“Hey, Miss Im… Wake up” Kris spoke on the phone as he opened the fridge, taking out the milk bottle. He sat at the chair on the kitchen, getting ready for his breakfast after the morning jog.

“Five more minutes, Mom…” Nana replied with a hoarse voice, her eyes were still closed.

“Again? You thought I’m your Mom again? Oh come on… Wake up you sleepyhead!” Kris half yelled to the phone as he pour the milk to the bowl filled with cereal. “Im Jinah…” he called her softly.

Nana opened one of her eyes, looking around. Even though she’s already been spending a week in LA, still, she always forgot where she was every time she woke up. She took the remote control at the bedside table, opened the curtain that covered the window. The sunlight slowly greeted her, making her eyes squinted before she closed it again.

“Oh, is it afternoon already?” she mumbled, covered her head with the blanket. “Are you already prepared to go?” she asked him under the blanket.

“Did you forget your own schedule? You had appointment with Nicole. Aren’t the two of you going to shop together today?”

Nana opened her eyes widely at the mentioned of Nicole. She totally forgot that she already promised to meet her high school friend. Nana used to go to the same high school with Nicole, but since Nicole’s parent had to go back to America, they were separated during university. It’s almost 7 years already since Nicole went to America. Before Nicole left to Paris for summer, she spared her time to meet Nana. And Nana just forgot it.

“Oh, I have to call her...” Nana said as she stood up from the bed, walking to the cupboard.

“Text me when you’re done, I’ll pick you up. Tonight we’re going to have a dinner together with the guys from the office…” Kris reminded her, taking a spoon of cereal to his mouth.

“They’re in the city already?” Nana said as she chose the dress that she’s going to wear. She’s completely awake whenever she has to choose the wardrobe and the make up for the day. She dedicated 45 minutes of her time just to choose the clothes and do the makeup, choosing the shoe is another 20 minutes.

“Yep, they’re back and dying to see you”

Nana remembered that Lay and Chen were in Taiwan, while Tao went to New York to visit his cousin. She chuckled at the thought of meeting the three of them outside of working thingy. “Ok, I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yes. Have fun, Darling” Kris ended the phone call and smiling brightly. These days, life seemed beautiful for him as she’s here… “I can’t wait to see you again, Miss Im” he said as he put his phone away, continued his breakfast.

Nana quickly went to the bathroom and getting prepared to see Nicole. She’s dying to see her; she had a lot of things to tell, especially about Kris. Yeah, Kris…

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“Long distance relationship?” Nicole asked Nana as she drank her orange juice. Nana nodded as she sipped her cold Frappuccino. “How long has it been?”

“10 months…  I’m crazy, aren’t I?” Nana replied as she looked blankly to the road in front of her. It’s such a hot day in LA and chill out at the coffee shop sounded great for Nana.

Nana and Nicole spend their time with having lunch together and go shopping around Rodeo Drive. Yeah it’s expensive, but sure it was worth it. Nicole brought Nana to a lot of unique stores which sell a rare collection of clothes and bags. The two of them really enjoyed the shopping time that they forgot their legs were all hurt because they went to one store to another along the Rodeo Drive.

“Nothing is crazy. You’re just in love and that’s that” Nicole said shortly. “Be grateful that you’re having a great boyfriend” she added.

“You love him, don’t you?” Nicole teased Nana who somehow blushed at the thought of it.

“Well, I guess...” she answered, playing the straw on her cup.

To be honest for Nana, the past week were just beautiful. They could see each other every day, talking about anything and everything, face to face. She often stayed late outside just to get a longer time of talking with Kris. She thought that relationship supposed to be like this; spending the time together.

She enjoyed the hype of looking for the clothes to wear before meeting Kris, doing makeup and hair-do for their date, listing the places they want to visit, waiting for him to pick her up, and walking hand in hand with him. Nana loves the way he talked to her when he’s on her side, either took her hand when they’re strolling in the city or just casually hang his arm around her shoulder, which followed by her fingers intertwined with his. She likes his gaze over her; somehow she felt a lot of feeling was contained on his eyes. And she couldn’t stop looking at his eyes every time they talked.

