When her friends said she needed more clothes,

This was definitely not what she had in mind.

When she said she wanted to have a boyfriend,

She did not mean that kind of boyfriend either.

Inspiration ß My Own

...xXx...

She looked critically around the café. He was late, she decided, furrowing her brows together. Whoever he was anyways.

She huffed.

Maybe she shouldn't have let her friends talk her into spending Black Friday with one of Dari and Minjung's boyfriends' friends. (A long list, she knew, but hey, who was she to criticize? She had an uncle's friend's cousin's niece's friend's sister accompany her shopping before so who really cared?)

Regardless, he was late - half an hour late - and she was tired of waiting. She sighed, texting Dari once again. (He's late! That peasant! When is he getting here?!) 

"Are you...Kim Jinju?" a male voice questioned. She glanced at the figure suspiciously. He was wearing bright red pants that screamed 'look at me,' but at the same time, his faded green jacket muted the color. He wore a white mask, sunglasses, and a black cap that had MY PEARL written on it in bold, white letters. 

"What do you want?" she asked in return, squinting. There was something familiar about him but she couldn't quite place it.

"Sorry I'm late," the man croaked, coughing lightly. "Caught up in traffic and my...job ran longer than it was supposed to."

She cast another eye at his figure. Skinny. Short brown hair. Several bracelets. Earrings. A ring.

"You're late," she finally stated, pointedly ignoring how he was still standing. He chuckled, his voice slightly cracking, and took the seat across from her without a word. 

"Yeah sorry," he apologized once more. "But hey, I'm here now. Better than not showing up ever, right?"

She eyed him for a little longer. Just where had she seen him before?

She sighed.

"I suppose," she reluctantly agreed. "Come on peasant. You're late. Daylight's burning. I want to get this over with."

"Hey! Who are you calling a peasant!" he complained, frowning (or at least she thought so). "I'm Kibum by the way."

"I'm Jinju as you already knew and I call everyone peasants," Jinju stated simply. There was a pause.

"...except Minjung and Sooyeon," she added as an afterthought. Minjung was evil with the skinship threat and Sooyeon...well, she just hated being called peasant and didn't tolerate it. (That and she was too fun-sized to be a peasant. Serf maybe? Perhaps just a servant or doll?) 

The two exited the café and entered the small mall nearby, well-equipped with good stores, prices, and clothes. She grumbled under her breath. She didn't honestly care about how she dressed, especially given her lack of a boyfriend, but her friends had insisted and had even gotten their boyfriends (who Jinju still hadn't met as of yet) to convince one of their friends to join her for a "male opinion."

Whatever.

She had commented off-handedly that she wished she had more boyfriends (guys who were friends not boyfriends she meant) so she supposed her wish was being fulfilled.

The two made small talk to the mall and Jinju was surprised but pleased to find they enjoyed the same kind of music and though he was a guy, and though not gay he assured, he was perfectly fine with fangirling about other male idols.

If she wasn't against the idea of boyfriends at her age, she would have totally gone for him and within a few years, she was, quite honestly, not against the idea. 

They chose clothes together and after a few outfits, he had a decent sense of her style, enough to pick out several outfits that suited her tastes but still were fashionable. She was, quite honestly, having fun even though she was shopping of all things.

"Yeah, my friends can be buttheads at times, but they're my friends so I suppose it can't be helped," Kibum decided one-sidedly, laughing. Jinju laughed along; his laugh was contagious and she was sure that if she could see his face, his smile would be just as contagious. They left the store with a good number of bags and talking as if they were old best friends who had met for the first time in years. Her stomach rudely decided to make itself known. 

They blinked.

Then laughed.

"Hungry?" Kibum guessed, giving her a teasing look. 

"Always," she answered, jokingly. He chuckled then winked.

"Come on. I know a great place around the corner," he ordered in his still-cracking voice and again, she wondered how enchanting his real voice was if his cracking voice was already so beautiful.

They ate in peace together, cracking jokes and making more jokes about Kibum's cracking voice.

"It was fun hanging out with you today," Jinju admitted. "We should do it again some time."

"Obviously. We're dating aren't we?" Kibum pointed out, taking a sip of his soda.

Jinju gagged.

"Wh-What?" she questioned, her voice raising an octave. 

"Well yeah. Isn't this a blind date?" Kibum questioned, one eyebrow raised in confusion. She ignored his inquiry and called Minjung. No answer. Dari.

"Yo," Dari lazily greeted.

And long story short, there ensued loud questions and threats and many usages of the word "peasant."

"Well, you said you wanted a boyfriend," Dari protested, no doubt wincing at the other end of the line from Jinju's creative, loud argument. "So Minjung and I set up a date you couldn't refuse."

"I thought you meant a boyfriend as in a guyfriend," Jinju growled, glancing across the table at Kibum, suddenly suspicious. 

"So? Did you even look at who it was?" Dari huffed, most likely rolling her eyes. "And I mean really look at him."

Jinju cast a critical eye over the male.

"Well he does look familiar...so?" Jinju admitted, still somewhat confused. Dari sighed.

"Think SHINee," she hinted.

"Shiny? Nothing's shiny about him," Jinju commented, scrutinizing his face. Kibum looked so familiar. Dari sighed once more.

"Minjung's boyfriend is Jaejoong from JYJ. My boyfriend is Donghae from Super Junior. I don't mean shiny I mean SHINee," Dari explained. There was silence. "Jinju?"

It clicked.

"Kim Kibum?!" Jinju realized, her voice coming out as a squeak.

Kibum laughed, his voice still hoarse, and pulled his glasses lower on his nose.

"At your service," he teased.