“I like you,”

Sehun’s eyes widen when he heard her. “What?” he asked, in an unsure tone, checks if he heard her rightly.

Haru's cheeks turned pink as she looked back, falling open for just a second, before snapping shut. It seemed that she'd been just been caught.

She stared down, looking at him nervously. Taking a ragged breath, she did the only thing which seemed conceivably possible in that split-second moment. She felt confident, for the first time in several weeks that everything was going to be just fine. That feeling persisted, and then she knew everything was going to work out for the best, after all.

“I like you,” she said again. Her heart was pattering like a machine gun when she said those words.

He stood up, meeting her gaze and not letting go. He was normally a talker, but the silence that shrouded them was intoxicating, not what you'd call a comfortable silence, but more of an intriguing, exciting one.

“I thought you were relying on me,” she spoke, as she walked towards him, “But the truth is I relied on you all along. Thanks to you, I had self-confidence. I didn't think having even just one person who understands me would be so reassuring. How can I say it, it feel like the cloud was always looming over my head went away, and the sun came out a little.”

He gulped hard; praying that she didn’t meant to like him as a friend. He wanted to have a relationship that goes beyond that, “I don’t do friends.” He said, his voice rumbled, almost like a rough whisper.

“Not as a friend.” Her answer was simple and honest.

He stared at her, his throat felt extremely dry. His head started to spin but he wanted her to say the words he was longing to hear from her. “Say it again.”

“I like you.” She smiled at him reassuringly, “The light and the darkness. The happiness and the pain. The smirks and the tears. All of you. I like you.”

Sehun blinked at her, stunned, and she saw some of the panic leave his expression, slowly being replaced by a huge boyish grin he didn't even bother to hide. “Took you long enough.” He said, shyly.

She smiled and he leaned forward suddenly, pressing a quick soft kiss on her right cheek, his heart hammered embarrassingly too fast for him to do anything else. She looked dazzled for a moment before gaining her equilibrium back. “That's a seal. It stays forever.” He whispered lowly.

//

“Stop the car.” he ordered his driver. The car was pulled in front of a jewelry store. Sehun got away from his car and walked inside the luxurious store. He bends a little and looked at the rings displayed in mirrored shelf with great interest.

“This is an honor!” A voice shrieked. Sehun turned to look at a middle aged man walking hurriedly towards him. “To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?” he asked politely, his voice laced with excitement. He extended his hand out, still smiling widely, “I’m Kim Yung Min. The owner.” He briefly introduced himself. "To have Mr. Oh's son-"

“I’m here to see couple rings.” Sehun said after shaking his hand, cutting straight to the point.

“Couple rings?” The man asked slowly, raising his eyebrow at Sehun’s request.

“Yes.” He answered curtly. Sehun raised his brow in return after seeing the man's hesitation.

“Sure.” Mr. Kim replied almost a second later brushing off the look on his face, “This way, sir.”

//

Sehun knocks her door excitedly. He hides the small black box behind him while he waits for her to open the door. He broke into a huge smile when he sees her, in her pink pajamas, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “Sehun?” she called sleepily, “What time is it? What are you doing here?”

“8,” he grinned, “Spend the day with me. Let's go on a date.” He walked past her inside her house, “Let's have breakfast and then we'll watch a movie, then we'll have lunch,” he continued laying the agenda he planned excitedly. He turned to look at Haru who still rubbing her eyes sleepily, barely registering even a word he was saying, looking extremely exhausted. He smiled adoringly at her, taking the state she was in. “But you could use some sleep now.” He beamed.

**

She tries to hide further beneath her purple blankets. She feels the bed groan and he is sitting on the edge of her bed now. She doesn’t know when she curled up into a tiny ball, or when she her head beneath her blankets, but she’s thankful for the quiet and lack of light. Sehun lies down too, beside and facing her, but he was thoughtful enough to put some space between them, thinking his action may look too intimate if he didn't. But seconds later, he decided that he didn't care. He snuggled up close to her, sharing her pillow, throwing his arms over her. He rested his chin on her head and breathed in the familiar pear scent from her hair.

“You're too close.” She mumbled in her sleep.

