my serotonin // xikers hyunwoo

12.

today the park is more crowded. i sit down on the bench and lean back, taking my phone out of my hoodie pocket. 10 minutes til 3pm. managed to come faster. i thought i was going to be late because i had to drop my jacket back at house. it is getting warmer with each day. crossing my arms, i close my eyes. playing instruments... i never thought that the professor would suggest that i do that. i've never performed for anyone in school, yet they heard that i am good at it. i laugh to myself silently. she looked so surprised and excited when she heard that. maybe i could talk to my teacher to let us in the studio one day...

"having a good dream?" i open my eyes and in front of me is y/n. leaning forward and tilting her head to one side slightly. a soft smile appearing on her face. "you're smiling from ear to ear. what were you dreaming about?" of all the times she could have arrived, she had to arrive just right at this moment when i thought about her... related to school? "nothing interesting" i push back, but i forgot i was already leaning against the bench. hah, what luck i have. "almost believed that" she scoffs to herself and slowly makes her way into the park. why did she have to come close and do all that...? i take my backpack and catch up to her. she still has that silly smile on her face, hands in jackets pockets, walking carefree. "very entertaining?" she nods at me, her smile only growing bigger. someone's in a good mood.

"have you thought of anything for our work?" not letting the silence to settle, she speaks as we make our way on the main road. "only that we could go to the studio one day" "woah, you are such great musician that you own a studio?" is she mocking me right now? even though she looks surprised, her tone and that smile hints that it was sarcasm. what is it with her today? "no. i have to call my vocal teacher to let us in" "that'd be great" as if she just didn't have fun talking about me being a great musician. she just looks around at everything with her usual smile. the nature again i bet. "for how long have you been learning to sing?" that caught me off guard. she was just looking around and now is facing me. gosh, she is so unpredictable today.

"four or five years?" "then you must be good at it" "you could say so" she only nods at my response, but as soon as she looks back at the sidewalk her eyes widen. what now? is it kyung... i take her jacket and pull her to the other side of the sidewalk. an insolent cyclist passes by not looking back. without even warning us that he was near. idiot. i feel heart beating rapidly. it's not mine though. then i notice y/n, her standing close to me while looking at me in surprise. what am i... i take my hand away and put both hands in my pocket. "first a tree, now a cyclist? not a place where to step up the game" "what...i was not the only who almost got knocked down?" "your impact on me" i smile. it's so funny how she gets mad and annoyed. i laugh more about me daydreaming in the park. what if it really is her impact on me? i laugh to myself being amused by these thoughts. "so... am i going to be first one seeing you sing in the stu..." oh trying to switch topics? funny, i am not letting that slide. "no. minjae, sumin, jinsik and yujun were first" "of course"

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finally, we are at the "me:et". someone really couldn't let it slide that i made a single remark at the park as he always does. i open the doors and hold it for him. he looks at me smiling proudly and enters the cafe. mhm annoying choi hyunwoo. "hey y/n! great to see you two again" the barista smiles at me while cleaning glasses with a towel. she looks at hyunwoo, but he goes to the table we sat last time without answering to her greeting. she only shrugs her shoulders and continues to do her work. "so i can expect to see you two here often" "not 100% but you can say so" i put my elbows on the counter and look up at the menu. she puts the glasses away in the shelves and looks at the screen too. "can't decide what to get?" "yes...there's mostly coffees this time" the barista looks through all the menu, thinks for a while, and then suddenly smashes her palms on the counter, making me jump. "let me make you something that is not on the menu. you'll love it" "you sure?" she is already taking jars of ingredients and a large glass, looking back at me with a smile "very sure" a laugh escapes from my mouth. that's what i love about this place. friendly service and very good drinks.

