metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

thirty two

"Thank you for the meal!"

The couple's words echoed loudly before they hastily dug in and took a massive bite of their meal of the day. After just one taste, they both leaned back and let out a pleased sigh.

"Drinks?"

Soyeon nodded excitedly, unable to speak as she had already taken another bite. While she went on to devour her meal, Eunwoo was already shuffling toward one of the aisles for drinks.

Their hopes of a promised free meal, unfortunately, went up in smoke the second the camera vanished from their sight. Then discovering their camera swimming in the pool became the highlight of the day. Thus, there they were, spending the remaining hours of the day at a quiet convenience store, peacefully enjoying their bowls of hot ramen to satisfy their empty stomachs.

After a moment or two, Eunwoo finally came back with two banana milk in his hand. Subconsciously, he took Soyeon's bag that hung loosely to her chair and rummaged through for the well-known pink pouch. The girl took no mind of it as all she saw at that moment was her ramen gradually vanishing into her mouth.

He took two similar metal straws out and immediately poked them through the plastic lids. He drank his as he set the other beside her. Just as he did, there was a sudden vibration against the table. It proceeded to vibrate vigorously.

Placing her meal down, Soyeon snatched her phone off the table.

"Who is it?" Eunwoo asked.

"My brother," she responded as she typed busily on her phone, "he asked when I was coming home to take care of..."

She stopped herself from talking further, realising her first mistake. She looked up to Eunwoo who already seemed too invested in his ramen, moving it effortlessly from side to side. One can easily notice an awkward aura rising around him.

"Sorry, I forgot..." she apologised, turning her gaze elsewhere.

He cleared his throat and proceeded to move his food around.

"How was today?"

It looked like the question caused Soyeon's eyes to sparkle like diamonds, it was as if she waited for the question.

With that, she began to go on and on to speak her thoughts about their date that day. She spoke fondly of the things they did and saw, going far as telling him which animal fascinated and frightened her the most. Her meal was long forgotten as she proceeded to talk about every detail she noticed as they moved across the entire park.

A huge exhalation of pent-up breath was released and Soyeon finally regained her composure after reminiscing about the day.

"I was looking forward to that meal," she sighed.

"Let's go again, then."

Without even a warning, a sudden clang of metal was heard, immediately followed by a painful yelp. Soyeon held her left cheek gently, holding onto a distressed look.

"You're not saying no," he smirked.

"And what if I did?"

"Then I'll take you out on a better date."