He chuckled but said nothing, pulling her closer to him.

Haru could feel his heart beating and it was beating a tad bit faster than the normal rate.

“Weird,” she mumbled again, heavy eyed. He laughed into her hair and she would have been offended but his laugh was full of wonder and adoration that even she smiled herself back to sleep.

**

“I have something for you,” he said, when she walked towards the living room. She was wearing a red knitted cashmere sweater with black jeans.

“What?” she asked curiously after seeing him being giddy and anxious about it. He walked towards her, taking her hand in his and slowly placing the small black box in her palm. Haru stared at him long knowing what it was before diverting her attention to the box. She opens it and there sited an elegant personalized silver ring. Her eyes darted onto his finger, and he was wearing a similar ring to that of hers.

“Rings?” she laughed, raising her eyebrows.

“Couple rings,” he giggled. “Let's just do all the silly things couples do.” He said sheepishly, his eyes creasing at the corners. She actually smiled, seeing all the fun in this.

//

“Let's do that. It looks fun,”

She turned to see a swarm of people surrounding it at the direction he pointed. “Photo booth?” she asked him dubiously.

He nodded, “Yes. Let’s take some pictures,”

They both lined up, waiting for their turn. Haru noticed a bunch of teenage girls giggling, looking at Sehun flirtatiously but he was oblivious to the attention he was receiving. Instead he engrossed himself with a thin brochure, “So there are sticker and polaroid types,” he mumbled to himself. The girls cast a quick look at Haru and then back to Sehun as if they couldn't believe that he is with her. For a moment she felt self-conscious. She shakes her head in regret for not wearing a skirt or something pink on their first date.

“Let's take both,” Sehun said, drawing her attention back, “The sticker and the polaroid ones,”

**

Haru laughed looking at the pictures they took in the booth. Sehun joined, laughing with her. He sees her, laughing genuinely, looking like she is enjoying the time spend with him. He felt the air rush out of his lungs as he released the breath he didn't even know he was holding. A grin spread over his face.

//

“I want to watch that,” she said pointing at the horror film poster.

“It?” he asked. “Who names a movie ‘It’?” He asks surprised that his voice hasn’t given away his fear yet. Sehun hated scary movies when he was younger. They were always too terrifying for him to watch.

“Who cares about the name?” she said, then turned to look at his unsettled face and laughed, “Are you scared?” she asked teasingly at him, “Oh my god, you are.”

 “Nonsense,” he shoots defensively, not wanting to lose his cooling in front of her, he adamantly denied his fear.

, “Wait here, I’ll buy the tickets,” he said, then disappearing into the crowds. Haru laughed as she watched his figure disappear from sight.

“You're dating him? It won’t end nicely for you,” A female voice drawled behind her. Haru recognizes the voice even before she turns to see her.

“He looks happy,” Yoona said, looking at the direction he walked and Haru couldn't help but to notice the sadness in her voice, “I don’t get to see him like that,”

Yoona looked somehow skinnier, the area under her eyes looks hollower and that changes look drastic on her. Haru was amazed on how different she look now compared to their first meeting even if was just a matter of days. Yoona noticed that Haru was staring at her, looking like she don’t know what to say.

“Don’t worry. I’m not after him,” she said sarcastically. “He made it clear that he has no feelings for me the last time I saw him,” she recalled the encounter that left her heart broken, “And I don’t love man who loves another woman. I think more of myself than that,” she hinted.  She tried to measure Yoona’s response to what she was hearing and was following the lines of her face for a clue before her lips part. Yoona moved closely to Haru, looking directly at her eyes, “But don’t hurt him,” she said seriously, her voice threatening, “Because I won’t just sit back and watch.”

There was no mistaking the warning in her statement.

Yoona walked past her without another word but stopped when Haru called out her name.

“Thank you,” she said softly but she was quickly responded with a mocking laugh.

“Don’t get me wrong. I'm not doing this for you. I’m doing this for him,” she hissed, “And in case you don’t know, I still hate you very much,”

She glared at Haru for one last time before stomping past her. Haru watched her regrettably, feeling somewhat guilty. The phone in her jeans pocket vibrates and it jolted her. Haru took her phone out to see what it was. It was an email notification from Zeus.

