Day:  FOUR

Park's Residence, Daegu City, South Korea 7:00 A.M.

It was a lovely morning; birds chirping, flowers blooming and all. The subtle rays of the sun crept up at Chanyeol’s window sill that it made him wake up crinkly eyed yet nonetheless with a smile. People might not tell the difference since this giant smiled so often, rather him waking up right at this moment seemed like he had a purpose- a reason. He didn’t know why and he didn’t know what exactly but the confusion did not falter his unmistakable excitement to start the day. 

You look especially handsome today, Park Chanyeol. He grinned at his reflection after he got out of the shower; singing. Even the brushing of his teeth had rhythm; his stubborn fringe cooperating more than usual. When he was about to dress up in his uniform though, it was missing.

“Eommaaaa, where’s my uniform?” his deep voice could have been heard by the neighbors.

His mother shouted back, “It’s in the laundry son, you have a class on a Saturday?” and just like that his animated face in the mirror grew fainter.

Niki's Flat, Gangnam District, South Korea 9:20 A.M.

Niki tried to block the rays of the sun coming through her window and groaned into her pillow when clearly it wouldn’t leave her alone. Then she realized-

Did I hit the snooze button again?? Her eyes were wide awake now and she scrambled to find her phone. She couldn’t possibly have; it should have been at least an hour since class started.

“9:30 am..a Saturday” she laid back down relieved except the sun kept coming back to greet her so she zombie-ly walked to the kitchen to find breakfast.

The fridge was half full, her cupboards stacked yet none of those seemed to be a good enough meal for her raging stomach. She made her way to the bathroom with half lidded eyes. When she got out, all freshened up, she remembered that she was going to see her uncle today.

Niki’s eyes squinted to further decipher the directions her mother had described through a phone call last night on a piece of paper. One thing about her though is that even though she gets lost all the time, she tends to find the places her heart is set out to.

“But first! Food…” she pat her tummy to calm it down.

Park's Mini Mart, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea 10:30 A.M.

Niki went straight to the noodles section to finally put an end the monster’s wrath inside of her. Then again why was this place so familiar to her eyes that wandered for an even more familiar face to see.  

It’s like I’ve been here before… She scratched her head and absentmindedly took hold of a kimbap from the freezer when-

“What the-“  her head spun around an equally shocked Chanyeol wearing an apron like uniform.

“Niki-yaah!!”

“Chanyeol-ah!”  Both had said at the same time with high voices, making Mr. Park look over from the counter.

“Look at that kid, he said he wasn’t hungry during breakfast and now he’s looking at that poor girl like he’s going to devour her any minute” Mr. Park said to his daughter who was tidying the shelves, also knowing about the commotion. Niki was eating her meal more happily than usual; like it seemed to be from a five-star restaurant. Moreover, there was the over ecstatic giant Chanyeol who was observing her with propped elbows, telling jokes once in a while.

“I wonder if you and mom were ever THAT obvious~” Yura chuckled in amusement.

“Yah yah, I was never like your smiling idiotic brother. I was tough! Did I raise that kid wrong?” Mr. Park sighed but smiled also, looking at his son who seemed to have forgotten about work altogether.

Chanyeol watched as Niki sipped her last bits of ramyun, thinking how could watching someone eat be so interesting. “Soo..what are you doing today Niki-aah?”

Niki had found out that this was one of their family’s convenience store; much like the one she had gone to last time but they had used a back door to enter the storage room. His family would make most of the workers take the day off during weekends so Chanyeol and his sister could learn more about the business.

 “Hmm.. I’m actually about to go to my uncle’s house. Could you-“ she took out her wallet for payment and also the paper with directions on it.

“Ani, aniyaa~ It’s on me” Chanyeol slightly pushed her wallet back, refusing to take any form of payment.

“But-“

“Really, it’s alright” he shook his head stubbornly.

“Can I just-“

“Noo Niki-aah. It’s okay. FREE! FREE!” he grinned proudly at his English.

Niki laughed and rolled her eyes, “Yeol can’t you let me speak? She tilted her head then he nodded zipping his mouth shut.

“I was about to ask if you know where this is?” She showed him the paper with vague arrows and scribbles. “I’m not quite sure if I drew this right..” she explained further, making his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.