[03/???] lunch break

stay still — got7
❝you said things weren't like before
you're looking for the me in your memories
it feels strange between you and me, as if things are unfamiliar
i'm the same but why are you saying it's different?
(...what you see isn't everything)❞

Three years is a long time to change a person.

Eunmi realized that in herself; but she also realized that in Jinyoung.

Eunmi couldn't say she was surprised when she saw Jinyoung again—no, she was so extremely, absolutely, positively shocked that she almost dropped her coffee the same time she dropped her jaw.

After her rejection, it took Eunmi a really long time to stop thinking about Jinyoung. She tried to pass her remaining high school days normally, like they promised, but the tension was there and eventually she felt like there was no purpose anymore.

But it was so hard to stop thinking about him—especially since she saw him everyday in class. He still formed their little trio with Suzy sometimes, but no matter how hard they tried to act like nothing was wrong, she could still feel something wrong in her heart. Sometimes it felt like she was the only one feeling awkward about it too; Jinyoung either didn't care about her or was just really good at acting like he didn't. Eunmi was absolutely frustrated and she hated it.

That's why she decided things would be different in college. Number one rule, no boys. She wasn't going to go through heartbreak again. It was hard enough liking Jinyoung for three years, let alone get over him; it was going to be a rough ride if she liked someone new and had to go through it all over again.

Plus—and she hated to admit it because it made her so frustrated but it was hard to lie to herself—she felt like she would never find anyone she liked as much as Jinyoung. They were bold words, she knew, but Jinyoung was everything and she liked all of him. It was just one of those feelings that she couldn't explain why or how—she just knew. She liked him for him, and she didn't know if she could find anyone to replace him.

Number two rule, be different. Back in high school when she was just quiet and shy, she missed out on too much; she was too wrapped around her own world, one that particularly involved Jinyoung, and she wanted to break out and find her place in reality. Eunmi didn't want to be the same girl that Jinyoung had so easily walked all over because she didn't know what to do with herself or do around him; she was going to show him—to everyone—that she was stronger and better than that. She would be someone he could have never imagined.

And with nothing holding her back, Eunmi approached university with her arms stretched out wide and grasping every opportunity she got—until she finally rose to become a better version of her, optimistic and enthusiastic and someone who wasn't going to let the past bring her down.

But then she walked into the coffee shop that day and saw Jinyoung and it felt like those past three years of trying to get over him didn't even happen.

(Eunmi wanted to splash herself with coffee for thinking that way.)

Eunmi watched Jinyoung carefully out of the corner of her eye as the two of them prepared dough to be kneaded for the next round of bread rolls. It had been a few weeks since their first encounter, but something inside her still couldn't wrap around the fact that the person next to her was really the Park Jinyoung she used to know.

Shallow as she is, she thought with a huff, the first thing she noticed were his looks. He wasn't just some good looking cute high school kid anymore, hair always groomed properly and uniform always crisp and clean. Jinyoung now had the traces of manliness in him, carrying himself with some kind of slight cocky confidence, unruly hair, and usually wearing clothes that screamed 'hipster-who-raids-the-library-at-one-am'.

If that weren't bad enough, his work clothes were always buttoned up shirts with the sleeves always rolled up— to reveal more toned arms than Eunmi had remembered seeing.

(Eunmi always let out a string of very inappropriate curse words in her head whenever she caught sight of him looking particularly attractive.)

But then as they spent more time together she started to notice how much more different he had become than what she had remembered. The Jinyoung she knew was friendly, kind, and was basically an angel that had fallen from the heavens—he knew everyone, everyone knew him, and he always went out of his way to help those around him and make their day with a compliment or smile.

The Jinyoung she saw now was still friendly and kind—around customers. But around people that knew him, it seemed to Eunmi that he constantly complained, throw around snark, and he didn't give a rat's about sugar coating things all the time anymore; it was like someone had taken the angel in him and thrown him into the deepest pits of hell.

