Maybe she was wrong, maybe he was a nice guy, but how could she tell? She lay awake on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as the morning light shone through her window, bouncing off her mirror, and barely missing her eyes. She needed to get up, and send the next chapter off to Levy, her editor, but she had no strength either. Her phone was buzzing with notifications, asking if she were okay. She didn’t blame the girl, she hadn’t contacted her since two weeks ago. With the chapter already late, it made sense to worry about her well-being, but… maybe that guy had left a larger impression on her than she had originally thought.

What was the place he was talking about? Did he say it could help her out? A financing agency? Was he a member of it? No, he said he just used it, right? Either way, it didn’t matter, she wasn’t going to go through them, when she already had a publisher. What more did she need? It didn’t even focus on writing anyway, so what was the big deal? Nothing. Why was her mind constantly swarming with thoughts of possibly running into him again? Like that was possible. Of course it wasn’t. There was no way, besides, he either was low-class, or high-class, so he wouldn’t be caught dead spending time with her, even if he had before.

I hurt him, didn’t I? She thought to herself, as she swung her arm above her eyes. She hated hurting people, she knew how it felt, but… it was something she did only so often. She knew nothing about him, he grew up in a shack, and had a strange cat-love, but other than that, what was there to wonder about? Nothing. So why did she somehow want him to say ‘good-bye’ or ‘see you tomorrow’? She sighed, as she brought her arm down, and lifted herself from her pillow. Maybe he’ll be at that cafe. She thought to herself as she decided to go ahead and finish the chapter.

***

She opened the door to the bookstore, sounding the little bell, and before she had a chance to sit down at one of the tables, she was greeted by the energetic editor of hers, Levy. The girl had an orange ribbon in her hair today, and her brown eyes were larger, and more anxious than before. She grasped her small hands around Sua’s and jumped for joy upon getting the chance to read another chapter.

“Levy, I rushed this one, so be harsher on it, please?” Sua sighed, as Levy led her to the back to print out the document.

“I’m gonna judge it like all your other chapters, Su.” Levy giggled, as she watched her connect her computer to the printer, “You should really get yourself a printer of your own.”

“Yeah, maybe, but for now, this is fine.” Sua stated, before pressing print on the document, and watching the pages print out in silence.

“Is that really all you came here for?” Levy asked, with her hand on her hip as the writer stood by the door.

“Yeah, I was planning on writing a bit at a cafe, for inspiration.” Sua responded, with a smile.

“I was really hoping we could talk more, though, Su.” Levy sighed.

“It’ll be soon, Lev, I promise.” Sua responded, smiling brightly, before turning around and opening the doors to leave the bookstore. Her smile dropped, and she headed off in the direction of the cafe she had met that girl Liza at.

She stopped a few meters away from the cafe, because her eyes had caught on to someone playing outside of it with a young girl. The girl had her hair in braids, and a pink cowgirl hat rested on her head to match her attire. She didn’t think much of her, but the man she was playing with instead. His hair was hidden by a fire-red beanie, but his strange choice of clothes and the items reflecting light in his ears stood out to her. His t-shirt matched his beanie, but had a giant graphic image of a dragon, or nirvana, and he was wearing a pair of cargo-pants, which didn’t necessarily fit with his slides on his feet.

Sua hadn’t exactly expected to run into him again, even though she had wanted to. Not to mention he was in front of the cafe she had intended to go into. The little girl laughed as he swooped her up in his arms, and placed her safely atop his shoulders, holding onto her legs securely, before jumping around in a few circles. They were adorable, and it hurt her a little. She barely even knew him, so if he had someone already, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. She began to turn away, and decided on a different cafe, when he called her.

“Hey, Sua!” he called, and she spun back the ninety degrees to look at him as he bounded over to her, with the little girl still on his shoulders.

“Hi,” she answered, glancing up at the little girl, as she bobbed her head to his running.

“How are you?” he asked, leaning forward slightly, after stopping.

“I’m alright. I finished some writing, how about you?” she asked, telling herself that she shouldn’t have subconsciously gotten her hopes up.

“I’m great!” he giggled, “Bunny’s at Woojin’s today, so he’s not in that ‘shack’ this time.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Sua smiled.

“Who’s she?” the little girl asked, shaking Seonwoo’s head with one hand as she pointed at Sua.

Seonwoo glanced up to her, “That’s Sua, she’s really nice!”

“Is she gonna join us?” the girl asked, looking down at him.

“I asked her,” Seonwoo smiled, “she said she’d think about it.” he turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, “So, Sua, did ya think about it?”

“Ah,” she began, glancing up at the girl, and feeling that pain of being hurt again. Of course it’s gonna be like this, no nice guy would have ever actually liked a mess like me. “No, I hadn’t given it much thought yet.”

“Bummer.” Seonwoo huffed, “So what are ya doing today?”

“Just planning on writing a bit.” Sua answered, and smiled up at the girl.

