It was almost lunch time and he wasn’t ready, mentally or physically.

Kris was fussing about his appearance. He was more than annoyed with his looks and his wardrobe. He only had ten minutes before he needed to leave and go to Jihae’s building. He had the day off, and he already spent most of it talking himself in and out of talking to her today. He tried on various shirts and kept messing with his hair. He was annoyed with his too big body. He was too damn tall, his arms were too long, his hands too big, and everything about him was just too awkward.

He groaned in frustration.

“Hey, want to go get something to eat?” Yixing popped his head in to ask. He frowned when he saw Kris looking sour. “What’s wrong?”

“Why am I so damn tall?” He huffed.

“Genetics?” Yixing joked. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“There’s this girl…” Kris started. Yixing chuckled. It all made sense then.

“What? Did she reject you because you’re tall?”

“No. She hasn’t rejected me…”

Yixing cocked an eyebrow at his friend. “You haven’t talked to her have you?”

Kris stayed quiet.

“Understood.” He smiled. “Yes, you are indeed very tall, there’s no denying that. Just embrace it. I’m sure she wouldn’t care about how ridiculously tall you are if you let her get to know you more.” He encouraged.

Kris sighed and nodded.

“Is she pretty?” Yixing asked, sitting on the bed comfortably.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Kris smiled. “Insanely pretty.”

“She better be if you’re freaking out this much already. Is she why you’ve been working harder than before?”

“What do you mean?” Kris was confused.

“You didn’t care about fashion before, but now you pay more attention to what you wear. Skin care wasn’t that important to you before either. You’ve been studying Korean like your life depended on it. You also picked up more training sessions compared to your first year.”

“Oh… I guess I have.”

“No matter the reason, I approve of you working harder. Don’t do anything stupid though.” Yixing warned and left. Just as he got to the doorway, he turned, confused. “Why was I in here again?”

Kris chuckled, “Food. Go eat with Luhan.”

“Right. Bye. Good luck.”

Kris looked at the clock and cursed. He was late.

He ran to the restaurant on foot as fast as he could. He was a bit miffed when his hair was messed up. But he saw Jihae enter the restaurant, and that was all that mattered. There were a few people between them in line, so Kris had to really keep an eye out for where Jihae sat down. He rushed his order, not caring if he was being rude. He didn’t even wait for his change when he ran off to follow Jihae.

Jihae was confused when she didn’t see the large awkward boy outside her building to follow her to the restaurant. It wasn’t that she was seeking him out, she was just used to his presence. He was almost always there to follow her to lunch for about a year now. Even if they didn’t sit together, at least knowing he was watching her made her feel a little less lonely for lunch, as sad as that may be.

“Hi.” Jihae was startled when a familiarly deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts from behind her.

“Oh.” She stared up at him wide-eyed and surprised. “Hi.”

He walked around her and stood beside the empty chair at her small table. “May I sit here?”

“Sure…?” she blinked at him. This was the first time he’s initiated a conversation with her. This was the first time they spoke to each other in many, many months. The last time was just a polite ‘thank you’ to him when he opened the door for her. “You’re sweating.” She handed him a napkin.

“Huh?” Kris was busy keeping himself calm while sitting at the same table as his crush.

“You should wipe your sweat.” Jihae smiled.

“Oh! Sorry.” He quickly took the napkin and wiped his face. He stared at her nervously.

“My name is Jihae.”

“I’m Kris.”

She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. He was so cute and nervous. His eyes instantly zeroed in on her lips. She cocked an eyebrow at him. He cleared his throat and diverted his eyes elsewhere.

“How’s your Korean going?”

“Good! I’m getting there.” He smiled, thankful that she was trying to diffuse the awkward atmosphere because he was clearly too awkward to even try.

“Show me.” She grinned and leaned forward onto the table eagerly. He could have sworn his heart stopped and he was more than likely swooning.

“H-How?” He asked, flustered.

“We shall only speak in Korean for the remainder of the meal.” She said in Korean. He picked up the key words and pieced together what she was saying.

“Okay. But just speak slowly, please.”

“Understood.” She nodded and adjusted her seating.

He gulped when her legs grazed his under the table. The table was too small for two tall people to sit, and he was so tall that he made every table small just by himself. When she was done, they were no longer touching, but they were still close enough for him to feel her body heat through his jeans.

“Why are you here?”

“Huh? Should I leave? I’m sorry for bothering you…” He sadly got up to leave, but she gently placed a hand on his and shook her head.

“I meant Korea.” She corrected, smiling.

“I’m an SM trainee.”

She nodded her head in understanding. “You’re definitely good looking enough to become famous.”

He blushed furiously and laughed nervously. “Thank you.”

Their food came and he finally had an excuse not to talk and make a fool of himself. She thought he was incredibly adorable. ‘What a scared little giant.’

“What’s your specialty? Sing? Dance? Model?”

“Not specialty, but I am training to do all of that. I’m going to be a rapper though.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“Yeah. What do you do?”

“Sports Broadcasting. I want to be a sports expert of sorts that covers sporting events and give commentary.”

“How’d you get into that?”

“Well, I used to play tennis, basketball, and volleyball. And I like watching all kinds of games in general. I suppose it was only natural I stick to sports as a career.”

“Why didn’t you become an athlete?”

“I got tennis elbow.” She said simply. "Can't do anything to stress it out further."

“Oh. I’m sorry.” He mentally beat himself up for bringing up something negative.

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago.” She smiled, though he noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. “So how old are you?”

“I was born in 1990.”

“You’re 20 then. In case you think it’s impolite to ask a woman her age, I am 21.”

“Oh. Then you’re older.”

“It’s one year. Don’t you dare call me Noona.” She sighed. “Hearing that stuff only makes me feel older than I am. Especially if a big guy like you called me Noona, I’d feel ancient.” She joked.

It took a moment for him to understand her clearly, he laughed when he did. “Then can I just call you Jihae?”

“Well that is my name.” She nodded. “And I will call you Kris?”

‘You can call me whatever you want,’ Kris thought, but simply nodded instead.

They finished their meal and separated. Kris went back to the dorm with the biggest smile on his face.

From that day on, they ate lunch together. They also learned to pick bigger tables so they wouldn’t look like two adults sitting at a little girl’s tea party table.

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