Everything in ORANGE is ENGLISH and the italic ones are in Korean.

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Cheryl is cleaning up the table and she picked up my thick wallet. She gasp in such a shock for the weight of that thing. I stole a glance at her and she glare at me, holding my wallet so tight.

“What?” I asked indifferently.

“What the hell are you keeping here, Erin?!”

“Cards, money, bills, some other things too.” I shrugged my shoulders.

She opened the wallet and found my bills stack inside. “Seriously? Can you keep it somewhere else so your wallet could breathe a little?”

“I can, but not now. Gotta finish this before 5 PM.”

“Why do you even keeping these stuff?! Gosh! These are rubbish, Rin.”

“Rubbish?!!” I exploded. “Rubbish for you, but they’re memories for me! I throw away stuff that doesn’t mean anything, but these ones are something and that’s why I’m keeping it. Just shut the up, Cher.”

She exhaled and put the wallet down. I write again. I really need to finish my report before 5 and it’s like 2 more hours. I gotta translate 20 more pages and write some explanations too. My laptop haven’t rested for 14 hours or so yet it’s still a long way to go. I need some rest!

“I can’t do this~~” I whined and lie on the sofa. Cheryl stopped her cleaning stuff and sat beside me. checking the book and my work. She chuckled.

“Need help? Anything?”

“Can  you stop the time for 3 hours so I can finish everything on time? This is too much…”

“Stop whining! You gotta call someone and ask for some more time. That’s it. When’s the deadline?”

“Two more days, but this is the biggest task. That’s why I wanna finish this one before the actual deadline. I still have two more paper works.”

Cheryl smiled. “Gimme one of the paper works, I’ll help you. You know my essay skill, right? And I know you well, so I think I can help you.” She tapped my shoulders and I hugged her.

“Thank you soooo much, Cher! I loooove you, Cheryl! You’re the best cousin in this whole world! OMG! Hooo my God, now I can breathe again…”

“Don’t be so serious about everything, Rin. Take it easy. Share it with someone. You have me here, don’t live alone anymore. Okay?” she hugged me tight and rock our bodies side to side.

“You really are the best about being annoying and taking care, you know. I love you, Cheryl!”

“Yeah whatever, I knew that.” now being a again. That’s Cheryl. She’s a but she would call me a lucky . Who’s the actually? Ugh!

We live together, here, in such a luxurious area in Korea. No, not Gangnam. It’s 2PM’s neighborhood. We spotted them a lot when they go out not fully awake and using caps or shade to cover their face but once I saw Nichkhun’s bare face, looking a lot fresher than the other five. He’s such an angel. He greeted us, his neighbors, whenever they saw us. They recognize us as their neighbors but Nichkhun is a very nice person.

I was jogging that morning, around 5 AM and it’s still pretty dark and passed their car. Nichkhun got out first from the building, followed by Junho and Wooyoung. He saw me and waved at me.

 

… f l a s h b a c k …

“Good morning, Erin-ssi!”

He greeted me! Cheryl must not know about this or she’ll definitely flipped because she love Nichkhun with all her heart. It seems like I really am a lucky . Cheryl was not a morning person and she went to gym for exercise. I prefer jogging because for God’s sake, we don’t know our fate, right? We’re 2PM’s neighbor! We have such a high chance of meeting them when we jog. They went for job very early in the morning, so can you imagine how many chances you might have? HUNDREDS!

Then I’m not lucky. I’m just sneaky. Well, maybe I’m lucky but at least I was being reasonable.

“Good morning, Oppa~” how could he saw me in such darkness? Is he a superman or something? Weird.

“Happy jogging~ Hey, be safe!” he yelled as I got further. I ran backward and saw him waving at me before getting into the car. He’s going to go the other way. Always.

I waved back at him. He smiled and got in. I smiled and keep running. Why did he notice me?

OH GOD!

I looked down and found my orange shoes, so contrast to the ground. I stopped at my track and laughed my off. Now I know why he’d notice me even in the darkness!

