Upside Down

14. The Queen

After that eventful night, Bin and Yejin seemed to grow closer as friends. He would often come by the coffee shop where she worked in the afternoon, then wait for her to finish, and finally accompany her until the train station.

"Hey Bin, don't you have anything better to do these days? I feel like you're wasting your time waiting for me at the shop and walking with me to the station...Hmm..wouldn't your mom get mad at you? You could have just enrolled for the summer classes or taken a summer job." Yejin asked him, one afternoon as they were walking to the train station.

"Yej? You sounded just like her. Haha." Bin replied, amused by her non-stop queries.

"No, I'm just concerned that you could have been more productive these days." Yejin explained, wondering what he's been doing all this time.

"Who said I'm not productive? Yej, I've told you that I took an online business course, right? That's what I do while I stay in your shop. I can show you the reports and case studies I've made." Bin beamed proudly.

"Hmm...But why don't you just do that in your apartment?" She probed further, unconvinced of what he said.

"I want to drink coffee, why? And exercise by walking you to the train station." Bin stopped and stared at her, as if trying to convince her that it's alright. 

"Hmm..okay I got your point.." Looking at his eyes, Yejin realized she won't be able to get the answers that would satisfy her curious mind.

As they continued to walk, Yejin got lost in her thoughts. Though she's concerned that he might have been unproductive, another thing that bothered her was the fact that they've been seeing each other for three weeks now on weekdays. And every Saturday, they would hang out with Choi and Hali, while on Sundays, though he spends time with his family, he would video call her and they'll just talk about anything under the sun until she's sleepy and runs out of words to say. It bothered her because she's becoming used to it...so much, she's afraid she will miss his presence once they return to regular schooldays next month. 

Lastly, the thing that troubled her the most was the fact that he hadn't mentioned anything about his first love, and she wondered how it will be so when the time that they become a couple. She just hasn't found the guts to ask him about it, maybe because she's afraid of what she'll hear. What would then become of her? She let out a deep sigh.

"Hey, are you okay? Something's bothering you?" Bin nudged him upon hearing her loud sigh.

"None, Bin, I'm just tired." She smiled and continued to walk.

"You want me to drive you home?" Bin continued, worried of her condition. "I can get my car in the University's parking lot, wait for me here."

"No need for that Bin, it'll just mess your daily exercise routine. Hahaha." She said while rolling her eyes, teasing him.

"Hmmm...Okay, if you're concerned about that, how about I come with you to your house, let's cook dinner, then I'll come back here? That would be twice the calories I should lose today right?"

"You want to come with me to my house right now?"  Yejin was shocked with his request.

"Yeah, why not?" Bin looked at her with a poker face.

She was about to laugh at his request but she saw how serious he was. And even before she could say a word, he grabbed her arm and ushered her to walk faster to the train station.

"Let's just buy the ingredients somewhere near your house, for sure, there's a grocery store near yours?" Bin said, without even waiting for her to answer if it's okay with her.