Più mosso - /pjuː ˈmɒsəʊ/, (a direction in music) more quickly

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She widened her eyes and took off the jacket. After placing it carefully on the edge of her chair, she typed a message. 

——I’m sorry oppa… I forgot to return your jacket!

She received a swift reply. 

——Oh yea… I forgot about it too… No worries, I’ll come collect it tomorrow.

——It’s fine oppa, I’ll clean it then give it to you when it’s done.

Despite his refusal, she sent his coat to a nearby laundry shop on the next day and entered a cafe with her closest friends. 

“Naeunie, did you go anywhere this morning?” Bomi asked. 

She nodded. “I went to dry clean clothes”

“Huh? Unnie, since when do you dry clean clothes?” Namjoo had her eyebrows furrowed.

“They’re not my clothes.” Naeun said calmly, while her phone buzzed in notification.

Namjoo and Bomi raised their eyebrows while Chorong sipped her tea. 

“Wait… Who’s clothes are those then?” Namjoo asked.

“It’s…” She stole a glance at her noisy friends. She wasn’t quite ready for her friends to know of her newest male friend. “…My neighbour’s. I was cold… he gave it to me.” She said nonchalantly with her head lowered and fingers swiping her phone for instagram. 

“HE?!” Namjoo exclaimed.

“Who is he?” Bomi widened her eyes as she fired questions at Naeun.

“Why are you out with him?” Chorong added gently.

She lifted up her head briefly, then scrolled her phone and shook her head with a smile. “You guys are overreacting.” 

Sitting beside her, Bomi leaned over. “Answer us first! Who’s the guy—” She peeked at Naeun’s phone. 

“—Oh!” Bomi exclaimed and wondered. “You still like these things?” She found posts of skydivers and surfers on Naeun’s screen.

Before Naeun could explain, Bomi added. “Too bad, we’ll never be brave enough to go on those with you.”

“What’s on her phone?” Chorong asked. 

“Posts of extreme sports — you know… those things that Naeun really wants to do.”

“Oh. Yep, sorry unnie, but all five of us aren’t into these.” Namjoo forced a smile, as Chorong chuckled in agreement.

Naeun rolled her eyes. Years ago she told her friends to join her for an extreme sports experience, but they've been denying it since. Her eyes narrowed, but she sighed in relief inwardly from the diversion of the topic. “Yes, yes, I know.” She said as she double-tapped a post.

……..

He stood at the doors of their apartment complex and saw her, with his coat draping carefully on her arm. 

“Naeun-ah.” He hurried over to her. “It’s fine really! You didn’t have to bring it all the way for the laundry shop.” He said as he removed his coat from her arm. 

She shook her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry oppa.”

“Thank you.” He said as they waited for the elevator side by side. He glanced at her outfit. “Just got off work?” 

She nodded. 

He stole her another glance, wet his lips and asked. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?” 

She turned. “Nope, why?”

“Just wondering… if you want to try something out with me.” He sent her a smile. 

She lifted her eyebrows. “What is it?”

They stepped into the elevator, while he pressed both 18th and 20th floor buttons respectively. 

He turned to her with a twinkle in his eyes. “Do you like extreme sports?”

She widened her eyes and exclaimed. “Yes!” “Well…” She added. “I wanted to try them out but never got the chance to.” She sighed.

“Ah… well, new Bungee jump place in Gangwondo opened up! If you’re interested, we could go try it out together.” 

Her eyes sparked as joy bubbled up inside of her. She restrained herself from squealing in excitement as her lips ripped into a huge grin. “Sure! Of course!”

He bursted into laughter. “I never knew you would be this excited.”

“Sorry.” She said sheepishly. “I’ve been wanting to try out extreme sports for a while, but none of my friends are willing to come with me.”

“When are we leaving?” Her eyes sparked with fiery anticipation. 

His cheekbones rose as he stifled a laugh.

……..

“The facility is 63 meters. We’ve done all the safety checks so don’t worry.” The staff said and gestured to them. “Please wait for a moment.”

Naeun nodded as her breath hitched. 

“How do you feel? For your first extreme sports experience?” Taemin said with a smile.

Her lips curled. “Hm… half-excited, half-nervous? Is this your first time, oppa?”

“My first time was sky-diving, when I was… 20?” 

She raised her eyebrows. “Really? How was it!”

He chuckled. “I loved it. Back then I was already a pilot-in-training, so I was excited for it.”

She nodded in awe. “Sky-diving seems interesting…”

His eyes sparkled. “We could go for sky-diving next time, after you’ve tried bungee jumping — it’ll be fun as well.”

“Sure!” The corner of her eyes crinkled.