Why Must My Heart Ache?

Chapter 3: Coffee and a Heartache

    "I know who you are, actually," she replied honestly. As the look on his face began to change, she rushed to explain, "Don't worry! I'm not going to start screaming or begging you for an autograph or anything."

    He nodded. "I thought so," he said simply. She cocked her head, puzzled at his response. "You didn't freak out immediately. That meant either you didn't know who I was, or you're just not one of the more," he stopped, choosing his words carefully, "...adoring... fans,"

    She smiled, then bent down to pick up her fallen coffee cup. His eyes zeroed in on the spill at their feet. She noticed and began to assure him that it was nothing. "I was almost finished anyway." He still insisted on buying her another coffee. How can I refuse? she asked herself. They entered a more deserted shop and he ordered two coffees.

    "How long have you been in Korea?" he inquired. She told him that she had just flown in a few days ago, and that she was an ESL teacher.

    "Wow! You're so fluent, though! You could be interpreting in a chaebol company," he exclaimed.

    She chuckled. "I might look into that someday, but right now I have a secure position that pays well, takes care of my rent, and isn't too terribly time-consuming." How am I acting so normal? I'm sitting across from Kyuhyun...

    They chatted for about half an hour, her heart pounding in her ribcage the entire time, though she managed to hide it. Towards the the end, though, he asked if she liked Super Junior's music. Should've seen that one coming... "Actually, yes. You were one of the first K-pop groups that I really listened to. I saw you guys in concert once with my mom," she confessed.

    "Really? Your mom went to one of our concerts? Awesome!" Good, so he's not freaking out because I'm a fan. Or, at least he's not showing it... She nodded in response. "Who's her favorite?" he asked suddenly.

    She balked mentally for a second before she realized he had said "her" and not "your". "Leeteuk. She was happy when she found out that he's the oldest. She feels like less of a creeper that way."

    That made him laugh. She liked his laugh. The thought made her heart thump even more. She could feel her pulse throughout her body. She was afraid that he might be able to notice.

    He calmed himself quickly and stood up. She did the same, realizing that this was goodbye. "It was nice meeting you, Flora-ssi," he said, stretching out his hand. She took it and realized that her pulse had gone back to normal. Instead of racing, her heart was now aching.

    "You too," she forced herself to say with a smile. He held the door open for her and she headed back towards the subway. "Yah! Flora-ssi!" he called after her, catching up to where she was standing. "How far away do you live?"

    Ah, so that's what he wanted, she thought, calming her pulse once more. She told him and he turned suddenly, hailing a taxi. He handed her some cab fare and apologized again for bumping into her earlier. She thanked him and got in, immediately buckling up for the crazy ride home that she was expecting.

    She looked down at the money and found a note with it.

      Since you're a fan, I feel even worse about earlier. Call my manager sometime and set up a fan meeting with all of us. We'll give you our autographs! ^^ keke Leeteuk-hyung will probably throw in an extra one for your mom! (We can bring his and Yesung's to the SM building, since they're still in the army.) Until then, here's my autograph,

                                                                                                   Cho Kyuhyun       kekeke

    Underneath his signature was their manager's phone number.