"There is no way I'm going."

"You have to. Just accept it, dear."

"Accept what?! This is so embarrassing."

"Go now, or I'm taking your phone away."

"Ugh, fine," Mira finally gave in to Mrs. Oh's request and went along with her plan. Because heavens know what bad will come when you separate a teenager from their phone.

"Honey, it's not even that bad! You look cute; plus it's only for an hour or so," Mrs. Oh was trying her best to convince Mira that it wasn't the end of the world. It's better to have Mira out there instead of Sehun.

"Ma! What if people know it's me? I can't do this..." Mira complained as she pouted like a little kid, but Mrs. Oh knew better than to give in now that she's older. 

Now Mrs. Oh was hanging on by the last thread, so with a stern expression and in a serious tone, she replied, "Mira honey, please. I already have a headache. No one will even know it's you. Just go out there and act cute. Please, go. And after this hour, you can go. Deal?"

"Mmm... Fine. Deal."

Mrs. Oh thanked Mira for agreeing and walked back into the restaurant to help some guests, while Mira on the other hand picked up the head of the costume and placed it on her head while she grabbed a sign and a tiny speaker before heading out. Once she reached outside, Mira sighed heavily, picked up the sign and pressed the play button on her phone that she connected to the small speakers.

"Special, special! Only this weekend! $15 for only two lunch or two dinner combo meals! Drinks included and a free ice cream cone! Come, come!" Mira shouted with a suddenly happy tone and danced along with the music, immediately attracting people from all ages. Teens, adults, and even seniors stopped to take a look and half of them eventually walked inside the store.

Mira smirked and decided to take the dancing up a notch, so she decided to change the song to a more upbeat song and started dancing along. Just like that, a few more people took notice and decided to give the store a try.

"Welcome! Lunch and dinner specials, $15 for two combo meals, with a drink an      ooof!" While Mira decided to do a quick spin, she tripped over her foot and bumped into a guy who was walking down the sidewalk.

"Oh geez, are you okay?!" The stranger asked sincerely. His voice sounded so sincere and velvety; so smooth. He offered a helping hand towards Mira and helped her get back on her feet before picking up his sunglasses and placing them on his face again.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you okay?! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so excited, especially since it's already hard to see in this darn costume," Mira bowed at least three times and apologized almost five times, making the random male laugh. 

"It's okay! It didn't hurt that much. I just hope you're okay," he replied and gave a charming smile that only a prince was capable of giving, making Mira get butterflies in her stomach. But the darn mask prevented her from seeing his whole face.

The male looked up at the restaurant sign and smiled mischieviously. "So this is the place you're trying to promote for, huh? Guess I'll have to come back soon and try the special."

He looked back at Mira, only to give that charming smile again, in addition with a subtle wave that Mira was fortunately able to see before he left, leaving Mira speechless and dumbfounded in her spot for awhile.

Wow, who was that? If there was any chance that she could see him again, she would definitely want to meet him personally. 

"Mira?"

That voice. Mira spun around and was met with a tall, handsome young man. "Kris oppa! How did you know it was me?" Mira ran up to Kris and covered his mouth, although the head mask made it difficult for her to see properly.

"Well, I would hope that Sehun wouldn't want to wear a cute costume like this," Kris sarcastically exclaimed as he tugged on the sleeve of the costume. "Plus you're a lot shorter than him and you don't have broad shoulders."

"True, true. So, where are you headed?" Mira asked, not quite curious but was highly bored and was happy to even have a conversation with someone, even if it was the boba server who always gave her and the family their drinks. Anyone is a lot better than no one.

"Just on my way to meet up with a friend that I haven't seen in awhile. Hm, maybe for a 'Welcome Back' surprise, I'll take them here. Your parents' food is too good to pass up!"

"Yes! Come! You get a good discount too. I'm sure your friend will enjoy it," Mira chirped happily as she tugged on Kris' arm and tried to persuade him to come later. Kris nodded and said he would try his best, only if his friend would cooperate. Kris glanced down at his watch and his eyes widened when he realized how late he was running.

"Well, I'll catch you later! See ya, squirt!" Kris gave Mira a quick high five, then ran down the sidewalk despite the amount of people. She watched him disappear into the sea of people and exhaled, remembering she had a job to get to. Mira picked up the sign and continued doing her task. So much for wasting time. Her mind couldn't help but go back to the random guy she bumped into earlier.