A familiar feel of pain pricked her heart. She recalled the previous mail where she was informed sophisticatedly that she was rejected.

What is it this time? She grunted before swiping it off without reading the content. She didn’t want to get upset again. She was moving on from the rejection and reminds herself constantly not to lose hope.  If it is not Zeus, perhaps she could find her career elsewhere.

//

They're halfway through the movie and Sehun is trying not to cover his eyes. The lights are off and he's glad for it, because Haru was, sitting on the right side of him, and he's hoping that she don't noticed how fearful he looked. It was her idea to watch a horror movie for date night and she seemed eager enough. Sehun went in not really knowing what to expect, and it's too late to back out now.

He doesn't have the stomach for gore and unfortunately for him, that's what this entire movie is filled with. He knows that if she notices, she's never going to let him live it down. Glancing in her direction, Sehun is glad to see that Haru is too wrapped up in watching the movie to notice anything else.

But after an hour, among all the other screams, Sehun’s probably the loudest in the theater.

He would make it through 10 minutes before the clown has him screaming again. His eyes go wide but his grip on the handsets remains strong yet shaky. Haru was laughing the entire time instead of watching the movie. After almost two hours, the ending credits began to roll.

“You said you're not scared?” she giggled.

“I’m not,” he protested, smiling despite his embarrassment. “Those effects are rubbish,” he grimaced. She shook her head in laughter, noticing the blush on his face.

//

Down the road, he encountered a couple walking hand in hand, the occasional giggle from the woman as the man whispered sweet words into her ear. What does he say to her? He thought internally. He turned his face to Haru, who looked chipper, practically bouncing as they walked from the subway, and he was lagging behind. She was almost eight paces ahead of him when she finally noticed, stopping and turning to look at him with a contemplative expression. “What’s wrong?"

”Can we hold hands?" he asked before he realized how incredibly needy that sounded.

Haru jerked her head over to stare at him, astonished by the request. He wasn't looking at her, his gaze stubbornly on the ground. She couldn't tell, it being so late in the evening and already rather dark out, but she thought she saw a pink tint on his cheeks. She sighed through her nose and held her hand out. “Sure.”

He folded his hand around hers, some of the tension easing out of his shoulders. Haru couldn’t help but to enquire him the question that has been bugging her ever since. “Why do you like me?” she asked, uncertainly.

“That is obvious.” His lips are pursed, eyes concentrated on her face once more.

“No, it’s not.” She said, not looking at him, but at her feet.

He didn’t answer right away, the nervous energy too much as he kept an almost avian like degree of concentration on her. His brows furrowed, not understanding the why she would feel inferior of herself. She is charismatic, beautiful and friendly, it was only natural, the way people were drawn to her wherever she went. “You’re beautiful,” he paused, “You’re strong and full of light. You’re interesting.” His grip on her hands tightened when he said those words to her.

He looks to her, but in the low light she has a hard time making out the expression on his face. The comfort of those words, and the warmth of his hand and she smiled back at him.

“Kyung soo birthday’s next week, do you want to come?” he asked her. His voice is warm, and it carries a caring she’s not sure she ever heard before. She wanted to say yes, but the thought of seeing Lay and Baekhyun there stopped her from saying so. Stop over thinking, she berated herself internally. She hesitated for a moment before looking at him.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be awkward, I’ll be there with you,” he assured as if he knew what she was thinking.

Finally she gave him a nod, and they continued walking to her apartment. She shot him a good night look quickly, couldn’t wait to go to her unit to take off the shoes she was wearing. She was thinking about the blister that might form tomorrow.

It is a hand on her face that makes her realize what is happening, touching against cheek and then forehead. Large hands, she had never realized how thin his fingers were. He brushed her hair back from her forehead. He thought he told her everything, spent enough time with her for the day, every moment that mattered, yet in the mere minutes of her going back to her apartment, he thought of a thousand things he forgot to say.

“Haru,” He paused there, a strange hesitance in his tone, and the nervous energy coursing through him once again. “Good night.” He smiled,  and he couldn’t wait to see her again the next day.