She’s really under Kris’ spell.

“He seemed like a Mister Perfect, Nana” Nicole commented.

“Hmm?” Nana looked at Nicole in confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“This was the smoothest relationship you’ve ever been. Remember your ex were always weird or have a bad ending with you. But Kris is different. Even the way you meet each other already cute for me…”

Nana sighed in content, once again playing the straw in the cup.

“I don’t know… I really like him. But do you think that we have future together?”

Nicole frowned to Nana’s words. “What are you talking about?”

Nana lazily shrugged her shoulder. “No, it’s just my thought… How long are we going to live separately? Another two months? Years?”

“I thought you’re coming here to reconcile about your relationship with him…” Nicole looked at Nana. “Is there anything wrong?”

“No, no… Maybe I need to stop reading romantic novel or cheesy romantic comedy movie… My mind was swaying a bit lately… Sorry for ruin the mood hehehe” Nana laughed, ending it with putting her tongue out. Nicole pinched her cheek.

“Nana, you know what? Just go with it. Don’t think too much, just enjoy your time with him. The most important thing is you being happy. You’re happy with him right?”

“Oh stop being such a therapist for me…” Nana playfully pinched Nicole’s cheek.

“You’re welcome” Nicole replied, giggling. “Hmm, should we go for another snack now?”

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“Cheers for the happy couple!” Chen took his glass, followed by the other. Nana laughed along with Lay and Tao. The five of them were having a dinner together at La Parilla, a Mexican restaurant around the downtown area. Lay and Chen especially prepared the place there, since it’s such a fun place to eat and chat with friends.

Every table in the restaurant mostly filled with a bunch of people, there was no one eating alone. Nana had fun trying special dish from Mexico while Kris kept ordering the grill as all of them love the Mexican grill on the restaurant. Tao was looked a bit relaxed when he talked to Nana, far from Nana thought that he was such a cold and distant person. Lay and Chen couldn’t stopped teasing Kris in front of Nana, making him feeling embarrassed.

“Do you know that Kris used to be a very strict and flat person, Nana?” Lay said as he glanced to Kris who’s calmly drinking the cola, ignoring Lay.

“Really? I thought he’s a playful person” Nana replied, looking at Kris who’s sitting next to her. Kris smiled widely.

“See? My girlfriend knows me more” he replied, showing a victory sign with his fingers.

“No, you don’t know, Nana. He’s such an annoying emotionless person ever” Chen added. He happily drank the cola after did a hi-5 with Lay.

“My friends can be very annoying sometimes…” Kris mumbled, making Nana laughed.

“Your friends are fun to be with! You’re so lucky to have them as friend” Nana beamed happily.

“Which side are you on?” Kris playfully glared to Nana.

“Mmmm… their side?” Nana replied as she sat closer to Tao, making Lay and Chen laughed in satisfaction. Kris covered his face with his palm, showing a loss face.

They continued the night with another laugh and chat. Nana felt happy that Kris’ friends were all friendly and welcomed her, especially Lay who seemed to be really close with Kris. When Kris and Tao took a picture with Chen, Lay sat next to Nana. He gave her a gift.

“For the beautiful Miss who made the Ice Prince melted” he said as he gave a square box wrapped beautifully in a pink paper to Nana.

“What’s this?” Nana said with excitement. “Can I open it now?” Lay nodded as answer.

Nana opened the box and found a makeup set from Lancome, which she used daily. She smiled to Lay and said thanks.

“How do you know I like this brand? You’re so thoughtful, Lay. Thank you so much!”

“Well, in one of your video call with Kris, I accidentally saw the box of it on the background…”

“Hey, did you really stalk on me? When did you see my video call with her?” Kris asked in curiosity.

“Hahaha calm down, it’s one of the days when I slept over at your place after the party months ago. You left your laptop with Nana’s on the screen. But no, Nana... I didn’t stalk both of you, okay?” Lay explained.

“God…” Kris sighed, but Nana just laughed over it.