From the way he smiled so elegantly and the way he dressed so— clean, she would assume he was from a wealthy family, but what high-society child would want to eat at a tiny restaurant like the Oh's? Well, she shouldn't be judging on the size when clearly it's obvious that people come for the delicacies.

For the rest of the hour, she continued advertising for the restaurant while also attracting a wide amount of people to eat inside. She had been so caught up in dancing that she didn't keep track of the time. Mr. Oh came out to switch the signs outside to the lunch menus and was shocked to see Mira outside of the restaurant.

"Mira honey, why are you still here? It's been more than an hour already," Mr. Oh should've been more cautious with his words, because now Mira was freaking out.

"What?! Seriously?! Why didn't Ma let me know?" Mira took off the mask and was exposed to the cool air. She had beads of sweat rolling down her face and little strands of her hair were plastered onto her face. She wiped her sweat with the sleeve of the costume, which made Mr. Oh knit his eyebrows together to show disapprovement.

"Well, she left almost an hour ago to bring Jae to the dentist, and I suppose she used the back doors and forgot to let you know. I thought you would've been gone by now." Mr. Oh placed the sign with the lunch menu in front of the shop and folded up the sign with the breakfast menu. He glanced back at Mira and found himself laughing and shaking his head at Mira,which made her question why he was acting like that.

"Whaaaaaat?" She dragged out the word in a whiney-tone as she asked Mr. Oh. "Nothing, you just look like a mess right now because of all of your sweat, dear. No wonder you don't have a boyfriend," he remarked jokingly as he made himself laugh, which caused Mira to glare at him in disappprovement and stuck out her tongue. She sighed and couldn't believe he just said that. She was capable of having a boyfriend! Just... She didn't necessarily want one. She never thought about it. 

Mr. Oh walked back inside the shop, followed by Mira. She went into the backroom and locked the door to change out of the costume and into more comfortable and fitting clothes, then nicely hung the costume in the tiny closet. She looked in the mirror hanging on the wall and admired how the baggy graphic tee complimented her distressed, ripped jeans along with her black boots. Once outside, Mira kissed Mr. Oh on the cheek and headed out of the restaurant to proceed with her day.

It was barely noon and she didn't really have any plans today. 

"Wah, what should I do today?"

She found a bench at the nearby park and sat down as she contemplated on what to do. Absentmindedly, she took out her phone and dialed a number, in hopes of them answering. Fortunately, the other side picked up.

"Mimi? Hey, what's up?"

"Yeolieee~ What are you doing today? Want to go out to eat something?"

"Aww, I would but I'm stuck at home with a pile of homework on my desk. Unless if you want to help me with it!"

"Yeah right, you know I'm horrible at anything dealing with school! But aww, okay. I guess I'll see ya later then."

"Sorry, Mira. I'll treat ya out another day!"

They said their goodbyes and she ended the call. Mira couldn't help but feel disappointed. After Sehun, Chanyeol was the next person she felt closest to. Technically, after Lay and Luhan as well, but hanging out with them after so long of not seeing each other would probably be a bit awkward, considering the fact that they'll most likely want to catch up, but Mira just wanted to have some fun. They can catch up another day.

Here she goes again; she dialed another number and in an instant, the other line picked up.

"Hey, I'm surprised you called! You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just bored."

Baekhyun burst into laughter and was heard clearly from the other line. "So you only call me when you're bored? Thanks, I feel special." Glad he could joke around, but she was running out of options. Mira slouched in her spot and laid her head back as she asked, "Since you're so special, want to hang out with me for a little?"

"Sure!" Baekhyun's answer instantly made Mira sit up and placed a grin on her face. "Really?!"

"Yeah! Except not today." Mira's smile disappeared in a split second and suddenly she was feeling gloomy again.

"What the hell, Baek. You , times a million." This time, she didn't hide it in her voice that she was disappointed.

Baekhyun couldn't stop laughing at the sudden change of mood. Great, glad I could make you laugh. She was definitely going to kill him for that. And when he least expects it too.

"I wish I could, but I'm out with my grandparents who are visiting from outside of town. Sorry, deary! But... I know Kai is most likely being a bum at home. Why don't you ask him?"

"I'm not ready to be rejected for the third time." Mira mumbled her words while she already assumed what the answer would be.

