Eunkyung opened the door and got out. We walked into the convenience store next to the gas refilling station. The doors automatically opened as we walked in. 

There were around 4 aisles, each one having a variety of food on each side. Snacks, chips, drinks, and even sandwiches were available.

“So, what do you want to get?” Eunkyung asked.

“Ummmm, I’m not so sure. This convenience store has much more food than I expected it to have. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Well, maybe it might be faster to split up and look for what we want?” Eunkyung suggested.

I nodded. “Probably.”

I started on the leftmost aisle, while Eunkyung went to the other side.

“Let’s see what this store has…” I muttered to myself as I started to scan the aisle.

Looking at cookies, chips, crackers, granola bars, and things convenient to eat, it wasn’t hard to determine what aisle this was made for. Snacks! It was hard to restrain myself from buying a huge variety of food, but I managed to restrain myself and only buy a small bag of Oreos, a chip bag, and a couple of granola bars. I went to the other aisles and gathered up the rest of my drink and dinner. I made sure to get some dinner for Hwan too.

I turned to start walking towards the checkout line when I noticed Eunkyung was trying to reach for something on the higher shelf but couldn’t reach it.  

I glanced up at what she was trying to reach for. It was a ramen cup. The sight of her reaching was a bit hilarious, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing as I approached her.

“Trying to get ramen?” I asked her, deciding to tease her about her height.

She turned her head and noticed that I was walking toward her.

“Help me get that ramen cup on that shelf,” she ordered.

 “How tall are you?” I asked.

“I’m 162 centimeters tall. I’m not short. That ramen is just put abnormally high. Nobody can reach that high.”

 I walked over to the shelf and easily plucked the ramen cup from the shelf. 

“Here,” I said, taking a knee and acting like I was a servant who was presenting her sword.

“Such a show-off,” she muttered as she took the ramen cup from her hand and shoved it into her shopping bag.

I laughed as I rose from the ground.

We went to the checkout and paid for our stuff. After we put our items in a shopping bag, we returned to the car and got in. Since everyone wanted to get to Busan as fast as possible, we ate quickly and within an hour of stopping at the gas station, we were able to depart for Busan, which was a four-hour-long drive.

The sun sank to the ground while the blue sky started turning into a dark blue color. Sometimes, stars were visible. Other times, the lights of cities were visible. After a while, Hwan took us to the Nurimaru APEC House. We admired the glass fortress standing next to the Haeundae beach, before returning to the city. 

The four-hour drive ended and pulled the car over at a hotel he found. It looked pretty massive, like a house but scale that size by 50. Red and blue lights shined around the edges of the hotel. We checked in and received 3 room cards. Our room was on the 5th floor, so we took the elevator up and walked down a long hallway to get to our room. After Hwan swiped the card and opened the door, we went into the room. Two queen-sized beds took up at least three-fourths of the room. A couch with a footrest sat in the corner of the room. There was a TV screen on a dark brown stand. The room smelled like flowers. 

“So, right now is 21:06. Feel free to do whatever you want, but make sure you return by 23:00 so we can figure out who will sleep where.

I nodded. I’m still in a daze about what happened recently and I’m still confused about my feelings for Eunkyung. Taking a walk would probably be useful.

I left the hotel and noticed a trail that looked perfect for taking a walk. Although it was pretty dark outside, I’m only going to be out for like, 15 minutes. I should be fine.

As I began walking to the trail, I noticed Eunkyung leaving the hotel as well and began walking my way.

I stopped and decided to wait for her.

“Youngjae, would you mind if I joined you?” she asked.

“Uhh,” I said, a bit surprised. “Nah, feel free to walk with me.”

She smiled and nodded. We walked in silence for around 5 minutes and observed our surroundings. The tree leaves were orange and many were already on the floor. Fall has arrived. The temperature was also significantly cooler than it was 2 months ago.

“Can you believe all that has changed over the past couple of months?” Eunkyung said, interrupting the silence. “My life suddenly began to change drastically after I was attacked by BHK.”

“Mines too,” I replied.

We continued to walk in silence. It felt kind of awkward, but at the same time, it felt pretty good too.

I felt an urge to use the restroom.

“Eunkyung? Is there a bathroom near here?” I asked, a bit desperate.

“Oh umm,” she glanced around. “There! There’s one over there!” she said, pointing towards a shack that had a bathroom sign.

“Stay here and wait for me, “ I ordered, as I sprinted towards the shack and used the restroom. 

As I came out, I noticed someone talking to Eunkyung. Wait… not talking, arguing. I sprinted towards them.

“Why did you let the kids go? This has nothing to do with you!” the other guy angrily said.

I put my arms in between them and tried to deescalate the situation.

“What happened guys?” I said, trying to get them to calm down.

Eunkyung looked at me. “This guy here was about to beat a couple of young kids. It was because they couldn’t pay him for something he told them was free! He changed his mind and lied to them like a snotty little bitch!”

“Snotty little bitch? That’s what you are! You dare insult me like, I’ll make sure you regret it!” the other guy pushed past my arms and punched Eunkyung across the face. Hard.

For some reason, I lost my temper. I grabbed his collar and yanked him backward.

“Shitty bitch. You’re going to regret you ever existed,” I growled.

He tried to swing a punch at me but I easily dodged it. I punched him in the stomach while letting go of him, causing him to double over. I grabbed him and shoved him to the ground, making him land with a thud. 

“Are you going to keep going? Keep being stupid? If so, I’ll continue beating your sorry ass!” I asked, nearly shouting. “Or, you can save yourself some misery and get the hell out of here!”

He made the right decision when he saw my face. He turned around and ran as fast as he could out the other way.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and turned around to see Eunkyung staring at me, with a face of awe.

“Are you hurt?” I asked.

I walked over to her and held out my hand. Then, it was my turn to be shocked. Instead of taking my hand, she got up and hugged me.

For a brief moment, all my worries seemed to disappear from my mind. BHK, danger, everything. My heartbeat skipped a beat. 

“I love you, Youngjae,” she said, barely able to keep her voice steady.

I got out of my shock and hugged her back.

“I love you too, Eunkyung,” I whispered.

We stayed like that for another minute, before she pulled away. Her eyes were shining with joy.

“To be honest, it wasn’t after I was attacked by BHK that changed my life. It was meeting you,” she said.

“Well, you changed my life too,” I replied with a smile.

She returned my smile. “I thought you didn’t love me at some point.”

“No, I’ve loved you since the very beginning. You’re what changed my life forever.”

She laughed, and we returned to our hotel holding hands as a couple would.

It’s hard to believe that it ended like this. I like to overthink things, do I? I thought she would reject me if I asked. If only I knew how wrong I was. Love is a funny feeling, isn’t it? It makes you do things you normally wouldn’t do. It makes the world appear different when it isn’t. It makes you feel there’s something there when there’s nothing there. Maybe love is the strongest thing in the world.