In a café wafting with the scent of brewing hot coffee, a girl with a picturesque figure strutted across the room. Her long hair swayed from side to side with each melodic clack of her heels. With every step she took, she attracted attention. She elegantly took a seat, rested her hands flat across the table, and ordered a cup of coffee.

“Thank you,” she said with an airy tone, smiling brightly to leave the barista weak-kneed.

Just as she sipped her drink, an equally attractive guy casually sat beside her holding a paper cup half-filled with water. He wore a sleek black jacket, jeans, and his favorite pair of high-tops. He looked casual, but clean at the same time.

“Suzy, you know very well that your dress attracts unwanted attention, right?” he stated in a serious nagging manner, taking a sip after having said so.

“Kyungsoo, you know very well that you’re the same, right?” she retorted.

Giving a gentle chuckle as he held the cup up and swayed it left to right. “Whatever.”

An edgy girl in a colorful outfit entered and ordered a simple juice drink beside Suzy. Once she got it, she took a sip and cutely winced.

“Hey Sohyun,” Suzy waved, doing a hair flip in the process as she turning to her. “Where’s Chanyeol?”

“I think you guys would know already.”

“Probably overslept again, hasn’t he?” There was a tinge of annoyance in his face. “Oh, that guy. If he doesn’t make it in five minutes, I’ll have to call Kai to rap for me instead. We have a song to perform here.”

The moment Kyungsoo pressed his phone against his ear, Chanyeol came rushing in, flashing his trademark perfect teeth. The girls swooned as if taking a breath of fresh air. That disturbed Sohyun a bit although she didn’t show it and instead followed along to his humorous MBLAQ reference in his greeting.

“I see you’re drinking lemon juice juice!” He ruffled his girlfriend’s bun and gave her a high-five and a small hug that left her hanging; she felt the intense hesitation in him. It made her think that he felt uncomfortable—it made her question if he was ashamed of her. While they’ve been together for months, she had always felt his deficiency in true intimacy, and the thought had been ticking her head off.

Checking his watch, sighing in a slightly pissed kind of relief, Kyungsoo stood up and lightly pressed his hand against Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Time to sing, let’s get ready.”

He nodded. They both walked over to the small wooden platform in front and took their seats on the two stools on it. The girls were anticipating their wonderful song; Kyungsoo’s heartfelt husky voice combined with Chanyeol’s entrancing rap always led them to be admired not only for their looks, but for their outstanding talent for music.

Kyungsoo grabbed the mic stand and scanned the room for the guys who were looking at Suzy. He glared at them before saying, “Hello, everyone. I’m Kyungsoo,” he gestured to his right, “and this is Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol added, “Today, we are going to sing ‘My Lady’. This is dedicated to the two people in this room who mean a lot to us. We hope that you will enjoy this song as we enjoy performing it.”

The smooth sound of the music entered in which Kyungsoo sang the first line.

“She’s my baby…”

As he sang with all his soul, he would take a few seconds to devote his captivating gaze at Suzy, and once in a while, his ferocious glare at the men who gawked at her. She found that quite amusing as it was his normal routine—that was what made her know that his feelings were strong.

As the song progressed, Sohyun’s favorite part came: Chanyeol’s rap. That was the sole reason she still believed in their love. Whenever she would hear him rapping, she felt the intimacy that he could muster—the kind of verbal intimacy that led his words to embrace her with much comfort.

He smirked and winked at her then he rapped in his low, seductive voice, “Are you ready for love?”

She felt herself nodding wide-eyed on impulse. He saw this and smiled at her, making her blush and shift her view elsewhere for a few seconds. But one thing was certain: she was really ready for his love; she had always been.

But he never seemed to have completely given it. She even questioned if he himself was ready for hers in return. Because whenever she would do the simplest cute things like packing him lunch, or tugging his jacket sleeve, he always gave lackluster reactions.

Time passed by like that until the song ended and the crowd applauded for the two who left a mark by soothing their souls with such a warming song.

Suzy hugged Kyungsoo so tightly in which he gave the guys a certain ferocious look that proved that she was indeed taken by him. The group left the café shortly after, and so did they to watch a movie, leaving Chanyeol and Sohyun together.

“So, what now?” Chanyeol asked almost too simply.

Shrugging it away, Sohyun cupped his hand with both of hers and replied, “Let’s just chill at your place, is that okay?”

He nodded. But then something caught his eye.

“Hey, wait just a sec, okay?” he said. As his hand tore apart from hers, she was left with a one-sided feeling of separation.

“Sure.”

From the display near the counter, he bought a box of chocolates and handed it to her with a smile. She was unfazed—he always did that to the point where chocolate felt like wax in . “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He said. Without ever so much extending his hand, or slinging it around her shoulder, he asked, “Shall we?”

---

In Chanyeol’s room, the two sat at least a meter apart from each other, doing their own things. Sohyun had earphones plugged in as she ate the chocolate she gave him mechanically while Chanyeol was playing his guitar as if making an excuse to look preoccupied. Both were in the same room, but both were stuck in their own worlds, and both of them knew that. Neither one of them uttered a word, yet felt more uncomfortable to speak. But Sohyun decided to stand up for herself.

“Am I not good enough for you?”

The moment he heard that, he abruptly stopped playing and focused his eyes on her, worried. “What makes you think that?”

She bit her lip. “It’s just that… I feel that you’re not giving me enough sincerity. Whenever I hug you, I feel discomfort on your part, and not to mention, you only kissed me once and quite honestly, it was just a peck and it felt unsure. You know how that makes me feel?”

