You and Me

Sora and YungJi stood, quiet close together due to the typical weekend overcrowding of the underground, in the far left of the carriage.

“It gets quite crowded at this time.” YungJi said, suddenly missing the luxury of being driven everywhere.

“Yeah, but this is nothing compared to the underground in Japan, seriously never again during peak times.” Sora shivered dramatically at the memory.

YungJi couldn't stop himself from laughing at her over the top expressions. “So you grew up in Japan then?” He had been curious all day but didn't want to be rude, she seemed to know Japanese, it was reflected in her features and her name definitely was.

“Yep! I'm actually half Japanese, on my dad's side, and half black British Caribbean, on my mum's side.”

“Wow” This was the first time YungJi had ever come across a mix like that, he was kind of impressed, all though times were getting better now back then it must have taken a lot of courage to break the mould. “That's really cool, I mean coming from two distinct heritages, like you said earlier, the best of both worlds.”

“Yeah it is kind of cool isn't it. I actually lived here in London until I was six. Then I moved over to Japan, so I kinda see Japan as home.” She smiled to herself, but YungJi felt like there was so much more behind the smile. “How about you?”

“Me,” YungJi paused “there's not much to say really, both my mum and dad are Korean, Seoul is where I was born and raised.” he said with a certain amount of pride and fondness in his voice.

“I've always wanted to travel to Korea. So what dr10;–” Just When Sora was about to ask what he did for a living the generic YOU ARE NOW APPROACHING PICADILLY UNDERGROUND STATION rang throughout the carriage.

People began to gather their things and head towards the sliding doors, just when Sora took a step towards the door nearest to them, a guy near her turned and managed to hit her in the face with his backpack, knocking her off balance and straight into the arms of a concerned looking YungJi.

“Sheeba [Shit]. Yah! Man what's your problem! Be more aware of your surroundings, you just knocked her in the face.”

“Dude I’m sorry, I didn't mean to hit your girlfriend.” He turned to face Sora, “Really I'm sorry.”

“Ah it's OK really, YungJi, I'm fine really.” Still slightly pissed off YungJi nodded his head slightly at the guy, his way of saying fine. Seeing the doors open he gently took her hand, as if he might accidentally add to her pain, and guided her through the crowds making sure that she didn't get hit by some idiot again while he was around.

It wasn't until there were outside by Trocadero, that it hit him. Did he say girlfriend? Girlfriend?!…......I like the sound of that......does she? God this is all driving me crazy!

“You can let go of my hand now, I'm fine, really.” YungJi had completely forgotten that he was still holding her hand and abruptly let it go, slightly embarrassed about zoning out on her.

* * *

Sora didn't actually want him to let go of her hand, she was just afraid that if he kept holding her hand and standing there with that cute confused expression on his face she would suffer from a mild heart attack. Seriously, her heart was beating ridiculously fast and she was 100% sure that it was because he was looking too damn sexy in those slightly dark blue baggy jeans, white vest top, black jacket and cap. Girlfriend?......This is driving me crazy!

“Lunch right? Where do you want to eat?” She said trying desperately to detach herself from her crazy thoughts.

“Lunch, right well, how about Hot Pot?”

“Shabu shabu? Hmm I do love the sliced meat and vegetables, though I usually eat it a lot in winter.....”

“Then just Korean barbecue instead? I know a place nearby that has the best meat.” He smiled knowing full well that this girl was definitely a foodie like him, that wouldn't be able to resist.

“The best you say. Well that's an offer that I can't refuse.” She smiled at him.

“Ohmygod– this really is the best meat ever!” Sora said whilst helping herself to another serving of marinated spicy pork and lettuce.

Unlike Sora, YungJi spent more time just watching her eat then actually eating himself. Her face was just too cute, she looked so happy just sitting there enjoying the food in front of her. Seeing that she was almost done he just couldn't stop himself.

Using his own chopsticks, he picked up a piece of marinated barbecue chicken, and then wrapped it with some spicy mixed vegetables inside a piece of lettuce. “Here~” he extended his arm over the table. Sora, who felt like she was in food heaven, happily opened her mouth in a cute 'ahhh' shape. And then munched merrily on the delicious food. The idea of her eating from his chopsticks, made YungJi seriously happy, he just couldn't explain why he was getting so sappy over her.

“Oishii~~~” Sora exclaimed. God she's so cute, he thought.

Sora finished and then looked at him with a very embarrassed expression. “I'm being so greedy, I’m so sorry, it tastes so good though.”

“Why are you apologising?”