I was wearing a bright orange shoes, orange sweat pants with grey stripes on the sides, orange top and compliment my all-orange outfit with a headphone. It’s black but with orange stripes. Am I a fashion terrorist or something? I must’ve picked everything with my eyes closed or something.

I hit my forehead lightly and can’t stop laughing at my ridiculous look. Now Nichkhun would tell the members about me, having Taecyeon’s disease of matching clothes in the same color. If only it’s green, Nichkhun would have LMFAO-ing right away with Taecyeon.

Oh God, this is embarrassing! Geez!

Okay. When the sun rose, I’ll head back. That’s like 30 more minutes. I gotta run more!

… e n d   o f   f l a s h b a c k …

 

“Hey, orange girl~” someone ran next to Erin and she can feel the smile all over his face. She turned down the volume of the music and turned her head only to find Nichkhun’s angelic face smiling at her. Almost like moking, but not in such a rude way.

“Hey, Thai guy. Alone?” Erin let the headphone hang on her neck and slowed down a little.

“Yeah, since they can’t manage to open their eyes, so I ran alone. Thank God there’s you.”

They giggled. He called her orange girl? AWESOME!

Nichkhun was wearing black sweat pants, grey shirt, the shade hanging on his pants’ side pocket, red cap, and black-red jacket. Eventhough he loves red so much, his shoes were the blue and white running shoes. Erin was rocking her grey ¾ pants, her turquoise jacket hanging on her waist, black tank top, and her dearly plain black Fila BigBang limited edition.

“And why are you calling me ‘orange girl’? It’s so funny that you can’t forget it, huh?”

He laughed. “I’m sorry. I forgot it, but Taec can’t seem to forget it. Everytime he saw orange thing, he would laugh and keep wanting to meet you, fellow terrorist.”

She wasn’t mad at his jokes. It’s kinda rude for some girls, but for her it’s nothing. “Really? Is he that happy? Dae. Bak.”

“Uh? You speak Korean? I thought you’re… But you’re from Indonesia, right?”

“Don’t confuse yourself too much, Nichkhun-ssi.” she mock him back. Wait. WAIT! “How do you know that I’m an Indonesian?”

“Our manager told us. Don’t be too happy, Erin-ssi.” He copied her, adding angelic smile to it. Urgh! How could he be sooo outstandingly handsome like this?

“But you don’t know my age.”

He stopped smiling and looking somewhere else. “You called me ‘Oppa’ the last time we met. I knew you’re younger, but I thought maybe you’re 91 liner or 90. How old are you actually?”

“I’m 92. Your guess was really close!”

“Really? You’re really tall!”  he stopped and hold her arms to stop her. “See? Let me guess… 170… 173? No, you’re almost as tall as Wooyoung and Junho…” he talked to himself now. Cutesy!

“Best guess?”

“174 cm?” he make the curious face, full of anticipation.

Erin smiled. “176 to be exact. Nice try, Oppa.” She clapped her hands and run again. He quickly followed and running beside Erin again. “It would be really awesome if you can guess my zodiac or something.”

“You ‘felt’ like Taecyeon.” He made the quotation shape in the air. “But something’s different. Your blood type is different to Taec, maybe that’s why. You’re an O, right?”

Erin nodded. He frowned his thick eyebrows a bit and pout his lips.

“I’m not sure about the zodiac, but you were born on December. I’m sure of that.”

“Yeah~ I’m Sagittarius, I was born on early December.”

His smile is full of satisfaction. “Not bad, huh?”

“Yeah, not at all. Oppa, do you enjoy morning coffee? Muffin maybe?”

“Absolutely. I know a good place 3 blocks away from here. Ga ja (let’s go)~!” he lead the way, running lightly. She followed him, running beside him.

The sun is not fully rise yet, so not many people and vehicles on the street. Erin and Nichkhun enjoyed their surroundings as they run side by side but not really talk to each other. Nichkhun tapped her arm and move himself to run on the outer side. Being a gentle man as always.

