Regret ➳ Bang Chan

Chapter 5

Jungha woke up with a pounding headache the next day.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have left the tv on last night," she thought to herself.

Today was Saturday, but she had a project to do for Monday.

"I can do the project tomorrow," she said to herself in her head. "But then I'll have less time to make it perfect!"

Jungha debated with herself for a few minutes, before deciding that she had worked pretty hard on school for the past few days, and that she should take a break.

She settled on going to the old coffee shop near the city for some coffee, and probably a slice of cake too. Scratch probably. She was going to eat the whole cake.

★

"What would you like today, ma'am?" The waiter said, smiling down at Jungha kindly.

"I'll just take a caramel macchiato and a slice of brownie cheesecake, please, Hyunwoo.

Jungha had come here enough times to have known his name, and they had kind of become friends. Well, in between "friend" and "acquaintance" on the imaginary scale.

"Coming right up!" Hyunwoo winked and turned away, fast-walking to the cheesecake fridge.

Jungha smiled and sighed. She took out her phone and scrolled through her instagram feed. She mainly followed kpop idols, and some western artists too. She found their music really interesting. When she first got into it, it wasn't really like anything she had ever heard before. She was actually really excited to move to Korea, because she was going to "see an idol every day!". She hadn't seen one. Not one.

The jingling of the door bells snapped Jungha out of her thoughts.

She lifted her head towards the door to see who had come inside.

It was that boy again!

What was his name again?

"Chan!" Jungha thought.

Chan was wearing a black hoodie and pale blue tracksuit pants.

He looked to his left and saw Jungha sitting there, phone still in her hand.

Quickly, the boy gave her a warm dimpled smile and walked towards her.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Chan said, laughing.

"Anyone sitting here?" He pointed towards the empty seat on the opposite side of the small tea table.

"Um-" Jungha cleared her throat. "No, its all yours." She smiled.

"Where the hell did that boost of confidence come from?" Jungha said in her head.

"I still have your umbrella!" Jungha said, wide-eyed as she realized that she had never given it back.

"Its okay, you can keep it!" Chan laughed.

"How have you been coping the past few days? The weather's been pretty rainy."

"I've been borrowing my girlfriend's one. She doesn't really mind."

Jungha didn't know why that hit her so hard. Maybe she was hoping to develop something with Chan. She liked Chan.

★

Jungha took her last bite of cheesecake and sighed in content.

"Well that was probably the best cake I've ever had!" Chan said enthusiastically as Hyunwoo came to pick up their plates.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, sir!" Hyunwoo said, smiling at Chan.

Just before he turned his back, he gave Jungha a quick wink, and she blushed redder than the berry coulis.

Chan suddenly stopped. "What the hell...?"

"What?" Jungha asked, slightly alarmed at his change in behaviour.

"I can't believe I havent asked your name!" Chan said incredulously.

Jungha sighed in relief.

"I thought it was something bad!" Jungha laughed.

"It's Jungha," she said.

"Jungha," Chan said, putting on a thoughtful face. "I like it, " He smiled.

"Hey, can I-" Chan hesitated. "Can I have give you my number? Maybe we can be friends!"

"Yeah, that's cool with me," Jungha smiled at Chan.

She pulled out her phone and passed it over the small table. Chan typed in his number and gave it back.

"Message me when you're home, alright? My sister got robbed a few weeks ago. I get really worried sometimes," Chan said, looking Jungha in the eye.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Oka-" she cleared her throat. "Okay, sure," Jungha gave Chan an uncertain smile and finished her latte.

"I better get going Chan," Jungha said, getting out of her wooden chair.

"It was really nice to talk to you. I hope we can again sometime!"

"Me too!" Chan looked up and gave an enthusiastic smile. "I'll see you some other time!"

Jungha paid for her coffee and cake and left the café.

That was the most fun she'd had in a while.

★

Jungha jumped into her bed and grabbed her phone. She went to Chan's contact and hesitated.

"Should I text him?" She thought, pondering over his words. "He wanted me to text him, right?"

In the end, Jungha decided to tell him that she got home safely. Just in case he was worried. Just in case.

Jungha: Hi Chan! You told me to text you when I'm home, so hi, I'm home!

Chan: Hey Jungha! That's good!! I'm pretty tired so I'm gonna hit the hay.

Jungha: Ugh me too.

Chan: Goodnight, Jungha!!

Jungha: Night, Chan!

Seen