“I’m running a little late but I should be there soon. Can you go ahead and order me a coffee?”
“Of course! And I’ll make sure we get a good table too. See you soon!” your friend JeeYoung said before you hit the “End Call” button on your steering wheel.
It had been a long day in the middle of a long week, but that was pretty normal for you. What was out of the norm was actually getting some time to meet up with friends, and JeeYoung was one you hadn’t seen in a while.
She used to make and sell jewelry. You had first met when a mutual friend had put you two in contact - JeeYoung had been looking for some legal advice for her jewelry business. The two of you had hit it off instantly and had worked together until she’d found out she was pregnant with her first son, closing her business to focus on him for the time being.
The last time the two of you had seen each other was actually a few months after Raon had been born. As a gift, you had bought her and her mother-in-law spa certificates since they had been doing so much with the baby. JeeYoung had insisted you join, so it had been a relaxing day for all three of you.
As you pushed the door to the coffee shop open and saw your friend with your drinks by the window, it really hit you how long it had been. Eight months to be exact.
When she saw you, she immediately jumped up to hug you. When you pulled back though, you noticed the carrier next to her seat with a sleeping little boy.
Setting your bag on your chair, you knelt down.
“Is this Raon??” you said, hearing the smile in your voice.
“Yeah! You finally get to meet him, but of course he’s sleeping.”
You rubbed the back of your finger softly against his pudgy cheeks before pulling back so the two of you could sit and catch up.
She showed you all the little videos of Raon, including ones where his dad Jiun would make him dance, making you laugh so loud the student at the table next to you gave you a bit of a stink eye.
JeeYoung on the other hand wanted to know all about the places you had been traveling for work recently, since she’d felt slightly cooped up. You were fluent in English and Mandarin since you worked on international trade contracts a lot. You’d been all over in China and to Japan, but most recently you’d been to Vietnam so she was dying to see pictures.
“You know, all of these pictures and not a single one of a special someone.”
“That’s because it was a business trip JeeYoung.”
“I’m just saying, how long has it been?”
You got quiet. Not because you were uncomfortable, but because you had quite a ways to count back in your head. But apparently you took too long.
“Okay forget I asked. Answer this instead - can I set you up with someone?”
“I don’t know JeeYoung...”
“Oh come on! He’s close with Jiun, really smart and handsome. Super caring - I mean he’s even played with Raon so you know he’s good with kids! Just let me set it up.”
You rolled your eyes even as you felt your cheeks heat up a little, making JeeYoung smirk.
“Alright-”
“Yes!”
“But can it just be a coffee date or something first? A full dinner sounds a little intimidating for a blind date.”
“Of course!”
“You can send me his contact info and I can reach out to him.”
“Oh no no no. If you have his info that gives you the possibility to make up an excuse and bail.”
“I would no-”
“You’d be tempted though!” she said, pointing her finger right at you. “Plus this way you can’t do any recon and make assumptions ahead of time by facebook stalking him or something.”
At that you just crossed your arms, knowing you couldn’t say anything because she was right.
“Fine fine. Tell him this Saturday and here at 7 if he can. I’m traveling next week so it has to be soon.”
“Wait, you’ll be back in time for Raon’s first birthday next weekend right?”
“Of course! I might be a little jet-lagged but I will definitely be there!” you promised her, clinking glasses and then deliberately changing the subject from your dating life.
//
You had felt anxious about the date for the rest of the week. No matter how confident you were in your work life, romance was really not your forte. So you decided a little retail therapy was in order.
You found a nice dress, a few blouses, and a skirt that you ended up buying. Pretty happy with your purchases and noticing you still had a couple hours to kill before your date, you decided to treat yourself before heading home to get ready.
You walked on over to the food court to grab a cinnamon pretzel only to notice a pretty long line. You would’ve up and left honestly, I mean it’s not like you needed the pretzel, but you didn’t really have anything better to do, so you waited.
At the end of the line, you just looked around, watching the people in the stores surrounding you. You saw a kid’s store and made a mental note to stop in to get a gift for Raon’s first birthday. Scanning their windows for present ideas, you realized you recognized someone.
JeeYoung’s husband Jiun.
You’d only ever heard stories and seen videos of him with Raon, but you thought it’d be rude if you didn’t go say hi. Even if he didn’t know you, you knew and would feel weird just ignoring the opportunity. Plus maybe you could ask him what you should get Raon.
Leaving the line, you entered the store and slowly made your way over to him until you knew he saw you coming.
“Ah, hi,” you started when you were close enough. “I’m-”
“What if we got him this?” the guy next to him said, catching both your and Jiun’s attention while holding a little dragon plushy.
You noticed his all black outfit, eyebrow piercing, and even tinges of purple? hair peeking out under a ballcap.
“You know he already has a Pooh.” Jiun said to him, patting him on the arm.
