I hear Mom opening the door and letting someone in, followed by an exchange of greetings. “Dear, your friend is here! Now I’m going, okay? Lock the door since nobody will be home!”

                “Okay.” I shout back from inside my room, fixing the precision of my eyeliner. Oh no, I gotta hurry. Mom is leaving, and the door is closed again. Five seconds pass in silence.

                “Hey, hurry up.” the bored, irritated voice of Byun Baekhyun is heard. I close my eyes. Here starts the nagging.

                “I know.”

                The location of my room which is right in front of the living room is not helping. I hear Baekhyun walking around impatiently. “I thought you’ve been ready on your doorstep already.”

                “Girls can’t be quick for occasions like this formal dinner thingy.”

                “Phew, what did I do wrong to be tasked to pick you up?”

                “Yeah, I’m sorry for living three blocks away from you.” I click my tongue. “If he had a girlfriend, I’d pity that girl so much, dear God…” I mutter to myself.

                “You’re the vice president of the organization, aren’t you supposed to be there earlier?”

                “No need to, everything is sorted out.” I impatiently take off the hanger from my dress. I remove my bathrobe, and squeeze myself into the dress. I almost trip and hit my bed. “Can’t you just sit down and entertain yourself or something?”

                I hear Baekhyun throwing himself to the sofa. I’m fixing the front part of the dress when I realize something. The dress has a zipper in the back… And I can’t reach it. I just stand there with my mouth open in front of my mirror.

                I curl my fingers, confused. Why does Mom need to go outside at this moment?! I stomp my foot anxiously, and my nail-biting habit almost pops out but I can’t do that since it would ruin both of my lipstick and my manicure.

                I have no other dress. I decide to do a final check on my makeup first, and shove things inside my purse.

                “Hey, how much longer?” Baekhyun is heard again. Rather than making me annoyed, now the fact that I only have him here is making me nervous. Should I ask for his help? Oh God… What other option do I have? Should I cover my dress with something first, then call a girl friend when we arrive to the venue?

                I don’t think I can do that… I don’t have a decent piece to cover the dress now, and I wouldn’t be able to handle Baekhyun’s string of questions in the car later. I take a deep breath, and decide. Okay, I’d rather destroy myself right now… Baekhyun wouldn’t tell what happened, right?

                I open half of my bedroom’s door, and peek. I use one hand to take my purse, and another to hold the front part of my dress. Baekhyun looks at me from the sofa, and he suddenly looks stiff upon seeing me. I’m also a bit taken aback seeing him in neat dark grey suit, and that might be the best appearance I’ve seen from him.

                He looks away, and stands up. “Ready?”

                “No. Um—wait. Here’s the thing… Uh… I got a problem. I swear this won’t happen again.”

                “What?” Baekhyun looks confused.

                “My back… This dress has a zipper, and I can’t reach it. Can you… Please…” I stare at the floor, embarrassed. “Anyway, help me.”

                I turn around, and close my eyes tightly. I can’t believe I’m currently exposing most part of my back to a guy.

                Baekhyun lets out a long sigh. “Why are you surprising me again…”

                “What do you mean by again?!”

                “Never mind.” he reaches for the zipper, and I pray that this moment will pass soon. “Wait.” he suddenly says when he has zipped half of it.

                “What’s wrong?”

                “Your hair. Pull it to the front so it won’t get tangled… It would hurt.”

                I hurriedly flip my hair, but I’m too conscious about the meticulous curls I made so I couldn’t be quick.

                “There’s some left.” Baekhyun says impatiently. He helps taking the hair to the front, and I shudder when his fingers brush my nape. My toes curl stiffly. “Why aren’t you done with your dress earlier anyway? So you did your makeup on this state?”

                “No, I did my makeup first. I didn’t want to stain the dress.”

                “You can just put something over it!”

                “I was in a hurry, I couldn’t think straight!”

                Baekhyun sighs again. He finally zips it up until the very top, and I quickly step forward. “Wait, wait!” Baekhyun reaches for my shoulder, and I stop. “There’s a little button there—“

                Ah, right. I can feel Baekhyun’s hands again near my neck, and I have my head down. This goes slower than it’s supposed to be.

                “Okay, done.”

                “Thank you.” I mumble, and fix my hair to its position. “Let’s go.”

                We walk to the front door, and I struggle between wearing my high heels and looking at the mirror near the shoe rack. Baekhyun notices it, and I can see him shaking his head from our reflection.

                “Just one last check.” I assure him.

                “Oh, come on.” Baekhyun has both hands on his waist. “You’re pretty enough!”

                I’m bending down to fix my shoes, and his words startle me. I’m unnecessarily fastening the strap that’s already tight already, to waste time.

                “Okay, let’s go.” I stand up, and keep my face down. I can’t believe Baekhyun’s words can make me blush.