Laura waited patiently at the café they had agreed to meet for their first encounter. To say that her heart wasn’t beating wildly would be a lie – she could barely sleep the night before, wondering of all the possible scenarios that could happen. Seulgi gave no clue to what the guy looked like so Laura had her anticipation to a medium as she didn’t want to excite herself too much.

Jimin had been such a pain to handle ever since he knew Laura agreed to the blind date. From straight up ignoring her calls, messages and presence even when they sat near to each other – he still ignored her. He could be chatting with Taemin and Taehyung, all smile eyes and laughing but the moment she sits down or greets him, his mood would go sour.

“Jimin, come on – stop ignoring me,” Laura tried to talk to him one day. She stopped him before he entered his next class and talked to him in the hallways. “Please? Just… God, you’ve been acting different ever since you found out about that stupid blind date! It’s just a date Jimin – a date!”

Jimin kept his mouth shut as Laura ran her fingers through her hair.

“You’re acting like such a child now. We’re teenagers, Jimin. I don’t get why you’re getting so worked up over this,” she grabs his arms and looks straight in his eyes. “Why are you acting this way? Talk to me, Jimin.”

Instead Jimin harshly pulled back his arm – his eyes taking one quick look at Laura before turning back to his feet. “Nothing,” he muttered, “Let’s talk some other time… After your date.” He turns his heels to head back to class before he hears Laura shout at him.

“What is wrong with you?” she sounded hurt because she was – it hurt her to see Jimin ignore her presence, ignore her messages and calls. Was this blind date such a big deal to him? “You know what? That’s it,” Jimin hears her walk up to him and she stands right in front of him. Her eyes were watery from the tears she had held back, “Keep on acting childish.” She bites her bottom lip from saying anything more before she rushed to her next class – if Jimin was going to continue to behave this was, then she wasn’t going to stop him.

Jimin and Laura weren’t on speaking terms for the past week. Laura had managed to ignore him and his friends by hanging out with Seulgi and her other friends during breaks but it did feel lonely not to hear Jimin’s laugh for days. She missed seeing his smile when they would meet at the bus stop as well as the times he would bring in pastries from the bakery. She promised herself that she would make things up after this blind date was over with – it was the very cause of their fight.

“Laura?”

Too busy in her thoughts, Laura failed to notice the boy standing in front of her. His head tilted down to get a better view of her face. She blinks her eyes a couple of times, her hand slowly lifting up to point at the said boy.

“Y-you… You were that guy who asked for my number at the bakery,” she realized. Laura’s mouth hung open at the realization. “What are you doing here?”

He pulls out a seat for himself and sits down, “I’m your blind date.”

“What?”

“I’d put it as crazy coincidence,” he laughs and leans in closer to her face, “I did mean it – about getting your number that day. Guess luck gave me a second chance.” His smile is almost blinding, Laura takes note of that as he introduces himself.

“I’m Kang Daniel. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Laura Lu. Same to you as well,” she feels better now knowing his name. “So, what do you want to talk about?

“Well, I’d like to now everything about you first of all.”

She shakes her head, “I’m plain and boring. Nothing interesting about that.” His answer to her statement makes her blush just a little bit.

“That’s because you haven’t see yourself in my eyes. I really would like to know more about you, Laura.”

And shoot – this boy had a way to make Laura’s heart swoon. But for some reason, she still felt some uneasiness in her heart – it was small but enough to make her feel weird. She brushed it off as she began to ask Daniel about the school he was attending.

“Get out, you’re a trainess? That’s cool,” Laura comments as they took a stroll around the park. After spending around 2 hours in the café, they decides a change in scenery would be nice. It was Daniel’s idea for them to visit the park nearby. The open field certainly had a good atmosphere.

Daniel chuckles at her comments while nodding, “Yeah, for a few years now. It’s… tough but you go to great lengths for the things you love, you know? I always dreamed of standing on stage someday.”

“And I’m sure you will,” she assured him, “You have the looks and I’m taking your word on what you said about your skills. If you ever debut, don’t forget to tell me.”

“Did you just lowkey say that I’m handsome?” he smirks and it sends Laura into a stuttering mess. Her eyes wander elsewhere, looking anywhere else but him. Daniel just watches her in amusement – seems like going on this blind date wasn’t so bad afterall.

“She went out with who?!” Jimin yells into his phone, sitting upright almost immediately on his bed. He was moping around when he realized Laura was out having fun on her blind date. But a call from Taemin changed his mood in an instant.

