Juniper

The rest of the day went extremely better than expected. The company we met absolutely loved the commercial and we got the job; and they loved my idea of having Se-ra in the commercial as well. She has the perfect face for acting; I’ve told her since I’ve met her that she has a face for television. Mike and Elaine were so happy, they decided to take us out for dinner to celebrate. Se-ra and I skipped lunch as we had a deadline to complete but I promised I would tell her at dinner. We closed up shop and headed to a local restaurant not far from the office. We all walked over, Se-ra and myself were arm in arm.

“I’m so happy that you are here. I’ve always wanted an American friend.” She said holding me close and putting her head on my shoulder.

“I’m happy too. And Se-ra, you are stuck with me for life. You are my Bestie!” I said. She smiled and I giggled.

“If I didn’t know better, the way you two are, it seems like you have known each other since you were both little.” Mike said.

“It seems like that.” I said looking at Se-ra. “You know people come into your life for a reason. Some you ‘clique’ with and some you don’t. I knew as soon as I saw Se-ra, we would ‘clique’ like sisters.” I said. She smiled and covered her smile shyly.

“I thought the same thing, Bestie!” She said and we hugged in the middle of the street. We giggled as we crossed the street.

Finally we made it to the restaurant. It was nice and cozy with tables to fit any size group. The music was nice and current and the vibe seemed good. The smell of the food made me want to get a big bowl of something before I started drinking. Tteok-bokki was my go to food. I love the spicy rice cakes and it went well with fried chicken and beer. As soon as I had the opportunity to do so I placed my order. Everyone placed an order as soon they could so we all could share in the celebration. As we were drinking and eating, Mike and Elaine stood up for a toast.

“We want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with us and helping our vision come to life. Thank you Peter, Kang Dae, Se-ra, Sun Hee and our newest member, Juniper. We owe you all a bit of gratitude. We couldn’t have done this without you.” Mike said. We all clinked glasses and cheered. The place had gotten a bit packed since we had arrived, and I hadn’t even noticed much.

I had a few shots of Soju and I was feeling really nice. So nice, I decided to stand up and make a toast as well.

“Can I make a toast?” Everyone stopped and gave me their attention.

“I want to thank each one of you for welcoming me into your office family. Thank you all for being so nice to me, even though I’m a newbie. You guys took me and made me feel so comfortable as if I had just come back from a long vacation. I appreciate you all and I am truly grateful.” They clapped and we all clinked glasses. We all started laughing and talking along with everyone else in the restaurant.

It seemed as if after a certain time, the place turns into a nice, little hot spot with music playing with a small dance floor. It wasn’t much, just enough for about 6 people to dance around and enjoy themselves. I was sitting along the side of the table with my back leaning against the wall. I looked around as much as I could focus and my gaze stopped at someone across the way. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were deceiving me or not but I swore it looked like Min Jun. Se-ra and I had been throwing shots of Soju back so much, I knew I was going to regret it the next morning. I didn’t care.

I hadn’t had so much fun in a while and I deserved to let loose. Then my song came on, Pink Venom by BlackPink, and I lost it. My hips started swaying and I was in the zone. With enough Soju in my system, I was the only one in the place. Se-ra started dancing with me and I had my dance partner. She stayed in rhythm with me and we made one hell of a dance duo! Our coworkers were cheering us on and we were feeling ourselves in the song, then the song switched to Beyonce’s Cuff It and that just did it. We let loose and we had the place jumping. I was loving life. I was so happy that I had just turned the trajectory of my life. It was going in a direction that I thought it was supposed to go, but I found out life doesn’t go the way you planned. I had to find out the hard way. I’m glad I was smart enough to wake up and see it for myself. I’m glad I took the bull by the horns and ran with it; all the way to Seoul, South Korea, who would have thought so. After a few songs, I had to go and sit down before I fell down and that wouldn’t have been a great sight. As I sat down, Ferrari came on and I was bouncing in my seat at the table. I looked over across the room and saw the guy again. He was with a few other guys and they looked like they were having a good time.

The guy was talking to a few of his buddies and smiling. They were talking and a few of them started looking over at our table. I was still feeling the music and I was still bouncing with the music.

“Juni!” Se-ra yelled. She was intoxicated too. I looked at her and smiled. She started smiling. “Thank you for liking me.”

“Aww, you’re welcome. Thank you for liking me.” I responded. “Hey Se-ra?” I said leaning over to her as to not include the rest of the table.

“Mwo?” She responded.

“Does that guy over there look like Min Jun?” I asked. She looked immediately over to the table. He was talking and laughing with his friends. I kept looking, waiting for him to look in my direction.

“Sesang-e! That’s him!” She said as he turned and looked over towards our table. Our eyes met and he smiled. He held up his shot glass as if he was toasting me as I had yet another shot in my hand. He bowed his head slightly in quiet acknowledgment. One of his friends noticed he was looking over and followed his glance.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I held up my shot glass and bowed my head slightly in acknowledgment as well and we both took the drink to the head. His friend held up his shot glass and duplicated the same action, Se-ra responded and both of them took the shot.

“Oh Shit, That is him.” She said

“When did he get here?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I had too many shots and I stopped paying attention to those coming in.”

“Shit.” That was all I could say. I would usually feel embarrassment at this point, however, I was not embarrassed at all. I had no care in the world. This moment was making me feel happy and I wasn’t going to ruin it, it is what it is.

“Alright guys, we are going to leave first. Have a good night, and thank you all again.” Elaine and Mike said as they were getting up to leave.

