The Letters In His Lunchbox

Note X

The next morning, Seungwan was prepared.

She had woken up quite early and had already started her preparations.

She was determined to give this Y a good lunch today .

After a light breakfast of some fruits and toast, she put out her meat for marination and then went on to chop some vegetables .

After having chopped the carrots after spinach and radish, she moved on to sauté the carrots in the pan.

The shiitake mushrooms were the next .

Once the mushrooms were done, she began to mix the sauces required for her dish in the air tight tiffin and then the rice above it.

Then she carefully placed the vegetables in order and then a sunny side up above it to finish. Closing it, she smiled to herself in satisfaction as she looked at her well prepared Bibimbap.

Then, once again opening the upper side of the lid, she slipped in a small note she had written before she had begun cooking.

Just as she placed the note inside the upper compartment often lid, the doorbell rang.

This time she had a bright smile as she looked at pick up boy this time. Even though he reflected the same
' I need sleep' face as yesterday.

As soon as he left, she closed the door and smiled to herself.

She moved towards the refrigerator and cut something off her list.

Wake up early and prepare good food for Y.

Somehow completing just the first task gave her immense satisfaction.

And that satisfaction was enough fuel for her to get through the entire day.

Something had changed. Changed in her. She was beginning to feel a bit better. And at the same time beginning to forget a bit more about someone as well.

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It was already two in the afternoon when Yoongi sat down to have his lunch.

The boy, just like yesterday had brought it right on time.

It was Bibimbap this time. And it would be a lie to say he didn't like it.
Somehow the sunny side up was still in shape and the mushrooms were still fresh. The vegetables and and the sauces perfectly balanced with the rice.

Had the chef been in front of him, Yoongi would have already appreciate the guy for preparing such a good lunch.

After having finished the lunch, for some reason Yoongi slowly slid his hand in the upper compartment of the lid and pulled out a note as if he had expected it.

This time it had been written neatly in beautiful handwriting .

" Your appreciation means a lot. I hope you like today's lunch. And this time I tried my best to prepare it properly. Hope you like it ^_^ .

Also please do tell me if you have any allergies or dislikes. I'll prepare your lunch accordingly next time then.

W "

The note was longer this time. And for some reason he felt pleased at himself that he had replied to yesterday's note.

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It had been already four by the time the delivery boy arrived today.

And once again she wasn't home. But this time the delivery boy knew what to do. He simply kept the lunch box near her door and left.

She had arrived at the restaurant by one itself as Ahjumma had said at the beginning.

The old lady hadn't been wrong. Their place was right in the center of many business parks and shopping centers.

A weird junction where both the shopaholics and workaholics equally came.

And between one to three was the busiest time as it was time for lunch and people would often come to the restaurant thanks to its amazing reputation.

Seungwan had to take the orders to the kitchen and serve the dishes to the tables. A simple waitress.

Other than the granny Kim ( she called the Ahjumma this way) there was

Ms. Yoon, a lady in her mid forties, she helped in the dish cleaning,

Ms. Shin, another lady in her late thirties, who came into help Ms. Yoon once she picked up her kids from school. She had two lovely kids Shin Chin Mae and Shin Chin Hwa . Their personal favorite was Seungwan noona as compared to all others she was most probably closest to someone they could play with.

While next was Mr. Kim, or Grandpa Kim as she called him, he was the cashier and did no other job other than occasionally nagging them all.

Somehow he reminded Seungwan of her own father.

And last there was Ms. Gong, who was the main chef along with granny .
She was a widow in her early forties.
She had pair of twins in their teens. Both sixteen years old. Gong Yo Na and Gong Yo Han.

Within just few days she already felt like she had got a new home. The children, the elders, they all were very accepting.

And within a few days, they had all taken her in just as if she had been with them for years.

Ms. Gong would often give her tips on how to prepare delicious lunches after hearing about her other part time job.

And the twins loved her. They would often spend time talking to her while the younger two kids would play around.

Seungwan somehow felt like she had actually entered a happy space. A place where she could leave her sorrows and walk free..

She was content as she bid her byes to the restaurant for that night.

She was on the crosswalk across her apartment when she saw them.

Him. With Her.

For a minute she froze. It felt as if someone had pushed the pause button in her body.

They were right there across the street being all cozy. Holding each others hand.

She could feel her palms get sweaty.

No. Seungwan you can't act like he bothers you anymore. You're over it. Over him.

Seungwan drew in a deep breath before she looked straight at the road.

The signal turned red. The crossing was cleared. And she walked past them with her head held high.

From the corner of her eye she could see that he had clearly seen her.

Deciding firmly that she wouldn't look back at him, she walked fast, almost running towards her apartment building .

"I didn't have to face him thia time... but... what about the next? "

-to be continued -