Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Jia come out of the bakery and walk briskly back to the car.
She opened the door and settled into the passenger seat, holding a box of pastries in one hand.
"Can you believe it? The cashier said she'd seen me on TV and gave me a free cupcake! Here!" She turned to Suho, holding out the box, then stopped short, her expression turning wary.
He was looking at her with such a guilty expression that she instinctively swallowed and set the box aside, slowly turning her body toward Choi.
"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.
Suho pressed his lips together and shook his head. From the side, he looked like a big, deeply sad bear.
"Suho?" she called even more softly.
"I'm sorry!" The words burst out before Suho could even think about what he wanted to say next. "I'm sorry! You must be so tired, and then I— First I insisted on meeting up, then… I behaved terribly! I wasn't thinking! I shouldn't have pressured you! You—"
Jia wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," she said quickly, cutting off his emotional monologue. "First of all, I have absolutely no idea what you're apologizing for. Second," she soothed, patting his shoulders with her palms, "you have no idea how happy I was when I realized we'd get to see each other today. And third," she cupped his cheeks, lifting his downcast head, "where exactly did you pressure me? What terrible behavior? I won't deny that earlier impulse was pretty unexpected, but… but I just got flustered, okay?" Jia studied his guilty puppy-dog eyes for a few seconds, then dropped her hands and sat back, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "You didn't go and imagine something, did you? I was only gone ten minutes! For the record, if you'd actually pressured me, I would've hit you. Honestly."
Suho sat in silence for a few more seconds, processing what he'd heard. Then he let out a loud breath and scratched the back of his head. The realization of how much he'd overthought things was slowly sinking in. Jia was still smiling gently at him, and it didn't seem like she was looking for an escape route to end their time together.
"I…" Suho trailed off, not knowing what to say. The word idiot was on the tip of his tongue.
Jia shook her head.
"It's okay, okay? I appreciate that you care so much about how I feel, but don't go thinking I don't want anything, alright?"
"So you… do want…?" Suho asked, with a large dose of disbelief and a small spark of hope.
Jia clicked her tongue.
"Tell me, what am I supposed to do with you?" she murmured, closing the distance between them for the second time. Her slender fingers ran through his short hair, touched his earlobes, and wrapped around his neck. Suho held his breath, not taking his eyes off Jia, who gave him a weak smile. There were only a few centimeters left between them when she stopped and whispered against his lips:
"If I didn't want to, would I do this?" She softly pressed her lips to his cheek. "Or this?" Then she kissed the other one. "Or… this?" She pulled back, pressed her index finger to her own lips, then touched it to Suho's slightly parted lips.
"Still think I don't want to?" Jia chuckled softly.
Feeling a lump rise in his throat, Suho abruptly pulled her toward him, wrapping her in a tight embrace, and buried his face in her collarbone. Jia gently circled her arms around his shoulders and whispered something softly. Suho didn't catch it.
"Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," he murmured into her shoulder.
"This is all new to me. Sorry for making you worry too," Jia's quiet voice came from above his ear.
"You're not making me worry," Suho mumbled stubbornly, not wanting to let her go.
Jia let out a soft laugh.
"Sure, I believe you. You were probably sitting there thinking about how you, big and scary as you are, were coming on way too strong to poor little me," her voice was full of amusement. "But you know what? That doesn't scare me. You can't."
"Stop teasing me," Suho grumbled, reluctantly loosening his grip so Jia could get comfortable.
"Okay, okay," Jia gently ran her hand through his hair one last time before finally pulling back. "You know," she glanced out the window, where a cool wind was picking up, "I don't really feel like going to the river anymore. Should we eat the pastries here?"