Chapter Four

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I stare as the end of my pen hits the edge of the mahogany desk. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Don’t tell me you’re still stuck on that girl from high school? 

I can clearly hear Chen’s disbelief replaying in my head, but yeah, I am. What can I say? I must be a one woman man and that’s okay with me. It’s hard not to be hooked on her. She was like an addiction that I could not end. In high school she was like a soft rose petal, delicate and sweet. When I’d see her pass by the classroom window, my eyes always had to follow the bounce of her step.  Just the thought of her then, and even now, brings a smile to my lips. She somehow managed to make an almost twenty five year old man feel like a little boy experiencing his first crush. The butterflies. The warmth. The irresistible smiles. It’s all because of her. 

Tap. Tap. Beep.

I blink. 

“Mr. Byun?” The secretary’s voice fills the room via the landline’s speaker. I reach over, pressing my finger on the microphone icon. 

“Yes?”

“You have a visitor.” Ms. Seo announces. My brows furrow. A visitor? At an unopened office? Was mom stopping by on her way to visit her friends in Seoul? Usually she lets me know beforehand. 

“A visitor?” I repeat. Maybe I heard wrong. 

“Yes, she says her name is Kim Boreum?” Ms. Seo clarifies. Kim Boreum.

“Let her in.” Hastily, I turn off the phone speaker. Frantically, my hands brush out any wrinkles and creases in my light gray blazer, then move to the top of my head, flattening out any loose strands. I hear the soft knock on my office door. The corners of my lips curl. She’s always so careful. 

“Come in.” I call out, casually turning to the open laptop on my desk. I should look busy as the CEO, right? I glance up, meeting her timid carmel irises. 

“Hi Baekhyun,” Boreum’s voice echoes in the nearly empty room. I watch as her eyes roam around the unfinished office space. Aimlessly, she takes a few steps around the perimeters, looking up and down at the large iron pillars that stretch from the ceiling to the floor. 

“I would’ve invited you over once it’s finished.” I say with a nervous chuckle. Truth be told, this wasn’t how I wanted to present my company to anyone, especially Boreum. She was an interior designer for heaven’s sake. She’s probably judging everything right now. 

“It’s a nice space. I better be the first person to see it once it’s done.” Boreum jokes with a smile. Ugh, that smile. It was so effortlessly breathtaking. Breathe, Baekhyun, breathe. 

“Anyway, to what do I owe the honor?” I ask her. It was Boreum. My best friend’s little sister. It wasn’t like we spent time together without Chen. So her sudden appearance on my office’s front doors was more or less a surprise, one that I do not mind though. She continues strolling around until she comes to the front of my desk. 

“Um… My mom made a fresh batch of kimchi last night. She wanted to make sure you got a jar and I just so happen to be her messenger today, or well every day.” Boreum replies, lifting up the wrapped jar in her arms. I chuckle, quickly coming around the desk to take it off her hands. 

“Your mom is too nice.” I comment, checking the tightly wrapped blue cloth. 

“Only to you. You’re the son she wishes she had.” Boreum giggles. Her laughter is music to my ears. Like chimes in the wind on a summer day. 

“Oh come on, Chen’s not that bad.” I jest, setting the kimchi down. I lean against the edge of my desk, crossing my arms over my chest as I give my undivided attention to Boreum. 

“Nobody can compare to you, Baekhyun.” Boreum humorously praises. If only she knew. 

“No plans today?” I questioned, fidgeting with the stapler on my desk. Gosh, it was so hard to just stay calm and still around her. It’s like I wanted to pay attention to her, but my mind was embarrassed to be caught. 

“I’m unemployed. So no. Hence why I’m my mom’s errand girl today.” Boreum laments. Right, she was job hunting still. Chen had mentioned that she was waiting to hear back from her last interview still. 

“Let’s go catch lunch then.” I propose, already reaching for my cell phone and slipping it into my blazer pocket. I’m already halfway to the door when I don’t hear her footsteps following behind. I glance over my shoulder as she just blinks at me with disorientation pooling in her eyes. 

“What?” 

“Aren’t you busy?” She asks, confusion in the furrow of her brows. Yeah, I am actually. Establishing a brand and office in a whole new country was not necessarily something that could be done overnight. I’ve been in meetings with contractors nonstop for the past couple of days. I’m a workaholic, but here I am ready to walk out without a second thought just because Kim Boreum came strutting into my office. 

“You came all the way to my office just to drop off kimchi. The least I can do is buy you lunch. What do you want, Bo?”

Tteokbokki. I laugh under my breath as Boreum’s eyes radiate with bliss at the plate of fiery orange rice cakes. Adorable. I should’ve known she would resort to tteokbokki, even after I insisted on going to an actual sit-in restaurant with full course meals. When we were in high school, she would wait for Chen and I after practice, she was the team assistant after all so it wasn’t like she had a choice. We repeatedly made it a point to stop by the small tteokbokki stand around the corner from the bus stop. You could call it some type of after practice ritual. The lady running the stand knew us on a first name basis and consistently made sure there was a fresh batch ready by the time we came around. We’d sit in the same order every time: Chen on the left, Boreum in the middle, and myself on her right. The first bite of tteokbokki was always followed by the same words from Boreum:

“This is my favorite.” 

She beams, chewing expeditiously as if someone would steal it straight from . Without a care, a soft smile dances on my face. She really hasn’t changed at all. Boreum was a personality, especially when it came to food. She had a lot of favorites: spicy soups, samgyeopsal, tteokbokki, fish cakes, jokbal. You name it, it’s probably her favorite. 

