Taemin’s POV:

                I was still slightly mortified about startling Ellie earlier at dinner. I was worried she would think I was creepy by now. She was so flawlessly attractive and cute, and I keep clumsily messing up on things. So much for being charming…

                Despite everything that already happened, I still hadn’t gotten her phone number. Luckily Amber had decided on video games, so I still had a chance to talk to her. When we made it into the game room, I tried approaching again. She appeared to be amazed by all the gaming stuff Amber insisted on having.

“I know there’s kind of a ridiculous amount of gaming stuff in here. Amber insisted on having all this. In Korea, gaming consoles aren’t even that popular. I guess she wanted all this because she’s used to American culture, and whatnot.”

I chuckled kind of nervously. She laughed, too.

“I’m actually not much of a gamer myself. I never had video games as a kid, so I’m not really into it now. It’s still fun every now and then, though…”

I hoped she would keep talking. Ellie and I were getting along pretty well. I was finally feeling less awkward around her. It felt like we were friends, which was good enough for me. However, I don’t think it’s normal for a “friend” to make you feel like your heart was exploding and your throat was closing up.

We eventually sat on the couch in front of the flat-screen and were having a great conversation, but Kibum had to interrupt it, of course. I wasn’t angry at him, though, because he had stopped Amber from blurting out something at the dinner table, earlier. I didn’t know what she was going to say, but it surely would have been embarrassing. I owed Kibum for that one. I would have to do as he said to avoid any more punches. I tried to flash an apologetic smile at Ellie, and she nodded in understanding.

I got up and let out a sigh of relief. I loved talking to Ellie, but being so close to her made me feel like I wasn’t able to get any air. Kibum punched me playfully on the shoulder when I stood next to him in front of the TV. I knew he was poking fun at me for talking with Ellie, and it made me blush. I looked away so he wouldn’t notice.

“So…” he whispered, “Did you get her number yet? You sure were talking a lot.”

He laughed. My face flushed an even darker shade of red. 

“Omo, no I didn’t. Not yet. Now shut up about it.”

He laughed even harder. I punched his shoulder lightly to make him stop. Amber and Ellie were looking at us funny and started whispering and giggling like schoolgirls. It was adorable to see Ellie giggle like that, but horrifying to see Amber. I turned back towards the screen and got ready. Dancing against Kibum was always interesting, and I wanted to show Ellie what I could do, even if that sounds standoffish.

Ellie’s POV:

Amber started talking as soon as I moved closer to her on the couch. She shifted her eyes both ways cautiously and then leaned in to whisper.

“You like him, don’t you?”

I could feel heat rush into my face. How could she have possibly guessed? Did I… Show it THAT much? I wasn’t going to deny it so I just sighed and spoke the truth.

“T-Taemin?...Yeah, I, uh, guess I do. Uhm, you’re not going to tell him are you? How did you even figure it out?”

She smiled and laughed quietly.

“It’s pretty obvious. I could tell by the way you act around him. A Girl’s intuition. And don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.”

She was looking a little mischievous, which worried me a bit. I trusted Amber, so I didn’t think of it as anything. I just laughed it off. Taemin looked back at us and smiled. He leaned over and whispered something to Kibum. Amber and I looked at each other and burst out laughing because he didn’t know what we were talking about.

They finally started dancing. Taemin and Kibum were both incredible. I didn’t think dancing could be so intense and complicated, but they definitely made it look that way. I just watched intently and said something to Amber every now and then. She told me how hard they both worked at dancing.

They kept winning back and forth. Every time Taemin won, he would stick his tongue out at Kibum. It was so cute how he would act so childish. Kibum would roll his eyes and mumble curses towards Taemin. Every time Kibum won, he would grab Taemin in a headlock and yell stuff at him in Korean. Amber and I would sit back and laugh. They were really funny. I genuinely never laughed this much.

~

“Okay *huff* Taemin. Let’s *huff* just call it *huff* a draw.”

Kibum was totally out of breath and collapsed on the couch.

“Whatever *huff* you say, Kibum. I *huff* totally beat you.”

They were so competitive. There was no way I was going to play this game. After Amber got done laughing at them, she spoke up.

“Aww come on, Kibum. Please play a round with me?”

She winked at him. What was that supposed to mean? Whatever it meant, it immediately made Kibum stop huffing and get up from the couch. He smiled at Taemin and pushed him on the couch next to me. I was a bit startled and leaned in the other direction out of surprise.

                Amber and Kibum immediately started up a round and started cursing at each other. Taemin and I sat kind of awkwardly, and he was still out of breath.

Taemin’s POV:

                This was it. I was going to ask her for her phone number. I wish Kibum hadn’t abruptly pushed me on the couch, but he and Amber had something planned all along behind my back. I looked over at Ellie. She looked a tad uncomfortable, and I realized I was sitting maybe too close to her on the couch. I moved in the other direction as discretely as possible.

“Uhm… You and Kibum are really good at dancing. Are you guys always so competitive?”

I was surprised that she spoke first. It made me happy, but I was worried about how I was going to approach the question I’ve wanted to ask all along.

“Oh, thanks! I really love dancing, and so does Kibum. Amber, Kibum, and I are all pretty competitive, actually.”

She smiled and looked over at Kibum and Amber. They were being incredibly rude to each other, as always. Now that we weren’t saying anything, I decided I should ask now. I sighed and turned towards Ellie.

“Uhm, Ellie? I’ve been meaning to ask you something…”

She looked over at me and blushed. It was really cute.

“Uhh… Could I… Have... Your phone number?”

She looked down and put a strand of hair behind her ear. It fell back away. I smiled and looked down in embarrassment. Was she… Not interested?

“… Uh… Uhm… Of course! I was going to ask you the same thing, actually…”

I let out a sigh of relief. It didn’t turn out bad like I thought it would. She took her phone out of her pocket and fussed with it for a minute.

“Here! Put your number in!”

Her smile made me smile. I nervously put in my number and returned the phone. I gave her mine as well. She put in her number and gave it back to me. As her contact she put, “Ellie :)”. I smiled and put my phone away. I couldn’t have been happier.

~

Sorry for the wait!!~ I'll try to fit in a few more chapters before school starts. Once it starts, I won't be able to update as much T^T Thanks for subscribing!