Ever since I tried out the bubble tea shop, I found myself coming back to that place and now, the staff at the shop recognized me. I wasn’t sure about giving out my name at first, but they were really kind and sincere and so I had to say it.

“Ah! You’re that girl who was supposed to be with The Grace, right?” The middle-aged owner, whose name was Mi Rae, said. “You’re still as pretty as before! Too bad you never actually got to debut…”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I bowed. “Well, that’s how life goes. I just have to look for opportunities somewhere else.”

“You mean you’ve been going to auditions?” Her eyes grew big, and then she let out a small laugh. “Sorry, it’s not every day that a celebrity goes to my shop.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” I replied. Thankfully, there weren’t much people around since it was a Sunday so I was much comfortable talking about my old days. “Well, I haven’t been auditioning for a while because of my studies, so hopefully I get the time to do so. And, you were saying about celebrities going here?”

“Some idols do go here once in a while, but secretly.” She replied then took out her phone. “Is it okay if I take a selca with you?”

“Me?” I asked, dumbly. Of course it’s me.

She held out her phone and we took a picture. For the umpteenth time, she thanked me and I thanked her back then Mi Rae went off to her office. I took another look around the place and silently observed the customers; most of them were teens and some couples as well. Holding hands, taking multiple selcas with their cameras and all, and then there’s me. Alone, date-less with an almost-melting strawberry bubble tea. I figured out that I might as well take advantage of this gift of single life. Taking out my phone, I took a picture of my drink and then I noticed I had an unread message.

From: Short man
Message: Are you at the bubble tea shop again?

I nearly dropped my phone and looked around again. He might be somewhere here again, secretly watching me, and now my heart is pounding. I put a hand over my heart and whispered, “calm down” over and over again. When I regained my calm, I replied to him.

To: Short man
Message: …And what if I am? O_o

Well, that’ll do it for now.

I was busy texting Ji Sung about this shop when I heard someone pull the chair across my table.

“You should’ve at least said yes or something.”

“Ji Yo—“ I said, but he placed a finger on my lips, shutting me up. I’ll give him an F for manners.

“Shhh, people might recognize me.” He said, sitting down, taking a small sip of his bubble tea. I crossed my arms over my chest and eyed him.

“I didn’t tell you to sit there, you know.”

“You have a date, then?” He asked, leaning forward, causing me to choke on my drink. After a moment of silence, I slowly shook my head.

“It’s okay,” he replied, smirking. “There are plenty of other fishes in the sea.”

 Leaned back and looked outside, then at him again. “So, why are you giving me dating advices again?”

“Why are you being so cold towards me?” He said all of a sudden, his voice dark and strong. “I have never seen you being mean and all to Seungri and the others?”

It’s for a complicated reason, okay? Here you are sitting across me at a bubble tea shop sharing a small table when you told me that you will be avoiding me, and now you’re asking me why I’m being cold towards you? And to think that at one point I started thinking that I like you?

“No apparent reason.” I replied flatly. His mouth hung open and I found it really amusing. Looks like I gain one point here.

“How am I going to woo you, Jiyonn Lau?” He suddenly asked, his gaze soft despite the fact that a baseball cap slightly covered his face. I looked away from him, my heart beating fast again. Calm down. Deep breaths, you can do this. You’re just hearing things and he didn’t mean that. He’s just playing with your emotions.

“I think I’m buying another drink.” I said, standing up and speed walking to the counter.

“Strawberry bubble tea, please. And some extra pearls, thank you.” I said to the cashier.

“Thank you, that’ll be—“

“I’d like to order a caramel bubble tea with that.” All of a sudden, Ji Yong was beside me. He hands the cashier some bills and glances at me. Once again, I looked away from him and realized I haven’t paid for my drink yet.

“Don’t worry, miss, your boyfriend paid for your drink.”

Boyfriend? He thinks we are a couple? Me and him? My palms became sweaty and my heart started beating fast again as I reminded myself that this was not a bubble tea date. No.

“Uh thanks,” I said, nervously facing Ji Yong. “Here’s the pay—“ Once again, he puts a finger over my lips.

“I’m paying for this. After all, it’s a bubble tea date.” We were interrupted when the waiter handed our drinks and gave us and gave us a sweet smile, telling us to enjoy our day. Ji Yong leads me back to our table and when I insisted that I pay him back for my drink, he repeats with the same reason: it’s a bubble tea date.

“No it’s not!” I pouted. He takes my drink away from me and starts laughing.

“Give that back, you idiot! I haven’t taken a sip from it yet!” I stood up and started reaching for my bubble tea. In return, I quickly grabbed his drink and sat down.

“I am not giving this to you unless you give me back my drink. My strawberry bubble tea.”

