Lunch Date

I was going to have lunch with Minhyuk in Seoul. I couldn’t believe it, but it was happening. How did I even say ‘yes’? What is wrong with me? Why start something when it would end anyways. This was just a holiday in South Korea. Who knows when I would come back here, except for maybe, another holiday.

“Callie! I’m not going, I’m cancelling on him”, I called out and was halfway out the door all set to go and tell Minhyuk when Callie pulled me back in.

“Dannie, breathe”

“But dude, I don’t like this, I don’t want to go”

“Why don’t you want to go?

“Because I don’t want to start anything”

“Then don’t start anything, but go, just go out and socialize”

“But he said date, I haven’t been on a date in years, Callie let it be, I’m not going”

“NO, you are going”

“Callieee!!”

“Dan, listen to me, it is not going to be like those other boys, trust me”

“But how do you know?”

“Because you are in control. I saw the way you two spoke the other day. You were completely at ease and so was he. Just go, talk, enjoy the food and come home”

“Yes, the food will be good”

“Yes, now go, get ready”

“You come too”

“Dannie, you need to go out alone for this one. I’ll be right here when you get back”

“Ok. I need to just go, eat food and come home”

“Yes”

“And speaking? I don’t know what to talk about”

“Just be yourself, I love you just the way you are”

“True, that is all that matters and ditto”

“NOW go, get ready”

“Araso yeobo”

So, I went up to the bedroom, wore a beige skirt and a white and blue striped boat neck top. I completed the look with my go-to pair of beige Hush Puppies because my feet needed to be comfortable.

For my hairstyle – a ponytail. I put up my short hair in a tiny ponytail and used a few clips to hold my unruly hair in place. Makeup was the usual – eyeliner and some lip gloss. Dabbed on Vanilla scented perfume and I was good to go.

“Callie, I’m all set”, I was calling out to her as I made my way down the stairs when I saw Minhyuk at the door. I overheard Callie tell him to have a seat when Minhyuk saw me and smiled.

“She’s ready”, he said and grinned at Callie.

“Ahhh!”, Callie grinned and turned around and told me to go with her eyes.

“Bye Callie”, I said as Minhyuk walked ahead and waited on the lawn.

I was holding on to Callie’s hand.

“Dannie, calm down and go” she whispered and squeezed my hand and let go.

I nodded and walked towards Minhyuk.

He smiled and took my hand in his and we walked up the slope to his black Hyundai Venue.

He opened the door for me and closed it once I was seated. I buckled up while he walked over to the driver’s side of the car.

“I drive a Hyundai back home too”

“Hyundai family”, he said and we did a fist bump.

The drive to Seoul was beautiful. The roads were tarred making it a smooth drive. And our taste in music was quite similar – a mix of BTS, Taylor Swift and classical pieces. We spoke a lot about driving. He was into cars too, which was such a relief. Finally – someone who speaks car and driver.

Both of us were not a fan of the slight lag in pickup Hyundai cars had after shifting gears. And the funny thing was that he had faced the same problem with the wipers where they wouldn’t turn off. This was because the switchboard mounted on the steering was not breaking the circuit in the off position. So, the fuse had to be removed until the entire switchboard was changed.

And the biggest highlight – he was an Audi fan too. Another plus point – his driving, it was good. We made it to Seoul in about an hour and he pulled up in the driveway of a restaurant. He parked the car in a spot that was facing this huge glass wall of the restaurant.

As he switched off the engine, he hopped out and was making his way to my side of the car. But I beat him to it and got out myself. I was not used to being treated so nicely, I liked it but I couldn’t handle it. He grinned and looped our arms as we made it to the entrance of the restaurant.

The layout of the restaurant was similar to any other fine dining place. But it had one unique feature – a huge wooden table spanning the length of the glass wall. And it had benches for two all along it but just on one side. So people could be seated next to each other and look outside.

Minhyuk’s car could be seen at the far end of this table.

“Minhyuk, why don’t we sit over there?”, I asked as I pointed out towards the car.

“With the car?”

“Yes”

“Sure, I like it”

I took the corner seat out of habit as I liked sitting alone. Minhyuk sat beside me on the same bench. It was nice. It felt like I was sitting between the Hyundai and Minhyuk. It was nice and cosy.

“I’ve already placed our orders. I wanted to surprise you”, he said and took away the menu card from me.

“Sure, I have no qualms when it comes to food, I love everything”

He was pink as he smiled at me and softly pinched my cheeks. And without knowing it his lips were on mine. But only for a second. I could see that he was shocked too and apologised immediately. This time I had to step up and settle things down because he was completely flustered.

“Minhyuk, it’s ok”, I said and patted his fringe in place.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I wanted to and it just happened and…”

“So, what have you ordered”, I cut him short and placed my index finger lightly on his lips. Everything felt so natural and easy with him.

He took my hand in his and listed out the food he had ordered. Honestly, I didn’t hear a word he said because the reality of the kiss and what I had just done hit me. I just smiled and nodded.

The food came, we ate, it was all a blur as our conversation never let up. We talked about random things, topic hopping. Most of it was on cars but by the time dessert arrived I knew he had an elder sister who was married and had two kids.

He was a software developer too who knew Alteryx and Python. But his passion was music and he played the piano too. But he was on another level – he composed pieces too. I listened to a few of his recordings and they were beautiful. Some were happy, some sad and some peaceful.

And I showed him my blog. The best part – he loved all my favourite posts. That really made me happy. Time flew by so quickly and without realising it, we were the only ones in the restaurant.

“I think we should leave”, I whispered in Minhyuk’s ear as we ended sitting close to each other with his arm around my waist.

“ok”, he said reluctantly and tightened his arm around my waist for a second and let go.

We walked out hand in hand to the car. Once again, he opened the passenger door for me and closed it once I was in.

The car ride back to Lake 192 was surprisingly quiet but comfortable. He held my hand while driving. Although it was an automatic, he continued holding my hand while shifting to drive and park at signals. It was cute.

Once we reached Lake 192, he walked me to the main house where Callie and I were staying. I waved goodbye and walked inside immediately. He seemed surprised for a second but smiled and waved back. He turned and walked back to his place while ruffling his hair.

“Dannie, your face, you’re blushing, you’re pink!”, Callie called out from the couch.

“Callie, you will not believe what happened…”