"I need you like a heart needs a beat."
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03.
COFFEE DATE & FANTASIES
IT WAS DATE day. Jimin had come to pick me up and was waiting for me in the lounge. I had dressed into a baby blue sundress and pumps, straightened my hair and put on a light red lipgloss. I was giving myself a once over in the mirror. Grabbing my phone off my bed, I hurried out of my room and into the living room. Jimin looked up from his phone and his gaze skimmed my body from head to toe, checking me out.
Is he serious? I can see that he's checking me out shamelessly. Ugh.
"You look beautiful, Eun Hee." He stood up from the sofa and put his phone in the pocket of his blazer.
"Thank you," I said, looking anywhere but him. A pink blush spread across the apples of my cheeks.
We both walked out of the door. I locked my apartment and climbed down the steps. Jimin opened the passenger door for me. I let out a meek thank you, and sat on the leather seats.
I love this car.
He went around the car towards the driver's side and slid in the seat. As he turned on the ignition, the car roared to life.
"Ready?" He asked, looking at me.
I looked at him.
"Yes."
And we were out of the driveway and onto the road.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Cafe."
"No. I meant which one."
"You'll see," was all he said and then we were both quiet, except for the soft, low sound the speakers emitted.
I unlocked my phone and saw that Sana had texted me half an hour ago while I was getting ready.
Sana:
have fun girl. Seems like he's interested in you.
Eun Hee:
you're crazy. He's not. By the way we're going to a cafe. And it's not really a date. He just wanted to get to know me and well, he seems interesting so I guess there's nothing wrong with getting to know him a bit.
Sana:
Oh Em Gee. What? and you say he's not interested in you. Girl, you're so lucky. I'm so jealous. Have fun on your date. And don't do anything that I would do. Mom's calling. Laters babe.
Eun Hee:
he's not interested in that way, you stupid girl. It's not like I like him. So don't worry. I won't don't anything reckless. Say hi to your mum.
Sana:
oh and before I go, how the fuck did he know your address? I forgot to ask you.
Eun Hee:
oh crap. Idk that either. Will ask him. I hope he is not a psychopath or something.
Sana:
text or call me if anything goes wrong. And dw he's not a psychopath. Hopefully. ;)
I put the phone back in my clutch purse.
This crazy girl. But I love her.
There was a smile on my face, which I think Jimin noticed.
"Were you talking to your boyfriend?" He asked, glancing at me for a second, then looking ahead.
"What?" I asked, confused as to how he jumped to conclusion that I was talking to my boyfriend.
"I asked do you have a boyfriend? Were you talking to him?" He asked, his grip on the steering wheel tightening a bit.
Maybe I was imagining things. But was he jealous? Why in the world would he be jealous?
"I got it when you first asked me. But why are you asking? And why did you think I was talking to my boyfriend? It could be anyone," I said.
"It would be a bit awkward for me to take you on a date if you have a boyfriend," He said, loosening his grip on the steering wheel.
"Oh. Is this a date now?" I asked, teasingly.
Jimin smirked, glancing at me. "Do you want it to be?"
I flustered at his question, not a single ounce of smugness in me anymore. Oh how the tables have turned.
"Only if you want it to be," I answered.
And then, realisation set in. We were both flirting with each other. I knew I was attracted to him. But I guess the attraction was mutual.
Jimin turned to look at me, his dark eyes a tad bit narrowed in curiosity and his bottom lip tugged under his teeth. I wanted to tell him to stop biting his lip because it was messing up with my mind and body. It was crazy how my body was reacting to littlest of things even though we were going on first date or whatever it was. The attraction was too strong to be ignored.
What is going on with me?
I couldn't take his hot stare anymore and the red light hadn't turned green yet. Just my luck.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked finally, hoping the heat spreading across my neck and cheeks hadn't turned them red.
"Nothing," He answered, looking away from me.
The lights turned green and Jimin pressed the accelerator. I stayed quiet, not knowing what to respond or to talk about.
Soon, we reached the cafe. Euphoria.
Euphoria was a posh cafe. Only elites came here. Park Jimin being one of them. I had came to this cafe once with Sana and had left immediately because it felt foreign, like I didn't belong here which I knew I didn't.
"So this was the cafe. I should've expected that," I said, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind me.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, locking the car.
I looked at him, and noticed how curious he was. "I meant that people like you come here often," I said, my words unfiltered and full of unwanted judgement.
I realised my mistake as soon as those stupid words were out of my mouth.
"What do you mean people like me?" He asked, his voice guarded and hard. He was clearly offended, but he still opened the cafe door for me. His actions caused my already existing guilt to increase by ten folds and I felt like such a horrible person for saying such thing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to appear so judgemental," I apologized, looking anywhere but him.
"Yeah? I believe you have a reason for being so judgemental or is it without any reason?" He asked instead.
I looked up at him and despite my stupid mistake, he held some sort of kindness and gentleness in his eyes. My chest filled up with warmth and I felt like I could really tell him the reason why I made that comment.
"Let's just say I've had a handful of past experience which made me blurt out that judgement. And I do realise it is wrong of me. So, I'm really sorry," I answered, not wanting to go into the details of past incidences and instead settled on apologizing wholeheartedly.
"It's alright," he said, making his way to our reserved table for two.
Jimin pulled back the seat for me to sit. I thanked him and we settled in our respective seats. I looked around to notice that the interior was same as the last time I visited, which was a good few years ago. Light coloured walls, vintage vibes, leathers seats.
