Chapter 16

"Blind date"

Jung Hwa stood in front of the big mirror in her room, looking herself up and down with a judgmental face. She was wearing a dark blue dress with short sleeves and a length reaching her knees. Her makeup was neatly done, maybe a tad too much? But she didn't want to change it now. She had spend hours curling her hair until it looked perfect and then used up the rest of her hairspray to make sure it would stay perfect even after she left the house.

Now all that was left to her outfit was the shoes. She had already chosen a small handbag and a cardigan to wear, but the shoes really gave her a hard time.

Practical and well fitted pumps?

Or beautiful black heels that made her legs look long and slender?

And heels it was!

After putting on the heels, Jung Hwa tried to stand up and luckily with success, but her feet already hurt after she had been walking around in her room for a few minutes. She let out a sigh, it would be a challenge indeed.

Jung Hwa slung her bag over her shoulder and then walked into her brother's room where Namjoon was sitting next to him, both of them playing some game.

"So," said Jung Hwa, "how do I look?"

"Great!" said Hakyeon without looking at her.

"Oppa, you didn't even look," said Jung Hwa, but that didn't change a thing. Instead she turned to look for a reaction from Namjoon and once he turned his head, that was exactly what she got.

"You look... beautiful!" said Namjoon with such honesty it made Jung Hwa blush, "but, where are you going that made you dress up like that?"

"Oh, didn't Hakyeon tell you?" asked Jung Hwa.

"She has a blind date today," continued Hakyeon.

"What?" Namjoon dropped the remote and accidentally killed his own character. He then turned around completely so he could look Jung Hwa directly in her eyes.

"What is wrong?" asked Jung Hwa.

"It has not even been a week since your boyfriend broke up with you!"

"But the best way to get over a guy is to date another guy!" said Jung Hwa with a smile, "and why are you even mad?"

"Because I care about you!"

"Well if you care about me, then wish me good luck on my date."

"But-"

"Good luck!" yelled Hakyeon and interrupted Namjoon before he could start up a discussion again. Jung Hwa took this as her opportunity and quickly left with a last wave goodbye.

"Don't you think it is a little early for her to start dating again?" asked Namjoon once Jung Hwa had left. Hakyeon just looked at him for a short moment before his eyes went back to the screen.

"Isn't it just like it always is?" asked Hakyeon.

"I thought there was like a rule about that?"

"What kind of rule?"

"I don't know, like you are not suppose to hit on someone before a month has passed since the breakup?"

"No one hit on Jung Hwa, she asked to be set up on this blind date herself."

"I guess that is true," said Namjoon, "but if she continues this way she is going to get hurt again and again." Hakyeon let out a sigh and finally put down his remote after pressing the "pause" button.

"Look, don't get me wrong because I totally agree with you," said Hakyeon and continued, "but it doesn't matter how right you are if you can't communicate it to Jung Hwa in a way she understands. You are welcome to try, I gave up a long time ago."

Namjoon looked at Hakyeon and he looked back at him, none of them saying any more. Deep down, Namjoon already knew this, Jung Hwa was a stubborn young lady and she always went her own way.

While they were both sitting in deep silence, the door suddenly swung open and before either Namjoon or Hakyeon could sense what was going on, Ha Na had thrown herself at Hakyeon and was now hanging around his neck, squeezing him tight.

"Hey, isn't this your little sister around my neck?" asked Hakyeon

"I believe it is," said Namjoon, " she seems to be in a good mood."

Once Ha Na let go of Hakyeon she just stood in front of him and sent him the biggest smile ever seen in the world, which made Hakyeon all weak in his knees.

"What is going on?" asked Hakyeon in sign language.

"I heard what you did," signed Ha Na.

"What? What did he do?" signed Namjoon before Hakyeon could even get a say.

"He moved Jimin's spot in the competition, so he can still enter even though he has an exam the same day!" Namjoon widened his eyes and looked at Hakyeon for some sort of explanation, but he just looked dumbfounded.

"What?" signed Hakyeon when Namjoon kept staring at him.

"Nothing," signed Namjoon, "I just didn't know you had it in you to be a nice person."

"Sometimes you are really asking for trouble!" said Hakyeon and got up, but Ha Na got in between them and glared at Hakyeon.

"No fighting!" signed Ha Na and looked at both of them, "I am too happy right now to let you two spoil it!"

"Fine," replied Hakyeon and sat down again, "do you want to play games with us?"

"That depends," signed Ha Na.

