29 Church buddies

'This girl… Yuju, right?' Jun remembered their first encounter in the lift.

He greeted her with a bow. Coincidentally, she too did the same. Daniel also recognized just a second later and he too greeted her.

Maybe, everyone was still lying around in their homes… there are hardly three members in the bus stop excluding Jun and Daniel.

"Sungjun-ssi, did you take a break, today?" Yuju suddenly asked him a question.

Daniel got surprised. He looks at Jun.

Ignoring Daniel on the side, Jun replied, "Yes. Going to Myeongdong."

"And You…"

"I guess we are on the same way, then." Yuju smiled as she replied to him.

After having steady eye contact for a few seconds, Jun looked away, clearing his throat. "This is Kang Daniel."

"Yeah. I know. Hello…" She greeted him once again before turning to Jun and asked him. "Are you two going out shopping?"

Jun shook his head, "No, Daniel is going for the market and I'm going to the Cathedral."

"Cathedral?" Yuju was taken aback, "For the Holy Mass?"

As her voice was a bit too loud, it attracted the other passerby. She closed her mouth with her hands, and apologized slowly, "sorry… It's rare to see around here."

"Rare?" This time, it was Jun's turn to be surprised. 'Aren't almost 30% of our people are Christians? Even if we consider the 10% Catholics, they still make up 5 million in the country or 1 million even in Seoul. How is that rare?'

He thought whether it was just a figure of speech. So, he didn't comment on her statement and stayed silent until she further said, "I too going for the same Cathedral. What's your baptismal name? My parents named me Angela."

Jun felt she wasn't a bit shy even though it's only their second meeting. On the contrary, she was talking to him as if they are friends.

The past-Jun fear girls like them and the present-Jun doesn't want to have anything to do with girls outside of the professional relationship.

But, at the same time, he's a man in his late twenties in his mind. As a mature person, Jun didn't break up the conversation and went with the flow.

"Raphael. By the way, are you the only one going to the mass?"

Jun wondered why she is alone. He doesn't know anyone else but wasn't Chaeyoung a Catholic too…

As far as he remembered correctly, she only stopped going to the church after becoming a trainee. So, perhaps, she already left early or maybe, she's late.

While he was forming his own theories in his mind, Yuju cleared his doubt without knowing his thoughts.

"Chaeyoung applied for a break but she didn't make it to the top 21. So, JYP-nim didn't approve her request. It is too harsh… Ah! We are roommates by the way."

'I guess she's talkative,' Jun finally came to a conclusion. Luckily, the bus arrived at the perfect time.

Both of them walked forward and step onto the bus. Unlike the bus stop, it was full, well, except for the reserved seats for the elderly.

So, they had to stand all the way like others.

Meanwhile, Daniel who was staying silent felt he was the third wheel here. At first, he cursed himself for tagging along with him.

But then, he started to observe both of them. Quickly, he found it interesting.

Jun was stable throughout the conversation. His expression hasn't changed a bit except that his eyes kept on darting while on the other hand, Yuju was different.

While she was talking to Jun, she was looking into his eyes directly even after Jun replies to her while trying to look somewhere else.

After getting on to the bus, there are no k-drama scenes like a couple of breaks and she was missing her grip only for him to catch her or something.

On the contrary, Yuju's hands are firm as she holds the grab handle but what he found interesting is that she kept arranging her hair gently behind the ear that was facing Jun's side.

He wondered whether they are an item or something. He didn't know it was only their second meeting.

This young man can't help but going to his wild imaginations, although in reality, it was just because her hair wasn't able to stay in the back because of her thick hair and bus speed.

Because of the heavy traffic, it took 40 minutes to reach the Myeongdong neighborhood of the adjacent district of Jung.

Daniel parted with both of them.

The mass started at around 11 A.M. and finished by 12:15. As they exited together, Yuju said, "It's almost lunchtime. The traffic will be at peak during this time. By the time we return, the lunch will already… Anyway… I'm going to have lunch around here. SungJun-ssi, What about you?"

"I'm also thinking the same. There's a restaurant named Halmeoni Guksu around here. It's a fairly old restaurant and a small one and honestly looks like an ordinary snack bar at first glance but they make the best tofu noodle soup, although their specialty is Bibim-guksu." Jun replied.

"Oh! I never went there… Must try it I guess. Let's go, then." She gave her answer instantly.

Upon hearing her words, Jun suddenly halted his steps and looked at her in surprise, "you are coming with me?"

He felt like this girl was too outgoing unlike him. He actually likes that kind of personality. If it were a boy, he would quickly connect with them but because she's a pretty girl, even though she isn't his type and he wasn't excited even a little bit, Jun still hesitated to be comfortable around her.

She blinked her eyes twice before asking him in return, "Is that a problem?"

"No, it isn't." Jun shook his head. Eating alone is boring anyway. Whether it's a boy or a girl, eating with someone else in a restaurant and sharing the food feels better for him.

They entered a back alley and quickly found the restaurant. It seemed to have a line.

Jun felt troubled as he looked at the line that was full of couples.

"Looks like it's popular," Yuju commented with a straight face. Jun vigorously shook his head to get his mind straight.

After waiting for twenty minutes, they get inside. It was packed with people.

Just like Jun described, it looked like an ordinary snack bar with over 15 tables.

"Oh! Jun-ah." The middle-aged woman quickly recognized Jun.

"How are you, Ajhumma…"

After exchanging greetings, she takes a look at Yuju and asked him, "your girlfriend?"

"No." Jun and Yuju replied at the same time. "We are umm… you can call us Church buddies…"

"hmm…" Yuju nodded, "Yeah."

"Ah! Okay… The usual, I presume?"

Jun nodded with a smile and then asked her, "what do you want?"

"Well, since you recommended Dubu-guksu and Bibim Guksu (tofu noodles soup and noodles with assorted mixtures), I'll try them.

As they sat down at the table, she asked, "SungJun-ssi, are you a regular here?"

Jun nodded, "I come here every week. So, yeah…"

They didn't talk much until they returned to the Seogang neighborhood of the Mapo district and started to walk together in silence.

Just as they entered the street where their dorms are located, a Mercedes-Maybach passed by. In the vehicle, YG was sitting to the side of the window and he stared at both of them through the window and then, turns his head to see them through the rear window glass.

He frowned, "Han SungJun and Choi Yuna?"