Innocent Love ♥

Optional background music: ASTRO - Morning Call

“YAH! SUZY NOONA! Why are you in there for so long?” I heard Sanha from behind the door while I was inside. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. Does my this dress go with this bag? Did I put on too much makeup? I wiped some powder off my cheeks. Do I look too pale?

“SUZY! What’s taking you so long? I really need to go! Right now!” I took a deep breath and finally forced my body out of the bathroom. Sanha, in his bee onesie, stared at me in confusion.
"Hey, where are you going without me? Are you going shopping for girl-things?"

"I-I'm going on a date with E-Eunwoo."

"Really/정말로? FINALLY! Congratulations!" He gave me a hug before shoving me off, slamming the bathroom door shut to lock himself in. “GO/가! Go on your date! I need to do my business!” I laughed at him before feeling hot and sweaty. I need to calm down. I tried to call him using my handphone. My palms became sweaty and my heart tried to escape my chest. How Yoojung would react?

E: “Yeoboseyo? Suzy?”
S: “Eunwoo! Um, where do we meet again?”
E: “At school. We’ll walk from there to the new cafe I found.”
S: “Oh! That’s right! Okay, I’m on my way.”
E: “See you!”

The closer I got to school, the more my legs felt like noodles. My phone beeped 1:00 along with a message from Sanha.

Sanhahaha: He's perfect boyfriend-material. Fighting!
Suzy<3: I'll be home at 5. Go do study!
Sanhahaha: Go study? I don't even know where to start! (> m <)
Suzy<3: You're funny.
Sanhahaha: Bring back more eggs.
Suzy<3: If you don't do your homework, I'll throw them at you.
Sanhahaha: You won't be able to catch me! :D
Suzy<3: I'll phone mom and dad :)))
Sanhahaha: I'll go do it. T T

“Suzy!” I looked up from my phone and saw Eunwoo across the street by the school gates. He waved at me, shouting, “Good morning!” He tugged his plain white sweater and skinny ripped jeans. He can look good in anything. Maybe I should have worn a sweater, too. Once I crossed the road, we awkwardly stood there for what seemed to be eternity. Does my shoes match my dress?

“You look great.” I blurted. I glance up toward him and find him smiling.

“You look great, too.” He laughed a bit and offered his hand. I let go of the strap of my handbag before accepting it. “Let’s go!” He excitedly said, taking my hand.

Much to my surprise, the cafe turned out to be a cat cafe. He chose a seat by the window that was already surrounded by a couple of cats. A grey one crawled onto his lap as he sat down. I hid my hot face behind the menu. Am I the only one sweating? He ordered a hot chocolate and I asked for a slice of vanilla cake. When the waiter came back with the food, I gaped at him.

“Moonbin!"“Suzy?” Moonbin was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt instead of his usual sweater. One hand balanced food and the other, a black cat. His eyes darted back and forth from Eunwoo and then back at me.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, "So this is the place you work at!"

"Suzy," Eunwoo asked, "did Moonbin tell you he worked at a cafe?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was a cat cafe!" I grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "I would work here, too."
"You should come here often. We have discounts for regulars."

I looked back at Eunwoo. I guess it was still awkward between the two of them. Soon our "date" became a Q&A session with cats and smooth music. Every now and then I would catch him glare at Moonbin, who was already staring at us. If he knew Moonbin worked here, we probably wouldn't have came here.

At one point, he rushed to the bathroom. Startled, I dropped my phone. I got out of my seat to pick up but tripped over a passing cat. I thought I was going to face-plant onto the floor but, somehow, Moonbin had caught me. He helped me up and winked at me.

"Don't worry. I'll catch you when you fall." I felt my cheeks flush pink. After picking my phone up, I quickly headed back to my seat. (oh boi, i keNNoT dEAL -author)

"Hey, Moonbin, thanks for-" When I turned back around to face him, he disappeared. Maybe he needed to go to the bathroom, too.

=== EUNWOO'S POINT OF VIEW ===

On our first date, I planned to kill two birds with one stone. I could claim her as my girlfriend so Moonbin and Yoojung would back off. I saw Moonbin working at that cat cafe I passed by on the way home so I thought it would be the perfect place to go. However, her reaction to him being a waiter wasn't what I expected.

"Yeah he told me about it, but I didn't know it was a cat cafe!" She grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "I would work here, too." Moonbin was smiling back at her. Have they been meeting up? Are they closer now? Agh! What was I thinking? This was definitely the wrong place to go.

For the rest of the time we spent talking and admiring the sleepy cats, I felt nervous. I wish I was as calm as the cat on my lap.

"This place is nice." she commented. I snapped out of my thoughts. Okay, Eunwoo, you got this. Time to win her heart.

"You have something here." I pointed to the corner of my mouth. She tried to wipe her mouth but I ended up using my finger to get the whipped cream off her lips. You're doing great, Eunwoo, keep it cool, keep it cool. Breathe in, breathe out. “I’m going to the bathroom because there’s a lot of cat fur on my pants.” I plopped the cat that was once on my lap onto the windowsill before dashing into the bathroom.

I ran into the bathroom stall and locked the door behind me. I sat down on the fluffy toilet cover and brought my hands to my face. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just did that. A while later, I heard someone enter the bathroom and use the sink, mumbling the words "why did I just do that".

I came out of my stall to splash some water on my face using the cat-themed sink and found Moonbin also using it.

"Oh! Eunwoo!" Ugh, Moonbin. He turned the tap off and allowed me to use it. "That was so smooth, by the way! Haha!" He wiped his puckered lips with his thumb to tease me.

"Leave me alone."

"Ah, it's nice to have something to laugh at."

"I hate you."

"Are you guys a thing now?" He asked suspiciously.

"This is our first date," I blurted out, "So don't mess this up for me. If she was going to be with anyone, it better be me and not you."

"Interesting. I'll just be working over here, then." Moonbin mopped the toilet floors and smirked.

I headed back to the table and we left before Moonbin could say goodbye to Suzy. We headed to the movie theater and watched Zootopia. The stress I got just from thinking of Moonbin slowly disappeared as I watched her laugh and smile. I managed the get courage to feed her a few pieces of popcorn during the screentime. My heart is beating too fast. After the good movie ended, we decided to sit at the movie theater's lounge.

"I love that movie." she said.

"Wait, when did you watch it? You didn't tell me you already saw it!"

"I watched half of it with Sanha," Suzy replied, "but we got kicked out for being too loud."

"Guess who else got kicked out?" said a voice from behind us. We turned around and saw Rocky and Sohyun holding hands. Sohyun continued, "We got kicked out for kissing."

"Since when were you guys dating?" asked Rocky. He continued to shake my hand firmly. "Congratulations, bro!"

"Oh, this is actually our first date." I said. I looked at Suzy, who was blushing. She's so cute.

"We should leave you two alone, then," Sohyun said tugging at Rocky's sleeve. Soon, after they left, we laughed and headed to her house. My watch said 4:12. When we arrived, Moonbin was already there with two cartons of eggs, staring at the front porch.
Does Moonbin live here now? Why is he here? What's he doing? How does he know her address? Are those eggs a lousy gift or groceries? Is he going to egg her house? Suzy seemed as surprised as I was.

She called out to him. "Moonbin! What are you doing here?"

Notes

I've started writing another story, The Fallen Princes, so I had to delay this chapter. 미안해 ):
But I will try my best to continue writing. I hope you will anticipate for the next chapter!
Anyone else here who likes cat cafes?
(파이팅!)
Thank you so much for waiting! 정말 감사합니다!