Swapping Partner [IZ*ONE x SVT]

Coincidence? (NxJ)

Thursday night. Usually at a time like this, Nako stays inside her small, chic, and comfy studio apartment; studying her Korean and do her paperwork. But not this time. She felt really hungry for no reason and there was no more food left.

'Ah,' she thought after scanned the calendar in her phone, 'it's the end of the month already. Time flies fast.'

Nako got up from her bed. She took a glance to her phone again and murmured, "Should I visit my uncle too? It's been a while and it's still near 7 anyway."

After thinking some more, the lady finally grabbed her white tiny sling bag and a sky blue coat. There's no need to change since she was in a white shirt and black shorts, her usual casual homey style. She loves pajamas too, but it'll be weird to visit someone with a pj on. Once she make sure everything's she needs are in her bag, Nako went out and walked to the bus stop.

It took twenty minutes ride on bus to get to her uncle's entertainment building. The bus stop is right in front of it. Her uncle lives nearby with his wife, just need five minutes walk on foot from there.

But, Nako won't get to her uncle's first. There's somewhere she needed to go before that.

The petite lady checked the watch on her phone. It was 7:17 PM already. She let out a big breath before walk into a convenience store beside the entertainment building.

There wasn't much people in the convenience store. Nako looked to the eating corner and oddly enough no one there in this time. She shrugged her shoulder and walked to scan the snack areas. Wondering what and how much should she buy to stack her cabinet for at least a week.

"Nako-sshi?"

A manly voice startled the girl that was busy picking her snacks. Nako looked up and her eyes met someone she's been searching for.

Yes, that was Jihoon.

Her Yena-unnie said that the boyfriend goes to the convenience store every night when he's starting to lock himself. Apparently, the man never skip dinner no matter how busy he is.

And Nako was lucky. He went there right when she was there too.

"Oh, Jihoon-sshi. Hello," she greeted him then bowed her head. He returned the gesture. "Never thought I would bumped into you. How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking. What a coincidence. But, how do you ended up in this store? Your apartment is far from here."

"Ah," she responded weakly with a flush of red run through her cheeks. There's no way she's gonna tell him the true reason that this wasn't actually a pure coincidence at all. "I want to visit my uncle but then I got hungry, so that's why I ended up in here."

"I see." Jihoon eyeing her for a second and he asked out of the blue, "The foods in this store are tasty. Do you want me to recommend you some suppers?"

"Eh?"

The man nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder. "I'm a regular. I tried almost everything, so I'm confident enough to recommend foods that you will like. Do you have foods that you don't like or can't eat at all?"

"Ah, no?" she answered him so fast. "I mean, I don't eat super spicy food. Just tolerable spicy is okay. I haven't try much foods, to be honest. I like to play safe."

Jihoon flashes her a smile. It was too good to be put on his face and made her blushed for a good ten seconds. "Understandable. Okay, come with me then. I'll pick some tasty foods for you."

So the two of them walked to the heavy food section. Jihoon picked five different kind of suppers and walk to the cashier.

"You can pick your drink, Nako-sshi. And when you're at it, would you please grab a cold coffee for me? Any brand is fine."

Nako nodded like an obedient kid before jogged to the fridge that stores so many cold beverages. She settled with an ice tea and grabbed an americano. After that, she jogged again to where Jihoon was waiting.

The guy muttered a thanks to her and paid for their dinner. He picked up all the foods, grabbed two plastic plates, and walked into the eating corner. Nako tailed behind him with two beverages in each of her hands.

When they were comfortable in their chair, Jihoon started to introduce the foods one by one patiently to the younger girl beside him. He studied the reaction Nako was making and smile warmly when he satisfied with her expression.

They ate while talking about foods and eventually found out each other palate's. It was a pleasant and relaxing night for both of them and the talk went out naturally.

Nako put down her chopsticks first because she was full. The lady sipped her tea slowly while watching the guy finished all the foods.

"That was great, Jihoon-sshi. So, umm, how much is my part?" she asked when Jihoon finally let go of his chopsticks.

"No. It's my treat," he refused strongly. "Just take it as my welcome gift."

Nako giggled. "Why is this a welcome gift? I've been here for at least two years already, though?"

"But, all you eat was cheese based foods. You haven't even try this kind of kimchi before. So now, welcome to South Korea."

The lady laughed again. "Yes. That's right. Thank you for your lovely welcome gifts, Jihoon-sshi. I appreciate it a lot. The foods are tasty. I'll ask you to recommend me some foods again to try in the future."

Jihoon smile while maintained the eye lock with her. "By the way, it's nine. Where is your uncle lives? Is it far from here? I'll accompany you there."

Nako took out her phone from the bag. Oh, right. It was nine. Her uncle is a night owl, but is it okay to visit this late? She doesn't think so. Besides, she doesn't want Jihoon to meet her uncle since the uncle cherishes the guy so much like his own son.

Yes. Nako's uncle is the CEO where Jihoon works. And no, she doesn't want the guy acknowledge this fact just yet.

"It takes five minutes from here. But I think it's pretty late to visit. I'll just go straight home after this."

The guy stared at her for a moment before spoke, "I'll take you home. Luckily I drove to work today. Because of gut feeling."

"Eh?" Nako widen her eyes. "No need, really. I don't want to be a nuisance. I'll take the bus."

"No. It's late and you have to walk from the bus stop. I'll drive you."

"But..."

"No buts, please, Nako-sshi. This is a gift set. You can't take half of the gifts and reject the rest."

The lady contemplating before her eyes met a pair of those warm black orbs. She smile a little and said, "Yes. It's rude to reject half of the gifts when I already accepted the other half."

"Good," he said and returned the smile. "Finally, welcome to South Korea."

And she doesn't know how to hold back her laugh.

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