Your POV

You dialed Min Ah’s number; she picked up on the first ring.

“Hey!” her cheery voice greeted.

“Guess what? I’m moving to Seoul next week! Can you believe it? In 7 days, I’d be walking on the streets of Seoul” you exclaimed.

“Really? Wow, that’s great! Have you got everything you need?”

“I need to go shopping for some things, will you come with me?”

“Sure. When do you want to go?” 

“How about…in an hour? I’ll get ready and we can meet up at your place.” 

“Cool. Don’t eat anything! Dinner’s on me.”

“Okay. See you then!” you hung up your phone and started to get ready. You changed into a turquoise chiffon blouse and white skinny jeans. You grabbed your wallet and just as you were about to leave your room, a silver object on the top of your desk caught your eyes. The leaf bangle that you loved so much gleamed in the sunlight filtering through your windows. You clasped it around your wrist and involuntarily smiled. It was the most special piece of jewelry you owned. After endless complains about how your dad always gives you money instead of a real birthday present, he had finally gotten you this. 

The bangle was silver and sleek. Its’ simplicity and minimalism made it look even more gorgeous. The slim wire of it twirled around your wrist thrice; each end ending with an equally beautiful silver leaf. You always wore it whenever you went out. It made you feel like your father was right next to you, guiding you and protecting you. 

You dashed downstairs, stopping just as you nearly bumped into your father, who was making his way upstairs.

“Let me guess, you off for shopping?” your father raised an eyebrow.

“Yep! I need to get some things before I go to Seoul.” you replied. 

Your dad started to reach back for his wallet, so you quickly added, “I have enough money.”

“Honey, it’s my job to give you money to spend. I’m sure you won’t waste it anyway. You have to accept it.” Your father said a little sternly, stuffing some cash into your palm. The seriousness on his face was gone as soon as it came, replaced by a heartwarming smile when he noticed that you were wearing the leaf bangle. 

“It’s been awhile since I last saw you wearing that. Well, it’s been awhile since you last went out anyway. You were so busy studying these past months,” your father chuckled. “Anyways, have fun.” 

Having no choice, you placed the money neatly in your wallet and made your way to Min Ah’s place, which was only 4 blocks away. 

You rang the doorbell and waited. Min Ah came out, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with gold studs on its collars and cuffs. It was tucked in neatly to the black waist-high shorts she was wearing, which elongated her goddess-like legs. The gentle curls of her dark brown hair flowed down beautifully.

“I’m ready! Let’s go!” she said, closing the door behind her. 

As you made your way to the mall, you couldn’t help but notice how guys were eyeing Min Ah. You were pretty sure you looked like an ant next to the 6-foot goddess standing next to you. Every time you went out with Min Ah, it made you feel self-conscious. You were sick and tired of people calling you cute; you wanted to be called beautiful as well.

You both reached the mall within a couple of minutes. The mall wasn’t huge; it was a 4-storeyed building with various types of shops. You both had been to this mall so many times; you knew it like the back of your hand.

Time passed quickly, and you both had enjoyed shopping new clothes, shoes and stationeries. Min Ah wasn’t able to buy any clothes or shoes though; her size wasn’t available.

When it was almost 7pm, Min Ah dragged you to a fancy restaurant to give you a farewell dinner. You noticed how sad she was, and how she faked her laughter to cover up her emotions every now and then.

“Min Ah… I’ll call you every day.” You said.

“I know. Don’t forget to update me on all the cute boys there.” She joked.

“Of course. And you have to tell me about your modeling school too! Don’t forget me when you become a world famous supermodel,” you smiled. 

Min Ah smiled back at you, and you reminisced the past. The day when you first met her in Junior High, the first day of High School… Time really flew by fast.

Min Ah paid for the dinner, and you dropped her off before you made your way back to your house. It was getting dark, and you always tried to avoid walking alone on the streets at night. It was one of your biggest fears. The stories about teenage girls getting kidnapped, assaulted and was enough to freak you out. You walked as fast you could; eyes fixated on the ground, avoiding eye contact with anyone that passed by.

As soon as you reached your home, you showered and changed into your pajamas before plopping down on your bed. Sleep took over you almost immediately; you were very tired, and you’d be having a busy week ahead. 
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The next week passed by quickly, and the enthusiasm building inside you kept multiplying from each hour that passed. You were sitting on a bench at the train station with your family, nervously waiting for the train to arrive. The vibration of the ground confirmed the arrival of the train and it started to get noisy in the train station.

