Shin Hye finally went to the resto one day, thanks to Yong Hwa's cousin's tip. When she got inside, the first person at the counter, the employee, greeted her.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" the employee said.

"Ne, annyeonghaseyo?"

"Shin Hye-ssi?" Yong Hwa called out as he came out from the mini-conference room. "Annyeonghaseyo?"

"Ne... annyeong..haseyo?" she stammered.

Why did he have to look so good, she thought. Yong Hwa ushered her to a table by the water fountain so that her tired eyes can relax.

"Gomawo," she said to him casually.

"My pleasure," he said with a wink.

He handed out the menu, which she took time to read. She told him her order, and he jotted it down. After waiting on her, he went back to the counter. Shin Hye watched him getting busy, and she also watched the other people doing their own business.

A harabeoji and a halmeoni feeding beef to each other.

An eomeoni placing some slices of beef over the rice on the bowl of her son.

A group of men and women who seemed like officemates drinking happily to soju.

Indeed, idly watching people can make one make up a story.

"Sorry for waiting," Yong Hwa said breathlessly as he approached her table. "Do you need anything else?"

"It's lunch time," Shin Hye told him. "You won't mind eating with me, geureohchi?"

"Ne. I won't mind," he told her as he sat in front of her.

One employee brought in a tray full of bulgogi, and Shin Hye looked at her host quizzically, for she did not order this much.

"This will be on the house," he said with a wink.

Shin Hye bowed and thanked him. She had intended to eat on her own, but Yong Hwa gave her free lunch. In her heart, Yong Hwa must have really liked her. He gave her flowers, and he gave her free beef.

That can be love, right?

"Are you busy?" he asked her as they started to eat.

"I'm busy the whole week, but I'm free this Saturday," she informed him. "Wae?"

"Have you listened to all the indie bands at Hongdae?" he asked her.

"I seldom have time to listen to them," she said. "Are they good?"

"They're promising," Yong Hwa said.

"I should listen to it this Saturday," she said.

"Let's go together," he invited her.

"Ah, geurae, geurae..."

"Seonbae!" a female voice piped up.

Yong Hwa turned around in annoyance to see Yoo Ara waving at him with a big grin on her face. Ara ran to kiss Yong Hwa when she noticed a woman sitting across the guy. Ara jealously raised an eyebrow as she spoke to Shin Hye.

"And you are?" she started.

Shin Hye stood up, and introduced herself properly.

"Bangawoyo," Ara told her. "Yoo Ara-imnida. Nan Yong Hwa-seonbaenim-ui yeojachinguyeyo."

Shin Hye was stunned with what she had heard. Yong Hwa... has a girlfriend?

"Ya, says who?" Yong Hwa shot back at Ara. Then, to Shin Hye, "Forgive her, Shin Hye-ya, Ara's a brat."

"Oppa!" Ara whined. "I had been following you since college, and we had been close... and I am your hoobae. Can you not look at me as a girlfriend already?"

"Just because you are my hoobae, it does not make you my yeojachingu," Yong Hwa told Ara.

Ara spitefully looked at Shin Hye before pointing a finger at her.

"Geureom, Seonbae, is she the reason why Jong Hyun-oppa told me to forget about you?"

Yong Hwa looked at Shin Hye. Shin Hye was hoping that Yong Hwa would save her from the annoying lady, and she was hoping that he would admit his real feelings for her. Though they had met only recently, they clicked like they had some history together. Yong Hwa was torn for his feelings for Shin Hye and for his first love. How will he answer without hurting Shin Hye?

"Geuraeseo?" Yong Hwa asked Ara. "My love matters will not involve you! Ga, ga!"

"Neomu apa (I'm really hurt)," Ara said brattily.

She turned at Shin Hye and threatened her.

"Neo, don't ever steal my Seonbae from me. From the time I saw him, I decided he's mine!" Ara said to her.

The bratty girl stomped out of the resto, much to the annoyance of the watching crowd. Yong Hwa apologized to the people, then he bowed and apologized to Shin Hye.

"W...wow, some kind of a threat she made," Shin Hye said to him.

"It's true that she's my hoobae in college, but she always get what she wants because she's a daughter of a chaebol. Now, she's taking over her father's corporation in the United States. But of course, I will not bow to her demands. She's a brat. A disillusioned girl."

"I can see that," Shin Hye said.

Now, she wondered. Yong Hwa, who had given her gifts and had held her hand and kissed her forehead, could not even admit what the two of them really are.

Really, what are they?

Friends? More than friends?

She could not make assumptions. As a girl, it is wrong to tell everyone of the relationship that might not have been there to begin with. She just had to wait. And maybe, Yong Hwa was also waiting for the right time.

But when can it be?

Even Shin Hye was getting impatient. It was her first time falling in love, and she was extremely excited. In her twenty-seven years of existence, no other guy but Yong Hwa had made her heart beat this way. No other guy had made her anticipate random visits, and no other guy had stolen her heart just like that.

So, why was he becoming distant all of a sudden?

"I will forgive what Ara said to me today," Shin Hye told him assuringly. "But if she will do it again, I might do something legal."

Yong Hwa knew what she meant. Ara had been very insensitive, but she had not known that she had crossed the line already. The line between acceptable and unacceptable. If she would threat something bad, Shin Hye just might use the legal means, and Yong Hwa knew that Shin Hye knows what she is doing. After all, she's smart.

Smart in matters but love.

"Shall we go to Hongdae on Saturday, then?" he asked.

"Ne," Shin Hye replied with a smile.

 

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