Ellie’s POV:

                I blinked my eyes after waking up from a dream I didn’t remember. There was a half second where I didn’t remember anything. I was in a peaceful place where I wasn’t worried or paranoid about anything. It was nice, until memories of what I was doing today popped back into my mind. I remembered I was supposed to have dinner with Taemin, Amber, and the Kibum I did not know. All the worries flowed back into my mind. I shot up from my bed and checked the time.

2 PM.

                . I overslept. It wasn’t because I went to bed late; it was more because I kept falling in and out of a restless sleep. I was still tired, but I needed to start getting ready.

                I quickly found something to eat and washed up. Now was the hard part for me—or any girl for that matter: picking out an outfit. I went through everything in my closet, and finally found something somewhat decent to wear. I never dressed up, in fact, I dressed like a male more than anything. I guess Amber and I had something in common. I decided on an outfit I bought but was never brave enough to wear. It was a casual, navy blue skirt with black leggings, along with a white, flowy shirt with a navy blue heart on it. This was the first time I was going to wear a skirt since… Forever.

                After getting dressed, I grabbed a white flower clip and put it in my hair. I looked in my mirror and stared for awhile. This was as good as it was going to get. I stopped questioning my outfit just in case I changed my mind.

                Their house was actually closer to mine than I expected. Walking would be kind of far, but it was definitely possible. Luckily, my mom was willing to drive me today.

~

Taemin’s POV:

                Just as I predicted, I didn’t get any sleep last night. I stayed up composing music that kept flowing through my head. I didn’t fall asleep until seven in the morning.

“HEY. TAEMIN. GET YOUR OUTTA BED. It’s already three!!! Ellie is going to be here in like an hour!”

OW. CAN’T BREATE.

Amber sat on my back to get me out of bed. I complained and pushed her off me.

“Aigooo, when did you gain so much weight?!”

She huffed and smacked me on the back of my head. I just laughed and sat up. Amber rolled her eyes at me and left my room. This is when her words started processing through my mind.

“… Ellie is going to be here in like an hour!”

My stomach twisted into knots and it didn’t feel very pleasant. I was beyond nervous. I would have to ask her for her phone number and eventually  work up the courage to ask her on a date. In Korea, contacting someone right after you got their number was the way it worked. Amber told me that here in America that would be considered kind of creepy. I was still getting used to this, but I was willing to do anything I could to get to know her better.

Well, I had an hour, so I decided to go down stairs and practice on the piano. It always calmed my nerves—even though Kibum complained about how loud it was. I headed down stairs to find him ferociously cooking in the kitchen.

“Well, look who finally got out of bed. Lazy. Why aren’t you wearing the clothes I laid out for you? Go put those on and then come back over here so I can touch up your roots. I want you to look perfect!”

                I was holding back laughter. He looked ridiculous. I don’t know why he always wore an apron even though it was completely unnecessary. I internally rolled my eyes, nodded, and went back upstairs. On my desk chair I found red skinny jeans, and an off-white t-shirt with drawn pictures of skyscrapers on it.

                I was surprised. He usually threw something over the top in when he was putting together an outfit for me. This was decent, coming from him, anyway. I put it on, fixed up my hair, and went back downstairs quietly. I wasn’t in the mood to have Kibum mess around with my hair. He always ends up doing something he didn’t tell me he was going to do. I snuck into the front room and went straight for the piano. I closed my eyes and played.

Ellie’s POV:

                I walked up towards the front door. I was really nervous to ring the doorbell, but not as nervous as the first time I did it. They were actually expecting me this time. I could hear Taemin playing the piano. It made me smile, and gave me a little boost of confidence. I rang the doorbell. The music continued, but I heard someone run over and unlock the door. When it opened, I saw a glamorous boy I assumed was Kibum. He was very pretty and had perfectly textured blonde hair.

“Oh hi! You must be Ellie! I’m Kibum, it’s nice to meet you. Come on in! Amber will come downstairs in a second.”

I smiled.

“Nice to meet you too!”

He smiled and skipped off into the kitchen.I didn’t imagine him to be like bubbly like this at all. I was pretty sure he was gay, but I wasn’t going to say anything.

At this point, I was kind of lost. I was just standing in the entryway and Kibum was already in the kitchen. Did he expect me to go sit in the front room where Taemin was playing? I took the chance and went in.

Taemin’s eyes were closed and he was skillfully playing the piano and humming. He looked perfect. I couldn’t hold back my smiles.

Taemin’s POV:

                I heard footsteps enter the front room. I stopped playing and opened my eyes. Ellie was sitting on the couch smiling in a daze. She looked beautiful. Her eyes met mine after she heard me stop playing.

“Ah—Hi, Ellie! When did you get here?”

I tried smiling and acting as kind as possible. She blushed and stuttered. It was cute.

“Oh, I just got here. Kibum didn’t really tell me where to go so I came and sat down to uh, hear you play.”

Aish. Kibum didn’t know how to treat guests. She was looking at the ground and blushing crazily. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m sorry about Kibum. He’s kind of odd. So, uhm, how have… You been?”

I wanted to keep talking to her. It was awkward, but I had to do it sometime. I got up from the piano bench to sit in a chair facing the couch she was sitting on. That seemed like the most comfortable situation, to me. She looked up from the ground as I sat in the chair. She really was beautiful. I never got close enough to notice her features before. I’d never seen anyone with such pretty, blue eyes.

“Oh, um, I’ve been alright. Mostly bored, I guess. Ever since school ended I haven’t had anything to do.”

That’s right, school is over for their summer vacation.

“I haven’t had any school since I moved here a month ago. I think I’m staying here in America long enough to attend my third year of high school.”

She looked surprised.

“Really? That’s awesome. I’m going into my third year, too. I’ll be seventeen in a few months.”

We’re the same age. Internationally, anyway.

“Daebak! We’re the same age. In Korea I’m already seventeen, but here I’m going to be turning seventeen on July 18.”

Why did I say daebak? And why was I just talking about myself? Ugh. She nodded and laughed a little. How can someone be so effortlessly cute?

“So in Korea, you’re actually a year older? That’s interesting. Oh, and what does dae-daebak mean?”

She was really interested in the conversation, as far as I could tell. It was really hard for me to feel comfortable, but I kept pushing it. I needed to stopmixung my words up. I laughed a little.

“I’m sorry, sometimes I mix up my Korean words with English words. Daebak is like saying, ‘awesome’ or ‘cool’.”

I was really embarrassed. She smiled and looked down at the floor.

“It’s okay, I think it’s cute, I MEAN, uhm, uh…”

I felt blush rise up in my face. She thought I was… Cute? I never felt so happy before. Or… Did she not really mean it? How could I possibly respond? I smiled and let out a small laugh.

“Uhm, uh, tha—…”

“—Hey, there you guys are. Dinner is ready. Hey, Ellie! Sorry I didn’t say hi earlier.”

Amber interrupted me, thank goodness. I really didn’t know how to reply. I stood up immediately and tried to stop thinking about it. Ellie looked up slowly. Her face was still flushed.

“Oh, uh, hi Amber!”

Without any thought, I offered my hand to help her up. Her eyes widened and she stuttered a bit. I could feel Amber giving me a look. There was no going back now. She took my hand and got up.

“Oh… Thanks.”

I nodded and let go of her hand. Things could have gotten awkward. She smiled and stumbled over towards Amber. They walked off conversing about who knows what. I followed them into the dining room knowing one thing: For the two seconds I was holding on to her hand, it felt right.

~~~

Lol, 2PM joke I threw in there XD Sorry for the delay. I have a very busy squedule of being a lazy . The rest of this "Dinner" will be out soon :P