But Eunmi was constantly confused by what she saw; because at times he was the "new" Jinyoung, the one that got her riled up and annoyed and wondering why she didn't pack her bags the minute she knew she'd be working with him, and at other times she'd see glimpses of the "old" Jinyoung, the one with gummy smiles and sweet crinkled eye smiles and the gears in her mind would turn and wonder what's the real him and what's not and has he really changed and maybe has he always been like this—?

It confused her. But no matter what, she told herself, whoever this guy was now—he wasn't the same guy she used to know, so she better not let those years she spent getting over him go to waste. Eunmi didn't want to be a lovesick person anymore over Jinyoung, and no matter what she didn't want to fall in love with him again.

She was determined not to let him run all over her heart again.

(But at the same time she couldn't stop herself from admiring his profile. Why did he have to be so freaking attractive?)

They had progressed from "old classmates" to "work colleagues who got along more than they had expected" (with that slight tense atmosphere around them, but Eunmi couldn't help but acknowledge that it really couldn't be helped due to their past together). The two of them found the other's "new" selves fascinating, and it was like becoming friends with a whole new person.

"Eunmi," Jinyoung called out from the other side of the kitchen as he washed the flour out of his hands, "Do you want to take a lunch break with me?"

Eunmi whipped her head up from the cookies she was wrapping up—the sight of the almost melting chocolate chips made water—and looked at him in confusion. "But my lunch break is later than yours?"

"I asked Jia-noona last week and she said we don't need to take our break at any certain time anymore," he said as he walked over to her to help her wrap the last of the cookies. "Now that Taecyeon-hyung is here for most of the day now, he can cover for us whenever we're out."

"Oh," Eunmi replied dumbly and continued wrapping the cookies mindlessly. She bit her lip. If she agreed to go with Jinyoung, it would be the first time since high school that they... hung out? Does taking lunch break together count as hanging out?

But why was she so hesitant, anyway, if she didn't like him anymore?

She huffed.

"Well, what are you waiting for then," she said as she removed her apron and ruffled her bangs, turning to Jinyoung. "Let's go?"

Jinyoung raised an eyebrow and set down the last cookie. "I almost expected you to say no." He let out an amused laugh.

"But I didn't," Eunmi smirked back at him, "and I'm hungry anyway. Hurry up, loser."

"Slow and steady wins the race," Jinyoung pointed out as he strode past her and out the door, not even holding it out for her and letting it slam in her face.

Eunmi rolled her eyes and followed him out. She couldn't believe this was the guy she used to like.

"Where are we headed to?" Eunmi asked as she struggled to keep up with Jinyoung's long steps. While Jinyoung wasn't particularly tall, he was still a whole head higher than Eunmi—and when he showed off on days like these, Eunmi was particularly annoyed.

"I'm kind of feeling like kimbap today. Is that cool with you?" Jinyoung looked over and smiled so sweetly that Eunmi could have sworn he was still the angel he used to be. After spending the past several weeks with him, Eunmi had almost expected a snooty comeback right after, like 'Ha ha you have no choice anyway since you're stuck with me,' but it never came out.

After a moment's pause Eunmi blinked in a daze. "Um. Sure." She shook her head to snap out of her bewilderment and let a broad grin form on her face. "Can we get ice cream after?"

"What are you, five?" Jinyoung chuckled and poked her forehead.

Eunmi stuck her tongue out at him.

Before she knew it they had arrived at the convenience store and were already tucking into their newly opened packages of kimbap.

Stuffing one into his mouth, Jinyoung was the first to speak up.

"You know, what happened back then—"

Eunmi's eyes up in surprise and she locked a hard gaze on him. He seemed almost taken aback by her suddenly cold behavior.

"Don't."

