Chapter 14

 

            The rest of the day was spent on my couch with AJ, buried under warm knit blankets, watching sappy movies like The Notebook and P.S. I Love You. And, believe it or not, AJ picked them out. I was almost sure he was just trying to up to me, but it was still a sweet gesture. AJ, however, was still convinced that I was mad at him because of the food incident at Ted’s house. It was amusing to watch, so I continued pretending.

 

            I don’t remember falling asleep, but I woke up the next morning curled up against AJ’s chest. I could hear his heart beating and feel him breathing. Desperate to hang on to such a sweet and simple moment, I kept my eyes closed and tried my best not to move.

 

            “Good morning, Kev,” AJ laughed lightly.

 

            “Shh. I’m asleep!” I tried not to smile.

 

            “Oh, alright,” AJ sighed. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and began fake-snoring.

 

            “AJ!” I cried, sitting up quickly. The top of my head collided with his chin and we both clutched our injuries, immediately wishing the pain would subside. As we realized what had happened, we began laughing. “Come on, let’s go get some ice packs!” We struggled to stand up together while still staying wrapped up in the blanket, and somehow made it to the kitchen in our little cocoon of warmth. With my one free hand, I opened the freezer, and AJ reached in and grabbed two ice packs. He handed me one and held the other on his chin as we waddled back to the couch. We sat silently for awhile, until a blinking red light caught my eye.

 

            It was the digital clock on my coffee table, and it read 10:55.

 

            “What’s wrong?” AJ asked.

 

            “We’re late to work again!” I stood hastily, dropping the ice pack on the table, and ran back to my room. Clothing flew from my drawers and closet as I dug around in a desperate attempt to find something decent to wear.

 

            “Kev, it’s okay, I’m the boss!” AJ stood in the doorway, leaning up against the frame, arms crossed coolly.

 

            “It’s not okay, because we both missed yesterday! I’m not skipping another day of work just to goof off!” I settled on a nice green shirt and black pants, dressing in the middle of the room. I didn’t even bother to think about being embarrassed, what with AJ standing right there watching.

 

            “Whatever you say,” AJ sighed. “Mind if I use the bathroom to clean up a bit?”

 

            “You know where everything is,” I shrugged, struggling with the buttons on my shirt. I didn’t think about how strange that sentence tasted in my mouth, or how familiar they felt as I spoke them. I just continued messing with the unusually slippery buttons, muttering curses under my breath every time they slipped from my fingers.

 

            “Let me help,” AJ chuckled, walking up to me. He reached for the shirt and buttoned it with unnatural ease, a soft smile on his face.

 

            “Thanks,” I muttered, suddenly conscious of the fact that I wasn’t wearing any pants. AJ’s face reddened all the way up to his ears and he cleared his throat self-consciously.

 

            “I’m going to… erm… go to the bathroom… uhm… yeah… okay…”

 

            “Y-you should do that…” It was a strange feeling, being embarrassed for something so trivial when we had definitely done much worse.

 

            That thought only made my face a darker shade of red.

 

            AJ all but ran from the room, making it to the bathroom in record speed. I heard the lock click behind him. I finished dressing quickly, not wishing for a repeat of such an awkward encounter.

 

 

 

            Thirty minutes later, we were sitting silently in AJ’s car on the road to the office. “So…” AJ began.

 

            “This is going to be pretty tough,” I sighed.

 

            “Definitely.”

 

            “How do we do this?” I couldn’t help but ask.

 

            “How about we start with walking in at different times. You go in first and act all frantic about being late, and I’ll walk in like I normally do,” AJ suggested.

 

            “You think people will fall for it?”

 

            “Well, if they don’t we’re screwed anyways, so we might as well try.”

 

            “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” AJ pulled up to the office and let me out of the car. I waved goodbye, took a deep breath, and barreled through the doors.

 

            “You’re late, Mr. Woo,” the secretary said in her icky nasally voice as I walked in.

 

            “Yeah, thanks,” I said breathlessly, trying to sound as if I’d been running. I dashed over to the elevators and pressed the button frenetically until it opened. I mimicked the same crazy motions when I was inside the elevator until the doors slid closed. Oddly enough, acting was not as difficult as I had anticipated.

 

            When I reached the top floor, I ran from the elevator in a frazzled manner, almost crashing into SooHyun. “Whoa, slow down!” he cried, catching me before I fell over.

 

            “Thanks,” I smiled.

 

            “Why the rush?”