"what will your prince charming have" "i don't know...you said what?" she starts to laugh heartily while putting the ingredients in the blender. as she presses the glowing blue button, the blender mutes her laugh. ha ha ha so funny. i guess i should never make annoying remarks like hyunwoo or it'll come back to me doubled. as the blender stops i bend over the counter. "listen we are just working together?" "really?" she says it so sarcastically while she pours the smoothie-like liquid in the glass. "he smiles at you, but he gave me a cold glance" she seriously... he became my prince charming because of that? "he is just hard to get along with" she nods back at me while making my drink. as i can see she is not fully convinced with my response. i'd rather just go and start studying than deal with either of them. "i'm going to the table" she waves her hand in approval.

hyunwoo had already set up everything on the table while i was chatting with the barista. programs already opened up on the laptop, he is sitting back on the sofa hands crossed. i put my bag on the sofa and sit next to him. "the barista asked if you'd like to order something" "i heard it" "mhh okay" he heard it...wait did he hear it all? he is looking at me with that usual hyunwoo smile. can i just disappear from the face of the earth? "so, i'm hard to get along with huh" my mouth has completely no filter. brain left my cranium when i decided to talk about it to the barista. applause y/n applause. "no. let's just study" he laughs again and slid his headphones to my side of the table. "you can listen to my work while i order" he stands up and leaves. thank goodness he didn't snap back with a hyunwoo comment. he can annoy me sometimes, but he can sense when to stop. and he's kind. well i wouldn't call him prince charming but... y/n, enough.

i take his headphones and put them on. i scoot over to his seat and look at his computer. a map with five files. each file has the name of the location i have chosen. forest trek. i click on it. first there is silence. just when i was about to check the volume, a low and deep string instrument started to play. it didn't surprise me or throw me off. more like a pleasant start. a welcome. as music continued to play, more instruments and sound effects appear. my eyes close. how could he portray it so perfectly in the music? it reminds me of that place as i listen to it. the sandy and rocky treks, wind whistling in the forest. that time i ran away from grandmother's house. sleeping in the soft grass and watching the trees sway, birds fly. i felt so free... the music starts to become quieter. instruments fading out one by one. so do my memories too. i open my eyes and remove headphones.

my drink is on the table and hyunwoo is sitting next to me in my seat looking at me. "how long have you been sitting here?" he sat back, looks at me then computer, and lastly my drink before looking at me again. "for a while. didn't want to disturbed you. you looked so immersed" it felt like a small amount of time had passed, but the audio is about five minutes long. he hasn't started to drink his drink yet, so was he watching me all this time? ay don't be wild guessing, he probably was just politely waiting for me to finish listening to the music. "though you've never been there, how did you portray it so well?" hyunwoo opens his mouth, but doesn't say anything. stays silent for a moment. "glad to hear that" he takes the headphones and puts them in my hands. "listen to all of them. you only heard one" he takes his drink and takes a long sip. he's odd...? whatever, i put the headphones on and go to the second file. "wait hyunwoo, take my computer and look at what i made too" he opens the lid of my computer while i get back to where i had stopped. second file. waterfall. play.

5th audio stops playing. i have to say that hyunwoo really is talented. around 30 minutes have passed since i started to listen to all these instrumentals. i take off hyunwoo's headphones. "finished?" hyunwoo clicks the pen and puts it back on the table as he notices that i am done. he wrote notes for me? "you wrote notes about my work?" "mhm, i finished looking through it faster so i just put the time to use" not like one or two notes but quite a few. meanwhile, the barista came to our table to collect hyunwoo's empty glass. oh shoot, i haven't even started to drink the drink she made for me. "i tried so hard, yet you just obsess with homework" "my bad" i take the glass and raise it up at her. she smiles at that and leaves. i look at hyunwoo "so what do you think?"

he takes a look back at my work in progress and goes to the first page. "never been to those places, so i can't say much" "but..." he slides the notes towards me "i wrote some of my ideas about each place which i think would help the work" he has written everything down narrowly. that's so generous...no one has ever offered me even this much help. sharing his opinions with me. "what about the instrumentals?" "i still think the same after listening to all five tracks. i wonder how it will turn out after adding some vocals to it" "no suggestions?" "i don't know that much about music but i trust you. with everything that you make. if the music made me feel like i was there, i think there's nothing to fix"

