It was about 7 A.M. and every morning on a Sunday, I would sit out front and drink my tea after breakfast. Sometimes I listened to music and other times like today, I would stare at my phone in hopes I would get some kind of text or call.

“Good morning Tylie.” I hear an un-sturdy voice behind my chair.

“Good morning Ms. Linda, how are you?” it was none other than my neighbor, Ms. Linda. She was an older woman but she looked great for 78.

“What are you doing out here so early?” she says as she sits down in her rocking chair. Our apartments were connected; two apartments each section with a porch. Ms. Linda was on the left and I was on the right.

“You know I’m always here every Sunday Ms. Linda. You don’t remember?”

She lets out a crinkly chuckle, “Oh child, you know my memory isn’t that well.” We both smile and laugh whilst I take another sip of my tea.

“Did you go out last night? I heard your door.” She points to my door with her cane.

“Well, yes I did.” I said with a smile.

“Did you go out with a nice young boy?” she looks at me through her thick glasses as I continue to sip my tea to avoid answering her question.

“You need yourself a boyfriend! You’re young and pretty and so talented. You need to share that with someone else. I don’t want you to get old and lonely like Me.” She lectured to me as I nod to let her know I’m listening to her.

“I know, I know. A boyfriend just won’t fall out of the sky.”

“That’s why you need to go out and find one instead of sitting here shooting the with me.” We both laugh.

“You always tell me to get a man. Why don’t you go to bingo and get yourself a fine slice of a man?”

“I don’t have one because no man can handle this.” She says as she sways her hips back and both followed by a bubbly laugh. I couldn’t help but clap wildly at her respond whilst I laughed. She was such a kind hearted woman.

“Ah, you never fail to make me laugh.” I sit my cup of tea beside my chair and shove my hands back into the pockets of my soft hoodie.

“In all seriousness, you need to spend more time with someone special.” She continued to lecture me. When I thought of ‘someone special’, Ilhoon crossed my mind. I couldn’t believe that I actually was starting to miss him. I didn’t want to move too fast. I didn’t want to lose him for being too easy. I look at the charm on the bracelet as Ms. Linda continued to run .

Ilhoon’s POV

                I think I stared at me and Ty’s pictures from last night over 100 times. I had to hide them from everyone else in the house or they would think she was girlfriend. I step out of the bathroom, put my hood up, and sit at the table whilst Minhyuk cooked breakfast.

                “Where did you go last night?” Minhyuk said with his back turned to me as he sautéed the vegetables for the omelets.

                “I just went out.”

                “You went out with a pretty girl~?” he says playfully. I just keep silent and play with the string to my hoodie. He laughed at my silence which gave him his answer clearly. He fixed up the omelets and put one in front of me.

                “Jalmukesumneda.” I mumble to myself as hyung goes to walk up the other two in their rooms. I brace myself for Eunkwang hyung to give me a million questions about where I was and who I was with. I try my hardest to shove the rest of the omelet down before facing him. I didn’t mind living with these guys but seeing three dudes after a while gets rather annoying. As soon as I get up from the table and put my plate in the sink, there he was.

                “YAH! Where are you going?!” he looked at me with his half asleep face.

                “I’m just going out to the store a little bit.” I said the first thing that came to mind. “I’ll be back soon.” I reassured him. Minhyuk and Changsub hyung chuckled at Eunkwang’s face that he shot me as I put on my sneakers. I pat him on the back as I quickly walk past him, grabbing my phone, coat and keys and walk out the door.

                “Whew… that was close.” I said under my breath. I walk down the stairs and exit the apartment building and start walking down the street, having no idea in the world where I was going. Everything in my body wanted to call Tylie. The only thing stopping me was if I would wake her. It was 7 in the morning but I called her anyway as I stood on the corner. Beeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeeep; went her phone.

                “Come on… pick up… pick u-“

                “Hello?”

                I got surprised as I heard her voice on the other line. “Hey! I didn’t wake you up by any chance right?”

