"here you go," wonwoo said as he set down the tray of drinks and food onto their table.
he settled into the brown chair across from her, his wide shoulders made the chair seem too small and cramped for him
"are you okay?" wonwoo asked out of concern, noticing that sunmi had been massaging the sides of her temples, likely from a hangover.
sunmi looked at him, surprised by the question. she adjusted herself in her seat, trying to appear fine despite her throbbing head since entering the café.
"yeah, i'm fine," she managed to say, though her actions spoke volumes.
not wanting to press sunmi further, wonwoo decided to take matters into his own hands. he grabbed the tray back and went downstairs, leaving sunmi bewildered.
"what? where is he going?" sunmi wondered to herself.
soon, wonwoo returned to their table with a paper bag in his left hand and a cup holder box in his right.
"let's go somewhere else," he said with a smile.
"um, where? what's wrong with this café?" sunmi asked, her eyes widening slightly in concern.
"to a restaurant. i'm suddenly craving something soupy. let's go."
bewildered by wonwoo's sudden change of plan, sunmi stood up and nodded in confusion, agreeing with him. wonwoo only smiled at her.
sunmi reached for the cup holder, but wonwoo insisted on carrying it himself.
"no no its finee, i can manage" he said.
—
arriving at the restaurant chosen by wonwoo, which was only a few blocks away from the café, sunmi noticed it was packed with older customers, none of their age.
"ahjumma, two bowls of gukbap please," wonwoo said loudly yet gently as they settled at a table on the side of the restaurant.
"what is this place?" sunmi asked curiously.
"oh, this is where the members and i would come after practice," wonwoo replied.
"interesting" sunmi said while checking the place out, the restaurant is fairly large but detailed with lots of old stuff, an old bicycle hanging on the wall as a display, the classic ripped off calendar with 1976 written on it, issuing that the calendar has been hung on the wall since that year.
"the gukbap and haejangguk here are amazing. i always order gukbap for my hangovers," he said, making sunmi flush in embarrassment.
we came all this way for 'hangover' soup?
"you..you knew that i was drinking?" sunmi asked timidly, playing with the hem of her shirt.
a memory then snapped back, she did mentioned it to wonwoo that she had been drinking last night, mentally facepalming her herself, she felt like strangling the person she has become last night.
wonwoo chuckled. "no, no. but i kinda i figure that you hadn't eaten since you woke up. a hearty soup from here will be worth it. trust me," he said, giving a thumbs up and assuring her that the soup was the best.
wonwoo lied, it was obvious that she had been drinking last night, considering how she had spammed her with text messages as well as when she had mentioned that shes drinking with her manager, but seemingly that sunmi had zero recollection about mentioning it to wonwoo.
"anyway, about the texts i sent..." sunmi stopped, debating whether to continue. wonwoo watched her keenly.
so cute, he thought, realising sunmi was about to mention the drunk texts she'd sent, if he could pinch her cheeks right now, he would.
last night, he was very much surprised when she spammed him with messages in varying moods. he giggled when he realised she was actually drunk and debating what to send and ended up typing and sending them anyway.
"i didn't know what happened last night. i'm not really good with alcohol, especially after one bottle of soju. i was wasted, but i had about two?? wait no..eh right! 2 and a half bottles. normally id knock out instantly, but after receiving your texts, it sort of woke me up?? i panicked, wondered what to send, and tried to think quickly..." sunmi rattled off, leaving wonwoo amazed, his mouth slightly agape.
"and that's why i sent out everything i had typed out. hope that explains it," sunmi finished, not making any eye contact with him and pouring herself a cup of water and gulping it down as her throat felt dry.
wonwoo's eyes widened and slowly softened as a smile form on his lips, as he listened to sunmi's rapid-fire explanation, her words came out so quickly, it was almost as if she was rapping, albeit with a nervous edge.
"wow," wonwoo said, chuckling as he took in her flustered state. "i didn't realise you had such a rapid-fire style. if you keep this up, i might have to step down from my position as the rapper in seventeen."
sunmi's face flushed with embarrassment. "oh god, i'm-"
"no, no," wonwoo interrupted with a playful grin.
"it's okay, sunmi. don't worry about the texts, it'll be between us two hehe
sunmi felt a wave of relief wash over her. she managed a small, grateful smile. "thanks, wonwoo. i was really embarrassed about it."
just then, the waitress arrived with their bowls of gukbap. the rich, savoury aroma filled the air, and sunmi could feel her appetite returning.
wonwoo served her a bowl where there were alot of meats compared to the other bowl
"eat eat" wonwoo said, handing sunmi a spoon. "it'll make you feel a lot better."
sunmi took a sip of the hot broth and felt its warmth spread through her. the comforting taste was exactly what she needed. "this is so nice," she admitted, feeling more relaxed.
she scooped a spoonful of meat and blew on it before putting it in her mouth, but she had forgotten that the beef was still very hot.
"ah, so hot!" she exclaimed softly, wincing in pain.
wonwoo immediately extended his hand, gesturing for her to spit the food out.
sunmi's eyes widened as she realised what wonwoo was doing. swallowing the hot food down her throat, she could feel her throat burning.
"aish, you swallowed it??" wonwoo asked with a concerned tone.
"i— it's f-fine," stuttered sunmi, flustered by his action.
she grabbed the water next to her and chugged it down.
wonwoo's eyes stayed on her with a soft, worried look, afraid she mightve burn her tongue.
"blow on it a bit more before you eat," wonwoo said, gently taking the spoon from her hand. he scooped up some meat and rice and brought it to his lips, carefully blowing on the steaming food.
"here, try this," he said with a warm smile, offering the spoon to sunmi.
flustered, sunmi's cheeks flushed a charming natural red.
she opened her mouth shyly and took a bite from the spoon.
"thanks," she mumbled, her mouth full. wonwoo's smile widened and his heart melts at sunmi's reaction. He placed the spoon back on the edge of her gukbap bowl, his eyes twinkling with affection.
"your tournament is this sunday right?"
