Ash was coming back home after getting a haircut and buying some things from the market, when she got off the elevator, she saw Haneul sitting on the floor, next to Ash's door, his glasses slipping down his nose and his hair messy. He quickly opened his eyes when he heard Ash's footsteps.
"Ash!" he tried getting up, throwing his glasses in the process
Ash bent down to pick them up, "Haneul..I need to ask something.." she said looking up
"hm..sure, but before that, did you have breakfast?" he asked, taking her shopping bags from her hand
"uh..no..I..didn't" she said biting her lip
"good, I made pancakes and coffee for you!" Haneul said pulling Ash behind him, inside his apartment.
"your hair looks amazing, you look really adorable in it.." Haneul said, sitting her down on the couch
Ash tried hiding her smile as she shyly touched her hair, "thank..you..do guys usually like such hairstyles?" Ash asked
Haneul poured the syrup on the pancakes and looked at Ash with a questioning look, "yes, I mean I don't know, even a man who hates bangs is going to love this look on you because you look super adorable..who're you trying to impress?" Haneul smirked
"huh!? no one!" Ash waved her hand, but Haneul didn't budge, "alright..I..there's this guy..I like..I have feelings for him..no, my..heart goes crazy when..I just met him but, I..really like him..I just..I don't know please help me.." Ash grabbed his hand
"Ash, you need to be a little more..clear.." Haneul said putting his hand on hers
"his smile makes me..feel butterflies in my stomach, I..want to hug him, kiss him and..stay by him, and the funny thing is, I've only known him for an hour or so..no longer than that..he's..my professor's son, admitted in the hospital because of a heart disease.." Ash explained getting up from the chair. Haneul slowly nodded, trying to absorb everything
"I have no one else to talk to about this stuff so I'm asking you.." she said biting the pad of her index finger
"yea I understand, I'll try my best to give you the best advice but..I'm not sure about this stuff..but I think what you need to know is that..if it feel right..you should go for it!" Haneul said patting her head
Ash fixed her hair and turned to look at him, "I don't think that- Oh! you're getting a call.." Ash said pointing towards his phone lying on the kitchen counter. Haneul turned to attend the call/
"Mr.James.." Haneul said, as he gestured Ash to wait
"I'll just go back home, we can talk later.." she mouthed as she picked her bags and left.
"yes, Mr.James, the director doesn't know about this..no, I haven't told anyone in the company, yet...haha, I..don't have much to do in the company except fix the bugs..why don't we talk over dinner tonight? 8 sounds great! Thank you.." Haneul said, putting his phone down and throwing himself on the couch.
He took a deep breath as he rubbed his temples and stayed on the couch for a while, staring at the ceiling, thinking.
Ash, too, was lying on her bed, staring the ceiling when her phone started ringing.
It was Myung Suk. her breathing got heavier and her hands started shaking. She took deep breaths and tried clearing her voice before picking the call, "he- hello..?" her voice came out weaker than she thought
"hi..It's I, Myung Suk.."
"yes..I..uh how are you?" Ash asked getting up and pacing around in the house
"I'm doing great, I'm still the same as you left me a few hours ago.." Myung Suk said
"haha..yes.." Ash replied awkwardly
"I'm sorry, I'm not used to this and I don't know all this but it just seemed right to call you..did you get home well?" He asked, with a little more confident
"yes..I did, thank you for asking and.." Ash took another deep breath as she overcame her reluctance, "I'm looking forward to our date.." she said and quickly regretting it when she heard Myung Suk giggle on the other side of the phone.
"Me too..I can't wait to see you again.." He replied, Ash could see his smiling face from his words
Ash bit her lip, "what should I wear?" she asked shyly
"many many many layers of clothes! I don't want you to catch a cold, my mom will kill me! don't forget your scarf and your hat!" Myung suk replied
"..what..I'll look like a bear then! not that I have anything against bears but..it's our first date, I should look pretty.." Ash said
"I'm sure you'll rock the bear look..but you should actually wear what you're comfortable in.."
"I'll wear what I'm wearing right now.." Ash said
"hmm..what are you wearing?" he asked
Ash smiled, "I'll show you tomorrow!"
"hahaha, I'm looking forward to it!" he said
"yes, I really do hope you like it! oh! I better end the call..you should rest..and thank you for calling.." she whispered
"already? I'm always resting..are you busy right now?" Myung Suk asked
"umm..yes, I am expecting guests today..actually my friend is coming over for a post exam slash christmas dinner with me..and I need to prepare lot of stuff becaus, well she's a spoilt brat! haha" Ash grinned
"okay..I understand..see you later!" he said and Ash nodded on the other side
and as soon as she put the phone down, her heart started pounding, her hands and legs started shaking. She shook her head to get rid of all the thoughts, she took the car keys to get some groceries.
"woah!" she jumped when she almost bumped into Haneul who was also leaving his place
"hey!" he said briefly as he read some documents.
Ash raised an eyebrow, but decided not to disturb him, both of them walked to the elevator, Haneul didn't press the button so Ash did, "excuse me, sir..which floor would you like to go to?" she asked fustrated
Haneul looked up aloofly, "yes? oh sorry.." he said folding the papers, "where are you headed to?" he asked Ash
"Jisoo is coming over for dinner so I need ingredients for it..what about you? headed to the office?" Ashe asked fixing his tie
"yea..no..um I'm going for a meeting with some people..it's not related to the company, but it is work related.." Haneul answered
" hey! how's your project with Mark going?" Ash asked, completely ignoring Haneuls explanation
"it's going..honestly, if you ask me, I don't think it's going to work for two reasons, one: there's this glitch that they can't fix, even after two weeks because their ego isn't allowing them to ask for my help, I'm not bragging but that's what I do, fix bugs and glitches and stuff.." Haneul said
"..what's the second reason?" Ash asked curiously
"the game they're making keeps crashing..they cannot even get through the second trial..I mean, there are so many able people in the company! It's going to be a cult game..I have a feeling.." Haneul said shutting his eyes tight as if trying to suppress his anger
"are you saying this all because you're not a part of this project?" Ash asked
Haneul let out a short laugh, stepping in the elevator, "does it look like that? fine..what will you do if my assumptions come true?" Haneul asked
Ash pressed the button and the door closed
"I'll do nothing because this has nothing to do with me.." Ash stuck her tongue at him
"..that's true.." Haneul said as he continued reading the pages, "so how are you feeling right now? got over your confusion?" Haneul asked suddenly
"uh..yes, I..just talked to him over the phone..I don't want to think from my mind, I want to think from my heart..because if I think logically..I'll never be able to love.." Ash said philosophically.
Haneul gave her a reassuring nod and smiled, "that's great, Ash..but you know love's hard.." Haneul said sighing deeply
"how can you say that?" Ash asked, the elevator stopped and the door opened, both of them got off and Ash followed Haneul to the parking, she didn't say anything but was waiting for his answer, and Haneul knew that.
He stopped midway, tilted his head a little and turned around, "because I haven't really experienced it yet.." he whispered
Ash narrowed her eyes as she thought for a minute before saying anything.
"what? what about Jung Soo?" Ash asked
"I'm still figuring that out.." Haneul winked as he got inside his car
Ash didn't understand a thing and she did not want to think about what Haneul had said so she blew all the thoughts out of her mind as she ran to hurry.