 

            “My alarm didn’t go off and President Kim is going to literally have a cow if he realizes I’m late!” I continued trying to sound out of breath. SooHyun, to my surprise, fell for my horrible acting skills.

 

            “Well, today must be your lucky day,” he laughed. “AJ hasn’t shown his face yet today!” I exhaled in relief.

 

            “That’s good. Thanks!”

 

            “No problem. You feeling better? Drew said he went over to see you yesterday.”

 

            “Yeah, it was just an allergy attack. Some bed rest and a couple good doses of medicine and I’m perfectly alright!” Just then, the elevator dinged, and AJ stepped out. I forced myself not to smile or acknowledge my relief at his presence.

 

            “AJ!” SooHyun grinned. “Where have you been?”

 

            “I had some business to handle this morning,” AJ said nonchalantly.

 

            “And what about yesterday?” SooHyun raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

 

            “Yesterday I made a visit to my grandfather.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

 

            “How’s Ted doing?” SooHyun asked curiously. Of course, he knew Ted! It seemed nearly impossible to know AJ on a personal level and not know him, actually.

 

            “He’s doing fine.” Part of me finally understood why I had never really liked AJ. He had a completely different persona at work versus, well, being curled up on my couch watching cliché chick flicks.

 

            “Well that’s great!” SooHyun was all oblivious smiles.

 

            “Mr. Woo,” AJ said, turning his attention to me, “have you found a decent venue yet?” Of course I hadn’t, and he knew that. I was about to answer when SooHyun intervened.

 

            “I’m afraid Kev was sick yesterday, and today he was helping me navigate this ridiculous computer program, so he hasn’t really had time to write.” I could tell AJ was a little surprised that SooHyun would actually lie for me. I made a mental note to thank SooHyun later.

 

            “Is that so?” AJ cocked an eyebrow. “Well then, Mr. Woo, I suggest you get to locating a venue. Find something to go off of by lunch and we will have a short meeting then.” I nodded, scared that saying something may reveal too much, and watched as AJ walked into his office. When the door closed behind him, SooHyun smiled at me.

 

            “Thanks for covering for me!”

 

            “No problem,” he shrugged. “I understand what a pain he can be sometimes.”

 

            “Tell me about it,” I laughed. “Well, I should get to work. I guess I won’t be able to see you at lunch since I have that meeting.” SooHyun shrugged.

 

            “No big deal. I’ll see you after work or something.” I nodded, smiled, and waved goodbye, heading directly for my broom closet. When the door was shut and I was alone inside, I felt more at ease. As easy as it was to make people fall for it, tricking them was still hard work.

 

 

 

            The time preceding lunch went by quickly, and I had actually bothered to look at some of the venues. Mere moments after the lunch announcement, I heard a knock on my door. “Mr. Woo, you are late for the meeting,” AJ called.

 

            “I’m almost done with this!” I grabbed a couple of papers that I had been working on, added them to the pile of venue papers, and opened the door with one free hand. I nearly collided with AJ on the other side.

 

            “Here, let me help,” he said, taking a large chunk of papers from the stack in my hands.

 

            “Thanks,” I muttered, trying to look like I still hated him. Had to keep up appearances, after all! We walked silently into his office and placed the papers on his desk. Then, he went over and shut the door, still looking like the previously despicable President Kim. When the door was locked, he turned around, all smiles, the same wonderful AJ. My AJ.

 

            “I think they’re falling for it!”

 

            “Obviously. Didn’t you see those looks the office girls gave me?” I laughed.

 

            “What looks?” AJ seemed completely lost.

 

            “Every single time I’m around you, they literally glare daggers at me. But, if we were dating, like they think you and Eli are, then I would have been bombarded with questions. See?” He seemed even more puzzled by my logic, but nodded anyways.

 

            “Are you still mad?” he asked, searching my eyes.

 

            “Of course I am!” I frowned, trying to look angry. “In fact…” I paused for effect

 

            “What?” he looked worried, and I tried not to appear smug.

 

            “Well, I thought it over a lot for the past couple of hours, and I’m sick of being mad at you and of lying to everyone.”

 

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

 

            “It means…” I took a deep breath, as if preparing myself to say something difficult. “Well, it means that I think we should break up. It’s been a great time, but we’re going down a road that I can’t see the end to, and that makes me nervous.” I shrugged.

 

            AJ’s jaw dropped, and his eyes looked teary. “Y-you’re… Kev, you are seriously considering…” He paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He looked back at me. “You can’t.” he said softly, voice cracking. “Kev, if you do this, I’ll…” he paused again, trying to hold back tears. “Please don’t do this,” he whispered. A tear slid down his cheek.

