II   ^{just want to be with you} 

They entered Lotte World, still a little nervous about being caught, but their worries were immediately put to rest as hundreds of people, all in masks like them, swarmed around. Animals, vampires, fairies, Disney characters, Superheroes – every conceivable costume could be seen.

Hyoyeon tugged Doojoon’s hand, “Oh no! Looks like another couple had the same idea” pointing in the direction of a tiger and a lion waiting in line for the carousel.
“Meh. My Hyorengi’s much cuter,” he boasted loudly making her shush him in embarassment.



They weaved their way through the crowds, hands still clasped tightly together, as he mused outloud, “So if you’re my girlfriend, then I should know you really well, right. Let me guess, your favourite ride is the rollercoaster?”
“Lucky guess!” she teased, earning a chuckle from him, “Oh my girlfriend is so hard to impress!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to the rollercoaster line, they could hear loud Korean pop music blaring from the speakers. Since it was the most popular ride there, the attendants often entertained those waiting by dancing and singing. Right at this moment, they were engrossed in their own rendition of Kara’s Lupin receiving lots of cheers and hoots from the crowd -- mostly since the five Kara members were all male.

When the song ended, the lead attendant took over as MC shouting, “Do you guys like Girls Generation?”
A thundering “yes” came from the crowd.
“How about Boys Generation? We would like some volunteers please! The chosen ones will receive coupons for Lotte World.” 

Immediately a deep low voice shouted, “I’ll be Sunny!” earning laughs from the crowd since he looked like the visual opposite of SNSD’s cute little bunny.
“Ice Princess Jessica,” a lanky male dressed as Spiderman also stepped forward.
“I myself will be Fany Fany Tiffany of course,” the MC guy winked.

“Hyoyeon!” a guy dressed in a Pikachu costume volunteered only to be interrupted by another voice, “I want to be Hyoyeon too.” The voice seemed to come very close from where Hyoyeon was standing so she turned towards Doojoon to comment, only to find he wasn’t standing behind her any longer. 

Confused, she returned her gaze to the front to see Lion Doojoon in a standoff with Pikachu.

“Well looks like we have two diehard fans of Hyoyeon here. Let’s settle this with a quiz! “What is her part in Gee?”
“어쩌면좋아요,수줍은나는요,몰라몰라…”

“Ok, that  was too easy. Where is Hyoyeon’s hometown?”
“Incheon,” they both replied.

“Wow! You two are really serious now.”
“When’s her birthday?”
“September…..”
“September 22nd!”
“We have a winner. Hyoyeon will be played by our friend, the Lion!” 

**GEE - Boys Generation version**

“Oh my god! You are too much!” Hyoyeon was clutching the sides of her stomach when Doojoon returned to her. “You make a better Hyoyeon than I do!”
“Are you saying you’re impressed?” she could picture his satisfied grin behind the mask.
“Consider me impressed,” she acknowledged and the two moved forward to take their seats on the ride.

“By the way, how did you know my birthday?” she didn’t remember ever telling him about it.
“Because you’re my girlfriend who I’m crazy about,” he lifted his mask just a tiny little bit and gave her a wink. 
Before she could come up with a response, the rollercoaster safety bars came down and they were off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So what’s next?” Hyoyeon asked as Doojoon once again had her by the hand. It was beginning to feel natural now.
He started going through the coupons he’d received from the Rollercoaster MC and picked one saying ‘Sticker booth’. “It’ll be good to take these masks off for a while!”

They dropped off their things outside and stepped into the Sticker booth only to discover that it was actually a lot smaller than regular ones. Awkwardly they stood together with merely 5 inches of space between them, their gaze simultaneously shifting to the seat. Uh oh! There was definitely only room for 1. 

“We don’t have to take the picture together. You won it! I’ll just wait outside,” Hyoyeon stuttered suddenly overcome by shyness.
He stopped her before she could back out. “Don’t be silly. We are on a pretend date, remember? We just have to imitate the other couples,” and pointed to the series of photos on the wall, all with couples sitting on each other’s laps.

How Hyoyeon wished she had the mask to cover her blushing cheeks so that he wouldn’t realize what an immature kid she was at heart.

Seeing as his hold on her wrist wasn’t loosening anytime soon, she gave up and let out a fake laugh, “Cool! Then you have to sit on my lap buddy! I'm a femini..”


