It was 7 in the evening when Sunhee finished doing her laundry at the nearest laundromat to the shop. Hoseok was back in Seoul again but he was too busy to even think about anything else. The difference in their work time was making it harder for them to call up and chat. He was usually working when Sunhee was already done with work. He would be going to bed by the time Sunhee be up and working. They were just nearby but the situation they were in made it seemed as if they were in a long-distance relationship.
Sunhee didn't mind much since she had her own work to keep herself busy. She thrived on the messages and videos he sent. He sometimes sent gifts at the shop. Not the huge grandiose kind of gifts. It was the things he bought when he was away - some trinkets, simple jewelry and even some scrunchies that he said reminded him of her. That was enough.
Sunhee was putting her folded clothes in her basket as her phone rang. Her face broke into a smile as she saw the caller ID. "Babe, how are you?"
"I'm doing fine. Missing my aegi bad," said Hoseok. "Sounds like you're not at the shop."
"I'm not. Doing my laundry nearby. I'm just done by the way," said Sunhee.
"I have a couple of hours of free time. Would you like having dinner with me?" he asked.
"Of course, I'd love to." Sunhee's mind was figuring out the best way to save time at that moment. She eyed her laundry basket and it would definitely not fit into Hoseok's backseat. The walk back to the bakery will take about 10 minutes. She needed to plan really well. "Where are you now?" she asked.
"I'm about 30 minutes away," he answered. He was already in the car from the sound of it.
"Do you have any place in mind?" asked Sunhee.
"No. We got rescheduled at the last minute and are now free. I just want to go out with you and I'm hungry," said Hoseok. "Do you know any good restaurant we could go to?"
Sunhee calculated mentally and started strategizing. For a 2 hours duration, there won't be enough time to go anywhere far from the bakery. Hoseok's 30-minute drive would leave them with an hour and a half - or an hour if he needed to be back from where he was at, on the dot. She knew the restaurants around the bakery would be packed for dinner and getting a table without reservations would be difficult. By the time they could sit and eat, Hoseok would have to leave again.
She had beef bulgogi marinating in her fridge and there's still rice from lunch, enough for both of them. She could cook the beef and have it ready by the time Hoseok arrives. "The dinner rush would be crazy right now and we would have to wait for our turn," she replied. "Are you up for a homecooked meal? I'm planning to have bulgogi tonight."
"That sounds great. Would it be okay? I don't want to cause you much trouble."
"Babe, what are you talking about? Of course it's no trouble. I already have the beef marinating in my fridge," assured Sunhee. "It'll be ready by the time you reach the shop."
"Good. I'll see you there," said Hoseok.
"Drive safe, babe," said Sunhee and made a quick dash outside the laundromat. She was glad she got a wheeled basket for her laundry. It was easier to wheel that off than having to carry it along the way. She was walking as fast as the laundry load permitted her and reached the shop in record time. She put her basket in her room and wore her apron. She went to the speaker and plugged in her phone. She knew she worked faster with the help of some of the songs she had on her list and started to get busy.
There was a knock on the door as she was putting the side dish on the table.
"Right on time," greeted Sunhee as she saw Hoseok at the door.
He hugged her straight away, "In time for my aegi," said Hoseok after he got in. His stomach started to growl, loud enough for Sunhee to hear. "Pardon my tummy," he looked embarrassed.
"You can't control your stomach acid when you're famished. When was your last meal?" asked Sunhee as she removed her apron. She went to her phone and changed her playlist. They might not be able to go to a restaurant to eat so she might as well create an ambience for their impromptu date.
"I don't know. Brunch maybe?" answered Hoseok as he removed his jacket and hanged it at the rack.
"That's a long time ago. Go on and have a seat," invited Sunhee as she filled the bowls with rice. Hoseok went to her and helped to bring the bulgogi to the table.
"Smells fabulous," commented Hoseok as he savoured the aroma of the hot beef in front of him.
"I just hope it's as good as it smells," said Sunhee. "Enjoy your meal."
"Thank you for the food," said Hoseok before digging in. He then groaned appreciatively. "This is really delicious," praised Hoseok.
"You're not just saying that right?" she asked.
"No, really. This is the best I've had," he pointed to the bulgogi.
Sunhee was glad and put a piece of beef in his bowl before eating her food. Hoseok was clearly hungry that he had a second serving of rice. They ate until everything was finished.
"I ate well," said Hoseok patting his tummy. He then helped Sunhee clearing the table. He was about to wear the dishwashing gloves to wash the dishes until Sunhee stopped him.
