Narrator's POV

"I think I should stop seeing you," Mina greeted firsthand after entering the office. Donghae nearly fell down on his knees and beg her not to leave. But he fixed his collar and acted coldly instead. "Why do you think so?" he asked, his voice dead and emotionless. The woman shrugged. She didn't even bother to sit, as if her main purpose was to barge in and tell him she doesn't need his help any longer.

She stood stiffly with her hand reaching up to her nape. "I just don't think Jaejoong would still want to talk to me if he learns that there are loose bolts in my head," Mina explained.

"No one said there was something wrong with you, Mina." Donghae shook his head in disbelief. He tossed his clipboard away hastily. "Does Jaejoong know the right words to say when your flashbacks occur randomly? Does he know about your family? Does he check up on you in the morning to see if you had the same nightmare?" he exhaled all at once.

Mina stared at him, confused. "Why are you angry?" she asked fearfully.

The man scratched his head, wondering where all those words came from. Embarrassed of his sudden outburst, Donghae advanced to the fridge and stared at the pitcher of water inside. He knew that pouring water and drinking – even though he wasn't thirsty – would take him about just a minute. And he wanted to be busy. He ended up staring at his refrigerator intently.

The woman, meanwhile, fumbled for her phone. She wanted to call Jaejoong and hear his voice again, but she shoved her phone back inside her pocket, afraid to come out as clingy and annoying. "I'm sorry," she finally blurted out, but Donghae still didn't budge. She sighed, pulling out her wallet and taking out bills before leaving it on the center table. And then she left without another word.

Plopping down on the floor, Donghae took the pitcher and drank from it directly. He almost drowned –  in both the water and in misery –  but then he remembered that it would be Saturday the next day. And so Donghae stood up, nearly sprinting to the center table. It was there that he saw the money that Mina had left.

"Aish, Young Mina," he muttered under his breath while stepping out of his lab coat. "When will you realize that I don't care about your money?" he grumbled. He pocketed the money, anyway, and decided to give it to her tomorrow noon at the bus stop. The thought made his heart flutter in anticipation. Maybe he wouldn't even get to sleep later due to much excitement.

On the other hand, Mina's phone vibrated in her pocket. It was not the latest model but a recent one. It was special to her, not because she had bought it after receiving her first pay check, but because Min-guk had given it to her as a graduation gift right after she finished college. It was also the one she had used to call for 911 when...

"Hello?" she answered, her lips trembling against the receiver.

"Mina." It was Jaejoong. "Are you home now?"

She smiled, his voice making her insides warm and fuzzy. "Not yet," she answered, scratching her head. "I just...I just came from a friend's house. But I'm on my way home. How about you?"

"I'm home. Just checking to see if you arrived safely." His voice sounded comforting and caring. Mina fed off of that concern. No one spoke for almost a minute, until the woman remembered something.

"So..." She gulped down hard. "Tomorrow noon at the bus stop?" Mina asked, just making sure that she wouldn't be waiting in vain for her prince charming to arrive.

He, meanwhile, had his eyebrows knit in confusion. Jaejoong had no idea what she was talking about, but he took it as an invitation. "Of course."

At his response, Mina's smile reached up to her ears. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow." And she hung up before he could say another word. To her, it was final. She and Jaejoong would meet and hang-out tomorrow. She could hardly wait.

Donghae's POV

From behind a shrub, I went back to my sleuthing. That's right. I am Lee Donghae. Full time psychologist, part time stalker. When the clock struck exactly twelve noon, I skipped merrily towards the bus stop. Mina didn't notice me at first because she was still staring at her phone. I made my entrance as attractive as possible to catch her attention.

"Donghae?" she called out. There. It finally worked. Playing a little hard to get, I pretended not to hear her at first and just kept on popping strawberries in my mouth while staring out into the street, acting as if I was waiting for a bus. "Donghae? Is that you?" Mina called out once more, a little louder this time.

