hoping for love | kth

|| part #6 ||

|- meili pov -|

"You may go Ms. Wang," Mr. Dokgo said, kindly smiling.

"Thank you," I said, collecting my papers and placing them into my bag. "Have a nice day." I walked out of the classroom door, into the sunny afternoon. The snow on the ground was more like a black and white slushy. I walked around to the bus stop, careful not to step into the melting snow.

I sat down on the bench and sighed. Wednesdays were my favorite days. I was allowed to go to work late. The bakery re-opened at 5:15 on Wednesdays instead of 4:30, giving me some time to sleep, or work, or eat.

Today, I had to meet Mr. Dokgo, one of my teachers, for some revision before my exam. Nobody else in my class went there, but it was quite helpful. Now that it was over, I had to go to work. The bus arrived, and I hopped on, paying the driver, and sitting down in the front.

I put on my headphones and began to listen to VAV's new song. I looked out the window, trying to avoid the sunlight. Within a few minutes, we had stopped again at another bus stop. Only one person was getting on, a man with a dark haired mullet. It couldn't be him again. I looked up at the sky, following an airplane to distract me. The bus doors closed.

"Hi," someone said from my side. I jumped and glanced at the person next to me. It was Taehyung. 

How shocking. 

"Why are you sitting here?" I asked. "There are at least ten more seats open."

"And, I wanted to sit with you. You should be flattered."

What a creep. I scoffed. "Really? I didn't think that you'd want to sit with a waitress." I looked back outside the window.

I heard Taehyung sigh as we sat in silence.

"Why weren't you at the café yesterday?" He quietly asked after a few minutes.

"None of your business," I said avoiding eye contact with him.

"Oh, come on," he said. "I'm not a mean person, okay? I didn't actually mean what I said yesterday."

"Then why'd you say it?" I asked, finally looking at him. Wow, he looked better than he had in the past few days. His hair was cleaned up and his face less bruised.

"What?" He asked.

I had been staring at him.

"N-Nothing," I said, looking away.

He smirked. "I'm too handsome, right?"

I scowled. "You wish."

We sat in silence again.

"What's your name?"

I paused. "Why should I tell you? You're practically a stranger."

Taehyung stared at me, his mouth open, a blank expression on his face.

"Ugh. It's Meili."

"That's a pretty name," he said, suddenly cheerful. I looked at him. "How about your surname?"

"Wang. Yours?"

"Wang. I've always liked that word. It's so simple, but the meaning is so powerful - king. Mine's Kim, nothing special."

I raised an eyebrow. Why was he being so weird?

I faced the window again, hoping that he would shut up.

"Where are your parents from?" He asked.

I turned around and glared at him for a few seconds before answering. "My eomma is from Seoul. My appa was from Chengdu."

"Chengdu? Is that in Korea?"

"No." I said, gritting my teeth a bit. "It's in China, you dumb head."

Taehyung raised his eyebrows. "Who are you calling a dumb-"

But the driver had interrupted Taehyung's words. "Seon Street!"

I gave Taehyung a fake smile, squeezed through the seat, and left the bus, heading into the bakery, the smell of bread and pastries entering my nostrils. Why was Taehyung such a weirdo?

I placed my bag to the side, washed my hands in the sink to the side of the kitchen, and grabbed my apron, walking into the bakery itself.

I waited a few minutes before someone finally arrived.

The next few hours flew by as customers strolled in, ordering a variety of baked goods.

"See you Tuesday," the manager said to me in a bored voice as I took my bag. He handed me my paycheck.

"Thank you, sir," I said, bowing. I left the bakery and headed to the bus stop, opening the cream envelope the manager had given me. 30,000 won. I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though I had come late to work yesterday, I still had enough money - hopefully.

I hopped on the bus and asked the driver to take me to Kelsey's, a small fast food restaurant near my dorm house. I sat down in the bus, watching some YouTube on my phone.

Before I knew it, the bus had reached. I got off, thanked the driver, and entered the restaurant.

"Hello," the light brown haired man behind the counter said. "Welcome to Kelsey's. What can I get you today?"

"May I have a large Alfredo linguini, please?"

"Yeah, that'll be 8,097 won." He said. "It'll be up in a bit."

"Thank you," I smiled at him.

He grinned and left to tell the chef the order. I looked around the tiny restaurant, the few shiny metal tables and two bored customers.

"Here's your food," the guy was back.

That was quite fast. "Thank you. Have a wonderful night." I said, trying to sound genuine. I knew what it felt like to be in that position.

He smiled at me again as I left the restaurant, walking to my university's dorm house.

Areum was coming tonight. I quickened my pace, hoping she hadn't reached yet. I wasn't very close to her, but she was still my friend. I took my key out for the dormitory, entered, and set the food down on the table. Areum hadn't arrived yet. I took out my food, a bowl and fork, did some last minute cleaning, took out my homework, sat down, and started to eat. After a few moments, I was interrupted by a knock on my door. I got up from my bed and answered the door to find a familiar smiling red head facing me.

"Meili!" She exclaimed. I smiled, reaching in to give her a hug.

"I haven't seen you in so long." She said.

"Same," I replied, pulling away.

Areum entered the room as I closed the door behind her.

"What are you eating?" She asked.

"Pasta," I casually replied. "Do you want some?"

"Nah, I ate on the flight."

"Oh yeah, how was your trip?" I asked.

Areum explained her trip to me as I ate, the beautiful views of Niagara Falls, everything. We both sat on my bed, enjoying our company.

Hoping to become closer to Areum,

meili

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So, has anyone heard of VAV before...? 

If you don't, they are an incredibly talented, yet sadly, underrated boy group. Check them out!