The cafe was crowded, numerous people finding shelter in the warm drinks it offered and equally warm smell that characterized it.
Throwing a smile at one of the patrons, Minseok came out from behind the counter with a packet in his hands. He walked over to the table at which his friend was seated.
“Please don’t smile that wide, I think it might be scaring some of the customers,” he said as he handed the packet to the overly smiley man before him.

The intensity of Lu Han’s smile did not falter.
“Is it a crime to be happy?”

“No,” said Minseok, seating himself across from an ecstatic-looking Lu Han. He looked around the cafe for a short moment.
“But I smiling at people as if you’re planning their murder might be close.”
The statement earned him a glare from the previously ecstatic Lu Han.

“Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends,” mumbled Lu Han, standing up to leave.

“Because no one else could tolerate you,” Minseok simply stated.
He too stood up to see bid his friend goodbye.
“Tell your girl I said hi.”

Lu Han opened his mouth to protest but no words came out. He felt his chest swell up with so many emotions at the thought of Sunjung being his and his only. It felt absolutely insane and unreal that the statement was partly true.
“I don’t own her,” he finally said, causing his friend to chuckle and state that he was only teasing.

Minseok didn’t tease people often but when he did, the teasing often became somewhat cruel and vindictive as he progressed with it. He completely exploited his adorable face that anyone could easily forgive.
Seeing that Minseok’s teasing was only going to take a turn for the worse, Lu Han bid him a hasty farewell. He could hear Minseok snickering, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ‘whipped’.

In his hurry to get away, Lu Han walked straight into someone as soon as he had exited the cafe.
He stood for a while as he just blinked at the almost familiar face. It took a while to match the face to a name but he found himself frowning when he realised the boy standing in front of him was Sunjung’s brother Junyoung.

“I’m sorry,” the tall boy muttered in a low voice whilst bowing.

Lu Han bowed in response, grudgingly admitting that it had been his fault. He stepped aside to let the boy pass but was surprised to hear him speak.

“You’re Noona’s...” Junyoung started, but hesitated when he realised that he didn’t know what the man before him was to his sister. He was Sunjung’s someone.

“Yeah,” Lu Han agreed to the boy’s incomplete statement.
He thought it would be wise to let Sunjung tell her brother that they were dating. It had only been three days after all.

“Listen,” Junyoung said and then took a deep breath. He was putting his pride on the line, apologising to a man he did not even know.
“I know I behaved like a complete moron. I was horrible to my sister and inadvertently, to you. So I apologise.”

Trying his best not to frown in confusion, Lu Han nodded.
“I’m no one to meddle with your relationship with Sunjung. If you guys are okay with each other, I’m okay with that.”

Junyoung stuffed his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket. He shook the hair out of his eyes.
“Thank you for being there for her. I didn’t know...”
He did not continue. His eyes flickered from the delicate-looking man before him, to the floor, and back.

This time Lu Han couldn’t suppress the frown.
He didn’t know what?
But he had already stated that he wouldn’t meddle so he didn’t. He just nodded.

Without any more words, Seo Junyoung bowed and walked past him.

***

Sighing in frustration, Sunjung wiped away the single teardrop that had escaped her eye.
She had been staring at her laptop screen for quite a few hours now. The more time she spent on her work, the more it felt like she was not going to be able to complete it.
She usually was incredibly efficient when it came to completing her work but somehow, for some reason, she was lagging behind this time. The fact that the manuscript had to be submitted the day after did not help at all.
A part of her wanted to blame Lu Han. He was always distracting her, whether he was physically present or not.
“Damn it, Lu Han.”

“What did I do? I just set foot in the kitchen!”

Sunjung found herself blushing when she turned to look Lu Han.
The man wore an exaggerated look of shock on his face in an obvious attempt to look offended.

“Nothing,” she mumbled almost inaudibly and shifted her gaze to her laptop again.

Unconsciously, Lu Han pouted, slightly disappointed that she hadn’t paid much attention to him.
“Is the kitchen the best place to work?” he asked, walking over to sit on the stool next