For PurplePebs

White Jasmine

Luhan went to the library. He usually went to the furthermost section and would get out his comic books or graphic novels and flip them open. Today, however, another girl was in his spot. She was sitting cross-legged, her hair covering her face as she stared down at the book in her lap. She seemed so engrossed that she didn’t even hear it when he cleared his throat. Not one to give up so easily, Luhan made his way next to the girl and sat down. He made it a point of loudly rip open the Velcro on his bag, but there was still no reaction from her. She just flipped the page when she was done reading.

He moved closer to her, almost to the point that their arms would be touching and started to read his comic. Once in a while he would hear her chuckle, and he would look over an find her still looking at the book. Now, she had tucked the right side of her hair behind her ear and he could see the profile of her face.  He took a look at what she was reading and found that she had been reading a Scooby Doo comic and was laughing at the later antics of Scooby and Shaggy.

He went back to reading his comic and the next time he turned to look at her he found that she was slightly leaning over his shoulder to see what he was reading.

"Oh?"

"Gamjjakiya!"

"You want to read with me?"

"I'm sorry. I was hoping you wouldn't notice..."

"It's alright..."

"Do you want to read together?"

"If that's okay...it's getting to the interesting part..."

Luhan pulled the book so that it was sitting in between them. After a while, Luhan stopped paying attention to his comics and more to the girl that was sitting next to him. They were attached by the arm now. She was leaning over so that she could see all the details in the image and this allowed Luhan to smell her hair. He though that she smelled like a fresh spring day. When they finished the comic they leaned back against the wall and both let out a sigh. They laughed at each other for letting out a sigh at the same time.

"Did you like the story?"

"Yeah...can't wait for the next instalment..."

"Do you always come here?"

"No. I came because I didn't want my friends to find me..."

"Why not?"

"They've been trying to set me up on a blind date and I finally agreed. I'm going on one tomorrow and they wanted to go shopping so that I could pick out a dress..."

"Don't girls like to do that?"

"Usually, but I don't know the guy. I want to meet a guy on my own time."

"Ahhh...so you don't want to go on the blind date?"

"Yeah..."

"How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope. And before you ask, I always come here. You're kinda sitting in my spot..."

"Oh...sorry..."

"It's fine...you know, funnily enough I'm going on a blind date that my friends set up as well..."

"Really? When?"

"Tomorrow night. I don't really want to go either but my friends said that I need to stop being a loner..."

"Hahaha...well wouldn't it be funny if we were set up on a blind date together..."

"That's what I was thinking!"

They high-fived each other and started to laugh.

"I wouldn't mind going on a blind date with you...you're quite pretty..."

"And you're good..."

"At what?"

He whipped his head around to look at her and shot her a dimpled smile.

"Flirting..."

"Oh yeah...I am...I'm not really a loner..."

"I see..."

"You ain't seen nothing yet..."

Luhan got up and disappeared for a minute before coming back again.

"Excuse me, miss? Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"No."

He got up and repeated the same action again.

"How about second sight?"

She started to laugh.

"Oh my gosh! I love these!"

"What?"

"Pick-up lines!"

"I was trying to flirt with you..."

"You don't pick up girls with pick-up lines..."

"Then why are they called pick-up lines?"

"I don't know...but they seem like jokes to me..."

"Alright...alright...you give me one then..."

"What's your favorite view? Top view? Front view? Back view?"

"I don't know...what's yours?

"I love you..."

"That's pretty good...okay...how about this? What's your blood type?"

"Guess mine..."

"You're my type..."

"My turn! Do you have a map?"

"Why?"

"Because I keep getting lost in your eyes..."

“How about this one? Oh! Wait!”

“What?”

Luhan took out his cellphone and pretended to check it.

“There’s something wrong with it…”

“What is it?”

“It doesn’t have your number…”

“I almost believed you for a second!”

She playfully pushed him and he pretended to fall over clenching his heart. All of a sudden, one of the librarians came shushed them. When they continued to laugh after the first warning, she told them to leave. Luhan got up first and extended his hand towards the girl. She took it gratefully, and then followed him outside. It turns out that they had spent most of the afternoon together and it was now dark. The girl checked her watch.

“Hey! I had a really good time with you.”

“Me too…”

“I have to go. I’m working tonight…”

“Oh…okay…It was nice to meet you.”

“You too…maybe we’ll see each other again?”

Before Luhan could reply and ask for her number, she had already run off and disappeared around the corner. Luhan smiled. He had a feeling that he would see her again, even if that meant coming to the library every day.

When Luhan got home, he called his friend Yixing.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Are you busy right now?”

“Nup! What’s up, dude?”

“Is there any way I can get out of that date tomorrow?”

“Why?”

“I need to be somewhere tomorrow?”

“Where?”

“The library.”

“Isn’t that where you were today?”

“Yeah…that’s the thing…I met a girl…”

“Dude! That’s great!”

“I know. So…can I get out of it tomorrow?”

“Sorry, bro. But the girl’s friends who set you up with her don’t like it when you break promises. Just go tomorrow and then pretend you’re meeting a friend. If you don’t like her then just don’t see her again.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“Go get ‘em tiger…”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

The next day, Luhan decided to show up to the dinner date slightly late. He knew that some girls found it a turn-off when their dates would be late and he hoped that this girl would be one of them. Yixing told him to look for a girl wearing a pastel dress and had long wavy brown hair. When he walked into the restaurant, he was asked whether he had a reservation and was soon pointed on his way. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. The girl was leaning down, with her hair covering her eyes, and she looked to be engrossed in a book. I was right. We would see each other again.

Luhan crept up beside her and then tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up and her eyes widened with surprise. Before she could say anything, Luhan spoke up first.

Is your name Gillette?"

She looks at him with a confused look, but Luhan just smiled and continued with what he wanted to say.

"No. Why?"

"Cause you're the best a man can get..."

She laughed at him and then jabbed him in the arm.

“Are you my date?”

“I guess I am…”

“That pick up line was pretty good…”

“Thanks…but in all seriousness…what’s your name?”

“My name is Chorong! And you are?"

"I'm Luhan..."

“It’s nice to finally know you name.”

“You too…”

Before he sat down, Luhan retrieved something from his coat pocket.

“This is for you…”

She blushed but took it, then smelled it. Luhan sat on the opposite side of her.

“What’s this for?”

“Well…I was walking here to the restaurant and then I walked past a florist. I thought that I needed to get my date something cause I felt bad about not wanting to be here…”

“So you’re sad to see me?”

“No…Until I saw you sitting there, I thought that this would be the most beautiful thing I would see today…but I gave it to you, not because I feel bad, but because I want to show this flower the true meaning of beauty…”

“Wow…still trying to pick me up?”

“I think I’ve already got you…”

“What flower is it?”

“It’s a white Jasmine. Stands for me having a good sense of humor…”

“Thank you…”

“You’re welcome.”

They ordered their dinner and they continued to get to know each other well into the night. When it was time to part ways, they finally exchanged phone numbers and were leaving the blind date with a smile. Before they could leave, Chorong wanted to say something.

“Luhan-ah…”

“Wae?”

“Are you a flower?”

“What?”

“Cause I pick you…”