Taemin held the phone away from his ear, wincing at the loud voice. “Would you calm down? I don’t want to be deaf any time soon,” he rubs his ear and continues to speak. Taemin was out for some errands when he saw Laura walking out of the café. Before he could greet her with his usual loud greeting, a boy came out with her and the two seemed to be on pretty friendly terms considering how Laura was all smiles when the boy spoke. Taemin knew who the boy was, how could he not? Kang Daniel was a famous guy for the fact he was a promising trainee with rumors of debut coming soon. Taemin – being the good friend he was – called up Jimin and decided to tell him.

“Jimin, if Daniel really turns out to have a thing for Laura after this blind date –“

“She won’t date Daniel. She’s not like that.”

Taemin sighs at Jimin’s words, “Just because you’re such a scaredy cat in letting Laura know about your feelings for her, doesn’t mean she’s going to wait forever for your confession. As your friend, Jimin, I really really think you should tell Laura about how you feel before it’s too late. Don’t let your fear stop you from going after what you know you want. Time is running out – maybe faster than you think.”

With that, Taemin ended the call before he could hear Jimin say anything else. His eyes continued to watch as Laura and Daniel walked further away from him.

“Or you may have already lost your chance, Jimin…” the thought goes through his mind before Taemin resumes his errands. He can only hope Jimin would take action soon.

Seulgi rushes over to Laura’s table on Monday morning. “Spill! I want to know about your blind date with the infamous Kang Daniel,” she takes up the empty chair and moves it closer to Laura’s seat. “Don’t leave out any details – I can’t believe it was THE Kang Daniel I set you up with! I didn’t even had a clue.”

Laura rolls her eyes, “It was nice and went better than I expected it.”

“Did you hold hands? Kiss?” Seulgi puckers up her lips just to get her face pushed out of the way by Laura’s hand. Laura shakes her head, “No, we just talked a lot. A pretty face with a kind attitude, he’s a good guy, Seulgi. Can’t believe I’m saying this but I have to thank you for the blind date idea.”

“Are you guys going to see each other again?” Seulgi grabs onto Laura’s arm. “If you do, maybe you could have him set me up with one of his friends.” Laura laughs and lightly pats Seulgi’s cheek, “We haven’t made any plans but we’re keeping in touch for now. I’ll as him about his friends.”

Seulgi squeals in excitement before the bell rings, “Uh-oh, that’s my cue~ See you at lunch, Laura!” She picks up her bag and runs out of the classroom at full speed. Laura watches her zoom away and she could see why Seulgi was known as the Speed Queen. As the teacher walked into their class, Seulgi notices Jimin hadn’t arrives yet. She cranes her neck to look around the classroom but couldn’t seem to find him anywhere.

“Where is he?” she wonders and takes out her phone discreetly under her table. She goes to the Line app and writes a message to Jimin. Before she could send it, a moment of uncertainty dawns on her. They hadn’t been talking for weeks so why should she check up on him? “Don’t play petty, Laura. He’s still your friend no matter what,” Laura tells herself and sends the message. She didn’t have time to wait for a reply as the teacher began his lesson. The girl tucks away her phone quickly, she hopes Jimin was alright.

During lunch, Laura took a look around the cafeteria as she sat down with Sooyoung and Seulgi. The two girls noticed Laura’s worried behavior just as Taemin and Taehyung took their seats. Laura kept on checking her phone every 10 seconds and they were quite sure something was bothering her immensely. Taemin was the first to speak out.

“Are you alright, Laura? You keep glancing at your phone,” Taemin pokes the straw through his drink. “Is something wrong?”

“Jimin hasn’t answered my text. I’m just a bit worried, that’s all,” she explains and scrolls her phone to find Jimin’s mom’s number. She writes down a quick message before hitting the send button. “Did he say anything to you guys?” she turns her attention back to her friends. However, all of them shook their heads – none of them had heard any news from Jimin. This only added more worry to Laura’s state. Sooyoung, noticing this, quickly puts a hand on her shoulder.

“He’s fine, Laura. You shouldn’t worry about him too much. If anything had happened to him, his mother would tell you first, right?” she starts to calm Laura’s nerves down. “If it makes you worry a lot, just visit him after school. Problem solved! Now, eat up before you get sick from not eating. If that happens – Jimin will bring us hell and I don’t want to deal with that.”

The mood finally lifts up a bit and Laura nods her head, placing her phone back into her pocket before she finally began to eat her lunch. She was laughing at something Taehyung had said and failed to notice the small buzz from her phone.

It was only after school ended did Laura find the time to check her phone. Perhaps Seulgi and the rest were trying their best to distract her from her worries that it just slipped her mind to open up her phone. She stops in front of the school gates, deciding to open up her phone while waiting for Seulgi and Sooyoung to arrive – they had agreed to go and grab some ice cream from the parlor nearby. Leaning her back against the concrete wall, she puts a hand up near her eyes to shield her screen from the sun. Not a few seconds pass by before a tall shadow loomed over her, covering her from the sunshine. Laura looks up and is genuinely surprised to see whom it was.

