Soohyun is arriving at the bus stop Younghee texted him earlier. He gives Younghee a call to tell her that he has arrived at the location. It is actually his first time to pick a girl for a dinner and he doesn't know if he's nervous or excited. It can be both for him at the moment and he takes a deep breath while waiting for Younghee. He prays at least his nervousness will not be showing and for him to look like a normal human being.
Not too long after that, he sees a familiar figure walking towards the bus stop and he knows exactly who that figure belongs to just by the way she walks. He has already memorized Younghee's walking gait after spending his time with her lately.
As she arrives nearer, Soohyun gets off the car so Younghee knows he is there since he's not sure if Younghee has ever seen or noticed his car before.
As Younghee has gotten nearer and nearer to him, he can feel his heart beats like crazy and it's not doing him any good at this moment.
Younghee is looking so beautiful and everyone who passes her must be thinking the same thing, judging from how everybody nears the bus stop is staring at her now.
(Younghee looks something like this, I'm sorry I really need to put this photo bcs she looks so pretty xD)
Younghee comes closer to Soohyun and both of them are smiling at each other while looking right into each others' eyes.
They are stuck in that position for a couple of seconds before they hear a voice coming not far from them.
"Aish, such a beautiful couple." A lady at her 50s greets them and giggles happily.
Younghee and Soohyun just look at the lady awkwardly and bows after.
"I think we should go now." Soohyun says while pointing his finger to his car, sounding a little bit too awkward.
"Yes, we should." Younghee replies and they leave together.
"So where are we heading to?" Soohyun puts on his seatbelt and adjusting the phone to its holder for navigation.
"Uhm, I have a place in mind already. Can we go there if you're okay with it?" Younghee asks Soohyun.
"Okay, just tell me where it is and I'll bring you there."
"It's The Daisy." Younghee anwers while looking towards Soohyun's side.
"You don't really have to treat me at a fancy place though. Any decent place to eat would be just perfect." Soohyun worries that Younghee might spend her money on him. He was just trying to make an excuse to contact her anyways. He doesn't really want to be treated by Younghee.
"No, I really want to bring you there. It was.... It was my mom's favorite place and we used to have dinner there frequently, and I- I kind of missed that place." Younghee says in a low tone.
Soohyun realizes her voice has gotten lower and he can sense that Younghee is tearing up a little.
"Okay then, we're going there. You eat whatever you want to eat or maybe food that brings you your memories with your family back. I'll pay for it. Just order everything in your mind, alright?" Soohyun says, trying his best to calm her down.
"No. I mean- I know you're worried but actually my dad has left quite a huge amount of money for me. I've only used it once for the house's deposit. There' still many of them. It's just I don't really want to use it because I'm saving it for anything important that might come in the future. So, don't worry and just let me pay for it, okay?" Younghee replies, this time her voice has gotten better.
"See? That's for something important in the future. So, don't use it tonight. I-" Before Soohyun continues Younghee interrupts him.
"This- This is important too." Younghee doesn't even know how she had the courage to say so but she did anyways and it's not like she can delete whatever she said. But one thing she knows is that, this moment with Soohyun is truly important and she really wants to share about the place her family used to have their dinner or small celebration together with Soohyun. Being with him gives her a new feeling, and she can't even describe what it is.
Soohyun lost his words. His mouth is opened a little bit as if he is about to say something but has no idea of what exactly he needs to say.
Younghee faces the window, pretending she's enjoying the scenery when she is actually regretting every bit of her words just now.
Soohyun smiles while taking a glance at her.
"You're important too." Soohyun suddenly speaks up after that one-minute awkward silence.
Younghee turns to face Soohyun and she sees him smiling while typing in The Daisy in his navigation application for directions. He knows Younghee is looking at him but pretending to be busy with the navigator seems like the coolest idea he has right now.
Younghee tries to hide her blushing face by lowering her head down a little, her fingers playing with one another and her hearts racing as if she has just finished a whole marathon.
