"I don't understand, why they are trying to sue me??" The man hollers while flailing his arms. The man is a young one, he has a black ponytail and an undercut. His face and ears are covered with an assortment of piercings. His coat rests behind his chair, revealing the inked sleeve that continues underneath his black t-shirt. The rest of him is decked out in all black as well, like a hitman. To many, he may look very intimidating. To me, he is another inconvenience.
"I don't know, why do you think?" I ask with a false smile plastered on my face.
"They are probably upset that I can take care of him more than they can!"
"Sir, you stole a dog from Petco." I deadpan.
"I did not steal the dog!"
"Then, how did it out of the store?"
"It followed me when I wasn't looking."
"How did it get into your vehicle?"
"I let it in."
"Why?"
"It looked like a stray."
"It had a collar."
"It could've been a stray for a long time."
"It was clean."
"It could've jumped in a puddle the day before."
"Puddles are dirty."
"He could've jumped in a clean one."
This man does not give up!
"Let's play the clips from the security cameras, shall we?" I click a few things on my desktop and turn it around for my client to see. The video shows my client distracting the workers and when the workers leave due to a 'commotion' that my client made, he grabs the dog from its pen and runs out of the store with it. I click on another video that shows the parking lot. The video depicts my client putting the dog in his passenger seat and driving off with it.
"You stole the dog, sir," I state.
"No, I was rescuing it." He responds and crosses his arms over his chest. I massage my temples with my index fingers.
Don kill him Y/N, we don't want to go to jail....
"Sir, if you don't return the dog and apologize you will get sued."
"But I don't want to return my baby Sparkles."
Sparkles? What kind of wannabe, thug have I let into my office?
I hear footsteps coming near my office.
"Hey, Y/N. Here are the records you asked for." Yoongi says at the threshold of my office. He walks towards my desk and places down a manila folder.
"Thank you Yoongi. Please, escort this man out of my office." I say with a tight smile.
"Alright, right this way sir." Yoongi grabs the man's coat and points towards the door.
"No! I won't leave until I have a lawyer work on my case!" The man huffs.
I don't think you wanna do that bud.
Yoongi grabs the man's shirt and yanks the man up. He then glares at him intensely.
"I said right this way sir." Yoongi grits out. The man's face becomes full of fear and he nods frantically. He grabs his coat from Yoongi and runs out of my office. Yoongi turns to me. "I'll make sure he makes it out."
"Thank you so much Yoongi." I sigh and say gratefully.
I watch him leave my office and lean back in my chair.
Fools like him never cease to make my stress levels go up, no matter how many times I deal with them.
Another person enters my office.
"Y/N, are you eating with us?" Jimin asks.
"No, I'm going out for lunch," I answer.
"So in other words, you're eating with Namjoon?" Jimin concludes, smirking at me.
This man here....
"Why are you so nosy?"
"So I was correct." He tilts his head to the side. "How hard is it to just come clean? Your life would have been so much easier had you just told me in the first place."
I hit him in the arms and he just chuckles at my reaction.
"What restaurant are you going to?"
No point in hiding it now.
"Vietnamese"
"Oooh, does it have a specialty?"
"Pho"
"Nice" He scratches his chin. "You know I've been meaning to ask for a minute now, what happened last week?"
Shit, does he know about the kiss?
"What do you mean?"
"Where did Namjoon go after the party? We all woke up and he was gone."
Thank god.
"I'm not sure, I'll ask him today. I know he probably had a good reason for it though."
"You haven't talked to him since the party?"
"No"
It's true, I have not. Ever since the kiss I've felt a little ashamed. Not because it was Namjoon or where we kissed but the fact that I took advantage of him. Yes, he initiated the kiss, but I was the one who provoked him knowing that he wasn't in his right might. He wasn't pissed drunk, however, he wasn't stone sober either. Although I was bubbly and bold, I had more control over myself than he did of himself. He also had not reached out to me all this time. If it wasn't for him calling me yesterday and insisting that we have our weekly lunch today, I'd be avoiding him longer. When he called I realized that it was time to face my mistake.
"Strange, did something happen?" Jimin questions.
"I suppose he's just been busy, in" I answer.
"And how about you and Tae?"
"What about us?"
"That whole holding hands business?"
I wish his memory wasn't this good sometimes....
"I don't understand why I have to explain this again. I said he told me his hands were cold."
"But, we were inside."
"He was outside on the phone," I lie, "and I joined him on the patio to see what he was doing."
"And why were you both still holding hands when you came back into the house?"
Damn.
"Tae forced me," I lie again. "You know Tae, always being weird like that."
"True, he is a nut."
That was close. If I told him the truth and just said that I forgot, he'd never drop the matter.
I glance at the screen on my computer.
"It's about time that I leave now. I'll see you when I get back." I say, standing up to collect my things.
"Have a nice date."
"It's not a date."
"Sure it isn't."
