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Yewon knew romance.
Well, Yewon knew what books and tv shows and movies told you of romance and well, from watching her sister and Nayoung get together, she figured everything she saw on dramas rang true. However, what she didn’t know was when she would get to experience it herself. She witnessed her best friend and platonic soulmate Sungyeon finally find love with a senior at their school, Kang Yaebin, and wondered how long it would be until she would be able to get that warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest and feel like she’s floating on air.
Little did she know, Serendipity would work its magic in the most mysterious ways.
Yewon was drunk. She knew she shouldn’t be but hey. She was nearly legal and her sister was a bartender in a café turned bar so why would she not have a few drinks? Her best friend and her sister were all buddied up in relationships (which were adorable, Yewon wasn’t bitter at all, of course not) and for the first time in a while Yewon allowed herself to ponder with the idea of being alone. And, oh no, this is not a path Yewon wanted to go down, not tonight. So naturally, the young girl ordered another shot allowing the thought of loneliness to instantly dissipate. What the young girl didn’t expect was for another person to sit down next to her order the same thing and down it like a veteran.
The girl appeared to be slightly slimmer and slightly taller than herself. With doe eyes and iris’ as deep as midnight, Yewon couldn’t help but to get completely lost in her eyes. Just when Yewon thought the girl couldn’t get more beautiful, she smiled. And Yewon swore in that moment that absolutely nothing else mattered. The way the smile showed off her perfect teeth while reaching her eyes, the girls face was lit up. Yewon figured that the night may not be so bad after all.
*
The pair sat at the bar for hours, it was near closing at this point in the evening but the girls hadn’t even realised, two engrossed in their own little world.
“My sister works here actually, she said the owners were an old couple, had been married 45 years when they bought the place. They named it Serendipity because it was the place they met, and it truly was a happy accident. The wife was a bar singer from Daegu, while the husband was a university lecturer, who had taken a one-day break at the same time the wife was visiting Busan.” Yewon paused to finish her glass of water. “They figured this place could be the site of happy accidents for other relationships to”.
“Well” Jieqiong said before standing up. “Maybe we’re each other’s happy accidents” she gave Yewon a pure smile, and her phone number on a napkin she found on the bar, before leaving the starstruck girl behind and heading home.
Now, Yewon wasn't sure if it was all the shots or the Chinese goddess stood in front of her making her feel hazy but she liked it either way.
“Oh my god oh my goodness!!” Sungyeon and Minkyung squealed in unison after Yewon relayed the night back to them over steaming mochas.
“Okay so you’ve got to play this cool Yewon, maybe wait another 2 days and then drop her a casual text” Sungyeon said, confident in her advice as a matchmaker.
“Are you kidding me?!” Minkyung exclaimed. “This isn’t an American movie Sungyeon-ie. She should just text her now, they were both drunk when they met WHO knows if she’ll even remember Yewon’s name by the time she wakes up!”
“Hey! I’m very memorable!” the young girl exclaimed. At this point Sungyeon and Minkyung were in a full-blown argument with each other about how to flirt appropriately. Yewon soon got tired of their antics and decided to do things her way.
Cheesy texts and impulsive dates.
YEWON (11:14)
Hey Jieqiong-unnie, it’s Yewon-ie. From the bar yesterday.
JIEQIONG (11:15)
HI
JIEQIONG (11:15)
Sorry, I wasn’t expecting a text so soon and I got excited.
YEWON (11:16)
I knew texting you straight away was the way forward, my unnie and my friend tried to tell me to play it cool. But that’s not really my style.
JIEQIONG (11:17)
Oh? And what is your style?
YEWON (11:20)
Unnie, you’re pretty and I’m cute wouldn’t you agree? Together we’d be Pretty Cute. Now I know I may not be a genie or anything but if you agree to go on a date with me this afternoon I could make all your dreams come true.
JIEQIONG (11:25)
I-
I’ve been laughing for the past five minutes. How are you such a nerd?
JIEQIONG (11:25)
Oh, and meet me at Serendipity at 4
Yewon squealed while she was looking down at her phone. Without even saying goodbye to her friends, she jumped up from her seat and ran out of the café. She wasn’t hungover from last night per se, but the morning after is never good to anybody so she went back home to make herself look like her usual cute self for her date.
Yewon made it back to Serendipity for 3:37 precisely, giving her ample time to mentally prepare herself for a date only to see her date had gotten there, ordered 2 drinks and was deep in conversation with Minkyung. You see, Yewon was the kind of person who liked to be early and such, but Jieqiong was the kind of person who would show up early, pay for food and drinks, and try to scout out as much information about their date as possible.
When Jieqiong looked up and finally saw her date, her deep irises looked into Yewon’s soul, and her lips moved into the most loving smile and in that moment, Yewon knew that she was perhaps, extremely whipped for Zhou Jieqiong.
*
Yewon knew romance.
Only, unlike the start of our story, her knowledge didn’t come from books and movies, but from that hazy feeling she got whenever she thought about her girlfriend Jieqiong.
That was romance.
And Yewon loved it.