"Trust me, you won't." Baekhyun seemed so confident that Mira agreed and hung up to call Kai. She pulled up his contact info and hesitated to press the call button. If she was going to get rejected again, she might as well just go about her day alone, something she didn't really want to do.

After she finally convinced herself, she eventually dialed his number. As she heard the line pick up, before he could even answer or say 'Hello', instead she spoke first, "Okay, before you say you can't or you don't want to, let me just ask this before: Would you like to come out and hangout with me for a little? I'll even buy you food."

"Uh... I wasn't going to say 'No' even if you added that little bribe at the end," Kai picked on Mira.

Without even registering what he just said, she just spoke up and replied, "I knew it, I knew I was going to be rejected again an— Wait, what did you say?" She finally let his words sink in, but just to make sure, she wanted him to repeat himself.

"Yes, Mimi. I will go out with you." Awkward silence approached and Kai quickly added, "Oh! I mean, not go out with you, but go out, like hang out with you! Not like I would go out with you. I mean, not that you're not pretty, it's just that you're Mimi!"

"I'm Mimi? What's that supposed to mean?" She wasn't quite hurt, but then her father's words crept into her mind and it just had to remind her. Was she really that unacceptable to guys? Something kept persuading her that she may not be up to their standards.

"Just, that you're Mimi! I can't date you. We're friends!" Kai urged and was trying his best to recover from this sad situation he was put in, but nothing was making it better. From his point of view, once you're a friend, it'll be awkward to be something more. But from some girls' perspective, it's better to start out as friends before you go into a relationship. At least that's what Mira believed. At least if you start out as friends first, you're already close and comfortable with each other.

Plus, it's not like Kai was really her type. Yeah, he was cute but definitely not her style, and she doesn't know much about him still. She wouldn't allow herself to fall for him.

"Geez, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better," Mira grumbled into the phone and received groans from a troubled Kai. "Anyway, are we still going to hangout? Because I am dying from boredom!"

"Sure. I wouldn't want you to die from boredom, that would be a sad and terrible death. Let me just change. Where did you want to go?" 

"Mm, I don't know. Anywhere? Everywhere? I don't know..."

"I have a place in mind. Okay, let me just get ready and I'll pick you up. Where are you right now?"

Mira was surprised by Kai's answer, for she didn't know he was even capable of driving. More because she has never seen him drive. One more thing that he was good at that made her feel inferior to him.

"Eh, at the park near my family's restaurant. I'll text you the address!" After the phone call, Mira mapped out the address and sent it to Kai. Now she just had to wait and playing the waiting game lasted shorter than she expected when a random car pulled up in front of her in less than 15 minutes.

Kai rolled down the passenger side's window and exposed a smirk as he imitated those cocky flower boys in dramas. "Care for a ride?"

Mira rolled her eyes and scoffed! Unbelieveable! Did he really think he looked attractive? Yes... 

"So unappealing. Not cool. Gross." Mira picked up her bag and got up from the bench, and walked to his car to open the door. She was in denial and she knew it. Once inside, they were on their way to wherever Kai had in mind. 

Feeling a little stiff from the silence, he reached over to the stereo and the radio. He rolled down the windows in the front and back as he let the air and music fill the car. Mira didn't mind at all and even closed her eyes as the wind blew through her hair and hit her face. "Ahhhhhhh~"

"So, how come when you called, you were so sure that I would say 'No' to hanging out with you?" A curious Kai asked nonchalantly as he kept his eyes on the road. Still with her eyes closed and embracing the fresh air, she softly replied, "Because Chanyeol and Baekhyun rejected me, too, and said they were busy today, so I assumed you would've been busy, too. Ahhhhh~ Fresh air~"

"What?! So you're telling me I was your third choice? And after Baekhyun?! Wow, I feel special..." It was difficult for Kai not to feel hurt but he did a hell of a good job hiding his disappointment and minor piece of jealousy. Baekhyun? Of all people. Why Baekhyun? She was his best friend first, not Baekhyun's. But he played it off and joked around with Mira.

"Well, I saved the best for last," Mira uttered, not telling the truth. She didn't pick Kai because she wanted to, she picked him because she was bored. Kai just replied with a simple, "Riiiight..." as he nodded grimly, accepting her words. Seeing how Kai was being a little showed that he was being jealous, making Mira smile sheepishly. She didn't even know that something as small as this would makes guys jealous.