“Which is now going to be mine.” He shrugs and to my horror, he takes a sip from it and gives a satisfied grin. “I never knew this was yummy. Thanks, you can have my drink now!” He flashes out his signature smile and I swear it was the nicest smile I’ve seen of him. If it wasn’t for the fact that he took my drink.

I looked at him with a confused expression. “Aish, how is this guy a leader of a famous group in South Korea? “ I murmured as I stared at his bubble tea, which is now mine. I might as well claim it as mine, I sighed. While I was enjoying the drink, I felt him looking at me. I looked down to hide my pinkish face.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Aren’t you worried?” He asked. I looked up and asked him why.

“People might recognize you here. And since you aren’t wearing anything to hide your face, you might easily get spotted.”

I shrugged as I took a sip of my drink. “Not really, as if people will still remember me anyway. How long has it been, six or seven years? What about you?”

“I’ve been caught here a couple of times.” He smirked. “But really, do you look down on yourself that much? I know you still feel guilty and all; you don’t really need to hide it.” I could only look at him with a confused expression. Despite the times where I felt like punching Kwon Ji Yong in the face for being such a clever and prideful jerk, there are also times where I felt safe around him.

Just like now.

I don’t really know what came in my mind, but I felt like I had to tell him everything. I shrugged as I tried to get my mind straight. “Yeah, I guess I do feel bad. Even if it was a long time ago, I still feel like everything happened a few days ago. I kind of—no—I still feel guilty about it. Even if the unnies got to debut, maybe it could have been different if I was there. I know I disappointed them, including my parents, my sunbaes and everyone who was part of it.”

“It’s not easy to live by people’s criticisms and comments.” I looked up, remembering the good old days. “I went back to school after my condition got better and every day the students had to tell me how much of a burden I was to The Grace and how I shouldn’t have been accepted if I know I was going to chicken out. I was a waste of time, effort and money, they said. They say physical bullying is worse than verbal bullying, I think it’s just the same.” At this point, I was practically babbling without even thinking properly. I wiped my almost-puffy eyes with the back of my hand and straightened up again. All these years I’ve kept the pain in me. I didn’t want my parents to hear about this because I know they will feel twice as bad as I do and although Ji Sung knew about this, I left the “bad” comments to avoid her from being aggressive and violent.

“I’m sorry that you had to listen to this. It , I know.”

“No, it’s not.” I heard Ji Yong reply in a low tone. “Look, I know you may still be mad at me for everything but at this point, I want you to listen to me.”

I leaned my arms on the table and looked at him; I don’t really care if I look horrible but just for now, I want to trust him.

“I don’t really know how much you’ve been through,” he started. “But I admire you for having the courage to get back up again despite being… harshly criticized before. Personally, it’s really difficult to suffer from people’s comments, especially knowing the fact that you were young back then… I’m glad you were brave enough to stay strong.”

I was so focused on listening to him that I hadn’t noticed that the waiter was looking at us, and when I did notice, he mouthed a “sorry” and looked away.

“Just remember that regardless of what your past is, I think you’re a very talented person and I know you can do well. Whenever you feel really down and guilty, think of those people who care for you. Be grateful that they still support you.” He sighed and said, “That’s all I can say for now.”

I didn’t know what to say after that. This was the second time I had a serious talk with him and just like before, I was left speechless. Maybe I was too overwhelmed with that he just said, but I felt safe at that moment, like a voice in my head was telling me that everything’s going to be okay. It will be, right?

“You okay now?” He asked, a little smile painted on his face.  I only nodded and said that I had to go home.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the train station.” He said, standing up. Even when we were out of the shop, I still had no idea what to say; I haven’t even thanked him for pete’s sake. My mind was blank, my heart was beating fast and despite the chilly wind, my palms were sweating. The only thing I can do was to stare at his back while walking.

“We’re here.” Ji Yong said.

“Hm?”

He grinned. “Ya, we’re at the station already. Unless, you want to walk all the way until your home, we’ll continue walking.”

“N-No I’m okay—I mean I’ll t-take the train.” I replied, pointing to the station like an idiot.

“Okay if that’s what you say.” He shrugged, and flashed his smile; that smile that always caught me off-guard.

To distract myself, I quickly went to the ticket booth but I remembered I haven’t thanked him, so I turned back to him, who was still there, surprisingly.

“Anything wrong?” He asked.

“Um, thanks.” I smiled.

This time, he smiled back and waved. “Sure, no problem.”

I was at a daze when I rode the train going home. All of a sudden, my phone vibrated; one new message. I was selfishly wishing that it was Ji Yong who sent me the text, and I was relieved and nervous when I found out that the text was from him. It read:

From: Short man
Message: I hope you enjoyed our bubble tea date~ 

A/N: Slightly longer chapter is posted! I've been in the mood to update these past few days so thank you for continuing to read this fic! Again, please do comment on how you're liking the story; I need to hear from the reader's side as well. Thank you! :)