There he was, standing beside his car, a leather jacket slung over his shoulders. Jieun pinched her cheeks, thinking that her brain was somehow making it all up, but it isn’t.

Glancing at the clock, she realized that she’s been standing by her bedroom window for ten minutes, just looking at the tall idiot who was sitting at the hood of his car, occasionally peeking if someone is coming out of the front door of her house.

I’m probably going to regret this, but it seems like he’s not going anywhere.

Jieun relucantly got ready and grabbed her bag. When she finally got out, she saw that Jihoon’s car was still parked in front of her house but he’s nowhere to be found.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed. It was Jihoon telling her he grabbed something to eat because she was such a slowpoke.The café he mentioned was just two blocks away from her house. When she arrived, it wasn’t hard to spot where Jihoon was. Trying to be discreet with his cap and a pair of sunglasses on, he was seated on a booth by the entrance.

“You’re here.” He looked up and motioned for her to take a seat. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but I ordered a cappuccino and pancakes for you.”

Jieun felt a little weird. Jihoon came to her house, got her breakfast and was being so nice to her.

Is the world ending?

“Thanks.” Still not taking a seat and inspecting the man who was busy drinking coffee, she added, “But how do I know it’s not poisoned?”

Jihoon stared at her.

It took a few seconds but his deadpan expression was replaced by that puppy-dog face when he smiles so warmly. His smile turned into a full-on laughing fit, which made him spray the coffee he was drinking all over the place. She hurriedly grabbed some napkins and a cup of water and handed it to Jihoon, who was still busy trying to cough and laugh at the same time.

“You’re one funny little lady, aren’t you?” He told her, his face still a little red from all the laughing and coughing.

“I wasn’t trying to be funny. That was a serious question.”

Jieun definitely felt weird. It felt like she was walking into a hidden trap.

Must tread carefully, Jieun!

Jihoon nodded his head vigorously. “You’re hilarious. You’re so tiny but you have the strangest mood swings and you say the weirdest things too. By the way, you can take my word for it,  the food isn’t poisoned.”

When she still wouldn’t touch her food, he took his fork and took a piece from the pancake and ate it.

“Let’s wait for a few minutes and see if my mouth starts to foam, then you can eat.”

“You’re acting weird.” She crossed her arms and leaned back on the booth’s vinyl covered seat, carefully studying the man in front of her. He just pursed his lips when she  was talking and continued taking a bite from his bagel.

“What’s weird is how active your imagination is. Why would you think I’d poison you?”

“Don’t you know that humans with a strong survival instinct know when they’re in the presence of danger?”

“You think I’m dangerous?” He said, an amused look painting his handsome face.

Jieun continued to study his face. He didn’t have makeup on and there were stubbles starting to grow on his chin. His face looked a little tired, the bags under his eyes visible on his bareface. Although there was a smile on his face, his eyes didn’t seem to have that sparkle.

“Not in the ‘I’m-going-to-die-I-need-to-ru