I saw Hanbin in the office the following Monday. He greeted me with a bright smile. “Hey Joy,” he said.

            “Hanbin!” I said. “How are you?”

            “Doing well,” he replied. “So, um...sorry about leaving you with Sehun the other night. There was this look on his face and I figured that the two of you needed some alone time.”

            “Look on his face?” I asked.

            “Well I am a guy,” Hanbin said with a shrug. “And I know things when I see it. The guy likes you, Joy.”

            I almost choked on my own spit. “Huh?”

            “No wonder he’s so frustrated. You are terribly clueless,” Hanbin said with a laugh. “But it’s cute.”

            “I dunno,” I said. “I mean, I’ve considered it before. But I don’t want to assume things. It sounds kind of ridiculous for someone like him to like me. We’re really different.”

            “You two seem quite similar to me.”

            “Eh.”

            “I just wanted to tell you the reason why I left you with him,” Hanbin said. “It was a tough decision though, not gonna lie. I wanted to be the one to take you home.”

            That made me smile. “Thanks Hanbin. I’m flattered.”

            He reached over and pinched one of my cheeks. “Awh look at you. You’re blushing!”

            As I got back to my office work that day at Peter Pan tech, I couldn’t help but think about how lucky I was to have met guys like Jongin and Hanbin, even Mino. They were all like older brother figures, always looking out for me.

            When I got home however, my mind roamed back to what Hanbin had told me. The very idea of Sehun having feelings for me was absurd but after the other night, perhaps it was not so far from the truth.

            I was making some dinner for myself that evening, thinking about all of this, when I got a text. And it was from a number that hasn’t popped up on my phone for a while.

FR: Sehun

I’ll be in front of your house on Saturday at 8. You better be ready.

My first thoughts were: the ?

My second thoughts were: THE ?!?!

What was this? A DATE?!

            I started thinking of reasons as to why this wouldn’t be considered a date, but the more I thought about it the more I concluded that…

This was a date.

            It wasn’t explicitly said. It was implied. Just like everything else seemed to be nowadays in regards to that idiot. I had no choice but to jump in with both feet and hope that I don’t drown.

-- Sleeping at Last, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"

            Saturday came quicker than expected. It was 7:36 PM.

            And I wasn’t ready. Not even close.

            I had no idea what to do with my hair. I had also messaged Hayoung a gazillion times about outfit choices but she stopped replying to me and I was undeniably freaking out.

            This was a date. With Oh Sehun. And I don’t know, everything just felt so weird. I was being ridiculous. I’ve been dressed up in front of him before. What difference did it make now?

            In the end, I’d decided to just wear shorts and a nice blouse. I didn’t dare go for a skirt. That would make me seem too eager.

            Sehun showed up in front of my house at 8 PM, true to his word. He was wearing a tie.

            .

            When he saw me, he seemed to be frowning. “You’re a bit underdressed,” he bluntly remarked.

            “I didn’t know what this was,” I said in defense. “You didn’t tell me.”

            “Well,” Sehun said slowly, opening the car door for me. “This is a date.”

            I was blushing big time. I was also beginning to grow a bit nervous. I tried to hide it as I stood there awkwardly, wishing that I’d gone with my gut and just put on that damn skirt, when Sehun suddenly puts a hand on my shoulder and says, “Just get in the car. You still look nice.”

            “O--Okay,” I said pathetically.

            I admit that things were awkward at first, especially with me overthinking things and I was also being an uptight . I was, after all, not used to Sehun being nice or gentlemanly or, I dunno, boyfriend-ish. But then he broke the silence with an insult.

            “Sanghyun keeps asking me when I’ll bring you over again,” he said. “Dunno what he sees in you.”

            I smiled. “At least he’s got taste.”

            “BAD taste, you mean.”

            “,” I growled. “Where are we going anyways?”

            “Dinner,” Sehun said simply. “It’s an Italian restaurant. One of my favorites since I was a kid.”

            “What’s it called?” I asked.

            “Mona Lisa.”

            “Wow, you copycat! That’s one of my favorites too!”

            “Hey, who are you calling a copycat? I was born first, you dweeb.”

            “Dweeb?” I repeated in disbelief. “Who the hell calls someone a dweeb anymore? Geez, you ARE old.”

            It was meant to be insulting, but nonetheless Sehun was laughing. I’d never actually stopped to take a look of what he looked like while he was laughing but now I had the chance to as I gazed at him from the side. It was breathtaking.

            We got to Mona Lisa soon enough. Sehun had even made reservations, much to my surprise. Damn. This really was a date. And I’ve been on many dates before, both with Jongin and with other guys, but with Sehun things had always felt so...new. Untainted.

            “Wait,” Sehun suddenly said to the host. “Do you think we can get the kids menus also?”

            “Why?” I hissed.

            But Sehun didn’t pay attention to me as the host grabbed two kids menus along with the regular menus.

            When we sat down, Sehun grabbed the pack of crayons. “Kids menus are the ,” he said. “Aren’t they?”

            “I guess,” I said with a shrug.

            “There are games on them,” he said. “And you can color. It’s like my childhood.”

            I laughed. “I have never seen anyone get so excited about a kid’s menu.”

            “It was the only thing I had when it came to political family dinners,” Sehun said bitterly. “Oooo there’s a word search. Want to bet?”

