San and Seyoung are coming inside the restaurant, and the owner who recognizes San is greeting him.

"Good evening, Lee seongsaengnim, you visit us at the unexpected time,"

The owner says, brightly.

"Ah, good evening, yeah, I have not had my dinner, so,"

San shyly responds.

San and Seyoung then take a sit.

"What do you want to have, seongsaengnim?"

The owner follows them, and takes the order directly.

"What do you want to eat, Seyoung-ah?"

Seyoung looks at the menu.

"What flavor do you want?"

She asks him back.

"Soy and garlic?"

"Okay, we will order that, and one kimchi fried rice, thank you."

"Soy and garlic chicken and kimchi fried rice, kindly wait for minutes,"

The owner excuses himself preparing the order, leaving San and Seyoung alone.

"You frequently come to here?"

She asks.

"Hmm, kind of, but most time I ask them to deliver the food to either the hospital or my place. They have delicious fried chicken,"

"Ah, I see. I thought you never came here, then it was good idea from me suggesting you grabbing the dinner here,"

Seyoung states, proudly.

"I thought you would not accept my offer,"

San continues.

"What offer?"

"Having dinner together,"

"Why so?"

"Because I thought you were angry at me,"

Seyoung is surprised at his words.

"What? Why should I mad at you? You have done nothing wrong to me,"

She explains.

"Because I never contacted you,"

He carefully confesses.

She gives him a little nod, she could not help but agree with his confession.

"See, you definitely were mad at me, right?"

She shrugs.

San looks down, he avoids to look at her directly in the eyes.

Seyoung is laughing, after seeing his reaction.

"I could be honest to you, right?"

She asks.

"Yes, sure, I am happy if you want to be honest to me,"

"I was actually feeling guilty, too, for not contacting you, first. I was afraid that I might bother you, so, I withdrew my plan to do it,"

San could not believe that she thought exactly as he did.

"I----I thought the same too,"

He says.

They turn into silence for split of second, and then laugh at their own silliness, at the same time.

"You know, I feel like every time, after we meet like this, it is like we are back to square one, worried that we might bother each other, hesitated to send a simple greeting through texting, but then at the same time, I have tried to convince myself that we are friends already, and things like texting or even calling each other are something common for us to do."

Seyoung explains, long.

San nods, agreeing with her saying.

"Nurse Seo even teased me about this,"

"Did she?"

"Yeah, she said if I keep worrying over trivial things like that, I might lose my new friend,"

He utters, so honest.

"Eyy, I am not that petty. You know I am happy to be your friend, and happier that I finally could have a male friend,"

It is her turn to tell him honestly, but her last sentence is kind of unexpected for San to hear from her.

"Ah, oh,"

He could not respond to her properly, mostly as he turns shy. He wants to ask more about her mentioning him as her "only" male friend, but it is interrupted by the arrival of their food.

"Here is your fried chicken and kimchi fried rice. Enjoy your dinner, seongsaengnim, and Lee seongsaengnim's girlfriend,"

Both Seyoung and San's eyes are widened at the owner words.

"Ah, oh, she is my-----,"

San tries to state the fact, but the owner rushingly leaving them, as he may not want to hinder their dinner moment.

"Mian,"

San says to Seyoung.

"It is okay, maybe we just heard him wrong, what he meant is a girl (female) friend, not girlfriend,"

He nods, relieved that Seyoung takes the misunderstanding lightly.

Seyoung helps San to put two pieces of fried chicken on his small plate, and she also puts almost half of the kimchi fried rice on another small plate, all for him to eat.

"아니 , Seyoung-ah, what is this? You gave me too much,"

He says, surprised, of course.

She is giggling at his bewilderment.

"Enjoy your dinner, seongsaengnim. Finish this first, and I will give you more, afterwards. Remember, you have to eat well, and moreover, you have night duty today, so, you definitely need more intake of energy,"

She says, long, and he finally surrenders.

"I will eat well, you eat well, too,"

He says.

"Ne~~"

Strangely, they enjoy the dinner mostly in silence, there is not much talk in between, the only words voiced out by them during eating are something like "you want more?", "try this", and "it is delicious".

Time flies, and as they have done enjoying the dinner, San takes a look at his watch, and it is almost 11.

