!”

 

Seulgi whips her head around and finds herself staring into the same eyes she had desperately avoided just moments ago.

 

“Oh thank god it’s you, I was hoping it was!”

 

Seulgi does a quick check behind her to make sure she is being talked to, and after realizing that of course no one else is walking on the sidewalk behind her at 1 AM, she nods back at a surprisingly bashful Wendy.

 

“I think this is a pretty big sign from the universe, considering it’s,” the girl glances at her watch, “1:27 in the morning.”

 

Seulgi has a hard time breathing, and wonders briefly if the air around her has become carbon dioxide.

 

“I can tell by your face you think I’m being creepy, and I’m sorry for coming off that way! We don’t even really know each other that well, and honestly I don’t even know if you recognize me with my hair down--”

 

“How can I not remember someone as cute as you?” Seulgi suddenly blurts out, chuckling awkwardly when she realizes what she had admitted.

 

“Oh, uh, that’s good then!” Wendy uncharacteristically returns Seulgi’s awkward chuckle, and silence quickly befalls the two young women.

 

“Um, anyway, what can I do for you?” Seulgi asks, breaking the silence and trying her hardest to appear composed.

 

Seulgi watches curiously as Wendy fumbles through her tote bag and retrieves a small crinkled envelope.

 

“You know, you're probably the only customer I’ve had who’s never taken their receipts.”

 

Caught off guard by the random statement, Seulgi raises a curious brow.

 

“Not even once,” Wendy emphasizes teasingly.

 

“S-Sorry? I mean, I try to avoid having receipts because it just clutters up my wallet and-”

 

“Ah no, don’t apologize! It's not really anything to be sorry about, it's just something I noticed…” Wendy clears before awkwardly easing the envelope into Seulgi’s free hand.

 

“Anyway, I noticed you haven't been coming by anymore and I had been meaning to give those to you for a while, but I've just been a little busy with the stand and taking care of my grandparents, and there’s also having to deal with grad school, and just being on top of my weekend volunteer work and I'm rambling, I'm sorry, it’s a bad habit, um...”

 

Seulgi’s a little too stunned by everything to notice Wendy politely bidding her leave. All Seulgi can do is reflexively bow back before finally letting her legs carry her home via sheer muscle memory. Her movement is mechanical, almost as if she's walking home in a dream.

 

When she gets to her room, she drops her bag of groceries off in the kitchen, completely forgetting all about her previous cravings. Seulgi hops into bed and gently peels Wendy’s envelope open and removes what seems to be a stack of receipts. Seulgi’s brows furrow, curious as to why Wendy held onto all of these receipts for her.

 

That is, until she notices penmarks on the back of one of them.

 

 

Scribbled under the message in blue ink was unmistakably a phone number.

 

Seulgi hurriedly checks the other ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All receipts had the same phone number scribbled under the messages. A smile finds its way across Seulgi’s lips, and she lets out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

 

She gives the number a call and feels her heart beat faster when she hears Wendy’s voice on the other line.

 

 

Seulgi clears and replies, “I guess you can say I should have paid more attention huh?”

 

When Wendy laughs, Seulgi knows they’re off to a wonderful start - both to their late night phone call, and their future.

 

 

---

A/N: bless this idiot couple ;_; 

thank you for reading! please, please stay safe and well during this time and feel free to send me a message if you're playing genshin lol

A/N 2: running on half a brain here at 1am so i'm sorry i tagged this as wenrene initially by accident lmao