It had been months since he encountered Jieun. He had moved on, working hard in the restaurant business and keeping himself busy. He had made a lot of new friends, and visited the old ones. In fact, Jieun hadn't passed through his mind often, he was so busy. "Yoseob! Want to go out tonight?" Kikwang, one of his co-workers, wondered, slinging his arm around Yoseob as they exited Rendezvous. "Ah, I was planning to call my parents." "Come on man! You never hang out with us, you can call your parents before we go noraebang!" Kikwang implied, nudging him. Yoseob pouted, and then looked at Kikwang. "Okay. Sounds good. Let's go!"

A few of their co-workers sat in the karaoke room, drinking soda and eating all kinds of unhealthy, junk food. "MY TURN! You guys get to be the first to hear my amazing voice!" Sohyun exclaimed, jumping up. Everyone laughed, as she selected a song. She turned around, and bowed formally. "Hello, my name is Kwon Sohyun and today I will be singing Red Shoes by IU. Please enjoy." Kikwang and Yoseob exchanged a funny glance, and then watched as Sohyun started to imitate IU's voice. "Wah, IU is so pretty, I'm not even watching Sohyun. I'm just watching the screen!" Kikwang implied loudly. Everyone laughed and Sohyun glared at Kikwang as she continued to sing loudly. Yoseob fixed his eyes onto the screen. She looks familiar... He squinted and stared a moment longer. Long hair, pale skin, bright eyes. Jieun?

Yoseob sat at the computer, and looked up her name. "Stage name, IU. Real name, Lee Jieun. Oh my...it is her." His mouth made a little 'O' shape as he stared in disbelief. He sat in front of his television and watched all of her music videos, as well as many of her interviews and live performances. "Why didn't she tell me?" he whispered. He shook his head. "It's over now. That's in the past...she didn't want to tell me, it's okay." he reassured himself, as he closed his laptop. He stood up, and walked away, but came back a few seconds later, and the laptop again. He couldn't stop watching videos of her. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he missed her. An hour later, he forced himself into bed.

 

"Yoseob doesn't work here anymore?" Jieun wondered. Her face fell. "No..he quit a few months back. I think he's running his own restaurant a few blocks down now, I've heard a little bit about him from some employees here." the manager replied. "Ah...I see...may I speak with one of your employees?" Jieun asked. The manager looked at her, and then nodded. "Follow me." Jieun followed him, into the kitchen, and readjusted her sunglasses. "Do you know where Yoseob is?" the manager asked. Most of the workers didn't look up from what they were doing, and a few did, all giving replied in a jumbled mess. "He has his own restaurant now!" a guy exclaimed, not looking up from his work. "What specific restaurant?" the manager questioned. "It's very famous around here...I think it's Underground...Underground Elegance? Yeah...something like that!" a girl replied. The manager looked towards Jieun, and she smiled and bowed. "Thank you everyone!" she exclaimed, before bowing again and leaving Rendezvous.

 

She stood at the edge of the stairs that descended to the entrance of the restaurant. It was 11 PM, the restuarant must've been closing soon. She took a deep breath, and took a step down. It had been almost a year and a half since they met. And they hadn't talked to eachother once. In fact, Jieun was reminded of the times they shared when she came across the contact "Yoseob Oppa #1" unexpectedly on her phone a few weeks back. She really wanted to call him then, but decided against it. She was on vacation now, and she had a week to rest. She stepped down, watching her feet. She opened the glass door, and entered the dimly lit restaurant. An usher stood at the entrance. "Welcome to Underground Elegance. Are you eating alone tonight?" Jieun nodded. She followed the usher to a table, and took a seat at a table which was in the corner. "Here is your menu. Would you like anything to drink?" a waitress asked. "Water will be fine." "Okay, I'll be back to take your order." The waitress left. Jieun looked around, examining the restaurant. It had a really relaxed atmosphere, with a soft ballad song playing in the background. The music and atmosphere contrasted with her disheveled thoughts. She drummed her fingers on the table quietly, and sighed. "Will he remember me?" she murmured, quietly. She opened the menu, and scanned it. Her mind was far from the words on the menu though, all of her thoughts were scattered and she was fearful, excited, and nervous all at the same time. Yoseob hadn't left her mind for a day after she left. When she was exhausted and felt like giving up and running away, she thought of Yoseob's smile with those adorable dimples. She wanted to meet him again, and now the time had come. The waitress returned, and Jieun quickly thought of something. "Are you ready to order?" she asked. Jieun looked at her, and smiled politely. "May I speak with the head...hm..the boss of this restaurant?" Jieun wondered. "Do you mean Yoseob?" "Yang Yoseob, is that him?" she asked. The waitress nodded, and set the water down on the table Jieun was sitting at. "I will speak to him and we can arrange something." the waitress replied, smiling. Jieun grinned. "Ah, thank you. Thank you so much!"

"Yoseob, a lady requested to meet with you." "What is her name?" Yoseob asked, as he looked up from the desert he was making. The waitress gasped. "Ah, I forgot to ask! Do you want me to go out and ask?" "No, that's not necessary. I'll just meet with her out there, since it's so last minute I assume it's not a big deal." Yoseob implied, as he stood up. He followed the waitress out of the kitchen, and she led him to a table. He could only see the back of her head, she looked like any other girl. "He's here." the waitress said, and bowed before she left. The girl stood up and turned his way. He stopped, frozen in his steps. Her face looked the same, and she had a short bob cut, she seemed to lose a bit of weight too. It was her. "Ji...eun?" Yoseob whispered, his eyes widening. "That's no way to greet me..Yoseob oppa." she said, trying to sound calm. Truthfully, she was working hard to hide the shakiness of her voice as she looked at him. He lost weight, despite rising in the culinary arts business, and he looked more mature with sharper features. He looked good, better than she remembered. Jieun snapped out of her daze, realizing she was staring. "Um, is right now a good time to talk? Or-" "The restaurant closes in thirty minutes. You can stay and wait...if that's okay with you." Yoseob said, quickly. Jieun nodded, eagerly. "Of course. I'll just eat in that time. Of course, you're cooking. Right?" Jieun asked, raising and eyebrow. Yoseob nodded slowly, as he smiled slightly. 

 

"The restaurant will be closing now. Yoseob instructed for me to tell you to bring your dishes into the kitchen. I am leaving now, have a good night." the waitress said, as she bowed to Jieun. Jieun smiled at her. "Good night. Thank you again." The waitress left, after quickly making another round of the restaurant. "Wow, Yoseob would order me to clean up after myself." Jieun murmured. She was smiling though, as she picked up after herself. She slowly walked to the kitchen, careful not to drop anything. Yoseob was standing in the kitchen, putting away pots and pans. Jieun walked to the sink, and set her dishes down. She rinsed her dishes quickly, and then set them in the dishwasher. "Now let's meet properly. Can I hug you?" Yoseob wondered, as she walked to him. "If you insist." she replied, cooly, though the grin on her face was a dead giveaway of what she wanted. Yoseob smiled in satisfaction as he wrapped his arms around her gently, and then squeezed her into a tight hug. She forgot about everything in that moment, and all she could focus on was Yoseob, the way he made her feel secure. Like she belonged in his arms. Like maybe they could be something, something more than friends.

 

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A/N: OMG SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE T.T Anyways, I was debating whether to end it there or write a follow-up chapter. Filled with some fluff...lol. Let me know what you guys want xD