Ailee’s P.O.V

“We’re going for ice cream after school right?” asked Daehyun.

“For the millionth time, yes!”

“Ok! Just making sure!” he smiled.

“Why do you want to go so badly?”

“It’s my birthday today!”

“OMG WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!?”

He blushed.

“I didn’t want you to get me anything…”

“Well now you mention it, we might have to squeeze in some shopping after ice cream!”

“NONONONONO!”

“Why not?”

“Well…I don't want you to get me anything... and it has been a while since I’ve been to the Lotte Theme Park…” he trailed off.

“YES! YES! WE HAVE TO GO THERE! OK! DEAL!” I cried. It was a great idea.

“Well, see you then!” he smiled as he dropped me by my classroom.

I went to sit down next to Hyorin until I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up and Kikwang was glaring at me. I glared back. I was sick of this – he broke up with me for no apparent reason and he’s treating me like a criminal. I turned back to my seat and sat next to Hyorin.

“He walked you to class,” she winked.

“Yeah, just keeping me company, his classroom is upstairs anyway.” I felt my face grow hot and I looked away awkwardly and began unpacking.

“Do you like him?”

My heart stopped. What?

“What?”

“These past few months, after that… you’ve been getting closer to him… When you see him, you just light up, I see you looking at him and smiling sometimes,” she nudged.

“No! It’s not like that… I’m not looking for another relationship right now. It’s senior year. The breakup was a blessing in disguise! I’m more focused on class. Daehyun is just a really good friend! I told myself I wasn’t going to fall for anyone else… I’m sticking to it… No relationships! He’s just a friend…” I rambled.

“Are you sure?”

My heart pounded and I could feel all the blood rush to my face. To be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted us to be. He was a friend… who made me really happy… Just a friend… Right?

“What?”

“You’re not in denial are you?”

 “He’s just a good friend of mine. He’s basically friends with everyone… It’s not just me.”

“You didn’t answer my question!”

“What question?”

Right at that moment, our teacher walked in.

“I’ll deal with this later! This isn’t done!”

I sighed and my mind started racing with what Hyorin just said. I actually never thought of it before. What if I did like Daehyun more than a friend? But I really… I don’t know... When I was with him, he’d just keep a smile plastered to my face. I was thankful that he came into my life… I just… I think I just want us to stay friends at the moment. I pushed anymore thoughts about him being more than a friend out of my mind and tried to get back into the learning mentality, though throughout the lesson, the thought was lingering at the back of my mind.

~ Few hours later ~

I flattened my skirt and twirled my hair around my finger as I nervously waited for Daehyun at the park. As soon as we were dismissed, I ran as if there was no tomorrow, just avoid Hyorin's interrogation and to quickly change out my school uniform before Daehyun and I went out. As friends... celebrating a friend's birthday... I bit my lip. Why the heck was I so nervous? Every other time we went out together, I was never like this. I puffed my cheeks in frustration before I nearly had a heart attack as a pair of warm hands covered my eyes.

“YAH!”

I whirled around and saw Daehyun smirking. My heart raced again and my face felt really warm. I tried to not smile really widely, but I just stood there, grinning like an idiot.

“You could’ve been responsible for my heart attack!” I laughed.

“Sorry…” he chuckled. “But in my defence, you needed the scare - you looked like you were really zoned out standing there!”

I stuck my tongue at him and he just smiled that adorable eye smile at me. I basically melted into a puddle.

“Why is your face all red?”

“What?”

“Your face! It’s all red!” he cried, as he put the back of his hand against my cheek. I prayed that he wouldn’t hear my heart pounding like drums.

“WOW! Your cheeks are so warm too!”

“I was… sitting in the sun the whole time waiting for you! If I get a serious case of sunburn, it’s on your hands,” I lied.

He patted my cheek.

“Well don’t sit in the sun then!”

I ignored him and began to head off to the subway. As I walked, I placed my hands against my cheeks to cool them down. They were burning up. I couldn’t believe this. Jung Daehyun… I really didn’t see this coming.

“YAH! WAIT FOR ME! YOU CAN’T BE LIKE THAT!” he yelled as he ran after me.

I sped up a bit, just to .

“AILEE! You can’t treat me like this on my birthday!”

I stifled a laugh and called back to him.

“Just because it’s your birthday, doesn’t mean I have to treat you any differently!” I teased.

He started to speed up as well so I broke into a jog.

“YAH! Ailee!”

I felt his warm hand grab my wrist. My heart was thundering away, even more than before. I felt butterflies in my stomach and their wings were beating so hard that I felt all woozy. He tugged my arm and I whirled around, expecting him to be at an arm’s length away, but instead, his face was inches away from mine. We stood there, staring at each other, ignoring everyone who walked by, ignoring the barking of the dogs, the laughter of children at the park we just left, the sound of cars speeding. It was just us. The sound of my heart beating was ringing in my ears. I felt as if my heart was going to explode.

He leaned a bit closer …