"Leave it," Sunhee put her hand on the gloves and returned it to their place. "I'll do it later."
"Aegiya, I didn't even bring you anything and just barged into you like this. Let me do the dishes," he protested.
"I haven't seen you in ages and every minute spent on those dishes is ticking away. We have a very limited time and I plan to make full use of it. Let's just sit and I'll make you coffee," she pulled him to the chair and went to make iced americano for him. "I'll pack it to go so you can drink this along the way back. You're going to need this," said Sunhee as she started to put the coffee in.
Hoseok trailed behind her, watching her making the drink. She was very efficient and thoughtful. "Thank you," said Hoseok as he hugged Sunhee from behind as she put the lid on his coffee cup. "I really appreciate this," he continued.
"All for my babe," she turned and hugged him back. "It's just coffee," she said.
"It's much more than that," Hoseok took the coffee from her hand and put it on the table. He skillfully twirled her around to the song that was playing at the speaker. "Let's dance," he said, pulling another move around her.
Sunhee laughed and executed a simple step touch and body roll, "I haven't danced since forever. I may have pulled a muscle or two doing that without warm-ups."
"You still have the moves," said Hoseok, dancing along with her.
"I'm rusty," said Sunhee.
Hoseok pulled her close and proceeded to kiss her. He then deepened the kiss as he lifted her up on the baking table. Just then his phone rang. "Damn the timing," he cursed as he accepted the call. "Give me a break, will you? The two hours is not up yet," he said to the phone and disconnected it.
"That happens a lot," giggled Sunhee. "Babe, what is it with you and this table? I'm never going to see this table the same ever again," Sunhee went down from it with Hoseok's help and sat on the stool.
"That's good. Look at the table when you work and think of me," he winked and his dimple deepened as he sat next to her.
"I don't need this table to think of you. You're already in my head all the time," replied Sunhee. She looked at the table thoughtfully. "We're going to need a couch," said Sunhee out of the blue. Then her mind went blank. A couch for what?
Hoseok smiled even more. "For?" he prompted. He knew where that was going.
"For you to sit," replied Sunhee quickly.
"Just to sit?"
"It's much more comfortable than the baking table," blurted Sunhee, trying helplessly to divert the conversation. "No, not the baking table. The stool. Yes, that stool is uncomfortable," she stuttered.
Hoseok kept his laugh in and planned to tease her some more. He went closer to her, "What can we do on the baking table that we can do on a couch?" he said, emphasizing the 'we' part. "You were not talking about baking bread now, were you?"
Sunhee flushed. She needed another diversion, fast. "I'm going to move to an apartment in a fortnight," said Sunhee, effectively changing the subject. The construction works already started and Sunhee had to start moving out. The first phase would only involve the next-door shop. The bakery would be next.
That veered his attention from the teasing. "That's good. Does it have a kitchen island with a wooden countertop?" asked Hoseok.
"No, it doesn't," she answered.
"My offer still stands and my house is still unoccupied," he countered. "You can move in any time."
"Maybe that's because of the high rent that you set?" guessed Sunhee. "Sorry, babe. My answer is still no."
Hoseok looked at her unamused. "Okay, fine. I accept that," he sighed. "So, where would that house be?"
"Still in Yongsan, so I'm not far from here. It's a studio apartment with a kitchen big enough for me to bake if I feel like it," said Sunhee.
"Is it safe?" he asked again. "Give me the address, I want to check," he asked. Sunhee gave him that and he started to look upon the area through his phone.
"I have the pictures of the place," Sunhee took out her phone and handed it to him. Hoseok scrolled through the gallery. It looked quite spacious and as she said, there was a nice sized kitchen. The house looked comfortable and homey. "It's fully furnished and I don't have much stuff with me anyway," she continued. "I can fit in an oven and a mixer on the kitchen counter."
Hoseok couldn't help himself but just scroll through the rest of her pictures on her phone. Most of it was pictures of bread, some pictures of her and the staff. There were some of her with an older version of her which he concluded was her mom and that was it. "No pictures of your boyfriend?" asked Hoseok.
"That's in a different folder," answered Sunhee as she took her phone. She was about to give it to him but stopped in an afterthought. "Give me your phone first. You looked through my gallery and I sure want to know what you have in yours," Sunhee held her other hand up, gesturing for his phone.
"Feel free," said Hoseok. He was about to pass her his phone, but then paused. "I don't take any nude pictures, FYI," he stated.
Sunhee slitted her eyes at him.
"Think I should start?" he went on and Sunhee smacked his lap in response.