                “No, I was already awake. What’s up?”

                “I was just calling to say good morning?” I wasn’t really sure of why I called her. Maybe it was because I needed to hear her voice again.

                “Oh… uhm… good morning… Ilhoonie.” She said it with such a cute voice as she stumbled over her words.

                “Noona~… stop being so shy~” a small chuckle left my lips.

                “Don’t call me NOONA!!!!” she spat at me quickly which caused me to laugh.

                “Yah~ when can I come over to cuddle~” I said playfully, trying to test where her mind was when or if she thought about me.

                “.” Her laugh came soon after she called me a ert.

                “I’ll let you go. I don’t want to take up any more of your time.”

                “Okay. Text me or something if you get bored…” I could tell she was blushing when she said that, I couldn’t help but chuckle at how innocent she was.

                “I will. Bye bye~”

                “Bye-bye~!” look at my phone after I hang up and shove it back in my pocket. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I’ll just take a walk around the block or something until I feel like being home.

Tylie’s POV

                I fix the knitted beanie on my head so it would fit properly whilst I walked through the mall to get to Sephora. I’ve been having trouble getting to sleep again but the last thing I wanted to do was start back on my sleeping pills. It changed my personality whenever I took them. As I approached the store, Sunny was standing outside, telling me to come here with her hand. I lightly jog over to her in my thick boatie heels, trying not to fall over.

                “I have a present for you~!”

                “…Why?”

                “Well, someone dropped off a gift for you. It’s in the back with the really cute paper and bow on it.” She pushed me into the store whilst I had a beyond confused look on my face. I greeted the manager with a nod and a small wave with my hands. When I got to the back, I saw the supposed gift that was meant for me. It was a box covered with a light pink and red paper with little chibi characters on it. The ribbon had rhinestones on it with white stripes. I thought maybe it could have been something from my dad since I haven’t seen him in a while. I untie the ribbon and neatly take off the wrapping paper since it was completely adorable. The box was white and had a little letter attached to the top. I take the tape off of it, open the envelope, and open the letter. It was handwritten and it read:

“I hope you enjoy this sweet treat.

Don’t eat it all in one setting! Save some for me!

Meet me at the fountain on your lunchbreak.

PS. Beware of colors and patterns. : )

-Ilhoon”

“Beware of colors and patterns? What is that supposed to mean…?” I say to myself as I open the box and look inside. It was the red velvet cake from Saturday that we saw together. He actually bought it for me… I couldn’t believe he remembered that I liked this cake. I closed the box up and put it inside of the bag and placed it in the fridge that was in the room. My face scrunched up as I thought about what he meant by his riddle; ‘Beware of colors and patterns’. Sephora was mostly black and white with stripes thrown in here and there. I didn’t understand since those aren’t colors; white is absence of black and black represents all colors. There just… negatives or pigments. I walked out to the store and actually start working. Today… was the day I hated the most. Make Over Day. I had to sit here for hours putting make up on women that put on way too much of it. Every customer I had asked, “Why don’t you wear any make up?” and my response always was, “I’m wearing it, and it’s just make up. I like natural make up on myself. Putting on too much is a waste of it and isn’t necessary unless it’s Halloween.” The gay guys would laugh while some snotty females would scoff and roll their eyes at me.

Suddenly, it hit me. Ilhoon’s riddle finally made since to me after my last makeover customer got up from her chair. “The Tokidoki station.” I said snapping my fingers. I went over to it and roamed around the shelf looking for anything that wasn’t there before or looked out of place. I stopped when I saw a charm on the character Latte and I picked it up. It was a cute little cake with a strawberry on top. “I can’t believe he got me another charm this quickly…” I smiled and put the charm into my pocket. It was my break so I got the cake out of the fridge and told Sunny I was leaving for my break.

I went to one of the jewelry kiosks to put the charm on my bracelet. I walk around the mall, heading to the meeting place Ilhoon wanted me to go. I sat down at the bench and waited for him, putting the cake next to me.