“Still, thank you, Lay” she said as she took the gift box, carefully placed it near her bag.

“I hope both of you can be together forever… I really like the Kris now, Nana” Lay said when Kris went to the bathroom.

“Yeah, Kris was really in a good shape now that he’s with you” Tao said as he played with the chips on the table. “Never been better”

“Was he really different from previously?” Nana asked.

“Well not really… but now, he smiled a lot and joked more with us… He used to be a workaholic who thinks about nothing but his job. But he had a better habit now…” Chen answered with his infamous smile. Nana personally feeling closed with Chen as both of them were Korean and Chen felt the same since they’re coming from the same area in Seoul.

“Yeah, he smiled really frequently, especially whenever he got your texts or emails. We should all thank you, Nana. You’re indirectly making our life brighter at work hahaha” Lay said as he giggled along Tao.

Nana smiled, mostly to herself. She didn’t know that she could bring a lot of changes in someone’s life, especially Kris. She never intended to change the character of a person who’s in a relationship with her, but if it’s something positive, then she glad that she could change him into a better person.

Once Kris was back to the table, the Mariachis* came and played a Mexican song, asking them to join the dance floor. Kris gave his hand to Nana who accepted happily and join other people who danced there. It was the first time she had a dance with someone, but Kris seemed to have a smooth dance movement and not awkward at all towards her. Nana followed his guidance on the step and smiled happily when she could do the step along with him.

“So how’s the dinner?” Kris asked in the middle of the dance when he twirled his hand, making Nana turned around once and then pulled her closer to his chest.

Nana tilted her head a bit and smiled. She leaned closer to him, cupped his cheek with one hand and planted a kiss there.

“Perfecto, Boyfriend”

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“What are we doing here?” Nana asked Kris as they arrived at Griffith Observatory.

“Having a date” Kris simply answered as they entered the observatory  

“A date? In an observatory? Really?” she said in doubt. Well, after a trip to Sunset Boulevard and Disneyland, coming to the observatory for date sounds fine for her though.

“It’s been a while since I came here…” he said as he took her hand and walked inside the observatory. The building was quite big with a crowd that mostly composed by tourists. Nana saw signs that showing that this place was famous and even included in several Hollywood movies.

She followed Kris who explained several things about the observatory and astronomy. She couldn’t fell more on him; he’s just like the smartest person she ever met. Nana felt her cheek blushed as he found her were just looking at him in excitement. Kris chuckled when he realized that Nana was just looking at him and not really listening to him, he softly patted her head.

“Do you used to come here?” Nana asked him.

Kris nodded. “Used to visit here with my father… He’s the one who introduced me to Astronomy. I learned a lot here… Oops!” Kris caught up a little Caucasian kid who’s almost falling from running inside the observatory. “Hi, Kiddo! Be careful!” he said as he helped the kid stand up and waved him a goodbye.

“I think I’ve once saw a meteor passing by. Or maybe it’s a star that was falling…” Nana said as she rolled her eyes, trying to remember.

“Did you make a wish?”

“You believe in that kind of thing?” she said in surprised.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’d try to make a wish if I ever seen one” he replied, winking to her.

“That’s cheesy…” she smacked her arms and giggled. “Are we going to see a star tonight?”

“Hope so…”

They moved to a room where the telescope located. There were several people there and the staffs were assisting the other visitor. Kris came across to one of the staffs, asking his help to use the telescope.

“Oops… Sorry, Young Man. No show for today. The fog was quite thick today, we can’t see anything... Come by tomorrow?” the staff said as he left Kris and Nana there.

“What? I thought tonight the night sky was clear?” he mumbled to himself.

“It’s alright, Kris… “ Nana tapped his shoulder.

“I’ve checked the weather for today…” Kris took out his phone and went to check the weather. A loud chuckle was heard when he saw that the forecasted weather for that night was indeed dark.

“I should have checked it again before heading here… Sorry, Nana” he said with a lower tone.

“It’s fine, you know… Let’s check other things here…” Nana pulled him downstairs where a lot of exhibitions showed.

