Breezy air greeted me when I arrived outside the building. It wasn’t sunny or cloudy, just a perfect cold day, implying how the winter season is fast approaching. But it was kind of unusual, though. The weather forecaster reported that heavy rains would occur in a few weeks. I’d like that—I like rainy days. Reviewing and editing manuscripts during such cold days makes me feel more comfortable. And a nice cup of tea would be so helpful to be more productive, especially deadlines are waiting for you.

I started walking on the side of the road, following Naver map’s direction to the place Kayla said so that I could buy our lunch. Many vehicles were already on the street. There were also people walking like me along the side roads.

Walking in front of me was a man in his black suit, which he probably bought from a high-end clothing store, seeing how sleek the fabric color looked. He had his phone on his ears, saying business terms I am very much not familiar with. There was also a group of teenagers wearing bright and colorful outfits and hairstyles. It seemed like they were out to record something for their school. Oh, school days.

A few minutes passed, I arrived at Ahjumma’s Plate. A pleasant staff greeted me the moment I stepped inside. It was my first time coming to this restaurant. It’s just a tiny restaurant, but there are plenty of customers. Oh, the foods here must be so delicious. Why did Kayla never take me here before?

“Hi! Good morning,” I greeted the staff at the counter. “two kimchi jjigae, four pancakes, and one box of mandu for take-out, please,” I denoted, observing what the surrounding from the counter’s view looked like. There were tall indoor plants placed beside the windows with lace curtains slightly blocking the sunlight coming inside the restaurant. The tables and chairs are wooden made. Also, the other designs and furniture are old-looking but still very pleasant to the eyes.

I finished placing my order, so I sat down on the chair close to the counter itself.

I didn’t order a lot of foods like Kayla and I would usually do whenever we spent time together in a restaurant. I realized I still needed to save space in my stomach since I’ll be tasting her new recipes. I quite didn’t understand Kayla when she talked to me about this plan of her. I mean, I’m not even a chef, nor do I cook deliciously often. Now, she asked for help as if I were some food critique. I could never say no to her, though.

“Girl, have you seen the news on Twitter right now?” I heard the lady in pink near me ask the other lady with her.

“Ah! Evan Park! A new album is coming!” the other lady responded with excitement, though it sounded like she was sure.

“Yes! I am looking forward to it. His last album was so amazing it even ranked top on different charts worldwide!”

“Oh, Evan Park, the producer behind most of the popular groups currently active right now, but still manages to make breathtaking music of his own.”

“I could listen to him all day!” the lady in pink added.

“Is it true? Will he be releasing a full album this time?”

“Yes! Look, I hear it will be about 12 songs!”

The lady in pink showed her phone to the other lady.

“Whoa, I’m certain it will be yet another no-skip album!”

“Definitely! I couldn’t agree more! Oh, he’s such a great artist!”

The two ladies clapped their hands against each other, like two teenagers seeing their crushes play basketball or any sport during their school’s sports day. Phew, silly. I couldn’t even remember the last time my heart fluttered.

“Such heavenly voice he has,” one of them reckoned again. “Thank God he also shares the demo songs he produces for other groups!”

Because I was curious, I checked my Twitter for a while and noticed a trending topic with lots of engagement from different people. An article about a music producer was under the Music topic. I read some of the replies, and I could say that they were excited and happy seeing the topic. I couldn’t understand the excitement, though. I had no idea what was the talks all about because I hadn’t heard of him before.

“Number 5, here’s your order. Thank you so much,” the staff informed me. I took the paper bags—which weren’t that heavy, by the way— and started walking, with my eyes still fixed on my phone, trying to read some more of the replies on the topic I saw earlier in the hopes that I could understand the trend.

“What is that excitement all about—Ah!”

Unbeknownst to me, my forehead bumped into someone’s palm. I realized I had almost hit the glass door. When I slowly looked up, I caught only a glimpse of a man’s face as the sunlight blocked my sight for a while, making it hard for me to see his face. Add to the fact that he was wearing a black face mask.

“Careful, Miss. You don’t wanna hit your face on this glass door,” he said so firmly and removed his palm away from my forehead.

Although he had his mask on, I noticed that there was a little irritation in his voice when he spoke. By the way, he smelled nice. His perfume was aqua-scented.

“So clumsy of me. Thank—” I wasn’t even done talking yet, but the man immediately walked away and left me there in front of the glass door, so I quickly tried following him.

Eh? What’s with him?

“Hey! I was trying to thank you! You’re kind of rude?” I uttered loud enough for him to hear as he walked towards the counter. Looking at his posture, I could feel him smirking at me as if he disagreed with what I had just said about him.

He stopped walking, his back still facing me.

I refrained from walking as well.

“Rude for a man who saved a pretty face from getting hit on a thick glass door? Alright, you’re welcome!” he reckoned, not even looking at me, and continued walking.

Me? Pretty?

“Now is not a proper time to flirt, Mister,” I denoted.

“What?” The man scoffed and faced me. “Flirt? Did you actually think I was flirting with you or something?” He laughed.

“Weren’t you? You said I was pretty.”

“Did I?”

“Uhm, yes?”

“Sure you are, but I wasn’t flirting with you. It was a compliment. Bye,” he reckoned and walked away.

Why was he so serious? I was only joking with him. LOL.

Oh, my day is not going to be fine. I could feel it.