"Here."

A small sound of surprise left Sumi's rounded mouth as she tore her gaze away from the star-studded sky and to a foam container filled with pizza and fries. Hands reaching up, she took it with a murmur of thanks.

Jongdae hummed in return as he lowered onto the bench next to her.

After failing to find their friends, the two had decided to make the most of the night, listening and dancing to the rock band playing later that night, competing against each other at the many many game booths and going on rides - except the Ferris Wheel. Jongdae was afraid of heights, and Sumi didn't see the point in going alone.

To say they were exhausted would be an understatement.

"Tonight," she confessed between munches of her pizza slice, "was pretty awesome."

"Told you."

"I mean, strapping someone to a prison ball thing is kinda mean." She added as a wry afterthought. "But it was pretty cool too."

"Is that a subtle I'm picking up on?"

"How about fifty shades of hell no?"

He grinned. "Well, I'm proud of you. You are no longer a freshman."

"I can't believe they wouldn't make you do the course." She muttered as she thought back to her failed attempt to get Jongdae cuffed to the Fresher's Ball and forced to go through the same course. Even though it didn't happen, the thought of him running about in his bulky dino costume still made her giggle. 

Jongdae scoffed. "Oh please, I can easily name the last six years' themes. I am a legend."

Sumi nearly choked on a fry, turning wide eyes his way. "You've been at Yanggu for six years?"

Jongdae blinked before letting out a sheepish chuckle. "Oh, yeah. I wasn't exactly happy with my career choice in the start, so messed around for a bit."

"Then why didn't just you change it?"

"Parents." He muttered, head turned down as he twisted a fry between his fingers. "They forced me into a career path I didn't want, so I tried spiting my dad by making him waste more of his money, but in the end I figured I might as well just finish; the only person I was really spiting was myself."

"That ..." Sumi sighed a sad sigh. "Rich people really confuse me."

"Well, if its any consolation; they really think they're doing what's best for me."

"What would you rather be doing?" As he opened his mouth with a cheeky grin, Sumi glared in warning. "I swear, if you mention Mcdonald's, I will force a fry up your nose."

"Ok, wow?" He raised his hands in surrender. "I would also consider Burger King?"

Sumi groaned in defeat and went back to her fries. Just when she thought they were having a nice conversation. Well it was Jongdae, afterall.

"I love singing." It was so soft, she almost didn't hear. 

"Huh?"

"Singing. I always wanted to sing." He murmured with a smile so small, it almost wasn't there. But before she knew it, it was gone and replaced by an obnoxious smirk. "You should hear me sometime, I sound great."

"I want to comment on your abundance of modesty, but I'm going to leave well enough alone. That's the first genuine answer you've given me."

Moving closer, he nudged her arm. "I guess we're really getting to know each other now."

Sumi rolled her eyes and continued eating. "Heard from Yoonmi yet?"

"Nope." Frowning, he retrieved his phone and scoured through his messages. "Oh wait. Jisu messaged." His shoulders slumped as he read aloud in a bland tone. "She went off with Baekhyun."

"Of course, she did." Sumi blew out a sigh as if she were a disappointed parent. "Yoonmi sure is a er for punishment."

Jongdae shrugged a non committal "meh" before going back to his pizza.

"You're taking this rather this well." She observed in amusement.

"Well, you told me to give the guy a second chance, and between Baekhyun and another random guy I don't know, I prefer her going off with the computer geek."

"I guess." Tilting her head to the side in half agreement, she aimed a wry eyebrow his way. "But who would you rather have her with right now?"

Jongdae scowled. "That is a loaded question."

Sumi's shoulders racked in silent chuckles, but she found his protectiveness over Yoonmi cute, and wondered if his feelings ran deeper.

Chuckling at something on his phone, Jongdae passed the device her way. On the screen was a message from Jongin, a picture of him holding a small black dot, captioned "I found Jisu's mole."

Sumi snorted and began to comment on Jisu's shocking consistency with one guy, when her eyes roamed to the top of the screen and she internally flinched.

"Its four in the morning?" She screeched, standing up from her seat immediately, causing a few fries to fall to the ground. ", I need to be up in less than three hours."

"What are you talking about; its Saturday."

