I hear someone push open the door of my restaurant.

"Sorry, we're closed," I say nonchalantly without looking up from the dishes I am washing.

"Oh, I... I'm sorry,"

I hear a tremble in the customer's voice. I can tell that the voice belongs to a female. I turn around to see a pretty face, ruined by streaks of black tears.

Being quite the ladies' man, I can't possibly refuse to help a damsel in distress. A pretty one, at that. Just before she leaves, I stop her.

"It wouldn't hurt if I stayed a little late for a pretty lady," I say, giving her my dashing smile.

Taken aback by my bluntness, she seems to be unsure of how to react. After mumbling a 'thank you', she walks and sits on the barstool in front of the counter.

"So, what would you like?"

"Something spicy please."

I nod and take out the ingredients from under the counter. "I'm Nam Woohyun. What's your name?" I ask with a casual tone.

"Park Chorong."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful person," I say as I continue cooking. I try to strike up a conversation to cheer Chorong up but it is in vain. Deciding not to beat around the bush anymore, I ask, "There's one thing I'm more curious about. Why were you crying? Is it because of a heartbreak?"

I must have hit the nail on the head as Chorong seems to be suprised at my guess. "How did you know?" she says after a moment of silence. "Experience." I shrug my shoulders as I place the plate of tteokbokki in front of Chorong. She picks up the chopsticks and starts eating.

"You can share your problems with me if you want to. I'm always keen to lend a listening ear." I say.

"So, once upon a time, I was dating this guy. He was super sweet and kind and caring and handsome and loving. Basically, everything a woman looks for in a man," Chorong says in between sniffles and picking up the food lifelessly and eats it with a downcast look.

"But all of a sudden, he became a big jerk and started pushing me away. He got angry at me a lot of times for no reason at all. I don't even know how it happened. One minute he was nice and the next minute he was scolding me. After stalking, uhm, I mean, investigating, I found out he was cheating on me," Chorong then stabs the food savagely and stuffs .

"So I broke up with him. I don''t know why I'm sad. Shouldn't I be happy? But I just keep crying and crying non-stop," she says, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't cry," I console Chorong. "I'm not crying. It's just that your food is really spicy," she denies and gulps down more food as if to prove me wrong. By now, river of tears are streaming down her fair face. She calls for some alcohol and I follow her request.

I pour some soju into a shot glass for Chorong and she does the same for me. We raise our glasses and say "Cheers!" and we down the drink in one shot.

After some more drinks, Chorong starts to get a little tipsy. She obviously cannot hold her liquor well, unlike the sober me. All sorts of things come spewing out of her tiny mouth, even some stronger words that I didn't expect from such a demure girl. 

"That stupid idiot will get his retribution! He will never find someone better than me!" Just one of the random rants Chorong uttered while drunk. Based on my knowledge, this is one of the moments where you just back away slowly.

"Why did he leave me? We loved each other... We were soulmates... How could he do this to me?!" Another thing that Chorong sobbed out while drinking, making me have to provide tissues. Mount Tissue has been created.

After a while, I decided to keep Chorong away from alcohol.

Just like a baby, Chorong atarted throwing a tantrum about everything. Her heartbreak, lack of soju, mean co-workers. The list goes on and on. 

Seeing her so upset really tugged at my heartstrings. I've seen many girls crying and many girls much prettier than Chorong, but something seemed different about her. She seemed more... special than the other girls I've met before. My heart wants her to be mine forever and ever.

I reach out and wipe off the tears on Chorong's face. She looks at me with her eyes which had turned red due to crying.

"Don't cry. If you need me, I'll be there." I say just as Chorong's head falls onto the table, unconscious due to the alcohol. I smile unconsciously.

I unlock her phone which she had left on the table. Using her phone, I call my phone so that Chorong can have my number. Then, I typed in "Woohyun <3" as the caller name. I smirk at my little deed.

"Chorong-ah, wake up!" I snap my fingers in front of her but to no avail. I roll my eyes and do what has to be done. After uaing her phone to get her address, I carry her bridal style into my car after locking my restaurant. Then, we head towards her home.

When I knock in the door with Chorong in my arms, someone who I guess is her mother opens the door. With a confused look on her face, she lets me in and I carry Chorong to her bedroom.

I explain the whole situation to Chorong's mother and she thanks me for my help. Before leaving, I go to Chorong's room alone.

I take a deep breath and lean over to give Chorong a small peck on the forehead, a little bit like Prince Phillip to Sleeping Beauty. After that, I scribble a note, with the words "Call me ~" and my name at the end.

The next day, I received a call from a special someone whose caller ID is now "Chorongie~ <3".

 

 

 

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Hi guys! Sorry that it took so long for this to come. But nevertheless, I hope that you enjoyed it! Please feel free to give feedback in the comments below. You can even leave some pairings you'd like to see as well. Thank you for reading! ^_^