 

            I smiled, reaching over and wiping the tear with the pad of my thumb. Slowly, I got closer to him. I felt him tense up, and did my best to keep from laughing. Moving my lips close to his ear, I whispered, “Gotcha.”

 

            The look on his face was priceless!

 

            “Kevin!” he cried, taking a step back. “Why would you do something like that?!” Then, he broke out in sobs.

 

            Suddenly, my joke didn’t seem all that amusing. He sat down on the floor, head in his hands, and cried. It was even more heartbreaking than when he had told me about Ted’s locket. I kneeled down next to him and wrapped my arms around him.

 

            “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t know you would… AJ, I’m so sorry.” His sobs very quickly became laughs, and he looked up at me with a wide grin on his face.

 

            “Gotcha!” he said, pointing at me teasingly. It took me a moment to realize what that meant. In that moment, he had stood, slowly making his way to the door.

 

            “AJ KIM!” I cried, finally figuring out what he had done. He rocketed out of the office and I began chasing him down the hall. “YOU THINK YOU’RE SO FUNNY! GET BACK HERE AND I’LL SHOW YOU JUST HOW FUNNY YOU ARE!” Soon, he reached a dead end, and I ran up to him.

 

            “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” he said swiftly, throwing up his hands in surrender.

 

            “Oh, I know,” I said, allowing an evil look to fall over my face.

 

            “K-Kev…” he said as I slowly began stepping closer. “Y-you might want to think this one through, I mean, come on. Kev…?” When we were practically nose to nose, I began tickling him. I honestly hadn’t expected his reaction to be so… dramatic.

 

            He began writhing around, laughing to the point of tears. “P-please, Kev! Okay, I give up! Kev, please s-s-stop! I’m r-really tick-ick-lish!”

 

            “Promise you won’t do that ever again?” I said, still tickling his sides.

 

            “I s-swear!” True to my word, I stopped tickling him. He stood up straight, fixed his clothes, and smiled down at me. “I’m sorry, Kev,” he said sweetly. “Are we even now?”

 

            “I suppose so,” I shrugged. AJ laughed, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward his office at a leisurely pace.

 

            We didn’t make it all the way there.

 

            “Well, it all makes perfect sense now!” SooHyun exclaimed, stepping in front of us. “Would you two care to explain, or shall I try and come up with something?” he cocked an eyebrow.

 

            AJ and I both looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally, AJ spoke up. “We’re dating.”

 

            “No, really? I thought you had just accidentally glued your hands together!” We simultaneously glanced down at  our intertwined fingers with wide eyes.

 

            “SooHyun, it’s not what you—“

 

            “No, I think it is,” SooHyun interrupted. “So, how did it happen?”

 

            “Can we please have this discussion somewhere else?” I asked, looking around to see if anyone else was there.

 

            “Sure, why not?” SooHyun shrugged. I grabbed his arm and pulled him into AJ’s office, making sure the door was locked once the three of us were inside. “So?”

 

            “Well, you see…” AJ began, obviously unsure of what to say.

 

            “I’m listening!”

 

            “He was crying so I got him drunk and then we accidentally slept together and now we’re dating I’m sorry I lied!” I said as fast as I could.

 

            “YOU SLEPT TOGETHER?!”

 

            “It was an accident?” I tried.

 

            “Things like that aren’t accidents! You can’t just do that, Kevin Woo!”

 

            “It wasn’t his fault, okay?” AJ stepped up to my defense.

 

            “Oh, and I’m supposed to believe that you seduced him?!”

 

            “Is it really that difficult?”

 

            “AJ, you don’t have a single romantically inclined bone in your body. Of course it’s that difficult!”

 

            “Why are you freaking out? It’s not like I was dating anyone or anything! And besides, it really doesn’t involve you!” I was getting extremely aggravated.

 

            SooHyun looked at me blankly. “You really never knew?”

 

            “Knew what?”

 

            “N-never mind,” he chuckled nervously. “It doesn’t matter.”

 

            “You sure you don’t want to tell me?”

 

            “Nah, I’ll just… I’ll just go. Leave you two to your… whatever.” He made his way to the door.

 

            “You swear not to tell?” AJ asked seriously.

 

            “Cross my heart,” SooHyun laughed. “But you two should be more careful.” He walked out of the office slowly and shut the door.