“I’ll miss you so much Hyun Ju!” Your step-mom said as she gave you a warm and long hug, followed by a peck on your cheeks.

“I’ll miss you more!” your little step-sister said, hugging you. You noticed that her eyes were red and puffy.

“Are you crying? Hey, don’t cry. I’ll visit on holidays! I’ll miss you a lot.” You said, squeezing her in your embrace. 
“Everyone, pose for the camera!” your father shouted over the noise, setting the camera timer and jogged over to stand next to you for the photo. “I’ll mail you the photos as soon as I get home.” Your father promised immediately after the flash went off. 

The train arrived and the passengers started to board. You instinctively grabbed your father’s hand and got on the train. Your father helped you to load the luggage to the little compartment above your seat while you settled in the window seat. 

“My little girl has grown up. I’ll miss you a lot my beautiful Hyun Ju-ah,” your father said, holding your hands white lightly the leaf bangle on your wrist. The word beautiful repeated in your mind; it was something that only your father called you.

“One last thing!” he whipped out his phone and angled the picture above both of your heads.

“A father-daughter picture is a must!” he said, while both of you smiled at the camera and snapped a picture. “I’m going to go now, have a safe journey!” he waved at you and made his way out of the train. As you looked out of the window, you saw him get off the train and wrap his hand around your step-mom and waved at you from his free hand. You gave a toothy smile and waved back.

The train started to move and you saw your little step-sister wiping away her tears. It made your heart clench, and you bit your lip to stop yourself from crying. Your family waved at you and you waved back until they disappeared from your sight. You kept staring outside the window, watching the buildings pass by. 

Your phone beeped, and you unlocked it to see that your father had sent the photo that the both of you had snapped only minutes ago.

Your father had his arm around your shoulder, and you both had identical smiles on your faces. Your eyes were like upside down crescents, and the crow feet around your father’s eyes were evidently visible; it gave you a warm feeling.

You realized that you spaced out while looking at the picture when you suddenly heard a noise. You let out a little shriek as you turned your head to the direction of the sound, only to find someone sitting right next to you. “When did he get here?” you thought.

“Oops, sorry about that” the boy immediately said while turning off his phone.

 “That’s okay,” you said, giving him a small smile.                

The boy had a small face, with tiny lips and bid doe eyes. He simply looked like a flower boy, adorable and cute. He was wearing a black and white striped t-shirt and a blue cardigan over it. He stuffed his phone into the front pocket of his khaki shorts and returned his attention to you..

“Hi! I’m Luhan,” he said, slightly bowing his head and flashing a bright smile.

“Hyun Ju.” You smiled back.

“I know someone else with the exact same name!” Luhan exclaimed with excited eyes.

“Oh.” 

“Ask me who it is!” 

“Um, who?”

“My ex-girlfriend,” he said, his tone still cheery.

“Oh…” you said awkwardly.

“We broke up last week actually. On our one year anniversary,” he said, the smile still plastered on his face which stretched from one ear to the other.

The fact that he was smiling baffled you. You hated awkward silences, and hoped that he would continue to talk. You sighed in relief when he spoke up again.

“But it’s okay, we lost our spark anyway. We tried our best, but we can’t force these things, you know?” he asked.

You nodded your head pretending that you completely understood what he meant, when in reality, you had no idea what he was talking about.

Luhan noticed the confusion in your eyes, and chuckled cutely.

“Never had a boyfriend?” he asked playfully, tilting his head at your direction.

“Uh, yeah, I never dated.” you answered awkwardly.

“Your crush never liked you back?”

Before you could even explain to him that you never really had a crush either, he continued, “That’s okay little one! I’ll teach you my exclusive guide. Luhan’s How to Get Your Crush to Like You Lessons 101 starts now!” he exclaimed, shooting his fist up in the air excitedly.

“Excuse me but, what do you mean by ‘little one’? I’m 18!” you cried out.

Luhan’s eyes widened. “Really? Me too! You look so petite and cute so I thought you were…” he stopped when he noticed you shooting daggers at him with your eyes.

Psht, cute. “Hyun Ju, you are so cute!! You look like a baby!” “You started high school? Woah.. I thought you just started middle school”

“Is everything okay?” he asked after a moment, with worried eyes.

“Um yeah, sorry. I tend to blank out a lot,” you said, rubbing the back of your neck.