“Too late!” Doojoon’s muscular arm circled around her waist and pulled her down on his lap. “The coupon is already in, Smile!”
3,2,1 Flash – Doojoon had a huge Cheshire cat grin on his face while Hyoyeon’s head was mid-turn, confused and unprepared.
3,2,1 Flash – Doojoon’s face looked exactly the same only this time he was holding Hyoyeon’s head in place and she was laughing openly like a child. 
3,2,1 Flash – Doojoon leaned in and kissed her right cheek. Her eyes were wide open in surprise.

“Sorry,” he grinned after the pictures were done, “it was sort of a dream of mine to take pictures in a sticker booth with my girlfriend.”
“No worries,” she replied dazedly. Her cheek still tingled where he had kissed her.. this couldn’t be static again, could it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey are you okay? You’ve been really quiet for a while. Did I weird you out?” his voiced sounded anxious so she forced herself to put her thoughts on hold. Shaking her head profusely, she reassuringly replied, “No, it was just the bright flashes!”

He relaxed again and led her towards the food court. 

They walked around for a while examining the selections, his arm lightly on her lower back, guiding her but Hyoyeon’s thoughts were on something far far different from food.
Her mind was frantically trying to re-organize her memories like pieces of a puzzle.. she wasn’t sure what she was looking for but just knew that once she figured it out, she would feel at ease.


“So I think we should get spaghetti! Isn’t it the most classic thing to eat on a date?” he was looking at her for approval and she nodded.

The person at the counter smiled up at them widely, “A lion and a tiger! How adorable! I have just the perfect couple combo for you two.”
“Okay surprise us,” Doojoon said easily and bent down to whisper in her ear, “I think we should go to the park area in the back so we can eat without anyone recognizing us.”

There was that static again sending all her nerves abuzz.

It suddenly hit her then! Oh my god, Kim Hyoyeon pabo, you like him! This is chemistry.
How had she been so blind? For the past few months he had been her closest friend and confidant aside from the girls, but even she had to admit she thought about him more than a friend should. She waited for his texts eagerly every day and wondered what he was up to if she didn’t talk to him before bed.
Yes, her heart had already moved on, it was just her head that hadn’t caught up to it yet.

But now that it had,

what happens next?


 

“Food’s here!” he nudged her and she followed him wordlessly.
Walking to the most remote and deserted corner of the park, they finally took off their masks.

“Here!” he handed her a fork and spoon. “This might be a little awkward but our concept is a date right so let’s just go with it!”

“Huh?” she gave him a puzzled look and looked around for her own food.
“Aigoo! You didn’t hear what the server told us, did you?” She shook her head. 

He pointed to the single extra large heart shaped dish of pasta and banana split. “This is the couple combo!” 
'Oh no~ what do I do if we both pick the same noodle! This is SO awk-ward.'

“Hey are you just going to eat the bread? Try the spaghetti. It’s really good,” he paused and then gave her a playful smile, “I promise I won’t pull a Lady and the Tramp kiss on you! I know that pretend dates have their limits.” 
Is he flirting?


As the day went on, Hyoyeon was pretty sure that he was flirting with her and what’s more, she was flirting back too. 
Maybe Kim Choding was maturing after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was finally 9 pm when Hyoyeon parked the car she had borrowed from her mom in front of Doojoon’s house. 

Doojoon turned to her as he got ready to leave. “Did you have fun today?” She nodded.
“And do you think this pretend date helped you open up to the idea of dating again?” he looked hopeful.

She didn’t answer him; instead she asked, “Is this how you end all your dates? With a performance review?” 
He looked puzzled leading her to elaborate with a mischievous smile, “I mean, how would Yoon Doojoon end a real date?”

His eyes narrowed trying to figure out what she was getting at. A light bulb suddenly went on in his head – he had noticed her change of attitude halfway through their pretend date – but hadn't allowed himself to hope.
 

But right now, there was no mistaking that impish smile on her face -- as if daring him to make the first move.  

“Well..” he drew out the word and scooted a little closer, “let’s see, if this was a real date,” his voice was low and deep causing her breath to hitch. He inched even closer, their eyes on the same level, “then I would definitely end it like.. this.” She closed her eyes, her heart hammering in her chest and waited.

She could feel him hovering over but in a sudden movement he rose up and kissed her softly on the forehead instead. “Today was the best date of my life – pretend or not!”

Then giving her cheek a gentle caress, he got out of the car, “Drive safe Hyoraengi. I’ll call you!”