nightstand | park jihoon • kim junkyu (✔)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟼 ♡

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Hold my hands tight, no turning back

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After Hana had paid for the things, the saleswoman closed the grocery store behind the two and lowered a large iron gate in front of the entrance.

"Have you eaten yet?" the boy suddenly asked, which made Hana look up in surprise.

"Yes...I ate at home earlier.". But stupidly, a loud belly growl revealed that this wasn't the case. To be honest, Hana was almost starving. The last thing she ate today was a snack during lunch break at school.

"But your stomach says something else. Come on, it's on me.". He walked straight to a small street food stand and sat down on one of the bar stools. Hana had no choice but to follow him, since he was still carrying the bag of food.

Hesitantly, she sat down on the chair next to him. "So that's your scam. Helping other girls with their bags and then taking them to a restaurant," Hana grinned and tied her hair into a ponytail.

He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. "Maybe...".

A short laugh escaped from her mouth, before the owner of the snack bar turned to the two to take their order.

"What do you want?" the boy asked Hana, who then took a quick glance at the menu board. "TTeokbokki for me, please.". "And a large chocolate milkshake...with two straws." the boy added. The man nodded and began to prepare the order.

"Two straws? Who says I even like chocolate shakes?", Hana crossed her arms in confusion.

"Doesn't everyone?" he only replied, with Hana presumably able to detect a smirk beneath the mask. "Why don't you take off your mask? Are you a celebrity and being followed or something?" asked Hana.

"Well, maybe."

Hana exhaled deeply. "That's a lot of "maybes" if you ask me.".

"Hmm...let me guess. Judging by your age, you're a trainee or an idol who shouldn't be out here alone. And because you don't want anyone to recognize you, you wear that mask and hood. Am I wrong?".

Hana's assumption only made him laugh.

Well, her assumption was of course a bit cliché. But just by his eyes, Hana could definitely tell that he had the looks for being an idol or actor.

"How do you know how old I am?" he asked jokingly. "Uhm...I don't. Are you going to tell me?". Hana leaned forward a little, curious. "How old are you?" he suddenly turned the question around without answering Hana's. "19".

"That's about how old I am.".

"Mister mysterious, huh?".

"Your order.", the man placed the bowl of rice cakes in front of us on the counter right next to the milkshake. "That'll be 11400 won!".

"Yes sir.". He instantly took his wallet out of the pocket of his hoodie and handed his black credit card to the street food owner.

A bit petulant, Hana turned her head away from the two. "Why does everyone always pay for me.".

The boy stowed the card back in his wallet and looked at Hana in surprise."I told you it would be on me.".

"Never mind...thanks.", Hana shoved two rice cakes into her mouth while still being looked at by the boy.

"Who paid for you?", he finally asked after a short silence and took a sip of the milkshake.

"A friend of mine, you don't know him."

"How do you know that? I know a lot of people," he continued.

"You didn't know me either, did you?" laughed Hana.

"Point for you, But...would you still tell me his name? I have a lot of contacts and just because you're my age, I might know him.". Hana was a bit puzzled by his persistence. Was it perhaps a bit dangerous to give the name? After all, Hana had no idea what kind of guy he was.

"Jihoon."

He seemed to think for a moment before answering. "You're right. I don't know any Jihoon." he laughed.

Hana, meanwhile, choked on her Tteokbokki. Damn, that stuff was hot. In the US, people hadn't normally eaten this spicy. That's why she wasn't used to it anymore.

"Eat slowly." he admonished her, laughing, while she tried to neutralize the spiciness with a sip of milkshake. "It's just so damn spicy," Hana gasped. "Spicy? So usually when I eat tteokbokki, its totally fine.".

He lifted his mask a few centimeters from his face, grabbed her chopsticks from the bowl and tasted it, which Hana only looked at in shock.

Did he just seriously use her chopsticks for tasting?

"It's completely bearable. You're just not used to anything spicy.", he pushed the bowl back to her, which Hana now stared at somewhat indecisively. Should she just keep eating with it now? It would be rude if she left the food because she hadn't paid for it herself.

"I've spent most of my life in America. People usually don't eat that spicy there.".

He listened to her with apparent interest, and he noticed how Hana was now poking around indecisively with the chopsticks in the bowl.

"Excuse me sir, could we have a second pair of chopsticks?" he suddenly asked the owner, who after a short time reappeared with them and placed them on the table by the boy.

"Thank you.". He pushed them to Hana, who now looked at him in surprise from the side.

"Just use these. I probably should have asked first if I could taste. ".

A smile settled on Hana's lips. "You didn't have to do that. I'm not really that sensitive about stuff like that.". Nevertheless, she pulled the chopsticks out of their sheath and continued eating.

"You're not? I honestly would have pegged you that way.", he admitted.

"See. You learn new things about me every minute," Hana giggled.

While Hana finished her bowl of rice cakes, an awkward silence fell between them after a few minutes. And besides, she felt discreetly observed, although he did not seem to look at her obviously. Why did he not want to eat anything himself? He had only taken a few sips of the shake.

"Can I ask you two stupid things?" he suddenly asked, glancing at Hana from the side.

"Sure.", she nodded her head while dabbing her mouth with a served.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Hana nearly choked on her own spit. "N-no. I don't." her voice cracked awkwardly.

"So ... can I have your number?". he added with an intense stare that didn't leave Hana's eyes.

For some reason she felt flustered as hell which was noticeable by goose bumps all over her body. How can eyes alone do such a thing with her

Without answering, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and unlocked it with shaky hands. She had never been asked for her number like that before. At least not with a background other than being friends.

Her homescreen popped up, which was a selfie with Jihoon that the two had taken together on their shopping trip. Hana just hoped the boy hadn't seen it. Otherwise, he would probably take it the wrong way.

Hana slid his phone over to him so he could enter his number and he also saved her number in his phone.

She recognized a joyful twinkle in his eyes, which made her smile.

The two finally left the snack bar and said goodbye to each other.

"I'll call you..." he yelled as he walked away from her with slow backward steps, shaking his cell phone.

But Hana suddenly narrowed her eyes in confusion. His voice suddenly sounded different. Like, familiar different. Had he been disguising his voice all this time? No, that would be crazy.

Hana shook her head as she made her way home. She was probably just overtired.