22 ~ Date

Sujin was startled by an excited Youngjae suddenly bursting into the café and charging towards her.

"Sujin, go on a date with me," he boldly stated.

The café wasn't very busy yet, and the sudden silence of the working employees did more than enough to tell her that everybody had heard him. She felt flustered under their scrutiny-filled eyes, as she had yet to tell anyone about their relationship. The busy-body employees were sure to talk about this ear-catching new piece of gossip, which was bound to spread like hayfire and reach Mihi's ears in no time. Not to mention all the questions she would be bombarded with. Sujin, of all people, knew about these courses of events since she was always one to engage in these types of gossip about these kinds of matters.

She made a little hand gesture to hush him down. "I'm sorry, but I have to work today. Mihi's going to be out for the whole day."

He grinned. "I know. And that's why we should use this chance to go somewhere without her knowing."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "How did you know that she wasn't coming in today? And I'm not leaving this café without Mihi around."

Youngjae didn't answer and clapped his hands. Sujin watched on with wide eyes as a line of people clad in café attire swarmed in and stood before her in an immaculate row, bowing simultaneously and greeting her.

"Youngjae..."

He laced her fingers in his. "I know, you love me. Now let's go!"

He pulled her out of the building towards his awaiting car and opened the door for her like a gentleman. She sighed and reluctantly she got in.

"Really, thank you for doing this Youngjae… but the number of people you sent over to help out was just absolutely ridiculous!" Sujin said as soon as Youngjae got into the driver's seat.

"At first I was only going to ask Jongup and Zelo to help out, but since exams are nearing for them, I decided not to." Youngjae beamed at her so brightly that she could have been blinded ten times over.

"Besides, I wanted you to enjoy our first date together without having to worry about anything."

Sujin blushed and looked away, earning herself a chuckle and a soft peck on her forehead from her boyfriend. She stayed quiet for the entire ride to their destination and cursed herself for being so weak in front of him.

Youngjae, on the other hand, was feeling rather proud of himself and grinned the whole way to the theatres.

~~~

"We're just in time for the start of the movie," Youngjae happily whispered as he led the way to their seat. Sujin sat down rather unsurely.

"You know, I wouldn't put the possibility past us that Mihi is also here with Daehyun. Even if they're not, we might still run into them elsewhere."

Youngjae slung an arm around her shoulder. "Relax, they wouldn't be here. Just enjoy the movie, yeah?"

She looked up at him before nodding shyly, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Little did they know that Sujin's worries were in fact a reality.

Mihi stole little glances at them every so often and chuckled softly to herself whenever she noticed how flustered her best friend was with Youngjae's forward actions. Normally she would've found all of this cuddling and little gestures too much to look at, but now that she was in a relationship herself, she found it sweet.

A funny scene suddenly appeared on screen and Daehyun, who unlike Mihi had been paying attention to the movie, laughed out loud along with the rest of the audience. It was nice for Mihi to see this carefree side of him, but the thing was -- he was laughing too loud. It was definitely loud enough for someone who knew him to instantly recognise his distinctive voice.

And so Mihi slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound threatening to escape. He turned to frown at her questioningly. She leaned towards him and whispered into his ear.

"Daehyunnie, if you laugh too loud they might hear you!"

He removed her hand and whispered back. "There's no need to make excuses. You just don't like my laugh, isn't that right Mihi-ah?" He feigned a sad expression.

"No! Of course that's not true--"

"I don't believe you~~~" Daehyun cut in with a hushed sing-song voice. "Unless, you..."

He held up his index finger and tapped his lips, giving her a boyish grin. Mihi's eyes widened and her heart pounded.

*He isn't suggesting... that... is he?*

Daehyun noticed how she was hesitating and decided to come clean with his teasing. "Alright, I was just teas--"

He was effectively cut off by a pair of lips sealing his own shut, and now it was his turn to widen his eyes in shock. Despite the dark surroundings of the theatre, he had not expected her to actually do it since they were still in a public place. Mihi had the absence of proper lighting to thank for concealing her burning, rosy cheeks that became scarcely visible as she pulled back.

"There, believe me now?" she pouted.

With a smile, Daehyun swiftly pecked the side of her head. "Always."

~~~

When the movie was over, Daehyun and Mihi waited for the other couple to leave first since they were closer to the exit. Mihi saw how Sujin blushed and lowered her head when Youngjae intertwined his fingers with hers and couldn't help but let out a little giggle. Daehyun glanced at her.

"What is it?"

She shook her head. "It's just that best bud of yours. He turns Sujin into a shy little muffin." Mihi hugged his arm excitedly. "Aren't they so cute together?"

