"Wow! This house… is…. I can"t even find the right words to describe it.", Hannah gawked as she entered the living room. Samantha"s family had already arrived a few minutes ago."Hey, Han! I missed you!", Samantha hugged her bestfriend that she hadn"t met for several days. Hannah flew out of the country to help Shawn and Eric"s opening of their business. The entire time that Shawn stayed in Country K was all because of The Busy Bean Cafe"s international expansion. They are now business partners and Shawn & Eric are the ones who are going to manage the branches in Country A.
"Congratulations on your new home, S! I am so happy for you!.", Hannah expressed and turned to Daniel who was beside Samantha, "Daniel. Congrats."
"Thank you, you should go inside. Make yourself at home.", he gestured.
"Well, don"t mind if I do.", Hannah skipped towards the living room where she slowed down when she saw Seo Joon who was sitting on the armchair.
Their eyes met and Hannah averted her gaze. They haven"t talked to each other for weeks and Hannah didn"t even know about his break up with Becca. Avoiding his stare, Hannah went over to Samantha"s parents and greeted them enthusiastically whilst giving them some gifts from her trip abroad.
"Thank you, sweetheart. You are so sweet.", said Mrs. Kim as she hugged Hannah briefly.
Mr. Kim also gave her a smile and a tap on the shoulder.
Seo Joon who was on the phone checking his emails after seeing Hannah, spoke to her for the first time, "What about me?"
Hannah turned her head to him and with a puzzled look she asked, "Huh?"
Lifting his head, Seo Joon casually leaned back on the armchair and smiled at her, "I said where"s my gift? Do I not have one?"
Mrs. Kim looked at her son and raised a brow, "What"s wrong with you, Joon? Why would you ask for gifts?"
Seo Joon chuckled before he stood up and went outside the garden to make a call.
.
"Mom, Dad.", Daniel greeted his parents when they came in.
"How are you feeling, Uncle?", Samantha asked Daniel"s father.
"I"m feeling much better, thank you.", he smiled.
Samantha also greeted Mrs. Cho with a peck on the cheek. Liam came after his parents and brought a box that was labeled "Daniel".
"What is that?", Samantha asked.
Daniel hurriedly got the box out of Liam"s hand and responded, "Just some stuff. Nothing important.". He brought the box upstairs… away from sight.
.
.
At the garden, Seo Joon just finished his call when Hannah walked up to him. She pursed her lips and tapped his shoulder.
He turned around and was surprised to see her follow him outside. He raised his brow in question, "Hmmm?"
Averting her gaze, she extended her hand that was holding a small box.
Seo Joon looked at the object in Hannah"s hand wondering what it was. "What is this?", he asked but didn"t accept the gift yet.
"Y-your… um… it"s for you.", she stuttered.
"For… me?", he asked in his thoughts. Unsure why Hannah was giving him something. Surely it wasn"t his birthday. Gingerly, he took the box from her and opened it. Inside sat a snow globe, it was not more than 4 inches tall and in it was a statue of a famous landmark in Country A. Seo Joon took it out of the box and shook it. The snow inside the globe swirled around and slowly fell down when he stopped to admire it. A smile formed on his handsome face and he chuckled upon seeing it. "What a cheesy souvenir."
Hannah who was feeling very shy about giving him something from her trip suddenly felt embarra.s.sed. She reached out her hand to grab the snow globe but Seo Joon raised his hand up high.
"Give it back if you don"t want it!", she sneered, feeling annoyed that Seo Joon laughed at her gift.
"No! You already gave it to me. You said it"s for me. No backsies!", Seo Joon smirked as Hannah was still trying to jump and s.n.a.t.c.h the gift from him.
"Are you a child?", Hannah stopped and rolled her eyes.
"It"s mine now. You can"t take it back.", he smiled while her back was facing him.
Hannah didn"t really have anything to give Seo Joon since they weren"t talking to each other but because of what he said earlier, she felt that it was indeed unfair to him that he isn"t receiving anything while Samantha and their parents have something.
She had bought the snow globe because she found it cute and she wanted to keep it for herself. But she decided to give it to him instead. She was annoyed that he laughed but there was nothing else she can do.
"Thank you, Han. I like it.", He spoke and her cheeks began to blush.
Seo Joon smiled as he was amused. He caught a glimpse of Hannah"s side of the face and he knew that she was being shy.
"Why are you reacting like this? It"s just a thank you!", she was mad at herself.
Embarra.s.sed, she didn"t face him and just uttered, "Mmmm.", as an acknowledgment.
"Let"s go back inside, I think everyone"s here.", he suggested in which Hannah managed to utter, "Okay."
The two of them walked back inside while still feeling all giddy from the very recent encounter.
"Hi, Becks! Come in! We"re glad that you could make it.", Samantha greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and Becca handed her a bottle of wine.
"Bought it from my recent travel, I"m not sure if it"s good though.",she confessed.
"Thank you.", Samantha replied.
A smiling Seo Joon and a blus.h.i.+ng Hannah came back inside, she stopped when she saw Becca by the door. "Ah, that"s right... of course, she"s here.", Hannah sighed in her thoughts.
Becca looked at the two of them and her heart throbbed. The man who was once hers was no longer with her. It was painful for her to see it but she was not the kind of person who holds grudges; so she felt no hatred. Though she felt that it was a shame how their relations.h.i.+p didn"t last.
Noticing Hannah"s reaction, Seo Joon followed her gaze and met Becca"s sad eyes that were looking at him. And like a gentleman that he was, he smiled at her and walked up. "Hi. How are you?", he spoke in a low voice when he was near, being very civil with his now ex-girlfriend.
She smiled back at him and softly answered, "I"m fine." suppressing the urge to pounce into his arms and hold him. "Don"t be too nice, Joon or I"ll have a hard time moving on."
Liam walked up to Hannah standing by the gla.s.s door, "Hey, Hannah. How have you been?"
Hannah turned to him and beamed, "Liam! I"m doing great and it"s nice to see you again."
"Likewise." Flas.h.i.+ng his gorgeous smile, he offered, "I"m making some drinks in the kitchen, do you mind giving me a hand?"
"Of course not!", she answered without hesitation.
Seo Joon watched as the two of them headed to the kitchen.