The doors opened, and the bell that signaled that someone had walked in sounded. Holding up a hand, Lucca waved it slightly, still trying to focus on the paperwork that was sitting in front of her. “One second!” she called out, quickly writing off on the papers so that she could lighten her work load for the day. After finishing, she looked up, a pleasant smile that she used with everyone covering her face. When she looked up though, it shifted almost instantly to a broad grin. “Hyukkie~!” she called out in surprise.

“Noona~!” He grinned at her, running up to the front desk, not having realized that she was the one that had been sitting at it. He pulled out the basket full of flowers and chocolates from behind him with a huge smile on his face. “Happy birthday~!!”

“Aw, Hyukkie~! You remembered my birthday?” Lucca asked in surprise, looking up at him with a big smile. She reached out to take the basket off of his hands, unable to contain the slight giddiness she felt from his actions.

“Of course I did! How could I possibly forget?” Hyuk asked rhetorically, smiling at her as he leaned in and rested his arms on the counter. “Are you busy right now?” He asked, looking around the waiting room and behind the desk curiously.

“Oh, no.” Lucca shook her head, tossing the paper she had been working on aside since it was finished. “I’m just finishing up some work before my lunch break.”

“Really~?” Beaming, Hyuk perked up a little.

“Yes, really.” Lucca laughed, tipping her head a little. “Why, what are you up to?” Glancing at the clock, she thought for a second, but then looked at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school…?”

“I’m skipping my lunch hour so I could come and spend it with you!” Hyuk stated, holding his hands out in excitement towards her.

Laughing at this, Lucca grinned at him. “Hyukkie, you shouldn’t skip school~!” She scolded him gently, smiling up at him. “Give me like two seconds to go and check if anyone is back yet and we can go and have lunch then. You still need to eat.” She held up her hand, and quickly ran from the front desk to the back room. When she got back there, she saw that the two that normally ran the front desk were sitting there and joking around about something or another. “Hey guys~ I’m going to go to lunch, so I need you to come and take care of the desk.”

Smiling up at Lucca, one of them, EunSoo, couldn’t help but grin. “Is that guy coming to take you out again~?”

“What guy?” The other girl asked. It was KaIn, the woman who had worked with Lucca since she had started. KaIn had been out on maternity leave, and had only just come back to work. “Lucca met a guy~?” She asked, her eyebrows wiggling almost excitedly.

“She totally did, she just doesn’t want to admit it.” EunSoo said with a laugh, brushing her dark bangs out of her face as she looked from KaIn to Lucca.

“I did not.” Frowning, Lucca stared at EunSoo.

“Oh, so that cute guy with the big nose that always comes to pick you up is just some random friend? I don’t think so.” Smiling at Lucca, EunSoo poked her in the side slightly. “I doubt he would miss the opportunity to take you out on your birthday.”

“Well he is.” Lucca stuck her tongue out at her friend, then looked at KaIn. “Don’t listen to her, she’s just coming up with stories over here~….” She laughed, turning and running out of the break room.

“Aww, who is it Lucca~?” KaIn asked, smiling as she followed the two out of the break room.

“No one!” Lucca waved her hand, smiling when she saw Hyuk looking through and playing with some of the dog toys that were on the wall. “Hyukkie~ Are you ready?”

Looking at Hyuk, EunSoo made a face but then looked at Lucca. “That’s not him….”

“No, this is my best friend since childhood.” Lucca grinned, walking around the counter and poking Hyuk in the back. “I’ll be back in a bit, don’t burn the office down!” She stated waving for Hyuk to lead the way, grabbing her jacket on the way out.

Hyuk laughed a little, smiling once they were out of the building. “Come on~ there’s a really good place by my school that we can go to.” He waved his hand, his excitement obvious.

“Did you walk here?” Lucca asked, zipping up her jacket as she followed Hyuk down the sidewalk and up the one next to the road.

“Of course, my school is only a few blocks away. There would be no point in getting any other sort of transportation here.” He laughed a little, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

“I guess so.” Laughing a little, Lucca looked around the area, wondering just which place they were going to.

After walking for about ten minutes, they to a side street that was full of different food places. Hyuk led her past a few, but then they quickly came up on the place they were going to eat at. It was a homey little restaurant that sat at the end of the block and had just a little sign on the top of the door. Inside it was comfortable and warm, both of them kicking off the shoes in a little designated area by the front door.

Finding a table in the back of the restaurant, the two sat down across from each other to look at the menu before anything else could really be said. They both ended up deciding on the same thing, laughing when they realized that they had done so. Once their order was taken, they sat back and looked at each other for a moment before Lucca finally started speaking.