They both smile silently.
After about 20 minutes of driving, they arrive at The Daisy.
Soohyun parks at the spacious parking space not too far from the restaurant.
Younghee looks around while getting off the car and all her memories with her mom and dad flashes into her mind.
She really missed those days with both her parents when they were here.
Now, she has not only lost her mom but also her dad and is left with no other family members. A feeling of loneliness comes strikes at her again.
Soohyun gets off the car too and Younghee quickly erases all those feelings and hide it behind her beatiful smile to not ruin their mood for dinner especially for Soohyun since the purpose of them coming is for him to be treated for his long overdue dinner.
They have ordered some food and Younghee ordered her mom's favourite food for Soohyun since he lets Younghee chooses everything for him.
"The food must be good, right?" Soohyun asks while looking around admiring the beautiful decoration.
"Yea, it's good. I hope you'll like it as much we did." Younghee looks worried thinking the food might not be Soohyun's cup of tea.
"I'll eat anything you know?" Soohyun says with a sweet smile on his face, also admiring the beautiful creature in front of him. This place suits her perfectly, it's full of beautiful flowers and she blooms like a pretty flower too, to Soohyun. It brings him a peace of mind sitting there with Younghee being there with him.
Soohyun is still admiring everything about the place and also taking glances at Younghee in between. He must have missed a lot of things while he was away from his country, studying on the other side of the world.
"Thanks for everything.... Thanks for helping me with that guy, thanks for helping my father too...." Younghee paused for a moment. Soohyun looks at Younghee, putting his 100% attention to her.
"Thanks for the times we had dinner together and thanks for now too."
Soohyun takes a deep breath. Guess it's very normal for him to take his breath everytime he wants to say something to Younghee.
"I should be thanking you too. I'm happy that I can get away off work and do something out of it too. All thanks to you." Soohyun says sincerely.
Younghee just smiles, a meanigful one.
"I grew up with both parents working and most of the times they weren't even with me so we barely got to eat with each other. Then I pursued my studies oversea and it's really hard for all 3 of us to be together at the same time. I was so into studying too that I rarely went out with my friends and here, once I got back, my father opened a sub-company specifically for me to work with software development and AI since I studied those things. I enjoyed it because it was my passion but lately I feel empty... and then you came." Soohyun stops for a while.
"I would say I'm so content now, with your presence. And I'm thankful for that." Soohyun smiles at Younghee. He loves her. He had feelings for her ever since they first met in the club. He went to her when he thought she could be in trouble and he helped her escaped from the guy too. He had feelings for her since then. Even before he knew she was his love through the dreams he had and how desperate he was waiting for her to come without knowing what that feeling really was.
Younghee feels so happy after hearing Soohyun saying all that. She is happy that both of them enjoy each other's presence.
"Thank you." Younghee just said that while smiling.
"And.... It's really important to go out and have some fun instead of just working. Have mercy to your poor mind." Younghee continues.
Soohyun finds Younghee's smile so mesmerizing and her face can brings him calmness anytime.
"Then we'll have to meet each other often. Are you okay with that?" Soohyun says that and Younghee quickly gets how Soohyun is hinting for her to accompany him to go out and have some fun like what she told him to do.
Younghee just nods happily, indicating an agreement.
"But actually you're pretty cool. An AI developer? That's sooo cool." Younghee says, sounding so amazed.
"Oh, it's not like that." Soohyun seems pretty shy listening to Younghee saying him cool.
"By the way, what do you do at college?" Soohyun asks Younghee, he really wanted to know before, especially when he was searching for her.
"I'm majoring in Economics at Seoul University."
"You're a genius then."
"No, I'm not."
"Everybody knows everyone who goes to Seoul University have different level of brain."
"Not me though."
"Yes, you are."
They just laugh after the small argument, purely enjoying the moments together.
Younghee pardons herself to the washroom while waiting for their food to come.
She left her bag and it is a little bit tilted because Younghee's hand accidentally pushed it on the chair.
