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Heeju sat at her vanity, jewelry box open before her and displaying only a few shiny items inside. She pulled out a pair of pearl earrings that would compliment her dress.
As she was fastening them into her ears, her grandmother yelled up the stairs that someone was at the door for her. A flash of anxiety struck her, causing her insides to churn and her hands to shake while she continued to put in her other earring, ultimately causing her to drop it once.
It was obvious that she liked this boy, but she refused to admit it to herself, wondering why she got so nervous at the thought of meeting him for the first time. After all, he's just a guy.
Heeju hurriedly flew down the stairs, fixing her hair on the way down and pausing a moment before the front door.
Deep breath in, and out.
Finally, she opened the door to reveal Park Jisung waiting for her behind it. To say she was taken aback by the boy would be an understatement.
First of all, she was surprised to see a small fixture of white flowers clutched in one of his hands. Definitely not a bouquet, maybe four or five flowers, but she was expecting anything from him at all.
The two stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, just staring at one another completely frozen. "Hi," Heeju finally managed to say, snapping back to her senses first.
"Hi," he said back, still in his own world. What else could he say to her? Everything that came to his mind was too embarrassing.
"The flowers?" She questioned, motioning to them.
Now he seemed to return to himself, his eyebrows raising and his feet taking a small step back. "Oh- I know you said it was a joke, but I just thought- you know, if I was meeting you along with your grandma..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.
I'm screwing this up, he thought.
"They're cute," Heeju said, feeling a bit speechless. There was a lot to take in. The fact that he actually showed up in nice clothing, his voice, and his adorableness with the flowers.
She opened the door wider to let him in, turning around to lead him down the hallway. When she didn't hear footsteps following behind her, she turned back to see Jisung still standing outside with his hands held together, eyes wandering the outside of her house.
She laughed softly before walking back and waving for him to come inside, "You know you have to come in if you wanna meet my grandma, right?" she teased and he smiled shyly in return.
He followed her down the hallway, sock covered feet pattering against the wooden floor. The kitchen was completely clean, the also wooden table empty aside from a decorative cloth and empty vase.
The vase struck the memory of the flowers he brought still being in his own hands, but before he could turn to Heeju and give them to her, someone else walked into the kitchen.
"Grandma! This is Jisung, he came to meet you," Heeju introduced in her home language: Japanese.
Jisung was completely caught off guard, not expecting to hear Heeju speak in a different language. His features turned up in shock, but he decided to wait to ask questions til later, noting how the two were both wearing similar floral dresses.
To Heeju's grandmother's delight, this new friend was quite an attractive young man. She smiled upon analyzing him and waved for him to take a seat at the dinner table, patting on the wooden bench that stood in place of normal chairs.
He took this chance to hold the flowers out to the older woman, who gratefully accepted the flowers and patted his hands in thanks. Anxiety swarmed in his stomach for a moment, not knowing what to say to the woman, so deciding to say nothing at all and just smile.
The old woman placed the flowers into the vase and took a moment to arrange them nicely, not that there was a lot to arrange. "Dinner's ready, she wants us to eat," Heeju clarified, motioning towards the countertop filled with food.
"He's very attractive. How old?" Her grandma asked bluntly, knowing the boy couldn't understand her. Heeju choked on air at the sudden question, surprising Jisung and causing him to ask her if she's okay or if she needed water.
"He's my age, grandma." "Ah, and he's single, yes?"
Heeju laughed at that, making Jisung tilt his curiously. He wanted to know what the two were talking about, but continued to follow behind Heeju and serve himself the same things she was serving herself.
The two sat on the bench next to one another, her grandmother sitting at the head of the table. Heeju turned to Jisung and said, "Sorry for the language barrier, I forgot to mention that."
Jisung shook his head and assured her the language barrier was not an issue, but he couldn't help but be curious as to what they were talking about.
"She likes you... for now."
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