Nana’s eyes grew bigger as she saw and touched the piece of the Moon and meteorite. They went to the planet stations where each planet has a station, there you could weigh yourself and informed how much you weighed on that planet. There’s also some information about the planet and their differences with the Earth. Nana felt like she’s being an elementary school again, running here and there and keep saying “oooooooohhh” or “wahhhhhhhh” every time she visited an exhibit.

Kris bought two tickets for a special show in the theatre. They caught up 8.45 PM show of “Time’s Up”, a famous show about what would happened on December 2012. The show really caught her attention, she kept opening her jaw in dazed. Nana mostly amazed with the live lecturer who informed them about each event showed in the movie, especially about the Mayan Calendar. She enjoyed the shows a lot.

Once they’re done with the show, they went out to the gift shop where they sold the coolest science toys ever. Kris and Nana bought several items, just for souvenirs. They went out the area of the observatory and that time, Kris heard Nana gasped loudly for the hundred times.

“Oh my God….This is so beautiful!” she screamed as she grabbed Kris’ hand.

If there’s one thing the Griffith Observatory offered other than the star gazing, it must have been the night view of LA. The scenery was totally beautiful and mesmerizing. They could see most area of LA, filled with lights everywhere. Nana intertwined her fingers with Kris, smiling widely.

“This is better than the star gaze, I guess?” she whispered as she awed with the view in front of her.

“We should go for a star gaze later on when you visited LA again…” Kris said as he put his chin on her shoulder, giving Nana a back hug. “This feels nice…” he said as he closed his eyes, breathing Nana’s scent.

“You’re being a baby” she said as she leaned her head to his shoulder, caressed his cheek. Nana closed her eyes for a while; this was the moment that they need to savor. She suddenly turned around and hugged Kris, who’s suddenly opened his eyes in surprised. He could feel she snugged herself under him, hugging his waist deeply. Kris let out a chuckle, hugging her back. Before they left the observatory, they took several pictures and Kris felt like Nana was somehow really glued to him that day.

“What’s with the sudden hug, huh?” Kris asked once they walked down the hike. The observatory was famous for its hectic parking lot, so they need to park down below and walked to get there.

“Nothing, I just feeling like hugging you…” she replied lightly as she shrugged her shoulder.

“Can we stay like this forever?” he said as he walked and looked up to the sky.

“Hmm?” Nana glanced at Kris, but then looked away and put her gaze to the ground.

Forever.

“I wished you don’t have to go back to Seoul and we can see each other every day…” he hung his words and then chuckled. “Too much to ask, hmm?”

Nana didn’t say anything and just hold his hand tighter, letting out a smile which made Kris smiled too. They walked in silence, going downhill.

“I think… we just have to let it flow, Kris…” she managed to say after being silent for a while.

Kris suddenly leaned to her, touched Nana’s chin with his free hand while the other hand intertwined with her hand already; making Nana stopped her steps. He tilted his head a bit, smiling before put his lips to hers. He savored the taste of her lips, kissing her deeply sweet. Nana kissed him back as she closed her eyes, resting her hand on his arm. They kissed for a while until Kris decided to pull back, smiling awkwardly to her.

“What’s with the sudden kiss, huh?” Nana asked him back, just like he asked him few minutes ago.

Kris smirked as they continued walking.

“Just feeling like kissing you…” he replied, gave her a wink.

Nana slowly touched her lips, traced it with her fingers. She stole a glance at Kris who was smiling by himself, looking away to the road as they walked together.

Dear God… Can’t you let us together forever?

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*Mariachis : musicians commonly seen in restaurants or strolling the streets, dressed in silver studded charro outfits with wide brimmed hats playing a variety of instruments which include violins, guitars, basses, vihuelas (a 5 string guitar) and trumpets (if you often watch Mexican telenovela, you must have seen it ;))

No in this chapter?

Please be patient, it's the bridge for the next chapter.

I read your comments and messages, and so happy that you like this story. There're quite a lot of you who's been in LDR here ;)

Gotta finish the next chapter for you guys <3