JiYeon loved the necklace that her older cousin gave her for her graduation. It was a simple silver chain with a star pendant, because he wanted her to ‘reach for the stars’. But really, it was the other gift that her brother helped deliver that made her oh-so-happy. Every day, she would take out Lay’s card from under her pillow to read the short message before she got out of bed. It was the same routine when she went to bed at night. So at least two times a day, because some days it was more, she would take out that small card to read the message written in perfect cursive writing:

Dear JiYeon,

Congratulations on your graduation! Enjoy the summer and see you at U of A!

From, Lay

That was it. There was nothing extraordinary about it, but JiYeon treasured it very much. The truth is, she’s had a crush on her Lay oppa since the first time she met him when she was ten years old. She was running around with Sehun in the backyard while Baekhyun and Jongdae were chasing them with waterguns. She fell and scraped her knee. The boys kept running around and nobody noticed that she was hurt. Junmyeon passed by as he was riding his bike with his friend Yixing, when he saw his little cousin sitting on the ground. “Hi JiYeon!” he shouted which made the ten year old look up, and that was when Yixing saw that the little girl was crying. He hopped off his bike and ran over to her, “Are you okay?” he asked looking worried. JiYeon shook her head and winced in pain, so Yixing quickly pulled her up and helped her sit on the picnic table. He took a look at the cut on her knee and was relieved to see that it wasn’t so bad. Junmyeon joined them and saw the panicked look on his little cousin’s face, and being the responsible older cousin, he ran into the house to tell his aunt that JiYeon was hurt and to get some bandages. The other boys were still running around, unaware of what was going on.

“You sure are a brave one,” Yixing smiled at the little girl, leaning down to wipe the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. “Don’t worry, your Junmeyon oppa went to get help, in the meantime, let me use my healing powers to make you all better!” JiYeon stared at the strange boy as he focused on the cut on her knee and started to wave his hand over it as if he was performing a magic trick. For a moment, she forgot about the pain and giggled at how serious, and silly, he looked as he was ‘healing’ her with his superpowers.

“There you go,” he said, “now you’re all better. We just need to clean it up and you’ll be good as new!” JiYeon smiled shyly as Yixing proudly flashed a bright smile, revealing a cute dimple. “Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Zhang Yixing. I am your Junmyeon oppa’s friend from summer camp. I don’t live in Autumn Hill, I am just here to stay with him for the weekend.” The older boy held out his hand to JiYeon. “Your name is Issing?” the younger asked. “No, it’s Yixing. But you can also call me Lay. Lay oppa!” It was that moment, when JiYeon fell in love with this strange oppa with healing powers and the cutest dimple.

Ever since that day, JiYeon had not-so-secretly made up her mind that when she was older, she would marry her Lay oppa. Needless to say, she was totally looking forward to moving out to the big city to attend the same university as him. Perhaps if her grades were high enough, she will try to major in International Law as well! Just thinking about it made her happy.

It’s been two weeks since their graduation, and finally, JiYeon and Sehun were going to start their summer job at the newly opened bubble tea shop in town. It was the first of its kind and when they applied for a job there, they had no idea what bubble tea even was.  JiYeon has always dreamt of travelling to far places and she thought that getting a summer job can help her to start saving some money towards her dream. Sehun, on the other hand, simply applied because JiYeon did. He had nothing better to do during the summer anyway now that he didn’t have to go to summer school to make up for courses that he failed during the school year.

The first day at BubbleCha was very fun for both of them. They got to try the different flavours of teas and the variety of toppings that could be added. Sehun immediately fell in love with taro flavoured milk green tea with tapioca. He described it as “a little taste of heaven”. Since they were allowed to make two free drinks for themselves every shift, that became Sehun’s signature drink. JiYeon, on the other hand, would try something different every day. She experimented with different teas, adding and mixing flavours and toppings, adjusting the sugar and ice level. Although not every combination came out to be as good tasting, JiYeon enjoyed it very much. She was very happy to have found such a fun and enjoyable job for the summer before moving to the city for university.