She let out a deep sigh and put down her chopsticks. "The past is the past," she started. She wanted to clear this up now before Jinyoung got any weird ideas and further ruined what kind of stumbled relationship they had now. "I...do admit that I liked you then, but that was a long time ago. You're different now, I'm different now. So we don't have to talk about it."

Jinyoung slowly nodded. "I figured as much." His gaze was mysterious, and Eunmi didn't know what to make of it. What could it possibly mean..?

"Maybe we could start over?" He offered suddenly. "We got off to a little rocky start, and I'd really like if we...stayed good friends."

Eunmi looked at him in surprise. If what he said is genuine, then Jinyoung really valued their friendship together. Or something. She stared at him for a moment and with resolution, stuck her hand out.

"Fair enough." Jinyoung glanced down at her outstretched hand. "I'm Kim Eunmi, nice to meet you."

Jinyoung laughed in amusement and there seemed to be a little twinkle in his eye. "Park Jinyoung. Nice to meet you too." He said as he shook her hand firmly. His hands were soft, his fingers long as they grasped hers.

Friends, Eunmi thought in her mind with a nod. Just friends. She wouldn't fall for him again; she couldn't—he wasn't the same person she liked before. She wasn't going to let love happen so easily anymore.

Jinyoung sent her a polite smile, and for a second Eunmi thought she saw the old Jinyoung again. "So..." Jinyoung racked his mind for a conversation topic. "How's university?"

Eunmi chewed on her kimbap thoughtfully before replying. "It's great," she confessed finally, catching his eye. "I felt like the time I spent there really helped me break out of my shell more, you know? My experiences really helped me for the better."

It especially helped her to deal emotionally with her rejection, she thought privately to herself. But she couldn't tell him that—that she basically spent all this time trying to get over him; she'd rather fling herself off a cliff than admit it.

"How about you?" She asked.

Jinyoung shrugged. "Truthfully, high school really burned me out so I've been taking university pretty easily in comparison. My communications major isn't too much of a challenge, so when I'm not at the environmental club I'm usually just at work trying to busy myself or reading in the library."

"Environmental club?" Eunmi repeated with a raised eyebrow with a grin. "Still a tree hugger, I see."

"Oh shut up, Eunmi," Jinyoung said as he puffed his cheeks and blew on his bangs. "At least I care about the environment, unlike somebody." He eyed her plastic water bottle in frustration and glanced back to his own reusable one.

"Hey, I care about the environment!" She protested in return.

"You don't even like nature," Jinyoung retaliated, rolling his eyes. "Remember that potted cactus? It died, and I don't see how you managed to kill it when it doesn't even need that much water. And that camping trip, good heavens."

Eunmi decided to ignore his statement and dutifully turned her attention back to her kimbap.

"Well opposite of you, my mathematics major is a pain, and I still have debate team, student council, and drama club right on top of that." Eunmi didn't want to make it seem like she was rubbing it in his face—even though she totally, totally was and was totally enjoying it—so she moved on. "Although I hate how we still have to take totally unrelated classes like history. I've got finals in a couple months but I can't bring myself to study for it."

"Oh, I'm taking history this year too," Jinyoung said suddenly, finishing his last kimbap. "Do you wanna get together for study sessions? We could help each other."

Eunmi almost spit out her food. First he asks her to lunch, and now he wants to be study partners? He must really want to patch up their friendship, she grimaced. Or maybe he just felt guilty from before. She glanced at him.

Well, if it means she got to see him more often and outside of work... Eunmi shook her head. Did she want to see him? Did she not?

But—she managed to convince herself—they're just friends. So she shouldn't even be worrying about it.

"Like the good old days?" She faked an easy laugh, the one she did when she tried to casually mentioned the past in front of him without mentioning the confession. "I remember I asked you for help in literature all the time. Are you going to be able to help me in history too?"

Jinyoung's eyes crinkled a little as he smiled tensely. "History isn't my best subject either, but it wouldn't hurt to be in the presence of someone who mutually dislikes the subject." His smile turned into a cheeky grin.

