Time passed very quickly and soon it was Christmas season. December was here and snow was too. The first snow arrived at the end of november, hinting that it was winter. But even if it is the winter season, the cafe was still open for those who wish to look for warm shelter with warm coffee. 

"EUNJI YAAAAA~ I'M HERE!" Yoojung ran into the cafe and saw Eunji with another boy. She stopped midway as Eunji turned to look at her. 
"Who is this pretty boy here?" Junmyun blushed upon hearing himself being called a pretty boy. Eunji gave a death glare before running forward to hug Yoojung.

It was nearing Christmas season and Eunji's friends from Busan came to visit her while working. They were going to stay till Christmas for winter break, so a visit to Eunji was mandatory for this bunch of high school best friends. 

"Junmyun, meet Yoojung. Yoojung, meet Junmyun. Junmyun's my student. Yoojung's my best friend forever." Eunji smiled as she hugged Yoojung again. 

"What are you doing Eunji ya~? The boys are coming in soon." Yoojung dragged Eunji away from Junmyun who was learning how to speak the vowels with proper pronounciation. 
"Ah, ah, ah, oh, oh, oh, ee, ee, ee, eh, eh, eh, woo, woo, woo, woo." Junmyun repeats the vowels, getting louder with each vowel. He was progressing slowly, going back to the basics, but he was grabbing the foundation well. 

"My girlfriend~ Don't you want to say hi to your Busan boyfriend?" Inguk walks in with a little sass, opening his arms, waiting for a hug. Eunji walks over and slaps his shoulder, but kisses his cheek. Inguk then kisses her cheek and hugs her. 

"Don't you do anything stupid here. It's Seoul not Busan. I have a reputation here okay?" 
"What reputation?"
"Don't make me scream at you. I'm working. Don't be an ." Inguk and Eunji teased each other. 

At the corner, Junmyun sits quietly, waiting for Eunji to come back. The sight of Eunji and Inguk stirred up some form of anger and jealousy within him. He felt uncomfortable as he sat there, waiting aimlessly. So she's taken, don't bother trying Junmyun ah...

Jiwon and Sungjae come in together, arguing about whose life was far worse. Jiwon failed to get accepted into a proper university, while Sungjae forgot to even send the application form so his parents are waiting at home with knives. He was bound to get killed sooner or later, but he delayed it by coming to Seoul. 

This is nice, it's like the high school canteen 2 years ago, noisy because of us. Finally we get to meet together. Eunji smiled to herself as she walked back to Junmyun's table. As much as she tried to concentrate on teaching Junmyun, Jiwon and Sungjae were talking so loudly that Eunji's anger rose. 

"YA! I don't care if you want a private tutor to get into a proper university, I don't care if your tamagotchi died, I don't care if you have a new girlfriend. I'm trying to teach my student. Shut up for your own sake." Eunji yelled. She realised that she was still in the cafe, and looked around. Thankfully, the customers are used to her resounding voice and there weren't many customers at that time. 

Eunji sighed and continued with Junmyun, telling him to practice it with the consonants, starting with "cah, cah, cah, coh, coh, coh, cee, cee, cee, ceh, ceh, ceh, cu, cu, cu..." 

//

The bell on the cafe door rings and a suave man walks in. Anyone would have mistaken him to be an idol. Eunji looked up after saying the usual "Welcome to Cube Cafe!" and then squealed. It was her other best friend, Joonhee. 

"JOONHEE!" Eunji ran over to give him a hug but was stopped by Inguk. Inguk hugged Joonhee first, before letting Eunji hug him. 
"I had to park the car. People in Seoul really don't give me space. I had so much trouble. This guy kept asking me for valet, but I like parking my own car. Why are people in Seoul so weird?" Junmyun face palmed at his words. Despite his pretty face, he didn't sound like someone with a pretty face. 

//

Joonhee decided to sit next to Inguk. Joonhee places his hand on Inguk's thigh, which made Inguk slap Joonhee. Joonhee purposefully rubs Inguk's thighs with his hands, and stares at Inguk teasingly. Junmyun was shocked of course. Both of them were guys, one of them was even Eunji's boyfriend. What is this relationship? As smart as he was, he could not fathom the relationship. 

