La Luna - Kwon Hyuk

09

"You still haven't answered my question."

Hyuk tilted his head with his brows curled as he gripped the red basket in his right hand. His roommate carefully inspected the bunches of kale, trying to find the best one.

"About what?", she asked, not turning to meet his eyes.

"About Hyejung. W-Why do you think I was so affected by her?", Hyuk continued to plead.

Hanji placed the right bunch she had finally found in a clear plastic bag before she gently tossed it in the basket. "I have some mango juice left -- we'll make smoothies with that and the kale."

Annoyed, Hyuk tsked loudly. "Hanji..."

The said woman straightened her back to finally meet his gaze. She sighed heavily before displaying a tight smile on her face.

"If I tell you, will you stop pestering me?"

Hyuk nodded enthusiastically, making her chuckle as his reaction.

"Well...Y-You were always all over each other.", Hanji shrugged before quickly turning away once more to find another vegetable on her list -- this time being zucchini.

"W-What?!", her statement had taken the young man aback and he quickly trailed behind her to question her some more. "Hyuk, we made a deal."

He shook his head in refusal. "We were not 'all over each other'. Sh-She was a friend...And we were both business students..."

By this time, Hanji had already grabbed the last remaining items on her list and made her way to the checkout line, something Hyuk hadn't noticed due to his ramble.

"...so it was inevitable for me to avoid her.", he finished.

The young woman could only chuckle lowly at his defense as she emptied the basket and placed them on the belt, greeting the younger cashier with a soft smile. Hyuk's voice faded slightly in the background as she watched her total increase.

"W-What?", she asked him upon finally coming to her senses.

Hyuk only frowned at her incompetence and shooed her away with a hand, pulling out his credit card to pay for their groceries.

"N-No, I got it.", Hanji attempted to butt in but he had already finished punching in his PIN number.

When they hopped into his car, Hyuk still went on to rebut Hanji's accusations. "I've known her since grade school -- if anything she's just like a sister."

He stopped mid-way as he turned his keys to start the engine when he took notice of Hanji's silence. "What is it?"

Perhaps it was the trip down memory lane that made her feel nostalgic. Or the heat that caused her head to spin slightly. Or maybe it was the still-lingering pain that she felt years ago that still affected her.

"You left mid-conversation to sit with her.", Hanji looked Hyuk straight in the eye, and he could somehow feel the resonating pain within her.

"I-I'd never seen anyone pack up their belongings that quickly -- someone so excited to...leave me.", she laughed bitterly.

Her expression gave him a hard mental smack across the face -- something at the back of his head screamed how could you do that to her?!

"I-I'm sorry.", was all he could say.

And he watched as she only displayed another small yet forced grin on her face before turning away.

~

She wondered why it took so long to get back home.

Hyuk had taken a last-minute detour which she had only noticed when they reached the highway on the way downtown.

"Why are we here?", Hanji asked interrogatively when Hyuk had finally found a parking space.

"You cook food, right?", he asked from outside the car as she rolled her window down with a firm nod.

Smirking slightly, he asked her once more, "and when was the last time someone's cooked for you?"

She wasn't sure where he was getting at and her nth frown that day began to form on her face. Hyuk only chuckled at her expression before opening the car door and grabbing a hold of her hand.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

Hanji allowed him to drag her out of the vehicle, her long cardigan and side bag flailing in the air as he did so; and he jogged the two of them to the middle of a summer festival. "Lucky we caught it on their last day in town."

Banners and streamers. Rainbows and confetti. Music and dancing.

Her surroundings placed a genuine smile on her face and she closed her eyes to inhale the sweet aroma of food around her. She had never stopped to smell the roses -- rather the seasoning -- of how valuable food really was.

And when she opened her eyes again, Hyuk stood at a fair distance from her.

"I'm here now. No one will steal me from you."

Hanji almost smacked him upon hearing the cockiness in his voice but before she could, she was dragged once more. This time to a nearby food vendor who sold 오뎅 / odeng/ fish cakes.

The evening flew as quickly as the five years they had spent apart. And to her it seemed as if he was trying to make up for lost time.

And they found themselves in the middle of the closed-down street with the sunset in the background and the jiving music filling their ears, dancing to their hearts' content.

"I haven't done this in so long!", Hanji laughed between her words right before she stumbled on Hyuk's toes.

He threw his head back in laughter as he caught her -- hands on her hips and not letting go. She was about to let him know that it was a complete violation of their rule but he pulled their bodies together, closing the mere distance between their chests.

And she could only stare into his eyes as they swayed to the music, fighting every urge to break their rule even further.