“Thanks, Manner Khun.”

“Uhm~ You know, Erin, since we’re both not Korean, can we act like we’re not ones? Know what I mean? You’re Indonesian, I’m a Thai but we live in Korea—”

“Okay, I got it.” she cut him and he smiled. “So I don’t have to call you Oppa or something? I can just call you ‘Nichkhun’ and everything?”

“Is there any Indonesian way to address me as an Oppa?”

“There are a lot of different ways to address you as Oppa, but that would be weird for me. Can I just call you Khunnie?”

He kept quiet for a while, to think about her question. “Okay. I’d call you Rinnie~”

“Yeah, no problem, I like that hehe~”

And then the awkward turtle crawled in between them. They only jog and jog, stays quiet, unable to keep the awkwardness away.

“Oh! There’s the place. Ga ja~” Nichkhun pointed somewhere and they ran some more. He happily opened the door for her and the café staffs welcomed them warmly.

“Good morning~! Welcome to our Favo Café, Son-nimdeul (customers)~”

“Good morning!” Erin greet them back, bowing and smiling wide. Nichkhun smiles and bows then goes to the counter quietly.

“My treats, come on. Have a~~nything you want, Rinnie-ya~”

“Uh? Jinjja? (Really?) Uwaaa~ Thanks, Khun!” LOL that feels weird on her tongue, calling him ‘Khun’ felt unreal yet it’s sooo real that she can see every sweat drops on his perfect face.

They ordered 2 cups of Earl Grey tea and Erin having a standard English breakfast while Nichkhun ordered a croissant chicken sandwich. They sat on a corner, avoiding the windows.

“Khun, can I keep the receipt?” she finally gathered all her guts and pointed at the receipt on the tray. “I know it sounds weird, but some people think of photo as memory, for me receipts are memories too.”

“Do you have a pen?”

“Huh?” a pen? All of the sudden, a pen? How is it possible for one who intended to jog, bring a pen with them? Erin only have her cellphone, headphone, wallet, and towel with her. “I was going to jog, how can I bring a sharpy with me? Stop joking, Khun.”

“Don’t you want my sign on the receipts?”

“Naaawh~ It’s okay not to have the sign eventhough I’d love it.”

“Okay then. Here,” he gave Erin the receipt and she carefully fold it then slipped it in her cellphone back case. Khun giggled. “What?”

“Aniya (nothing). You’re just being so… I don’t know… Cute?”

They both laughed at how stupid it sounds. Cute?

“That’s like the first time, someone ever said that what I did was cute. Seriously. Hahahaha~~!”

“Why do you even keep it on the back side of your cellphone? You can actually keep it in your wallet, Rinnie-ya.”

“I might forget that I have something so important. Gotta put it somewhere I can easily see so I remember to save it somewhere else at home.”

“Okay, silly kid. Ja, jal meokges-seubnida~ (I’ll eat well~)” he take a big bite of his croissant sandwhich and looks so cute munching on his food. He hummed because the sandwich tastes exactly like his expectation.

Erin eating on her eggs and bacon silently. She would stole glances on Nichkhun. Nichkhun would sometimes type something on his cellphone and put his cellphone again, enjoying his food again, then he caught Erin’s eyes on his.

“Khun, oneul-eul schedule eobsseo? (Khun, don’t you have schedule today?)”

“Wae (why)?” he stares at her with big eyes, like a puppy.

“I’m just curious. You were aaalways leave first thing in the morning, even before the sun rises, and today you’re here with me, enjoying breakfast like never before.”

“I never really have this kind of opportunity to seat, eat, maybe watch TV, like normal people. I would always wake up first, waking the members up, shower, then next thing I knew is I’m in the car, going somewhere with my members still sleeping and looking not handsome at all.”

“Jinjja? Don’t you have an ahjumma that cooks and clean for you guys?”

“Yes, we have but she always cook something for a few days and we ended up have no time to really enjoy the food.”

