So after talking to Alex about her pretending to be my fake girlfriend, she (surprisingly) agreed. Honestly, I was happy that she said yes, since now I don’t have to awkwardly tell my parents that I was lying about having someone (even though I am), and they don’t give me that look of shame. Plus, Ara won’t give me the “It’s okay if you’re alone and die with cats” lecture, like she always does when she’s right.

Gah, it’s her that’ll live with cats.

Regardless, it’s 6 in the morning currently, and Alex is wearing jeans with a blue police box hoodie, her hair tied in ponytails. She didn’t wear make-up (I know, apparently Alex always wore some eyeliner!) so I was a bit thrown off for a bit, confused at what was different about her. She wore her black framed glasses—something she always did whenever she didn’t feel like poking her eyes off with her contacts.

We were in front of the taxi. She threw her bag into the trunk, going into the car.

“Let’s go.” Alex says before going in.

“Did you boyfriend really approve?” I asked once again.

“He’s in Japan.”

“So it’s a no.”

Alex looks at me before getting in the car, I did pursuit.“Well, I told him that I was doing some business to get some free tutoring.”

I was a bit surprised by the free tutoring. “When was this deal made?”

“Well, I’m not doing this for free, you know.”

“I know, but…C’mon!”

“Sunbae, you should know me by now.” Alex says.

“I don’t mean to cut in,” the taxi driver started, “Where do you two lovebirds plan to go?”

I ignored the lovebirds comment and replied with, “The closest train station.” Before turning to Alex who was resting against the chair.

“I do know you, since you’re willing to get anything at a cheaper price.” I mumble, remembering how much I get paid an hour just to teach her and for her to set me up with Chae.

Kinda odd how things ended up, ain’t it?

“What can I say? I’m brilliant.” She smirked.

A smile fell on my face as I went in and pinched her cheeks. “You’re evil.”

“It happens naturally.”

I rolled my eyes before settling down, turning to the window. It was sprinkling for a bit, but then it just poured down like crazy, like, like a ballad rock symphony. It was loud, yet calming.

“Oh, it’s raining.”  I obviously said.

It was odd though, that is was raining in January, but hey, it happens…I guess.

We soon got to the train station. Alex and I walked side by side, with some distance between us since it was awkward, and we were almost alone. We bought tickets into the train, and sat next to each other, I being near the window, and she near the walkway.

“Well, this is nice.” I begin, trying to start some conversation.

Alex nods, pulling a blanket out of her bag. “Cold?”

“Sorta, yeah.” I say as she spread the blanket. I lift the armrest up so that I could scoot closer to her. Her body expression suddenly stiffened, making the situation a bit more awkward. “It’s okay. I’m not going to do anything.” I suddenly say. “Just think of me as your gay best friend.” Dear lordy, that was really awkward to say. It’s like telling her, “Hey, I don’t have any feelings for you whatsoever, and I really don’t want to kiss you right now because men are my forte” even though I really do want to kiss her—or simply just hug her—right now.

“Right.” She nods, resting against the chair.

“So Alex, tell me about Seunghyun.”

She turned; a glint of sadness was in her eyes. “What?”

“I wanna hear about him. To see what I should act like so it’ll seem natural for you.”

Alex was silent for a moment, just thinking. “I don’t know, honestly. We’re still on the ‘getting to know each other’ stage.”

“So then…Why are you two going out…?”

“It’s just nice having someone. I don’t feel as lonely—plus, I miss being kissed. And by kiss, I mean kissed because someone likes you for you.” Jeez, that comment hurt a little.

But then again…“Isn’t he always in Japan?” I ask, realizing that I haven’t seen him in a long while—and the fact that the group is in Japan for some album since kpop is famous over there…I think.

“Yeah, but still. He’s a good person, and I trust him. I mean, why would he ask me out if he was going to leave me here all by myself, and break up with me later?” she said, matter of factly.

“I guess…” I mutter, looking away towards the window being attacked by raindrops.

“So…” Alex begins once more, “Why did you want me to be your pretend girlfriend rather than Chae?”

I looked at her, suddenly feeling awkward. Okay, okay, you’ve been thinking about this all week. Don’t fail on me now!

“Well, you were on my mind at that time. And plus, to ask Chae to do this favor for me is odd, and I’m more comfortable with you. You’re one of my most trusted friends, plus, you’re one of the few female friends that I have.”

