Two is Better than One

Two is Better than One

“Where are my chocolates?”

Shin Hye giggles at the text message as she wraps the last box of chocolates from her drawer. It’s the Lunar New Year but these guys just won’t let go of Valentine’s Day. It is the 2^nd time an idol is asking her for chocolates today. And it would definitely be the last, she laughs, since Hong Ki and Yong Hwa are really just the two idols she’s friends with.

“Ya! I’ll give you one if you promise to give me those signed CDs I have been asking you for ages. My friends are starting to doubt if you are really friends with me!” she texts Yong Hwa back.

“Mianhe. You know I could barely catch a decent sleep nowadays with our tight schedule. The CDs have been ready since you asked for it. I just don’t have time to give it to you personally,” Yong Hwa’s replies back.

“You’re busy but you’re not forgetting your chocolates, huh? Mine would probably be just a junk compared to what you are receiving from your fans today!”

“Well, Hong Ki says you’re giving him one so I ought to have one, too, right?” Yong Hwa quips back.

Shin Hye laughs at his reply. Those two guys have really been inseparable these days, being in the same company and moving within the same industry. She even catches them guesting in the same variety shows and radio programs sometimes. It’s no wonder then that they even seem to be sharing her text messages.

“Ahrasso. I’ll have it delivered them today then. Yours and Hong Ki,” she texts back. She figures she would just send those boxes to their company address. This is the first time she will be giving chocolates boxes to guys she works with – to idols, even – and she still feels silly at the thought but these guys have really been close to her this past year. And what better way to show her appreciation to them than to give them chocolates on Valentine’s Day!

Her eyes fall on the third box on the table and sighs. That is something she has been debating over with herself since yesterday when she made the chocolates. How on earth would she give that to Keun Suk without making a big fuss out of it? Or without being guilty like I am committing a heinous crime?

Hong Ki and Yong Hwa are just different. Even if they did not ask for it first, she would really send those chocolates to them. No big deal.

But Keun Suk? Why does it feel like it’s not normal for her to give him chocolates today. Why?

She bites her lips in anxiety.

~0o0~

The clock strikes 7 in the evening already and the lone chocolate box on her table is still staring at Shin Hye, taunting her, daring her. Come on, send me to him already, Shin Hye hears the red and brown box screams at her. It’s Valentine’s Day, for God’s sake. You have the perfect excuse!

She grips tightly at her phone and heaves a deep sigh. No, call me a coward but I cannot do it!

She startles at the vibrating of her phone. A new message. From Keun Suk.

“Enjoying the seollal so far? Are you in Seoul for the holiday? By the way, where are my chocolates?”

Her lips twitch in a little smile at the message. She looks at the little box of chocolate on the table. “You’ve been praying really hard, haven’t you?” She asks the box incredulously.

“Oppa, I’m in Seoul for the new year. Your chocolates are just waiting to be picked up.”

“Cincha? Then can I pick it up in an hour then?”

She hears her heart beat a “yes” before her fingers could even type the words.

~0o0~

“Happy Valentine’s Day and hope you’ll have a more fruitful year ahead, oppa,” Shin Hye greets Keun Suk as she hands him the chocolates.

“And you really do have something for me!” Keun Suk’s eyes lit up at the sight of the box, a playful smile on his lips.

“Well you asked for it so I just picked something up from the convenience store at the corner,” she jokes. The wind is a little chilly and snow showers are falling at the little park outside her home but Keun Suk’s presence seems to make the cold bearable. Besides, she welcomes the opportunity to be outside and enjoy the snowy night. She loves snow.

Leaning on his car, he opens the box excitedly and eats a piece of chocolate. “You know I don’t say no to chocolates especially on days like this.”

Shin Hye laughs. “Oppa, that’s probably just one of the hundreds of chocolates you have received today. Don’t pull my leg.”

He frowns. “But I like the taste of this one. Dark and a little bitter.”

She beams amidst the cold. “I like my chocolates that way, too.” It has taken her half of the afternoon the day before to make the chocolates with her cousin, a yearly tradition between them on Valentine’s day. She never really had specific guys in mind to give chocolates to before but this year, the three guys she had forged a bond with came to mind while she was baking the chocolates. She never thought she would actually give them to Keun Suk, though. As in personally.

“Did you know that I always spend Valentine’s day with a girl?” Keun Suk asks, still munching a chocolate.

“Really?”

“Since I was 15, when I started dating. Since then, even when I was not seeing someone, I really make it a point to spend this day with a girl.” He catches her gaze, eager to know her reaction.

She blinks at him. “Whoa. That’s a trivia,” she manages to quip before she sees him reaching out his hand to her face. She feels her heart starts to panic.

“Wait, there’s a snowflake on your lashes,” he says, prompting her to close her eyes for a moment.

“There. It’s gone,” Keun Suk’s warm breath gently touches her face as she flutters her eyes open. He steps back from her and smiles.

“Thanks,” she mumbles. Wanting to keep her mind off the unexpected proximity between them, she pokes fun at him. “I think you just want a yearly supply of free chocolates, Oppa.”

He shakes his head. “Seriously? No. I just find it lonely to spend this day alone. My parents spend it together. Everybody is spending it with someone else. It’s not a day meant to be spent alone, all by yourself. Last year, I spend it with my cousin who broke up with her bf. Two is always better than one when this special day comes along, you know.”

Her eyes crinkle in a smile at the thought. “That’s sweet. And this year?”

He looks at her in a poker face. “I’m spending it with these delicious, dark, bitter chocolates in a snowy, cold night. They’ve been convincing me all night long that they are girls.” He gets a piece of chocolate in the box and holds it up in the dark. “What do you think?”

Shin Hye’s chin dimples start to dance on her face. “I think they are. No one but a girl can taste bitter but still have a sweet aftertaste.”

He laughs, hanging his head back. “That’s true.” He holds her gaze and smiles sheepishly, quietly. “It takes a girl to know one.”

Shin Hye feels a snow flake grazes her cheek but his gaze keeps her eyes rooted on his.

Keun Suk bows his head. “Thank you for these ‘girls’. And for spending this night with me.”

Shin Hye bows in return. “Anytime, Oppa.”

And thank you, too for having me as the girl you spend this Valentine with, her heart whispers in the dark, snowy night.