Everything Seventeen

Seungkwan

I looked around, scanning all the unfamiliar signs. I sighed. I had no idea where I was. My friends, who were originally from this hometown, decided 'Hey! While Carat's in town, why not prank her and abandon her in a place she has only been to once before.' It had been 15 minutes and my phone battery was close to dead along with the amount of data left. I had no idea where I was or where to head to anyway. I could not google my way out.

Hail a cab? I was broke. I only brought a small sum out today.

Well, I guess I could use this as an opportunity to challenge myself. I walked a few blocks down, still looking around. So far, I could not find a place with free wi-fi and a phone-charging station. Yet. I had to be positive. In this day and age, there is bound to be such amenities around.

"Excuse me," a voice caught my attention.

I turned to see a boy with a chubby face (a good chubby) who seemed around my age. He had a friendly vibe about him. It was comforting to me in my hectic situation.

"Sorry to intrude but you seem lost. Do you need help?" he asked.

"Ah yes, actually. Well, you see... I got ditched by my friends as a prank and this is my second time here so I have no idea how to find my way around here. My phone's on the brink of death and I don't really know where I am actually heading to so I'm just wandering and it isn't working so far," I explained my situation to him, laughing it off awkwardly.

Despite me laughing, he took me seriously with a genuine smile on his face.

"Ah, I see. I'll help you to the best I can. Do you want to borrow my phone to call them? Do you still have a bit of battery left to check their phone number?" he offered.

He unlocked his phone, went to the phone app and held it out to me. I thanked him and took out my phone. My phone was at 1%! It alarmed me and I scrolled through the contacts quickly. I barely tapped on Kyung-hwa's contact when my screen blacked out and my phone's brand logo showed up, shutting itself down.

Well crap.

The boy and I looked at each other at the same time with the same expression. He was trying his best not to panic. He tapped his chin, thinking of another way to help me. He asked me if I remembered anything about where I was before I lost them. I shook my head. They were smart to run ahead and make me chase them only to lose them and not remember where the hell I went or was for the time being. It was unfair they knew shortcuts but I did not.

"Aha! There is a cafe near here where you can charge your phone! You need to buy a drink from them though or they'll chase you out. It's ok. It's on me," he suggested.

"You don't have to buy a drink for me, I've got enough," I refused.

"It's ok. You're the lost one so let me help you out and buy you a drink," he smiled.

He was such a nice boy. It made me cry for joy on the inside. I bowed and thanked him for his kindness. While he was leading me to the cafe, I asked him if he really had the time to spare to help me out and he told me he was free the whole day.

He walked swiftly and quickly to the cafe as the streets started to get crowded. We finally reached our location and thankfully got seats where the charger was. They were stools at a table that faced out the window. The boy went to get drinks while I charged my phone. The phone charger was wireless so I did not have to plug it in.

He came back with drinks in both hands. He gently placed them on the table and sat beside me.

"I forgot to ask for your name," I mentioned.

"Ah, it's ok. My name is Seungkwan," he introduced himself with a bow.

"I'm Carat. Nice to meet you," I shook hands with him.

We ended up talking. Turns out, he was an emcee who also had a dream of being a singer. He even sang a verse for me and his singing was amazing. It turned heads at the cafe. He fell shy when he realised the attention he attracted. He was a humble, nice guy. There were not many guys where I lived who were like him.

Next thing I knew, I was drawn to him.

I was so immersed in the conversation that when I switched my phone on later on, it was fully charged! We had been talking for some time. I saw that I had received a few texts and calls from my friends. Now it was their turn to be worried.

I texted them the name of the cafe I was in and in a few minutes, I spotted them across the road through the window I faced. They spotted me too and waved. The gestured me to stay. I looked at Seungkwan who seemed pretty down that I would have to leave soon. I slid my phone over to him. He looked at it, confused.

"Leave me your number. Perhaps we can hang out the next time I'm here," I smirked.

"Oh! Ok," he exclaimed and input his number, saving his name as 'Seungkwan-ie' on my phone.

I sent a message to his number so that he would have my number too. After the exchange, my friends came rushing up to me, asking for forgiveness. I forgave them. They saw my calm expression and were bewildered.

"Thanks to you guys, I met an amazing new friend who helped me out!" I told them cheerfully, glancing at Seungkwan.

"Please don't ditch her like that again. It's not nice because anything could have happened to her while she was lost. Thank god she's safe," he scolded them.

They apologised again. They then decided to head somewhere and I had to part with Seungkwan.

"It was nice meeting you," I said to him.

I stuck my hand out and he shook it. He had such an adorable smile. I expressed my gratitude and he was humble about it yet again.

"Nah, anyone else would have done the same," he said.

"See you around?"

"Yup! Hopefully!" he answered.

"Well, I hope it's definitely because I would really like to see you again," I mentioned, turning around.

"I would love to see you again too, Carat."