Daehyun frowned. "Hey, why is it that you seem to be more interested in their relationship than ours?"

She glanced up at him and pinched his nose. "Alright then, enough about them. Let's go enjoy our day together then, shall we?"

"That's more like it."

The two got up and left the now empty theatre.

As they walked out of the cinema area, Sujin's sharp eyes caught sight of them from around the corner and widened.

"Sujin? What's wr--"

She swiftly covered Youngjae's mouth with her hand and pulled him behind the wall to conceal themselves from the other couple. Carefully, Sujin peeked her head out around the corner and breathed out a sigh of relief when she couldn't see them anymore.

"That was close. So they did come here too."

"I'm happy with how forward you're being," came Youngjae's voice. "...but I can't help but feel a little bit embarrassed with how you're…"

His voice trailed off as she slowly met his eyes, freezing when she noticed the position they were in.

She was practically pinning him to the wall.

Sujin held back a little scream and quickly jumped away, keeping herself at a substantial distance away from him. Youngjae came up behind her and hugged her.

"You're so shy."

She cleared to try and compose herself. "H-hey, I was right after all. I saw Mihi and Daehyun here just then."

"Really?" Youngjae looked back at her in surprise. "Wow, what are the chances of that happening. But anyway, let's not worry about them and enjoy our date today."

And so they did with a day that was almost perfect -- save for one little exception.

Wherever they went, they just so happened to see Daehyun and Mihi as well.

First at the cinemas, then at the place they went to for lunch, then at the aquarium, then at a café, then at the stand-up stalls, then at the ice-cream store, then in the middle of strolling around at a shopping mall, and then now at the restaurant they were planning to eat at for dinner.

And every single time, they only just so managed to hide in time. Or so they thought.

As Daehyun and Mihi were walking into the restaurant, they noticed the two slinking away secretively. They tried to hold back their laughter until they were seated.

"Did they really think we didn't see them at all today?" Daehyun snorted. "It was like they were following us wherever we went."

"Maybe you and Youngjae are soul-mates," Mihi laughed. "You know, that actually sounds about right. I wouldn't find it preposterous at all if someone said that the two of you were meant for each other."

That earned her a glare.

"Yah. How can my girlfriend say something like that?"

She continued laughing. "Well it would explain everything that happened today. Your minds think alike."

Daehyun sulked and ignored her for a fair part of the time they were at the restaurant, until she managed to cheer him up again by feeding him with a massive slice of his favourite cheesecake.

"You big baby," she muttered.

"Wuaot dit oo thay? [What did you say?]" Daehyun said through a mouthful of cake.

She pinched his mouth close.

"Hey, don't talk while eating!"

~~~

After dinner, Daehyun took her to a park.

She got out of the car and looked around in surprise. "Isn't this the one that…"

*Isn't this the park Myungsoo took me to last time?*

"Have you been here before?" Daehyun asked. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised since it's somewhat close to your café."

"U-um, no I haven't," Mihi found herself saying before she could stop herself. "It just looked a little familiar, that's all."

Daehyun nodded before glancing at his watch. "It's about time now."

She blinked at him. "Time for what?"

He came up to her and turned her around to face the gardens, hugging her from behind.

"This."

Not even a second later, the garden lit up to into a colourful display. Mihi watched on as the colours changed every few seconds and maneuvered around the garden. It was beautiful.

And not only that -- it was also familiar.

Like it was from a distant memory. A memory from her childhood.

Daehyun noticed her unresponsiveness and peered over her shoulders to her face.

"Mihi? Is there something wrong?"

She broke out of her thoughts with a little startle. "O-h, it's nothing." She smiled and turned to gaze at the colourful display. "This… it's beautiful."

He hugged her tighter and rested his chin on her head. "I'm glad you like it. These lights go on every Saturday at 9pm. I've been wanting to take you here for a while now."

A sly smile made it's way onto Mihi's face. "So you've been admiring me for that long already?"

Daehyun blushed. "Y-yah."

She chuckled and turned around in his arms to hug him. "Thank you for today, Daehyun."

He pecked her forehead. "Anytime."

The two stood in each other's arms and continued admiring the display. Unknowing to Daehyun, a few thoughts were tugging at the back of Mihi's mind. She quickly shook them away.

*I don't mean to keep this from him… but he doesn't need to know about it.*

---

I think it's safe to say that I'm starting to lose my touch... And I'm really sorry about the recent inactiveness D': But there's is just so much stuff going on that I don't even have time to think about this story.

Thank you all for reading, subscribing and leaving comments! :D