__________________________________________________________________
I park my vehicle in the restaurant's parking lot. I check in the mirror for any flaws or mishaps.
No, I'm good.
I get out of the car and look at the restaurant's sign.
Joowon's Pho Shop. I am in the right place.
I lock my car and get out. I step into the shop. It was all white; the walls, the floor, the tables, the chairs, and the ceiling. I look for Namjoon and I see him seated at a table on the right. I walk towards the table and sit down across from him.
"Hey, beautiful." He says, smiling widely at me.
He never fails to make my heart skip when he calls me that.
"Hey, Joonie," I reply softly.
"How's work going?" He asks, trying to loosen up the atmosphere.
"Stressful, people just don't understand the job of a lawyer."
"Oh, how so?"
"They come in asking us to defend a case that is impossible to defend. Some firms can take any case they please, money is money, right? My firm can't have that comfort, we have a reputation to uphold. We are fairly new in the world of the law so we must be careful of who we take and must work even harder than most lawyers."
"Amazing, I knew you were a hard worker but I didn't know you carried all these responsibilities. You are so strong."
"I couldn't have done it without my team though, they are my anchor."
"Yet another thing I like about you, your selflessness."
My cheeks go crimson.
Why does he have to say things like this? He should know how I get by now.
A waiter comes and stops at the foot of the table.
"Hello, welcome to Joowon's Pho shop. What would you two like to drink today?" The waiter asks.
"She'll have a coke and I'll have an iced tea." Namjoon orders for both of us.
Interesting.
I smile at his gesture.
Ok, I will be back with your drinks."
"Thank you." Namjoon and I say in unison.
"You noticed." I start.
"How could I not? You order it every time, no matter the weather." He responds with a grin.
"It's a shame I can't do the same for you, you're always changing it up."
"You noticed that I changed it up, I'm content with that."
"I'm curious, why do you change it up all the time."
"I feel different every day. Different cravings that I have been influenced by those everchanging feelings." He stares at me for a little then breaks his gaze. "Well, most of them at least. Some feelings don't change."
I nod and look at my menu, Namjoon does the same. The waiter comes back and places our drinks down with some straws.
"Would you like to order?" He asks. Namjoon looks back up at me.
"Have you decided?" He questions. I nod. Namjoon turns to the waiter. "Yes, we would."
"I would like beef pho noodles to please," I say to the waiter.
"I'll have the same."
"Okay, I'll be back when your food is ready." The waiter says and leaves. Namjoon turns to me. He pulls out something from underneath the table and places it on top of it. The item is box-like and wrapped in periwinkle wrapping paper. There is a white bow on the top that's strings hug the rest of the body of the figure.
"This, my dear, is for you," Namjoon says, pushing the gift towards me. I grab it.
What?
"What for?" I ask.
"For you being you." I smile and start to unwrap the present. I do it carefully and slowly. When I am finished a beautiful book is revealed. "I noticed on our date you wouldn't put that book down. I wanted to get it for you then and there but I wanted to surprise you. So, I stopped by the bookstore before coming here."
He's so sweet.
"Namjoon, you shouldn't have! I can't take this, I haven't even gotten you anything!" I reply.
"I insist, you invited me to that party. It is the least I can do in return."
"It wasn't even my party though."
"But it was your friend's."
"Thank you so much. You're always getting me things but I never get you anything. I feel like a bad person now...."
"Don't, I do these things without expecting anything in return."
"How about I pay for today's meal?"
"But-"
"No buts, my decision is final." Namjoon smiles wide.
"I can't argue when you talk like that." I take a sip of my drink and so does Namjoon. After a slight pause, he starts again. "So, about last week."
Please no, I'm not ready. I thought I'd be, but clearly, I was wrong.
"What about last week?"
"The house warming party."
"Okay?"
"That kiss."
I guess I have to be brave.
"Look, I'm sorry okay?" I suddenly utter.
"Excuse me?"
"I know, I shouldn't have taken advantage of you while you were a little intoxicated. I was a little bubbly too but I was in no position to provoke you while you didn't have your head on entirely straight." I look down at my lap ashamed.
I hope he doesn't hate me.
"Y/N, you don't have to apologize." I look up at him in shock.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't regret the kiss." My jaw hangs in disbelief at his words.
"I don't understand."
"I enjoyed the kiss too. You provoked me, but it was me who willingly caved in, alcohol or not. I wanted to tell you in the morning but I had to leave early due to work matters."
I can't even put in words how happy I am at the moment. I was able to kiss this gorgeous man with thick full lips and he says he enjoys kissing me too? This much happiness can't be good.
Namjoon patiently waits for me to respond.
"I....don't know what to say."
The waiter comes back with our meals.
"If you two need anything else, please do not hesitate to ask. Enjoy your meals." The waiter walks away.
"I'll say this then. That kiss was amazing, it was truly unbelievable. I could never see myself kissing another woman like that."
I swear, I will die one day by the words of this man.
I grow red once again.
"Now, let's eat!"