"Sure then," Eunmi rolled her eyes, "it sounds like a good idea. Does Saturday in the library by the park sound good?"

"Saturday might be a little busy for me," Jinyoung said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "I have 'sleep in and eat all day' scheduled for the entire afternoon."

(Eunmi would have smacked him for being sassy but she wanted to make sure his brains was still in tact for their study session. She could use a tutor and Jinyoung was smart, after all.)

It was finally time for ice cream, and with 20 minutes to spare until their lunch break was over, the two sat inside the air conditioned ice cream shop by the window, their ice cream cones leisurely.

As they sat in silence, Eunmi wasn't surprised to find that his favorite ice cream flavor hadn't changed—chocolate. Plain, safe, predictable, is what she had tried to convince herself all these years that he was. Back when she was trying to get over him, trying to convince herself not to like the sweet gentle guy who was nice to everyone and nice to her.

But it was only recently that she realized just how much he was like chocolate—popular, whether he knew it or not, and well-liked, because he was both mild of a flavor when you look at him from the outside but also one with a peculiar, bold taste once you got to know him. Everyone knows chocolate, everyone's used to it; but when they take the time to really appreciate it, they are truly surprised by how flavorful chocolate can really be.

Eunmi stared down at her own ice cream cone, with a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on top. She supposed she was like mint too; there was that cool, icy flavor to her on the outside, almost unapproachable—and maybe that's what she was in high school, quiet because she didn't know how to approach people and people didn't know how to approach her because she had a cold look—but when you finally bit into it, there was the freshness of the mint and the sweet and loud crunch of the chocolate chips.

She smiled.

Jinyoung gave her a puzzled look. "Why are you smiling?" He teased, and she shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, her ice cream, "I was just remembering...how I broke out of my shell during university."

At this he looked at her again in interest. "And how did that happen?" He must be curious, she thought, since once upon a time he tried to help her break her shyness too. She tried to shake the thought out of her mind. Stop comparing the present to the past.

But Eunmi sure as hell couldn't tell him that one of the biggest reasons she changed herself was because she tried to get him out of her mind. That would be awkward.

"I just decided to be a little more self-confident," she shrugged, tucking a hair behind her ear unconsciously, "and I guess I decided I didn't want to hide myself. I'm not really sure. It happened gradually. Maybe I just wasn't scared anymore."

To be honest, in high school she was extremely self-conscious. She didn't want people (especially Jinyoung) to see her doing something weird or ugly or embarrassing so she was so quiet, keeping to herself. Even after befriending Jinyoung, a part of her did want to be more friendly, but around him she was always so nervous. After graduation, she didn't want to hold herself back anymore because of anybody else.

Jinyoung didn't look at her for a while before speaking up again. "That's good," he said finally, giving her a smile, "I'm glad it came from yourself. I was wondering if you were influenced by the people around you or a boyfriend or something."

Eunmi almost choked on a chocolate chip. He thought she had a boyfriend? Oh please. After that whole fiasco with him...she was afraid of confessing again, of having her heart broken.

There were a few guys who had expressed interest in her before. Some of them were nice, some of them were not, some of them were really really handsome—and Eunmi didn't want to be shallow but hot damn they were good looking, what the heck were they doing trying to ask her out—but honestly, she didn't feel attracted to them. Every time they tried to, an image of Jinyoung would flash into her mind, no matter how hard she tried to push him away.

Ugh. She kind of hated him for doing that to her.

"Well," Eunmi tried to explain without looking at him in the eye, "joining the debate team really helped me express myself more, as with my other activities—but a boyfriend, no. I'm not really interested in dating."  She nervously laughed and tried to change the topic. "So, um, what about you?"

"Am I interested in dating?" He asked her incredulously in response and she shrieked, shaking her head furiously.

"No!" She protested, then tried to calm herself down. She did not have to be so antsy about learning his love life but she really really didn't want to know. "No. I mean, your previous question. How you changed since high school."