            Now things were getting interesting. “Alright,” I said. “What’s the catch?”

            “Whoever finishes the word search first gets to choose the place for dessert,” Sehun said.

            I grabbed a crayon and said, “You’re on!”

            So there were, one college kid and one graduate, scribbling away on a word search. Our eyes were still in the game as a waiter came by to ask us what we would like to order. Of course, Sehun and I had both been here before so we practically ordered with our eyes still on the word search.

            “Chicken pesto,” I said, hurriedly trying to find words.

            “Alfredo,” Sehun said, circling some long word. .

            But in the end, I’d won.

            “YES!” I cheered, having the urge to jump for joy but controlled myself. “I WON!”

            Sehun looked like he wanted to flip the table. “Godammit.”

            “Too slow, old man!” I said with a cackle.

            “Maybe I am getting old,” he muttered.

            On the outside, it looked like I was cheering because I’d won some stupid word search on a kid’s menu. But inside, I was cheering because I was having fun, because I was here with Sehun, and because I knew that things between us were going back to the way they were.

            He and I ate our pasta happily, and had also gotten seconds on the breadsticks. When the bill came around, I reached for my purse when Sehun puts a hand up.

            “I got it,” he said, slipping his card into the check folder.

            Like I said, I was not used to Sehun acting like this, so I probably looked like an idiot as I stared at him, sort of wonderstruck.

            “What?” he said.

            “Nothing,” I said, trying to bite back my smile. I wasn’t going to tell him that he looked super cute just then.

            Keeping our word from the bet, I got to choose the place for dessert. I’d decided on this ice cream parlor just a couple of blocks down. I had a plan in mind.

            “Sehun,” I said. “Do you want to share the Supreme Sundae?”

            “Share?” he asked.

            “I can’t eat it all myself,” I fibbed.

            He shrugged. “Alright.”

            With Sehun, I always seemed to be noticing the small details about him. The Supreme Sundae allowed us to choose three ice cream flavors of our choice, which would then be smothered with delicious whipped cream, sprinkles, and bananas and nuts. I let Sehun chose two flavors, while I chose my favorite: salted caramel. Sehun picked his personal favorite, hazelnut chocolate, and then settled on vanilla as the third flavor to “balance everything out”. One Supreme Sundae with two spoons coming right up.

As we ate it however, a smirk came across Sehun’s face. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

            “Did what?” I asked innocently.

            He shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. But he was smiling. I guess he also thought that sharing a sundae between two people was a lot more fun and, I dunno, intimate than just eating it solo. Plus, I liked how close we would be each time we both reached for the ice cream at the same time.

            Yes, I am sneaky as hell. And proud of it.

            After dessert, the two of us headed Big Bang World, a local amusement park. We didn’t go on any rides, but rather just walked around. There were a lot of pretty lights at this time of the night.

            I was lowkey wondering if Sehun would hold my hand, but then I saw that he had his hands in his pockets so there goes that.

            “Joy,” he suddenly said.

            “What?”

            “Let’s go on that.”

            I looked over to where he was pointing.

            “A carousel?” I questioned in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

            “Why not?” he said with a playful grin. Then, in a flash, he took my hand and pulled me along with him over to the carousel. But in my head all I could think about was the fact that he was holding my hand.

            The attendant gave the two of us weird looks as we trudged onto the carousel, but that was part of the fun. “Ooooo I’m getting on this guy,” Sehun said, choosing a black horse.

            I looked around, then chose a horse a couple of rows ahead of him. “This one has a tiara on it,” I said with a grin.

            Sehun then got off of his black horse and got onto the one next to mine. “I need to be next to you,” he said.

            And so there we were, laughing and joking around as the carousel ran along. Now that I thought about it, I’d never gone on a date like this. Dates, for me, usually consisted of dinner and maybe a movie. Or a friend’s party. Or a music show or, in Jongin’s case, a ballet. I was used to very structured dates. Never had it consisted of word search puzzles and carousel rides. And sure, it seemed childish. But I liked it.

            When we got off the carousel, I was still smiling from ear to ear. “You know,” I said. “I think this is one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.”

            Sehun looked at me. “Really.”

            I nodded. “I mean, things are so different. They’re always different with you.”

            “Is that a good thing?”

            “Mhm. Very.” I looked down at my shoes. “They’re actually one of my favorite things about you.”

            It grew quiet between us, so quiet that I was worried that I’d said too much. Joy, what the hell were you thinking?! Geez.

            But when I looked up at Sehun, he was already looking at me. Then, before I could even think, he leaned in and kissed me. He kissed me soft and gentle, in a way that I remembered: like the kiss that he had mistakenly given me on the night of Jingle All the Way.

            I felt him smile through our kiss. “That’s the second time,” I heard him say.

            My eyes widened. “You remember?”

            But all he did was smirk as he leaned in to kiss me again. As it turns out, things hadn’t changed with him. His love was still dangerous, he was still dangerous, and I was setting myself up for what I knew was potential damage. Even so, I took the leap because there are billions of people on this Earth. With so many people, you would think that most would be similar to one another. With Sehun, I learned that’s not the case. People are different, one of a kind. And when you find the one who makes you feel things that you never even knew you could feel, you hang onto that person and you never let them go.

Fun fact: Sehun had never planned/dealt with/been on an actual date before. This was his first time ;)