“Hey!” Ilhoon pops out from behind a tree showing off more of his cuteness. He had a tray with two drinks on them.

“Hello!” I wave to him and I stand up to greet him properly. He reaches out to hug me and I hug him back, for once, not feeling nervous.

“Did you get my riddle?”

“Yeah; it took me like, 4 hours to figure it out.”

“Kekeke…” he says into his hand. “Well, I see you got it. I thought you would get it quicker since the only part in your store with color was the Tokidoki section.”

I nod to him. “I know, I’m tired today so I’m catching on a little late to everything.” He puts his arm around my shoulders and sits me down on the bench with him sitting on the other side of the cake. He placed the drinks on the ground.

“Why are you tired? You didn’t sleep well?” he gives me a concerned look as he crosses his legs whilst opening the box to grab a slice of cake.

“Something like that…” I scoffed as I made my pouty face, watching him cut the cake so neatly.

“I didn’t get much sleep either. I was doing some recording last night.” He hands me a piece of the cake.

“I wanna listen~”

“You will soon when it’s complete and ready.” He smiled at me and pointed to the cake. “Eat.” I nod to him and take a piece of the cake with my fork and eat it.

“WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So good~” my eyes lit up like fireworks as I tasted the goodness of the cake.

“Oh! I got you boba tea. Is peach okay?” he looks up at me as he reaches down to hand it to me.

“WAH!!! THAT’S PERFECT!!!” I take it and thank him repeatedly and take a sip. I was in complete heaven. He smiled at my happiness. “What did you get Hoonie?” I look at him as munch down on my cake. He eats his cake and covers his mouth.

“It’s just a smoothie.”

“What kind?”

“Strawberry Orange. You can try it if you like.” I looked at how handsome he looked today. I just realized that his hair was different. It was real curly but it made him look more attractive. I didn’t think he could be any ier than he already is. He sipped his smoothie the held up to my lips.

“.” He chuckled.

“I’m not going to take a sip if you’re going to keep talking erted like that.” I moved his hand away from my face then he puts it right back in my face.

“Sip I mean, sip.” I take a small sip and look up tapping my chin with the fork, my lips.

“It’s pretty tasty, I never had that before.” I say whilst taking a couple more bites of cake.

“See, if you would have put it in your mouth the first time and , you would have enjoyed yourself.” I hit him repeatedly on the arm.

“Stop talking erted like that! Get your mind out of the gutter~” he laughs uncontrollably. We both continue to eat our pieces of cake until we finish. He takes my plate and fork with his then throws it away. I cross my legs whilst I close up the cake box and sit it on the floor by me. When Ilhoon get back, he sits so close to me, he’s practically on my lap.

“Uhm…” I move over a little to leave some space. “Oh, I like your hair today.”

He pats his hair lightly and smiles, “Thank you. Yours is a little curly at the end too. You smell and look pretty today Ty.” He smiles at me.

“Oh stop it…” I say shyly as I look down at my hands a little. He rubs my hands and looks at me.

“Why aren’t you getting any sleep? What’s wrong?” he looks at me with a concerned look.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping for a while since I moved out years ago. I was on sleeping pills but I stopped taking them…”

“Why?” he rubs my hands, still looking deep into my eyes even though I’m not looking at him.

“They mess with my personality and it makes me sick sometimes. So I stopped taking them.”

“You shouldn’t stop taking your medication without telling your doctor about it. You need me to sleep with you?”

“Ye-wait, WHAT?!” we both realize what he said and he covered his mouth quickly, waving his hands back and forth in front of him.

“N-Not like that, not like that! I meant… just… resting.”

“How would you spending the night help me? We barely know each other.”

“You’ve been stalking me for months, you know me enough by now to realize I won’t kill you, you, steal anything from you, or physically harm you.” I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger.

