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Tomorrow was her first date with Yang Seok-hyeong. She couldn't believe it. She still couldn't believe this was happening. A dream come true indeed. She looked at her phone while lying on her bed, she needed to confirm the place and the time, but her fingers wouldn't obey her command. Trembled with nervousness or giddiness, she couldn't tell. Her heart was practically drumming so hard she could hear the loudness in her ears.
Air was filtered through her nostrils' hair as she took a big breath. She needed to calm herself. She let her mind wander to something else that would definitely bring her mood down, such as an emergency on tomorrow's date. Oh no, she shouldn't think of that! She could jinx her date even before it started! Hair was flopping around when she shook her head hard, trying to disperse the image already forming in her mind.
Wait, the date was still on, right? Suddenly her anxiety spiked through the roof. He never mentioned anything about where and when they should meet tomorrow… But that was precisely why she needed to ask! Or should she just wait…?
Ey, whatever!
She typed the text so fast and sent it before she could have a second thought. The poor phone was thrown to the other side of her bed the second she hit the send button.
There was a ping! after the phone landed safely on a soft mattress. The reply was maddeningly quick. Min-ha immediately reached at her phone again, stumbled by her stacked pillows on the way there.
Min-ha: Gyosunim, where should we meet for tomorrow's dinner?
Professor Yang: I was just about to text you. I'll pick you up at 7 PM. How's that sound?
Min-ha didn't know whether to squeal or cry. She read over the message again to make sure what she read the first time was correct. Yes, it was right; her professor was gonna pick her up. Her dear professor was gonna pick her up for their date!
Min-ha: Sure~ I'll send the address.
Professor Yang: Okay.
Professor Yang: Ah, do you want to watch a movie afterward? Ik-jun said there's this new movie just being released tomorrow.
She couldn't help her yell of joy now. Not only her pillows but her teddy bear was victimized by her round of happiness punches. She made a mental note to buy a cake for Professor Lee when she visited his room.
Min-ha: Yes! I'd love to^^
Professor Yang: That's great^^. I'd buy the tickets then.
A smiley face? A freaking smiley face?? He actually replied her smiley face emoticon with his own? Min-ha was sure she had used all of her luck on this conversation. She hoped she still had some for tomorrow's date. She fell to the mattress on her back, eyes staring at the ceiling as she kept close the phone on top of her chest, near her loud beating heart.
There was another ping! And her eyes were instantly glued on the screen.
Professor Yang: Good night. Don't stay up too late on your day off.
Somehow it was typical of Professor Yang to worry about her, but at the same time, the way he worried about her was different this time. To say her heart was pounding so hard was an understatement. She had a thought that she needed to call Professor Kim for her abnormal heart activity.
Min-ha: I'd try! Have a good night, too, Gyosunim!
Her garments were all over the place. On the bed, floor, chairs, basically, almost on every surface, there was a piece of clothing lying around. She kept trying on new clothes, took a pose, and dumped them on the floor, not satisfied with the look yet. She glanced at the clock on her phone, 5 PM, and she still didn't know what to wear. She hadn't even started on her makeup!! She craned her neck to peek at the dark wardrobe, trying to see if there were anything left that she could try… a-ha! She found her dusty pink long blazer. She was squinting so hard at it until the top eyelids almost touched the bottom ones.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe casual wasn't the answer for a first date when she had dinner with a middle-aged man. He probably would take her to some fancy place to impress her—well, not that she was full of herself, she just had a hunch for it. He was basically a chaebol, anyway. The possibility wasn't that far stretched out.
Wait, but Professor Ahn, also a chaebol, and Gyeo-wool never mentioned anything about fancy restaurants…
She swatted her right hand. She was getting distracted, which wasn't good, considering she needed to prepare for her own date now.
By the time she finished her makeup, the alarm she had set up five minutes before 7 PM was ringing noisily. She picked up her phone to shut it off, but the screen now lit up for a different reason. Professor Yang called her.