“Daniel, what are you doing here?” she turns off her phone, deciding the new messages could wait. “You don’t go here…”

Daniel laughs, “Yeah, I don’t – think we got that part straightened out before. I was just dropping by to see you. So, surprise!” He holds up his hands and shakes them, similar to the ‘jazz hands’ gesture. Laura cracks a smile at his antics, “You got me good. I am surprised.”

Daniel looks around, he needed to say this quickly. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out again? Maybe around this week or next week. Whenever you’re free, that is.”

“Aren’t you busy with trainee stuff?” she folds her arm, “Busy schedule and all that.”

“I can always make time for you,” he says and the sentence causes Laura’s stomach to twist in a way she felt was quiet familiar. It was the same feeling she would feel whenever Jimin would smile at her or whenever she heard him laugh. She shakes her head lightly, why in the world would she be thinking about Jimin when Daniel was right in front of her?

Why did every moment she was with Daniel, all she could do was compare him with Jimin? All she did on their first ‘date’ was talk about how Jimin and her became friends and all the hilarious stories that came with their friendship. Why was it, that Laura could only think of Jimin when a wonderful guy as Daniel was clearly showing interest in her?

“I’m…I’m sorry, Daniel. I’m not sure,” Laura sighs, “You’re a nice guy, you really are but… I’m in a complicated situation.”

The smile didn’t leave Daniel’s face. “Jimin, right? I could tell when you told me about him on our blind date. You like the guy but you don’t even realize it.” He ruffles her hair, “So dense, this child.” His teasing ears him a smack on the side from Laura. He laughs it off and takes a step back from her.

“Go to him, Laura,” Daniel shoves his hands into his front pockets. “I get it so don’t worry about me. I figured it out since I saw you in the bakery with him. Thought I tried my luck out but… seems like your heart already wanted him in the first place and it’s quite stubborn on changing it.”

Laura sighs and decides to give Daniel a quick hug. “Thanks, Daniel,” she lets go but still continues to stand in front of him. She pulls out her phone and types something. A moment later, Daniel’s phone buzzes. He sees it’s a message from Laura and tilts his head in confusion.

“My friend, Seulgi – the one who set me up for the blind date. She’s a cool girl, maybe you two could work something out,” she pats his head before running off to the bus station. Daniel watches her with a smile on his face and calls up Seulgi’s number. “Hey, is this Seulgi? Laura gave me your number. Maybe we should grab a coffee some time,” he says, walking towards his car before leaving the school grounds.

“Laura? Oh, she just left. Yeah, she’s heading to her one true love.”

“Jimin’s down with a fever. I was hoping you could go and check up on him. I’m a little tied down at the moment, keys are in the flower pot and his room is upstairs. Just make yourself at home. If you get hungry, just cook or order something.”

Laura gets off at Jimin’s stop and follows the direction his mother had sent. After around 15 minutes of walking in circles, she finally arrives in front of the Park’s residence. She bends down to grab the key from the flower pot before dusting off the dirt away. She unlocks the door and slowly opens up the main entrance. “Hello? Anyone home?” she asks but doesn’t get a reply. Laura assumed Jimin was fast asleep upstairs, he once told her that sleeping usually help his fever go down faster.

She closes the door behind her and places her bag on the couch. The house certainly was nice. It had a minimal modern theme to it. Her eyes catches the family photos on the table and she holds up the one with Jimin as a younger child. He still had the same smile as he once did, not much had changed. She puts it back down and decides to head to the kitchen. She wasn’t the greatest cook in the world but she wasn’t that bad either – her food was on the ‘alright’ side. For Jimin’s fever, she decided chicken soup would be the best (and easiest) choice for her. She puts on the apron, ties up her hair and begins to get busy with cooking.

Jimin wakes up from his slumber, still feeling a bit feverish but in a better condition that last night. He gets out of bed and decides to head downstairs when he feels his stomach rumble in hunger. Just as he opens his door, the smell of food makes him wonder if his mother had come home earlier.

Laura puts on classical music from her playlist – it helped her to concentrate better as well as aid her in imagining herself as a world class chef preparing her dish. She hums to the tune of the piano playing in the background while she tastes the boiling soup. It was coming around wonderfully, just a few more missing things needed.

Jimin hears the music playing and as he reaches the end of the stairs, he catches sight of the woman in the kitchen. He recognizes that backside anywhere. He enters the kitchen with a nervous feeling, wondering if he was really sick up to the point he was hallucinating. “L-Laura? Wha…What are you doing here?” he speaks but coughs soon after.

