The cool guy returned everyday after that, always just before the lunch rush and every time he asked what I recommended.

A chocolate shake, chicken fried steak, ramen, silk pie.

I recommended all my favorites to him and he liked them all. And everyday we became a little closer.

“Hey,” I began one day, after I had been his waitress a few times. “I’ve served you a few times now but I don’t know your name.”

“Kris.” He told me. “What’s yours?”

“Yoon Hanuel Gi. Just call me Hanuel Gi though.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” I pulled out my pad and flipped to a new page. “What would you like today, Kris?”

“Hm… What would you recommend.”

“Well, what are you in the mood for? At least give me that. Something salty? Something spicy? That’ll help me narrow it down.”

“Something salty.”

“You got it! How about some lasagna?”

“That’s perfect.”

***

“Hey, Kris, I just realized something. You have a slight accent. May I ask where you’re from?” I asked him another time. I was totally lying. I had noticed it a week ago but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask him. But now I wanted to be closer to him and I figured that was a good way to start.

“I’m from far away.” He said simply. “I moved here because your culture’s interesting. I want to learn more about it.”

That didn’t really answer my question but I let it slide. If he didn’t was to tell me, I wouldn’t force him.

“That’s actually pretty cool.” I grinned and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. “And, hey, if you ever have any questions about stuff, I’m more than happy to help!”

***

Another day I came to work bursting with excitement about season finale of my favorite show. It had aired the previous night and revealed that the wife of one of the characters had been an assassin for hire the whole time. I just had to talk to someone about it but none my friends had watched it last night.

“Kris! Kris!” I ran over to him the second he entered the cafe. “Do you watch ‘Watson’?”

“Yeah”

“Did you see the finale last night?!”

“Yeah! Oh man, I can’t believe-”

“I know! I did not see that coming!”

That day I spent as much time as I could at his table so we could talk about ‘Watson’ It was a lot of fun and I could feel the distance between us getting smaller and smaller.

***

"What do you guys do here for fun?" He asked me one day.

"Well, there's an arcade nearby. A lot of people go there when they have a few spare coins." I swept the porch as we talked. It had been a few weeks since he'd shown up and I had grown use to him being there everyday. We never got to talk much since I was at work after all, but I was beginning to feel like we were getting to be close friends. I wish I could get up the nerve to ask if he wanted to hang out sometime, but a voice in the back of my head wouldn’t let me.

"Want to go there together?" It was as though he had read my thoughts.

"What?" I turned around to face him, my eyes wide. "Me?"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" He looked at me with a mildly amused expression. "When does your shift end today?"

"At four, but-"

"I'll meet you there at five then. What's the address?"

I quickly wrote it down on a piece of paper. "It's just around the corner from here but-"

"See you at five." He plucked the sheet from my hand and walked off. My eyes followed his back as he left.

But why do you want to go with me?

***

The rest of my shift seemed to crawl by but at the same time go all to fast as nerves and excitement twisted and turned in my stomach. Is this a date? Would this be considered a date? Would this be considered a date? he never said it was on, but then what is it?

“Hanuel Gi,” Tombo called me at the end of the lunch rush. “Are you alright? It feels like you’re somewhere else today.”

“I’m fine.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Just… Distracted, I guess. A friend and I are meeting up after work to go to the arcade.”

“It’s that blonde boy boy you’re always talking to isn’t it?” I open my mouth to deny it but my flush cheeks gave me way. “I knew it! Well, I’m happy for you. He seems like a nice guy. I am a bit sad though. My little baby girl is growing up!” He pretended to sniffle and hold back tears.

“Bobo, it isn’t like that! We’re just friends.”

“You spend half your time around him blushing and you expect me to believe that?”

“Bobo...” I gave him a reproachful look before going back to work.

When I clocked out, I ran to my apartment as fast as I could. I ripped through my closet like a crazed beast as i looked for something suitable to wear. He probably thought our outing was just two friends going to hang out, but I'll be damned if I didn't look my best no matter what. Should I wear something lacy and pastel yet simple? Or something ripped up and worn in? And what about makeup? Should I give myself smoky eyes or should I just go without? This would be his first time seeing me out of uniform. I wanted to give him a good impression.

After practically emptying my entire closet into my room, I decided on a simple outfit. Black skinny jeans, converse, and a pacman shirt. The perfect outfit to wear to an arcade. I grabbed my wallet and phone as I ran out the door. It would only take me a few minutes to get there, and five wasn't for another twenty minutes, but there was no way I was going to be late.

Fantasy Arcade has been on Winchester Corner for as long as I could remember. It was pretty much opened at the dawn of arcade gaming and has been there ever since. They had everything from crane games to battle games to giant versions of popular gaming apps to photo booths. Even the snack bar was amazing. It's filled with good, cheap food that's so greasy it's a miracle your heart doesn't stop just looking at it.

I stood at it's entrance, waiting for Kris. The mechanical sounds of gunfire, laughter, and the clicking of an air hockey puck poured out from the entrance whenever someone opened the door. As I waited, I bit my lip and fiddled with my hair. Nerves set me on edge and I ran through a thousand different scenarios, each worse than the last.

Kris could come and tell me to stop bothering him and that he wants to eat his food at Earth Cafe in peace. No, that doesn't make any sense. He approached me most of the time. He had a girlfriend and didn't want to lead me on by hanging out with me. No, we haven't known each other long enough to even think about something like that. He might not have fun at the arcade with me and decides that I'm boring and never talks to me again.

No no no.

I shook my head to banish those thoughts and pulled out my phone to distract myself. Thinking thoughts like that will only make me miserable. I had just opened the app for tumblr when a warm hand brushed against my shoulder.

"Did I keep you waiting?" I glanced over my shoulder to find Kris. It seemed like I wasn't the only one who changed. Gone was his slimming sherlock coat and instead he was wearing a small red hoodie with intricate patterns of black stars trailing along it's sleeve. His hair, normally gelled to perfection was slightly ruffled from the wind. And although his clothes were much more casual, his eyes were still piercing, like a wolf watching it's prey.

"Nah, don't worry about it." I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to make him feel bad for being on time. "Come on! Let's go kick some alien !" I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the arcade.

"What?" When I looked back, I saw that he looked confused and slightly alarmed.

"Oh, there's this game called Galaga here you shoot down alien spaceships. I was thinking of playing that first." I bit my lip and watched him from the corner of my eyes. "But if you want if you want to play something else, I don't mind." The last thing I wanted to do is make him play a game he doesn't like.

"Play whatever you'd like. We don't have these games where I'm from so I don't really have an opinion." And like that, the emotions I had seen were gone from his face. Had I been mistaken?

"Alright!" I smiled brightly, hoping to lighten the uneasy atmosphere that had fallen over us. "Let's go have fun!"

What I didn't realize then was that Galaga was probably the worst game I could have chosen to play with him.

A/N: Sorry I'm a day late you guys! I had film camp all week and I was exausted yesterday. >~< But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next week with Kris and Hanuel Gi's arcade date! ^_^