But she didn't say anything and let his jealousy sink in and fade away within time. "Hey, did you happen to bring a sweater with you?" She pulled a thin cardigan out of her bag to show him and shrugged. 

"Hm, okay. I have another sweater in the trunk if you want you borrow it," Kai offered and made Mira wonder where he was taking her. She raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

"Where are we going?"

But instead of receiving an answer like she was hoping for, he challenged her with another question, "So, do you have money or a card on you?"

Without getting mad at the change of subjects, she just nodded and replied with a 'Yes'. As much as she wanted to know where he was taking her, she simply let it go and trusted he wouldn't turn out to be a psycho who would take her into a dark forest to kill her. Hopefully.

"Go take a nap, it'll take awhile."

Mira felt like arguing back and asking him again where he planned on bringing her, but he gave her a quick 'stop-being-selfish-and-listen-to-me' glare before returning his eyes to the road. They were still in the area, so she didn't quite know where he planned on going, but still, she remained quiet and decided to listen to him.

"Okay... But just for a little bit. Wake me up when we get there, or in 10 minutes. Whichever comes first," Mira requested kindly. She never liked it when her parents drove her, Sehun, and Jae for vacations and everyone was asleep. She always felt the need to be awake with whoever is driving for safety precautions. 

Kai snickered quietly to himself at her answer and he only knew why. In a simple manner, he acknowledged her wishes and agreed, then suggested for her to go to sleep. Without another word, she listened to his words by laying her head against the window as she closed her eyes. Within less than 5 minutes, she fell asleep, leaving Kai to himself and music.

"Mimi... Mira... MIRA."

Kai continuously shook Mira lightly until she finally reacted. One of her eyes opened to peek, then she slowly opened both of her eyes and found Kai leaning forward towards her, just staring at her. Mira's eyes widened and scooted away from him. 

"W-What are you doing?! Why are you so close?!" Mira stuttered as she wanted to know the answer but couldn't quite grasp her heart, which was beating twice as much as it should be. To her surprise, Kai just remained frozen while his eyes continued to watch her, but ended up boasting in laughter the next moment. Weird guy...

"W-What?"

Kai wiped his eyes from the tears from laughing too much. "Nothing, you just get surprised easily, that's all. One moment you're calm, the next you get all crazy."

"Hey! I can say the same for you! One moment you're quiet and serious, then the next moment you just start laughing out of nowhere! Creeps me out..." Mira mumbled, trying to prove her point.

"Well, that's a good thing we're friends then. Or else other people would think we are weird," Kai said confidently. "Anyways, we're here! C'mon, let's go!"

Mira completely brushed off the issue and became curious as to where he had taken her. They were surrounded by many other cars and noticed they were at a public area. 'Where the heck did he take me?' was all she kept asking herself.

Already, Kai was on her side of the car and opened the door, gesturing for her to come out. Grabbing her bag, she got out of the car and followed Kai to the trunk of his car, where he pulled out a jacket for her, and another one for him. When he offered it to her, she simply stared at the jacket, then to him, then back to the jacket.

"Don't worry, I'm not infected or anything," he replied and softly threw it to Mira, which she fortunately caught without fail. "T-Thanks..." Was what she managed to spit out. Locking his car, he nodded at Mira to the direction he was headed and she reluctantly followed. She noticed families, couples, and many kids walking in the parking lot and walking in the same direction. Once she grew closer to the designated spot, opened and was in awe. 

Kai smirked to himself and immediately knew this was a good idea. "Welcome to Everland!" And right when he said that, they were exposed to a crowd and vibrant colors everywhere. No one was capable of being sad at such a happy place. Smiles were seen everywhere and laughs could be heard from every direction.

"You took me to Everland?! I've been asleep for that long?! What am I supposed to tell my parents and-"

Kai shushed her by covering with his hand and tried to get her to calm down. "Don't worry! I called Sehun to make sure if it was okay if I took you. He was hesitant at first, but ended up saying yes. Of course he told your parents, which they oddly didn't mind at all. Your mom is taking care of Jae, your dad is working, and Sehun is doing his own thing."

"Yah! Who said you could take me here? Let alone, get permission from my family?!"

"Calm down! It's better that