 

            “Well that was close,” I sighed.

 

            “I trust him,” AJ shrugged.

 

            “I suppose.” I laughed, remembering how many little bits of gossip SooHyun had told me. It was strange, knowing something he hadn’t. “I should get back to work…”

 

            “I probably should, too…” AJ said shyly, running his fingers through his hair. We parted ways and I wandered back into my broom closet, immersing myself in researching venues.

 

            Time passed quickly, and soon I was trying to control my excitement while I made my way downstairs to where I knew AJ’s car would be waiting for me. A mere five yards from his car, two things happened simultaneously. First, my phone rang, and I looked down to dig it out of my bag. Second, I collided with Lee Kiseop.

 

            “Sorry!” he exclaimed, trying to see if I was okay. As I found my phone and answered it, I held my finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet.

 

            “Hello?”

 

            “Hey, Kev, it’s Mom!” her cheery voice echoed through the speaker. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner.”

 

            “That sounds great!” I smile played over my lips.

 

            “And bring that boy from last time!” I nearly choked on her lack of subtlety, and was glad that Kiseop couldn’t hear her.

 

            “Actually, I have another friend I want to bring,” I said calmly.

 

            “Oh? What’s his name?” the curiosity was dripping from her voice.

 

            “I’ll tell you later! Love you Mom, bye!” I quickly shut the phone, not willing to explain my relationship to my mother via cell phone, and especially not in front of Lee Kiseop.

 

            “Your mom?” Kiseop chuckled.

 

            “Yeah, she’s being all mother-y,” I shrugged, mentally berating myself for my pathetic mutation of the English language.

 

            “Ah, I see,” he winked. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess!” He walked off, waving as he went.

 

"Well, I guess I know what we're doing tonight!" I sighed and walked off to where AJ sat waiting in the car. "We have plans for tonight," I informed him, filling him in on my conversation with my mother.

 

To my surprise, he seemed absolutely thrilled.

 

 

 

"So what's she like?" he asked excitedly as we drove in the relative direction of her studio.

 

"How do I put it...?" I pondered it for a moment, how to describe my mother. It was strange, being asked such a simple question and having no immediate answer. "Well, she's dated a lot of people, but hasn't been remarried."

 

"Your dad died?" I had forgotten that AJ was uninformed about this little fact of my life.

 

"He died when I was three," I said softly. "We never really talk about him."

 

"Oh," he said quietly. "I-I'm sorry..."

 

"No need," I smiled. "I know you didn't mean it."

 

We let a silence fall between us for a few moments, and very soon AJ pulled his car up to my mother's studio. He practically pulled me up to her doorstep, knocking nicely on the door (which had, to my complete surprise, been repaired since my visit with SooHyun).

 

"Kevin!" she cried, stepping out of the house and enveloping me in a bear hug.

 

"Hey, mom!" I grinned. When she pulled away, she turned to face AJ, with confusion on her face.

 

"You're not the one I met last time," she frowned.

 

"Last time?" AJ looked at me.

 

"Mom, this is AJ. He's my boyfriend," I said, trying to get her to be nice to him.

 

"Oh, but what about that SooHyun fellow you brought a few days ago?" she said sadly. "He was such a sweetheart!"

 

"You brought SooHyun over here?" AJ asked.

 

"After work a couple of days ago, before we..."

 

"Well, come in!" Mom said cheerfully. She hurried us in the house and immediately directed us to the kitchen, which was full of not entirely bad aromas. "Go ahead and sit down while I fix your plates!"

 

AJ immediately stepped in front of me and held out my chair. I smiled at his simple gesture.

 

"Mind if I help with plates?" AJ asked my mom sweetly.

 

"No."

 

"O-okay then..." he said dejectedly, sitting down next to me.

 

"Don't worry, she'll like you soon enough," I whispered to him consolingly. Mom came over with our plates of food and set mine down nicely in front of me, but just kind of slid AJ's over to him.

 

"So, Kev," she smiled as she sat down, "Did SooHyun enjoy his visit last time?"

 

"Yeah, of course," I said nonchalantly, trying not to upset AJ.

 

"And what does this young man do?" she gestured to AJ, cocking an eyebrow.

 

"I work at the same company as Kev," AJ smiled.

 

"Oh, just like SooHyun! So you know him?"

 

"Yes, he's helping me on a project," AJ shrugged.

 

"Oh, well isn't that just so nice of him!" Mom clapped her hands together. "Isn't he just wonderful?"