I looked around, faking a search for the source of the voice. Finally, I laid my eyes on her. "Oh, Mina!" I exclaimed. She immediately flashed a smile. I advanced to her side and sat. "What are you doing here?" I asked, placing the paper bag full of strawberries on the space in between us. "Do you want some? I'm not sure if you like strawberries or..." I lied, knowing she likes them after seeing her grocery receipt.

Her face brightened up. "I love strawberries!" And her hand disappeared inside the bag before reappearing, now with a strawberry in between her fingers. "I was waiting for Jaejoong because we were supposed to meet here...at least, that was what he wrote on the card I received yesterday." She let out a sigh as she chewed. "But he just texted me, saying he couldn't come."

There was a hint of sadness in her voice. But there was no need for her to be lonely. Jaejoong wasn't the one who invited her to come here at exactly noon. "How about you? What are you doing here?" she asked, munching on another strawberry.

I brought my feet up the bench and hugged my knees close to my chest. "I just bought these and then I was about to ride a bus home."

"Why, what happened to your car?"

Darn it. Why does she have to remember I have a car... "I only use my car in going to and from the hospital," I said coolly, as if I wasn't caught off guard with her sudden question. She nodded, convinced. I nodded, too, and followed her far out gaze. "I'm sorry for yesterday," I started, thinking perhaps it was one of the reasons why the atmosphere was awkward.

She snorted and faced me. Picking a strawberry up, Mina tossed it towards my face. "Babo Donghae," she commented. I caught the strawberry with my mouth, which earned me her laugh. "I should be the one to say sorry." My heart wavered with her words. 

"I'm not forgiving you. You're not sincere." I took the paper bag and faced the opposite direction, turning my back on Mina. She seemed surprised. And just when I was about to turn around again, "I mean it. I'm sorry, Donghae," she spoke, sounding persuasive.

I bit my lip and fought back a laugh. I might keep this act for about an hour. "You don't mean it. It sounds forced. I can't accept your apology. I'm still mad." I glanced at her briefly, just to show her my slightly creased forehead in pretend anger.

As soon as I glanced the other way, she whined. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday." I was about to laugh...

...until let-us-call-Donghae-oppa-to-kill-his-poor-heart happened. "Oppa, jinjja mianhae," she said. Despite her having said it seriously and not cutely as it should be, I tensed, clearly not expecting this. I dazed out for a minute or so, and maybe she had taken advantage of me at that time because by the time I woke up from my trance, the paper bag was nowhere to be found.

"You already bought your precious, delicious, nutritious, juicy strawberries," Mina muttered all of a sudden. was full of the red fruit. "And you're already at the bus stop. When are you planning to ride a bus and go home?" I shifted on my seat and resumed my previous position, closer to Mina this time, though.

I snatched a strawberry from inside the bag she was now holding and put it in my mouth. "Your date was already cancelled. When are you planning to go home?" It was my turn to interrogate. She shrugged and kept on eating. "Ooookay," I said, taking the entire bag from her grip. "Since you don't know why you're still here, I'm just going to leave now." I stood up.

"Wait!" Mina nearly shouted, but it did make me stop in my tracks. Ah, my plan to play hard to get is working. I spun on the soles of my feet slowly. "I meant..." Mina chewed on her lower lip while her hand ran through her hair smoothly. "Are you just going to leave me like this?" she asked, softly this time.

"Why, what do you want to do?" I pressed, eating some more strawberries. Should I now tell her to go out with me instead? I headed back to my seat. This time, I made sure to sit my closest to her with our shoulders touching. Mina scratched her head, clueless. "You really have no idea as to what you want to do today?" I asked, making sure.

When she shook her head no, "Since your date left you, I'm going to be your date for today," I said with a smile while pulling her hand. We walked a good few steps without her protesting, and I took it as a good sign.

"Wait," Mina finally snapped. I came to a halt, my hand instinctively dropping hers. Pursing my lips in nervousness, I slowly turned to look at her. But she wasn't trailing behind me anymore. She was back at the bench, picking up the bag of strawberries. Mina walked towards me almost angrily. "If you don't want your strawberries anymore, just give them to me. Don't leave them there."

