As if to match her current mood, the next morning greeted her with a dull grey sky and ominous looming rainclouds gathering on the horizon. Kyungie groaned as she got up and got ready for work. She could almost feel that it was not going to be the best of days today. Although she had to get up early, Jinhyun was already out of the house; his job at the school forced him to get up even earlier. I need my own car, she grumbled mentally as she left the house to catch the bus.

            It started to drizzle as she scurried to the salon entrance from the bus stop across the street. She figured she didn’t need to bring a jacket or anything since she wasn’t planning on staying outdoors. She’ll be in and out of her shift, into Jinhyun’s car, and home again. Same routine every day. Surprisingly; Hakyeon and Wheein were already waiting for her at the door. She bowed her head, slightly dampened by the raindrops.

“Good morning unnie,” Wheein sang.

“Yeah good morning,” Hakyeon also greeted in a singsong way. Kyungie returned the greetings and unlocked the door.

            While preparing for the imminent new day of work, Kyungie contemplated asking Hakyeon about the whole issue with Eunwoo. Even though things were a bit awkward between them, Hakyeon was still easier to talk to than her boss, obviously. But, with Wheein here, it’d be hard not to get her involved in all of this. Wheein was also a curious person; she couldn’t help but want to get involved in other people’s affairs. Instead, Kyungie remained quiet.

“Sorry about yesterday, Kyungie-ah. You know, the whole thing about Eunwoo and boss-nim,” Hakyeon brought up, sidling her. Kyungie looked over his shoulder and saw Wheein gazing curiously in their direction.

            Kyungie wished she could slap herself. Of course, if she didn’t ask him, blabbermouth Hakyeon would’ve eventually brought it up. Feeling her mood worsen by the second, Kyungie tried to brush it off, saying it was nothing; that she knew nothing. Wheein was now approaching them.

“Do you know Eunwoo, my cousin?” Hakyeon asked.

“Not really, he was my customer the other day and he happened to be my customer again when he came back for hair products,” Kyungie replied. It was true, but she didn’t need him knowing that they texted somewhat.

“I think he likes you if he came back again, unnie. He probably wanted to see you again. He seemed really nice,” Wheein commented. Not the best time, Kyungie ranted in her mind. Out of annoyance, Kyungie instructed Wheein to go clean the bathrooms before customers came. Wheein surprisingly obliged and went to go do so. Frustrated, Kyungie turned to Hakyeon and decided to be outright with her words.

“Okay fine, so I talked to Eunwoo when he came to get a haircut and we got to know each other a little. Did something happen between him and boss-nim?” Hakyeon put a hand on his hip; he looked a bit somber now.

“Well, to put it simply… the boss and Eunwoo aren’t on very good terms.” Kyungie didn’t need a psychic to tell her that much.

“Eunwoo is my cousin, but I only saw him when were like in high school. We were actually really close up until then. He’s boss-nim’s son, but he moved to America with his mother.” The gears in Kyungie’s head started turning. So it is true, but wait…

“With his mother?” Kyungie echoed.

“Yeah, boss-nim and Eunwoo’s mother had a divorce when he was finishing up his last year of high school. So right after he graduated, she moved to America and took Eunwoo with her.” Hakyeon told her. She gasped. Hakyeon sighed, nodding.

“Do you know where Eunwoo is staying? He said he came back to visit his parents, but clearly he didn’t come to see boss-nim. And his mom’s back in America,” Kyungie inquired. Hakyeon’s expression stiffened.

“He probably meant my parents. I can only guess how Eunwoo’s parents’ rocky marriage affected him… But my mom and dad really took care of him. I guess in that sense, you can see them as his parents,” The boy replied, but he sounded a bit tenser, at least in Kyungie’s ears.

“Hmm? If he’s with your parents… Why don’t you see him?”

“I never saw him at my house. But then again, I’m always staying over boss-nim’s home.” The girl wanted to reply but the soft chimes of the door caught their attention; a customer had come in. Sighing at the very bad timing, Kyungie decided to take on the client.

            Today was a very slow day; because of the stormy weather, barely anybody came to get a haircut. Kyungie was stuck in the salon repeatedly sweeping the spotless floors or sifting through the catalogs for hair product shipments. She didn’t see Eunwoo or even receive a text from him; she was too hesitant on messaging him first as well. She stared outside the window and saw the onslaught of rain battering the roads.

            And so the day rolled on, painstakingly slowly at that. In fact, Kyungie decided to close shop early because business was stagnant. Kyungie waited underneath the protective roof of the row of shops were the salon was situated, staring blankly at the countless raindrops that were falling more violently with each passing moment. She had to catch the bus home too, since they closed early; Jinhyun was still in school tutoring the kids. Wheein bid goodbye to the coworkers first; she put on her jacket and scrambled as fast as she could to her car. Of course, Hakyeon called his uncle, the salon boss. And of course he had time to pick up his precious nephew.

            Kyungie was still irritated by the blatant favoritism her boss had for Hakyeon. She plugged in her earphones and blasted her music while waiting with Hakyeon. She couldn’t leave because the rain was heavy. She hoped he would just leave; she needed some time to just simmer down from the discomfort of the day.

            Soon, she saw her boss’ car pull up right in front of the salon. The window rolled down and she saw her boss’ frantic hand movement, gesturing towards himself. Hakyeon was relieved and he bowed to Kyungie, saying goodbye. Kyungie bowed, a bit curtly actually; but she barely heard his farewell due to the volume of her music.