Laura turns around and smiles. “Good, you’re awake. Take a seat at the table. The soup should be finished in a few minutes,” she puts down the ladle and guides him out of the kitchen before pulling out a seat for him. She puts her palm on his forehead, “You’re a bit warmed than usual. After you’re finished, take your meds and maybe you should sleep more.”

Before she could turn back into the kitchen, Jimin grabs her arm, “D-did you come straight from school?” He points at her uniform and she nods her head, gently pushing his hand away.

“Yup, your mom told me about the fever and had me check up on you,” Jimin doesn’t get to ask anything else as she quickly heads back into the kitchen.

The meal was terribly awkward. Jimin didn’t know what to say to Laura and the girl kept quiet since she didn’t want to bother him in his sick condition. But as Laura finished up washing the dishes and sat down on the sofa, he finally decided to speak up.

“I didn’t get the chance to say that… That I’m sorry with the way I behaved to you for the past weeks,” he looks down to his hands in shame, too afraid to look at Laura in the eyes. “You were right, I was acting like a child and I’m really sorry. I was just… jealous and afraid, I guess.”

He supposes now was better than never. Plus, he was sick so maybe Laura would lessen up the nagging and beating in his not so healthy condition.

“I didn’t like the idea of you having a blind date… Because I like you, Laura – there I said it, satisfied? The reason why I was acting so childish was because I was jealous that you were going on a date with a person other than me. But, I’m fine now – I’ve been thinking that I wanted nothing more than you to be happy and I wasn’t going to be the one to hold you back from being happy. If you really like this Kang Daniel dude than as your best friend, I should support your decision and not hold you back from it.”

Silence fell between them before Laura started giggling. “Are you…Giggling at me? This is what I get for confessing to you?” he sighs but laughs as well, Laura’s laughter was contagious to him.

“No, I’m giggling because you’re so cute when you’re flustered,” she states after finally calming herself down. “And no, I’m not ending up with Danile – we parted on good terms.”

“How come?”

“Because I told him I liked you,” she states, “I’m not lying. It’s the truth that even I didn’t figure out completely until Daniel pointed him out so you should really thank him in fact.”

Laura catches the stunned expression on Jimin’s face and another chuckle escapes her lips. “I guess somewhere along the way of 3 years, I guess I developed feelings for you. I don’t know how it started but what I know now is that, I want to give us a shot.”

“U-Us as in...?” Jimin’s stutters. His unwell condition made it a bit difficult for him to pick up on what she was indicating. “Y-you m-mean…”

“I am asking you out, Jimin – don’t you get it?” she sighs and moves to sit closer to him. “This is my way of asking you out to be my boyfriend because I’m willing to give us a shot and I’m hoping you feel the same way as well. I want us to go out as boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Jimin opened up his mouth to say something but nothing seemed to form out from his lips. He closes his mouth and tries again but he was met with the same results as the first try. Laura moves closer to his face, examining his facial structure and for a quick moment, Jimin thought she was going to kiss him.

“Huh, you’re red than usual. Is your fever rising up?” she doesn’t notice his disappointed look as she placed a hand on his forehead. “Maybe you should get some more rest. I’ll help you upstairs,” she stands up and waits for Jimin to follow along. He still hadn’t given her a clear answer to her question and he was surprised she wasn’t pestering him for an answer.

He laid down on his bed and Laura pulled up a chair before sitting down right beside his bed.

“If I caught you speechless, that means a ‘yes’, you know that right?” she teases and grunts when he throws a pillow in her direction – hitting her right on the face. “Just go to sleep, you big baby. I’ll stay here until your mom comes home.” 

He mumbles something along the lines of ‘-I am not a big baby-‘ before he pulls up the covers. He adjusted his position so he would be facing Laura while he tried to doze back to sleep. But the question he left unanswered still itched him. He wasn’t really that good on words as Laura was, he was more of an ‘action speaks louder than words’ kind of person. So, he did what he thought would be best.

Jimin reaches out to hold Laura’s hand. He notices her raised eyebrows and says, “This is how I’m saying yes to being your boyfriend. Now, shut up. I’m getting a headache at us confessing.” He feels his cheeks warming and he’s pretty sure it’s not because of his fever. Laura just nods and smiles along, her hand intertwining with Jimin’s while her free hand rubbed calming circles on the back of his hand.

“You know… I feel like I’m dreaming,” he comments followed by a yawn. He rubs his eyes, feeling tired than before. “Me and you. It’s like a dream.”

“Then, isn’t it a lovely dream?” Laura sighs. “A really lovely dream.”

“If it is… Don’t wake me up,” his words come off in a slur, “Because you’re like a dream that I never want to wake up from.”

She dismisses his words, “Good night, Jimin. When you wake up, I’ll still be here. So, let’s make more dreams come true together.” Laura lifts up his hand and plants a light kiss on it as she hears his soft snoring.