Despite her statement, I just stood there in the middle of the pavement, blatantly staring at her face. I was still bracing myself for her upcoming rejection to my offer. "So, where are we going?" Mina asked. A cold gust of wind blew, sending her hair flying behind her. "Ya!" Mina nearly shouted. I dumbfoundedly blinked back at her. "Where are we going?" she repeated.

"G-going?" I suddenly had no idea as to what she was talking about. "Ah, going! Yes, we're going somewhere," I finally stated. "We're going to the mall."

Mina laughed, her voice a lovely tone. But she looked up to meet my gaze and her eyes didn't gleam in amusement. She was teasing me. "Yeah, we're going to the mall," she mocked. Her hand reached up. Before I could step back and wonder what she was doing, she had propped my mouth open and placed a strawberry in between my lips.

—

"I hate you," she whispered softly as we waited for our food by the counter. Apparently, by lunch, she had meant eating at McDonalds.

I threw her a shocked look. What did I do? "Why?" I asked, feeling my heart beat a hundred times slower than normal. While waiting for her response, I looked down at my feet, ready to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

But Mina stared at me, her forehead creased and her lower lip jutting out. "Because of your strawberries, I already feel so full that I can't eat a lot for lunch," she explained, her hand clutching her stomach. I laughed loudly, whether it was because she wasn't mad at me or because of her cute act, I didn't know for sure. Maybe due to both reasons.

Finally, the food came. And no matter how many times I offered to carry her tray for her, she just stubbornly shook her head no. I led the way towards a vacant booth with two seats. I motioned for her to sit down first, and she intently watched as I followed suit. As soon as I set the tray down, she stood up. "I..." she started while I sipped from my Coke. "I could g-go to...to another table, you know."

The soda got caught in the middle of my throat. "Don't you want to sit and eat with me?" I asked.

She scratched her head. "Are you sure?" Mina pressed, her hands gripping the tray tightly. Without thinking, I reached out to her hands, prying her fingers loose. My hands must have been cold because her hands shook. Slowly, she sank back down on her seat. I smiled at her widely. "Let me guess," I said, stirring my drink with the straw. "You always ate alone back when you were younger."

Mina opened to say something, but then her lips closed again. In the end, she just nodded. "Back then, it was easy. Min-guk ate lunch with me in school together with his friends, not that I knew any of them. When he went off to high school, I was left behind. I sat the farthest from everyone else." She shrugged. "No one even wanted to be seen with me."

"Sometimes, when it got so bad that they throw their food at me, I ate outside. Many times, I don't even eat at all," she added, poking her food absentmindedly. When she saw me looking at her, she smiled. "High school was..." She paused and shook her head, as if trying to forget the memories rushing back.

I fought the urge to touch her face. "How bad was it?"

The woman leaned back on her seat and slouched. "It was the worst," she answered, almost a whisper. "During my first day of school, I was the class laughing stock because I wore Min-guk's sneakers. That night, I spent hours just thinking why that could be so funny. I had no friends. I get stared at whenever I entered the school cafeteria and it was just..." she trailed off, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

She sat upright, resting her elbow on the table and propping her chin on her palm. Staring dead straight into my eyes, "I ate lunch in the bathroom for three years," she finally stated. "Min-guk must have known my suffering, because on my senior year in high school, guess what?" She leaned closer to my face, as if she was tempting me.

"What?"

"He paid another student to eat and sit with me," she revealed. "Instead of the whole thing being a help to my social status, it just...I don't know. It just somehow justifies me feeling sorry for myself. I hated it. I didn't talk to Min-guk for a week." After she spoke, a drop of tear fell from her left eye. It was said that when a person cries and the first drop of tear comes from the left eye, it was due to pain.

I brushed the tear away with my thumb and caressed her cheek. "Don't cry." Then I leaned in and kissed her forehead...which I just realized too late. What. Did. I. Just. Do. I mentally slapped myself. But Mina didn't react. She didn't even budge. If she could pretend as if nothing happened, then I could, too. "Let's watch a movie later, okay?"