Date With A Stranger

After working together on your debut song for a couple of hours, you and YongHwa decided to leave it there for the day. The both of you lay your guitars to rest and packed up your things, stretching your muscles that had been sitting in place for the past two hours. YongHwa cracked his knuckles and you flinched at the noise, but then he eyed you strangely in return when you stretched back your fingers as far you could get them.

"Moh?" you enquired when you had dropped your arms back to your sides and he was still looking at you with interest.

YongHwa shook his head and zipped up his guitar in its case, bending to buckle the clasps on his other case. He straightened up and looked over at you brightly as you bundled your things in your arms and met his eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Unhh," you nodded in consent and the two of you left the room, returned both of your pairs of guitars and headed down in the lifts together all in good time. The two of you hailed a cab and YongHwa climbed in the back with you after holding the door for you and making sure you were buckled in with your seat belt. He settled in beside you, also buckling himself in, and called to the driver to stop at your place first.

"Give me your hand phone," he commanded suddenly, turning to you as the taxi pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of your dorm.

You looked at him in surprise, slightly irked at his tone yet also strangely in awe of it. Something about the authoritive way he spoke to you made you feel a little warm and fuzzy. You did as you were told, reaching into the front pocket of your bag and retrieving your phone from it.

YongHwa watched you take it out and the moment it was in clear view he snatched it from your hands. You made a noise of annoyed surprise but he ignored you and swiped across the screen, raising his eyebrows. "You don't even keep a pass code on your phone?" he looked up at you like a teacher questioning his student about a mistake in their homework.

You frowned and shook your head. "Ani, I don't like how long it takes to use my phone when I have to punch in a pass code."

"So you're just being lazy," he reprimanded, and went back to fiddling with your phone. "What would you do if you left your phone somewhere and someone picked it up and accessed all your private information?"

"If they were that way inclined, I'm sure they'd find a way to do that anyway."

YongHwa narrowed his eyes at you. You felt momentarily confused because he often used that look when he was being seductive, but you knew that wasn't his intention this time. "Is that the attitude you are going to take when you become a big time celebrity? Anyone could ruin you if you're going to be so careless."

You pouted at his scolding but you knew he was right. He sighed and passed the phone back to you, his hand brushing against yours as he placed it in your palm. You made to put it back inside your bag but he held your wrist and you looked up at him enquiringly.

"Aren't you even going to ask what I was doing with your phone?" his voice was challenging, his eyes intense, but the way he was holding your wrist was so tender you felt a slight case of whiplash.

You cleared your throat and met this eyes squarely. "I assume it was to put your number in there," you replied self-righteously. He nodded at your answer but he didn't remove his hand. "I was going to ask to swap numbers anyway. You just got there first."

He grinned at you, "Neh, sure you were." You made a face at him and he made a face back, then looked back down at your phone. His palm came against the back of yours and he held your phone with your limp hand resting in-between. His hand was hot, his skin was resting on the back of your hand and he slid his thumb around the side to swipe the screen and access your contacts list. It was almost as if he was holding your hand, but he wasn't, and you furiously fought back the warmth creeping up your neck and into your face. It would be embarrassing if he caught you blushing just because of this. Suddenly the taxi felt very small, and very hot. YongHwa's scent was filling your nostrils again and you opened your mouth to breathe that way instead.

"Look here," said YongHwa nodding at your phone screen where he had opened his addition to your contacts. The name read: My Darling - Jung YongHwa Oppa. His eyes darted to yours almost shyly, he was searching your face for your reaction.

You snorted when you saw what he had named himself in your contacts. "Did you have to make the name so long?"

"I wanted to fit in all the correct information," he pouted. "What if some guy gets hold of your phone and thinks you're single? At least if he knows that I'm your oppa he'll back off right away."

You gave him a dead-pan look. "What makes you think that?"

YongHwa gave you a look of exaggerated surprise. "You don't know?"

You shook your head, trying not to smile.

YongHwa brought his other fist around from behind him, the one that was not holding yours and the phone. He angled his arm so you could see clearly and flexed his muscles in the classic pose. You noted the bulges in his upper arm below his t-shirt sleeve, the perfect contoured curves and the veins running along his forearm becoming more pronounced as he forced pressure on them. You dared not swallow, because you knew it would be too thick and he would notice. "Because your oppa is too strong! Who do you think would want to get in my way?" he winked and brought his arm back down again.