“You? Few female friends? Haven’t there been plenty of girls hit on you yet? I mean, you’re smart, you’re kind, you’re attractive—and you give off that warm sunbae feeling.”

Me, wanting more of the compliments from her did the normal thing. I bet you people already know about it, since girls tend to do it also, but eh, I’m getting nice compliments from her. “Well, I do. Girls don’t find me attractive, and I’m awkward.”

“You may be awkward, but it’s really cute. Awkwardness on attractive smart men is wonderful, and...Well, I know that you’d win pointers from me—if I felt that way about you, of course.” Okay, ouch.

Wait, wait. Did she just say that I won points from her? “So…You feel an attraction towards me?”

She was flustered for a second before replying. “Felt. I mean, when I first met you, I was really nervous around you because you looked like those idiots that are jerks and use their brilliant minds for the worse—you know what I mean, right?”

“…Ouch?”

“Sunbae, I don’t mean that.”

“I know, but still.” I pouted.

Alex looked at me, “Sunbaenim!”

“What did I say about being formal?”

She rolled her eyes, “Gosh, stop!”

“No one’s looking.”

“I like calling you that, okay?”

We both started having a small argument for a little bit, and soon calmed down. I looked at Alex who didn’t care about the silence.

It’s weird. She starts to call me informally whenever we get close, but she stops whenever we…Oh.

“So…What are we?” I ask.

Alex looked at me with a confused expression. “Huh?”

“Honestly, what are we? You and me, of course.”

“We’re friends.”

“I know, but…I’m a bit confused.” I start. “Whenever we kissed, you didn’t pull away until well…we both stopped at the same time, and…I’m just curious. Where are we at?”

She stared at me, then thought for a moment. “You just had to bring that topic up again, didn’t you?”

“I honestly am curious.”

Alex sighed. “I think…I think we’re just friends. I mean, you said that it was that ‘at the moment’ feeling, correct? So…I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.”

“So you’re okay with it?”

“As long as you don’t kiss me like that with my permission again.”

I smiled at her, then went in to kiss her forehead, getting a shocked expression from her.

“It’s not the same as last time.” I patted her cheek. “And you said that you missed being kissed, right?”

“Y-yeah, but—”

“Trust me, no feelings what so ever.”

Alex simply looked at me, not saying a word before she got up, “I saw a vending machine earlier, I’ll be back.”

I was silent, looking at her as she walked away. My head turned to the window, staring at the window.

“Mister!”

My head turned to the young voice that belonged to the kid that sat in front of me. He seemed around 8, but he was wide awake, while his guardian seemed fast asleep.

“Me?”

The kid nodded, “My name’s Yunwoo, now, why are you so mean to your wife?”

The kid was speaking informally, but I really didn’t care, since he was a kid. I didn’t care that he said “wife” either, since he’s probably confused because girlfriend and wife (kinda how I was when I was his age).

“I’m not mean to, I’m just…They just came out.”

“Be careful mister! My mom always told me to treat girls nicer than what I would treat guys!”

“What?”

“Plus, you should kiss her more often! She seemed to be very happy when you kissed her on the forehead.”

This sparked interest, “Really now?”

“YEP! Now, when she comes back, make her happy! Hug her really tight, okay?” he soon started to hug himself, “Oh! Food! Remember to give me a cookie!”

Yunwoo went back to his seat, and Alex came back to our seats. She looked at me, giving me a bunch of snacks, sitting back down. I looked at her, then back at the little kid who was eyeing at the candy between the seats. A smile lit between my face as I opened a box of cookies, handing him one. He seemed more than delighted as he opened the small packet of cookies, “Thank you mister!” he replied before sitting back down.

I turned to Alex who was simply staring at me. “You’re really sweet.”

“Really, now?” I leaned towards her, whispering, “That kid was my marriage counselor while you were gone.”

As I leaned away, she gave me this confused look. “Marriage?”

I stared at her, waiting until she got the point, and it didn’t take longer than what I had expected. She soon mouthed, “Should I start acting?”

I nod.

“I’m still mad at you.” She said, pulling the blanket further away from me.

“Honey, I’m sorry.” I say, coddling with her. Wow, her body’s really warm. (Probably because I’m making her feel embarrassed.) My arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer. “Forgive me?”

Alex squeaked, agreeing. I looked over to the boy and he gave me thumbs up.

This is going to be a fun week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

GUESS WHAT?! I'M ALIVE!