“What are you writing’?” he asked leaning closer.

She sighed, “A book, what else?”

“What’s it about?” his eyes seemed to have gotten larger with his curiosity, and the little girl’s did as well. He leaned in closer to her, and the girl leaned down.

“Why should I tell you?”

“I was just askin’,” he pouted as he leaned back, “Hey, you wanna hang with us for a bit?”

“I really do need to finish-”

“Come on!” he whined, “it’ll be fun! And we won’t spend the whole time lookin’ for Bunny, either.”

“Fine.” she reluctantly agreed.

“Hey, Alleah, when’s your mom getting back?” Seonwoo asked, tilting his head up to look at the little girl.

“Mommy said she’d come back for dinner.” the girl responded, “Where are we going?”

“We’re gonna go somewhere fun!” he giggled, as his hands moved up her little legs, to grab her by the torso, and sweep her off his shoulders, “You ready?” he said after he put her on the ground, and knelt down to her level.

“I’m gonna beat you!” she said, pulling out one of her toy guns from its holster on her hip, and aiming it at him.

“Nuh-uh.” he smiled back, before standing up, and letting her grab his hand. “Have you ever gone shooting before?” he asked Sua.

“No, I haven’t.” she answered, walking beside him.

“It’s gonna be awesome! I’m pretty good myself.”

“I’m better!” the little girl chimed in, causing Seonwoo to look down at her.

“Well I’m not gonna go easy on you this time!” he stated, as his brows furrowed, though a cheerful smile was still on his lips.

“She’s cute.” Sua stated, looking into Seonwoo’s eyes as he raised his head.

“Yeah, and ornery.”

“Am not, Seonwoo!” the girl exclaimed, stepping on the man’s foot.

“Sorry, sorry, I meant to be honest.”

“How old?” Sua asked, as Seonwoo’s expression softened from the pain dealt to his foot.

“She’s five.”

“Four.” the girl corrected.

“Right, right,” Seonwoo smiled, and looked down at her, “you hadn’t had your birthday yet, did you?”

“Mom says that I won't turn a year older until my birthday!”

“Sorry, I keep forgetting!” Seonwoo defended himself.

“Where’s her mom?”

“At work.” the girl smiled.

“I’m watching her until she gets off.” Seonwoo remarked, “her dad’s out on some hunting trip right now.”

“So she’s not…” Sua trailed off, realizing that she had misunderstood Seonwoo again.

“She’s not what?” Seonwoo asked, looking over at her.

“Nothing, nothing,” Sua shook her head, “So, what’s so much fun in firing off guns anyway?”

“It’s fun.” Seonwoo shrugged, “I don’t know, what about you Alleah?”

“It’s fun!” the girl cheered, “and I can hit the target way better than Seonwoo, too!”

“Cannot.” Seonwoo pouted, looking away.

“Can too!” Alleah defended herself.

“Cannot!” Seonwoo said, looking down at her.

“Can too!” she yelled.

“Can-” Seonwoo began before he was cut off.

“Seonwoo, she’s a kid.” Sua interrupted.

“And?” he asked, “I don’t go easy on people just because they’re kids.”

“That’s mean.”

“It’s just a way to show my strength.” Seonwoo shrugged, with a wide grin on his face.

“I can beat him, though, Sua!” Alleah piped in.

“Oh, really?” Sua asked, in response, before turning her attention back to Seonwoo, “What a real show of your strength.”

“Psh. It was one time.” he mumbled, looking away, though she could see his cheeks smiling.

“We almost there, yet, Seonwoo?” Alleah asked, pulling at his watch.

“Yeah, yeah, just another block.” he answered.

“Why not just take a car?” Sua asked, but his expression soon afterward made her wonder if she had said the wrong thing.

He looked sick. Like that was the worst thing to ever come into existence. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

“It’d be faster-” Sua began but he held up his hand to stop her.

“That’s the worst option. I’d rather walk.”

“Why?”

Alleah pulled on Sua’s shirt, earning her attention, “Seonwoo hates cars.”

“He does?”

“Mhm.”

“So,” Sua turned to Seonwoo, “But you mentioned something at the cafe about looking all over Seoul and Incheon.”

“Yeah, and?” Seonwoo asked, looking at her, one brow raised.

“They're so far apart, the quickest way is by train, and that still takes about half a day.”

“Your point?”

“Don’t tell me you walked the whole distance!”

“I wanted to.” he mumbled, “but stupid Bunny insisted on us going on the train!”

“Bunny’s a cat.”

“And?”

She decided to drop the subject. She looked up at the shooting range before them, and gulped. She’d never even held a gun before, so why did she even agree to this. She looked over at him, as her anxiety was leaping out of her throat. He knelt beside the little Alleah, and was conversing with her, asking her something that was found rather important to both of them, probably a bet or something on who won. She looked back to the door of the range, and watched as people were bringing their own guns through a special door on the side.