Almost a month had passed.
Mia had gone busy with her college and the part-time job at the café; along with that Ray was also helping his father with their business.
Mia was going back to her home whenever it was possible for her to look after everyone. Her father was getting better day by day.
While, on the other hand, Jun was completely tangled up with his practice, the schedules and the dates. Somehow he managed to come and meet Mia's father only once.
He couldn't even visit Mia; they'd just text or call once in a while.
It has been a very busy month for everyone.
On one afternoon, when Mia stepped out from her dorm to go to the café, she got a call on the way. It was April.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mia…"
"Hey April! How are you?"
"Yeah I am good. How's uncle now? Last time when we talked, he was getting better…"
"Yeah, he is completely fine. Almost back to normal."
"That's a relief."
"Yeah, I know. So, what's up?"
"Nothing special. I just thought about our reunion. We couldn't do it last month so I thought, if everyone is okay with it, why don't we do it this month?"
"I don't have any problem with that but we gotta ask the boys…"
"Yeah, Ray is very busy I know. That's why I called you; I know he wouldn't pick up my call…"
"That's what. Plus Jun is also extremely busy these days…"
"Really?"
"Yeah. His schedule is packed all the time. He doesn't even come to meet me. We rarely talk on the phone…"
"Yeah I understand."
"What to do?" Mia sounded down.
"Let's bring those boys out!!!!" Mia heard a familiar shout from the other side of the phone.
"Is that—"
"It's me! So Hee!!!!"
And all the three girls started laughing and screaming excitedly.
"So Hee? Is that really you? When did you go to Australia?" Mia asked.
"I was missing my bestie a lot so I just got on the plane and flew to her." So Hee said cheerfully.
"But then, what about your classes?" Mia asked.
���I am here just for the weekend, girl. I am going back to Paris tomorrow." So Hee answered.
"And as we two were talking…" April said. "…We started missing you guys. So then we decided, let's plan our reunion again."
"Awww!" I miss you too, guys." Mia said.
"And do you know whom I missed the most?.....Our two perfectly looking guys!!!" So Hee said jokingly on which everyone laughed. "So I say, let's do this reunion thing as soon as possible. I wanna meet you guys…"
"Yeah." Mia agreed.
"Mia, are you in touch with Hana or Ye Rin?" April asked.
"Yeah, they called me last week asking about my father and all…"
"Ohh…So contact them regarding this thing and let's plan then…"
"I am okay with any day…" Mia said.
"Me too…" April said.
"Well, for me…" So Hee was talking. "I have our annual project submission the next month, so it would be better for me if we keep it this month…"
"We'll have to ask the guys…" April said.
"Yeah, let's do that."
"Mia…" April said. "I'll try to talk with Ray. Can you talk with Jun?"
"Yeah absolutely. And if Ray doesn't pick up your call, tell me; I'll talk with him." Mia said.
"So he'll pick up your call but not April's?" So Hee frowned.
"Oh!....Not like that….I mean…Actually, I work part-time at a café here…"
"Yeah, so?" So Hee asked.
"…Well, you see….Ray is kind of…the owner of the café…"
"What?" Both girls said at the same time.
"Yeah…I'll tell you. It's a long story…And a funny one…Haha…" Mia laughed awkwardly. "….But in short, he comes here twice or thrice a week, so if he doesn't pick up April's call, I'll talk with him when he comes here."
"….." No one said anything for a couple of seconds. "Umm.." Finally, April broke the silence. "Okay…I'll let you know…"
"Okay cool." Mia wanted to end that topic as soon as possible. "So then, I'll also call you regarding this. Let's see what everyone says."
"Yeah.." Both the girls said from the other side of the phone and they hung up the call.
Mia looked at the phone screen and then up at the café door where she had reached.
'I was all happy about this reunion and all…But I totally forgot that I have to tell a lot of things to these girls…Especially about Ray and me!!' She entered with terrified expressions on her face.
~
After a series of texts and several missed calls, Jun agreed to meet Mia outside of his company main building on Sunday morning.
She was waiting on the footpath for him at around 8 o' clock in the morning, when she saw him running towards her from the building.
She waved as he waited before crossing the road.
In the next couple of seconds he was standing before her huffing and puffing.
She let him catch his breath.
He looked up and the first thing he said was, "Hungry?"
"Huh?"
"I am hungry. You wanna eat something?" He asked again.
"Umm…Okay…" She looked at him puzzled.
"Let's go then. I know a very good place, where we'll get the best Tteok-bokki in the city!"
"Okay…"
And then both of them started walking, Jun leading the way in hurry.
"Junaa…" Mia said catching up with him.
"Yeah…"
"I thought you were busy so we'll talk briefly and you'll go back to your practice."
"Why? You don't wanna have break-fast with me?"
"Heh? No no. I didn't mean that."
"Then just keep walking and don't look back." He smiled mischievously.
They walked a block without a word and then as they turned at a turn, Jun's pace of walking came back to normal.
"Phew…" He sighed. "Actually, I know how I slipped through everyone's eyes and came to meet you..."
"Heh? Why? You didn't ask anyone? Your in-charge or something?" She asked.
"I did. But they wouldn't allow me to be out for too long. Plus Dae Won and Chan Woo were also nagging to me that they wanted to meet you…"
"Really?"
"Yeah…We all are practicing for the whole day and when we get out we are so exhausted that we just wanna go back to our dorms and sleep…So they also wanted to see a different face than usual…You know what I mean…"
"Oh poor guys…"
"Ah! By the way, I changed the dorms!"
"You did?"
"Yeah. Now we all are kept in the same dorm as we are a group now."