Jinyoung gave her a sly smirk and for a second she wanted to smack him. "Oh, that." He shrugged mockingly. "I guess I didn't want to hide myself."

Eunmi sighed exasperatedly. "Come on, I answered seriously, so you should too."

"But it is true!" He pouted slightly before turning his lips into a grin. "This is kind of awkward to confess—" Eunmi winced a little but he didn't seem to notice. "—but I tried really hard to be the goody two shoes I was. Like really hard. I mean I know I'm nice and gentle and handsome and all—"

"It seems your modesty hasn't gone anywhere," Eunmi dead panned sarcastically.

He ignored her. "—but I was also trying really hard to be too nice. Too good. I don't know why, but it felt like I had to keep up some image or reputation." Jinyoung sighed and looked at her in a way that seemed like he was hoping she'd understand. "I'm not saying I was completely pretending to be what I'm not. I really wasn't. I truly did want to help people and be kind and do nice things. But I also didn't want to show the other side of me; so I tried to bury that deep and emphasize only the good. But it was also exhausting."

Eunmi listened intently with wide eyes. So was that why he seemed so different now...but sometimes still the same person he was before? She figured that the side of him he tried to hide (his annoying, whiny, sarcastic, judgmental, snarky side of him) was the side she was seeing more often now. But her head was spinning as she tried to catch up. Was this side of him now—was it the real him? Was the guy she liked before just a small part of something bigger and she just never realized it?

Jinyoung stared at his ice cream as he continued. "It happened gradually. I think when we graduated, I decided I didn't want to keep up with my 'wonder boy' title anymore. I still wanted to be nice, to help people...but I wanted to do it Jinyoung style. I wanted to stop sugar coating things all the time and be honest with others and myself. If I want to say something snarky I will. If I want to complain or nag or sometimes just not be polite then I will."

He turned to her with his signature eye smile and shrugged. "But sometimes I fluctuate back and forth between both sides of me and I guess I'm just some weird blend of both."

They finished their ice cream and headed out, shielding their eyes from the sun as they walked down the stretched sidewalk back to the coffee shop.

Eunmi didn't realize just how similar the two of them actually were. She had spent the greater part of high school looking to him as her inspiration, the 'wonder boy Jinyoung' being a standard she longed to live up to, but she had never known there was more to him than his shining image. Too many thoughts wrapped around her head, wondering now if she really liked Jinyoung back then if it was more of just the image of him, and if he realized he had entrusted her with something personal and secret even though they weren't even close friends anymore, and does that mean they were becoming closer friends then, and oh gosh had she really even known Jinyoung back then—

She felt something warm wrap around her wrist. In a panic, she snapped out of her daze to see Jinyoung's fingers tightly grabbing onto her wrist and pulling her right towards him. Her eyes flicked back and forth between his hand and his eyes and she felt her breath hitch.

"You were moving too close to the road," he said easily before dropping her arm and frowning. "Good thing I was here or you would have gotten yourself run over."

Eunmi puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Unnecessary comment, but thanks."

Her wrist was still tingling from his touch and she tried to pretend it didn't bother her.

(It did.)

When the two arrived back at work, Taecyeon was busy handling the cash register and taking charge of the drinks, and didn't need much help since the lunch rush hour was over and the shop was quiet.

They were stuck with cleaning duty instead, and their first order of business was to take out the trash, which consisted of bagfuls of crumpled up plastic wrappers and half filled cups of coffee and crumb-filled, soiled napkins.

"This stinks," Eunmi grumbled in annoyance.

"Of course it stinks, what did you expect," Jinyoung replied cheerfully as he easily carried four bags of trash into the back alleyway.

Eunmi threatened to throw her shoe at him.

"Taecyeon-oopa should be the one doing the heavy work, he's stronger, but noooo, he insists on taking the orders even though he can never remember how to use the freaking cash register." She looked at him pointedly and with a grimace.