“But, you’re used to living with your dad and brother. Now that you live alone, its quiet and you’re not used to that. Plus, I would like a good night’s sleep without having to look at three guys all the time.” I blinked at him a couple of times whilst I thought about what he was saying. It was true. When I did live with them, they had surround sound so I’m so used to a house being filled with yelling from a movie or music or just other people in general under the same roof as me. He was right in a way. I just… wasn’t sure what to do.

“Fine…” I mumble under my breath.

“What did you say?” he leans in closer to me.

“I said okay, you can… come over but don’t act erted I don’t like that stuff.” I cross my arms and shake my foot back and forth.

“This should be really fun! I can’t wait!” he hugs me tight with his arm around my chest. I squeeze him back, inhaling his cologne deeply.

“Okay, okay… that hurts!” he lets me go then fixes my hair and my beanie then rubs my cheek.

“You really look pretty today…” we stare at each other deeply, not saying anything. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to kiss me or it was just my imagination. He his lips multiple times indicating that he wanted too but then he turned away and coughed. “Well…” he said through a deep cough trying to rid the air of the awkwardness. I look down at the heel of my shoe as I try to avoid looking at him.

“Would you kiss me?” he blurted out. I turn to him in shock but he was already looking dead at me with a serious face.

“I-I-I don’t know…” I shrugged in confusion. “Shouldn’t we… wait…?”

“Wait for what?” he put his finger on my chin to turn my head. “Look at me…” he said softly and I looked up at him. Instantly, my cheeks turned red. I gulped as he moved closer to me. He put his hands softly on each side of my neck and softly pressed his lips against mine. I was surprised at how soft his lips were but I could tell he was nervous to kiss me. Hell, I was just as nervous as he was. I returned his kissed a little rough, making him lean back a little and he deepened the kiss. I’m not sure how long we kissed but it was probably for about 5 minutes. If it wasn’t, then it felt that long. He back away from me and smiled. I figured he would have been blushing, but he still had his cool, calm, and collected face on.

“I feel better now.” He smirked and took a sip of his smoothie. My face was still in shock from kissing him. I only dreamt of kissing those lips. I played with my fingers, completely speechless that we kissed. I was just saying yesterday that I wanted to take it slow and here I go face with him already. Just as long as we don’t end up having , I’m fine but… I’m going to end up jinxing myself so let me just stop thinking about this and think of… bunnies.

“Hey, you alright Ty?” he grabs my hand.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” He leans forward to look at my face and he smiled.

“Are you always like this after you kiss a guy you like?” he smirks.

“I’m just… speechless. That’s all.”

“Don’t be; wait until I actually do things that cause you to be speechless.” He gave me a peck on the cheek then stood up. “You should get going back to work. Isn’t it that make over day or something?” I rub my forehead and nod. He grabs my hands to stand me up and he notices we’re the same height. He looks down at my heels.

“Oh, you have heels on. I was wondering how you got taller than me over night.” He picks up his smoothie and I pick up the cake and my boba tea.

“What time should I be at your house?” I turn around quickly and look at him weird.

“What?”

“I’m spending the night remember?”

“Oh… oh , yeah… I forgot.” I sip my tea. “Just, come here at 10 when my shift ends.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back here.” We hug each other tightly and before letting go and firmly presses his lips again mine. I jump from the sudden shock that he kissed unexpectedly like that.

“Stay pretty.” He pokes my nose then lets me go. I blink at him a couple times, knowing that my face is a deep crimson color. I wave to him as he walks away. I touch my lips in fascination that Ilhoon kissed me not only once, but twice. The whole second part of work, that’s all I thought about. I even daydreamed about making out with him but stopped thinking that way quickly. He said he was recording last night… I mean, I know he’s a rapper and everything but what if he was writing a song about me? Nah… that’s just me exaggerating. 

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S/N: Chapter 4 is broken up into 2 PARTS there's 4.0 and 4.5. the reason for breaking it up was that it was ridiculously long (Almost 20 pages, singled spaced) so I decided to break it. Happy reading~ v^_^v