11 ~ Back

Daehyun kept his eyes fixed on the newly-arrived figure who was being pulled towards his table by an overly excited Mihi. She slid into the seat opposite him whilst her brother sat down next to her. He noticed Daehyun and stared at him intently as if he was studying every inch of Daehyun, causing the younger man to shift nervously in his seat.

 Yongguk hadn't intended to look so intimidating, but that was just the way he looked when he was worried about his little sister. And no, he wasn't smiling. *At least he looks like a decent guy, unlike those sketchy people I had to scare away from Mihi a few times* he thought to himself.

"Yongguk-oppa, this is a friend of mine, Daehyun. And Daehyun, this is my older brother who I've been telling you about, Yongguk," Mihi introduced with a great big smile on her face. She looked like a happy little girl whose older brother had taken out for ice-cream.

Daehyun stood up from his seat to bow politely. After all, Yongguk was older than him and he needed to show respect. "Hello, it's nice to meet you."

Yongguk smiled and returned the bow. *He's polite.*

Meanwhile, Mihi was trying to hold back her laughter that was threatening to burst out. She peered at Daehyun, her eyes filled with amusement. *He must be scared of Yongguk-oppa. Why else would he be this polite?*

"Oh!" There was something Mihi was meaning to ask. "Did Appa come back with you too?"

To her delight, her brother nodded. "We told him to rest at the hotel first, since it was a long flight. And he wasn't the only one who came with me. H--"

A figure bursting into the café cut him off. "Yah, Yongguk-ah!"

Mihi blinked a few times, as if trying to reassure herself that what she was seeing was real.

The intruder continued squawking as he made his way over to them. "How could you leave me behind!" His eyes were fixated on Yongguk, with a fiery expression plastered across his face. "I don't even know the streets around here very well!"

"I didn't want to wait for you to find a car park before I came to find my dear little sister," Yongguk replied nonchalantly, slinging an arm around Mihi. It was only then did the angry young man notice that there were other people around him. His whole facial expression brightened when his eyes landed on Mihi.

"Mihi-ah, it's really you!" he beamed.

She stood up to greet him. "I missed you Himchan-ah!"

Kim Himchan was a friend Yongguk met in America when the producing company he worked for asked for a collaboration with Himchan's class of students. He was a multi-instrumental instructor at an arts college.

Himchan wrinkled his nose at how he was addressed. "Yah Bang Mihi, I'm older than you. Where's the 'oppa'?" Yongguk snorted.

"The only person she calls 'oppa' and will ever call 'oppa' is me, her one and only favourite oppa."

"Since you're the one and only, then technically you're in last place as well," Himchan retorted, which earned himself a dirty look. His eyes finally flickered over to where Daehyun was quietly observing the scene unfolding before him. Himchan narrowed his eyes at him.

"Who are you and what do you want with our sweet, little Mihi?"

Yongguk reached out to slap his head. "Stop being rude. He's Mihi friend, you idiot." He shook his head while glancing back and forth between Mihi and Daehyun. "It's hard to believe this guy is actually a college instructor, right? I apologise for his behaviour, Daehyun."

Leaving aside the bickering between Yongguk and Himchan and whatnot, the four finally found themselves sitting peacefully at the table. Jongup and Zelo excitedly came over with beverages for the two guests.

"An espresso for Yongguk-hyung," Zelo started, placing the drink in front of the said hyung.

"… and an Americano for Himchan-hyung," Jongup finished, doing the same. "How long are hyungs staying for?"

The two sighed.

"We only managed to get two weeks off this time," Yongguk replied. "Then I've got to get back so I can work on a new album for an upcoming artist."

"And I have to start assessing my students' performances," Himchan added. "By the way…"

He looked like he was hesitating to say the next few words. "I wonder why you chose to open your café here of all places, Mihi-ah…"

Yongguk nodded as he personally felt the same way, although he had no idea why Himchan didn't like the location. "It's so close to…"

He quickly caught himself before he accidentally blurted it out. Mihi was better off not knowing anything. "… so many other cafés," Yongguk opted to say instead.

"But we get good business around this area since it's in the business district," Mihi laughed, not knowing that that was the reason why her brother didn't like this location. It just made it so much more likely for her to run into those people. "Oh my, it's getting busy now."

Her brother took the initiative to leave so that he they wouldn't interrupt her any further. "We'll take our leave now and I'll pick you up when you close so we can have dinner together with Appa."

Mihi nodded and bid them goodbye, as did Jongup, Zelo, and Daehyun, who was left feeling like an outsider with their appearance today. But he envied the good relationship Mihi had with her brother, since Daehyun was the only child in his family.

"They seem to really care about you," Daehyun commented after Jongup and Zelo wandered off to busy themselves with chores. "Why didn't you move to America with your family?"