"I'm not happy either," he protested, "but it's hilarious to watch him run around frantically when it's rush hour and he doesn't know how to do squat," Jinyoung replied with a hearty laugh, dramatically wiping a pretend tear from his eye. "It gets me every time."

Eunmi just huffed in response as Jinyoung proceeded to complain about how all the trash was ridiculously bad for the environment.

"Calm down your crazy Jinyoung," she managed to retort after struggling to throw one of the bigger bags into the trash can. "You can't expect everything to be recyclable."

"The customers should be bringing their own reusable containers like I do," Jinyoung blabbed, easily taking one of the trash bags and tossing it over. (Damn those strong muscular arms, Eunmi complained bitterly to herself.) "Then we could reduce use of paper cups and we won't worry about so much piling up in the landfills. And we could dramatically reduce paper production by at least 97%. Don't even get me started on napkins. Sure, they're disposable, but the way people waste them is ridiculous..."

Finally they were done taking out the trash and after washing up, they proceeded to clean the empty tables to get ready for the after-work rush, with Eunmi wiping down the tables and Jinyoung sweeping up the floors. With no customers, Taecyeon busied himself by silently reading the newspaper. ("Who even reads printed newspapers?!" Jinyoung had whisper-yelled to Eunmi when they were far enough from the counter. "Don't even think about bringing up recycling again," Eunmi whispered back threateningly.)

"I'm kind of bored and the silence is kind of nerve wracking," Jinyoung complained loudly after a while. They had finished cleaning the entire shop and there were still no customers.

"Chill out Jinyoung," Taecyeon called from behind the counter. He had moved on from his newspaper and was playing on his phone—probably Angry Birds or something, Eunmi thought with a grin—"It's barely 2 p.m. There aren't going to be customers for a while."

"Why are you still here, anyway? Shouldn't you be gone by now?"

Taecyeon placed a hand over his heart. "Ouch much? You want me gone already?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "You two want some alone time, is that it?"

Eunmi's cheeks turned red and Jinyoung flushed, annoyed. "Oh, be quiet Hyung," he scoffed. "I'm just concerned for your well-being. Eunmi and I can handle the shop anyway. You've been here since opening time."

"Right you are, good sir," Taecyeon shot them both a large grin and stood up. His tall and muscular frame cowered over the counter and Eunmi wondered what a guy like that was doing working in a coffee shop when he could have easily been a model or even an idol. "I was supposed to clock out an hour ago but I'm waiting for some shipments to arrive first so I can help bring them in."

As if right on cue, delivery trucks outside rumbled, and Taecyeon smoothly made his way past them and outside with a smirk. "See you two kiddies later," he twiddled his fingers as he passed.

After the door slammed shut behind him, Jinyoung made a face and Eunmi couldn't help but giggle. "He's interesting, isn't he?" She said.

"Hyung's a good guy, but he's such a tease." Jinyoung replied as the two made their way behind the counter, Eunmi positioning herself by the register and Jinyoung loitering by the drink machines.

"By the way," he spoke up suddenly, turning his heel to face Eunmi, "I'm going to be leaving shift a little early from now on. I'm taking a two hour class starting at four. You okay staying here until eight o'clock as usual?"

Eunmi brushed him off. "I'll be fine." She could take care of herself. And she had been on the job longer than he had, so it's not like she needed him to protect her or anything like that. "What class are you taking?"

"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's...a theater class." As Eunmi's mouth began to open, he shook his head and he hurried on. "Before you say anything, I wasn't interested in acting much until Jaebum—you remember Jaebum right? He's kind of my height, looks like a kicked puppy sometimes—got me into movies, particularly adaptions of original stage plays, and then I got into the actual plays, and I kind of thought it would be cool—"

Eunmi laughed and patted Jinyoung's shoulder. (When she realized what she was doing she tried to play it off casually, but she was touching his freaking shoulder and god no it wasn't flirting.) "Chill out Jinyoung," she reassured him, giving him a pat before pulling away quickly, before he noticed, "You don't have to be nervous about it."