“Mmm… I could drink this forever” Sehun smiled as he closed his eyes and drank his favourite bubble tea. JiYeon shook her head, almost embarrassed of the look on Sehun’s face. It definitely did not resemble someone simply enjoying a sweet drink, but rather… ah, she did not want to go there. As much as she loved her best friend, there were moments when he would do or say things that would make her want to crawl into a hole, and watching him drink his taro milk green tea with tapioca was one of those moments. The worst part was that he had at least 2 of those per shift, sometimes sneaking in a third one when the owner was not around. It always amazed JiYeon how much fat and sugar Sehun could ingest and still be skinny as a toothpick. Perhaps it was due to all the dancing.

“Can you stop with that face?” JiYeon asked as she cleared the tables. It was nearing the end of their shift and Sehun was happily sipping on his third bubble tea in the four hours that they have been there.

“Sorry JiYeon, I was born this handsome. I can’t stop myself from exuding with awesomeness!” Sehun smirked as he drank another mouthful. JiYeon rolled her eyes and pretended to vomit, although she was not one bit surprised by his response.

“Oh Sehun, we have exactly six more weeks before we move into the city and prepare for university. When are you going to finally take your drivers examination?” JiYeon asked. Sehun was taken aback by her question and froze. He did not expect her to bring up this issue again. Gulp. That was not Sehun drinking his bubble tea, but rather him being dumbfounded because he had no appropriate response for his best friend. The truth is, Sehun has taken the drivers examination three times since he turned sixteen. Since he was a little boy, it was always his dream to drive a sports car, weaving through traffic and speeding pass everyone else on the road just like in the movies. So on his sixteenth birthday, Sehun went to take his drivers examination- and failed. Of course, he was just unlucky because it was raining that day so when the car slid as he turned out of the parking lot, it was not really an indication of his driving skills, as Sehun liked to justify. Unfortunately, he did not even have the chance to get out of the parking lot that time. However, he was not one bit discouraged and applied to take the examination again in three months, and again he failed. This time, he made it out of the parking lot, but did not see the Stop sign at the end of the street- because well, there was a huge tree covering it, Sehun explained. The third and most recent time he attempted, he made it out of the parking lot, onto the street and even to the main intersection. Five minutes into the examination, he was told to stop, pull over and exit the vehicle. Apparently, Sehun forgot to put on his seat belt. But this time, he did not tell anyone, except for JiYeon and his grandmother.

“So? When? If you don’t do it before we go, you know it will only be more difficult to pass in the big city. Come on, Sehun! Even I passed! I’m sure you can do it just fine. Just make sure you put on your seat belt this time!” JiYeon almost chuckled. She really did want to encourage him to try again, because she knew it was always his dream to drive his own car. But she also realized that the reason why he kept failing was probably because he would never agree to take real, proper lessons like she did.

“I’ll… think about it.” Sehun finally replied. He turned away and walked into the back room. JiYeon finished clearing the tables and went to look for her best friend.

“Here.” JiYeon handed Sehun a small piece of paper. Sehun took a look at the crumpled sheet of paper and returned an expression of confusion. “Huh? What’s this?” he asked. “It’s a number for a driving instructor,” JiYeon answered. “He’s the guy who gave me my lessons and I think he’s pretty good considering I- the person with no sense of direction- passed my exam in one try.”

“First of all, you don’t NEED a sense of direction to drive a car. That’s what we have GPS systems for. Secondly, why do you think I need a driving instructor?” Sehun seemed offended. It was not like he did not know how to drive, he was just unlucky, that is why he did not pass. Right?

“Well, I knew you wouldn’t call him so I called for you.” JiYeon stated. But even before Sehun could respond, she continued, “You’re off tomorrow, right? So just be ready at 11am, Luhan will pick you up from your house. The lesson is an hour long.” She walked back out to the front as she heard the door chime indicating that new customers have arrived. Although Sehun was still in shock that JiYeon went behind his back to call the driving instructor- Lu somebody- he was secretly grateful that she did what he knew he had to, but did not have the courage to do, thanks to his enormous ego. Ah, that’s what best friends are for. Sehun smiled and finished the rest of his bubble tea, then headed back out to help JiYeon so they could wrap up their shift and go home.