"Hello, Gyosunim!" Min-ha automatically straightened up on her seat, somehow feeling rude if she was leaning back even though Professor Yang couldn't see her. A habit she seemed to harbor since she started her residency.
"Hi, Minha-ya. Are you ready yet?" His voice was so soft.
"Yes, sir! Are you close?" She answered a little too vigorously.
"I have arrived at the location you sent me."
Her hand was agile when she picked up her white purse and locked her door. "Okay, I'd walk there—it's not that far! Maybe around three minutes?"
"Arasseo."
She tried her best to walk fast on her heels. It was hard, but she managed. From afar, Professor Yang's slick black car was conspicuous among the ordinary houses nearby. Like, it was clear the owner wasn't from around here. It looked expensive. It was expensive.
"Gyosunim!" She waved her hand excitedly at Seok-hyeong, who was leaning on his car hood. She must admit, the way he was leaning back like that with a grey blazer fitted him so good, loose black t-shirt being tucked onto his bleached straight jeans and sneakers to complete the casual yet neat look; he was pretty hot. She cleared her throat immediately after the thought invaded her mind.
"Minha-ya, why are you in such a hurry? There's no need to rush," He was smiling slightly at her as he adjusted his position.
"I don't want you to wait, Gyosunim." She replied sheepishly.
"Even though I made you wait so long?" He asked her a question. His tone was interlaced with… sadness? She shifted her weight to the other leg; she didn't like the sorrow in his voice but didn't exactly know how to quash it.
Deep down, she understood the underlying meaning of his question. Yet, she didn't feel like acknowledging the fact right now. She opted to ask again. Then, if he still said the same thing, she would yield. "Ne?"
"Nothing," He walked to the passenger's seat and opened the door. "Let's go. There would be traffic."
Confused stares were onto him, lingering for a minute or so until the owner realized that Yang Seok-hyeong had just performed a calvary act for her. She hurriedly got into the car; the heart was beating through her ribcage; as she passed him, she could smell his perfume—wood fragrance with musky scent and notes of sweet vanilla. She swore his perfume usually didn't smell this good. Typically, it would be just a soft scent of sandalwood.
"Thank you," She said while he closed the car door. Her eyes were tracking his movement until he was safely seated on the driver's seat. Even until he started the car, her eyes were still glued to him, ignoring the fact that she hadn't put on her seatbelt. It was only when Professor Yang looked at her, noticing that she hadn't done it, and decided to help her again, that she immediately went back to the present.
"Ah—it's okay." She said reflexively and put on her seatbelt.
Yang Seok-hyeong leaned back to his headrest as chuckles escaped his lips. "Okay, if you insist."
She bit her bottom lip while looking through the window; the car finally drove away from her neighborhood. A wasted chance! Why did she say that?! She should've let him do it for her! She sighed quietly.
"Do you want to listen to music, Minha-ya?"
Min-ha turned her head to look at the subject of her thoughts, "Sure."
The drive to the restaurant was filled with a soft tune of classical piano and an occasional humming from Professor Yang along with the taps of his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to imitate the chord and melody with limited movement. She couldn't help the smile that creeps up on her face. This side of her professor was adorable. By the look of his face, he probably didn't realize he was doing it at all.
When they arrived at the parking lot, Min-ha thanked the god above and her intuition for making her choose the long blazer to wear on this first date. Even just from the exterior of the building, Min-ha would doubtlessly bet all of her fortunes on the assumption this restaurant had a formal dress code.
Min-ha got out of the car by herself. She walked by Yang Seok-hyeong's side, trying hard to not be nervous as she was feeling out of her element.
"The reservation is under the name Yang Seok-hyeong," He politely said to the receptionist; each syllable of his name was pronounced loud and clear. The woman whose name tag read Park Hye-joo was nodding her head once, looking at the monitor, and turned her head again to Professor Yang after she found his name on the list.
"Mr. Yang, this way," She stood up from her chair and led the way to the corner table for two people beside a huge window. The receptionist picked up the 'reserved' sign on the table and bowed to them before resigning to her place again.