“So, how’s life been, Hyukkie? I feel like we’ve talked recently, but haven’t actually talked….” Lucca asked, tipping her head a little as she looked at him.

Smiling a little, Hyuk shrugged slightly. “It’s alright. A lot has changed since we were kids, but I guess it’s still going. My mom died a few years ago…. I guess the sickness finally just took over, but at least she’s better now….”

“Aww, Hyukkie….” Pouting slightly, Lucca reached out and put her hand lightly on his arm. “At least you’re in a good environment, right? You know that she would have wanted that.” She reassured him, smiling a little.

“I know.” Smiling a little, Hyuk touched her arm in return, tipping his head. “And it’s pretty good living with everyone. I mean, sometimes it can be annoying, especially since my cousin is in charge of the whole house, but I still love him. And Leo-Hyung is really quiet when you don’t know him, but he’s a really good friend.” Shrugging a little, Hyuk looked at Lucca. “And what about you? Where has your life gone?”

“Well, I finished school and started working at a vet’s office. That’s my life story.” Lucca laughed, shrugging slightly. “My dad still doesn’t talk to me, and my mom got married, but other than that, you have seen my life.” She laughed, smiling at Hyuk.

“What, no interesting stories of love?” Hyuk laughed, smiling at Lucca teasingly.

“Please.” Rolling her eyes, Lucca shook her head. “My only interest in school was getting out of it. Now I have work.”

“And Ken-Hyung.” Hyuk teased, laughing a little.

Lucca was about to retort, but then made a face as she looked at Hyuk. Looking away, she was able to avoid admitting to anything when she spotted their food coming. “Food is on its way!” She said happily, pointing towards where it was coming from.

Hyuk looked over to where the food was coming from, then glanced at Lucca. He instantly saw that she was trying to avoid the topic, which only made him more curious about what was going on. After thinking about it for a moment, suddenly Hyuk thought about what he had overheard almost a week beforehand. Tipping his head a little as he thought about that, he wondered what it was that Lucca was avoiding, and more to the point, if it was whatever Ken and Leo had been talking about.

Unable to ask while the food was being dropped off, Hyuk studied Lucca for a moment. It was the first time he had really been able to do so, and watching her as she tried to avoid burning herself with the ceramic plate she was handed, he noticed for the first time how much time had changed her. Obviously she had grown older, but her eyes were looking tired.

After the food was delivered, they both nodded in thanks to the waitress. They were once again left alone after that, which made Hyuk look at Lucca with a small smile. “So what is with you and Ken-Hyung anyways?”

“Nothing.” Lucca shrugged a little, starting to dig into the food in front of her.

“Oh, come on.” Hyuk laughed. “You may be a few years older than the last time we truly talked, but you still do the same thing when you’re lying.”

“And what’s that?” Lucca asked, looking up at Hyuk with a small pout.

“That little hand twitch before you look away and to something that just so happens to be there, normally right in front of you.” Hyuk pointed to the food that was in front of her. “So tell me, did something bad happen or something?” He asked, tipping his head a little.

Groaning slightly, Lucca looked up from her food. “No. Nothing bad has happened, that’s the problem…” Lucca sighed before taking another bite of the rice in front of her.

“Normally that’s a good thing…?” Hyuk blinked a little, more confused than anything.

“Of course that’s a good thing.” Lucca laughed a little, looking at Hyuk. “But doesn’t that just mean that something horrible is going to come up from the depths of nowhere?” Shrugging slightly, Lucca laughed a little.

Pushing what he overheard the week before away, Hyuk smiled at her. “Ken-Hyung is a good guy, Lucca. You don’t have to worry that anything worse than what he’s already shown you is going to come up.” Hyuk looked down at his food and started to eat, hoping that he was right even though the conversation he had overheard was still playing in his mind.

Lucca sighed gently, looking at Hyuk. “I hope so… If there’s nothing worse than what he’s already shown me, I just….” Smiling a little, she tipped her head.

“So…. What do you think about him?” Hyuk asked, tipping his head from side to side before leaning in and eating a little more food.

Groaning a little, Lucca set her chopsticks on the table before looking at Hyuk. “Oh God, where do I even start...?” She laughed a little at herself, leaning forward and placing her elbow on the table before resting her head against her hand.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing…?” Hyuk laughed slightly.

“It is! It is….” Lucca sighed a little as she picked her chopsticks back up and took another bite of the food in front of her. “I just…. I haven’t really talked to anyone about it so far, so putting it into words is hard.” Laughing, she looked up at Hyuk. “You get what I mean?”

