BGM: TaeTiSeo - Baby Steps

You were outside the cinema with a concentrated look on your face as you studied the viewing schedules for the day. 11:55 AM, 2:10 PM, 4:25 PM, 6:40 PM, and 8:55 PM. You took a quick glance on your wristwatch to check the time. It was only 1:46 PM, which means you have more than enough time to buy a ticket and some snacks before the movie starts at 2:10 PM.

It's a pity that you have to watch a movie alone. When you asked Jihye to go with you, she immediately turned you down when you said that you were going to watch a Thai movie. She didn't even give you the chance to explain that the setting of the film was, indeed, your hometown Seoul.

As you made your way towards the ticketing booth, you noticed a guy carrying an expensive-looking MCM backpack in the queue. "Nah, it's not like he's the only one in all of Seoul who owns that kind of bag," you said to yourself, trying to brush off the thought, but you just found yourself staring at that guy's back some more.

What if?

Your train of thought was immediately broken when the guy in question suddenly turned around. Your eyes widened at the sight of the person you've been trying to avoid, which turned out to be the same one you've been hoping to see: Zhang Yixing.

"Jaemi-ah!" he pointed at you, looking more amused than surprised.

You couldn't help but chuckle at his facial expression. His habit of unconsciously puckering his lips whenever he's surprised was just too cute.

"You're here for the movie too?" he asked.

You tilted your head and tried to joke. "No, I'm here for a medical check-up..." you responded, trying a little too hard to keep a straight face. When you realized that he had this confused look on his face again, as if he was trying to process what you just said, you immediately said, "Kidding! Of course, I'm here for the movie!"

He scratched the back of his neck and let out a soft chuckle. "Of course, of course," he said shyly, and before you could control it, you already have a smile plastered on your face.

Why does he have to be so adorable?!?

"Are the other pabos here as well?" you questioned, glancing around the cinema looking for any signs of his fellow SM trainees. Yixing shook his head lightly. "Nope, it's just me. When I told them I was going to watch a Thai movie, nobody wanted to come with me," he explained, scratching the back of his neck.

"Ah, same here. Jihye didn't want to come with me because she refused to read subtitles while watching movies," you explained, shrugging. "Lazy people. Don't they know that watching foreign films actually help improve a person's reading speed because of the subtitles?"

Yixing gave you a little nod. "So you're alone too, huh?" he figured.

Before you could answer him though, the lady in the ticketing booth shouted 'NEXT!' so Yixing raised up his palms, motioning for you to wait for a bit as he turned to purchase his ticket. When he was done, he turned around and said, "Let's go!"

"Huh?" you asked, tilting your head.

Giving you a smile that exposed his cute dimples, Yixing suddenly grabbed your left hand and gently dragged you away from the queue. "C'mon, I already bought a ticket for you," he informed. Still blushing at the sudden contact, you only managed to mouth the word 'gomawo' and allowed yourself to be led towards the snack bar.

"Popcorn?" he asked, making you nod in response. "What flavor?" he asked again, enumerating all the flavors available in the snack bar. "Just the plain one - with peanut M&M's," you answered, pointing to the yellow pack of chocolates in the display.

Yixing's eyebrows furrowed. "M&M's?!?" he exclaimed, totally confused why you wanted chocolates with your popcorn. You nodded gently and smiled cutely like a child who just discovered a new way to steal cookies from the jar without being caught.

"You really are one interesting girl," he chuckled to himself. Yixing then bought two cups of root beer, - they weren't selling any bubble tea - a huge box of plain popcorn for you to share, and a pack of peanut M&M's.

Since the lights were still on, the two of you easily found your designated seats when you entered the cinema, and when you finally settled on seats number 14 and 15 in row L, Yixing handed you one of the root beers and gave you the pack of peanut M&M's. 

"Thanks," you said, opening the pack to pour the egg-shaped chocolate candies into the popcorn box positioned in the handrest between your seats. When Yixing gave you another confused look, you decided to explain your weird popcorn+M&M's habit to him.

credit to mylifeinstyleblog

"I easily get tired of the salty popcorn taste, so I try to counter it by eating something sweet in between," you revealed, taking a sip of your root beer.

The dimpled Chinese boy gave you another amused smile. "Well, that's pretty clever," he complimented, also sampling his drink. "Does it really have to be peanut M&M's, though? I mean, why not plain M&M's? Is there a special reason?" he asked, indulging himself with some popcorn.

Tilting your head a bit, you replied, "Well, yeah... because plain M&M's are too tiny. They'll probably just end up accumulating at the bottom of the popcorn box, which would ruin the point of mixing them with the popcorn in the first place,"

When the lights in the cinema were dimmed to signify that they were going to start showing trailers of upcoming films, you suddenly remembered one of the most important things a person needs to do when watching a movie on the silver screen. 

"Oh, wait! I'll just turn off my phone," you said, taking out the pink LG Lollipop GD580 from your bag. "You should probably do the same, or put it on silent mode, at least," you suggested, as you pressed the power button on your handyphone's little keypad.

Aside from flashing subtitles for the dialogues, the subbers of the film also provided Korean translations of the Thai songs that played in the background. So, when you read the lyrics of the song that was playing during a montage of the movie couple's ski strip, you couldn't help but wince at how appropriate it was at that moment.

♫ I didn't think, didn't dream when you showed up. Like my eyes couldn't see anyone else. I stopped when you caught my eye, and in that second, the whole world stopped moving, the sky brightened again~ ♫

You turned to your right and stared at the person beside you. Suddenly, the scenario of your first meeting started replaying in your head: how you embarrassed yourself by greeting him twice, how adorable he looked when he was trying to figure out where he put his wallet, how nervous you were while you were preparing his hazelnut tea latte, how his cute dimple showed up the first time he smiled at you, and how you easily got addicted to the song he composed even though you didn't understand what it meant. That song... 

...that song that was meant for the girl he was in love with.

And just like that, you went back to that conversation you had with Jihye a few weeks ago:

"Moonkyu told me that Yixing has a girlfriend back in China. Well, technically, she is already his ex-girlfriend because she broke up with him before he moved to Korea, but apparently, she only did that because she wanted him to focus on pursuing his dreams. She knew perfectly well that being in a relationship with her would only complicate things for Yixing once he debuts," Jihye revealed, carefully observing your reaction about this truth.

"So, all the songs he wrote... they're all about her too?" you asked.

"Probably. Moonkyu said Yixing spends a lot of time in the instrument room. He said composing is Yixing's way of coping with the pain," your best friend replied.

Pursing your lips, you turned to look at the screen again, forcing yourself to focus on the movie instead. Staring at Yixing is like inflicting pain upon yourself. It was the first time you have liked somebody, and like a cruel twist of fate, he turned out to be someone you're never going to be with.

He is in love with her. She is in love with him.