Remember When

I Wanted You

"Didn't you say it was just going to be the two of us?" Somin hissed at Jiwoo.

Work for the day had ended and the two of them were leaving the company. But then Somin spotted Woo-jin and Tae-hyung seemingly waiting for them by the company revolving doors and an unsettling suspicion niggled at her.

Jiwoo had the nerve to smile at her. "In my defense, I didn't exactly say it was going to be just the two of us. And when I told Tae-hyung about it, he said he wanted to come."

Somin glanced at Woo-jin, who was talking to Tae-hyung jovially. "And Woo-jin?"

"He heard Tae-hyung bugging me about wanting to join us and he joined the... well... buggery as well."

"That is not a word, Jiwoo." Somin narrowed her eyes on the other girl.

Jiwoo didn't look fazed. "I'm an editor. I can edit words as I want."

Somin fought the urge to shake Jiwoo until her brain turns into mush.

Glancing at Woo-jin again, she thought about how this night was going to suck.

**********

This night wasn't going to suck after all.

That was what Somin was thinking when she spotted Woo-jin walk into the party that she got roped into by Na-eun.

Somin's heart began to thump and she tried to catch Woo-jin's eye over the many guys who were surrounding her. They were trying to engage her into conversation, trying to flirt with her. She ignored them all and kept her gaze on the only man for her.

But Woo-jin didn't notice her. He was surrounded by his friends, absorbed with their own conversation.

And her heart sank.

"Want me to get you another drink, Somin?"

She looked at the speaker. He was tall and handsome. He looked like a fun guy to flirt with.

But he wasn't Woo-jin.

"No, thank you" she told him. Then she shouted across the table, "Na-eun!"

Na-eun, who was talking to two guys, turned to her immediately.

"What?" she shouted back.

"I need a breath of fresh air. Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded. "I'm okay. Want me to come with you?"

That was Na-eun. Even when she was having the time of her life, she would stop just for Somin.

Somin shook her head. "No. I'll be fine." She glanced up at the two guys with Na-eun. "And I'll be watching."

Na-eun gave her a wide smile. "I'll be watching too."

Rejecting the guys' offers to come with her, Somin made her way through the crowded house toward the hallway that led to the big patio. There were a few people milling outside, people who wanted to smoke and people who wanted to have a conversation without shouting. Somin leaned her back against the wall of the house, taking in a deep breath.

Then she thought about Woo-jin, the man she was longing to be with.

The man who kept his calm while she ranted on and on, even cheering her up in the end. The man who, by just watching him smile and laugh, made her want to be the girl who made him smile and laugh like that. The man who didn't judge her so easily and took the time to get to know her, to befriend her.

The man who had her heart but didn't even know it.

Somin inhaled in another deep breath and exhaled slow to make the burn in her chest disappear.

And just when Somin was about to surrender herself to another hopeless night of senseless flirting ad trivial fun, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Turning around, she saw Woo-jin smiling down at her.

And she smiled.

Huge.

  **********  

"It's been awhile since we last hung out together," Tae-hyung was saying as they walked down the street, holding Jiwoo's hand. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at Somin. "Remember when we used to eat out every Friday night and get drunk?"

Somin forced a smile on her face. "I remember."

"I think it's because you were too busy making sure Jiwoo doesn't run away from you again, Tae-hyung," Woo-jin teased.

"I'm not going to run away," Jiwoo muttered, sending a frown his way.

"And I'm not worried," Tae-hyung said. "I have her passport and her credit card numbers. She can't leave the city without leaving a trace nor can she get out of the country."

Jiwoo sighed and told Somin, "We're still working on our trust issues."

Somin gave her a tight-lipped smile.

She was still ticked off at her but she couldn't really be unpleasant to her when she knew Jiwoo hadn't done this on purpose.

They entered a barbecue joint and took their seats at a table in a corner. Somin let her eyes wander around the place. She, Tae-hyung and Woo-jin used to come here a lot when they just started working. She did miss hanging out with them.

"You're quiet," Woo-jin noted. He was sitting beside her.

"Work was stressful," Somin answered with a shrug. Though she wanted to, she didn't tell him that more than half of her stress was because of him.

"The usual?" Tae-hyung asked them both.

They nodded.

"Soju?"

"It's a work night," Jiwoo told him with a frown. But she didn't even get to finish letting her words out when Somin and Woo-jin said with another nod, "Soju."

Jiwoo's frown moved to them. Somin didn't know about Woo-jin but there was no way she could get through the night without alcohol.

It was still Monday, Somin thought, picking up her glass.

She could still find a way to get out of the date on Friday.