You took a moment to re-gain yourself, managing to shoot YongHwa an unimpressed look and turning to gaze out of the window instead as you composed yourself inwardly. "I thought you didn't want anyone looking in my phone," you quipped eventually, "And if they saw your name in there as my darling I don't think their first thought is going to be about your muscles." You praised yourself at your well formed response. It was challenging keeping a level head around YongHwa, especially when he was trying to find new ways to impress you. You could finally allow yourself to swallow.

YongHwa slumped in his seat slightly, you recognised it as a dejected reaction. "Well, yeah... you should put some precautions on your phone just in case..." His voice trailed off as he didn't seem to know what else to say. He stared pointedly out his own window. You glanced at him from the corner of your eye, and then looked back out of your own window. "What kind of men do you like?" he asked suddenly.

Your eyes widened and your mouth popped open in surprise. That was an unexpected question. "Why do you ask?"

YongHwa took a moment before he answered. "Do you like skinny guys, girly guys, muscle guys, strong guys... super macho guys or...?" he was gazing at you earnestly. Obviously this topic wasn't as uncomfortable for him as it was for you. Was he seriously asking this just now? Even though the two of you were together? Of course you were going to say that he was your type of guy. Perhaps this was some kind of test. It must have been his trail of thought after you had refused to fawn over his physical prowess. Maybe he was feeling a bit unappreciated right now. But a question like that was still childish in your eyes.

In your mind you tossed up which direction to take, either you told YongHwa what he wanted to hear or you undermined his manhood a little more. You opted for the former, seeing how he was probably feeling right now and that taking it further would be too harsh. "I like guys like you, oppa."

This was all YongHwa wanted to hear, he stared at you dumbly for a moment as if he didn't expect your answer. Then his lips slowly curled into a blissful smile as he regarded you, understanding that you were being serious. Not only had you chosen him, but you had also called him oppa, without him telling you to. That had to be the first time since he had begged you on previous occasions. He blinked at you a moment longer, smiling and staring. "Jincha? Like me?" The usually egotistical self-loving idol pulled at your heartstrings at his look of utter modesty, complete surprise at your words. It was enough to make you want to jump on him right now and spread kisses all over his face. But you settled for watching him watch you, that endearing look of bewilderment lighting up his exquisite features. You knew you weren't going to see that look on his face any other time, might as well remember it.

"Neh, just like you," you nodded and the taxi pulled to the side of the road where your dorm was. You looked around and recognised your street, so you unfastened your seat belt, ready to get out.

A hand shot out and held you there, and you turned around to see YongHwa leaning over the seat with his arm outstretched, gripping onto yours. "Yah! You can't just go like that!" he sneaked a look at the front seat to make sure the taxi driver wasn't looking and then turned back to you with his lips sticking out. He smacked them together and made a small kissing sound.

You pulled out of his grip and shot him an irritated look. "Aniya!" you hissed quietly, "Not here in plain sight! Get a hold of yourself Mr Jung YongHwa!"

YongHwa sat back in his seat, sticking out his bottom lip and giving you daggers.

You composed yourself and thanked the driver. Then you turned back to YongHwa, holding the door open ready to get out of the cab. "So you'll come back for me in an hour?" You still didn't know where YongHwa was planning on taking you tonight. He had kept it a mystery, and you were intrigued by his secrecy. However, the two of you had agreed to go back to your respective homes and clean yourselves up first, dropping your things at home and changing clothes.

YongHwa gave you a snake eye. "If you're lucky," he mumbled sulkily.

You rolled your eyes. "If you come and get me in an hour, I promise to give you what you want then, arraso?" You stood up and ducked your head inside the cab to shoot him an enquiring look when he didn't answer right away. "Arraso?"

The expression on YongHwa's face had changed yet again. He was no longer brooding in the corner of the cab, instead he was looking over at you with a conniving expression. He grinned to himself and raised an eyebrow at you. "Whatever I want?" he asked in a husky voice, his eyes darting cautiously from the driver's seat and back to you again.

You made a huff of irritation and pulled your head back out of the backseat, "See you soon!" And with that you slammed the door shut so YongHwa didn't have any time to reply and made quick progress to your apartments, slinging your bag over your shoulder moodily, as you trudged over the terrain. The cab waited until you had disappeared up the stairs before you heard it pull away.