Eunji nudges Junmyun to initate a conversation with Inguk. Junmyun bows and greets Inguk, "My name is Junmyun. I'm Eunji-ssi's student." 
"My name's Inguk, I'm from Busan and I'm Eunji's boyfriend." Inguk laughs as Eunji slaps him. 
"There's no need to keep the secret from Junmyun. He can keep a secret, I'm sure." 
"What secret?" 
"Inguk and I are gay. It's on the pretext that Eunji and Inguk are in a relationship that I can hide my relationship with Guk." Joonhee explains. Junmyun simply nods, but his mind was full of thoughts. So there is a gay couple, Eunji's not really dating. I have a chance. Wait, what chance? Eunji will always treat me as a student, that's all.

"Your friend's taking this really well." Joonhee smiles, holding Inguk's hands under the table. 
"I'm surprised you guys could hide it with the conservative views that most Koreans hold. It's amazing." Junmyun shyly spoke. 
"Well, love overcomes any barrier right?" Inguk blushed. For a man with such a huge build, Junmyun thought that was utterly gross but Joonhee probably would have thought that was cute. 

//

"So what are we going to do for the party? Have you settled with the cafe?" Yoojung asks. 
The conversation went overtime with Junmyun joining in to learn how to converse properly. He was doing okay, slightly softer but the confidence was building within him. Eunji saw improvement and made a note to award Junmyun the next lesson. 

"It's late. I have to head home for dinner. Peak hour is coming. It was nice meeting all of you. I shall make a move." Junmyun bowed and left. Eunji nods and waves. 

//

"Eunji ya, is he your boyfriend? Why is he so shy? What's up with Seoul boys? Your're lucky to get a Seoul guy though. You're so fast. I never thought I would lose to you. Busan girl and Seoul boy, you're good!" Yoojung was speaking like a machine gun firing rounds. 

"Is he going to be good boyfriend? Make sure he isn't like Guk." Joonhee teased, killing two birds with one stone. Inguk turns and ruffles Joonhee's hair. 

"No, he's not my boyfriend. I'm just coaching him on how to converse properly and use his voice correctly so that he can speak properly. I'm getting money from him to learn how to become a proper vocal coach, a licensed one. It's one of my jobs. After one entire month of lessons every day, he just learnt how to hold a normal conversation." Eunji sighed at the slow progress. She then told herself that slow progress was better than no progress. 

"But isn't it natural for a guy to like a girl if he hangs out with her so long, there's bound to be feelings at some point." Sungjae spoke logically for once. 

"Please, we've been friends since we were babies. I don't even feelings for her even if I had to pretend I was her boyfriend." Inguk snorted. 

"That's because you don't know my hidden charisma." Eunji flipped her hair.
"That's because you had me." Joonhee smiled. 

"Okay, if he doesn't have feelings for you, what about you? Do you have feelings for him? I mean it's 4 weeks, you should know him pretty well now..." Sungjae tested Eunji. Eunji's lips pursed into a line, she was unsure. Did she like him? 

"Well, he's kind of nice, but I have a boyfriend don't I?" Eunji laughs, hooking her hands with Inguk.

"Hey! Who are you calling your boyfriend?!" Inguk lets go of his hands from hers. 

"You, darling!" Eunji laughs even harder. This relationship was fun, even though it wasn't a real one. 

"Back off woman, he's mine!" Joonhee joined in the teasing. 

"Woah, I didn't know I was well-liked~" Inguk chuckled.

Joonhee and Eunji stared at him. "You're not, you ugly piece of filth." Both shouted at him at the same time, cracking up the entire clique. 

The conversation continued into the late night, where the entire street was lit up by only the cafe. 

//

At the age of 20, with the snow falling down outside the cafe, I experienced the feelings I never had. Love. Whether it was puppy love, just a crush, or true love. I knew that I was close to falling in love with a boy that seem to tug at my heartstrings. He goes by the name of... 

[Author's note: sorry for the fluffy homoual bit there (hehe) I didn't had my way when the writer of Reply 1997 decided that Joonhee is not getting his love because of Eunji's character, so here's my way of the story where Joonhee and Inguk finally get together (yay!) In anycase, Welcome to the other side of Eunji's story where her hometown friends come to visit her! I felt like since I named the title of this entire story with a "REPLY" in front, I thought I should pay tribute to one of my favourite dramas of all-time! Especially with the featuring of the 1997 cast in 1994 episode 16 and 17 recently! Also, the last paragraph is Eunji's thoughts. Like a mini narration of Eunji's! 

Oh and did anyone notice some sparks flying between Eunji and Junmyun now? hehe is he the one?!]