“Okay then, let’s start. LESSON NUMBER 1!” Luhan cried out in a dramatic game-show host voice, which surprised you a little, but you started to laugh. 

“Be You” He said, with his index finger pointing at you. “If a guy acts too much like a gentleman on the first date itself, and then all of it magically vanishes when the two of you get a little more serious, you would feel cheated, right?” He glanced at you with serious eyes. Once again, before you could answer, he continued, “So don’t do the same thing. Sure, we change ourselves to impress others but there is a fine line between changing a bit and being completely fake. Understand?”

“LESSON NUMBER 2!!” he exclaimed again, paused to catch his breath and continued. “Dress like you normally do.”

Luhan looked at you carefully and said, “From judging the way you have dressed today, denim jeans, plain white V-neck T and sneakers… I’m guessing you aren’t a girly girl, and that’s completely fine!” he said waving his hands casually as he talked. “DON’T dress a certain way just because you think that’s what he would like,” he continued, almost scaring the living life out of you when he half-shouted ‘don’t.’

A bell rang, signaling the start of the announcement that said, “7 hours to Seoul.”

 “Yay! We have plenty of time to finish my lessons.” he cheered, giving you a bright smile.

“Oh God, 7 hours listening to him. I should forget about sleeping through the journey then,” you thought to yourself. 

Halfway through the ride you started to feel tired. Your eyelids felt heavy and you couldn’t hear what Luhan was rambling about. “Well, it’s a good thing that he kind of looks cute,” you thought and kept looking at him, observing how his eyebrows moved up and down, how his hand gestures were so vivid, how his lips moved when he talked. You were amazed at how his energy never left him. You continued to “listen” to him. 

“LESSON NUMBER 90!” Luhan exclaimed again, startling you. “Wow, does this boy ever get tired?” you thought. The last time you remembered, he was talking about lesson 10. “Oops, I might have blanked out again.”  You straightened your back trying to focus, but your eye lids started to get droopy. 

….

“I love you.”

You stared at him softly before you replied. “I love you too.”

He started to lean in and you closed your eyes, puckering your lips, waiting for the gentle touch. You put your hands around his neck, and the two of you started kissing passionately. Seconds later, he started to move back, but you weren’t ready to let go of him so soon.

“Don’t go yet. Just one more time.” You tried to bring him back close to you, but he tried to remove your hands from his neck.

“Hyun Ju!” 

You frowned, wondering why he was acting like this all of a sudden.

“Yah, Hyun Ju, wake up. Let me-ugh, go!” 

You felt someone shaking you, and you unhappily murmured, “Go away.”

“Hyun Ju! Seriously, let me go!”

You tried to kiss him again, and that’s when you heard someone scream.

Your eyes shot open, and looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.

“Thank god you finally woke up! What were you trying to do?!” Luhan cried out.

“Huh?”

“You were holding my neck and bringing me close to you and you…you… you tried to kiss me!” Luhan cried out again with his hand shooting at random directions. 

“Sorry, I was having a dream.” You blushed furiously. 

“A dream about me?” Luhan asked cockily.

“You? No way.”

“You sure about that? It seemed like you were really eager to kiss me.... or maybe something else!” he gasped dramatically with enalrged eyes.

“How do you even know if it was you in my dream at all?” you asked back.

“Are you admitting that it was me?” 

“No!” you cried out.

Luhan started to laugh. “I know I’m irresistible.” 

This time, it was your turn to laugh. “Sure, whatever floats your boat.” 

Luhan grinned at you. 

“So, you’re moving to Seoul too?” you asked, hoping to change the subject. 

“Yeah. Ugh, I’m so tired!” he yawned, stretching his arms. You blinked at him in surprise; he seemed energetic and bubbly only a minute ago. He rested his head on the headrest of his seat. He looked peaceful, angelic even. He turned his head to you. “If I sleep now, you won’t try to assault me again, will you?” he teased. 

You blushed again but replied, “Yah, just sleep.” 

Luhan laughed, and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. You rested your head on the window, and fell asleep too.

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Surprise appearance from Luhan!! readers, did you enjoy this chapter? let me know in the comments below!

And thank you for all those who have subscribed,commented and left wall posts!

kinda sad about the fact Lay isnt in this chapter, but fear not; i have a feeling that Hyun Ju and Lay would be meeting in the next chapter kekekke