Perhaps I had been too obvious at work.  One day when Seohyun came in she left without her receipt, and change.   Being the junior I was asked to quickly run after her.

I felt embarrassed, but I yelled out her name, not seeing her.  I saw her when she got out of her car, and gave her the forgotten change and receipt.

“Thanks,” she said.  She smiled shyly and got back into her car.  It was then seeing that I got the idea that she really had been paying attention to the messages on the receipts.

I don’t know for how long I stood there, but when I got back my coworkers weren’t mad, and though I found that strange, I wasn’t about to remind them and get a scolding.

After that day, I guess, well it seemed,… I don’t know what had gotten into Seohyun, but I definitely wasn’t complaining.  She was talking to me more, and even if I didn’t speak that much I didn’t think that atmosphere around us was awkward or cold.  In fact to me it was a fresh and surprisingly comfortable feeling, I just hoped that it was like that for her too.

I could tell we had become closer, with how closed we walked, and how she playfully hit me at times.  Joking around came naturally, but the closer we got the more I was reminded of how hesitant I was being.  We were growing closer, yet I hadn’t asked her out.  I hadn’t been clear about what my intentions were.

Honestly, I had been hurt before thinking there was something only to find out that to the other party there was nothing, or at most just friendship.

I knew it wasn’t like this with Seohyun, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous.  In fact I was very nervous.  I wanted everything to be perfect.  Coming to that conclusion, how can I explain it?  It wasn’t hard, but it was serious and because of that I didn’t want to mess up a single thing.  Because we’re past the age of being teenagers, getting ready to face the future with the responsibilities and worries accumulating, I didn’t want anything to go wrong.  Still I worried was I being too serious so fast, was I being to slow?

One day, when it was close to closing time just the staff and Seohyun were left.  I was worried, why was she still here?  When I approached her, she asked if I would walk her home, since she had come in while the sun was still out and hadn’t brought her car.  I nodded, and went into the back room and told my coworkers.  Since it was my turn to close, I felt a bit sorry towards Seohyun.  Especially when I saw that she was startled to see everyone leave, and then it donned on me.  We were alone, even if it was at a café.  I didn’t let that thought linger and tried to quickly finish work.

When it was time to leave, I locked the door and when I turned around I saw Seohyun with what looked to be pepper spray out.

“I’m not going to hurt you, you know that right?” I asked warily scratching my nape.

Seohyun locked her arms with my left one, and nodded.  I saw a smile on her face and heard a chuckle, which caught me off guard, “What was so funny?” I thought.

“This isn’t for you.” She said in a matter of fact voice, but I could still tell by the way she was holding my arm that she was trying to cover up her fear.  “Where are we going?”

“I don’t always walk to work, and staff parking is in the back.”  I said tightly grabbing ahold of her hand.  For a moment I notice her hand stiffen, and I thought perhaps I had scared her.

I was either wrong, or she just reacted differently to fear because instead of looking too scared she started hitting my arm “Don’t be like that!” she whined and still didn’t let go of my hand.  It felt good, that she trusted me.

When we arrived at her dorm which was only a couple buildings away from mine she turned to me and gave me an unsure look like she was thinking about something, and then it looked like she was blushing, but maybe that was her makeup.  The next thing I knew she had her lips on my cheek.  She pulled away rather quickly thought, and just said, “See you tomorrow.  And thanks,” before leaving the car and running inside.  I didn’t smile until I was in my room, I guess I really hadn’t expected that.

The next time we saw each other was a couple days later.  I still messaged her quite frequently, and once a week had gone by since the kiss, she showed up around closing time, when I was getting out the keys to lock up.

“Seohyun…What, it’s late and I’m clos-,”

“I know, but it’s raining outside.  Did you bring your umbrella?”

“No.” I said noticing the rain.

“Then I came to rescue you.”  She said with a smile, you could just tell how proud she was of herself.  I smiled while shaking my head and got under the umbrella with her.

She ended up just driving to her dorm, since I insisted that she couldn’t drive back by herself, so I’d just walk to my dorm after making sure she was inside.  She didn’t look very pleased, but did as I said when I finally took her umbrella.  In fact she looked a bit grumpy and I noticed her nostrils, it was funny she had made a face at me!

Valentine’s Day was coming up, well in a month, but I have to have time to plan.  I had decided that I had to step up and ask her to be my girlfriend.  After all I wasn’t asking her to marry me, not just yet.

