“ Nari-ah! Wake up! You’re gonna be late!”, a familiar voice jolted Nari out of her sleep. 

Her eyes cracked open as the sun pierced through Nari’s eyes mercilessly. Groaning, Nari rolled on her side and fumbled for her iPhone on the bedside table.

9.15am.

She huffed back into her fluffy pillow and sighed. She can’t decide if it’s the jet lag or the unwillingness to go on this blind date that is making this bed difficult to get out of.

“ Did you hear me? Don’t make me go in there-“ 

“ Please don’t Mum!” Nari rebutted immediately as she pouted to herself, kicking the blanket off her. 

Today is Friday, or exactly 5 days since she’s landed back in Korea. It was funny how unfamiliar a place she once called home had become to her,and after all she was only 6 years old when her family moved to Chicago.Fast forward to now, 15 years later and they had decided to move back because her father was offered a better job position out of Seoul. 

Her mum had insisted on setting her up with a son of a close family friend. You would think that this only happened in 1980s but nope, still standing strong in Korea’s society. 

Not wasting more time since she was already running late for the brunch date at 10.30am with this mysterious boy, she got up quickly for a quick wash up.

“ Just screw it up once so that they’ll never make me do it ever again,” she mumbled through her teeth and she stuffed a toothbrush in.

—

As it turns out, the way to Garosugil wasn’t as simple as her mum had explained and she would have taken a cab instead of the subway if she had known that locating a stupid cafe called Mug for Rabbit was indeed such a difficult rabbit hole to find.

She doubled checked the GPS just to be sure she was in the right place and looked up at the cafe infront of her again. Looking down at her phone the second time, it gave one last beep and shut down as her 10% battery finally completed its time. Damn it. She must fix that habit of not charging her phone before she sleeps.

Oh never mind at least she’s found her way here now, she consoled herself.

Before her was a cafe that looked more cozy that she had expected, it has an open concept and stretched up to 2 stories high. The interior had a very sleek but cozy feel to it.

A quick scan showed that there were only 3 people in the store - 2 girls sharing a cake on the first floor and a guy ordering on the second floor. 

There you are, she mumbled under her breath.

Without her phone as a reference now, she pricked her brain to recall what else her mum might have mentioned about this guy she was supposed to meet, but nothing comes to this scatterbrain of hers.

She mentally slapped her forehead and she decided to walk towards the staircase, mentally preparing herself for the very awkward meeting that will ensue. Never before had the word blind felt more appropriate for a date.

Looking on the bright side, she thought, at least there was only one guy in the cafe hence eliminating the need to guess between a few people. Now if only she could remember his name..

She sighed as her feet takes her nearer to his back.

Walking closer to him now, she could estimate that he’s quite a tall guy and possibly about 178cm. Lean but muscular frame, black hair and a nice coat - not bad at all. Just 4 steps behind him now, she cleared in attempt to get him to turn around, but he was too engrossed reading the menu to notice.

Then he looked up at the cashier girl and ordered, “ Hi there, can i please get a flat white?”

Before she could speak, her words came out of before she could control it, “ And can you please add a hot chocolate to that as well? 

The guy turned around instantly, taken aback by the random intrusion of his order.

Oh he's kinda cute, Nari instinctively thought before slapping herself in her head again.

She was suppose to screw this up and dislike him!

His two small eyes curiously looked back at her, and she noticed how they formed a cute line upwards as if there were two clock hands forming the time 10:10He was quite fair, but there was something about the small red lips and a sharp nose that framed his face perfectly like a cute puppy.  

She snapped out of it and cleared , “ Hey there..so here I am. I’m Nari..” She cringed at how stupid she sounded in front of him. Seriously, a bachelor’s degree and that was the best she could come up with.

She wondered if she should offer her hands now or just waved hi. Thankfully the cashier called him back to attention as he turned around to make payment. She stepped up to offer to pay for her own drink, but stopped herself mid track after remembering that in blind dates in korea meant that men have to pay for the meals and it’d be extremely rude to insist otherwise. 

Her date must have heard her abrupt stop, because he turned his head back with a curious look and motioned towards the cashier. " I've paid mine so.."

Nari pretended to do a casual hand wave towards the cashier, " oh yeah you can pay for me too. I totally understand it's the culture here." 

Instead of a polite smile, she saw his face moved from confusion into eventual amusement like he was holding back a laughter. 

" Oh so you want me to pay?" He asked, puzzled and amazed at the same time.

" Yeah..?" Nari nodded back with some hesitance. He titled his head to the side like he was questioning her and she felt puzzled by this action. What? Isn't he supposed to be famliar with this cultural norm of a blind date like her mom?

" Alright.." his voiced trailed out as a soft chucked followed.

He turned around and took out his wallet again to pay for her drink as Nari pretended to look at the menu board. She contemplated the possibility that somewhere in the world there was a contest for Most Awkward Girl Ever and she'd like to sign up straight away.

As he tugged his wallet back into his inner coat, he began taking steps to the left side of the counter where the barista began preparing their drinks and Nari subconsciously followed his steps. 

“So..” Nari began, wondering if he was gonna be shy like this the entire time and whether she had to continue taking the lead in this awkward date.

“ I’m sorry, have we met before?” He asked in an amused voice, grinning a little at the corner of his lips.

Nari laughed nervously, she’s never been on a date with a stranger and it isn’t proving to be easy. “ Um, not really but I mean you may have heard about me from my mum i guess?”

“Your mum?” he repeated, almost wanting to follow up with another question but was called to collect their drinks in a wooden tray.

He began walking towards a small table in the deepest corner. Even if Seventeen wasn’t that famous yet he didn’t want to risk being seen and photographed publicly with a random girl- albeit a very pretty one. She could probably be mistaken as a girl group idol with that face, he thought.