It wasn't a taxi that picked you up an hour later but a shiny black chauffer driven car with polished surfaces and bronze badges on the sides. You squinted at it, clutching your handbag to your stomach and peering out from the alcove in which you were hiding within the scope of your apartment block. Just peering at that suave looking car, you didn't believe it was for you, until a familiar figure stepped out of the back seat and straightened his jacket fussily. Your eyes widened as you took in how this figure was dressed, so smartly, so handsome... Though it was of no surprise how great he looked, the fact that he had dressed this way to take you out, yes you, was what had your breath sticking in your throat and you stumbled mindlessly into view, ungraciously rolling in your kitten heels. He caught your eye as soon as you were in view and you laughed nervously at the stunning smile on his face. He was wearing a classic style of black suit and tie, complete with the pristine white triangular  kerchief placed neatly in his pocket. His shoes were black and super shiny, he really did blend well with the equally classy shiny black car behind him. The driver was still holding the back door open, where YongHwa had just stepped out from. He was like something out of a movie, as he was a short and portly man with a distinguished moustache and he even had white gloves.

All of a sudden you were feeling highly self conscious dressed in your simple lace dress, humble kitten heels and trusty clutch. It almost seemed as though you should have had a dress made for the occasion. Really YongHwa should have emphasised how you should have dressed tonight.

"Is this a red carpet event?" you joked nervously as YongHwa approached and stood before you.

His eyes rounded innocently at your words, "Neh?"

You swallowed. In all the fanciness of the moment, it just had to be one of those instances in which  your Korean vocabulary wasn't quite up to speed and totally put a dent in the moment. "You know... where celebrities go to an awards night and get all dressed up..." you ventured, gesturing with your hands to explain what you meant.

YongHwa's face relaxed and he nodded with an understanding smile, "Ah... kreyo, arraso. Ani, this is not a night for celebrities to meet at an event and accept the award," he unexpectedly took your hand and kissed it, your heart faltered and then beat ten times faster thereafter, "It is a night where you are the award and I am the celebrity coming to stage to claim it." He looked over his shoulder and back at you dramatically. "There is no need for any other contenders, I already got this award, right? It's just you and me, my golden trophy."

You blinked at him, utterly stunned at his metaphorical creativity in which he had managed to spin a romantic story into complete flattery all at the same time. When it finally sunk in, and you gazed at his incredulously sincere face, you couldn't help but burst out in laughter at how totally corny he was being. Calling you a trophy? He's getting an award? Hah!

YongHwa lowered your hand but he didn't let it go. He frowned at you and wrinkled his nose. "Moh?" he pouted, turning his face and eyeing you from the side. "You're seriously going to laugh at me right now?"

You put your hand to your mouth and nodded, still giggling.

"Moh?" YongHwa jabbed you in the side with his finger, "Mohh? You didn't think that was sweet? Just funny? Jincha?" He prodded you with a vengeance until you doubled over and pushed him away, still laughing.

"Mianhae, YongHwa-ah," you managed, calming yourself enough to speak again. "What you said was really nice... really. I just... I wasn't expecting it. Did you rehearse that?"

YongHwa pursed his lips. "I don't need to rehearse these things, I'm just a creative genius." He eyed you. "But looking at you now I might take back my words...."

"Aniya!" you called and grabbed onto his arm as he began to turn away, he let you stop him. His nose to the air as you hugged onto his arm, the last tickling bubbles of laughter ebbing away. "I really like what you said! Hajima!" (Don't go)

There was a pause in which the chauffeur sniffed and rubbed his nose, pointedly not watching the two of you. You felt warmth on the top of your head and your hair moved under YongHwa's breath as he looked down at you. "Are you begging me right now?" he purred in your ear and you stiffened. "How far would you go to make me stay?" His finger trailed from your shoulder down your arm ever so lightly and you flung yourself back from him in surprise at his touch.

"J-Jung YongHwa!" you stammered indignantly.

YongHwa laughed and grabbed your hand again, "Ka ja," he pulled you with him to the car and pushed you playfully into the back seat. To your surprise he came in after you and climbed over you to the other side of the car, still holding onto your hand. He helped you fasten your seat belt, all still holding your hand, and settled in beside you, struggling with his own seatbelt as he only had one hand free.

"You know... there is another door...." you ventured, watching as he tangled himself with his belt and your arm, kicking the front seat unintentionally. "And... you can let go of me, you know..."

"Shro!" (I don't want to) came the childish reply as he thumped around in his seat. "Aiiiish!"