The whole next week I was at the register, I’d come up with new things to type on Seohyun’s receipts.  And if I did say so myself I’d gotten bolder too.  With words like wait for me, you won’t regret it, don’t look at other guys, hey wondering eyes.  It was like a little secret between me and her, by this time I was almost 100% sure that she had noticed, but I was just too frustratingly so shy to ask her.  Also, there was something special in not know, an exciting feeling while waiting to see her reaction.  Like the pleasant feeling when our hands would touch, and there was also the fear of being called a creep.

I really got a reality check when one day I saw a guy talking to her.  He had given her a rose, and it wasn’t even Valentine’s Day!  I was still unsure of how to react.  I wanted to take that rose and stomp on it, but that was too childish, even for me.  It wasn’t the flower’s fault, pun intended, haha.  Anyway, I realized that day that it wasn’t only me that was looking at Seohyun.  I felt foolish, Seohyun was…was so right, of course there would be other guys that liked her.  With how much time we spent together I doubted that she was looking at them, and that gave me confidence.

She showed up at my dorm one day very unexpectedly.  I took ten to fifteen minutes to just open the door, since I was hiding all the preparations for her surprise, and cleaning up somewhat.  When I finally opened she once again had that funny look with her nostrils expanding and then letting out a sigh.

“I thought you were just going to leave me in the hallway.”

“No, of course not, but why don’t we go somewhere else?”

“Um… actually I just came to uh…to tell you that I won’t be around for two days,” she said.

I nodded ok.  “Ok, but on the fourteenth you’ll be around right?”  I asked and then once I realized what I had just said I realized all the connotations that could be made.

Seohyun nodded with a smile, and left right after without a word.  She had acted funny, but I didn’t think about it too much.  Not until she wouldn’t even respond to my messages or calls!

The two days went by, she didn’t come by on the third day either.  I was starting to worry that she had in a way dumped me.

I saw one of her friends at soccer practice, it seemed she was talking to Minho, another soccer player.  I caught up to them and awkwardly ask if they knew where Seohyun was.

The girl nodded, “She’s been preparing something in the-.  YA! Choi Minho!”

“This is Luhan!  Yoona!” he said to her and suddenly the angry look on the girl’s face vanished.

“Um, she’s busy, but if you have a message I can….” She, Yoona, looked at me.

“No, just tell her that I’ve been looking for her.”

Yoona must have told her quickly, because after I got out of the locker room Seohyun was there with her.

Also Seohyun looked like she had also been exercising.  She was wearing a loose shirt that looked more like a dress and yoga pants.

“Hot yoga!” Yoona said snapping me out of my thoughts.  “Ya!  You were thinking inappropriate thoughts about our Hyunnie?”

I felt myself start to get hot, hoping I wasn’t looking like an idiot.  What type of guy blushes?  “Huh?”

“You just whispered yoga and your lips?”  Yoona teased.

I look toward Seohyun, whom surprisingly didn’t have a blush, perhaps because she was still catching her breath, probably from hurrying here.  “He didn’t!” she just said lightly bumping Yoona’s shoulder.

“Ok, you didn’t your lips.”  Yoona smiled.  “But you probably did in your mind,” she whispered so only I could hear.

Seohyun and I walked alone around the track, since she didn’t want to go back just yet.  I was tired and told her I’d just watch her, but she insisted I joined her.

We walked and then we were playing tag.  It was funny, since I was faster than her, seeing her try harder and get frustrated.  Then she took out the soccer ball that was in my bag and we played some more.  She couldn’t take more than ten steps without losing the ball.

We laid down next to each other on the field.  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.  I noticed how her chest rising and falling, along with her breathing.  The sweat on her collar bone.  I don’t know if Seohyun noticed, because maybe she would have hit my arm and told me to look up, but she didn’t say anything.  She didn’t need to though, when I heard her call my name, I was caught off guard, and probably looked like a fool pretending I was tracing shaped on the ground.  I was about to get up thinking that she probably wanted to go back, but Seohyun rolled over on her side, rested her head on my arm and brought her hand to my face to push my hair out my face.  She smiled before going back to looking at the sky.

When we got up and I got my bag she was whining that her whole body hurt, that it was my fault, but I didn’t at all mind.  In fact her words sounded funny.  Her whining wasn’t badly intended, she was just tired, so I stopped in front of her and took off my backpack.  I looked at her and gave it to her.  She probably thought I was going to tie my shoelaces.  When I told her to get on my back, she told me she was sorry, but I told her I wouldn’t get up until she did.

 Sorry,I thought I had unchecked the hide chapter box.