“I can understand, yeah.” Hyuk nodded, shrugging his shoulders a little. “Just let it out. Tell me everything that annoys you about him, makes you like him, whatever.”

“If I told you everything about him that annoyed me, we’d be here all day.” Lucca laughed at the joke, smiling as she looked at Hyuk. “No, I’m kidding… He’s…. He’s sweet. He’s really sweet. He likes doing a lot of things like taking me for dinner, bringing me little things like bouquets of flowers, and it’s really endearing that he does those things.” She shrugged, starting to pick at the food in front of her.

Hyuk tipped his head a little. “Is that it?” He asked after she was silent for a moment or two. He watched her curiously, knowing that there was still more on her mind.

Lucca sighed gently, her eyes on the food in front of her but not actually paying any attention to it. “It’s really easy to talk to him. He’s funny, and he seems to get my humor most of the time. Sometimes things don’t quite go right, but then it works out in the end anyways. I like being around him….”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t quite go right’?” Hyuk watched Lucca, noticing the slightly happy gleam in her eyes as she stared at the food on the table.

“Just, things don’t always go as planned. But it’s alright.” Lucca looked at Hyuk, laughing a little at the memories. “Just like not too long ago, he pushed me into a frozen stream, but hey~ it ended out well, and that’s all that matters.” She sighed happily, taking a bite out of her food.

“He pushed you into a frozen stream?!” Hyuk gasped, his eyes widening.

“It was an accident, and I pulled him in too!” Lucca shrugged, looking at Hyuk. “We ended up staying at this little cafe for like three hours while we dried off and our clothes got cleaned, and we just enjoyed some hot chocolate and just kind of sat around talking all night. It wasn’t ideal, but it was perfect.” Lucca laughed a little, shrugging slightly. “It’s little things like that that make me smile when I see him. It’s not like everything is ideal or perfectly planned, but it’s almost always interesting.”

Hyuk let out a small sigh, smiling as he looked at Lucca. The picture of that soft smile as she thought about it was forever engrained in his mind, but he was glad that she was able to be happy. “That’s good….” He said with a nod. Looking up at the clock, Hyuk saw that it was almost time for him to run back to school. “Oh! Hurry Noona~” he waved his hand towards the food in front of her. “I have to go soon!”

Looking up at the clock as well, Lucca gasped slightly. “Oh!” She was tugged from her trance, and she instantly started digging into the food in front of her. “I’m sorry~!” She apologized, laughing slightly to herself.

“Don’t worry about it~...” Hyuk laughed, digging into his food as well. “I’m just glad I could come and spend time with you on your birthday~”

“So you’ll be home tonight?” Raelyn asked as she to the next street.

“Neh.” Lucca said from over the phone. “JaeHwan isn’t taking me out tonight, so I’m free.”

Raelyn smiled. “Alright~ I’ll go home and start preparing dinner then. I’ll see you then.”

After saying their goodbyes, Raelyn hung the phone up and tossed it over onto the passenger seat, letting out a breath as she firmly gripped the steering wheel.

“Let’s see… do we have red meat at home? Hmm… I should probably go pick up some just in case…. But it’s so expensive…..”

She let out a sigh, exhaustion from her late work shift right after her afternoon classes kicking in. Just as she was beginning to settle into the motion of the drive, something far off down the street caught her attention.

“Hm?” She did the best to blink the strain of her eyes away as the familiar figure came into view. As she got closer, she could see that the figure was turned away from her, but even so she could still see the cropped black hair, black sweatpants, and muscular arms exposed from the lanky tank-top he sported.

Raelyn’s Spidey senses began to tingle, and without further thought on the matter, she whipped into the furthest lane to the right and pulled up beside him.

“TaekWoon-ssi!” She called as she rolled down the window. He jumped away slightly, the initial action of it all yanking him from his brooding thoughts. When he saw who it was, however, his expression fell back into its cold demeanor, and he turned and began walking.

Raelyn was caught off guard by this and immediately pulled the car out of park, scooting it up to him. “Um, do you need a ride?”

Without pause, Leo continued walking, not even bothering to look in her direction. She paused to bite her lip for a moment before once again pulling the car out of park and inching up to his side.

“It’s cold, you know. You could get sick….”

But Leo only kept walking, making Raelyn frown. She pulled the car out of park once again and pulled away from the curb, driving around a parked vehicle before pulling up beside him once again.

“Um, could I at least buy you some coffee…?”

