The breeze turned the pages of the book and Sumin had to grab her pencil case to hold it down. She looked out to the football field and watched the university’s soccer team training that was taking place. She started to type her work again but her thoughts went to the previous day, when she went to Yongsu Falls with Sehun. It was their third trip together in 7 weeks.

The following days after the first outing, Sehun came to the café as usual to get his bubble tea. Although outwardly they were the same, but there were small gestures that signaled they were no longer strangers; the small smiles, cheeky winks, soft looks and pinked cheeks.  Occasional Sehun will speak to her softly on the things related to what they spoke about on their daily chats. Their bickering on the chats still continued, but they also often discussed important and insignificant things that were happening in their lives. Their chats continued even when Sehun went overseas for his schedule.

Although her trip out of Seoul was usually about once a month, Sehun had persuaded her to have her trips on the days when he had a free day over the weekend. As his schedule tends to bunch up, there could be weeks where his consecutive weekends are filled. Hence, whenever he has a free weekend, he persuaded Sumin to go on their outing. They went to Lake Soya in Chuncheon three weeks after the first trip. The second trip was less awkward, where they become more comfortable with each other as they chatted animatedly and joked a lot but she still refused to learn to dance. Sumin admitted she enjoyed his company on her trips, so when Sehun suggested going to Yongsu Falls the day before, she had agreed.

On the train ride to Yongsu, Sehun had brought a headphone adapter so that they can share the music using their own headphones. He didn’t like earphone and preferred headphones. Sumin had wanted to listen to the music on his playlist. Sehun has a long list of songs on his phone, but he decided to introduce Kpop songs, from beautiful ballads and also dance music. When a new song played, he would give a short introduction to the singer or group. He also added some funny insider anecdotes. Sumin felt like she was doing a crash course on Kpop and with Sehun as the lecturer, the lesson was fun.

Her face warmed as she remembered how close Sehun’s face to hers when he was telling her about the kpop. He would lean in closer to her face so that he could speak softly. The first couple of times when he leaned in, Sumin’s immediate reaction was to turn towards his voice, only to realise, his face was about an inch away from hers. After that, she will face forward when Sehun speaks. Even then, the feel of his warmth breath against her face or the occasional accidental skinship would cause her heartbeat to race. It may be slight, but still unnerving to her.

After she had finished drawing the waterfall, she stretched her arms. She then noticed there was a couple of other groups of people near their spot. She turned to Sehun who had his cap drawn low and his sunglasses on, laying down with his head facing downwards toward the book he was reading. She nudged him softly and signaled to him about the other people nearby. He nodded, indicating his awareness. Sumin quickly packed up her things and they moved away, with Sehun making sure his face remain hidden.

They found a quieter spot but still near Yongsu Falls. Sehun was laying down their mat when Sumin whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me that there are other people? I didn’t realise. I’m so sorry.” Sehun stopped his action and gazed at her. She looked upset and guilty. “Why are you sorry? If we had moved when others came, it would be even more obvious that we have something to hide. Since I could hide my face easily, why should we disrupt your drawing?” Sehun sat down and gazing up at her, “What’s for lunch?” he asked chirpily.

Sehun seemed to enjoy the snacks she prepared for the trips. A few days before this particular trip, he made a special request for kimchi fried rice. She had nervously prepared it with fried eggs and a couple of banchan. She was pleased that he ate it with gusto but became annoyed when he about her future husband being a lucky man. “Being able to cook does not make someone a good wife,” she huffed. “Don’t you know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” he quipped back. “Then I should stop wasting time and cook for you. I’ll reserve it for my future husband,” she retorted. “Com’on, you need to test your cooking on me,” he teased.

Their conversations have become more comfortable, and Sumin found she was more opened and honest with her feelings and opinion on matters when she spoke to him. She also noted that Sehun shared more of his inner thoughts. They have different views on most things, but it was refreshing that they could accept each other arguments but not before valiant attempts to convince the other. That process itself was satisfying as they respected each other’s opinions. Sehun has a certain level of maturity that Sumin did not expect, and a refreshing approach to things that made her question if she had been too hard on herself.

When Sumin realized that she had been thinking of trying to paint instead of draw, he had encouraged her. “I don’t know Sehun, maybe after your earlier comment, I realise that my drawings feel a bit two dimensional and maybe colours would give it more depth,” Sumin remarked. “I don’t think your drawing is two dimensional at all. But if you want to try adding colour to it, why not? Give it a try. But, if it stresses you out figuring the colours, then forget about it. It doesn’t hurt to try though, as I see it” Sehun urged her.

She nodded, before commenting, “let me first read up on colours and painting.” “Ya!! This is not an exam piece. Just grab some colours and let your hand and imagination speaks. It doesn’t have to be perfect, learn as you go along. The first piece may be a piece of , but who cares. Don’t stress so much ab