“Hey, do you guys want to go somewhere else?” Peter said. He was the party boy of the group. He loved bar hopping. This was my first time bar hopping since I’ve been here. I know I didn’t want the night to end as I wanted to keep this feeling going.

“Yes, where can we go?” Park Sun Hee asked. I was surprised she was still here. She seemed rather reserved in the office, I guess you get a little alcohol in someone, it brings out their true selves.

“I know a place we could go.” That was a strange voice that came out of nowhere. We turned around and it was Min Jun’s friend, standing near the table, looking at Se-ra. I looked at her and she looked like she was mesmerized.

“Where?” She asked. I turned and looked at her and to her, I was no longer there.

“There’s a place not far from here. It’s a bit bigger and it has a dance floor, if you want to dance.” He replied.

“Are you talking about the Juke Joint?” Choi Kang Dae asked. I started looking confused, it seemed like I needed to hang out with my coworkers more, they knew where the hot spots were and I was feeling rejuvenated.

“Yes.” Mr. Man said.

“Ok, let’s go.” By the time the plans had been confirmed, the rest of his group had come over from their table and Min Jun was standing in front of me. I stood up and faced him.

“Hi.” I said smiling.

“Hi.” He replied. He smiled and put his hand on my head and gave me a little pat. “How are you?”

“I’m good. We’re celebrating. These are my coworkers. We landed on a big project.” I had said so fucking much; I was open book. “This is Se-ra, Peter, Sun Hee, and Kang Dae.” I introduced my coworkers. “This is Min Jun.” Se-ra’s eyes got big as she smiled.

“Annyeong.” Min Jun said and slightly bowed with his hands in the prayer form.

“Annyeong.” Everyone said in almost complete unison.

“This is John, Taehyung, Jeong, Bae and Jin; my coworkers.” Everyone said hello and we gathered our things and we were on our way to another place.

Just outside, Min Jun waited for me to come out. He was standing with Jin talking. Se-ra and I walked out the door arm in arm. We stopped in front of Min Jun and Jin. He looked at me and I wobbled a bit. Either I was totally drunk or he had that effect over me. Give or take, it could be both.

“This is Bong Se-ra, she’s my bestie.” He smiled.

“Nice to meet you Se-ra. This is my friend and coworker, Jin. Jin, this is Juniper, the one I told you about.” He said, smiling at me. Jin’s eyes got so big and his mouth opened. I looked at Se-ra and she was stuck just as much as Jin. Yet, Min Jun and I were standing in front of each other, totally focused on each other.

“Nice to meet you Juniper.” Jin finally got out his mouth.

“Nice to meet you Min Jun. I saw you on TV in the series.” She blurted out. I looked at her and she just closed her eyes in embarrassment. He giggled. “I’m sorry.” She said, lowering her eyes.

“It’s okay. I appreciate it. Thank you.” She looked up and smiled. Then Mr. Man appeared next to Se-ra.

“Ah Taehyung, this is Bong Se-ra.” Min Jun introduced Se-ra to Taehyung. Both of them stood looking shyly at each other and then greeted each other in Korean.

We all walked over to the Juke Joint and as Mr. Man mentioned, it was bigger than the place we just left. We got a few tables nearest the dance floor; we all decided to sit together. Round after round of drinks and food just kept coming. I was having the time of my life. We laughed and talked and sang along with the music. Sun Hee, Se-ra and I decided we were going to dance a bit; at least once before we would leave the bar. As I was dancing in my moment, I stepped back and bumped into someone. I turned around to say excuse me, and it was Min Jun. He looked so sexy standing there looking deeply into my eyes. I straightened up the best I could and stared back at him. He slowly grabbed my wrist and pulled me off the dance floor and over to an empty table near the front and away from everyone. We sat next to each other; me wavering back and forth knowing good and well, I had had too much to drink.

“You look like you are having fun.” He said smiling.

“I am. I haven’t had this much fun since I was with you.” I blurted out honestly. I didn’t care at that point. I wanted it all to come out. I didn’t want to hesitate anymore. I was so tired of being the traditional woman and being passive and waiting for the guy to make the first move.

“Good to hear. I’m happy to hear that.” He said looking into my eyes.

“Wae?” I asked curiously.

“I remember how you were when I first met you and I’ve always wanted to see you smiling since then.” He said. I blushed. He made me feel so special. It felt as if we were the only ones in the place and the world was going slow around us.

“Yes, that fateful day. I was a mess.” I said. I decided to let my hair down, so I took my ponytail holder off and let my hair flow. The release of my hair from being pulled to the top of my head was a subtle release. My curly locks flowed down covering my ears and my bangs flopped in my face. I pulled my bangs back and a few pieces of hair from the sides back into a soft, loose ponytail. Min Jun looked at me and smiled with a little chuckle.

“Cute.” He said softly.

“So are you.” I responded. He didn’t expect me to be direct. But I figured if he could give it, then he could take it.

“How long are you staying out today? Do you have work tomorrow?” He asked.

“I need to go, but I need to make sure Sun Hee and Se-ra can get home properly.”

“Ok, I can make sure you get home.” He offered. He sat staring and waiting for a reply. I felt like he wanted to take care of me. I smiled and giggled and used my finger to poke inside his dimple.

“Poke!” I said as I pushed his cheek. He smiled shyly and looked away. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw your dimples. They are so cute. I’m a sucker for dimples.” I said.

“Ah, I see.” He said. He looked down and softly took my hand. His hand was so warm. He held my hand and looked at me. He slowly moved my hair behind my ears on each side while he held on to my hand. “So cute.” He said softly. I blushed again.