“Well just because I already gave him a pooh doesn’t mean I can’t also get him a dragon. Are you trying to deprive your son of the joy that is toys?”
Jiun laughed and just shook his head as he took the dragon from his friend and put it back on the display.
Watching them interact, you remembered the description JeeYoung had given you about your blind date, saying that he was close with Jiun and good with Raon. Figuring that this must be the friend, you tried to introduce yourself again.
“Excuse me? I just wanted to -”
“Sorry,” the guy said, “but can you give us some space?”
You were instantly thrown off at the attitude in his question. For one, you hadn’t even realized the guy had noticed you, so the odd but polite tone to his surprising question made you take a step back.
“I’m just here to-”
“You’re a fan I know. Thank you for your support, really. I’m sorry though, but right now I’m just trying to have a quiet day. So do you mind giving us a little privacy? We’re just trying to do a little shopping.”
You were a little shell-shocked. I mean you had no idea what he was talking about, but you somehow felt like you were in the wrong?
“Jiwon, let her talk.” Jiun says.
“I’m not trying to intrude or anything, I just saw you and wanted to-”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to do pictures or autographs right now. Please respect that” Jiwon said, nudging Jiun to start walking away.
“I wasn’t - “
“Please respect my privacy.”
Fed up at the way he was treating you like a crazy person, your temper finally got the better of you.
“Well, if you’re the friend JeeYoung mentioned then I think this told me all I needed to know, so let’s just cancel coffee tonight. Because this,” you said, gesturing to Jiwon, “is a little too much for me. Have a good night.”
“Wait what-” he started to say, but you didn’t stick around.
You walked away, eyebrows knit in annoyance. Your shopping bag hit against your legs, annoying you even more.
To think you had bought clothes for a date with that jerk.
To think you’d gotten out of the pretzel line for that jerk!
But you guessed one good thing came of it. You didn’t have to show up for what would’ve been a horrible blind date anymore.
So Bobby was not the best at decorating a cake. In fact, you ended up shooing him off to help his brother set up the party before he dropped more frosting on the floor.
But that at least gave you some time to yourself to really finish decorating the cake in silence. You were starting to feel how exhausted the last work week had made you, so the peace and quiet felt almost therapeutic.
You found yourself smiling a little while writing out ‘Happy Birthday’ when you realized that your hectic week was ending at a 1-year-old’s birthday party. From mistaken identities to work trips to baking cakes, you really did get around.
You also realized how much you needed to plan some time for yourself. But right now, you just had to put the cake in the fridge and go celebrate a little.
You knew some of the other people that had shown up with their kids for Raon’s birthday party, so you were able to catch up with some of them. You even got to catch up with JeeYoung’s mother-in-law - one of the sweetest women you had the pleasure to meet and who was equally happy to see an extra familiar face. But by the time Raon had grabbed a chunk of his birthday cake, you were having trouble staying on your feet, let alone keeping your eyes open to chat with everyone.
Not wanting to be a party-pooper, you went back into the kitchen, away from all the hub-bub. You had just leaned your head back to rest when you heard someone else walk in.
You peeked through your eyelashes to see who it was, but when you noticed it was Jiun’s brother you closed them.
“Why are you back here when your family is out front?”
“Why are you sleeping here when all your friends are out front?” he quipped back.
You opened one eye again to see him smirking at you, but then closed them again.
“I’m just a little tired after a long week. But I wanted to stay and help clean up so I’m waiting.”
You heard a chair at the table scrape against the floor, so you assumed Jiwon was sitting down across from you.
“You know we can clean up ourselves. You’ve already done us a huge favor making his cake. Just head home to sleep if you’re tired.”
“Well I need to stay awake for a few more hours anyway or else I’ll mess up my days and nights.”
“Yeah JeeYoung said you had been traveling. Was it the West coast or something?”
Feeling bad for continuing to talk with your eyes closed, you righted your slouching in the chair and looked at the man sitting across from you.
You hadn’t really paid attention to him apart from the few minutes he was working on the cake, but you noticed his hair was flopping across one eyebrow, leaving the other with a metal bar through it exposed.
You almost forgot what he asked you, distracted by the shiny bar. And you would totally chalk this up to your sleep deprivation, but you were a bit curious how many other piercings he had...and where. When you caught yourself though, you blushed.
Shaking it off, you saw Jiwon had a slightly amused grin on his face but decided to ignore it.
“I was in mainland China for work. My flight actually just got in this morning.”
“Wait your flight got in this morning and you turned around and came here as soon as you landed?”
“I promised your sister-in-law.”
He was just shaking his head at you, like he thought you were crazy.
“Well if you want you could take a nap and I’ll wake you up when it’s over?”
You immediately stretched one arm across the table and laid down - as if you needed to be told twice.
