Jisoo stared outside her window blankly, watching the rain drizzling against the windowpane. All weekend, she had stayed home, trying to figure out what it was that she was feeling. She'd gotten close to believing that what she had felt that night with Sehun was nothing at all. And then Irene stepped foot into her apartment and all those thoughts began crumbling away.

Irene took a spoonful of caramel almond ice cream and stuck it in . "Why does it bother you so much to admit that you like Sehun, anyway?"

"Don't say it so casually like that, Irene! I still get goosebumps when you put 'like' and 'Sehun' in the same sentence. I don't understand what I'm feeling and even when I try to sort them out, I get more and more confused. The fact that I keep thinking about it like it's on replay is driving me insane." Jisoo groaned as she stepped away from the window and sat back on the couch beside Irene. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest. With her heart thudding, she looked at Irene with apprehension in her eyes. "I'm afraid that what I'm feeling for him… might be more than what I felt for Suho…or any men in my life, for that matter."

Desperately happy for her friend, Irene put the ice cream down and took Jisoo in her arms. "Oh honey. This is it, isn't it? What you've been waiting for?" Irene said comfortingly. "I know this is terrifying. I felt this way when Luhan came around the first time. I didn't know what to do. I thought I'd die waiting for him to ask me out."

"But you guys were in high school. I'm twenty three years old, for goodness' sake," Jisoo muttered while burying her head in Irene's bosom. "I just didn't expect it to happen with him. I feel so old to be only going through this now."

"You are not old," Irene said firmly, pulling away to face Jisoo directly. "Age doesn't matter when it comes to matters of the heart, trust me. What are you going to do?"

Jisoo raked a hand through her hair and heaved a deep sigh. "What can I do? It's not like he sees me any differently than before. This is all swirling in my head, not his. I just…I don't know."

"Are you going to tell him?"

As though she had been slapped, Jisoo stared incredulously at Irene. "No. That thought never even crossed my mind. This is going too fast. I don't even know for sure really, how I feel. No, that's impossible." Already in a panic, she stood up and paced the floor. "God, Sehun will hate me. He already gets annoyed at the sight of me. He'd probably just laugh at me and call me stupid if I ever told him."

"You know that's a lie," Irene said from the couch. "He's not like that and you know it better than I do. Look." She stood up and grabbed Jisoo's shoulders. "Just get to know him better. Get to know that other side of his that you always talk about."

Full of doubt, Jisoo stared into Irene's grey eyes. "Won't he find it bizarre if I just…randomly…ask him to spend time with me?"

She laughed with glee, growing excited at this budding love. "He will. But he'll say yes anyway."

Wondering where Irene got all her confidence, Jisoo could only shake her head in disbelief. "How are you so sure?"

"Because I'm an outsider and I've seen the two of you from an outsider's point of view. He's probably all mixed up inside too. So I suggest, before you decide to start burying those feelings like I know you want to, explore them for a bit. Who knows what might happen with the two of you?"

.................

Sehun studied her from behind. She had been staring at her computer blankly for the last fifteen minutes. Even when he'd nudged at her chair, there was no response. What was going on in that brain of hers? It was almost 5PM, but she hadn't packed any of her things.

Having finished all his work early that day and having thought this through all night, he decided to get it over with. Ask her out, he had decided after a horrible, sleepless night. One dinner. See how it goes. If it was awful, then that was it. God, he hoped it would turn out terrible. If not, he was screwed.

Since she'd brought him to that place at the park, it almost became impossible not to think about her. A day after that, he broke it off with Eunji as planned, and despite her desperation, he bluntly said the truth. Better to walk away now, he'd said. There was nothing there. Not when his mind was stuck on another woman.

A little antsy at Jisoo's lack of response, he stood up, walked around her cubicle, and stood right in front of her view. Leaning over the wall, he asked, "Where are you at right now?"

She jumped in surprise. "What?"

"It's already 5. Aren't you done your work?" He asked, glancing down at her desk.

"Oh." She blinked several times and saw all the unfinished paperwork. She estimated having spent half the day spacing out and thinking. She got no work done. "Oh no, I didn't get…this finished," she mumbled, looking down at one of the assignments she had to do. "Crap."

"What's with you today?" He went around again, looked over her shoulder at the big pile of papers she had in her hand. "Uh…that's due at 6. Give me half." He grabbed a bunch from her and walked back to his desk. "I'll help you. We might get this done on time if you stop daydreaming like a damn school girl."

She stared after him. "What are you doing?"

He looked back at her, annoyance clear in his eyes. "Suho will kill you if you don't hand this in by 6. I'm done all my work, so let's just finish this."

Her heart in disarray after that small act of kindness, Jisoo stared up at him helplessly. "Why are you helping me out?"