“What’s not your favorite?” I snicker as I pick up a rice cake with my chopsticks. The spicy, orange sauce touches my tongue. Because of this girl, I’ve consumed enough tteokbokki to last me three lifetimes. There was a point where I’d gag every time someone suggested we eat tteokbokki because of how often she dragged us to the food stand, but it didn’t matter. If I was eating it with her, then I could clear out the whole cart. 

“Chicken gizzards?” The girl offers up after some thought. A laugh fumbles from my throat. It seems that whatever she does ends up in me either smiling or laughing. That’s Kim Boreum’s charm, or maybe it’s just a charm that she has on me. Whatever it is, I’m okay with it. For her, I’d smile until I couldn't. 

“Boreum?” An unfamiliar voice calls out. I glance over my shoulders, eyes searching for the voice’s source. A tan male with dark brown hair is waving adamantly at our table. He sports a gray hoodie and loose sweatpants. Definitely younger than me. The stranger adjusts his wire frames before his boyish gait moves in our direction.

“Kai!” Boreum exclaims, snatching my attention back to her. Her eyes light up at the man as that gorgeous smile of hers erupts once more. There’s a slight pricking sensation in my chest, one I know too familiarly. The same feeling I got when Choi Hyunbin, the freshman rookie on our soccer team during my senior year, had courageously announced that he wanted to take Boreum on a movie date. His proclamation left Boreum speechless and me, well, triggered. Triggered with jealousy. Let’s just say he had some rough practices for the following weeks being on ball duty. 

“It’s been so long.” The one, who apparently goes by Kai, wistfully states, now standing beside our table. Who was he to Boreum? A past flame? A current one? Wait, no, he said it’s been awhile. So that means Boreum’s single then, right? Ugh, Byun Baekhyun you can’t just assume that based off one dude. 

“I only graduated like five months ago.” Boreum giggles, still smiling up at him. A college lover, maybe?
 

“You should stop by campus soon. We can go to our favorite bar.” Kai does a shot glass motion with a wink. They have a favorite bar? Did they go often? How close are they? I press my lips together, doing my best to not outright frown at the scene taking place in front of me. I guess it’s kind of selfish of me to think that someone like Boreum wouldn’t have a horde of boys following her around university. She had always been popular among guys and I guess I’m just another one in the crowd of admirers. At least the others had the guts to approach her though. 

“Nobody can take shots like you. The bar scene just isn’t the same anymore.” Kai continues with a shake of his head. Silently, I watch as Boreum’s face turns a light shade of pink. Gosh, she’s adorable when she blushes, except she’s not doing so because of me this time around. Her eyes dart to me, filled with a hint of anxiety. 

“Yah, don’t expose me.” Boreum mutters under her breath, although I can clearly hear it. I can’t help but chuckle at her embarrassment. Cute. 

“Oh, by the way, I’m Kai.” The man extends his hand towards me. Without hesitation, I rise from my seat to be eye level with him. With a firm grip, my palm meets his. 

“Baekhyun.” I respond. My eyes flicker to Boreum, signaling for some type of introduction on her part. 

“Ah, Baekhyun, this is Kai, a friend from college. Kai, this is Baekhyun. My brother’s best friend.” My brother’s best friend. That seems to be the label that I’ll always be stuck with when it comes to Boreum. 

“You hangout with your brother’s friends?” Kai curiously questions. 

“He’s like a brother to me too.” Boreum explains. Great, I’m brother-zoned. Amazing. 

“Hmm. Well, I should get going. I have a study group to get to.” Kai declares, sending another, clearly flirtatious, smile to Boreum. 

“I mean it though, come around some time. You always have my number.” He adds with another irritating wink. Didn’t he say he had to go somewhere? Why was he still lingering around? Shiftlessly, Kai returns his gaze to me. His eyes warily travel from my shoes to my face. Is he sizing me up? For what?  My jaw tightens. I might not be as tall and tan as him, but I’m still someone with a chance. Right? Who am I kidding? I’m just Boreum’s brother’s best friend. Like another brother.  

“Someone’s popular with the boys.” I force a teasing smirk as soon as Kai makes his exit. 

“W-What? Are you talking about Kai? He’s just a junior from uni.” Boreum lets out an uneasy laugh as she quickly plops another rice cake into . 

“That’s a relief, you can do so much better, Bo.” I comment with a firm nod. 

“Any guy that’s interested in you has to wait in line.” I thoughtlessly add. The words come out before I realize it. Glancing upwards, I meet Boreum’s chocolate irises. . How do I back pedal from this?

“I mean, Chen and I, we’ll have to vet them, you know? You can’t just date any random dude.” Does that fix it? Did I save myself or did I dig myself into a deeper hole? Good going, Baekhyun. 

“Maybe you should’ve stayed in the U.S. Now I really won’t be able to date someone.” Boreum jokingly sighs. 

“Is that why you don’t bring anyone home? Nervous about Chen and your parents completely interrogating him? I’m sure you’ve had plenty of dates and boyfriends in the past seven years.” I ask, stirring around the tteokbokki to redistribute the sauce. I’ll admit this is much more for my own curiosity than anything else. 

“Actually, no. I haven’t liked anyone since-” Abruptly, Boreum stops her tongue. She peeks up, face reddening when she meets my curious gape. 

“Since what?” 

“My first crush.”

Seems like we’re both hopelessly stuck on one person.