 

"Mom, AJ is the president of the company!" I said quickly.

 

"Really?" she looked rather shocked.

 

"Well, yes, actually," AJ affirmed sheepishly.

 

"That's pretty cool, I guess. And how did you meet Kev?"

 

"Mom, please don't--" I began.

 

"He accidentally spilled his cherry slushee all over me," AJ chuckled.

 

"Kevin!" My mom looked scandalized. I rolled my eyes.

 

"It was an accident, Mom!"

 

"Even so, Kevin, I have told you time and again to be careful!" she scolded.

 

"It's not that big of a deal, Mrs. Woo," AJ shrugged. "I have forgiven him for it."

 

"Even so, Kevin, you should apologize!" My mom continued.

 

"Mom, I already did!" I cried, extremely frustrated with her.

 

"Wow, did you paint that?" AJ exclaimed, trying to change the topic. He pointed to a still life of a pond riddled with bright green lily pads. I smiled at him, grateful for the subject change, and began eating quickly before my next debacle with my mother.

 

"Yes, I did," Mom shrugged.

 

"It's very pretty," AJ said with a smile.

 

"Oh, yes, of course." Mom seemed a little... disappointed in his word choice.

 

"I love how you used the white gouache to highlight the reflections in the water," he continued. "I've always favored that technique."

 

My mother's eyes grew wide at his use of the term "gouache," and she smiled sweetly at him. "Do you paint?"

 

"My grandmother loved to paint," AJ said softly. My head shot up at this, and I laid a comforting hand on AJ's shoulder.

 

"Really? Well, I'd love to meet her sometime and swap techniques!" My mom continued, oblivious to the sadness in AJ's voice.

 

"Mom!" I cried.

 

"What?" she said, offended.

 

"It's okay, Kev," AJ said to me. "My grandmother died not too long ago," he informed my mother.

 

My mom gasped, her hand coming up to cover . "I'm so sorry, I had no idea that--"

 

"It's fine," AJ interrupted, smiling at her.

 

"This mango salad is great!" I exclaimed, trying to rescue my mother from her obvious embarrassment.

 

"Do you like it?" she smiled. "I got the recipe from the man who came to fix the door yesterday," she laughed.

 

"It's marvelous!" AJ grinned.

 

The meal went on like that for a while, full of mediocre chit chat and changes in topic before things got awkward. After we were done, Mom picked up our plates and brought them over to the sink. "You two go sit down in the other room while I wash these dishes, okay?" I stood and walked over to her.

 

"Let us help," AJ offered, practically reading my mind.

 

"Oh, no, it's fine," she grinned.

 

"Mom, if all three of us work on it, everything will go faster," I pointed out.

 

"Oh, all right," she sighed. We began an assembly line. AJ scrubbed the dishes, Mom rinsed them off, and I dried them and put them away. In five minutes we were done.

 

We headed into what functioned as a basic living room and sat down on the commodious couches for a little more light conversation.

 

"So, Kev, when did the two of you start dating?" Mom asked suddenly.

 

"Two days ago," AJ supplied quickly.

 

"Two days?!" Mother seemed scandalized.

 

"Mom, calm down!"

 

"Two days is not enough time to be visiting parents," my mother said quickly.

 

"I met his grandfather yesterday," I shrugged.

 

"Even so!" Mom cried.

 

"Mrs. Woo, I promise you that Kevin and I are very serious about this," AJ said slowly. "We both know that two days is an awfully short time to decide things, but we are working on it. We will give our relationship all the time it needs. I promise."

 

This shut my mother up.

 

"You can trust him, Mom," I chuckled. "He's never ever broken a promise before."

 

"Where's the bathroom?" AJ asked, obviously a bit uncomfortable with the conversation.

 

"Just around that corner, the third door on the right," I pointed, smiling at him.

 

"Thanks." He walked over to the bathroom and shut the door. As soon as we heard it click closed, Mom turned to me.

 

"He reminds me of your father," she stated bluntly. "Don't let go of him."

 

My eyes teared up at her immediate mention of my father, and the sentiment involved in her comparing him favorably to AJ. "Thanks, Mom," I grinned, reaching over to hug her.

 

"It's sad," she sighed, obviously trying not to cry. "You're all grown up!" She chuckled a bit. "He's a wonderful young man." She pulled away, nodded, and stood. "I'm going to go make some tea." She rushed off to the kitchen, and I could hear quiet sobs from the room.

 

AJ returned from the restroom and gave me a concerned look. "Are you okay? Your eyes are red!" He sat down beside me, gently placing a hand on my chin and moving my face toward him.