“Promise to wake me up, Jiwon? Because this offer sounds too good to be true.”
Laughing, he got up from his chair.
“I promise. And you can call me Bobby by the way.”
“Alright, thank you...Bobby.”
//
"Y/N? Y/N everyone is leaving so you need to get up now. Y/N?”
You bolted up, limbs flying and a blanket? falling off of you as you tried to get your bearings.
“Whoa whoa there,” someone said.
You whipped around and saw Jiwon...Bobby. Slowly you started to remember where you were - Raon’s birthday party.
“Okay so someone doesn’t wake up easy. I’ll try and remember that in the future,” Bobby said, rubbing at his shoulder?
“Wait, did I hit you when I woke up?” you said, jumping out of your chair to take a look at the red mark that was definitely growing on his arm.
“I wouldn’t say you ‘hit’ me really. It was more of a harsh graze?”
You grabbed at his arm, turning it this way and that so you could get a good look. With the hold on his arm, you dragged him towards the fridge so you could get ice out of the freezer.
“Really, it’s not that bad. It doesn’t need ice I promise you.”
“Just humor me please? I’m not normally this violent I promise.”
Bobby just laughed at you and put his hand on yours to take the ice. You finally realized how close you were to him and that you were still grabbing his arm, so you let go and took a step back. What you didn’t realize was that the ice had melted onto the floor, so you immediately slipped and started to fall.
“Whoa!” Bobby yelled, moving to grab you, only to fall to the floor with you.
The two of you laid there in a daze for a few seconds, legs tangled, your head in his armpit with your arm trapped underneath is body.
Then the two of you just busted out laughing.
And tangled on the floor laughing was how JeeYoung and Jiun found you a few minutes later, to which they just plopped a laughing Raon down on Uncle Bobby and walked back out, talking about having to clean up the front.
You wiggled yourself into an upright position, scooping Raon off of his Uncle to give Bobby a chance to sit up too.
“Raon, wanna help me clean?”
“He can take my spot,” Bobby said, moving to sit down in a chair.
“Oh I don’t know about that. I think Uncle Bobby will actually be doing most of the clean-up, right Raon??” you said, tickling Raon to make him laugh again, bringing out your own smile.
You kept tickling him, rubbing your nose against his chubby cheeks and blowing raspberries all over his neck.
Bobby came up behind you and reached around, pulling at Raon’s smiley cheeks and literally saying “cootchie coo.” You felt his floppy bangs tickle your temple, so you froze, not sure what to do, until he pulled back again.
“Alright, I’ll clean since you did the cake, but on one condition.”
You settled Raon on your hip and the two of you looked at Bobby as he started moving dirty dishes to the sink.
“Let me make it up to you for how rude I was at the mall last week.”
“You really don’t have to, Bobby. I know JeeYoung said she laid into you, but everything is cleared up and I’m really okay.”
Leaning back against the counter, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked down.
“I know that, but I want to make it up to you anyway. On top of that, you’re one of the only people I still know in the area outside of my family, so it’ll be fun just to hang out I think. So what do you say, you in?” he finished, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to you with the number-pad open.
You hesitated, not used to “hanging out” with many people since you were such a work-a-holic. But there was something about his soft smile, the way his eyes started to slightly crease, that kind of made you want to say yes. So before you could think about it anymore, you grabbed his phone and put your number in.
After that, his mom came into the kitchen to find her grandson to put him down for a nap. You took that as your queue, since you didn’t want to hang around too long, and headed out.
Bobby watched from the doorway as you waved and got in your car to head home. When you finally made it back, you flipped the lights on in your apartment, noting the luggage that had just been thrown in different directions as you had rushed to get ready earlier.
You walked by most of it, heading to the fridge to grab a water as your energy started to plummet after the long and...interesting...day you had just had.
You pulled out your phone after you felt it buzz, and the message you saw had you spitting water all over your screen.
When you woke up early Sunday to pack and head to the airport for work, you noticed a message blinking at you.
JeeYoung: Did you not go on the date I set up?? He says you stood him up! I thought we agreed no canceling!
You set your phone back down, deciding to deal with it later. Later ended up being after you had made it all the way through the TSA check and had run to make it to your gate in time.
Y/N: I met the guy before the date by accident, but I’m glad I did. He was a total jerk, so I told him to forgot about meeting up. I’m surprised he showed up.
JeeYoung: What do you mean you met him before? Neither of you had each other’s information.
Y/N: You can ask your husband for the details since he was there. I’m about to board my flight, so I’ll be silent for a while. Sorry it didn’t work out. Thank you for trying though.
And with that you put your phone on airplane mode, ensuring you could avoid any drama for the next twelve hours.
Your trip was hectic that week. You had a rental car so you could go between clients in different cities and you were up at all hours talking with people in person and then connecting with your firm in the middle of the night via Skype.
