“Umma, one order of dukbboki.” You called out into the kitchen.

“Ok, and honey you can take your break, I’ll have Yerim cover for you.” your mom yelled back from the kitchen. “Finally.” You sighed as you took off your apron and took a seat in one of the empty tables.

You worked at your family’s dukbboki house, which you dreaded. Every day after school you would go straight to work at the dukbboki house. You had no social life. But, it wasn’t all that bad. There was one thing, well one person in fact that made your day better.

There was one boy, who you admired, that had become a regular at the restaurant. He always came in during your break, so you never got to interact with him. You still didn’t know his name and Yerim wouldn’t tell you, just to tease you.

Although you never had a real interaction with him, you could spot him out by his distinct features, mainly his downward slants eyebrows and his hair parted down the middle. You wanted to get to know him and say hi, but you were too shy, especially since he came most of the times with his friends or family.

You sighed as you sat alone at the table, playing with your phone. You heard the bell to the front door ring and looked up to see him walk through the doors. “Right on time.” You said to yourself with a small smile.

You watched him as he made his order and took a seat by himself at an empty table, waiting for his order. You looked over to Yerim, who was pointing and cueing that he was here. You rolled your eyes at her and looked back at your phone, occasionally stealing glances at the unnamed boy. The bell to the front door rang again and you saw a family of three walk in. “I’m sorry, there aren’t any open spots right now. You’ll have to wait 20minutes.” Yerim said apologetically.

“Here, you can have my table.” The boy said, standing up and offering the table to the family.

“Are you sure?” the father asked. The boy nodded with a warm smile, “Yeah, plus I think I see my friend over there.” He said pointing over in your direction. You looked around, trying to find one of his friends that he came with most of the time.

You were still looking around when you were startled by a new yet familiar voice, “May I sit here?” You quickly turned around to see the boy standing in front of you, talking to you. Your heart skipped a beat as you slowly nodded your head ‘yes’. He smiled widely and sat in the seat across from you.

“Hi, I’m TaeHyun.” He greeted with a warm smile. “Hi, I’m (Y/N).” You said softly, a smile slowly spreading across your face and your cheeks blushing a bright pink. “I hope I’m not bothering you.” He said.

“No, no you’re fine.” You replied. He smiled at you and then there was an awkward silence. You bit your lips, trying to think of a conversation starter. “That was really sweet, what you did for the family.” You said genuinely. TaeHyun chuckle shyly, “Oh thank you. It wasn’t that big of deal though.” He replied.

“Here’s your dukbboki.” Yerim said while placing the food down on the table. Before she left, she gave you a playful wink, making you blush. “Mhmm, this looks so good. Do you want to share with me? I don’t think I can finish this all.” TaeHyun asked while handing you a pair of chopsticks. “Sure, thanks.” You accepted, even though you were sick and tired of having dukbboki.

You two ate quietly, occasionally having small talk about how good the food was. Finally you couldn’t take it anymore, you wanted to have a meaningful conversation with him, but you didn’t know where to start. “I know this may sound weird, but I’ve noticed that you come here a lot.” TaeHyun said, breaking the silence. You nodded with a smirk, “Yeah, my parent’s own the restaurant and I work here.” You said nonchalantly.

“Oh, really?” He said surprised, “That’s so cool. This is my favorite dukbboki house.” He said enthusiastically. You giggled, “Yeah, I’ve noticed. You come here a lot.” You said. TaeHyun blushed, driving you crazy. You blushed, still not believing that you were finally talking to the boy that you had been admiring from afar.

“Hey, I know this is rash, but would you maybe like to go on a date sometime?” He asked bashfully. You titled your head to the side, taken a back a little by his question. You just met him and already he was asking you on a date. “To be honest, I don’t like dukbboki all that much. I only kept coming back here, hoping to see you. And soon I realized that every time I came in that you were here. At first I thought that it was a lucky coincident or fate, but now I realized that you just worked here.” He chuckled at the end. His confession made you freeze and try to process everything that he had just said.

You didn’t realize that while in your deep thought, you got dukbboki sauce all over your chin. TaeHyun laughed, “Hey, you got some sauce on your chin.” He said while handing you a napkin. You snapped out of your deep thought and quickly took the napkin and wiped your chin. You faced was burning bright red as TaeHyun chuckled, “You’re so cute (Y/N).” you blushed even more.

TaeHyun stopped chuckling and looked at you, “Hey, you got some sauce right there.” He said while pointing to your face. “Where?” you asked.

“There.” TaeHyun said before putting sauce on your lips. “Hey.” You shouted, trying to find a clean napkin to clean your face with. TaeHyun laughed, “Here, let me help you.” He said.

TaeHyun stood up and leaned over the table to you and kissed the sauce off of your lips. You were caught off guard and stared at him with your mouth gaped. He smiled cheekily at you, “Sorry, I just really wanted to do that.” He said before sitting down. You blushed and smiled widely. “So how about that date?” TaeHyun asked while eating another piece of dukbboki.

You grinned at him and leaned over to kiss his lips. You pulled away, making him linger for more. You bit your lips and smiled, “Yes, I would love to go on a date with you.” TaeHyun smiled shyly and you two exchanged phone numbers.

It was almost closing time and TaeHyun had to leave. He gave you a friendly hug and a kiss on the cheek. Before he left, he turned to you, “You know, you’re not very inconspicuous when you take glances at me.” He said, making you blush and look down at your feet. He smirked and lifted your head up and kissed your forehead before leaving.