Your Mystery Lover (IVE x Male Reader)

Chapter 9: Equations Of The Heart, Part 4

After you and Jiwon had finished sorting out everything at the Science Lab, it was now time to head towards the very place she's been looking forward to visiting again, which is your sister's cafe.

Of course, it's no surprise that you are still feeling anxious about this sudden decision of hers, for you know that things will surely get out of hand if Miyeon sees her there. Sure she may be kind, but what Jiwon said to her about her future married life was something she could not simply brush aside. For this reason, you felt anxious about the possibility of her showing up at the Soulful Barista while Jiwon is still in the middle of relishing her dessert. Trouble is sure to come if that happens.

By agreeing to take her there, you might have served your genius friend a meal to die for, literally speaking.

Still, what can you do?

There's no way you can convince her otherwise. Instead of worrying, you try to look at the bright side. Perhaps it would be better for you to think that this might be the day when the two of them will make amends, and that Jiwon herself would give her a contrasting opinion about her so-called "assessment" of her personality this time.

Wishful thinking or not, it is possible. You can't accept the fact that she's going to be mad at her forever. One way or another, they have to make up.

But for now, you have other concerns, the first of them being how to arrive at the cafe safely with Jiwon.

Yes, it is a task that you simply cannot underestimate. Despite being a person of such high intellect, Kim Jiwon does have her flaws. One of them being that she's always having trouble when it comes to handling herself in a crowd. It's because of her choosing to distance herself from other people which caused this, and it doesn't look like she's going to be able to solve this personal problem of hers anytime soon.

While she tries to get by this predicament every day when she goes to school, Jiwon admits that doing so remains to be quite a burden for her. Her friends, especially Rei, tried their best to help her overcome it. But in the end, none of it would matter if Jiwon herself doesn't have the courage she needs to face it.

Being one of the few people who understood her for who she is, you already knew this to be true. You want to help her as well as her friends do, but you also know that simply forcing her to change is not a good thing. With this, you decided to be by her side, helping her however you can. If there's one good thing that you noticed about her recently, it's the fact that little by little, Jiwon is starting to get better at interacting with others. She has a long way to go, but you have faith that she'll be able to do it.

That said, it was still tough for her to face the large crowd of people at the train station, especially during the early evening. It was understandable, for the place tends to be busy with both students and adults alike looking to board the train home after a long and productive day.

One look at Jiwon and you already saw her trembling from nervousness, as she looks at you with worry. You simply gave her a smile in return, with your expression assuring her that everything will be alright since you're there with her. You then opted to hold her hand, by which she obliged without hesitation. Thankfully, you saw her feeling relieved after she saw your gesture, for it would seem that she had calmed down a little despite the stress that she's still feeling.

A few minutes later, the two of you were able to board the train without any trouble. As you both sat comfortably together, you noticed that Jiwon slowly began to feel sleepy. She must have been tired from what she was doing the whole day, even though you have no idea as to what she was up to apart from developing her serum which she injected on Wonyoung's pet hamsters earlier. But like she had told you so many times before, her mind is always swirling with new ideas. It may sound vague, but as long as she's happy with her scientific endeavors, then it's all good.