Poor things 2PM are. Busy body whenever they go. Imagine how hard it is to do a diet with such a crazy schedule! Yet they always have bruises or any injuries, big or small, from their acrobatic dance moves. Erin once met the limping Junho on the lift. He almost tripped and Erin helped him right away. Thanks God or Junho would fall flat on his face and injured that dashing face.

“Oh, you poor things… So are you free for today?”

“Pretty much, yeah. You wanna come over to our place?”

“To help you wake them up?”

He laughed at her statement. “Do you eat something different than me? Why are you so funny? Oh God, Rinnie-ya~”

“What’s so funny about that? This is how I normally jokes. Is it weird? Too much of a 4D for a girl?”

“Not exactly, but I can tell that you’d match Taec and Minjun very well.”

“Is that an ‘okay’ then?”

“It’s really okay~ It has its own charm. Taec would really loves you!”

“Stop saying that I’d match him, Khun~”

“Sorry, but it seems like you guys are match made in heaven. Funky fashion, witty jokes, I can’t believe I met another kind of Ok Taecyeon right here and she came all the way from Indonesia.”

“So now you’re saying that you believe in destiny?”

“Well, kinda…” he wriggled his eyebrows and Erin can’t help but laugh.

The café slowly filled with people going to have coffee or breakfast. Nichkhun tried to cover their presence by moving to a corner, a blind spot even for the camera, but keeps their faces covered somehow. If anyone notive them, it would be the end not only for Nichkhun, but it would be worse for Erin. Girls would terrorize her and everything. It’s Nichkhun they’re talking about.

“Hey Khun, what happen after your accident? Anything bad happen with the company or the police?” Erin speak in low note for the sake of their scrim. “Or did you go back to Thailand?”

“I was reflecting everything. I realize that it’s not only my fault, but either way, I’m guilty for driving under alcohol influence, right? It’s not the company’s order to keep me from 2PM’s activities, it’s what I want. It’s my problem, they don’t need my troubles. They had bad times already for the news.

“The police didn’t make it worse, trust me. I tried my best to be more cooperative and they made everything easy for me. God never sleeps, Rinnie-ya.” He smiled as he finished his breakfast and wiped his lips.

“You’re a great man after all. I don’t care what people say, when they say bad things about the accident, I kept my mouth shut and walk away from them. I don’t wanna make it hard for 2PM yet I don’t know anything about what happenned, right? And who are they to blame you or to say bad things about 2PM? They can all go to hell. I’ll gladly take them there.”

Nichkhun leaned his body forward and signing Erin to move forward too. He cupped Erin’s face with his big hands. Erin’s eyes was big, it could fell from its sockets anytime soon.

“And you’re an awesome girl with that wise thoughts.” he smiled and ruffled Erin’s hair a bit with fatherly smile. Erin smiled and her tiny eyes turned to a line. “You got Junho’s beautiful eyes.”

“Eh?” she opened her eyes due to the shock. This is the first time someone ever said Erin got an eye smile like Junho. Her friends always said that her laughing eyes looks like Taecyeon’s eyes. Exactly the same, as if they’re siblings. They love to about that and calling her ‘Ok Erin’.

“Your eye smile looks like Junho’s. Cute.”

“But my friends always said that I have Taec’s eye smile, not Junho’s.”

Nichkhun break to a laughing mess. He tried so hard to suppress his laugh but failed and Erin can only look at him, puzzled. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh God…! Hahahaha~ Really? You must be his soulmate or something, Rinnie-ya. Ahahahaha~~!”

“Yeah, y fashion sense, same eye smile, same witty jokes, same Decemberian. Awesome facts, huh? Much to your amusement, no?”

“And you can do smart jokes like that, sarcasm made only for smart people. That sounds like the Smart Mister Ok.”

“Another match with Taec. Thank you, I’ll add that to my notes and tell my friends.” She pretended to sulk and fold her arms on her chest, leaning back to the chair.

 

 

to be continued...