"I work on the weekend." Sumi explained, groaning at the thought of having to go into work without a wink of sleep. She began walking off, but turned to find Jongdae merely staring at her, in... awe?

"What?"

"Seriously, just when I think I have a grasp on you, you add on another blow."

"Because I work part time?"

"Because you never rest." He exclaimed, his features incredulous. "How are you able to push yourself so hard? Why, even?"

"I didn't exactly have a choice." She retorted. "You know the saying; 'With great degrees come greater tuition fees.' As a freshman, I had to figure out how I was going to pay for my studies. I had to keep my grades high in order to keep my fees low, and I'm not exactly the brightest egg. So between studies and working part time, I could hardly manage to fit sleeping in, let alone partying and having fun. This is just how I am now."

"That's heavy..." Jongdae finally mumbled, going glum. "And now my troubles as a rich kid seem like play time."

Features softening, Sumi closed the distance between them. "No, we all have problems. Its just relative to us."

"Yeah, but... Listening to you; that's a lot of worries to carry on one person's shoulders."

"Its a good thing a I have a rolling backpack, then." She joked. "Look, I'm not at all sad with the way things have panned out. I get to say that I worked my off for my degree, and I'm graduating with no debts. And all that work instilled in me a work ethic where I'm proud because I gave my all. Does that sound so bad?"

"Guess not." He admitted. "It actually sounds pretty awesome."

"Thank you. Now come on. Your "walk a girl home" morals won't have the desired effect if I'm late for work."

It took a bit of effort to get up in his dino costume, but he still managed a cheeky smile. "So you agree I'm a gentleman."

Pulling her face. "Well.."

"Please don't mention our date again." He added quickly.

She smirked and nudged him. "We're really getting to know each other now."

Jongdae just groaned, throwing his head back as he trudged after her.

As they walked back towards her dormroom, Jongdae made a random suggestion. "Ok, in attempt to get out of the Worst-date-ever zone, I give you the opportunity to explain your thesis topic to me."

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

"I promise I'll do my best to pay attention to... Your Tupperware assignment."

"Plastic."

"I know."

"Well, you asked for it."

Twenty minutes later, Jongdae was surprisingly still awake. And he had only yawned four times.

"Wow. You could actually do that?"

"We're getting ready to start running some tests soon." She nodded. "But yeah, by just changing a very specific material used in plastic bags, the time it takes to depreciate in the ocean will be significantly reduced; and it won't affect normal wear and tear while in use, because the material will be specifically designed to react when in contact with seawater only."

"That is actually insane."

"So cleaner seas, less pollution, less animals dying, better living. Its a win win for everyone."

"Most people dream of making their own lives better with their studies, but here you are.." He stopped to grant her a look of reverence. "Your brain is pretty."

Sumi couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words. "You know, Baekhyun would say something like that."

"Ugh, I take it back." The guy shivered at the thought. "But I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you before. I'm impressed."

"Thanks." She murmured through a small smile. They reached her dorm building. At the entrance, she her heel to face him, red cape soaring in the air. "Thanks for walking me home. And keeping me safe. And showing me a great time. When it comes to having fun, I know better now than to doubt you."

He bowed dramatically, hand out before his head. "We aim to please."

Standing at the open door, Sumi paused as she wondered if she should invite him in, feeling rather downhearted that the night had come to an end. Her eyes wandered to his lips, and a red hue crept up her neck as she remembered their kiss of earlier. Without realizing it, she'd been biting her own, and Jongdae seemed to pick up where her thoughts were, his own lips widening into a teasing smile. A lot more red, Sumi blinked and turned into the darkness of the door.

"Uhh, I won't keep you any longer." He grinned as he backstepped away, his brown hues twinkling with mischief. "Bye, Supergirl."

Rolling her eyes at his change of her nickname, but preferring it over the previous one, Sumi decided he deserved an upgrade too. "Bye, Dinoguy."

And then he was walking off, and Sumi was left with 2 hours to get ready for work, to find an open coffee shop and to figure out why someone as annoying as Jongdae made her smile with just a thought.

A/N: Official ending of chapter 3, I think? Dont mind these notes - its for when I compress the chapters, which will be soon. Anyhow, thanks for reading~~~