The two walked home together after their shift. The entire twenty minutes passed in silence. It was not that Sehun was upset at JiYeon, or that JiYeon was afraid to strike up a conversation, but they both had things on their mind. And honestly, they’ve spent the entire day chatting with each other during work that there was nothing left to say. In fact, they often found themselves in silence after spending a lot of time together, and the level of comfort that they have of being in silence with each other reflects the eminence of their friendship. JiYeon was thinking about Lay, smiling as she walked. Sehun was thinking about his video game, and how he could not wait to get home so he can conquer the next level.

When he arrived back home after ‘dropping off’ JiYeon, he was ready to spend the rest of the night killing off zombies, but his phone rang. Weird, because the only person who ever really contacted him was JiYeon and she usually texted him a million times before she would call. And the only person who would call him was his grandmother, who was clearly aware that he has arrived home.  It was an unknown number with an unfamiliar area code -long distance. Who could it be? Sehun was puzzled.

“Hello?” Sehun picked up. “Hey bro, it’s me! How’s it going?” the voice on the other end chirped excitedly. When Sehun realized who the caller was, he was overjoyed.

“Tao! My man! How are you? How is Australia?” Sehun asked, unaware that he was a little too loud considering his grandmother was probably in bed already.

“Dude, it’s only been a week and I’m already loving it here. You really have to come visit when you have time. It’s actually winter right now and so it’s the middle of the school year. I’m just going to take the next few months to travel around a bit and I’ll start in the next semester.” Tao eagerly explained to his friend. It definitely felt like it has been more than a week since they bid their farewells at the train station. Sehun chuckled as he remembered how the two of them just stood there awkwardly, staring at each other and not knowing what to do or say, until JiYeon finally stepped up to hug Tao goodbye, and that was when Sehun also gave him a ‘manly hug’- as he liked to call it. Tao continued to share his new experiences with Sehun, and so he forgot about the zombies and just made himself comfortable in bed to listen to his friend. He was really happy for Tao, and wished that he too, had something fun and exciting to share with him, aside from his discovery of taro milk green tea with tapioca.

JiYeon texted Sehun to wake him up. Three messages just like their routine when they were still in high school. Instead of the usual “BT2” message, Sehun replied “okok, I’m up” with an annoyed face emoji . It was only 9:00am, why wouldn’t JiYeon let him sleep in? Sehun was both annoyed (hence emoji) and also nervous. He never thought that he needed to take driving lessons, but if that’s what will help him pass his examination, then his ego must step aside.

He sat down to eat breakfast as his grandmother read the morning paper. She was usually up much earlier than him, and would have finished her breakfast even before he was awake. But she would always make sure to make his favourite French toast whenever it was a special day, and today was a special day.

“Are you nervous, Sehunnie?” his grandmother asked nonchalantly as she continued reading the Arts and Culture section. “So JiYeon told you about the driving lesson that SHE scheduled for me, eh?” Sehun replied with an evident tone of displeasure. His grandmother slowly took a sip of her tea and said, “JiYeon tells me everything. You know that.” Sehun rolled his eyes and continued to eat. Well, at least I got to eat French toast for breakfast, he thought.

He had a little more than an hour to kill before the driving instructor will arrive, so Sehun decided to play some video games since he did not have the chance to the night before. During the school year, he had to hide away in his room to play with the sound muted so his grandmother would think that he was studying. Now that he has graduated, he could play whenever he wanted with the sound on and it made it so much more enjoyable. Sehun was so engrossed with his task to kill all the zombies that he did not realize it was already 11:00am until the doorbell rang. His grandmother answered it and then came to his room. “Your driving instructor is here to pick you up, Sehunnie,” she said in a stern voice. Sehun quickly paused his game and went to the front door.

