"Are you ready yet?" Jinki called politely as you held up yet another shirt in front of the bathroom mirror and tried to determine if it complimented you well or not.

    "Five more minutes," you called back, hanging the shirt back in your closet and picking out another one in a paler pink. "Does this look good?" You critically eyed yourself in the mirror before sighing and flopping down on your bed. Why did you care so much about your clothes anyway? It wasn't like you were going on a date or anything, and you were pretty sure that you hadn't actually accepted Himchan's offer. Still, after you had recovered from your illness, you didn't see the need to bring it up and simply mentally agreed that you would go along. Now you were regretting it as you stared at your closet, utterly confused as to what you would wear for the day.

    "Who am I trying to impress anyway?" you muttered, eventually settling on a plain long-sleeved gray top and black shorts. "Nobody, nobody." Sighing, you decided to take a break from freaking out about what was going to happen next and run a quick comb through your hair. After checking in the mirror for any stray strands out of place, you exited your room, slipped on your shoes, and motioned for Jinki that it was time to go.

    "You look pretty."

    You barely caught yourself as your injured leg hit the ground at an awkward angle and caused you to trip slightly. "Hand me my crutches," you said, ignoring his compliment for the moment. You needed something solid to hold onto in case he threw you anymore curveballs. After you had successfully balanced yourself on your crutches—a quick call from your doctor earlier had confirmed that you needed to stop using your leg for a while again—you turned to Jinki and smiled. "Ah, thank you. Shall we go?"

    "Ladies first," Jinki said, motioning for you to leave the apartment. You grinned and quickly moved forward, waiting at the top of the stairs for Jinki to help you down. It had become routine by now, and you had almost—read that, almost—gotten used to wrapping your arm around his shoulder and his hand snaking around your waist. Still, that strange fast beating of your heart still hadn't ended yet, and honestly, now you were doubting that it ever would. Instead, you took comfort in Jinki's grip and perhaps lingered a bit before letting go at the bottom of the stairs.

    "Thank you," you said, smiling as you took your crutches and hobbled your way to the bus stop. "Do you know how long the musical will last?"

    "Usually they last for two hours at least," Jinki replied, sticking out his arm awkwardly so that it blocked your path. It took you a few seconds to realize that he meant for you to hold it.

    It was a little bit awkward with your crutches, but you eventually maneuvered it so that you were halfway leaning on your crutches and halfway clutching onto JInki's arm for dear life. It wasn't the safest position to be in, but as your fingers curled around Jinki's arm, you couldn't bring yourself to let go.

    It was only when you had to enter the bus that you forced yourself to let go of Jinki's arm and hobbled to the back of the bus. In front of you, Jinki paused, forcing you to come to a short stop. Craning your head around, you saw the dilemma. There was only one seat left.

    "Come," Jinki ordered quietly, pulling you quickly toward the seat and setting you down before anybody else could take it from you. Quickly, you caught the eyes of several people making a beeline toward you, but Jinki quickly stepped into your line of vision and nonchalantly grabbed the railing above you. You saw the people turn around and scatter throughout the bus, searching for other seats to try and steal.

    "Thank you," you said, narrowing your eyes at the Jinki standing in front of you. His posture was a bit straighter than before, and his entire being now seemed to radiate a sort of stiffness that you hadn't seen before.

    "Jinki-ssi," you said, placing a hand on his elbow. "Why are you so nervous? Could it be that you haven't been to a musical before?"

    "I just don't like buses," Jinki muttered, stiffening even more as a businessman accidentally bumped into him. "There's not much breathing space."

    Luckily for both you and Jinki the bus ride didn't last long, and you were soon back onto stationary ground, looking around for a glimpse of the man who you were supposed to meet. It was a bad habit, gained from your first months in college where you had been absolutely dazzled by Kim Himchan.

    It was definitely hard for you to pinpoint when you had begun to like the older man, but maybe it was simply because of the nice smile that he had to direct at everyone. Maybe it was his confidence, or maybe it was the way that he drew attention when he walked into the room. Anyway, you had found yourself crushing, hard and fast, but when it had come to the confession, he had all but laughed in your face.

