amaranthine.

douze

-          it felt like a lifetime had passed when finally jeongguk put down his canvas, held it up, squinted.

"that's good for now," he said. yerin sighed in relief and looked up to the ceiling to stretch her neck.

"how does it look?" she asked, rolling her head side to side before meeting his eyes.

"good, i think." he started to turn the canvas to her, and then stopped and clutched it to him with a mischevious grin. "can it be a surprise? i want to wait until i'm done to show you."

yerin groaned. "fiiine."

jeongguk was satisfied. he stuffed his canvas into his backpack. "how about i get you some coffee?" before yerin could protest, he was on his feet. "a latte, like last time?"

"yes please—" yerin watched as he bounded to the counter. he remembered my order.

but, she reasoned with herself, he could just be the kind of person that remembers these things. she turned on her phone to check the time, and supressed a smile when she saw two notifications from jimin.

mini123: omg ur probably with him right nOW

mini123: GUKRIN !!! GUKRIN !!! YAYAYAY

soon, jeongguk was walking back to their table, two coffees in hand. "i should tell you," he said as he sat down, "that i'll usually take more time than that to paint. is that it okay? did it hurt to sit still for so long?" in the café's yellow light, he regarded her with surprising concern.

"i'm fine," yerin promised. "it didn't hurt."

"phew." jeongguk pushed back his bangs. "just let me know if you're ever uncomfortable."

"don't worry about it." yerin wrapped her hand around the steaming cup, glancing outside. it was already dark, the streetlights casting the road in a coat of warm gold. "so."

"so." jeongguk lifted his mug to his lips with a smirk. "song yerin. tell us a little about yourself."

yerin laughed. "is this a job interview all of a sudden?"

"not really—"

"i was going to say, i'm underdressed!"

"definitely not," jeongguk said quickly.

"not what?"

"underdressed."

yerin inhaled sharply, but he kept going. "and anyway, it's a bit of an interview. i just want to know more about you, since we'll be spending some time together. i don't like painting strangers."

yerin searched jeongguk's dark eyes, which smiled at her from across the table.

we're not strangers. don't you remember?

she took a deep breath, straightened up, smoothed her shirt.

"alright," she said. "ask away."