“Look at you, rubbing elbows with sports stars and the like. Who knew working for a bookstore could be so interesting?” said Haeun over the phone.

“I didn't. Anyways, it's not like your job's boring. You get to dress women up for one of the more important days of their lives and play with pretty things all day long.”

“And then get phone calls from those same women stressed out about not fitting into the dressing, changing every little detail...but yeah, I guess it could be worse.”

Jenny let out a small laugh then quickly turned serious. “You're happy right? With Sunggyu?”

Haeun was slightly taken aback by the question but answered honestly. “I am.”

“Good. 'Cause if anything bad were to happen between the two of you, I'm screwed. As your best friend, I'd have to kick the of the guy who was stupid enough to break your heart and as his sister, I'd have to kill whoever messed with him, I'd then have two body on my hands. So you guys can't ever break up. Ever.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So violent.” joked Haeun. “Don't worry, I'm not planning on letting go of your brother anytime soon. It took me more than a decade to get him, he's not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Good.” said Jenny.

- - - - - - - - - -

Dongwoo and Hoya were at home at the same time, which was something that happened rarely nowadays.

“You're home.” Hoya pointed out. “Aren't Thursdays date night for you guys?”

“Jihyo can't be bothered right now. She's got a bar exam to do soon, remember?” Dongwoo said.

“Right.”

The atmosphere was sort of awkward and Hoya didn't know how to explain it.

“So...What do you want to do?” asked Hoya.

“We can just hang out here. I don't really feel like going out.” Dongwoo said as he was going through the fridge. “We have nothing to eat. Want to order a pizza?”

“Sure. But you're paying.” said Hoya.

“How is it that I always end up paying every time we order something?”

“Fine. We'll arm wrestle for it. Loser pays. Best 2 out of 3.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Sure enough, Dongwoo lost 2 rounds consecutively and ended up paying for the pizza that were currently enjoying.

“You should have just paid for it in the first place and saved yourself some embarrassment.” teased Hoya.

“Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and eat.” Dongwoo shot back. “So...how are things with you?” Dongwoo asked suddenly.

“What's with the question? We see each other almost every day.”

“I know, but it seems like we haven't had some straight up bro talk in a while.”

Hoya laughed. “I'm fine.”

“Any girls you've been seeing?”

“Girls? You know I'm not like that. That's more Woohyun-like behaviour.”

Dongwoo nodded to agree with what his friend said.

“Actually...” Hoya started. “There is this one girl.”

Dongwoo shot his friend a wide-eyed look. “You didn't tell me?”

“No, I'm not dating anymore. More like...” Hoya paused as he thought of how to describe his attraction to Jenny. “I'm drawn to her.”

“Interesting. Go on...” Dongwoo said as he grabbed another slice of pizza.

“There's nothing much to say. In fact, there's nothing to say. I literally know nothing about her.” He paused again and said: “Well, that's wrong. I know two things about her. Her name and where she works. Besides that...nothing.”

“Where'd you even find time to meet this girl? We've been on the road a lot lately. Did you meet her at a coffee place or something?”

“Actually, you've met her. Or crossed paths with her. She works at the bookstore the team is working with.”

As realization dawned on Dongwoo's face, a wide smile accompanied it. “So that's why you were such in a good mood that day.” A smile escaped from Hoya's lips as he thought of Jenny. Dongwoo looked at his friend's expression and felt his own smile grow wider. He deserves some happiness in his life. thought Dongwoo. God knows he's been through enough b.s. this past year. “So...What's your plan?”

“Plan? I hadn't thought that far ahead.” admitted Hoya. “I figured I'd be running into her at least a few more times so I was just gonna wait and see what happened.” Hoya quickly turned the tables and asked Dongwoo: “So you and Jihyo. Seems like it might be the real deal.”

Dongwoo's expression turned serious. “I love her.” Hoya cocked an eyebrow up, turned to look at his friend and saw that he was dead serious.

“Good for you man!” Hoya said sincerely.

“Thanks. She's...” Dongwoo struggled to find words to describe Jihyo. “She's...” he began again. “I think she might be it.”

Hoya didn't know what to say. Then, Dongwoo started laughing hysterically.

“What's wrong?” Hoya asked.

“The atmosphere...It's starting to turn so cheesy.” Hoya laughed at his friend's comment. Dongwoo continued. “I feel like we should hug or something...”

“Hug? Are you serious right now?”

With an amused expression on his face Dongwoo turned towards his friend with his arms with open. Hoya batted his friend's arm away.

“Forget that. Let's just play some video games or something.” said Hoya as Dongwoo once again started laughing hysterically.

Voilà!  Chapter 9.  I actually wanted to update last night but was having writer's block.  I woke up this morning to find that ideas had returned so another chapter was produced.  Some YaDong bromance here (without any actual yadong) as I felt that I put a lot of emphasis on Jenny's relationships and not enough on Hoya's.  No Jenny/Hoya interaction here, but there'll be plenty of that coming, though a little patience is required. ;)