just a little odd silence between hyunwoo and y/n. hyunwoo has heard plenty of compliments. he is talented, his singing is beautiful. he could be a musician and more. but hearing this, it was first time he couldn't say thank you after receiving a compliment. his head is blank. but he had to say something. not the greatest thing though. "for how more longer are you going to hold the drink?" y/n realized she's been holding it all this time and still hasn't taken a single sip. "well i was not given a chance to drink it" she finally took a sip from the drink and when it reached her tastebuds her eyes widened. "oh my, what is this!?" she says it so loud that the barista heard it. she laughs "i knew you were going to like it" hyunwoo laughs at her reaction. he had noticed that she gets excited about small things. she empties half of the glass and puts it back on the table. "okay so let's do half of our work and then let's grab something to eat outside" "sure, shouldn't we change seats first?" she notices that in front of her is hyunwoo's computer not hers and starts to laugh heartily. she got carried away by how good her drink is. seeing y/n smile, hyunwoo joins her starting to smile too. what little happiness and joy can do to people. this week she's smiling way more often. they switch spots and get to work. y/n reading through hyunwoo's notes and hyunwoo puts his headphones on.

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the signal for taking a break is y/n's rumbling stomach. she goes through the hyunwoo's notes one last time and clicks the save button on her computer. the notes are really helpful. mostly it pointed out some mistakes, but there were a couple suggestions too. about color, shape, material. most of them really helped the models look better as hyunwoo said. she cracked her knuckles and stretched her back. hyunwoo's hands are running across all keyboard as he worked onto something. she tapped his shoulder. he slid off one side of the headphones while still doing his work. "let's go grab something to eat outside" "mhm" he took off his headphones leaving his hair slightly messy. "your hair.." his eyes looked tired after studying for more than two hours. he looks at her while ruffling his hair and getting up. y/n last thing you need is for hyunwoo to catch you staring at him again. she grabs her wallet from her backpack and takes her jacket she had thrown on the sofa. "we'll be back" the barista shows thumbs up while making order for the new costumers. both y/n and hyunwoo head out.

now the streets are filled with people. work hours are over for most of these people so everyone is out enjoying the nice weather. even when the time is way past 5pm it is still warm outside. "there is one really good food truck in the park near here. let's go there?" "yeah sure" it is not that far away. as they reached the first intersection, on the right there is the park already. trees with small green leaves, clouds of blossoms and flowers planted everywhere in the park. the park is buzzing with life. people are either sitting on the bench, on the mats on the ground or just passing through the park. like y/n and hyunwoo.

he notices y/n smiling sweetly, thinking maybe she found the food truck, but no. her eyes travel from the trees with blossoms, up in the skies to the birds who sing all the time and then at the dog that passes by us, full of joy as it holds the dog toy in it's mouth. she closes her eyes and inhales. it's the first time seeing a person who likes nature so much. who changes so drastically when they're in the nature. she exhaled and her smile grows bigger. then she starts to run. "y/n?" what is she doing? he is confused, watching her run to the closest blossom tree. she stops and her head disappears in the clouds of blossoms. "hyunwoo you should come here too!" her head appears out of the blossoms and she has few petals in her hair. seeing her like this makes the corners of hyunwoo's mouth raise unconsciously. he drew near to her as she squats down to pick something up from the ground while he smells the blossoms. they are so.. "they smell so sweet right?" he looks to the right of him and his gaze stops at y/n. she has put a blossom behind her ear while there still were few petals in her hair. that's so... hyunwoo didn't know how to react, his eyes fixed on y/n. forgot that he has to answer.

she snaps her fingers in front of him and he blinks several times. "did we switch roles?" "what?" how does scent of blossoms have to do anything with role switching? what is she talking about? "it's the first time i caught you staring at me, not responding" she chuckled and got past hyunwoo. oh she did not. he closes his eyes and presses his lips in a thin line. it's the flowers not her. and their sweet scent. he doesn't see her smiling like this everyday. that's right, it was a surprise. hyunwoo is not like this. most of the time. as he finally caught up to y/n, the truck is not far away anymore. it is a normal black food truck that offers fast food, but better quality. wraps, hot dogs and corndogs, burgers, salads, fries and all the rest of it. when y/n got to the truck, without looking at the menu she orders "i'd like to have one caesar wrap" a what wrap? "what is that?" he stands next to her hands crossed and looks at the menu to find that wrap y/n just ordered. "like the caesar salad but only in wrap. you should try it" the cashier had already put on the gloves and looks at hyunwoo. "i'll have the same" the cashier shows thumbs up and puts another tortilla wrap on the table.

