Lovely Stranger (Moon Junhui)

①

I don't usually do this. Seriously.

It's not that I completely despite people or something, I just don't tend to approach random strangers and ask them something as upfront as this.

But I panicked...

"Hey...we've never met before, but can we have coffee or something?"

"What?" the attractive boy in front of me looking dumbfounded asked. 

And so I panicked...again.

"I swear I don't mean to be creepy or making you feel uncomfortable in any way but do you see that couple on the counter? The one that's currently ordering?" I pointed in their direction while the boy tried to not so subtlely look their way. "Yeah, I really don't want to be caught alone while those two are here..."

The boy turned his attention back to me, eyeing me for a moment, the same way you would look to a person when you're trying to figure out what their intentions are. Then finally he spoke with his eyebrows raised.

"Are you sure you're not trying to hit on me?" 

"What? No, of course not!"

"No need to make it sound as if flirting with me is a federal crime!" he mocked, putting his hand on his chest as if I just gravely hurt his feelings. "Well, since no has ever been this straightforward with me and I'm also pretty curious to find out what did those two do, feel free to sit!" he gestured towards the seat in front of him.

I quickly sat down while continuously thanking this strange individual.

"So...what sins have those two committed that force you to seek the help of a random stranger, who by the way is the perfect person for you to hit on?"

"First of all, I don't flirt with people, no matter how 'perfect' they might be! Secondly, you're not exactly a random stranger, since I've actually seen you here loads of times before."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're usually here with friends though. I especially enjoy when you come here with your Chinese friend and the both of you start screaming in Mandarin. It's always pretty entertaining!"

"I do come here often...especially with Minghao...wait, how did you know that I can speak Korean then?"

"I've seen your friend sass you in perfect Korean, so I'm pretty much guessed that you could at the very least understand it."

"...smart...very smart." the boy grinned "I've actually seen a couple times here too, are you a regular?"

"The cashier knows my order by heart, so I guess I am."

"Thought so." he nodded. "But anyway, we're losing the main topic here! If you don't mind telling me, what's their story?"

I pondered for a moment if dumping my entire life story on a person that I barely know is too weird, but since he was the one that asked I might as well just tell him.

"It's too cliche..."

"I love cliches, you should see me watching romantic movies." Before I could interject with something witty, he held up a finger in front me. "No comment, just go on with the storytelling!"

And so I told him everything. It really isn't much of an interesting story. Just the typical best friend who decided that she should date the boy who had a crush on and then rub it all in my face whilst leaving me completely alone. But the boy in front of me didn't seem to care about how 'teen movie like' the whole situation was. He just listened attentively and nodded. Once I finished the tale, he looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm really sorry that you had to through all of that. I really do understand why you would rather avoid them." his facial expression changed when he noticed something behind me. "Unfortunately, they seem to have noticed you and are now looking at us."

"What?! No no no! I really don't want to face them!" I started panicking.

"So, I might have a plan...but it can be considered harassment without the proper consent and honestly I would rather have you not punching me straight in the face."

"I can't believe I'm saying, but at this point, I'm pretty much up for anything."

"Promise me that you won't punch in the face! Or in any vital organ!"

"Deal!"

"Okay then, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Before I could inquire what he meant by that statement, the boy quickly got up and firmly pressed his lips to mine.

I'm pretty sure the kiss lasted longer than necessary, but I wasn't going to complain.

Once we pulled away, he went back to his seat and took a sip of his coffee while glancing at the awful couple.

"The good news is they really did see us. The even better news, they are grabbing their stuff and leaving as fast humanly possible without causing a scene. Ooh, and the girl looks pissed!" he chuckled.

I looked behind me, and just it was he said. My ex-best friend was looking pretty annoyed while she dragged her boyfriend, who looked very shocked, along with her. I turned back to face the boy in front of me who was still triumphantly grinning.

"How did you know that this was going to work?"

"Well," he set his coffee down. " From what you told me, that girl sounded like the kind of person who doesn't necessarily love seeing other people happy, so I guess that seeing you being kissed by such a handsome person as myself would make her at least a bit annoyed. By the way, did you really had a crush on that guy? I am seriously judging your high school self right now!"

"You know, there are better ways to solve this sort of situations without having to kiss people who you barely know..."

"Maybe so, but it was the first thing that occurred to me. And you should seriously stop acting as if being romantically involved with me is a bad thing. You sound just like Minghao!" he shook his head.

We continue to chat for a while and I honestly never felt so much at ease with a person whom I just met a few hours ago.

Eventually, the two of us had to go on our separate ways.

Later on, I realized that the boy who helped me in avoiding such an unpleasant situation, never actually told me his name. And didn't mention mine to him either.