Elle, despite her timid nature, forced herself to go get lunch with Chanyeol that afternoon.

 

The place they went to was a small cafe, and Chan suggested that they sit towards the back, so that they could be closer to the heating vents. Only after seeing that she was shivering in her oversized coat, of course.

 

Even though she was hesitant to go at first, she had always made it a point to be early by at least 20 minutes to whatever she showed up to. Just a small habit of hers, to ensure no embarrassment by lateness. However, when she showed up, Chan had already been there. He told her that he got out of work early and had planned to wait for her to show up.

 

They went inside and sat down, stripping off their many winter-filled layers and ordered something hot to drink.

 

Elle’s eyes shifted back and forth from his to the tables surface, unable to start any conversation without worrying about its consequences, she stayed silent.

 

Things were getting awkward, very fast.

 

After a few minutes of silence he suddenly broke it with a bang again the table that ended with a loud yell. He grabbed his foot and started to curse to himself. With that, Elle broke through whatever was stopping her before and started laughing controllably with tears in her eyes.

 

With that he stopped rocking back and forth and looked up. “You finally said something!!” He said with a grin.

 

“I didn’t say anything!! I was just laughing!!” She choked out between giggles.

 

“What was keeping you from talking to me?” He asked sincerely, still gripping onto his poor toe that he had accidently stabbed earlier.

 

She wiped away some of the tears from her eyes and looked down. “I’m not the best around people, I’m sorry if I ever am awkward around you… I don’t mean it maliciously…”

 

“That’s alright” He pierced a smile through her. She suddenly felt her cheeks turning a little pink. She was just cold though right?

 

“Even if you have trouble talking back, I still want to get to know you.” He said with a serious look. “So for now, I can just talk! If you feel comfortable though, I’ll never talk over you. I want to hear your voice” He gave a heartwarming smile.

 

She nodded as he started to go on about his life to her.

 

For the next few hours he told her many things about himself, how he lives by himself in an apartment nearby the campus because he wanted to get away from his home-life. Something she could relate to greatly. He told her about his pet dog and showed her what seemed like a hundred pictures of a cute toy poodle that he dressed up in many different outfits. She thought it was very fitting. After awhile, she started to speak back to him, telling him a bit about herself as well. Little by little, it became easier and easier to talk to him. She had never opened up to someone so quickly before, and although it was incredibly scary, she felt as if her outer layers had been warn down and she felt peace around him.

 

Checking the time after being there for as long as she could remember, it was already incredibly late.

 

“Wow… is it really midnight??” She said in a shocked voice. “We’ve been here for 4 hours!!” She laughed along. She took a small bite out of a muffin she caved in and ordered about an hour ago. She felt bad for taking up the cafe space without paying for anything.

 

“Do you need to go?” He said in a somewhat worried voice. This instigated a smile on her face. “Why would you miss me?” She taunted backwards.

 

“Yes, so so much!!” He joked back. Both of them smiled. “Well we both don’t have class tomorrow…” She went on, “What do you want to do?”

 

“You can come back with me if you want to my apartment!” He said cheerfully.

 

With that notion her entire face turned red. She wasn’t ready for that just yet, hell, was this even considered a date? Of course it wouldn’t be her first time being intimate with someone, however her shy nature physically revolted even the thought of anything ual at this point.

 

He looked confused for a moment, and then laughed. “Not like that stupid!! I just want to hang out with you more, you can even crash on my couch if you want. I think you can tell that I’m not a psycho murderer at this point.”

 

She opened to say something and then looked down again, suddenly her walls building up slowly again. Again, here we go… She thought to herself. She can’t ever open up to anyone without consequence. She started to curse herself out in her head as she fumbled with her bag and keys. “I actually.. S-should get going.” She said with a fake half smile. Why did she always have to pull away? Why did she always have to isolate herself like this. She kept going on in her mind like this, beating herself up for not staying with him. With that she nodded and swiftly got up and ran out of the restaurant in one swift movement.

 

Chan simply looked out past her, very confused with a bill to pay for a muffin that was left a few second prior.