Dual Hearts

Chapter 8: Heartstrings

After a few minutes of walking, we finally landed on a Korean restaurant. Well duh, we're in Korea so it basically has to be a Korean restaurant. I'm not bickering at you, I'm arguing with my mind. Anyhoo, since I was starving, I scanned the menu right away and spotted my all time faves. Mark didn't bother suggesting what I should order like he always does coz he was hungry too. We practically minded our own businesses this time.

Minutes later, our "grab some food" turned out to be a feast. There were stews, stir-fried seafoods, rice rolls, different kinds of noodles of course and a whole lot of appetizers. I first took a bite of kimchi, like it's some kind of a tradition. Both of us ate in peace for a change with short comments here and there. I munched on the seafood next and the rest was history.

"Heol. I think I gained 3 kilos from that." I uttered in sarcasm while rubbing my tummy. Mark just came back from the comfort room.

"Yeah the waiter was blown away when he was already cleaning our table. Who could have thought two people could manage to slurp down a feast for 5." He said smirking and we high-fived to that. Mark and I are food buddies. It may not be obvious but I eat a whole damn lot. Who doesn't love food?

"So where to now? It's still quite early." He asked, yawning after glancing at his watch.

"Yeah it's such a nice evening to waste. It's our day 1 after all. But you seem tired, you can go ahead to the hotel. Just give me the key card. And some bills, please." I knew he didn't have a good sleep last night coz I noticed bags under his eyes when he picked me up. He was also keeping the travel allowance they gave us and I basically wasn't able to convert some bills to Korean won before coming here.

"Hell no how can I leave you out here? You don't even know how to get back to-"

"There's google map for that Mark. Don't worry about me. I'm not a baby anymore. I can speak minimal Hangul, at least. Besides, you're tired. You've been very busy these days. So, I insist. Okay? I'll be back before midnight. I'm just gonna stroll around here." I gave him a reassuring smile and hugged him, for the first time. In the middle of the busy street of Gangnam, I hugged my bestfriend. It was a sincere hug, I even buried my face to his chest. I don't know why but I really felt like engulfing him into a hug. It was very rare for me to have any physical contact with him but this time, I finally gave in. Maybe it was also my way of expressing my gratitude for everything. I was becoming aware of all the eyes looking at our direction. Then he hugged me back, and this time I heard "awww", "ohhhh", "kyaaaa" from the crowd. And insanely enough, I heard shutter sounds as well. They must have thought we were filming some kind of a Korean drama. Just basing on Mark's looks, you can mistake him as an actor. Or a model. Gosh.

"I'll go now. NEVER turn your phone off." I whispered to his ear, put on my jacket's hood and dashed off like a ninja. I couldn't run fast coz I was still so stuffed but I managed to do a brisk walk. I don't know what was happening behind me. Whether Mark was dumbfounded that I left him there or the girls came rushing to him or if the people thought I dumped him. I couldn't care less. All I needed to do was get the hell out of there because it just dawned to me how embarrassing that was. It felt like I suddenly got drunk then after a minute, I sobered up. Aaargh!

I knew I was safe when I finally got to a not so crowded area. There were still people going in and out of shops but most of them weren't in groups anymore. It was true that I wanted to stroll around and I purposely wanted to be alone. I looked around, searching for that particular shop that I wanted to go to. A few blocks away, I soon found my target shop.

This is it. I told myself before pushing open the glass door. It's going to be my first time wandering in a foreign land, alone. I was in awe as I entered the store. There were countless shelves filled with different kinds of pretty and mouth-watering pastries! It's the best pastry shop I've ever been to. I've always drooled on those cakes whenever I watch Korean dramas, the one with the very fluffy, moist, filled center topped with fresh fruits but I never saw one in Ph. You might probably think that I'm in gluttony but no way.