    "I don't even know you," he had said, and you had been crushed because…it had simply seemed like he had known everyone. It had probably been silly of you to think that, but what could you say? During that period of time, you had been struck silly because of Himchan's smile, but now…

    You snuck a glance at Jinki who was tapping his foot impatiently and pursing his lips. He obviously didn't like to be kept waiting; however, when he saw you looking at him, an absolutely stunning smile gracing his face as he caught your eye. Immediately, a jolt of electricity ran through your body, and you turned your head away, hoping that you weren't blushing.

    There was no denying it now. If you had first fallen for Himchan because of his smile, there was no hope for you not liking Jinki. Don't smile at me! you furiously thought, slapping your hands to your cheeks and quickly observing a tree in the distance. Just look at the tree. The tree is very interesting. The tree is very green. The tree is—

    "Ah, I see Jinki-hyung!"

    "Himchan-sunbae!" you quickly exclaimed, eager for a distraction from Jinki's smile.

    "Why if it isn't my favorite hoobae?" Himchan joked, and you resisted the urge to pull away as he slung his arm around your shoulder in an overly friendly fashion. It seemed that rejection had done wonders, both to you and to him because now Himchan just seemed intent to make you completely uncomfortable and basically his fangirl once again.

    It was then that you noticed the girl standing shyly behind Himchan.

    "Ah, hello," you greeted politely and tried to place her face in your memory.

    "I'm in your film study class," the girl supplied, and you nodded in understanding. That would explain why it was hard to place her face. The film study room was darkened most of the time, and your eyes were always focused on the movie rather than the people in your class.

    "Let's go!" Himchan exclaimed excitedly, and you soon found yourself following behind Himchan and the girl in your film study class whose name you couldn't quite place.

    The musical wasn't anything special, but you did find the male lead rather attractive but not particularly earth-shattering. In fact, you actually found yourself bored which was why you excused yourself quickly to the bathroom when intermission began.

    "I'll come with you!" the other girl quickly said, and you shared a secret girl smile with her. She seemed as bored as you felt, and after a quick trip to the restroom, you found yourself in front of the mirror, laughing with her as she took the time to touch up your lipgloss and you tried to fix your hair.

    "So how do you know Himchan-sunbae?" you asked, genuinely curious as to how she had met the older man. You, yourself, had met him through mutual acquaintances, but you didn't remember ever crossing paths with this girl before.

    "Ah, about that," the girl said and laughed awkwardly. "Actually, can I tell you a secret?"

    "Always," you replied, focusing on the mirror as you tried to tie up your hair into a ponytail again.

    "I actually came for Jinki-ssi."

    The hairband pulled taught around your fingers snapped, and you quickly hissed a little.

    "Oh, I have another hairband," the girl quickly exclaimed, rummaging around in her purse and pulling one out. "You have such thick hair. I'm jealous."

    "Yeah," you replied quietly, taking the hairband and quickly tying your hair up into a messy bun. "And um, what do you mean? You came for Jinki-ssi."

    "It's a little embarrassing, really," the girl said, leaning up against the counter and clutching her sidebag in an entirely too adorable fashion. "I've met him before, but it was only for a second. I work a side job as a waitress at a pastry shop near here, and um, well actually, you came in one day. I wasn't waiting tables that day; I was at the counter, but…heh, it's actually really embarrassing now that I think about it."

    "Oh no, please go on," you urged, feeling your stomach tighten. "And then what happened?"

    "Well, I just…do you believe in love at first sight? Eh, I guess it could happen, but Jinki-ssi just caught a hold of my attention! After you two left, Himchan-oppa ordered a milkshake, so I brought it over, and we began to talk. He hit on my crush on Jinki-ssi right away, and he offered to help me! Isn't he such a nice guy?"

    "Uh, yeah," you replied, forcing a small smile on your face. The girl was sweet enough; she seemed to be genuinely crushing on Jinki if the dumbstruck smile on her face counted for anything.

    "Isn't Jinki-ssi cute? You're roommates with him, right?"

    "Yeah, he's really cute," you agreed without really thinking and then quickly the sink and splashed water on your hands for something to do.

    "I hope that I can become closer to him today. Himchan-oppa told me you were a really nice person! I hope that you'll be able to help me."

    You cracked another small, fake smile and dried your hands before saying, "I think intermission is nearly up. Let's go."

    It was almost physically painful for you to make it through the second half of the play. Actually, scratch that. It was physically painful because Himchan had somehow managed to maneuver the situation so that you were now sitting next to him and the girl that you had thought was his date was sitting near Jinki. It also didn't help that the girl just seemed to have so much to say. She kept on leaning over and whispering phrases into Jinki's ear to which he would smile widely and whisper something back.