 

"I'm fine," I said softly, reaching up to wipe a stray tear. He beat me to it, gently brushing it off with the pad of his thumb.

 

"Are you sure?" I nodded, not willing to speak for fear of more tears falling down my cheeks. He sighed, sat back, and then shot back up again when he heard my mother's soft sobs. "What's going on?"

 

"She's making tea," I whispered.

 

"Oh, and she's just crying because she loves tea that much?" He looked sternly at me. "Jess, what happened?"

 

"We were just talking about... about Dad," I breathed. His eyes grew wide and he gently drew me toward him.

 

"Oh, Kev, I'm sorry." He rubbed a hand up and down my back, whispering softly in my ear, trying to console me.

 

A few moments later, my mom walked back in with a tray of tea. Her eyes were bright red too, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. When she saw us curled up like that, she let out a choked sob, set the tray on the coffee table, and retreated to her room. AJ looked at me, concern written in his eyes.

 

"She'll be alright," I smiled sadly. "She hasn't talked about him in awhile, so..." My voice cracked, and I quickly buried my face in AJ's shirt.

 

"Should one of us go check on her?"

 

"I don't think we have to." I sniveled a little bit, sat up, and reached over for my mug of tea. I smelled it, tasted a tiny sip of it. "Peppermint. Dad's favorite." I placed my mug back down, picked up the tray, and walked back into the kitchen. One by one, I poured the cups of steaming liquid into the sink.

 

"What are you doing that for?" AJ asked, coming up behind me.

 

"I'm forgetting for a bit," I sighed. "See, my mom has this wonderful habit of making herself even more depressed than she needs to be. She'll mention Dad of her own accord, cry about it, and then do things that remind her of him so she can cry some more. I'm just running interception."

 

"That doesn't sound healthy."

 

"It's not. In fact, she's probably in there now clutching some old forgotten jacket of his or something," I laughed bitterly.

 

"Why don't you go see if she's okay and I'll finish up here," AJ suggested softly.

 

"Okay, that sounds good," I said, moving from the sink and down the hall to my mother's room. I knocked lightly on her door, waited a moment, and stepped in. I found her asleep on her bed, clutching an old picture of my father in one hand and his favorite blanket in the other. Slowly I removed the offending items from her grasp and put them back where they belonged, kissing her on the forehead and leaving as quietly as possible. AJ stood in the living room, and I quietly motioned for him to get his things and follow me out the door.

 

"Well, that was interesting," AJ said as we sat in the car, heading towards my house.

 

"Maybe not the best first encounter with my mother, huh?" I shrugged. "She did like you, though. I know it didn't seem like it, but she did."

 

            "Well, that's good. I thought she hated me, especially since she kept on bringing up SooHyun." He rolled his eyes. "You really brought him over there?"

 

            "Well, he was telling me about the stuff with Eli and Kiseop, and I didn't have any time to sit and have a conversation with him about it, so he just kinda told me on the way to my mom's house and stayed to visit, too." I shrugged.

 

            "Oh, because that's not too bad at all," AJ said sarcastically.

 

            "Look, the relationship between SooHyun and I is purely platonic. You shouldn't be so jealous about it," I smirked.

 

            "I'm not jealous..."

 

            "No, but you don't like the idea that I could have been romantically interested in him, or that he won my mom over before you. Right?"

 

            "...Maybe..." We pulled up to my house and he jumped out of the car, moving over to hold the door open for me. He walked me up to my doorstep and we stood there awkwardly for a moment.

 

            "For the record," I said softly, "she never said that SooHyun was just like Dad." AJ's eyes grew wide. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

 

            "Mind if I pick you up in the morning?" he said shyly.

 

            "Of course," I laughed.

 

            "I'll see you then," he said, leaning over to plant a kiss on my cheek.

 

            "See you then." We stood there for a moment longer, unsure of what to do. Then, slowly, AJ began walking back to his car. I turned around to unlock my door and was overcome by the strange feeling of walking into my house without AJ. So, I did the only thing that I could do to rectify the situation. "Can you stay tonight?" I asked loudly. AJ looked up in surprise. He walked back up to me and grinned.

 

"Of course! But I should probably go get clothes first... I promise, it won't take too long. I'll be back as soon as I can!" He planted a light kiss on my forehead and dashed off to his car, obviously anxious to complete his trip quickly and get back to my house.    