"Let's go, it is almost 11, you should not go home too late,"

He says, and quickly goes to the counter to pay for the food.

They are now standing in front of the chicken restaurant, San is accompanying Seyoung to wait for the taxi.

"Where do you live?"

"Mapo-gu,"

"Wait, what? I thought you lived nearby. Mapo is too far from here,"

He exclaims.

"Do not worry, there is no traffic jam at this hour, so I would arrive in no time,"

Seyoung assures him.

"But--,"

Her phone is suddenly ringing, interrupting his continous complaint.

It is Eunsaem calling her.

Seyoung is signalling San that she would answer the phone, first. And San gives her a little nod.

"Hello, Eunsaem-ah,"

"Seyoung-ah, are you in home already?"

"Not yet, I am about to go home now,"

She answers, calmly.

"Ya! Moon Seyoung! You know what time is it?! I told you not to go home past 10, right? Where are you now?"

San could hear Eunsaem's loud voice as he stands close to Seyoung, and their surrounding is quiet as it is almost midnight.

He could not hear precisely what Eunsaem said to Seyoung, but he kind of grasps what is going on.

"I accompanied Lee San seongsaengnim to grab a dinner, that is why. Do not worry Eunsaem-ah, I am waiting taxi in front of the hospital now, and Lee seongsaengnim is here accompanying me to get the taxi. I will be safely home in no time, okay?"

Seyoung tries to convince her.

And now, there is guilty feeling strucking San.

Eunsaem still does not buy her words.

"Give your phone to Lee seongsaengnim,"

Eunsaem orders Seyoung. Seyoung then glances at San, hesitated to do it, but then, she knows, she cannot win the argument with Eunsaem.

"My friends wants to talk with you,"

She says to him, in a low voice, and before giving him the phone, she turns on the loudspeaker mode.

San takes the phone, silently.

"Hello, good evening, Lee San seongsaengnim,"

Eunsaem greets him, politely, in a calmer tone.

"Oh, hello, Eunsaem-ssi?"

He carefully greets her back.

"Seongsaengnim, I am sorry if I am being rude, I know we never meet, but Seyoung often tells me about you, and I thought it might be okay, so I carefully want to ask you for a favor,"

"Oh, yes, no worries, what is it?"

"Could you take Seyoung home?"

Eunsaem's request are startling both Seyoung and San.

"Ah, I---,"

Seyoung takes over the phone.

"Eunsaem-ah, stop it. It is embarassing, I can go home by myself, okay? And also, Lee seongsaengnim has a night shift, so he could not go anywhere,"

She explains, forgetting to turn off the loudspeaker mode.

"But, Seyoung-ah, I am just worried that you might encounter that molester who still has not been caught, and is roaming around near your house area,"

San could not believe of what he has heard. And now, he regrets deeply for asking her to get dinner together this late.

Seyoung is also surprised at the sudden mention of the criminal, and quickly turning off the loudspeaker mode.

"Eunsaem-ah, I will call you later. I will send you my GPS as usual, do not worry, bye,"

She quickly hangs up the call, and carefully glances at San who is now staring at her back.

"No, your friend is right, you should not go home alone at this hour, I will take you home, let's go back to the hospital first, I will tell Nurse Seo that I have to leave urgently,"

He says, in a worried tone.

"No, I am okay. Trust me, San-ah, and also how could I let you to leave your work just for taking me home?"

She pleads.

He shakes his head.

"Or, you stay in my place tonight,"

His new offer is shocking her.

"Wait, what?"

"I say you stay in my apartment for tonight. It is such a win-win solution for us, okay?"

San convinces her.

Seyoung really wants to reject his offer, but she is kind of hesitated to say it the moment she sees such a serious expression written all over his face.

And there she knows, he might be right.

It is almost midnight, they have wasted time to arguing over this unnecessary matter, and also, she has to save her energy for tomorrow's event.

She does not want to ruin their plan to celebrate the first monthsary of her book cafe.

"Is it really okay, for you?"

"Sure, by that, your friend could rest assured about it, and I also could go back to work as you want me to do."

"Then, I am sorry for asking you such a big favor,"

Seyoung finally gives in.

San replies her with a warm smile.

"No worries, Seyoung-ah. Let's go."

They both are walking side by side, to his apartment.

**