You were glad it was hectic though - it distracted you from JeeYoung’s message you’d seen when you’d landed.
JeeYoung: Y/N, that wasn’t the person I had set you up with.
You hadn’t known what to say back, other than groveling really.
Y/N: Oh. My. God.
Y/N: I am so sorry JeeYoung. If you give me his info, I’ll apologize to him myself.
JeeYoung: I’ll help clear it up too. But you owe me something nice from your trip for this. AND something for Raon.
Y/N: I’m on it!
When it was time for you to fly back, you made sure the presents were safely wrapped in your carry-on. You had also messaged her to say you’d come over early to help her bake Raon’s cake and set up, still feeling bad about the mess you had made. Unfortunately it meant that you only had time to go home, shower, and get ready again before you had to be at her place.
When you knocked and the door swung open, you instantly said “sorry” again while thrusting the presents into her arms.
“I still can’t believe you stood him up,” she said, leading you into the kitchen where you found Raon in his highchair.
“If you can’t believe it, how do you think I feel? I ruined the first viable date option I’ve had in how long? And I made a horrible first impression with your husband to boot!”
She sat at the dinner table as you started to take over her kitchen, since she’d already pulled out all the ingredients. You’d told her you’d make a swirl cake of his favorite colors, so she knew to just let you work.
“Well if it helps, Jiun doesn’t have a bad impression of you. Not after I told him who you were. He actually feels a little bad.”
“He shouldn’t feel bad! That jerk he was with should.”
“Oh don’t you worry. I have definitely scolded his brother.”
“Brother?”
“Yeah, that was Jiun’s brother, Jiwon. I’ve mentioned to you before how his brother and parents and grandma live over in South Korea, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Well it’s because his brother is actually a member of a popular idol group over there, called iKON. He’s a rapper specifically.”
You put down the whisk so you could really look at her.
“I’m sorry, are you trying to tell me your brother-in-law is famous?”
She just laughed a little, getting up to help you pour the batter in.
“Yeah. He and his mom are in now for Raon’s birthday. He scheduled time off just for this, so he probably was a little sensitive about being recognized in public. That’s what all that was last weekend.”
“But I didn’t recognize him.”
“I know, which is why I laid into him. You should be expecting an apology.”
“I’ll just be glad when I can apologize to the guy I stood up,” you said, putting the cake into the oven and moving to sit and play with Raon. “You can open your present now you know.”
JeeYoung quickly ran back to the table next to you, grabbing the bag you had handed her earlier. You had bought her a set of earrings that were like mini lightning bolts almost, except each turn had a mini jewel - Raon’s birthstone.
“Y/N! They’re beautiful! You didn’t have to get something this nice!”
“It’s not just to say sorry. Raon’s first birthday should also be about you and Jiun, since you’ve done such a good job raising him!” you said, grabbing the second bag and opening it for Raon.
You’d found him a dragon and dressed it in a little Taekwondo outfit, since you had heard from JeeYoung how much Jiun had wanted to teach him.
JeeYoung started laughing as you passed it over to a grabby Raon.
“I told you a dragon toy would suit him,” you heard a voice behind you say.
Raon squealed, dropping the dragon on his tray and reaching for his dad, who immediately picked him up.
That’s when Jiun noticed who the other person in his kitchen was.
“I’m really sorry about the other day,” Jiun said to you.
You shook your head and said “Please don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yeah. It was mine,” the same voice that had made the dragon comment said.
Turning, you saw the guy from that day in the doorway. You didn’t mean to, but you instantly glared, remembering the whole situation last week. You were about to say something when the oven timer went off, stopping you.
"Wait, is Y/N making Raon’s cake?” Jiun said.
“Yes I am, I made a mess of the plans she had made and then left her to fix everything. It was the least I could do.”
“You have done more than enough and we all know it was just one giant misunderstanding. Jiun, look at the earrings she brought me back!”
JeeYoung started showing the earrings to Jiun so you tuned them out, working instead on the frosting while the cake cooled.
“Do you...um... need help?” Jiwon said quietly from beside you.
Wanting to put the past in the past, you just started asking him to hand you different ingredients as you mixed them together. You were so focused that it took you a while to notice that the happy family had left you and Jiwon in the kitchen, presumably to go get Raon ready for his party.
“You know, I’m really sorry.” he said. “I shouldn’t have been so defensive when you came up to us.”
“Well JeeYoung told me who you are, so I at least get where you were coming from. Thank you for apologizing though.”
You set the bowl down and turned to face him, resting your hip on the counter.
“Do you want to make it up to me?” you asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Wait, hold up. You want me to make it up to you?”
“I need some help decorating this cake - think you can handle it?”
He gave you an odd look, almost like he was trying to figure you out, but then he grabbed one of the spatulas you had set out and held it in front of him like a weapon.