The waiter comes to serve the food on their table. He kicked Younghee's chair by accident and a small bottle falls down from Younghee's bag and rolls towards Soohyun's foot which he quickly stopped once it's arrived at his foot.
He picks it up and notices it is some type of medication.
He reads the label and it says 'sleeping pills'. Soohyun's eyes widen.
"Oh, that's mine." Younghee carefully takes it away from Soohyun, hoping he did not see it.
Younghee sits down and slowly lifts her head to look at Soohyun's reaction.
"You take that?" Soohyun has mixed reaction. He doesn't know what he is feeling but it's a mixture of sadness, regrets, worried, and pain.
Younghee just nods. "It's just really hard to sleep these days. This helps." Younghee holds the bottle before putting it back into her bag.
Soohyun lets out a heavy sigh and he just nods lightly.
He is suddenly remembered of how tired and exhausted she looked and he can understand it now. She's been lacking sleep and Soohyun knows she's been suffering more than he could know.
Soohyun forces himself to keep looking happy because he doesn't want to let Younghee turning awkward and himself to be the sole reason to ruin the great atmosphere they have been keeping up since the beginning of their dinner tonight.
"It's really good." Soohyun breaks the silence between them. Younghee lifts her head that has been pinned to her food most of the times.
"No wonder your family like it. This dish... I can understand why it is your mom's favorite. It's perfect." Soohyun continues and he tries to sound as cheerful as he can to bring back the fun they had just now. But, it's not that hard since the food is genuinely good and he loves it.
"I'm happy that you like it." Younghee smiles happily.
Younghee puts down her spoon, and she clears her throat.
"Next time, why don't we go to your favorite restaurant too?" Younghee says and Soohyun looks at her, looking genuinely happy. "Sure. I'll bring you to my favorite place too."
They both smile at each other and Soohyun realizes that this is what he has been missing all this time. His heart, it feels like the holes of emptiness is slowly getting filled by Younghee.
"Aish, that's quite expensive." Soohyun protests.
"Eyyy, shh. You promised not to say anything about it. And stop arguing with me, I told you I'll pay. I really mean it." Younghee says.
Soohyun is about to complain again when he receives a phone call.
"I need to take this. Just a moment." Soohyun takes the phone call and while he is talking on the phone, Younghee wanders around the place and her memories hit her.
"Mom, we're here again?" 9-year-old Younghee walked towards the place and asked her mother out of curiosity.
"Dad missed going out and eat with us, so he decided to bring us here." Younghee's mom patted her head.
"Honey, do you know our Younghee has been asking me so so many times on when are you coming back. She's never failed doing so everyday for 2 weeks." Younghee's mom reported Younghee's doing to her father.
Her dad stopped walking for a while and he lowerered his body to match Younghee's height.
"Was it because you missed me or because you're scared that you didn't study like what I asked you to?"
"No, dad! It's because I really really really miss you!" Younghee pouted.
Her mom and dad just laughed at her and pinched her cheek.
She suddenly feels so lonely and it hurts. That very moment, she is not even sure if coming here again will bring her joy or just pure sadness that will last for a couple of days before it is forgotten and healed again.
Younghee lowers her head, she can see her shoes and the surface of the road. Her chest feels heavy, her eyes are getting teary.
She tries her best to hold the tears back from falling because God knows how long will it take to stop once it has started.
Soohyun steps right in front of Younghee and instead of only her shoes she is seeing, she can see Soohyun's too.
She lifts up her head and sees Soohyun is standing so close to her.
He smiles at her, but this time the smile looks so painful and his eyes got teary too.
He comes closer and takes her right hand.
Younghee and Soohyun both look at each other immediately after Soohyun takes her hand.
He rubs her hand before pulling her closer for a hug. A warm one, for the girl he thinks he's fallen so hard for.
She's surprised by Soohyun's sudden action.
"It's okay. I'm here." Soohyun pats her head.
Younghee lets her guard down and she cries in his arm.