 

I stepped inside, a grin plastered on my face, and went to my room, quickly changing into my pajamas. I sat down on my bed with a book to wait for AJ to get back.

 

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I woke up that morning curled up in his arms to the sound of my rather aggravatingly loud alarm clock. We both looked at each other through a sleepy haze, climbed out of bed, and stumbled off in opposite directions. I went to my closet to pick out clothes, laying them across the bed and proceeding to dig through AJ's suitcase to find a suitable outfit for him. AJ made his way to the kitchen, starting the coffee and making two bowls of cereal. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and I rushed into the kitchen to find AJ on his knees wiping up spilled coffee and picking up busted pieces of plastic.

 

"Don't worry, I'll get you a new one," he said when I walked in.

 

"It's alright," I laughed. "We can just stop by the coffee shop on the way to work. Are you okay?"

 

"I'm fine. The kettle just kind of jumped off the counter and, well..." he gestured to the mess on the floor. I grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the pieces of plastic.

 

Once the mess was cleaned up, we both went straight to the bathroom. I wasn't at all surprised when I saw that AJ had brought his toothbrush. We both stood there, brushing our teeth, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Then AJ, somewhat bashfully, climbed into the shower while I scrubbed my face. I brought his clothes and a towel into the bathroom, set them on the counter, and went into my bedroom to change. Fifteen minutes later, we were out the door.

 

"Can we walk today?" I asked, looking up at AJ with what I hoped was a puppy dog face.

 

"Oh, alright," he laughed. I smiled excitedly and grabbed his hand, half-pulling him down the sidewalk in the direction of the coffee shop for some much-needed caffeine. We walked in and I happily waved hello to Hoon, at his usual piano post.

 

"Hey, Kev!" DongHo said excitedly. Suddenly, he froze.

 

"Hello, earth to DongHo!" I waved my hand in front of his face, and he quickly snapped out of his reverie. "Can you get us two lattes?" he nodded slowly, as if in a daze, and walked off to make our coffees. I pulled AJ over to a table and we sat down, both still too under-caffeinated to think of anything logical to say. Hoon came over to where we sat, eyeing us suspiciously. I assumed he was up to one of his normal little ridiculous jokes, so I ignored him.

 

DongHo came over with our lattes and set them down silently. That struck me as odd, considering the fact that DongHo was probably the most talkative person I knew. But, I brushed it off, taking it as the sluggishness of the early morning. That is, until Hoon finally spoke up.

 

"Wow, Kev, I never thought you'd leave me for a rich kid!" he said in mock anguish. My eyes grew wide.

 

"I can't believe I didn't tell you guys!" I exclaimed.

 

"Well, we're a tad bit shocked as well!" DongHo cried. "The last time we saw you, you absolutely despised him! Sorry, dude," he said to AJ.

 

"Eh, I understand," AJ shrugged.

 

"What happened?" Hoon asked curiously.

 

"Well, you see..." I wasn't exactly sure how to tell them, and finally resorted to making up a story. I silently willed AJ to play along. "A couple days ago, AJ decided he wanted to take me out to dinner. So we went, but then we got into an argument and I tried to storm off. To my utter surprise, he actually apologized." I laughed a little at the memory.

 

"After that, we rode a bike around, gave dinner a second go, and found out that we could actually get along pretty well," AJ continued.

 

"After that, I realized that I had feelings for him, and he told me he had feelings for me as well," I said slowly.

 

“And now we're dating!" AJ smiled awkwardly. I silently thanked him for excluding the part about sleeping together.

 

Hoon and DongHo just stared at us for a moment. "Well," DongHo said.

 

"You two had didn't you?" Hoon said bluntly.

 

It probably seemed very amusing to them when my jaw dropped at exactly the same time as AJ's. To us, however, it was shocking. "H-how did you...?"

 

"It's written all over your face," Hoon shrugged. DongHo nodded in agreement.

 

"So can you please tell us what actually happened?" DongHo begged.

 

I sighed, looked at AJ, and told them the whole story. By the end of it, they were grinning like two loons. "What's wrong with you two?" I asked.

 

"I TOLD YOU SO!" DongHo cried, laughing gleefully.

 

"Oh, shut up!" I quickly clapped my hands over my ears.

 

"You have to admit, Kev, he did call it," Hoon shrugged.

 

"I don't have to listen to this!" I cried. I heard laughter next to me, and looked over to find AJ absolutely giddy with laughter as well. "Oh, you too?!"

 

"It's pretty funny, Kev. Even you have to admit that!" he guffawed.

