Still in 2007...

Hyunbin pulled out his flipped phone with a lightened heart. The second meeting with someone that captivates him at first sight. Finally, he got her number in a way he thought would be impossible to meet again. The smile wasn't disappeared from his face since they exchanged their phone number in the theatre. 

He expanded his hands widely on his comfy bed and gasped his breath deeply. He never thought they would meet on such an occasion even after their first meeting in 2004. He needed years to meet her again. 

They met again.

Finally, they met and they were just attending the same movie premiere. His eyes strolled his bedroom sneakily as he huffed his upper hair that covered his forehead. 

"Let's try this!" He smiled and looked at his phone. His fingers pressed the button while looking for her number. His foot thumbs knocked in rythm narrowing his eyes thinking about how he was supposed to open the conversation. 

'Hello, Son Yejin-ssi, It's Hyunbin. How are you?' he typed unconsciously. He read the sentence again and then furrowed his brows feeling something awkward about the words. The basic and too old first encounter on the phone made him cringe. He deleted the words one by one and try other proper words. 'Have you slept?' 

"Aish... you're not that close to doing that!" he murmured and deleted it once again. He typed other words 'Hello, Son Yejin-ssi...' 

"Ah... I don't know. Just do it!" He hissed and pressed the sent button. He exhaled his breath and put it on his bed. He turned his body facing his phone waiting for her reply. His hand knocked his phone in worry even it was just being sent seconds ago. 

Huffing and puffing his cheeks, he was so eager to imagine what would she reply. His phone vibrated waking him up in a blink of eyes. As he woke up, he was pulling out his phone with him. He managed his excitement while exhaling and inhaling his breath slowly. He opened his flipped phone and saw Yejin's number which had sent a message for him. 

'Ne (Yes), Hyunbin-ssi...^^' He was almost throwing his phone in joy when she replied in just minutes. The excitement overcame him and he read the message all over again.

"What is that meaning?" He furrowed his brows in the "^^" symbol. He tilted his head aside as he rolled his phone right to left to understand the meaning of the symbol. He flipped the phone to the right side. 

"Why does it look like a chirping mouth symbol? Is she mad at me?" He scratched his hair in confusion. 

"But, we just met. We didn't quarrel before..." he mumbled while pouting his mouth.

"Should I end this here?" he gasped before laying his head on the pillow again while expanding his arms almost feeling like a heart-broken. He closed his eyes and still couldn't get over the "^^" symbol. 

"Should I ask her?" He pouted while looking at the message again. Almost two minutes he ignored the message. 

The longer than Yejin replied his message. But, as far as he thought, it was just the beginning of their closer conversation as a new acquaintance. He shook his head washing away his bad thought before it ruined everything.

"She wouldn't be mad at you. Trust me! She wouldn't be mad at me. Just ask her!" he convinced himself. He typed to reply to her message 'Son Yejin-ssi, are you mad at me?' while knocking his index finger on his phone. He then tapped the sent button with a relieved breath. In no time a message came from her again.

Honestly, he was scared to open it but, he should know what is behind the symbol. 

'Why should I be mad at you, Hyunbin-ssi?' He relaxed with her reply and typed another reply. 

'You did reply to me with "^^". I don't know about that symbol. When I was rolling my handphone, it looks like a chirping mouth. Is it?' he replied with his innocent thought. His phone vibrated again in no time. 

'Hyunbin-ssi ^^' 

"What is that mean? Tsk, This girl really..." he mumbled. "If she just replied with that, what should I do?" he sighed in disbelief. "What should I type then?" he waited for minutes to think about her reply that she might send another reply. 

"Yejin-ssi, reply with something I could understand please!" he mumbled when he got no reply again from her. "Then what is that symbol's meaning?" 

Suddenly, his thumb moved and paused at the green phone button. 

"Should I call her?" he raised his brow high while scrunching his face with doubt.

"Don't worry! You're a man. Be like a man!" he pressed the button and carefully pulled the phone closer to his ear. His finger knocked on his phone while he waited for the call to be picked up. As he waited, the call was picked up on the third ring. 

"Yes, Hyunbin-ssi..." her soft voice suddenly melted his confused heart before until his face got reddened and unconsciously he put a slight smile on his face. He bit his lower lip nervously. 

"The symbol..." he mumbled shyly and followed by a giggle's sound from Yejin. 

-to be continued-

A/N
Enjoy the story ^^
See you again ^^
With love, Byeol-nim ❤