Another Chance At Love

Chapter 16: Spark

It's been more than a week since Seri arrived in Switzerland. She got to witness the beautiful country with her newfound friends. They've been going out to explore the place. They were going out for dinner, visiting coffee shops, trailing, and so on. But out of all the friends she met, there's this one person who she mostly spent the time with and connected with the most- Jeong Hyeok.

It was a peaceful afternoon and the group of friends decided to stay at the hostel and rest. Seri got a bit bored so she went down to the lobby to give Dani some company.

She was alone in her area in the lobby so Seri approached and greeted her, "Hi!" Dani looked up to her and smiled, "Hello, Seri! Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Dani was about to stand up but Seri motioned her hands, gesturing for her to remain seated. "I'm okay. You don't need to worry. I just got a bit bored inside my room after days of going out with you guys," she laughed.

Dani gave her some magazines to read to ease her boredom. "You may also find something that you would like to try and visit. Just let us know," Dani gave her a bright smile.

As minutes passed, Dani kept on glancing at Seri. She wanted to ask her a question but didn't want things to get awkward so she started with a simple question to get the conversation going.

"So Seri, how's your stay here so far?" she began while Seri was flipping pages on the magazine. "Oh, it's been great. I really love your hostel," she answered.

"I mean, here in Switzerland. Are you enjoying everything?" Seri shifted her attention to Dani, "Yes. It makes me feel so relaxed. If only I could stay here forever." 

Dani continued talking with her. "Well, you actually can if only you're not that big in Korea," she chuckled. "Anyway, I hope we're doing well in giving you a tour. I may be pregnant and can't do all the activities that we could, but I'm in love with this country and I want to share with you how much I love this place." 

Seri gave her an assuring look and said, "You are doing a great job. You and Seung Jun have done a lot. I can say I'm the luckiest tourist to stay at your hostel and receive such a great service from you two."

"I'm glad to hear that my husband and I are serving you well. But, could I ask you a serious question? I hope you won't get the wrong idea about it," Dani lowered her head while randomly looking at the hostel's logbook. "Shoot!" Seri blurted out.

"How about Jeong Hyeok? I mean, it's only been a week but I can see how quickly you got close with each other." Seri was a bit stunned by Dani's question and stopped turning the magazine pages. She didn't know how to answer, but she beamed at her.

"Jeong Hyeok... Uhm, he helped me a lot too. I found a friend in him. Come to think of it, we actually have many similarities. That's maybe the reason why we got close in no time." Seri slightly tilted her head. 

"Oh, that's maybe why. Hmm... Seri, can I be honest with you?" Dani asked her. 

"Sure. What is it?" Seri gave all her ears to wait for what Dani would tell her.

Dani stood up from her seat and faced her, "It's been more than a year since I saw Jeong Hyeok smile like that- you know, the smile he's showing whenever he's talking with you. He had to go through something heavy during the last months. I'm not in the right position to tell you what happened, but when I say it's heavy, he really went through a lot. I actually thought he's giving up on everything. But when I saw how the two of you were getting along, I saw hope for him. I saw a spark between you two."

Seri paused. She didn't know how to react as she felt her heart skip a beat. She even felt butterflies in her stomach when Dani ended. She blinked her eyes when she realized she spaced out for a moment, thinking about Jeong Hyeok. She looked at Dani and chuckled, "What are you talking about? Spark? Haha! Jeong Hyeok just knows something about me and he's just offering some help. That's just it. I think."

"See? You even told him about you that we don't know. Be honest with me, do you like him? Or wait, okay let me rephrase that for you. Is there a chance that you'll like him?"

Seri just looked at Dani while she was continuously pursing her lips. Dani also noticed how she was swallowing hard while finding the right words to answer her question. "She's nervous," she thought.

"Well, I guess that answered my question." Dani chuckled at her while Seri's eyes widened in surprise that her friend had something to conclude.

Seri wanted to respond, but before she could even continue with what she was about to say, a man came down to the lobby as well.

"Hey," Jeong Hyeok entered. "I'll just buy some chocolates outside. I'll get your favorite one, Dani. Hmm... Seri, do you want to come with me? You might find something that your sweet tooth craves," he invited her. "Oh... uhm... sure," Seri stuttered as she kept on switching her gazes from Jeong Hyeok to Dani then Dani to Jeong Hyeok, thinking of what she and Dani just talked about.

While Seri was returning the magazine to Dani, Dani gave her a smirk and whispered, "Have fun, you guys. Or should I say, future lovebirds?" She laughed while Seri told her to stop, "Be quiet." She placed her index finger on her own lips and hushed Dani.

'Seri?" Jeong Hyeok peeked at the two ladies. "Oh coming," they both left the lobby as Dani smiled and stared at them then told herself, "I can imagine how beautiful a couple they would be."