You made to pull your hand away so that you could assist him but he tapped your hand away. "Shro!" He went back to fussing over his belt. The driver peered into the back seat impatiently.

You pulled away with more force, breaking free with a protesting "Anduweh!  (You can't!)" from YongHwa and did his seat belt for him as he looked on angrily. At the sound of the belt click his expression dissipated immediately. He turned to you, his eyes lost in his cheeks as he offered you a sickeningly sweet smile. "Komowo, yobbo! Thank you, my darling, darling, darling. Yobbo darling."

You rolled your eyes and the chauffer finally pulled away from the curb and took you to your mysterious destination as planned by YongHwa himself. It was almost hard to believe that this child sitting in the car beside you was capable of making such arrangements. However, you awaited with some excitement as the car drove for a good twenty minutes through town and you watched the night life of Seoul's city youngsters out in the streets through your window. The car came to a halt at an old building of traditional historic Korean style, and the door was opened for you by the chauffeur. He offered his hand to help you out of the car but your view was obscured as something black moved in front of your face with an unexpected "Anduweh!" and you realised YongHwa was climbing over you again. You looked on incredulously as he swung his legs over your knees and pushed himself out of the car so that he was standing in front of the chauffer and he was all you could see. He extended his hand as the chauffer had just done, grinning at you from ear to ear. What had gotten into him tonight? Had he aged backwards fifteen years over the hour in which the two of you had separated? You guessed he was just overly excited...

When you didn't immediately take his hand, even as he nodded at you with his commanding eyes, he moved in and grabbed your wrist, jolting you out of your seat forcefully instead. He didn't seem to listen to your protests at his roughness, though he did subtly rub your arm where he had forcefully grabbed you and his demeanour was considerably gentler after that.

Linking arms, the two of you walked grandly into the beautiful old building and you looked around in awe at the marvellous decor, the old Korean pots, fans and vases on display in the minimalistic rooms you passed through. Your shoes were replaced with grass-wheat slippers, and you were lead by a small lady dressed in a gorgeous colourful hanbok into the far room of the building, where floor length glass windows overlooked a sand garden and water feature. An appreciative sigh escaped your lips as YongHwa escorted you to a low table in the floorboards and a cushion for you to sit on, then moving around to the other side and settling into his own cushion. Candles of different colours and heights were displayed around the room, many of them level with you on the floor, some on shelves and posts, all lit, all flickering warmly. The atmosphere was both tranquil and warming, and you finally looked across the table at YongHwa, marvelling as if he was one of the details in this beautiful room. Well, of course he was one of the beautiful details in the room... And he had arranged all of this for you.

The lady left rice paper scrolls that were the menus in your hands and bowed before she left the room. Your eyes snapped back to YongHwa. "Wow," you said, knowing that this explained everything you felt right now.

"Do you like it?" asked YongHwa cautiously, as if he didn't know how much you really loved it.

You stared at him. "Are you serious? This is amazing! Did you prepare all of this?"

A shy smile graced his lips and he looked up coyly from his menu at you, looking like a timid schoolboy all of a sudden. "I booked the place out... I helped with the decoration ideas.... I requested the entertainment..." he trailed off, putting his menu to his lips as if he was nervous, just looking at you.

You continued to stare at him, at a loss for words. However after staring at him a moment, you noticed he kept looking at the table in front of you, so your eyes moved in that direction too. There in front of you sat a small velvet box with a bow wrapped around it. No way. A gift as well?

"Take it," murmured YongHwa, he sounded far away. "It's for you." You felt slightly dizzy, like this was not actually happening to you. Jung YongHwa leader of CN BLUE taking you out on a super romantic candle lit dinner date at a beautiful venue, going to the extremes of booking it all out for you, adding the details for you... and he had even thought to get a gift for you as well? No... This couldn't be happening to you. How did all this happen? The last few days seemed to dangle out of your reach and you couldn't place how this chain of events had really happened. "_______?"

At the sound of your name you snapped back out of your trance and reached out for the box. YongHwa brought his menu back to rest on his lips as he waited with what looked like bated breath for you to open it. Your fingers trembled under his watchful eye as you pried open the box and you were met with something stunning and sparkling inside. A gorgeous white gold guitar encrusted with tiny clear diamonds glistened under the dim lighting of the lamp and candles. On either side was a love heart, as if both hearts were sharing the guitar, hugging it between them. It made you think instantly of you and YongHwa, meeting and working together through music, inevitably falling in love. The diamonds on the hearts seemed bigger, they shined a lot brighter, making them stand out more than the guitar that was separating them. You rubbed them with your finger, your lips parted in wondering appreciation. It was something so beautiful, you almost forgot YongHwa was sitting across from you, but you saw him still gazing at you through the hearts of your pendant. Your eyes refocused on him and fluttered at the effort.