 

"I don't see why it's so hilarious to all of you," I rolled my eyes.

 

"It'll wear off eventually," Hoon shrugged. "Now, for the most important question: have the two of you decided on your song?"

 

Everyone froze and looked at Hoon in confusion. "Our... song?" I asked slowly.

 

"Oh, come on, Kev, every couple has to have a song!"

 

"Uhm, Hoon, I don't think we've gotten there yet," I chuckled.

 

"Well you have to tell me the minute you find one, then, so I can start practicing for your wedding," he winked. With that, he walked back over to the piano and began playing love songs.

 

"Well, I guess we have some work to do," AJ joked.

 

"Oh, shut up!" I laughed.

 

"Wow, you two are disgustingly adorable," DongHo said as he finished laughing.

 

"Gee, thanks, DongHo," I retorted as sarcastically as possible.

 

"You're welcome!" He winked, and then stood. "If you don't mind me, I'm going to go puke rainbows now. Just... go back to what you were doing before, 'kay?" AJ and I laughed at DongHo's ridiculousness and went back to drinking our lattes.

 

What happened then utterly shocked us both. We were giggling, just goofing off and being "disgustingly adorable," when the bell on the door rang. I looked up to see none other than Lee Kiseop.

 

It took everything in me to not spew coffee all over the table.

 

I quickly pasted a look of aggravation on my face and distanced myself from AJ. He looked up to see Kiseop as well and quickly caught on.

 

"Hey, Kev!" Kiseop said happily, walking over to our table. "AJ," he nodded at my boyfriend.

 

"You come here in the mornings now?" I asked curiously.

 

"Just today. My coffee pot decided to take a dive off the counter this morning," he laughed.

 

"Ah, I understand. Mine did the same thing!"

 

"Makes sense," he shrugged. "What's he doing here?" he asked, gesturing towards AJ.

 

"What a coincidence, my coffee pot busted this morning, too," AJ said, sounding bored.

 

"Seriously?" Kiseop said, eyebrows raised.

 

"Seriously." I rolled my eyes in mock aggravation at AJ's ridiculousness.

 

"That's... weird."

 

"Very coincidental."

 

"Well, Kev, I suppose I'll see you at work!" Kiseop grinned at me.

 

"See ya!" I smiled. I stood, pretending to check the time on my phone and quickly texting AJ, telling him to meet me a block away. "Well, I'm off!" I called to DongHo and Hoon.

 

"Come and visit later, sweetheart!" Hoon winked.

 

"Will do," I laughed. I walked out of the door and headed to the place I had asked AJ to meet me. Five minutes later, I saw him walking quickly down the road in my direction. When he reached me, we both burst out laughing.

 

"That was fun!" AJ said gleefully.

 

"I feel bad for Kiseop, but that really was hilarious!" I agreed. When our laughter had subsided, I took AJ's hand and we began strolling leisurely down the road in the general direction of Mister Kim.

 

When we reached the office, we once again parted ways, AJ walking in first this time. He resumed his typical standoffish manner once inside the doors, and for a moment I let myself marvel again at the difference between the two. Taking a deep breath, I walked inside, trying to be my typical I-hate-AJ-but-I-don't-want-to-be-late self.

 

Successfully making it up to my broom closet with little to no interaction with other people, I threw myself into my venue searching, determined to find the perfect one by the end of the day.

 

Little did I know that I would end up having much more time than I had originally bargained for.


A/N: So I hope you guys love me, because this chapter is 6,535 words. I'm really excited for the next scene coming up in Chapter 15! (I haven't written it yet, but it's at the top of my list.) Also, I apologize for mistakes in pronouns, etc. In case you didn't know, I changed a lot of the names for my actualy NaNo novel, so Kevin is named Jessica James, SooHyun is Mark Sutter, DongHo is Jack, etc. For each chapter I have to go through and fix there names, so sometimes there's confusion. xDD WELLLLLL I hope you liked it! And please leave comments! I love hearing from everyone! <3 AND THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY RIDICULOUS NANO CRAZIES. It means a lot! 
Also, funny anecdote for those of you who are still reading: Today I logged in to NaNo and found out that I was roughly 5,000 words behind. Posting this, I'm still about 1,000 behind, have been writing for two and a half hours, am currently on my fourth cup of coffee, and have listened to so much Pandora radio that I am no longer able to distinguish the difference between Les Miserables and One Direction. AND TOMORROW IS IN, LIKE, TWELVE MINUTES. D: