Weeks passed and I gradually got used to the additional presence of Taehyung, Juyeon and Hongsol in my circle of connection. The expansion might sound insignificant but given that my network was composed of separate connections that were unrelated to each other, gaining three new friends at a time and hanging out as a whole was truly an achievement.

We even built a habit, in which Juyeon was always the earliest in the morning to visit the café. He would be there, sipping on his favorite iced Americano and helping Hongsol sort out the playlist of the day as I was the second to join them while Taehyung always came last to grab his purple sweet potato Frappuccino, whining at the overcrowding traffic and even his increasing intake of artificial sweet potato powder. At work, Juyeon also fixed his seat to be the station right in front of me, which made it easier for him to gather me and Taehyung to the canteen for lunch. Meanwhile, Taehyung dropped by my station more frequently, to secretly throw me and Juyeon some snack or simply fetch a piece of cake from Hongsol. And Hongsol, being ambitious to create a more diverse menu for the café, often asked us to be the first to taste her latest experiments, from which the Purple sweet potato Frappuccino made it to the menu and became Taehyung's favorite. Our talks, due to those constant interactions, started to expand further to our personal life. Yet despite how many tokens of warmth I had received from them, I hadn't done anything to them.

I should, right?

At least buy a lunch for the two guys. Or get Hongsol a new canvas bag as the girl adored my handmade ones a lot. I set my mind on that idea quite quickly and planned to ask Hyejin to go with me to the store for some drawing supplies at weekends as well as set aside some time to explore a few options for lunch near the office.

Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound from the TV program that Hyejin as she got up. Some kind of English-speaking program that I didn't even bother to understand at this early hour.

"What's on, Hyejin ah?" - I didn't even listen to myself as I murmured sleepily to Hyejin.

"Scooby Doo" - replied Hyejin from next to me, sound amused. She must be enjoying the show.

I scrambled to sit up, rubbing my eyes. Somehow I didn't know why Hyejin chose to watch Scooby Doo but it was always broadcasted at this time at weekends. And it suddenly dawned on my mind, just like the sunbeam was making it way to the window, shining upon the pots of plants, about how my decision was turned around.

"Hey, do you really have to portrait me that way?"

I could hear the extra screaming from Taehyung as I read his message. Having been inspired by Scooby Doo, I gleefully shared with the other three what I was working on as a surprise gift to them. I shouldn't have revealed it, though, for it was surprise gift but I just couldn't stop my excitement as I completed the first part - an oversized white T-shirt for Taehyung with Shaggy Rogers painted by me. Yes, I viewed us four as the Scooby Doo characters, goofy Taehyung with laid back persona as Shaggy, good-looking Juyeon as Fred, cute Hongsol as Daphne and nerdy me as Velma. T-shirt was easy to paint and could be worn anytime without looking too cheesy, and I was more comfortable with painting T-shirts than cooking something or choosing a good place for eating out.

"I don't think I am pretty enough to be Daphne, unnie."

Hongsol told me and was scolded virtually by Taehyung.

"What's that ty thing I've just heard from you, Kwon Hongsol?"

"It's just a T-shirt, Hong Sol ah." - I comforted her and shot Taehyung a personal message to warn him about the unnecessary bad words. - "It doesn't require you to be Daphne to wear it."

"Guys . . ."

Juyeon started typing then. He, like Taehyung, usually broke his sentences into chunks, making people anxious for his opinions.

" I wonder . . ."

"Wheein noona, could you draw me a smaller one, for my cat?

"I mean he could be Scooby Doo. . ."

"And that's what we're missing in Mystery, Inc right?"

Oh gosh, Lee Juyeon was really the most naive in the team. And his request was showered with continuous laughing emoticons and memes. Even Hongsol, who secretly had a crush on him, mocked at him via the texts.

"Oppa, your thoughts are really amazing. Really."

But Juyeon didn't take those personally. He just sent a photo of his cat - Juyeomi, begging me.

"Please, noona, Juyeomi wants one."

I smiled at all the texts we had exchanged since the morning as I was sitting at the kitchen table, acrylic paints were all over my apron and fingers. I didnt recall having this kind of interesting interactions. I mean, having a group of friends who appeared different and unrelated to each other to laugh at the same thing and to expect surprises from the others. It might be odd not to have many connections at this age but one way or another, I found reasons to resort myself to my little world, at least until now, when I started to open my world to some other people. And I thanked them three for opening their world to me first so that I could feel comfortable enough to respond to their kindness - I don't want to take credits for building this bond, though.