She stared at her hands as she reminisced her childhood. "It was always my dream to open a café. When we were younger, Appa would always take us to this one café I really liked every time we visited Seoul. It just gave me a really comforting feeling every time I went there. So I grew up being really attached to the café."

Then she paused as she remembered the day she ended up crying for the whole time they were in Seoul, and didn't stop even when they made it back home. Daehyun kept his eyes on her as he waited for her to continue her story.

"Then one day, we walked by the café and found that it was no longer there anymore. It closed down because the owner was having financial difficulties and couldn't run the business anymore. I was heartbroken and refused to believe it. Appa and Yongguk-oppa spent days trying to cheer me up. But then one day, I vowed to open a café in Seoul that would give others the same feeling I received from that cafe, and it just kind of stuck with me all the way until today."

Mihi clasped her hands together proudly. "So, what do you think Daehyun? Does my café give you a comforting feeling?"

He frowned at her. "Yah, don't put me on the spot."

"It's ok even if you say no. I'll just work harder to achieve that then."

Daehyun stared at her for a few seconds and she stared back unabashedly. Finally, he let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose it does," he replied while glancing around at the interior.

Mihi returned a satisfied smile.

"But I would say it's more the person running the place than the café itself," Daehyun mumbled very softly to himself.

Mihi blinked at him. Of course, she couldn't hear him clearly. "Sorry, what did you say?"

He blinked back, feigning ignorance. "What did I say?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "That's what I'm asking you."

"I said 'I suppose it does'. About your café."

Mihi shook her head. "No, you mumbled something afterwards."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"…"

"..."

"… you're imagining things."

~~~

The elevator let out a 'ding', signifying its arrival to the designated floor. Out stepped Youngjae staring at the address on his phone screen. A bag of groceries in his other hand rustled as it grazed against his leg.

"… 504, 505, 506…" he mumbled to himself as he passed by the corridor of doors. He finally stopped when he reached the number he was looking for. "Ah, 507, here it is!"

Youngjae took a deep breath to compose himself, before holding out a finger to press the door buzzer. He held his breath as he waited.

Silence.

He was about to press it again, but stopped when he heard some rustling from the other side of the door. He waited for a few seconds before the door finally clicked open, revealing a hunched up figure wrapped in a thick layer of comfy blankets.

Sujin gaped as she realised who it was, and on reflex slammed the door close. Youngjae stepped back in shock. It didn't take long for him to recover from his shock and knocked on the door this time.

"Sujin-ah? It's me, Youngjae. Are you feeling alright?"

From the other side of the door, Sujin started panicking. *Of course I know it's you!* she screamed in her head. *That's why I closed the door in the first place! Oh my god, I can't believe he just saw me looking like this!*

She quickly ran to the nearest mirror she could find. What stared back at her horrified her. She saw a slob with messy hair and a scary expression.

Youngjae kept knocking and calling her name, causing her to panic even more. In the end, she gave up and trudged back to the door to open it.

"Um… hi."

He smiled at her whilst staring at her with a worried expression. "Hey Sujin-ah, are you feeling alright? Mihi said you were sick and had no one to take care of you."

Sujin scowled to herself. *Of course it would be Mihi. Of course.* She was so engrossed into her own thoughts and how she would give her best friend an earful the next time she saw her that she didn't realise she was zoning out.

"Uh, Sujin-ah?"

"Yeah? Oh, right. Um, yeah. I'm feeling okay. Thanks for asking. Bye!"

She hastily tried to close the door again but was stopped by Youngjae gently pressing on it to keep it open.

"Wait!"

He sheepishly held up the bag of groceries. "I-I wanted to make you some home-made porridge… that is, if you don't mind."

Sujin was about to refuse, but her stomach decided to betray her right then and there and grumbled. She clutched it in embarrassment and felt herself turning red. She hadn't eaten since last night, since she was too busy laying in bed the whole day feeling sorry for herself. Others would say it was just a cold and was nothing worth fussing about, but even a cold could make you feel like a sack of potatoes.

Letting out a quiet groan, she opened the door wider for him to enter. Youngjae couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face as he happily entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Go and rest in your bed, Sujin-ah. I'll bring the porridge to you when I'm done."

Sujin sighed and groggily obeyed his words. As she slowly shuffled her way back to her room, she turned around and saw him busying himself in her kitchen. His forehead creased in sheer concentration as he took out all of the ingredients and utensils he would need to make the porridge.

Once again, worry filled her entire being. She didn't want to feel the same hurt again. But Youngjae didn't seem to remember anything and was always so persistent to stick around her. And she had to admit, she was secretly happy that he was always around and was being so nice to her.

She turned back around and continued on her way.

*I really hope I don't regret any of this.* 

---

And I really hope I don't regret writing this chapter over studying for my exams :P

Hooray! Now all of the B.A.P members have appeared in the story ^^

Welcome new subscribers!