So-called friendship

"Come here, COME HERE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF--" I ran towards him and kicked his shin. It was still not enough for me, so I slapped his arm a couple of times.

"Ouch, that hurt!!" He held his arm where I hurt him, but he was laughing, "I must be a masochist. Why do I enjoy getting beaten up by you?"

It made me stop beating him up and put my hands on my waist, "Don't you even feel embarrassed talking about things like that?"

He stuck out his tongue teasingly, "No. I find it enjoyable to tease you,"

"Are you here to tease me?" I asked him, slightly annoyed. "You're wasting both of our time,"

"Why would I be wasting our time when I am getting closer to you?" He asked, and I stared at him. "Don't give me that look. You might fall for me."

I showed him my fist.

"You are scary, Li Suji. You must have been a soldier or a warrior in your past life." He jokingly said, "You always prefer violence,"

I was a mermaid in my past life, okay?!

"Who makes me act like a violent person? It's you! You always tease me!"

"I tease you, but you react violently,"

"It doesn't hurt! I am not strong at all," I retorted.

"My arm and shin are burning in pain," he said. "And you claim that it doesn't hurt?"

"You deserved it,"

"No one deserves to get beaten up just because they said something that doesn't go well with the other person," his tone suddenly became serious.

"I'm sorry," I said and approached him. I patted his arm gently and looked at him puppy-eyed, "I promise to act more carefully from now on. But you should promise me not to get on my nerves!"

"I will still be getting on your nerves, though," He replied teasingly, and both of us laughed. "If you're sorry, you can kiss my arm to make the pain go away."

"You are such a perv---"

+++

We decided to go to a local bibimbap restaurant to have dinner and talk about our work plan. It was odd to talk about work over some dinner when we can talk about it tomorrow, I think.

We sat at a table near the window. Seungwoo prepared the utensils for the both of us while I poured water for our cup.

"Did you wait for me to finish work so that you can ask me about our plan for the photo/quote exhibit?" I asked him.

He stared at me for a while and said, "Not really, I had a lot of things to do, and I heard from Rina-sunbae that you were OT'ing."

"Ah, I see." I nodded, "I'd like to say to you that Team Leader Bae and I compromised that if I finish editing the book on time, I'll take the job with you." I paused and blinked my eyes, "But if not, she'll take over."

"Really? Do you think you'll be able to finish it not before Friday?"

"I'm not quite sure," But there was something that caught my attention, "How did you know that the deadline was not before Friday? I didn't mention it,"

He cleared his throat, "Well, Rina-sunbae said it earlier when I asked about you."

"I see,"

"I want you to finish editing the book before Friday," He shared casually, "So that we can do the project exhibit together."

"Why?"

"Because I prefer you over your Team Leader,"

"Why?"

"Because I feel comfortable doing it with you than her,"

"Really?"

"Yes, Suji." He said and smiled, "It would be better for you to gain experience as you are a newbie in this."

"I agree with you, but I am not quite sure if I'll be able to finish it on time though,"

"It might be hard, but believe in yourself. Do things according to your pace," Seungwoo paused. "And always prioritize yourself. Don't lose yourself along the process,"

"You know you are annoying but caring at the same time,"

"It's because I am handsome,"

"Behave yourself, okay?" I warned him and smiled.

Just on time, the waitress gave us our two bowls of bibimbap, one bowl of samgyetang, and side dishes like kyeranmari and kimchi.

"Thank you,"

"Do you think the waitress heard me?"

"I don't know," Seungwoo replied as he was mixing his bibimbap. He exchanged it for mine after he was finished and mixed everything inside the bowl.

"Did you mix them for me?" I asked, touched by his act. "Thank you!"

"So," He smirked, "Am I making you fall for me?"

"There you go again," I remarked. "Think about it. It is the second time we ate together."

"Yeah," he replied as he took a bite of his bibimbap. "The first one was when we ate ramen together,"

We ate together silently, probably because we were famished. We were not able to talk anything about work. He mentioned that we should plan about it after the exhibit's final selection would be finalized.

Seungwoo went to the cashier and handed his card to pay for the meal.

"Please charge us individually, dutch pay," I told the auntie who handles the cashier. "Thank you,"

The auntie then looked at Seungwoo, who was calm about it, and nodded as if permitting her to continue. She swiped his card and charged him for half of what we ate together. I handed over my card, and she did the same for me.

"Thank you," I grinned as I received my card back. "The meal I had was delicious."

The auntie smiled back at me and said, "Hoping that you'll be coming back as a couple."

"Yes??" I asked politely.

Seungwoo cleared his throat and said, "We are just friends and colleagues at the same time, ma'am."

When he said those words, I felt a slight pain in my chest. I mean, how can he be so sure that we are JUST friends and colleagues at the same time? Okay, I mean, he's correct. But anything can happen in a man-woman relationship. What is your opinion about friendship?

"That's how it all starts," The auntie laughed, "I remember how nice it is to date when you're still young, so you should do that a lot."

I grinned awkwardly, "Okay, ma'am. Thanks for the meal. We'll surely come back with our colleagues here,"

The auntie leaned in to whisper, "Don't lose hope, okay?"

That made me think a lot. What do I feel about Seungwoo? Do I like him as a colleague, as a friend, or as a man? What do I want him to think of me? Do I want him to like me as a colleague, friend, or woman?

But honestly, I still have to find the reincarnated prince, and I have to make him fall in love with me. I have no time to fall in love with a man right now, and even if I have to, I would like to love the prince and achieve my happily ever after.

I remember mom's words. The reincarnated prince is closer to you than you think. I should focus on finding him then.