Namjoo felt her lips drop apart at the suddenness of what was happening and felt Tae Joon tighten his grip on her. She almost let out a bellow of pain before frowning up at him.

“I don’t know who you are, but I don’t think this is your business. Let go of her,” Tae Joon warned.

“I don’t care who you are either,” Sehun reasoned, “but a man who doesn’t back off when told off isn’t deserving of a woman.”

A snort fell from Tae Joon’s lips before he let go of her and grabbed Sehun by his shirt. “Who are you?”

Confusion swarmed inside Namjoo’s head about what this had turned into.

“You’re not leaving!?” Namjoo shouted trying to squeeze between them.

She struggled even when she put in all her strength to separate them. In the end she stumbled a step back when Sehun finally shoved Tae Joon away.

Namjoo sent another slap flying across his face, “I hate you and I’ll never come back to you, whether you take my word for it or not, because you did more than ruin my life. And I can’t believe it took me two years to realize that. We were over the day I took your ring off. If you dare contact me again and if that woman harasses me again, I won’t hesitate to report you.” Namjoo glared at Tae Joon before raising her voice, “Leave! You’re not leaving?!”

Deep breaths impounded her as she watched Tae Joon stare at her then glare at Sehun before turning away to finally disappear from her life. With a bite on her lower lip she shut her eyes momentarily then turned to look at Sehun after shaking the hand she had used to slap Tae Joon. To be honest, she really didn’t have anything to say to him, but she supposed she owed him one, again.

“Thanks,” Namjoo said before asking, “but what are you doing out here?”

“Oh…uh…” he slightly tilted his head up as if to think before his stomach grumbled and he turned to look at her embarrassed.

The urge to laugh in that kind of situation seemed natural and Namjoo felt a smile climb onto her face. Since she owed him one again she asked, “Didn’t eat yet?”

“No.”

“I have leftovers if you want.”

*****

Satisfaction and a light happiness at the fact that he wasn’t alone again, and that he wasn’t in his apartment fluttered through him. Steam floated off the plate Namjoo had set down in front of him and he felt his mouth water.

“I don’t know if it’s to your liking,” Namjoo said when he picked up the spoon.

Sehun chewed on the food and let the taste quench his hunger. “It’s a little salty.”

“Is it?” Namjoo’s face fell flat worried. “Then let me get you something else.”

His hand shot out to grasp onto the plate before Namjoo could get it. “But it’s really delicious.” Her stare made him somewhat embarrassed and he resorted to lowering his gaze. “I haven’t had a good meal in a while.” Then he looked back at her, “Thank you.”

Namjoo looked sympathetic before she eventually smiled. “Me too.”

They were quiet before he set his gaze on her again. “It…must have been hard on you.”

“Hmm?”

Sehun felt shy with the fact that he was expressing sympathy and worry toward someone he wasn’t close to. “I mean…Tae Joon.”

Namjoo pulled a smile and nodded. “It was hard.”

Despite the fact that the difficult times they had endured were different situations, he felt like he understood without her explanation. Suffering and being mentally tortured, he knew how it was to experience that. And he knew Namjoo had also gone through dark days like he. In a silly way, he felt a lot closer to her emotionally after understanding that.

“You too, right?” Namjoo asked.

It didn’t matter that Namjoo knew of Hyun Ae or Yoora, but he thought it felt like she knew something had gone wrong for him. Just the fact that she was able to understand the depth of his emotions was enough to give him some comfort.

Sehun glanced back up at her and slowly nodded. “I guess…we’re in the same boat.”

And she smiled at him again.

Suddenly, the past no longer mattered. That smile Namjoo had given him stayed imprinted in his mind even after he left her place. Sehun awoke with much energy the next morning and very eagerly left his apartment. To anybody it was just another bright and early morning, but for him it was something different. He had something different to look forward to.

A friend.

For long minutes he paced back and forth in front of Namjoo’s apartment and leaned against the wall beside the door thudding his hand against the wall every few seconds. At last when the door did open and Namjoo turned to close the door she nearly jumped in surprise when she spotted him.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“You surprised me!” Namjoo glanced around. “You didn’t go to work yet?”

“Then…should we go together?”

Namjoo took a sidelong glance at him before allowing the corner of her lip to curve up. “Sure.”

Sehun was finally feeling cheerful as they sat beside each other in the underground train that morning. On the way to the underground transit he bought them both some homemade steamed buns from a woman before they headed toward the platform. For the first time he’d become friends with someone he never knew of before and it gave him a really delightful feeling.

Slightly turning he stole a glance at her relaxed frame before he stared at her concentrated eyes that held nothing, but determination. A tiny smile danced off his lips as he turned away. If it wasn’t for her he probably wouldn’t know how it was to feel this way again.