"Depends on what?" Hakyeon let out a sigh.

"If you two are ready for me to kick your butt!"

While Ha Na and Hakyeon began teasing each other with endless talk of who was better, Namjoon was slowly fading away into his own thoughts. To be direct he only had one thought and that thought was her.

*** 

At the same time Jung Hwa was sitting at a lonely table in a fancy and expensive restaurant. She was in the middle of eating the last bread stick out of five, while impatiently tapping her finger on the table.

He better be some blind date when he has got the nerve to be 45 minutes late, thought Jung Hwa to herself, but just then, a man neared her table and when she looked up her jaw dropped to the floor.

"I am sorry, I am late," said the man as soon as he reached the table, "My name is Kim Yeong Cheol, it is nice to meet you."

"My name is Cha Jung Hwa," said Jung Hwa and tried not to make it obvious she was staring.

They both sat down at the table and Jung Hwa immediately felt how Yeong Cheol's eyes where glued to her.

"Do you like the restaurant I chose?" asked Yeong Cheol.

"Yes, very much!" said Jung Hwa, maybe a little too enthusiastic and she quickly lowered her voice.

"Have you been here before?"

"No, I can't really afford places like this."

"Oh... I guess I will pay for you today," said Yeong Cheol with almost no enthusiasm at all.

"No! You really don't have to do that!" said Jung Hwa feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"I was the one who decided on the restaurant-"

"Please let me pay for myself!" pleaded Jung Hwa, "you are making me embarrassed."

"In that case, I will just pay for myself," said Yeong Cheol with a satisfied smile. After that he lifted his hand up in the air and snapped his fingers two times until a waiter came rushing over.

"Yes Mr. Kim," said the waiter, showing that he already knew exactly who Yeong Cheol was. Yeong Cheol sent Jung Hwa a quick smirk before looking away and then started ordering, not only for himself, but for Jung Hwa as well. Not even once did he look at her or console her even though she was eagerly trying to get his attention.

"Why did you do that?" asked Jung Hwa when the waiter had left their table.

"You haven't been here before and you obviously don't eat at these types of restaurants very often, so I felt it best to order for you. You know, we can't have you feeling embarrassed."

Jung Hwa felt her annoyance grow, but she quickly pushed away those thoughts and decided to let time give him the benefit of a doubt. But the only thing time did, was allowing Jung Hwa to test her patience to the fullest. 

That man sure knew how to talk, especially about himself and about how many women were trying to get a date with him and how special she should feel.

"I never say yes when I am asked on a date," blabbered Yeong Cheol, "it is only because Min Ji is one of my closest friends, so I trusted that she would set me up with the perfect woman."

"I hope I am not a disappointment then," said Jung Hwa who hadn't had the chance to speak in about 30 minutes or so.

"You are clearly not perfect," said Yeong Cheol and stuffed his mouth with food," but let us face it, no one is perfect right?"

A sudden urge to vomit entered Jung Hwa's body when she looked at Yeong Cheol speak with his mouth full of food and she quickly got up from her chair.

"I am going to use the restroom real quick."

Sighing for the tenth time while looking at herself in the mirror in the restroom, Jung Hwa closed her eyes and took a deep deep breath.

"You can do this, just finish up dinner, say no to any dessert and get out of here," whispered Jung Hwa to herself. She gently slapped both her cheeks to get back to reality and opened the door to the restaurant

"I feel bad for that woman he is with today." Jung Hwa heard a voice speak and stayed behind the door, only leaving it slightly open to hear the conversation. 

"Next week it is going to be someone else, he really doesn't care about any of them," she heard another voice say and as she peaked out from behind the door, she confirmed that it was two waiters talking.

"I can't believe he is always at least 45 minutes late for his dates, how sloppy can one be?"

"I hear it is a test. He wants to see how desperate his date is to see if he would be able to take them home after dinner."

The door suddenly slammed open and both waiters jumped into the air because of the loud noise, and when they saw who was walking out of the restroom, their eyes widened in fear. Jung Hwa didn't even care to glance bac,k but walked right past them and straight to the counter.

"Can I help you miss?" asked the waiter who was standing behind the counter.

"Yes, I would like to pay for my half, now!" The waiter sensed the tone and made sure to be quick. The same second her card was approved she tore it out of the machine and stormed out of the restaurant.

Filled with rage, Jung Hwa walked as fast as her uncomfortable heels would allow her to, and she continued on until she was far away and she finally allowed herself to let out a loud groan. People on the street all turned around to see who was making such an unpleasant sound, but Jung Hwa didn't care.