A waiter came to take our orders. Jimin ordered chamomile tea and pancakes while I ordered black coffee and blueberry muffins. While our orders were being prepared, I asked Jimin a question I had been dying to ask.
"How did you know my address?" I asked.
"Are we playing twenty questions or something?" He asked instead.
"Don't ignore the question, Jimin. How did you find out my address? Don't tell me you are a stalker or something like that," I said, faking a shudder.
He let out a hearty laugh at that. When his laugh died down and he noticed that I was serious, he coughed to clear his throat. "Obviously, I'm not a psycho or something. We note addresses of everyone who come to my parties, in case something happens. That's how I found your address. To give you your bracelet. I know I should've asked you but I had lost your number, that you gave to my bodyguard. I hope you didn't mind this."
I didn't know what to say. I was relieved that he wasn't a stalker. But I was also surprised that he put effort into finding out my address to give me back one of the few things that held sentimental importance to me.
"No, I don't mind. I mean I would've if this wasn't the case. But thank you for giving me my bracelet back. My brother gave it to me, so it means a lot to me," I said, my kind drifting off to the time my brother gifted me this bracelet. He had acted as if he forgot my birthday and I had spent whole day being an irritated mess because of it. So, when in evening, he had come home with a cake and the bracelet for me, I had broken down into sobsㅡ he had made fun of me for crying like a baby too. After he was gone, it was the only thing that made me feel closer to him.
Jimin's eyes softened. He stared into my eyes deeply and I couldn't look away. It felt like he was staring into my soul and the whole world around us went quiet for a moment.
I looked away first. Something about him staring deeply into my eyes made me feel vulnerable.
To change the awkward and tension-filled mood, I coughed. "Why is the food taking too long?" I looked around to check if any waiter was arriving with our food. One waiter started walking towards us with a tray in his hand and my lips raised into an excited smile, but then, the smile turned into a frown as the waiter placed the tray at the table before ours. I slumped into my chair.
Jimin was trying his best to hold his laughter.
I narrowed my eyes into slits. "What? I'm hungry."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't say anything." But the amused smile and twinkling eyes told a different story.
Soon enough, a waiter arrived with our food and we dig in. As we drank our coffee, we talked about each other; our likes and dislikes. Just the basic stuff.
"What did you mean when you said people like me?" Jimin asked, making me look up from the food, with my mouthful. I probably looked like an embarrassed chipmunk. I chewed the food slowly and swallowed.
"Rich, spoiled, young millionaires," I finally answered, winking at him.
"Wow. You seem to have serious dislike for people like me. I'm not sure if they are fully true, though. All I know is that I'm rich and young. I'm not sure about the spoiled part, though," he said, letting a smirk appear on his full lips, which gathered my attention pretty quickly.
For the first time today, I let myself wonder how his lips would feel against mine.
What the actual hell? Stop these fantasies. They're not gonna come true. And it's not like you like him. You're just attracted to him because he's hot.
"Mhm. We'll see," I murmured, looking away from his lips, back into his eyes.
If Jimin saw me staring at his lips, he didn't show it. Instead, he asked, "So what do you do for living?"
"I'm actually in university, studying business. It starts in a few days. Although, I am looking for a job. Part time job, that is," I answered, sipping on the remnants of my coffee.
"And have you found any job suitable for you?" He asked. He dabbed a handkerchief on his mouth which again made me glance at his lips but this time, it was just a glance and not shameless staring like a hormonal teenager.
"No. I haven't."
"You can drop your CV at my office, if you'd like to. The manager will see if you can have the job," he said, nonchalantly.
My eyes widened.
"Really? But I don't think it's okay," I said.
"Why?"
"First of all, I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified for this job. And secondly, I can only work in the evening since I have university in the morning," I answered.
"That's not a problem, Eun Hee. You can work in the evening. And the job will be of private secretary. You'll just have to check and arrange my schedule, run some errands and get my evening coffee. That's it. No qualifications necessary for that." He smiled.
Wow okay. This job doesn't seem so bad.
"Alright. I'll think about it. Thank you, though."
"No problem."
After that, we both stood up. Jimin paid the bill, although I insisted on paying for my food. But he persuaded me by saying that he was the one who asked me out on date. In the end, he won the argument and paid for both of us.
When we reached my home, I stepped out of the car, Jimin following me too.
Isn't he going back?
"Thanks for hanging out, Jimin," I said.
We were standing in front of my apartment door. The sun had already set. The sky was dark and stars were making their appearance. I wanted to get inside and hide in the warmth of my bed. The weather was cold today and the cold, crisp breeze was biting at my exposed skin.
"It was my pleasure, Eun Hee. I'll get going now. Think about the job proposal."
He leaned forward and placed his smooth lips on my cheek. With a light kiss on my cheek, he walked back to his car and drove out of the driveway and onto the road. I looked at his car until it became a small spot and then, vanished around the corner.
His kiss rendered me speechless. It was first time this happened. I quickly went inside, locking the door behind me. Changing into comfortable, warm clothes, I called Sana.
"Girl, tell me all the details."
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NOTE: I have changed quite a lot of things in this chapter. It is fun editing the book after a year. I hope you guys are liking the edited chapters so far.
Also, the name of the cafe was written a year before Euphoria came out. Just informing because some people said that I changed it recently.
Please leave your thoughts and vote.
Stay safe and hydrated. Spread positivity.
Lots of love, Rose.