Her cheeks began to heat up, and the tears were welling up in her eyes.

“It makes me feel like I’m ! It makes me feel like my love isn’t enough, or that I am less than those fan girls of yours.” She clutched the bottom of sweater with one hand and wiped her face with the other. “What am I lacking, Chanyeol? What am I lacking that you can’t give me your all?”

She curled up into a ball with her back leaned against the wall. It was the first time he ever saw her act that way; she was never one to break down so suddenly. He set his guitar aside and slowly crawled closer to sit beside her; he didn’t know what to do, but his heart ached with every sad shriek she let out.

“Hey,” he pressed his hand against her shoulder, “don’t—“

Before he could finish, she lashed out, “There it is again—that lacking feeling.”

He withdrew his hand and stared at the floor. “I’m sorry—“

“Do you even love me, Chanyeol?”

Taken aback, his eyes grew wide and he immediately nodded his head with all his might. “Sohyun, don’t think about it that way.”

She fisted the wall giving out a loud pang, her face already filled with tears. “Then why can’t you say it to my face? Why can’t you show me! I give you so much of me although I don’t think you see it at all. What am I, some puppet you can toy around with!—“

Unable to bear hearing her cries, he hugged her tight. In return, she nestled on his shoulder and cried even more.

“Sohyun, I’m so sorry. I’m just not as expressive as I want to be. Whenever I hold your hand, I think I’m doing it wrongly. During the time I first kissed you, I thought that overdoing it was too much and that you’d think I was too malicious. And whenever I hug you, it’s not that I don’t want to give any feeling, I’m just not used to it but I still try my hardest.” He hugged tighter and brushed his hand across her hair. “I know I’m not the most intimate person out there, and that I really at showing you how I feel, but the last thing I want you to think is that I don’t love you. It hurts me so much that I made you think this way. I love you, Sohyun. Please, remember that I do with my all.”

She nodded and slowly pulled away. “I felt that; I felt your heart beating, and I felt the sincerity in your words.”

“I’m very glad to hear that,” he said and smiled.

“Just be honest and trust your gut, okay? I like it like that.”

“Alright. I promise.” He extended his hand out for a pinky swear. She smiled and pinky swore. Just as they did so, he reeled her in and gave her a soft kiss. She stared at him, wide-eyed and surprised, but as soon as she saw his closed eyes and felt the rush of his romantic shyness, she too made way for the sparks to travel through them.

When he pulled away, his pinky swear had become a hold. The way his fingers laced through hers sent static up her spine; a good kind of static that she knew she could only feel from his love.

“I trusted my gut.” He locked his eyes onto hers and directed her hand to feel his heartbeat. “So, do you still feel it?”

“Yes, I do.”

His grip tightened as his chest loosened. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

“Hey…” He slowly crept up to her until his face was close enough for her to feel his breathing against his skin. He then clutched her bun and pulled it. Her hair cascaded down elegantly, messily shrouding her shoulders. Grinning, he asked, “Want to take it further?”

She pointed to herself. “Me?”

He stepped back by half a centimeter and replied, “Yes, unless you’d like to take it slow, then that’s fine with—“

“No,” she blurted, clutching his collar and pulling him close. “We’ve been taking it way too slow for so long.”

“Game?”

“Bring it.”

With that, his hands enveloped her waist and he dove in for a deep kiss. In return, she wrapped one hand on his nape while the other travelled around his hair and back. Their heads ce in a while to give way to breaths in between. They stayed like that, their tongues intertwining, almost wrestling each other for love. It was intimate, it was worth it.

After sometime, they moved to the bed, removing their upper layer of clothes. Sohyun by then had on her black inner shirt while Chanyeol had on a white folded up long-sleeved polo shirt. She could smell his scent on the bed he slept on every night and found comfort on its soft pillows and mattresses. On top of her, he was kissing her; softly, but passionately as if treating her like she was something precious, delicate, and special. His hand cupped her face as she lightly pulled his hair. Never had she felt so much of his love in one go; it was so strong, so surrealistically real.

Time came that they decided to not go any further and lied down side by side, listening to Shinee’s “Excuse Me Miss”. The sun had set by then and the wind blew through the open window, bringing with it a soothing kind of chill that made Sohyun nestle on his blankets. Amused by the cuteness, he poked her forehead playfully. She caught his finger and pinched it.

“You idiot,” she chuckled.

He also laughed. “What did I do now?”

She shrugged. “Nothing, really. You’re just an idiot; my idiot that is.”

“And you’re my adorable lady.”

“Hey…” She nestled her head against his chest. “I’m sorry for all the things I said, I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

“No, it’s not your fault. I was so hesitant; I should have been more intimate when I had the chance in the past. Luckily, I was able to let go of myself and give you my all. Unless that wasn’t enough for you, then that might be a problem.”

“This pace is just right, too fast is too weird.”

“I totally agree.”

Her hand travelled to his and held it tightly. “Chanyeol, thank you for today. Thank you so much.”

He brushed her head and kissed her forehead. She blushed.

“Thank you for today, too, Sohyun.”

Side by side, they stayed together on his bed, holding hands and listening to music ‘till they wanted. Truly, that was a defining moment for the two. It started with a conflict that turned into a passionate expression of love through both words and actions. That was when they discovered the tenacity of passion and intimacy as well as the blissful feeling of love that radiated from within.

Wahaha that was some y time over thurr. Hopefully, I made the level of intimacy just right, but if it's too light, I apologize OTL.

Thank you for requesting~! :D