"Thank you," Her professor gave the receptionist a polite smile as the figure retreated. He pulled the chair out; at first, Min-ha thought it was for him. However, he motioned her to sit on the chair he had just pulled out. Oh my god, she knew he was sweet, but not to this extent?! But then she remembered how Gyeo-wool would gush about Professor Ahn being a gentleman. Was every chaebol like this or what? Do they have special training to treat a woman?
That actually made sense.
Min-ha sat down slowly. His perfume lingered in the air even after he sat down in front of her. Circuits in her brain were starting to break down; each of her brain cells was screaming at each other. She couldn't really feel her hand. Her eyes tried to focus on the good-looking man before her.
"—Minha-ya?"
Startled, she answered back a little too loud, "Ye-yes, sir?"
"What do you want to eat?"
She looked at the menu that Professor Yang showed her, she did her best to conceal her shocked face when she saw the price. "Uh… I'll just have whatever you order, Gyosunim."
He glanced at her suspiciously but said nothing. He closed the menu and put up a hand to call the waiter. As they waited for the male waiter to came to their table, he confessed, "I only came here because my mother dragged me a few years back, but I fell in love with their steak and became repeat customer instead," He let out his dry chuckle at his own words. Professor Yang held his gaze on Min-ha, "I want you to try it too."
She gulped. Yang Seok-hyeong's gaze was heated. There were so many emotions in those eyes, and Min-ha couldn't describe each of them. It was pretty ridiculous because they were talking about food—no, no, it was not just a portion of food.
He shared something he loved with her…
The waiter came to their table and was ready to take their order. Min-ha was relishing the sight of her professor talking in English when he was ordering the menu; the words rolled on his tongue fluently. Well, he did go to the US for his fellowship.
"Minha-ya, do you want red wine to accompany the steak?" He asked her.
"Uh, maybe?" She wasn't sure if she wanted it or not, honestly.
He nodded at her and instructed a specific wine from one particular year to the male waiter. All of her nerves were tense; she didn't know how to act or react in this place. Especially not when her dream came true, and the man before her was the very person she was head over heels with for years, ordering the menu for them, for her. Yang Seok-hyeong was treating her exceptionally well tonight—not that he usually wasn't, but tonight was different. It was clearly different, the atmosphere they were in, the place they were at, the perfume he used, the clothes he wore, the way he walked and moved; even his smile was different… and lastly, his confidence.
It was as if she was falling for him all over again tonight.
And she couldn't function.
She was eating the steak, but she couldn't exactly taste it. She was nodding to her professor, agreeing that it was delicious, a faint memory of consuming the steak for the first time before the taste was lost on her. The beef was juicy, yes. The sauce was absorbed well in the steak, yes. But she was too nervous to remember how to differentiate the flavor.
“Are you done, Minha-ya?” He looked bewildered when she put down her utensils and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
There was almost half of the steak left uneaten on her plate. She replied, "Yes, I don't think I could eat any more, Gyosunim."
He put down his own utensils. Dark brown irises that shined when reflected by the light attempting to search for something on Min-ha's own brown irises. He squinted a bit at her before finally letting it go when she squirmed uncomfortably.
He took one last bite and drank down his water. "Okay, do you want to go straight to the cinema now?"
Min-ha nodded excitedly. At least a cinema was a scene that she was familiar with. When he smiled softly at her, there were butterflies flutter in her stomach.
Professor Yang paid the bill, and they got into the car again. She calmed herself by counting the buildings they had passed on the way to the cinema. Their first date… was dinner and watching a movie. How lucky she was to have both of them on the same day?
She made a promise for herself. In the cinema, she would try to retake the lead. No more freezing like a fool every time Yang Seok-hyeong made sweet gestures. She could do it as well and made sure he would come home with a decision to date her.
Little did she know, her promise was easily broken as he kept doing something that made her heart race. She had no clue he was already a few steps ahead and had a legitimate plan for their future relationship.