            They drove off and Kyungie was alone. She searched up the next bus arrival time, only to see that her phone was in the critical stage of battery life. She also saw that the next bus would come in half an hour. Cursing at her lousy luck, she ruffled her hair in frustration and paced around a bit.

            What bothered her most is the fact that she couldn’t think of how to message Eunwoo all day. She didn’t receive a text from him either. And although the whole thing about his family didn’t really involve her, she felt like she had to ask him about it. She liked Eunwoo; she wanted to know more about him and understand him better. But, she didn’t know how to bring it up through text message; and she didn’t want to seem snoopy. She sighed loudly in exasperation, everything was so vexing today. Suddenly, a voice surprised her out of nowhere.

“Kyungie-ah.”

            The girl whirled and laid eyes on Eunwoo, who was wearing a bright aqua-colored jacket and black sweatpants. He had an umbrella in one hand. She noticed he looked a bit… worried? But what was more shocking was that it was the first time she heard Eunwoo say her name. She bowed her head in panic and nervousness.

It’s him again! She spazzed and freaked out to herself.

“What are you doing without a jacket or anything? Not even an umbrella? You’re going to catch a cold in this wet weather,” He half-scolded. Kyungie felt touched at the depth of the concern Eunwoo seemed to feel towards her. She blushed, which seemed to warm her up a bit more. Eunwoo scanned her worriedly, but she denied that she was cold or anything.

“No, this is unacceptable. Are you hungry? I’m taking you somewhere, come.” Eunwoo lightly grabbed her arm and they started to walk together. The boy took out his umbrella and sheltered them with it as they went to cross the street. The umbrella was big but not that big, so Eunwoo held Kyungie a bit closer as to not let her get doused by the onslaught of rain.

            Kyungie said nothing, as she was surprised by Eunwoo’s caring actions. She merely walked forward, being guided by him. Finally, they arrived at a quaint little coffee shop. Hmm, strange; she had never been here. Eunwoo shook his umbrella to dispel the raindrops from it and he ushered her into the coffee shop.

“I thought we could go for some hot drinks to warm us up from inside. Also, they have pretty good desserts and little delicacies. I stopped here the other day and fell in love with first bite,” Eunwoo commented, grinning a little at his words.

Kyungie scanned the menu and saw something of interest to her. They told their order to the cashier. She wanted a caramel macchiato and a strawberry pastry. She paused to take out her money, but when she looked up, the cashier was already giving change to Eunwoo.

That was fast! Kyungie didn’t want the boy to pay for her but he already went and did so. Nothing she could do about it now. The cashier informed them that their drinks and food will be given to them at their table when it was ready. After bowing, the two sat at a table near the window. The atmosphere was nice, cozy and warm. The girl felt a lot better by just being here, and especially with Eunwoo.

“You didn’t have to pay for me,” Kyungie started, a bit embarrassed. Eunwoo laughed, and it was one of the best sounds she’s ever heard.

“At least let me pay for a drink. Without a jacket or warm clothing, you would’ve definitely gotten cold or something. You needed something warm,” He replied.

You’re warm-hearted enough for me, bae! She couldn’t help blurt in her head. She thanked him profusely and their drinks were delivered to them by a worker on a tray. To her surprise, their drinks were in actual mugs. Her strawberry puff pastry was also presented in front of her, and Eunwoo got coffee crumble cake.

“Really Eunwoo-ah, I can’t thank you enough for all of this,” Kyungie commented.

“Don’t worry about it. Your health comes first. You have to be prepared for cold weather whenever.” Kyungie nodded at his words.

“Thank you, again… Why were you near the salon again today?” She asked.

“I had to go to the phone store nearby to ask them about my network. Apparently, they were having issues when I came back to Korea from America. It was working for a while but then they suddenly cancelled my plan. I resolved the problem; it was just a mistake, but I wanted to see you and maybe say sorry if I didn’t reply to you today.” Kyungie blinked, confused.

“Today?”

“Yeah, I texted you. That’s how I realized my phone was acting up. I sent like three messages but they all failed in sending. Here, look.” The boy took out his phone and sure enough, there were three messages that were supposed to be sent to her.

Good morning.

I hope your day is nice today despite the weather.

Sorry if I bombard you with messages.

            Kyungie broke out in laughter, half out of relief because Eunwoo actually tried to message her today but it didn’t go through. So it wasn’t him not messaging her all day! Eunwoo misunderstood her laughter and apologized for possibly being an annoyance through text.

“No, that’s not it. I wanted to message you too but I didn’t know how to start it… So I kind of just didn’t…” She admitted.

“It’s okay, things happen. We’re all good now.” He answered.

            Oh, that reminded her. She should probably ask about the whole family issue, at least little by little. If she didn’t take a step to try and learn about him and be concerned for him like how he was to her, they wouldn’t grow closer. Kyungie took a bite of the pastry and reveled in the sweet but pleasant taste. Eunwoo’s hopeful, interested eyes met her slightly hesitant but determined ones. If she was being too nosy, she’d drop the subject and apologize to him for being so intrusive. But she had to try.

“So, Eunwoo-ah… I know we may not know each other really well, but if there’s anything you want to say about your family that you need to get off your chest, you can tell me. I appreciate what you’ve done for me, it’s the least I can do.” She held her breath as Eunwoo took a moment to think about what she had said. But, he finally began to speak.

“For some reason, and this might sound weird, but I trust you. But where do I start…”