    Around the ending act of the show, you were sure that your back was going to break from being so stiff.

    "Relax," Himchan said from beside you, and his hand came to rest on your shoulder. "Aren't they cute?"

    "Sure," you said, gritting your teeth and sitting forward slightly so that Himchan's hand slid off your shoulder. "I didn't know you were such a bleeding heart for girls with unrequited love." Ouch. There goes trying to clamp down on your feelings of rejection.

    "Harsh," Himchan replied good-naturedly and flashed you a smile.

    You resisted the urge to roll your eyes and turned back to observe the musical in front of you. It annoyed you that you were acting this way, but it annoyed you just a tad bit more that Himchan had done this.

    "Don't be like this," Himchan whispered, leaning in near your ear. "It's not like you like him or anything. That girl is practically in love with him already."

    And so am I! you mentally screamed, but outwardly, you simply pursed your lips and muttered, "I'm not feeling well. Can you tell Jinki-ssi that I went home ahead of him?"

    You didn't wait for Himchan's reply before you were out of your seat and walking out of the theatre. Luckily it seemed like other people weren't very interested in the musical as well, and you weren't the only one leaving a few minutes early. In your harried state of mind, you barely remembered to grab your crutches before exiting the theatre, completely unprepared for the loud crash of thunder that rumbled overhead.

    "Shut up," you hissed at the sky, picking up your pace to make it to the bus stop and under a safe overhang before the rain started. Unfortunately, the bus stop was a little too far away, and the rain drenched you before you were even close.

    "This is what happens when you like someone," you muttered, hobbling over to a nearby shop and looking in the window. It seemed to be a small flower shop. "You start to do stupid things like go out when it's about to rain."  A small bell rung as you entered the flower shop and gave a cheerful greeting to the clerk behind the counter.

    "Got stuck in the rain?" the clerk asked sympathetically, smiling at you and scratching behind his ear awkwardly. "You can stay in here until it stops."

    "Thank you," you replied, happy for the respite and grabbing a seat near the door. The rain pattered down on the roof above you, and you let out a huff of disappointment, dropping your chin down onto your hands.

    "Boy troubles?"

    The sympathetic tone of voice immediately sent you into a better mood, and you nodded, sighing again. "I guess. Well, I would say it's more like unwanted jealousy. I can't help it though."

    "I'm sure it'll get better."

    "Yeah…" You were about to add onto the conversation when your phone began to buzz. You picked it up and greeted Jinki who seemed to be a little frantic as he asked where you were.

    "Himchan-ssi told me that you had gone home ahead of me. It's raining now, though. Where are you?"

    "I'm at a flower shop; it's near the theatre. If you just walk down a few blocks you should see it. Is the musical done?"

    You continued the conversation for a few seconds before agreeing that you would wait for Jinki here.

    "Was that him?" the clerk asked, looking up from t a small bonsai tree behind the counter. "He sounds nice. He was looking for you."

    "He's my roommate," you replied, shrugging your shoulders. "He has an obligation to do this."

    "But he doesn't have an obligation to go out after you in a thunderstorm even if your leg it injured," the clerk said, pointedly nodding at your leg. "Most roommates would probably wait until after the rain was over to get their friend. By the way—" He came from behind the counter and handed you a small bouquet of sunflowers tied together with a ribbon "—here. Pretty ladies like you shouldn't be sighing like that."

    You were sure that you were blushing as you accepted the small gesture and waved goodbye to the clerk as the faint rays of sunlight broke out of the sky above.

    "What a nice girl," the clerk remarked, returning to the counter. He paused and pursed his lips, glancing around the shop. "Now…what was I doing again?"

A/N: I know it's not the day that I'm supposed to post, but it's Exie's half birthday! I thought I should do something special for it, so here's the next chapter of Hot Summer early! But not to worry, I'll also post another chapter on Friday. Kekeke. I'm not evil enough to keep you guys hanging. Also, I finally had enough time to write an author's note, and I'd like to thank all of my readers and subscribers so far! <3 Love you guys! Can anybody guess who the clerk this chapter was supposed to be? ^_^

P.S. Exie's fics are super awesome <3 Check them out! I love her Kaisoo & 2min XD, and her Joonew is pretty epic too!