Once she had calmed down, she wanted to take another step forward, but her feet wouldn't allow her to do so. The pain was too much and she had to stumble to the nearest bench where she almost collapsed and quickly took of her heels.

"Stupid bastard!" she cursed to herself, "I even wore these painful shoes for you! seriously, I am going to kill Min Ji next time I see her."

"Was it that bad?" Jung Hwa nearly had a heart attack when she heard Namjoon's voice coming from behind her. Quickly, she turned around and confirmed that it was indeed Namjoon who the voice belonged to. He was just leaning against the bench with a sweet unbothered smile on his lips.

"What in the world are you doing here?" asked Jung Hwa.

"Nothing much, just out for a walk." Jung Hwa sent him a deadly glare with a lifted brow, to which Namjoon replied by lifting his hands in defeat.

"Okay, fine, Ha Na told me where your date was, so I thought I would stop by to make sure you were okay."

"You don't have to do such a thing!" said Jung Hwa.

"No because clearly things are going smoothly!" said Namjoon sarcastically.

"Can you please stop, I am angry enough already."

"Okay I am sorry," said Namjoon and walked around the bench to sit next to her, "now is not the time to be joking."

A strange silence filled the air around them and Jung Hwa started swinging her feet back and forth, trying to make her blood circulate again after the many hours in her heels. When Namjoon was looking down at the ground, he suddenly noticed the bruises on her ankles and heels.

"What is this?" said Namjoon and grabbed her left foot, making Jung Hwa fall back in the bench.

"Hey, let go of my foot!" yelled she, again making people turn around to look.

"Why on earth would you wear those heels? I thought you said you would never wear them again!"

"Well... I did say that," said Jung Hwa silently while Namjoon was still holding onto her foot.

"How do you imagine you will get home in those heels?"

"I can just walk barefoot," said Jung Hwa enthusiastically.

"What? Are you crazy? You could step on glass or sharp stones or other things!"

"Then I will have to walk in those heels, I walked here in them so I can walk home as well." Namjoon finally let go of her foot, but only so he could squat down before Jung Hwa, his back facing her.

"I will carry you home."

"Get up you idiot!" said Jung Hwa harshly and hit him on his shoulder, but he didn't move a muscle.

"Do you think I will let you give me a piggy back ride home? Do you have any idea how much people will stare."

"Sorry to spill it to you, but I think they already are." Jung Hwa looked around and it was like this was the first time it occurred to her that people would be watching this strange scene.

"FINE!" said she and rolled her eyes, then grabbing her shoes, a heel in each hand before she got on Namjoon's back with her arms around his neck.

"You better walk fast or I will die of embarrassment!" said Jung Hwa once Namjoon started walking.

"Yeah yeah," said Namjoon like he didn't give a care.

After walking for a while, they got closer to the neighborhood they were living in and less people were around to watch how a grown woman was getting a piggy back ride home. Feeling tired, Jung Hwa comfortably leaned onto Namjoon and let her head rest on his shoulder.

"Do you think I will ever find a man that will stay with me?" said Jung Hwa.

"I do!" replied Namjoon in a firm voice.

"But I am already 26 and I haven't been in a relationship longer than a few months."

"Well..." said Namjoon, speculating a bit on how to turn his words, "I believe there is someone out there for everyone. You just have to believe and wait until the right moment comes, then you will meet that someone and you will be together forever." Jung Hwa immediately burst out laughing once Namjoon finished talking, which made him feel a little offended.

"Do you really believe all that?" said Jung Hwa between her laughs.

"Yes I do actually!" said Namjoon firmly.

"LIAR!"

"What? Why are you calling me a liar?"

"Because! I can't just believe there is somewhere out there perfect for me, and if there is, then why hasn't he come out yet?"

"Maybe he needs to figure out some things in his own life first. He probably wants to wait for the perfect moment."

"If that is true," said Jung Hwa and held a short pause, "I hope the perfect moment comes soon." Namjoon felt his heart race a bit in his chest and he took a deep breath before saying:

"Me too."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I remember brainstorming about the blind date scene with my friend Anderoth and he really helped me in coming up with some good ideas. 

This is a recommendation for all of you who writes. Find friends you can bounce ideas off of, it will really help you out when you are feeling stuck or need another perspective on the story.

Don't forget to leave a comment down below, letting me know what you thought of the chapter. Also, remember to stay happy and healthy!

Love, Annalise~