"Ooh, that looks cool. A gift?"

Hyejin passed by my place as she opened the fridge for some milk. She slightly curled down the corners of her lips and amused - well, that was her normal facial expression anyway. I looked up at her and wiped the acrylic tubes aside to make space for her bowl of cereal.

"Yeah. These are for my colleagues."

"Oh yeah?" - Hyejin raised one of her eyebrows in disbelief. - "Been a while that you made those cheesy stuff, huh?"

I laughed and continued with the unfinished artwork. It's Hongsol's to come next.

"Yeah, been a while I felt like doing this."

"Why taking it up again? Something happened lately?"

Hyejin questioned and then quickly brushed it off herself with a shrug.

"Never mind." - She adjusted herself to sit comfortably on the chair and patted me on the shoulders, sounding like an old grumpy grandma with her morning extra husky voice - "Whatever it is, I'm glad it happened to you."

***

"V-ssi, you look exciting today. And your outfit looks cool, too."

"Oh thanks. A friend of mine painted this t-shirt. This friend has talent, I must say."

"Wow, so it's a handmade gift. That's just amazing. It just reminds me of... well... People, do you know that we all have a preference for being loved and showing love, which is called language of love? It's not just between lovers, it's between you and anyone you love and care for. It's like...V-ssi likes the gift from his friend and he in return usually gives small stuff to those he cares for to show his appreciation. In that case, his language of love is gift."

"Second that. That's why I brought you all a song on my first broadcast, remember? But Wheein-ssi, among the five Languages of Love you have shared on the chat, what's yours?"

"For me, I like quality time. I mean, I love spending time making memories with my beloved people. And in exchange, I would appreciate people spend time with me, just like how you spend an hour every Friday enjoying this show."

"Ok, I would take it as a thank you from you to me, too. For accompanying you every Friday.

But you know what, no matter what your language of love is, I think it all comes down to being two way. Like, if you don't knock the door, the door won't open."

"I agree. And I believe that as you find out about your language of love as well as others', you don't have to ponder about how to show your love, care, appreciation or any other positive emotion to your beloved ones. "

***

"So... Music and camping..." - Taehyung whispered to me as we turned off our microphones and I played Love is Easy by McFly. - "Is it quality time for you?"

"Yeah, kind of." - My forehead slight creased as I hesitated for a yes or no answer. - "But I'm more of a home-body person, though."

Taehyung smirked, highlighting some keywords on his script with my pastel purple highlighter - he just had a special admiration for stuff in purple that's why he had been holding on the highlighter as soon as I dropped it on the table along with some other stationery for taking notes.

"Geez. Don't you have to go outside for metabolism?"

"That's rhetorical, yeah?"

"Up to you."

He still kept his tiny smile on his lips and then leaned a bit closer to me to scribble a few words on a corner of my script. It said "Rainbow Music and Camping Festival."

"I haven't told the other two yet . . ." - He glanced at the seeking bar on the media player that was moving towards the end and quickly wrapped up - "I think I should ask you first as you might need some time to think about it. It'll be in three weeks' time."

I looked at him, feeling being struck quite hard with yet another Taehyung-trademarked surprise. And it was even a bigger surprise that he somehow acknowledged my tendency of being hesitating with new stuff - I didn't expect it from him but if he really did... well, funny how Kim Taehyung just acted all cool and care-free while at the same time, being such a discreet person.

"What if I won't?"

I blurted out a hypothesis, which definitely was possible. Taehyung pursed his lips and made something with it to resemble a smile. He then replied me with a roll of the eyes.

"Then I have to think of another way to return my appreciation for this shirt, yeah?"

"Oh don't feel pressured for that. I just . . ."

"Ah no, just joking." - He interjected and waved his hands in denial hastily. - "I didn't mean that. Just think of it as another simple invitation to hang out from me, no much, ok?"

I bobbed my head to the left and right, letting out an "OK" and Taehyung nodded back with a hint of satisfaction in his smile. Before we were back on air, he reminded me once more.

"Think and decide yourself. Don't tell Juyeonie and Hong Sol just yet!" - He made a funny comment, to which I chuckled. - "You don't need to watch their annoying rom-com at the camping site if you don't want to."

---
Language of Love is a popular theory for relationship (both professional and personal), you can look it up on Google for the books :) And do let me know if you like the progression between our two leads :)