Going On A Date

Jin Ho mustered the needed courage to call me. I was sleepless and anxious about his well-being. My phone was lying next to me and suddenly I heard it ring. Once I saw the one calling, I hitted the bed so hard that the device bounced into the air.

My quick reflexes came into action and without allowing it to drop back, I caught it in midair and placed it to my ear.

"Hello!" I said to the caller. "Hello!" He replied and that was it. Seconds passed by and he couldn't say a thing.

"Jin Ho, is everything okay?" I asked as I was very worried about his well-being.

Finally he spoke to me saying: "The thing is… I wanted to know if you had gotten home safely."

"Yes. Thank you. What about you?" I asked after replying to his concern.

"I'm also at home", he replied.

"Have you eaten?" I asked and he replied saying: "Well, not yet. But I will get something to eat soon."

"I see", I reacted. "Are you resting?" He asked.

"Not at all. Why do you ask?" I replied, only to hear him ask: "Do you want to eat outside?"

"Right now?" I asked and he told me: "If it would inconvenience you then we could do it another…"

"Where should we meet?" I asked him before he could cancel his plans. The truth was that being at home made me feel lonely and kind of gave me enough room to think about my previous breakup and job loss. I didn't want to dwell on this stuff so I had to keep myself busy all the time.

But since Jin Ho couldn't read my mind, he was surprised. "What?" He reacted though he was the one who initially presented the idea.

Nevertheless, I was definitely going to enjoy this outing. Jin Ho finally said: "Umm… I will text the location to you."

"Then I will get ready", I replied. It always took me fifteen minutes to get ready but on this occasion, I came out after forty. As I walked to the hall, mom and dad who were seated on a couch opened their mouths wide in shock. I had applied makeup. I had never applied makeup in my life so why now?

However, this wasn't the most shocking aspect of my dressing. What shocked them the most was very evident in dad's first words when he saw me. Like a victim who had been utterly shocked by a sight, dad asked me: "Are you a corpse?"

He had asked the right question. This was my first time doing a makeover so it was definitely not going to look good. I ended up overdoing it and if my parents hadn't spotted me that day, then I would have totally embarrassed myself.

Mom agreed with him. However, as a woman, she said it in another style. "This won't do. Amy, come with me", she said as she went ahead to grab my arm and drag me to their room. I was going for a retouch.

In his apartment, someone entered without knocking and Jin Ho didn't spot him entering.

"Are you going somewhere?" The well-built man who was in his fifties asked Jin Ho upon seeing him iron a white shirt with the most care and precision.

Finally, Jin Ho realized his presence. "Uncle", he muttered with a little surprised look drawn on him.

"I told you not to address me like that", his uncle stated.

"Teacher", Jin Ho corrected.

His uncle smiled and took a seat. "Where have you been all this while? I couldn't contact you nor Virel", he asked.

"Something occurred", he replied. His uncle looked at him and chortled out the question: "Girlfriend issues?"

"Sort of", Jin Ho revealed. His uncle laughed for a while before getting to the real matters at hand.

"Anyways, there is something you need to take care of quickly", he told Jin Ho, who was wearing his white shirt..

"What is it?" Jin Ho tried to find out more.

His uncle reported everything that had happened in his absence. He said to him: "Some scumbags tried to invade the privacy of the state."

"What do you mean?" Jin Ho asked whilst buttoning the shirt.

"They tried to start a cyber war", his uncle reported.

"What?" Jin Ho couldn't believe it.

"Fortunately, their move was halted, but it seems like they might act again. I want you and Virel to take care of them. You know what I mean, don't you? The NIS needs you", he said convincingly.

"Yes, teacher", Jin Ho obediently replied.

His uncle then stood up and told him: "You can go on your date now" before heading out.

Before he got to the door, Jin Ho asked him: "How did you know?" And he replied saying: "We know everything."

Dying of curiosity, V found himself at Crexe. He went inside and looked around. And after looking in circles, he located the one who he wanted to see.

"There's Ra Ra. Why does she look upset?" He asked himself as he saw her typhoon-like expression.

But as he watched her from a distance, two employees walked past him whilst talking about Ra Ra.