"I know," he grimaced, "but somehow I feel a little embarrassed talking about it because it feels like it's a little unexpected of me. Would you have imagined I'd try to get into acting?"

Eunmi's lips turned downward as she thought carefully for a minute. "No," she replied slowly, careful to not sound incredulous, "You just seemed more of the guy to write the script behind the scenes, or be behind the camera rather than in front of it."

Jinyoung's back slumped over as he sighed. "Maybe I'm not cut out for it? I signed up on a whim and... what if they make me doing something crazy?"

"Don't say that!" Eunmi's voice was a pitch higher than usual, but at that moment she didn't care. Jinyoung was the guy who used to cheer everyone up when they were down, and to see him so nervous now made Eunmi want to return the favor. "You haven't even gone to a class yet. If you don't try you'll never know. But if you love it, you'll do great, I know you will." She hoped she sounded convincing, as compliments weren't her greatest strength, but her worries vanished when Jinyoung's lips turned upward slightly.

"You think so?" He asked as Eunmi nodded furiously. "...Thanks Eunmi. It really means a lot." He gave her a smile. "By the way, what were you going to say earlier? Sorry for cutting you off."

"Oh," she blinked, then gave him a shy grin, "I was just going to blab about how much I liked stage plays too. I think I mentioned before that I'm in drama club! But I mostly do technical work behind the scenes. My major is a lot of work so I don't have time to memorize lines and all of that, although it looks like a lot of fun."

"Really?" Jinyoung's eyes widened. "How did you get into stage plays too?"

"Same as you, through movies," she laughed in response, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But I was more interested in the actual cinematography. So I mostly take the videos of the school plays so we can make DVDs afterward."

It was such a coincidence for both of them to like movies and theater, and Eunmi realized that back in high school, she would have cried tears of joy for having something in common with the guy she liked.

She felt a little bitter that she only became better friends with him now, when she didn't like him anymore. It was funny how life worked that way.

She was even beginning to be more comfortable around Jinyoung, which she couldn't say the same for in the past—he made one move and she tensed up like a log and made sure there was no food in her teeth and tried really hard to act sweet and feminine but now here she was giving him snarky remarks and patting his shoulder and—

"What's your favorite play?" Jinyoung asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Anything with a good plot?" Eunmi grimaced at her lame answer, so she tried again to elaborate. "I especially like tragedy or mystery because they're so tense and I'm practically on the edge of my seat dying to know what happens next," she giggled, thinking back to previous experiences she'd had in excitement. "One play that I really liked recently was an adaption of Bonnie and Clyde."

"Me too!" Jinyoung's voice was enthusiastic and Eunmi felt the joy radiating from him. "I really like plays like that." His eyes caught hers and his eyes crinkled as he smiled widely. "There's a showing of Macbeth this weekend at the theater downtown. Do you want to watch after we're done studying?"

"No way, really?" Eunmi's eyes lit up and she nodded her head in surprise. She wasn't a big fan of Shakespeare, as she probably figured Jinyoung was—his strength was literature, after all—but after watching one of her school's renditions of it she had grown to love the story. "Yes! We should definitely go!"

Jinyoung looked ecstatic, more excited than Eunmi had ever remembered seeing her before. He was really cute when he was excited, she thought to herself before realizing and shaking her head furiously. Not cute in an attractive way, but cute like a little puppy jumping up and down—

"Great!" Jinyoung's enthusiasm was overflowing. "It's a date then!"

Eunmi's eyes locked on him faster than she could say "cute".
 

(Did he just say it was a date?!)

(a/n) — sorry for the long wait! i've been working on it all month but i didn't want to keep you all waiting much longer /o/
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