The weeks that followed all went by so fast. The leaves were completely off the trees and the temperature was dropping, signaling winter was on its way.  Taemin still tried to get you to talk to him and every time he would see you and Kevin walking down the halls holding hands or his arm around your waist, Taemin would shoot Kevin a death glare. You didn’t know if Kevin ever saw these looks, but at this point it didn’t even matter.

You and Kevin have been dating for almost two months now. It was the day before his 18th birthday. You were planning a special birthday party date for the two of you for later that afternoon. It consisted of giving him a place to go and when he got there, there’d be a note on where to go next. Kind of like a scavenger hunt you could say.

Before Kevin dropped you off at your house after school the day of your date, you handed him a letter that had instructions on it. He gave you a quizzical look.

“Are you breaking up with me”, he asked.

“Just read it”, you replied before getting out the car.

You headed into your house without waiting for him to reply back.

Kevin POV

________ handed me an envelope and then headed into her house without saying another word. Is this a break up letter? With dread in my heart, I opened it and read the letter inside.

“Dear Kevin, guess what tomorrow is? Your birthday!! So happy early birthday. I have a surprise for you. So when you get home, dress in some nice clothes and go to the place where we first met. They’ll be more instructions waiting for you there. I’ll talk to you later.”

“The place where we first met”, I thought aloud. “School? But where in school--oh right!! Outside the office.”

I parked my car in the driveway before heading into my house to get a shower and get dressed in nice dress clothes (the grey outfit on the right). Then I headed back out to my car and drove to the school. I told the security guard that I forgot my textbook and after showing him my school I.D, I went in and walked towards the office. I quickly noticed the envelope sticking out of the office door. I pulled the letter out and read it.

“You’ve made it this far. The answer to this question will be the name of the place your surprise is located at. First part of the name is my favorite Kpop band. Second part of the name is what your favorite type of meat is and the third part is what we live in. Hope to see you soon.”

“Wait she listens to Kpop?!! When did she tell me that?! My favorite type of meat is steak and we live in houses. Wait, no it can’t be!!…it’s U-KisSteakHouse. Why out of all places would she choose that place!? I should’ve known this day would come.”

Solemnly, I drove to the restaurant that I remember like it was only yesterday. Walking through the doors once again made me feel completely exposed, like someone would recognize me at any moment, even if this was the US and not Korea. I don’t even know why they made a whole restaurant chain out of the original one in Korea. I tried to put on a happy or at least surprised face.

You POV

You looked at your watch and hoped that Kevin would figure out the place soon. You were anxious to see his reaction. You just happened to look up to see your boyfriend with a rather nervous and somewhat unimpressed expression on his face. You got up to meet him and to give him a hug.

“Surprise”, you whispered in his ear and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He pulled out your chair for you before sitting down himself. He constantly looked around like he felt someone was watching him.

“Kevin what’s wrong? You seem a little edgy. Are you okay?”

He diverted his attention to back to you and with a weak smile he replied, “I’m okay--I’m just so--happy and--surprised!!”

“Isn’t this place wonderful?! It feels like we're actually in Korea!! I’ve always wanted to go there, haven’t you?”

Kevin POV

Either she was acting or she was totally oblivious to the fact I’ve been to and lived in Korea.

“Uh, ________, can we go outside and talk for a minute?”

She cocked her head to the side. “What’s wrong”, she asked innocently.

I just grabbed her wrist and dragged her out to the lobby.

“Don’t you like your surprise”, she asked on the verge of tears.

“It’s not that, it’s just…why did you choose this restaurant? Out of all the other places to eat, why this one?!!”

“I’ve just always wanted to eat here. If you want to go somewhere else, we can”, she replied, small tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Tell me the real reason you wanted to eat here!!”

“Why are you yelling at me? That is the real reason I want to eat here!!”

“And it’s not because you know who I really am?”

“What are you talking about Kevin? Do you really think I care about that? Obviously you don’t know me at all.”

She pushed past me, but before she left, she turned around and shoved a small package and another envelope in my hands. I watched her run off and I wanted to chase after her, but because I do know her, I knew she needed her space and time to calm down.

I opened the envelope first. The card read,

“Kevin, first of all Happy Birthday!! I hope you like the gift I got you. I worked really hard on it. Secondly, I wanted to bring you to U-KisSteakHouse to prove to you that I don’t care who you are. To me, when I look at you, I see Kevin Woo the guy I fell head over heels for, not Kevin Woo the Kpop idol. When I first saw you, I thought I was seeing things, but you’re really real and we’re really a couple. You make me so happy and I hope me knowing all this time who you really are, won’t change our relationship. These past two months together have been wonderful and I hope we can continue to be together. I know we haven’t been a couple for long and this may be a bit early to say this, but I love you.”

I was shocked after reading the letter she wrote me in the birthday card. All this time and she knew who I was, but she never brought it up, not even once. I then opened the wrapped present and inside was a small scrapbook. I turned to the first couple pages that had pictures of the two of us together and some pictures of me, her, and Deanna. Even some pictures of us from that day we went to the amusement park. I was truly touched at how much work she must’ve put into this. I knew what I had to do.

You POV

You had hoped that he wasn’t like the others, but unfortunately, he was. Even from the first time you saw him, you knew who he was and you didn’t get close to him for that reason. You really wanted to befriend him and becoming a couple was a total surprise to you, but a nice one nonetheless. You had to walk all the way home because Kevin wouldn’t be able to bring you home and frankly, you didn’t want him to after what just happened.

And just your luck, it started to rain really hard; freezing rain that stung your skin with every drop. As you were walking down the sidewalk, you noticed a familiar car pull up next to you. The person got out of the driver’s side and walked up to you.

“Do you need a ride”, he asked kindly.

You were still mad at him, but you’d just have to put aside your pride to get out of this terrible weather.

“Sure”, you replied, getting in his car.