“Hello, Sehun. My name is Luhan and I’ll be your driving instructor. JiYeon told me you are her good friend, so I’ll be sure to take good care of you and make sure that you pass your examination in one shot!” said the man standing at the door. Sehun stood staring at the man in front of him, feeling offended. Not because he emphasized the ‘making sure you’ll pass in one shot’ part- Sehun didn’t even catch it- but because the man standing in front of him was so young looking and so GOOD looking that Sehun felt, offended. How can he be a driving instructor? He looks like he is my age! Sehun thought to himself. And WHY do I find his pretty face so distracting?

All throughout high school, Sehun has been infamous for his good looks. As he grew taller, his slender yet broad body matched the chiseled features of his face. It was a small school, but basically every female student found him attractive and were not shy to make that clear to him. That definitely contributed to the development and reinforcement of his sassy personality. He has never felt threatened by someone’s physical features, not even the Prince Charming Kim Junmyeon, who was in a completely different category of ‘good looks’.  But this man, Luhan, made him feel threatened. And offended. Where the hell did he come from? Sehun thought to himself, completely forgetting about his driving lesson.

“So, are you ready?” Luhan asked as he smiled and Sehun thought he saw stars twinkling in his eyes. Caught off guard and unaware of how long he has been standing there gaping at the man, Sehun quickly answered, “Yeah, just let me grab my stuff.”

So the lesson was not as horrendous as Sehun imagined it to be. In fact, Luhan was a very patient and thorough instructor. No wonder JiYeon passed on her first try! Sehun thought to himself. The hour flew by quickly and as Sehun pulled up to his house, he turned to face Luhan and said, “Thank you. I learned a lot.”

“My pleasure, Sehun.” Luhan replied, again flashing his beautiful smile and bright eyes. “I think you’ll be good to go with just one more lesson. Just remember all the things that I told you. You’ve got the gist of it down, but you’re lacking in experience and that is why you make small mistakes. When you are actually driving, those won’t matter. But during an examination, making those mistakes can cost you to fail.” Unaware (more like uninformed) that Sehun has in fact attempted the examination three times, Luhan offered to give him one more lesson just to practice on a few of the possible routes for the drivers exam. “Oh, sure. That will be great!” Sehun answered. “I guess I’ll see you in two days. Same time?” Luhan asked. Sehun nodded politely, thanked his instructor again before he got out of the car.

“Byun JiYeon, you did NOT tell me that the driving instructor walked out from one of your animes!” Sehun yelled at his best friend. JiYeon couldn’t help but laugh at how outrageous Sehun looked as he flung his arms in the air, almost losing his balance and falling off the swings. JiYeon agreed to meet up with Sehun at the park after his driving lesson and promised to buy him ice cream. She was happily eating her mint chocolate chip and holding on to Sehun’s double scoop of triple chocolate (in a waffle cone) as he went on and on about Luhan.

“Why does it matter that he is good looking?” JiYeon asked teasingly knowing very well why Sehun was so worked up. For once, he realized that he was not the only good looking guy in town. He actually celebrated when Junmyeon left for university two years ago, because for the longest time, JiYeon’s older cousin was every girl’s Prince Charming. Growing up together, she witnessed as the cute and mischievous three year old boy turned into the tall and handsome seventeen year old (almost) man that caused the hearts of every girl at school to stop when he smiled. Well, every girl except for her because she knew what a real brat he was. And she had no capacity to find him attractive, as her eyes, heart, mind and soul were filled with her Lay oppa.

“It matters because.. because.. because he is definitely way too young to be a driving instructor!” Sehun stuttered. Something he always did when he was nervous.

“He just looks young, he’s actually twenty-one.” JiYeon replied as she took another bite of her ice cream. Sehun was shocked to hear that and opened his month to comment but no words came out. He could not believe that the pretty young looking man was four years older than him. All JiYeon could think about was that if Sehun kept this up, his entire two scoops of triple chocolate would melt in her hands. What a waste.