⤬ restaurant

@kim jongin she winces slightly at the mention of the word 'average', although there is a clear hint of playfulness in his tone, the sarcasm is too apparent. however, rose manages to calm her panic down before studying the situation. she takes several seconds to study his face, trying to decipher what exactly does he want. his handsome face shows no sign of aggression - which is a huge relief; instead just pure amusement, most certainly due to her. is he laughing at her? she clings on to her bag a little tighter, almost speechless as she definitely wasn't prepared for his offer.

"i -- " she begins before closing again, befuddled his sudden request. half of her just want to apologise and get away from this strange situation. but his calm and compelling demeanor sparks her curiosity on what exactly is he planning, also makes her realise that she might have overreacted - plus if she heard him right, free food? a hot meal compare to the microwave meals waiting for her at home - after all she's still a broke college student "i haven't..." she replies slowly, nibbling on her lower lip before she comes to a decision. "are you sure that's okay? i'm sorry for what i said the other day, that was really rude of me, you don't have to prove anything to me." she blurts out without taking a breathe, then immediately clams shut. did she really just indirectly calling him petty. at this moment, she honestly just wants the earth to cave her in as she walks toward the door; her face is flushed red - she is pretty sure as she shoots him her most mortified look. walks in the restaurant with the fastest speed she can manage and picks a seat in the corner, enough coverage for her to be buried in her embarrassment

@park chaeyoung despite being the instigator of the whole interaction, the fact that she accepted his offer somewhat surprised him. perhaps 'acceptance' was too strong of a word to describe her response; judging by the look on her face, it seemed to be more of an 'acquiescence'. "oh, uh--" he studies her face, trying to infer what she might be thinking. she had an undeniably kind face -- though visibly stressed -- and it made it hard to be as annoyed as he was during their first encounter. in fact, she currently reminds him a bit of a deer caught in headlights, and he feels a little guilty about his above-average confrontational tendencies. an amused grin tugs at the corners of his lips, but he trades it in for a slight, gentle smile to assure her, along with the couple in the cafe next door giving him weird looks through the window, that he's not trying to fight.

"have you had lunch yet?" he asks out of habit from his occupation, then shortly after realizes the time of day. "or would it be dinner at this point?" his eyes spark up with a mischievous gleam, for in the brief moment, he decided what he wanted -- to change her mind. "it'd be on me, a one time special." he slightly motions towards the front door of the restaurant. "we're pretty popular around here. though i guess some would say we're kinda... average". his voice is laced with playfulness and a dose of sarcasm to make it clear that he hadn't forgotten about their past little encounter. "so how about it?"

@kim jongin with a hungry stomach and an exhausted mind, rose turns the corner of the block without any caution, almost crashing into another group of students. with a quick apology and a sidestep, she let those people pass by her before she re-positions her bag over her shoulder and continues marching down the street toward home. it has been a long day for her, between attending lectures and catching up with all the materials she has missed while she was doing her internship, to meeting up with her supervisor to discuss her graduation project. graduation - the term that has been plaguing her mind for the last six months and even more now that her graduation is looming closer. ever since the beginning of her last year of college, she has been on a constant run, pouring her times into studying to get those extra credits, doing an internship and worked so hard that they actually extended her internship. and then there is her graduation project. she needs a project that is good enough to earn a letter of recommendation from her dean, the one letter that will earn her a spot most of the big companies. this project is the key to her success but at this very moment, it is the source to her stress. she feels so burnt out at this point and is in a desperate need for a hot-homemade meal and a long sleep, but unfortunately both won't happen.

she lets out an exasperated sigh at that thought. she still hasn't had a clear idea on her project which means she needs to allocate as much time as she could to work on it. and then there is a problem with a hot homemade meal. her mum is on a trip with her friends and won't return until the weekend, which means rosie will be surviving on takeaways and microwave meals until then. its funny how she always take her mum out but the older woman never hesitant to leave her young daughter behind to those retreats of hers, she thought humorously to herself.

she was deep in her thought when a voice snaps her out of it. quickly looks up to survey her surrounding and immediately widens her eyes at the owner of the voice. something that is a mixture of nervousness and panic shot in as she recalls her encounter the last time she saw him. she really didn't mean to offend him when she said his food is lacking something or did she use the word average? she has been spoiled by her mother when its come to homemade food and to the young girl, her mother cooking has always been the foundation of their family, a family treasure. and so when she noticed how she might have offended him, her non-confrontational side kicks in and she fled the scene. realises it has been a moment too long, she hesitantly answers, looking nervously at the young guy, "um, yes - why?" so many thoughts run around in her head. will he yell at her in the middle of the street? will he tell her that she just have a crappy palate? however, she has been feeling apologetic for that time, that was clearly rude of her and she feels like she owe this young chef an apology which is why she hasn't ran yet.

@park chaeyoung for a self-proclaimed man of fine tastes, this casual spot near campus wasn't always the preferred place for work. but his primary employer -- a fine dining institution open only for dinners with an elaborate rotation of featured chefs -- though it paid the bills, didn't always pack enough hours for his discretionary spending and savings. so he'd taken up a friend's offer to work some extra shifts at the campus hotspot, and while it wasn't the most glamorous thing, he'd gradually taken a liking to the side job. it kept his skills refined and gave him the freedom to cook all sorts of things, even experiment to his liking. and for what it was worth, it paid quite generously. to be fair, it was rather unsurprising. an instagram friendly interior, reasonable prices, and menu offering both millennial favs and comfort food at nearly any hour of day -- college students just couldn't stay away.

the bustling restaurant was finally at a bit of a lull, and it was his break before the formal "dinner" shift, though he quickly learned these college students didn't always operate on normal circadian rhythms. sitting at the window side, he re-rolled the sleeves of his white shirt, peering out at those passing by on the street. it was also more than just the typical kitchen job. in the few months since he'd started, he'd gotten to know some of the regulars; played confidant serving comfort food to the late night or drunken crews; been left phone numbers from younger admirers; entertained with stories from his travels; and lived vicariously through college years which he'd chosen to skip over. oh-- and every now and then, there were those customers who stuck out in his memory out of all the many faces that filtered through, for reasons good and bad alike. like this girl passing by at that very moment. his eyes widened in recognition. she was the one who told him to his face that his cooking was... lackluster? unappealing? average? he couldn't remember the exact words she had used, but he certainly didn't agree.

rising suddenly from his seat, he burst out the restaurant doors. in complete honesty, he didn't even know what he was doing or what he hoped to get out of this. it was just a sudden inclination, an instinctual urge to force another encounter with this girl; and no, he swore it wasn't just pettiness. before he could really reconsider anything, he found himself out on the street and had already garnered a few weird looks, so he decided he might as well. "hey! do you happen to have a second?" he calls out.