Nari followed and quickly took a seat opposite him.

“ So, you’re Ha-neul right?” Nari tried to remember his name as she took her hot cocoa out of the tray.  

He took a gulp of his flat latte and coughed slightly as he laughed out. 

“ No I’m-“ he wanted to continue, but the mischievous side within got the better of him. 

“ Yup, Ha-neul that’s me,” he offered a free hand to her.

Nari shocked his hand as she sighed out, relieved she’s now able to tell her mum she made it to the date even if she don’t intend to make it work.

Seeing that she was lost in her thought for a couple of seconds, Hoshi seized the chance to take a good look at her.

Strange as she is, this pretty girl just walked right up to him and somehow they ended up drinking coffee together.

The first instinct was that she was a fan, but he’s seen enough to know that a fan don’t behave like her and she genuinely don’t seem to recognise him at all.

Her hair was dark brown and there were wavy, he liked the way it fell all the way just at her shoulders and framed her oval shaped nicely. Her black doe eyes, a cute small nose, and thin lips - these were ordinary yet pretty. It was the kind of face that gets prettier as you look each time. As she gulped down her drink he could see a pair of deep dimples on the side of her cheeks. 

He chuckled at the odd yet pleasant situation he was in. To think he was just going to order a take away coffee and spend the rest of his off day alone at the Han River writing a song that Woozi had been forcing him to get started on. 

“ So you mentioned about your mum?” he initiated the conversation again.

“ Oh yes, well as you know I just moved back from Chicago so i’m sorry if my korean’s a little weird. And i’m new to this whole blind date thing our mums set up which will explain why i’m sorta like nervous now?” she said everything out almost in a hurry. There you go, she felt so much more relieved now that all’s out.

Ah, Hoshi understood now. He knew he should have clarified there and then, but it would also mean she might apologise and leave right away too too. And this kinda fun just don't come to him everyday.

“ Don’t worry about it, your korean seems fine to me, “ he chuckled.

“ So what do you do for a living?” she asked, taking another sip from her cup.

Hoshi almost choked. He now just began to realise this mischief was gonna take a lot to keep up. “ Um, I’m a performer”

“ Performer? What sort of performer?”

He hummed in his throat as he looked up at the ceiling. “ Uh,” he looked at her, “ I guess you can say sometimes i sing and dance on sofas..?”

Not a lie he thought, Pretty U  choreography did have sofas.

Her face lit up a little, like she finally understood something. “ Oh like a musical actor? That’s nice! You must perform regularly then?”

Hoshi nodded, barely containing his smile. “ Yeah.. i guess i do perform often” 

" Cool, do you have any upcoming shows that I can check out?" she offered.

Hoshi bit his bottom lip hesistantly. "Yeah.. i think so. In a month i think."  Well technically there are comebacks planned in a month's time. " But i'm not too sure which theatres i will perform in.." he lied. He wondered if she's been to music shows like music bank.

But enough about him, he was more curious about her. “ What about you Nari?”

“ Oh me? I just graduated with a bachelor degree in visual communication. Kinda got a job but i won’t start until next week..” she trailed off, suddenly remembering that she’s supposed to start working at this music company called Pledis Entertainment and she’s barely got any idea where that is or what it is even.

“So you design stuff? like posters?” 

“ Yeah, but i think my job requires me to design album designs and concert merchandise.. honestly I’m not sure and i’ll probably only find out on my first day” she admitted.

“Do you listen to Kpop?” He asked carefully, making sure that he looked nonchalant enough to not give himself away.

She scrunched her nose instinctively and shook her head, “ Nope. Not my kinda thing. Although my cousin’s really into it. I think she devotes her life to a band called.. BTS i think? or BTOB, BOB.. one of those Bs.. there’s just a lot of Bs going on in kpop groups”

Hoshi laughed, surprised but amused at the same time at her honesty. It was refreshing to meet a new perspective. 

“You won’t even give it a chance?” He asked.

She shook her head with a determined look in her eyes. “ Boys with tight pants winking on TV just isn’t my thing”

Whoa. Did she somehow catch on that he did all of these things? 

“Not even if the kpop idols looked like me?” he teased.

She glared at him. “Especially if they look like you,”

He laughed, “ Okay, i see you’re warming up to me already”.

Nari can’t help but let out a chuckle. “ You like being insulted by a girl?”

“ Nope, besides i don’t think you meant it”

She rolled her eyes. “ So you’re suggesting that I may one day fall for a kpop idol who looks like you?”

He nodded, “ you might. And who am I to judge if you find a korean idol who look just like me, wearing some tight pants, dancing on the stage, winked at you and you loved every single minute of it?”

She laughed and resisted the urge to hit him, a natural reaction she had whenever she laughed.  “ Okay, if i do find an idol who look just like you and IF i find him cute i’ll let you know. You do the same if you see an idol who looks like me too”

He pretended a sigh. “Tough luck. There isn’t one as cute as you in my opinion”.

Her eyes widened as she laughed.“ Excuse me, are you flirting with me?” 

He shrugged, then looked right at her. 

It was so sudden she felt her heartbeat stuck at .

He titled his head and he spoke, “ Can’t I? Isn’t it what people do when you go on a date?”

“ It’s just a blind date you know,” she pointed out, unable to hide how much she is actually beginning to enjoy talking to him.

“ And all the more i have to convince you to have a second date with me”, Hoshi replied with a playful grin as he reached out for another sip of coffee.

------

Note: Hey guys! :) It's my very first Svt fanfic and i really hope you guys liked it! It'll mean alot to me if you guys could leave some feedbacks or comments! Open to suggestions or request on possible scenaraios for upcoming chapters as well :) Thank you everyone!!