"That's good…"
"Yeah…Now all of us are together at all the time…And plus, it's closer. It's only two blocks away in that direction…" He pointed towards his left.
"Ohh…"
"Yeah…So you guys are planning the reunion again….right?"
"Oh yeah!" Mia remembered why she wanted to meet Jun in the first place. "So we were planning some day in this month…"
"In this month? Umm…." Jun started thinking.
"Why? You won't be able to make it?"
"….."
"If you won't come, I won't go either!" She said firmly.
"No…It's not like that…But actually, I am busy for the next 2 week…"
"Really?"
"Yeah…"
"Ohh…" She sounded sad.
"Actually, this is all confidential but I'll tell you..." He said as she looked at him in excitement.
"Umm…We have our music video shoot!"
"What??? Really???" Her eyes opened wide in awe and surprise.
"Yep!!" He smiled looking at her reaction.
"That is Super-Awesome!!!" She clapped as her excitement was over the roof.
"Shhh…Shhh…" He shushed her, trying to calm her down.
"That is Super-Awesome!" She said again but this time kind of whispering.
"Haha!" He laughed. "Yeah…So….." He continued. "Because of that I won't be…I mean "We" won't be able to come in these two weeks…"
"Yeah I understand…"
As they were talking, they reached at a small, old restaurant.
"Here we are…" He said.
And both of them entered.
"Good morning Mrs. Jang!!" He greeted a middle aged lady who was working at the kitchen counter.
"Oh Jun!!" She smiled brightly. "Here comes my favourite customer! Where were you kid? I didn't see you for weeks…"
"Yeah I know. I was just caught up in some things." Then he looked at Mia. "And I brought my friend today. Mrs. Jang this is Mia; Mia this is Mrs. Jang; The best tteok-bokki maker in the city!!!" He introduced.
"Aw! Come on!" The lady felt flustered.
"Hello Mrs. Jang!" Mia said smiling.
"Oh hello, Mia. Such a cute smile and a very cute name!" She said.
Mia and Jun exchanged glances smiling happily.
"So Mrs. Jang…" Jun said. "I'll take the usual. Two of them."
"Okay. You two please take a seat; I'll be back with the order."
"Okay…"
As both of them turned, they saw mostly all the tables were filled except for the one at a corner.
"Let's go sit there." Jun said and Mia followed him to the seat.
"See, how much rush is here..." Jun said sitting down.
"Yeah…" Mia sat in front of him.
"It might seem very small and old but when you'll taste the food here, you'll forget about any other restaurant…"
"Really?" She was enjoying the happiness on his face.
"Yeah…And you should try the Pork strips here and wait wait…The beef barbeque!! Umm!! It's really tasty!" His eyes were twinkling while talking about his second favorite topic, food and cooking!
Mia just kept admiring his talk and his words when Mrs. Jang came with their order.
"Here it is kids! Extra spicy Tteok-bokki! Enjoy!!" She kept the plates in front of them.
Mia took the chopsticks in her hands. "Can't wait now!" She was excited to eat the food about what Jun was talking for the last 10 minutes.
"I'm digging in!"
Jun also took his chopsticks but waited for her to eat it first. He wanted to see her reaction. Mrs. Jang was also waiting at the table just for that.
Mia held the tteok-bokkis in her chopsticks, blew air on them as they were steaming hot and she took the bite.
"…Ummm!!" She opened a mouth a little to let go off of the steam and then chew again. "Ummm!! This is so tastyyyy!!!!" She said licking the sauce over her lips.
Her eyes got a little teary with all the spices which hit her taste buds a little later. "God! It's hot!" She breathed out with her mouth.
"There it is!" Mrs. Jang smiled. "This is the reaction I was hoping for." And laughed to herself.
"If Tteok-bokki isn't spicy then it ain't Tteok-bokki!!" She said.
Jun nodded happily and took the bite. "The best!" He exclaimed.
"Thank you!" Mrs. Jang said. "Now I better get going, my other customers are waiting too. Enjoy kids!" Saying that she hurriedly went towards the kitchen counter.
"It is so good, Juna!!!" Mia said taking one more bite.
"I told you so." He smiled.
"I can't stop eating this…"
They enjoyed their breakfast talking, laughing and huffing over the spicy tteok-bokki.
.
"So…" Mia said as both of them came out from the restaurant after their break-fast. "You won't be able to come to the reunion?"
"Did I say that?" He chuckled.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I know our schedule is packed for the next two week….But after that, I can squeeze in a day or two for our reunion…"
"Really???" She looked at him with her huge eyes.
"Yep!" He shrugged his shoulders. "After all, we all need a break and I guess reunion is a good excuse from this hectic schedule."
"Yayyy!!!" Mia literally jumped on him. "Finally!!! We all are getting together!!!" She hugged him tight.
"Umm…Yeah…" He said as he gently pulled her away from the hug which she felt a little weird.
"Soo….I can't wait to tell everyone…" She said.
"Yeah…"
"I'll go to the café now…I have a morning shift today…" She said.
"Yeah…I'll also get going…I guess, by this time, everyone must have known I'm missing…And Dae Won and Chan Woo are gonna kill me when they'll know that I met you…"
"Hehe…I'll come and meet them next time…." She said.
"Yeah…"
"So…Umm….I'll get a bus from there…" She said pointing towards the bus stop.
"Okay…I'll go then…I'm getting late…"
"Yeah…Bye…"
"Bye…"
Both of them parted their ways.
A bit of awkwardness in Jun's eyes had made Mia feel a little uneasy.
She couldn't stop thinking what it was about.
~