"Fine, no nudes," he laughed. They exchanged phones and Sunhee looked through his gallery. There were lots of pictures and his selfies.
Sunhee paused and showed him a picture. "Where did you get this?"
Hoseok looked. It was a really old picture of Sunhee in her trainee year during a dance battle. "I was looking for some stuff in my old box last month. Found that one there so I saved it in my phone."
"Babe, you're so sweet," said Sunhee, pecking his cheek. She continued scrolling. The imp in her made her select the picture she liked and she sent it to her own phone.
Her phone dinged and Hoseok looked at her in surprise. "You saved me in your phone as just 'Hoseok'? How very unromantic of you," he commented.
"What do you expect? That's your name. What do you save me as?" Sunhee asked, and Hoseok's phone dinged.
Sunhee blinked, "Heh, you're a fine one to talk. How can 'Business Partner' be more romantic than your own name?"
"In my defense, I have my manager keeping my phone while we're working," he explained. "I can't simply put 'Girlfriend' for the obvious reason."
"Ooh, this is a treasure chest," said Sunhee happily as she sent more pictures of Hoseok to her phone.
"Ya noona, that's cheating," he protested and started doing the same with her selfie.
"I like what I see. I'm sending it to myself. This is way better than scrolling through the official social media just to get your pictures," said Sunhee as she sent herself some more pictures of him.
"Wait," said Hoseok as he put her phone up and pulled her closer. "Let's take pictures of us while we're at it," they took a lot and Hoseok sent them to his phone straight away.
"You're moving in 2 weeks huh?" he asked as he kept his phone in his pocket after getting it back from Sunhee. "I'll help with the move," he offered.
"Babe, you would be in Taipei at that time," reminded Sunhee. "Don't worry, I don't have a lot of things with me. I'll have Sehun and Dowon help me with it."
"As long as you don't have Jaesuk helping you with it," said Hoseok.
"Why would I get him to help me? He's a working acquaintance, not a friend," said Sunhee. "You don't have to be jealous of him. He's just working with the project and that's it."
"I'm not jealous of him," defended Hoseok.
"Then there's no need to bring him in our conversation. Besides, he's engaged," said Sunhee.
"Really? How did you know that?" asked Hoseok.
"His fiancée tagged along when we were about to have our meeting. Haewon eonnie was with me at that time," explained Sunhee.
"He has a fiancée and still hit on another person? What a douche," commented Hoseok.
"That's none of our business, babe," said Sunhee.
"It becomes my business when I saw him hitting on you," he said firmly.
"That was before we were together."
"That's also a character reference on the people you're working with. I can't tolerate cheaters that much," he said. "So, does this studio apartment of yours have a couch?" Hoseok yelped instantly as Sunhee pinched him in response. He was never going to let go of the talk about the couch. He obviously saw one in the picture and he just had to ask.
"You could clearly see in the pictures there's a sofa. And babe, there's a coffee table, a cupboard and in case you forget, there's even a bed. There's a lot of things we could do there. Don't you want to talk about that too?" dared Sunhee and then cursed aloud. She covered her mouth instantly. Her slip of the tongue was going to be the death of her.
Hoseok looked at her intently. "Do you want me to talk about the bed? It's good-sized for..." and he left it hanging at that as he drew closer to her.
Sunhee turned red and was saved from replying as Hoseok's phone rang again. He answered the call, telling the caller that he'll be there. His time was nearly up.
"The ice melted," said Sunhee, pointing to his coffee and changed the subject yet again.
Hoseok took a sip. "Still good," he said. "I have to go now," he said regretfully. He stood up and took the coffee cup.
"Take care," said Sunhee as they went to the door.
"Someday, I'm going to bring you out for a date at a really nice place," he promised.
"We'll get to that. Just in case you've forgotten, this is a date too, and this place is nice," said Sunhee, cheering him up.
"Thanks for the dinner and the coffee," he hugged her one last time.
"Thanks for spending your time with me," answered Sunhee.
"We have to postpone that talk about the bed some other time," he winked devilishly and side-stepped her quick hand. His reflex was good and he was expecting that.
"Jung Hoseok-ssi!" exclaimed Sunhee.
Hoseok just laughed and went inside his car. "Don't forget to lock the door," he said through his window and waved at her before he drove away. Sunhee waved back and shook her head.
Her mouth. She needed to put a muzzle on it around him.
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Author's Note: The reason I put LANY's Dancing in The Kitchen was because of Hobi himself. He went on VLive a couple of days ago and was playing that song. It got stuck in my head as I was editing this chapter and boy, the song fits perfectly!