Once again, Leo just brushed her off and kept walking. She let out a huff before setting the car into park and hopping out. Leo didn’t notice Raelyn run up behind him and begin to push him towards the car until it was too late.

“What are you- what- stop!” He yelled, his soft voice making him sound less than threatening even to Raelyn.

“I’m sorry, but I simply cannot just turn a blind eye and let you walk around in this cold in that outfit.” She apologized to him as she opened the door and pushed him into the car. She scurried around to the other side of the car and opened the door, only to notice that TaekWoon was already crawling out of the car. So, without closing her door, she ran over to the other side and pushed him back into the car.  

With rising irritation, Leo reached for the handle and tugged at it a couple times before he realized that Raelyn had locked the door on him. By the time he could reach for the lock, the short, annoying woman had already ran around the vehicle, hoped inside, and had pulled the car out of park. So, with a huff, he simply crossed his arms and slumped back into the seat as they drove off down the street.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The world outside the window was very busy and rushed, much like every other day - however, this was much more interesting to Leo and seemed to almost taunt him in his presence of the short woman who sat directly across from him.

“Kamsahabnida.” Raelyn said as the waiter set their drinks down in front of them. After bowing to them, the man left their presence, leaving them alone once again.

Raelyn looked over at Leo, who had been staring out the window beside him since they had gotten there. After a moment she gulped and turned her attention to her drink, smiling as she picked it up.

“I love Chocolate Chip Frappuchinos…. they are probably my favorite type of beverage.” She said, taking a sip of the frozen delicacy. Silence came from the other side of the table, as Raelyn had sadly expected. She idly sipped at her drink, prolonging the silence in search of something to say.

After a moment, she swallowed and set the drink down. “So…. What’s up? How are you?”

“Why am I here?” The question was more of a demanding statement that threw Raelyn off her guard. The man did not look in her direction, nor did his soft words break his poker face as he only continued to stare out the window. She stared at him for a moment in shock, but then cleared in an attempt to regain her composition.

“I just thought that it might be nice to try and get to know each other. It seems as though all of our other friends know each other and get along, so I just figured-”

It was at this point where TaekWoon’s irritation flared up, and rather than allowing her to finish her sentence, he let out a small sigh, stood up, and walked out of the cafe.

Raelyn only watched as he left the room without a word, a wave of sadness overcoming her heart. She stared at the drink across the table that had been left untouched, sighing after a moment and settling into her chair.

“I guess this means that I should leave as well.” She waved for the waiter to bring her the check, but as she did so something caught her eye. Looking over at the chair where Leo had been sitting, she found a small black, rectangular object sitting on the cushion.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she picked up the wallet and bolted for the door. “Ah! Leo-ssi, your-” She stopped herself as she passed the waiter that she had called over, making herself run back to the table and scrounge through her purse for money. “Leo-ssi!”

Leo let out a sigh as he stepped out into the outside world, taking in a large breath of fresh air. He looked at his surroundings, quickly scanning through his head the best options of transportation to get as far away from that woman as he could. He looked down the street, knowing that that would be the quickest route in getting back to the apartment. However, he knew that that woman probably knew that as well, and that that route would be the easiest way for her to find and catch up to him.

I’ll take the subway…. He quickly slipped around the building and into the alleyway that led to the nearest subway station.

It was a good ten minutes before Leo came upon the nearest subway station. He let out a breath, reaching for his wallet to make sure he had enough money. As he did so, however, he noticed that the pocket he usually held his wallet in was empty and hung loosely against his thigh. At once he began to pat down his other pockets, finding nothing in the empty pouches of jeans. He kept the calm demeanor across his face, but in his eyes one could see that he was frantically panicking on the inside.

After a moment, he let out a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself. He decided that he must have dropped it back in the cafe; so, after another ten minute walk, he came upon the cafe and went inside. He walked into the familiar room, but upon walking up to the table that he and Raelyn had been sitting atm he found that it was completely empty and had been cleaned off.

His nerves began to jumble again, but he pushed them back down. Thinking rationally, he moved over to the front desk and rung the bell.

“Excuse me.” He said in his soft voice when a waiter had attended to him. “Has a wallet been reported by any chance? Within the past half hour, perhaps?”

It was when the bell boy shook his head that Leo let himself begin to panic. He rushed outside, the wind blowing his short hair this way and that as he quickly looked around the area. After a moment he let out a large breath and brushed his fingers through his hair. There was no other choice; he had to retrace his steps. With gloom in his aura, he turned down the road leading away from the apartment and began to walk.