"not your first time here" "i used to come here often" the meat is being made fresh on spot. the scent travelling around and a nice sizzle that only people around the truck could hear. veggies getting chopped and later everything is assembled on the wrap. all this time y/n watched the process of the wrap making till the cashier put the ready wraps on the counter. "payment together or separate?" "separate" both of them pay, take their food and head back to "me:et". while hyunwoo is still unwrapping the foil, he hears y/n exclaiming in happiness as she already eats the wrap. "woah so fast?" "take the first bite and you'll understand" she takes another big bite and travels to the world of happiness. hyunwoo smiles just by seeing that. he looks at the wrap and it does look appetizing. he takes the first bite. his expression isn't that big like y/n's, but she is true. it does taste great and better than the salad alone. in complete silence they savour every bite of the wrap while going back to "me:et" shoulder to shoulder.

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knock on the table. i take out one of my earbuds and look up. "i am closing the place in 15 minutes" oh wow already? the time in computer shows 8:45pm. oh, it really is late. i nod at her and look at hyunwoo. he is sitting back, hands crossed with eyes closed and moving his head along to music he is listening. i tap his shoulder. he takes of his headphones and glances at me. "they are closing soon" "okay. i'm done anyways" great because so am i. in two hours i managed to fix everything, upgrade some things so tomorrow i can start to think about how to make smaller real life model. saving all the documents again just in case and exiting all the programs and tabs on my computer.

as always hyunwoo is the first one to get ready. he takes my notes and arranges them, putting them on my closed computer as i am ready to load all my stuff in my backpack. oh wow, mr. hyunwoo is now even helping me like this. "well thank you hyunwoo. i am already thankful that you are working with me" he looks at me all serious suddenly. that face of his not impressed. he looks at me and then tries to take my papers away, but i am faster and put them in my bag. "it was not sarcastic. thank you anyways" i zip up my bag and stand up putting it on my shoulder. we leave behind the table with empty glasses and crumpled foil. i go to the counter and the barista has already changed her clothes. "alright teeeeaaaammates, your order total is" she looks at me "8,49" then she looks at hyunwoo "and yours is 7,80". we both pay for our drinks and head out while saying goodbye to the barista and she locks the doors after us. time to finally go home.

at 9pm it has gotten colder and wearing a jacket would be great. thank goodness i thought about taking one with me, so i put it on. though hyunwoo has only hoodie. "you don't feel cold?" "not at all" well anyways i'd never know if he is telling the truth because either his answers tend to be dry like now or smiles and laughs at everything i do. "so what about tomorrow?" he takes his phone out of his pockets and looks through something. "my teacher answered and said he could let us in the studio tomorrow at around 6pm" "great!" he looks away from his phone and looks at me laughing a little bit. oh well i guess my excitement was too big again. "before we could go shopping..." "shopping?" his eyebrow is raised, not understanding me. did he really think i'd ask him to join me on that kind of a shopping trip? "i mean looking and shopping for the items and materials i need for making the models" "oh" he looks away acting like he is having a thought about that. i mean knowing him, he could say no. "alright" oh...nice!

"okay, so big center shopping mall it is?" "mhm" amazing, we will have our work done fast for this week. "where do we meet tomorrow?" hyunwoo points over at he bus stop on the other side of the road. wait...we are already at the park already? that fast? how come the way back home is so fast? "there at?" "1PM?" "okay" i go forward, but hyunwoo doesn't tag along. i look back at him. "i am going to the store before i go home" right, his house is near the park. i go back to hyunwoo and put my hand on his shoulder. oh boy is so confused. he is not ready for what is about to come. "when you go home..." he looks right into my eyes. "be careful not to fall asleep and daydream on that bench again. i won't wake you up this time" his face dropped. before he could say anything back, i turned around and ran away laughing my lungs out. i look back at him and wave "don't forget the bus stop!" he puts his hands in his trousers pockets, tilts his head to the side and a smirk appears on his face. not letting him get away with his annoying comments.