Heretofore

V

 

The sun was shining ever so brightly accompanied by songs of birds which heralded the coming of noon day. Eunhae entered La Grazia, earning a surprise look from Miss Mina who was fixing something beside the front desk.

"Eunhae!"

"Good afternoon, miss!"

"The boy...he came back." Miss Mina informed with excitement on her face.

"Who? Chanyeol?"

Seeing the blue paper flower that was placed on the desk, Eunhae smiled. Relief was evident in her eyes as if she's been waiting for this all along. It had been a while since she last received one—a long while.

"He just went out a few minutes ago." The older one informed.

"Really?"

Just before Miss Mina could make a reply, Eunhae found herself running towards the door.

It was at the right side where Eunhae saw Chanyeol who was already a few distance away from her. Just by seeing his ebony hair from afar and his familiar stature, Eunhae didn't have to wonder if it was him.

"Chanyeol!"

Hearing his name, Chanyeol looked back and saw Eunhae dashing towards him.

"W—wait." She bent down, coughing as she tried to catch her breath.

Surprised, he walked to her, giving her a look of concern. "Eunhae, are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said as soon as her coughing stopped. "Hello, Chanyeol."

"Oh, hello."

When she finally straightened herself, Eunhae averted her gaze to him. It was evident on his face that he was stunned to see her at that moment.

"Thank you," said Eunhae.

He furrowed his brow. "Thank you?"

"Yes, for the uhm...for the paper flower."

Hearing her response, his certain grin appeared once again. "Eunhae, you ran this distance for that? Just to say thank you?"

"Well...uhh...yeah."

The both of them chuckled and for a while, they just gazed at each other. The brown orbs of his eyes sparkled beneath the sun. There was something in them that enthralled Eunhae. It's as if his eyes were full of endless fascinating stories that she wanted to dive in.

Neither of them knew how long it took them to get out of their trance and when they finally did, Chanyeol cleared his throat and tucked his hands inside the pockets of his pants as he tried to suppress a chuckle.

"You came back." She smiled.

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, I have to go. Again, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Chanyeol stared at Eunhae as she turned back and walked away. He was about to start his steps when he looked at her once again, feeling a slight tension rising from his chest. Scratching his head, he bit his lip and convinced himself to walk away yet as he felt the centimeters between them grew, he found himself shoving away boulders of hesitation and nervousness. He jogged towards her, and called her name. "Eunhae!"

"Yes?" She turned without a thought, as if she was waiting for it all along.

"Do you want to watch the stars?"

"Pardon?"

"Later, I mean." He informed.

Eunhae blinked at his simple invitation. It was her first time to encounter someone who invited her just to watch the stars.