“Mom?”

Kim Mi-kyung smiled sweetly at Cha Eun Sang. “Oh, you’re home. Don’t you have to go to work today?”

Cha Eun Sang kicked her shoes off her feet then went directly to the kitchen.

She poured herself a glass of water. “I will, later at 7 tonight. I exchanged shifts with Chan Young.”

Chan Young is her classmate and friend from Jeguk High. He also works at the coffee shop that she works at. Apparently, though, Chan Young owns it. He’s just working for fun.

“Must be good to work just for fun and not because he really has to,” she thought.

She drank her water. “How about you, mom? Don’t you have work today?”

Kim Mi-kyung nodded. “I called in sick.”

A sudden rush of panic overwhelmed her. She ran to her mom and checked her arms, her pulse, and her forehead. “Are you okay?”

Her mom gently brushed her hands away. “I’m okay,” she said, gently tapping Cha Eun Sang’s forearm.

She looked at her. “Really? You’re not sick again, right?”

Her mom laughed. “Yes. I just wanted to take a break, that’s all.”

She looked at her dubiously. “You’re,” she paused. “You’re really not sick?”

Her mom smiled at her. “I’m really okay.”

“That’s good, then,” she smiled back. “I’m just gonna go inside my room and change.”

She started walking towards her room.

“Someone came over here this morning,” her mom announced from behind her back.

 “Let me try to remember.” Her mom paused. “He said he’s your friend,” her mom added.

She smiled even though her mom couldn’t see it. “Ah, that was Kim Tan.”

“No, that wasn’t his name,” her mom protested.

She frowned.

“He said he was Choi Young Do.”

She frowned even deeper. “Choi Young Do was here?”

How in the world did Choi Young Do where she lived?

Now that she thought about it, she did not see Choi Young Do in school today.

 “Was he absent?” she thought then turned around and started to walk towards her room.

Her eyes grew wide when she remembered what Rachel asked her earlier while they were having their ice cream.

She almost choked on her chocolate-flavored ice cream. “What?”

Rachel looked serious. “Do you like Choi Young Do?”

She laughed almost hysterically. “No!”

“No! Really, no!” she added when she saw the look on Rachel’s face.

She wanted to ask Rachel what made her ask that, but, decided against it.

Rachel just looked at her then shrugged her shoulders.

Her mom’s voice woke her from her reverie. “He asked me if I’d let you meet him for dinner.” Her mother paused. “Are you dating that guy?”

She whipped around at the voice. “No, mom,” she answered, almost shouting.

“I saved you.” Choi Young Do paused. “Again.”

Her shriek died in when she saw Choi Young Do.

He was holding her hand.

You know, the usual. He stuck out his foot to trip her only to save her with a hand grab.

She tried to jerk her hand away from his, but, he held onto it. Tightly so.

She felt her face turn red. Her heart started to beat fast.

She tried to pull her hand away again; he still didn’t let go.

“Of course, who wouldn’t be nervous—scared even— when you almost fell face down?” she thought to herself.  

“And if I were holding a tray full of coffee, things would be really bad,” she added.

She was not sure why she was trying to analyze why her heart was rioting; it felt like it wanted to get out of her rib cage.

She jerked her hand away from his again. This time, he let go.

She cleared . “Wh-why are you here?” 

She cursed inwardly. Just why was she stuttering?

She wanted to ask him what he was doing at his house earlier. She also wanted to ask him how he found out where she lived, but, decided against those ideas.

He smiled at her mockingly. “To pick you up, what else?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Can’t you see I’m working?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, too. “Can’t you see what time it is?”

She looked at the wall clock displayed just right above the door. The clock said it’s 9:30 in the evening.

“Oh, sh—”

“Language, Cha Eun Sang,” Choi Young Do interrupted her.

She snubbed him squarely and hurriedly went to her manager’s office.

Her shift was over 30 minutes ago, but, she did not notice the time. There were a lot of customers, plus, she was thinking about her homework. She hasn’t done any. Not yet, at least.

“All right. Bye!” she said as she walked out of the manager’s office.

She hurriedly took her apron off, grabbed her bag on the shelf just below the counter, and made a run to the door.

“Whoah, whoah,” Choi Young Do blocked her way. “Hold up, what’s the rush?”

She tried to walk past him. “Get out of the way.”

He was still blocking her way. She sighed, “I need to catch the last bus. Duh.”

The last train is at 9:30, but, it sometimes leaves at 9:45. So, if she’s lucky, she could still catch that bus on the way home.

She went out and walked as fast as she could, Choi Young Do trailed behind her.

 “Hey! I didn’t come to your coffee shop so you could just leave after your shift is over,” he said, not even masking his irritation.

She raised an eyebrow. “Who told you to come to the coffee shop?”

He laughed mockingly. “You must have forgotten that you owed me ten lunch meals.”

She looked at him. “No, I haven’t.” She paused. “So I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow, then.”

He grabbed her by the shoulders. “You owed me a lunch today.”

She looked at him, perplexed. He looked at her, too. And when he realized that his hands were on her shoulders, he removed his hands away from them quickly. As if he was burned.

He broke their gaze by looking down at his watch.

“Well, I wasn’t the one who was absent,” he heard her say.

“I had some family business to attend to,” he told her. “Besides, it’s not like I planned on being absent.”

He sighed in frustration when he found himself explaining.

Why was he explaining to her?

“What made you come all the way here?” Cha Eun Sang paused. “You even came to my house.”

He swallowed. “N-nothing. Just wanted to remind you not to forget the ten lunch meals you owed me.”

Cha Eun Sang crossed her arms. “There are only nine lunch meals left. You were absent, not my fault.”

He massaged his temples. “You know what, you’re right,” he said as he grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s go.”

He felt her tensed but only for a few fleeting seconds. She frowned at him, “what are you doing?”

He walked while he half-dragged her. “We’re eating dinner, that way there’ll be nine meals left.”

“Hey! I cannot miss the last bus home!” She protested and tried to hold her ground, but, he dragged her until she had no choice but to walk behind him.

“If you don’t let go of my arm, I will break your wrist.”

He automatically released her arm and then pretended to check his phone to mask his embarrassment.

“You haven’t had dinner yet, right?” he turned around to look at her.

Cha Eun Sang shrugged. “I’m okay. I’m not even hungry.”

He laughed as her stomach made a rumbling sound indicating hunger.

“Your stomach doesn’t lie,” he smiled. “Come on. It’s on me.”

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “As long as it’s not poisoned.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have any plans of poisoning you.” He looked at her and added, “at least not until the ten lunch meals are over.”

“Nine,” she corrected him and walked ahead of him.

She turned around to face him and he just looked at her. She looked different with her hair down. There was nothing but the bright street lights to illuminate her face, but, looking at her now with her hair down, arms crossed against her chest, her left eyebrow slightly raised, it was as if it was the other way around.

It was as if her face illuminated the whole city.

A small smile escaped from his lips at the thought. "I must be going crazy," he thought to himself.

“Hey! What are you doing standing there?”

He jolted at the sound of her voice. He shook his head then walked towards her.

They walked together, side by side, and then they fell into a step.