“Food!”

Sehun awkwardly turned to see a little two year old boy dressed in blue overalls holding onto his knee for balance as the train’s wheels rumbled on.

“Food!” the little boy repeated again trying to keep his balance against him.

Sehun glanced at the half eaten bun in his hand and then at the little boy before holding it out. He wasn’t a person who was comfortable with children. The environment he had grown up in lacked little kids, so he didn’t blame himself for being socially awkward with them.

The two year old opened his tiny mouth and leaned forward to bite into the bun and chewed hungrily before leaning in for another bite. Sehun sat there feeling dumbfounded and feeling as if he were feeding some animal.

“What are you doing over here?” a woman scurried over before picking the boy up then turned to Sehun furiously apologizing before walking back to her seat.

As she walked away Sehun stared at the disoriented bun suddenly having no more appetite for it and turned when he heard a small laugh. Namjoo was giggling at him and realizing that made him embarrassingly bashful. Sehun turned away to refrain from eye contact and slowly turned back to take another glance at her as she twisted away from him.

They split up at work as she walked off to her department and he to his. Sehun halted immediately when he spotted a smirk on Jong Kyu’s face before making his way to his desk.

“Coming in together to work? Do I smell something suspicious?” Jong Kyu teased.

Sehun tried hard to ignore him by turning on his computer, but by doing that made him all the more conscious of Jong Kyu’s hard stare. This smile that said “Come on, spill it. I know what’s going on” remained painted on his face before Sehun couldn’t breathe anymore.

“Ah! What do you want from me?” Sehun bursted.

Jong Kyu’s side smile took over the corner of his lips before he leaned back into his chair.

“I have two free movie tickets, do you want them?”

Sehun turned to him quietly with a frown.

“Alright, I mean, if you don’t want them I’ll give them to someone else,” Jong Kyu spoke in a rather cold tone with rather obvious intentions sitting underneath his breath.

Sehun stared with his mind blank as Jong Kyu turned away.

Tickets.

Two free tickets.

Did he want them?

Or not?

These thoughts swarmed into his mind.

Before Jong Kyu fully shifted away Sehun asked, “For what movie?”

Romance comedy, Jong Kyu had replied with a sly smile. These tickets sat inside the pocket of his jacket the entire day. He hesitated to talk about them at lunch with Namjoo. And when he felt the courage arise her co-worker had come to steal her away. After work he became even more hesitant. Sehun came up with scenarios inside his mind. He could possibly slip it underneath her door and coincidentally meet up with her at the theater, but that would be too strange. And he wouldn’t know if Namjoo would go or not. Or, he could try sticking the ticket into an envelope and placing them into her mailbox. But then it would still leave the question of if she would go see the movie alone. How would she know to go with him?

He was nervous and shifted in his seat a lot. Namjoo had even turned to ask if something was wrong. Sehun was feeling awkwardly embarrassed. Other than schoolmate Hyun Ae, he had never dated anyone else. Dates with Hyun Ae just happened. So in total reality, he’d never had to ask any other girl out before.

How did a guy ask a girl out?

Then he cleared his throat and reminded himself that this wasn’t a date. They were going as friends to see a movie. A romance comedy, the back of his head reminded him before he felt the actual urge to face-palm himself.

They split up after reaching their apartment building and he paced back and forth inside his place continuously. Sehun couldn’t come up with a decision. He didn’t know what to do. What was he going to say if he handed her the ticket? It suddenly seemed like a more difficult task than it should be.  

*****

Namjoo started off the night by scrubbing her oven clean and moved onto the sink next. It took her a total of two hours to straighten everything out into new places in her kitchen. For some reason she felt that if she reorganized and moved everything she had in the kitchen to different places it would help her feel anew. And that’s what she did that evening.

Right before she was about to start on cooking a late dinner for herself the doorbell rang. Namjoo turned surprised. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

“Oh, hey,” she greeted Sehun and realized she didn’t sound really excited to see him.

He stood there quietly at first and she wondered if something was wrong. Throughout the entire day he’d seemed kind of off and worried about something. Without word she stood there and waited for him to go on.

“Uh…” he droned on a few seconds later, but still didn’t manage to say anything.

Figuring it would be awkward to have others seeing them just standing there she said, “Why don’t you come in first.” She closed the door after him and turned to say, “Do you want to sit down or something? I was just…”

Sehun cut her off nervously, “Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?”

Her eyebrow slightly twitched surprised and she stared appalled or more like she felt dumbstruck.

“Uh…I mean, Jong Kyu, you remember him right? Tall, ugly – I mean the guy with glasses at work that talks a lot,” Sehun rushed his words, “he had two free movie tickets and decided to give them to me, but I don’t know what to do with them…”

Namjoo listened to him ramble on breathlessly before she understood.