“Because, you know, I'm not exactly holding back am I, I mean your probably used to girls who eat really small amounts and that....” she said rather quickly because of her nervousness. Looking down slightly, she thought, and girls that are like a size zero, I mean I see enough of them at home in Japan, so you must see loads of them in Korea too....

YungJi thought about this. Sure, thinking back on it, when they did hang around with girls, usually they did act very, what was the word, delicate? More like forcefully cute, eating minuscule amounts whilst always fishing for compliments about how good they looked. Although this certainly wasn't the case for all girls in Korea, it mostly was for the girls that hung around them. Nah, there was a reason why he wasn't attracted to those type of girls.

“Sora” she looked up “You. Are. Not. Being. Greedy. ” “Seriously, I like the fact that you don't hold back around me, it makes me feel, special, I guess. So don't go hating yourself, OK?” He meant every word, he was never usually so bold around girls especially when it came to skin-ship. But with Sora it was different, he loved how cheerful she was as a person, the way she smiled, made him want to be the reason why she was smiling.

She nodded, “OK”.

“How about we go get dessert?” He reached into his pocket for his wallet and got out his credit card. “My treat,” she opened her mouth to say something in protest “no arguments” and then closed it again.

After he paid for the meal, they walked side by side out of the restaurant and onto the streets and headed for the main part of Chinatown. As they walked YungJi, remembering the earlier warnings about going around 'high risk areas' as his manager called it, reached into his pocket and put on his sunglasses and adjusted his cap so that it covered more of his face, in an attempt to conceal his identity. Sora, with similar thoughts running through her mind, also reached into her bag to find a pair of sunglasses and tired her hair up in a messy top bun, a hairstyle she never really wore when in front of a camera.

As if he felt like she might become suspicious he turned to face her commenting “It's really sunny today huh, and here I thought that British weather was supposed to be bad”.

“Yeah” Sora agreed quickly “strange right.”

And then they continued to walk in a comfortable silence.

“Hi welcome to Candy Café, you can just take a seat over there by the window, here's our menu. Are you guys returning customers?”

“No it's our first time coming here.”

“Here are loyalty cards for each of you, so you can earn some free things and money off. Okay then just call me when you've decided what to order.”

“Hmm the food here looks so good.”

“Yeah desserts from Hong Kong are really tasty.”

“I'm not sure what to pick too much choice!” She said getting slightly frustrated with her inability to make decisions.

“Then...how about these three?” he pointed at the different items on the menu.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Excuse me, can we get these three please. Thanks.”

“Ah! I have a good idea to pass the time while we wait, hold on a second.” Sora started rummaging through her bag and brought out her new phone. “Ok, hold on.” She then proceeded to put the SIM and battery in the phone and turned it on. “Ok, ready!”

Ready for what, he thought slightly confused, and then it dawned on him.

“.....3.....2...1—SMILE!” Snap, the fake shutter noise went off. “Kawaii. Ahhhh you look so cute in this picture,” she laughed to herself “OK, this has got to be my wallpaper now.”

“Wait, let me see first.” He reached out for the phone. “No way, this picture is so bad. I'm halfway in between smiling and confusion.”

“That's what makes it so funny, in a good way. Now pass it back.” She said pouting slightly.

“Never, I'm deleting it.” But before he could figure out how to use her phone, she reached over and yanked it out of his hand laughing. “Hey~”

“Then let me take a proper one.” YungJi thought about this carefully before agreeing.

“Okay then but,” he got up from his side of the table and sat down next to her “this one should have both of us in it.” He smiled mischievously, as she blushed slightly.

“Then......3....2...1.” snap. “Ah this is a really good one.”

“Then message it to me, here let me” he reached for her phone and added his number to her list of contacts, a small feeling of pride that he was the first guy, not caring that she had just brought the phone that very afternoon. “...........there now I’ll just send it............cool all done.”

“Cool” she smiled. Their food arrived soon after.

They stood together outside Leicester square station, “I had a really nice time today.” She said, feeling really cliché, and as if she had just stepped out of the latest Japanese drama.

“Me too.” She watched as he scratched the back of his cap, and wondered if it was an unconscious habit of his. “So, maybe we could do this again at some point?”

“Yes definitely, so just call me then?”

“Yeah I will, I promise.”

Unsure of how to end the, the what she thought. Date? Or was this just a casual meet up between friends? God, I'm definitely calling Teru and Nao. “Ok then, see you again at some point, bye-bye.”

“Bye Sora.” He watched as she walked away