Notorious ⊷ Haechan

23 ⊷ Wish

⊷ 23

Brown and red. Lines of green pulled through the boringly sombre grey. 

Autumn was pretty, the cool air refreshing, the colours vibrant and warm. 

Ji-yoon enjoyed walking through this sunny day with Haechan. She was grateful that he had kept his promise and stayed relatively quiet during their meeting with Mark. She was happy that he wasn't pushing her away. 

She was also sad though, seeing how he was keeping his distance. 

There was something that bothered him and he had not yet found the right moment or the right words to talk to her about it. Frustrating, that's what it was. 

Yet, Ji-yoon refused to let her frustration shine through, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation at all. So what would help? 

Mere metres before the two reached Haechan's car, Ji-yoon stopped. Coming to a halt as well, Haechan looked at her wordlessly while she smiled at him happily.

She reached forward, got a hold of his hand. Since he didn't protest nor made any move to get her to let go, she only held onto him tighter and pulled him with her. 

There was a small coffee shop not far from where they had parked the car. Ji-yoon noticed it already on the way to Mark and, fortunately, it decided to come in handy now. 

"My treat," she said as she pushed the door open. 

The chime above the door clinked as they entered. A short 'hello' to the waiter they passed as Ji-yoon led them to a table in the back, next to a window. 

She let go of his hand, almost frowning at the gap it left behind. She sat down, motioned Haechan to do the same. 

White noise. The smell of coffee and pastries. A comforting warmth. 

It was simple, yet lovely. 

And simple was also Ji-yoon's offer, "Let's talk it out." 

She wasn't going to wait for him to make a move first. It wasn't her confidence that made her decide that but rather her confusion. 

Haechan usually didn't hesitate to talk, to call her out, to inquire. Either he was seriously upset this time or maybe he just looked at her differently now. 

Was that bad? It worried her a little too much. 

So in the end, her offer turned out to be a little selfish too. 

While Haechan was uncomfortable to admit what bothered him, he couldn't help but keep his eyes on her. Because if he didn't look at her, he might miss out on something. 

"I feel that I'm at a disadvantage," he said, sounding more confident than he felt. "You know so much about me but I don't know much about you."

She hummed. "But I had the feeling that you are acting weirdly because you found out something," she told him. 

It wasn't directly meant as a question and this wasn't her subtly asking about something either. She just wanted him to hear what she was thinking. 

Maybe that would make him feel more at ease. 

Probably not though. 

"I want you to be honest now." It was an order, nothing less. "What else do you know about me?" 

It was very vague but Ji-yoon knew what he wanted her to say. There was a lot she knew but shouldn't know. 

But there was only one thing that he actually cared about whether she knew about it or not. And he made it so obvious too.