Movie tickets.

That’s why he seemed a little strange the whole day. Then she was finally able to comprehend the fact that he was just extremely nervous about telling her of them. She felt sort of sorry for him and kind of wanted to laugh, but held back so that she wouldn’t seem rude.

“Ok,” she answered with a smile.

Sehun quieted immediately. This rush of relief splashed itself over his face and Namjoo felt the corner of her lips try to reach her ears.

“Did you eat?” she asked.

This breathless smile fell over his lips before he clasped his hands together. Then very slowly he darted his eyes into the kitchen, “Why are you eating so late?”

“I was cleaning earlier,” Namjoo explained as she stepped back into the kitchen to turn on the stove.

“What are you making?” he asked walking toward her.

“Just this and that,” she replied before turning and halted when she felt her face run up the side of his arm.

They glanced at each other with eyes that became wide before taking a step back from each other. Silence engulfed the atmosphere before Namjoo turned to scratch the side of her head.

“Oh…sorry,” she mumbled and tried to ease the atmosphere, “What kind of movie is it?”

She put a pan on the stove listening as he answered, “A romance comedy.”

It got quiet again and kind of awkward. She hadn’t seen a movie in a long time. Tae Joon had forgotten to take her out, that which was his excuse, and Namjoo hadn’t gone to the movies since the breakup. How funny was it that she was going to see a romance comedy that could turn the atmosphere between two people who weren’t real friends or lovers tensely awkward. It was no wonder Sehun had been worried.

“Ah…I like those kinds of movies, my favorite genre,” Namjoo told in hopes of turning the atmosphere back to what it was before. “I hope this one’s funny.”

She cooked, they ate, and he offered to help with the dishes. It was quiet, they barely spoke to the other, but she thought it didn’t feel very awkward at all. Perhaps it was because what should have been most awkward for them to deal with had already passed.

As she lie in bed awake that night Namjoo found herself worrying about tomorrow’s movie. Why had Sehun decided to ask her? They were only mere acquaintances from work and from the same apartment building. She honestly didn’t think they were close enough to be seeing a movie together, especially a movie she worried about. A romance comedy, she thought, was the type of movie seen together by girlfriends or lovers.

They were nothing of the two.

There would be kissing scenes that might escalate into something greater than just that. How could she not feel embarrassed about that while sitting next to him?

“Agh…” Namjoo cut her breath off by burying her head into her blanket.

*****

To be honest, Sehun was suddenly now looking forward to seeing the movie together. He turned in bed to see the tickets he’d placed by his bedside.

For a while now he hadn’t allowed himself to be indulged in the outside world. Sehun wondered if anything had changed while he’d kept locked away. Now that there were finally things to do popping up on his list he suddenly wanted to revisit every place he’d ever been.

Tomorrow he’d see that movie with Namjoo and perhaps enjoy his time outside in the city. Whatever happened would happen, right? Yes, he’d just go with the flow.

He took an early shower that morning, played with his hair for hours in front of the mirror, searched through his closet for anything he thought was tolerable for the day’s activities, and ended up going through his whole closet for almost an hour. When he finally dressed he felt too lazy to put his clothes back in the closet so he left them lying on his bed while he stepped out to have some cereal.

*****

Was there a need to worry about her wardrobe? Should she bother with her hair? Did it matter how she looked? Was it necessary to have some makeup on? Namjoo pondered over those little thoughts over breakfast.

“Well it’s not a date,” Namjoo said aloud to herself. “It’s just seeing a movie.”

After brushing her teeth she paced back and forth before walking over to her closet and put on some casual wear. Namjoo ran her comb through her hair multiple times and tried to curl it with the hair straightener, but decided she was being too fancy. In the end she just left her hair straight down and put on her tennis shoes while she waited.

Her heart actually started racing when the doorbell rang and Namjoo became slightly nervous. This felt so weird, she thought when the bell rang again. Why were two people who didn’t know much about the other going to see some romantic comedy together? Why the heck had Sehun’s friend handed him those tickets?

Namjoo took a deep breath and reminded herself they were going merely as friends. After the movie she’d come straight back to relax. She wouldn’t allow things to become awkward between them because it shouldn’t in the first place.

“Alright, this is it. You can do it,” Namjoo talked to herself before she walked toward the door and opened it.

They peered at each other with each other’s hearts nervously anticipating each other. Sehun and Namjoo glanced at each other before friendlily smiling at the other.

“Hey,” Sehun greeted, “you ready to go?”

Namjoo nodded, “Yea.” 

***xDDDD oho what's going to happen next? 

***I feel enlightened. Ok, I'm going to write a little more then go to sleep! Hello everyone!