"Poor her. She was already on probation. At this point, she will be fired right?" One asked as she stared at the hardworking friend of mine.

"Definitely", the other replied.

This made the first one ask: "But what is wrong with missing a day's work?"

The other one then said: "That's not the reason. Have you forgotten that the boss got rejected by Ra Ra? He's taking revenge for that." She guessed.

However, this lady's assumption was one hundred percent accurate.

Virel stood in the receptionist area and asked himself: "Revenge?" He turned about to leave but then he decided not to.

With a renewed soul, he went back inside and met Ra Ra in front of the Designing Department.

As she wasn't expecting his visit, Ra Ra was very shocked when she saw him standing right in front of her.

"Virel, what are you doing here?" She asked upon seeing him.

"Where is your boss?" He asked in reply.

"What?" Ra Ra didn't expect that, nevertheless, she told him: "He's in his office. It's right there."

Virel then walked past her and made it for the boss's office. This was quite weird but not in Virel's case.

Standing alone, Ra Ra wondered: "Why is he asking for my boss?"

Virel went to the office of the young Director and opened the door without knocking.

"Who's that rude jerk who does not even knock?" The Director wondered.

But his question already had an answer as he saw V enter.

V, who had a past with that boss asked: "Who's that rude boss who punishes his employee for missing a day's work?"

"Hey, you!" The Director tried to show his power. But Virel asked him: "Hey, you?"

"I'm sorry. Virel, I didn't know that you were the one", the Director apologized.

As to the true identity of this young boy, only a few knew.

V walked over to the Director's seat and told him in the face: "She was absent because of me. I asked her out on a date. But if you still want to punish her, you can go ahead with it. Your computing problems are still a work in progress."

"What are you talking about?" The Director asked. V replied to him saying: "Never give Ra Ra a tough time or else you would lose this seat and everything who helped raise it up."

Without waiting for the director to say a word, he stepped out of his office.

"That rude kid. Why is he the best hacker whilst he has not even completed school?" The Director wondered. He then put on a long face as he asked himself: "But is Ra Ra dating him? Wow, she sure has some tactics."

Ra Ra, who wanted to know the reason behind Virel's visit met him once again and pulled him all the way to the rooftop. With no one around, she finally asked him: "V, why did you want to see my boss?"

"Work related issues", he replied.

"Are you sure about that?" Ra Ra asked in verification.

"Yes, I am. Work with happiness, okay? I'm out", he said and made his way out of the rooftop.

Ra Ra looked at other buildings beneath her and asked: "Why won't I be happy?"

Haven't yet gone too far, Virel realized that he still had the box of candy with him. He returned to the rooftop and saw Ra Ra looking down. With the way she had positioned herself, a misunderstanding could easily arise. This is because she looked like someone who was about to commit suicide. Upon seeing her raise one foot onto the wall of the rooftop, Virel ran quickly and pulled her backwards. With a heavy thud, she fell on him.

"Thank goodness I got you", V said as he sighed heavily.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked as she got up from him. "Wait a minute, did you think that I was going to commit suicide?" Ra Ra smartly asked.

She laughed and showed him her employee card. "This nearly flew away", she said to him in explanation.

Virel felt quite stupid and yet laughed at himself. He then recalled his main agenda for coming back. "Ah, I almost forgot. Have this", he said as he took the candy box which had fallen down and handed it over to Ra Ra.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Stress relieving candy", he replied and went on to explain. He said to her: "Imagine crushing whoever makes you stressful whilst crushing this candy in your mouth. It works in an instant."

He was behaving like a true peddler of this candy.

"But why are you giving me this?" Ra Ra questioned his motives.

"Should I take it back?" He asked and she replied by asking: "How can you take something you have already given?"

She then left the rooftop with the box of candy. Virel stood on the rooftop and smiled as he watched her leave. "She's so cute", he mumbled to himself.

Jin Ho sat at the restaurant waiting for me to arrive. He had been waiting for nearly an hour and was about to call me just to see if everything was okay. But as he took the phone to make the call, the doors of the restaurant opened and a bright light entered the building.