He shrugged. "I have time."

"Let's go for dinner after." Afraid to look him in the eye, she twisted around so her back faced him. After a silent pause, she asked tentatively, "okay?"

While he was studying the first page, he let out a small smile. She beat me to it, he thought. "Sounds good."

...

On their way to his car, Jisoo stretched out her arms above her head. "I can't believe we just barely made it!" She turned to him. "Thanks. I would have gotten into so much trouble had I not finished that."

"Why were you spacing out so much all day anyway?" He opened the car door on the driver's side.

At the question, she felt her face heat up. She cleared . "Just a lot of things in my mind, that's all. So where should we eat? I'm starving. It's…6:15 already," she said as she looked down at her watch. "I like eating any kind of food, so you can choose."

"There's a Greek restaurant twenty minutes away. It's pretty good. Up for it?"

She nodded in agreement. "That's fine."

As they drove out, the silence settled comfortably. Jisoo looked out the window and absently enjoyed the scenery. Her thoughts were still so focused on him. To have lent help that way, it tugged on her heart strings. She was a er for kindness, especially for something trivial as finishing a deadline that wasn't even his to stress out about. She wondered if he knew what kind of effect he had on women. This was probably why so many women at work found Sehun likable and charming, she mused. Funny that she could only see it clearly now when he'd been taking care of her all this time in that oddly subtle way of his.

Irene's words resonated in her mind. Get to know that other side of his that you always talk about…before you decide to start burying those feelings. She turned to face him. Thinking more and more about Sehun made her even more curious as to what kind of her person he really was, especially outside of work.

"Hey Sehun? What was your childhood like?"

He slowed down at the yellow light. Sehun rested his arm against the windowsill. "I was quiet. I didn't get along with people that well. In school, I barely had any friends."

Astonished, she glanced up at his profile. "Really?"

He nodded. Deciding there was no point in hiding how tough his life had been, he continued. "My parents ditched me when I was four. I first got adopted when I was seven, but it didn't work out. The relatives weren't thrilled that the family adopted a seven-year-old, unruly kid. So I got transferred to another family when I was eight. I kept getting into a lot of trouble at school and they couldn't handle it. They made me go back to Social Services when I was around thirteen. This old man took me in a year later. He was a damn good cook. I kind of learned everything from him. He was an old grandpa and all his kids were all married, so he was lonely," Sehun supplied. He glanced over his shoulder and changed lanes. "When I graduated high school, I told him I wanted to live on my own. I didn't want to be dependent on him anymore. He was a really good man," he said as an after-thought. "So he let me go. I got a part-time job while going to university, supported myself."

She never knew. Had she not asked, she never would have known anything about it at all. And he downplayed it as though it was no big deal. For someone to have gone through what he had and become as successful and independent as he was now…it was something to admire.

"That was a little depressing, huh?" Sehun asked, flashing her a quick grin.

"Actually…I'm just amazed with what you've done with your life, even after everything. I think a lot of people who have gone through something similar would have turned to drugs or alcohol or would have simply given up. The fact that you still wanted to fight for yourself is admirable, Sehun." She said with sincerity.

"That's a lot of praise. Thanks," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, though her words hit him hard. "Well, what about you? You must have been a happy kid."

She smiled at that. "No, but…my life story isn't nearly as complex as yours."

"I told you mine. Spill it."

"My mom and dad were wonderful parents. My older brother and I had a really good childhood. I have a lot of fun memories of that time in my life. But when I was ten, my mom died in a plane crash. My brother was fifteen at the time, so he took care of me when my dad started having it rough. Sometimes I miss her," Jisoo murmured, studying her fingers. "But it's been so long that there are times when I wonder if I've forgotten some memories already." She shrugged uneasily. "I don't know, my dad hasn't really been the same since my mom passed away, but…he's still trying, I guess."

Once they'd reached the restaurant, Sehun parked the car. But just as Jisoo took off her seatbelt, he took her arm. Jisoo looked back up at him in slight surprise.

"Those memories of your mom, I'm pretty sure you haven't forgotten. You won't forget, because they're important to you. Sorry to hear about her passing away."

Grateful for the kind words, Jisoo smiled genuinely. "Thank you."

The interior of the restaurant had a nice ambience to it, with subtle warm light bathing the room and small chandeliers hanging above the tables. As it was only a Monday night, it wasn't quite busy and both were seated right away at a table for two.

Now sitting in a restaurant, sharing this intimate space together, Jisoo became aware immediately of Sehun as a man. Her heart slowly turned over in her chest as their gazes met. He had really long lashes. And his eyes were a unique shade of brown. She'd never been this close to even notice them before.

"So…this is a little awkward, huh?" She asked with a nervous chuckle. She took the glass of water the waitress offered and took a