"I guess you like it," YongHwa announced triumphantly. He pushed himself up from the floor and came around to your side of the table, taking the necklace from your fingers delicately, the tiny chains tinkling lightly in his hands as he draped it over your head and fastened it nimbly around your neck. You thought you could feel goose bumps rise under your hairline at the cool feel of the dainty chain on your skin in contrast to YongHwa's warm breath on the back of your neck. He did not let your hair back down immediately, as you felt the small weight of the pendant on your chest with the tips of your fingers, but the breath on your neck only seemed to get hotter. YongHwa's nose touched your neck, trailed over your skin followed by his lips which pressed onto you and at your neck so that you shivered and tilted your head to the side automatically offering him more access to your skin. He moved his lips willingly across your bare skin, kissing more of your neck's surface and brushed his lips along your throat in search of your lips, planting some more kisses along the way.

Just as his lips touched yours and you moved in to give yourself into the kiss, pressing harder into his soft and painfully inviting ones; you were about to bring your arms around his neck when there was a slight knock at the door. YongHwa quickly pulled away and went back to his seat across from you as the waitress entered with a tray of refreshments and pre-dinner tasters. "Can't catch a break," you thought you heard YongHwa mutter under his breath before smiling politely at the woman who looked up at him with his chopsticks outstretched.

Dinner was wonderful, but there was far too much on offer and you couldn't manage to eat everything for fear your stomach might inflate and then burst at the efforts. YongHwa also found it difficult to get through the vast amount of food that just kept coming and coming with smiling bowing waiters encouraging you to try this and that. In the end you both waddled from the place clutching bellies that felt like they had grown twice the size. The chauffer was still waiting for you after all that time, and at words from YongHwa, he drove you both straight to your apartment first. This time YongHwa was feeling too sluggish to make a fuss over you and climb over you like the monkey he had been earlier. Now he was sitting in the back seat having used his own door, face puffed out like a walrus with his legs splayed wide open. He gave you an exhausted smile and patted his stomach and you giggled and were the one to tend to his seat belt first. As the car pulled away you watched as YongHwa's eyes became heavier and heavier and his head tipped to the side where you leaned in quickly to catch his sagging head. It was heavy on your shoulder but it didn't matter, and you couldn't hide your grin as he nuzzled into your neck appreciatively, sneaking in a kiss or two and reaching for your hand so he could hold it in his lap, his fingers intertwined with yours.

________________________________________________________________________________

YONGHWA P.O.V.

The car pulled to the side and came to a stop, and at some movement under his head YongHwa opened his eyes, groggily catching his bearings. As soon as he established he was in the back of a car, he immediately looked for you and relaxed again when his eyes fell on you unbuckling his seat belt and then moving towards your own. He straightened up and stretched his arms out with a satisfied yawn, thanked the driver and clumsily got out of the car on sleepy feet. Just as he managed to pull his foot free from where he had managed to get it wedged between the car's tyre and the gutter and step up onto safe ground he turned around and blinked in unregistering surprise as you appeared in his face. Oh... how did you get from there to here so fast? He blinked sleepy eyes at you enquiringly. Waiting for you to explain yourself.

"And where do you think you're going?" you enquired in that sweet voice you seemed to think was stern and confident but really it was just amusing and adorable to him.

He felt his face cracking into a smile without his consent. "Yobbo.... aigoo.... you're just too cute!" he felt his arms fly from his sides to your face where they landed on your cheeks and smacked at them gently, like a parent might do to a child. He was surprised at what he was doing, his eyes blinking at you, large and round as he kept smacking at your face.

You sighed and brought his hands back down patiently. "That soju is starting to get to you isn't it?" you muttered more to yourself than to him. He swayed in response. "You told me it didn't affect you..." You eyed him suspiciously. "That last danger shot that adjumma was trying to get you to drink as we were leaving... You didn't do it did you?"

YongHwa swayed again, tilted his head in thought and stumbled backwards without warning. The car had pulled away so he flapped his arms at thin air and ended up pattering onto the street. You grabbed hold of his arm so he didn't fall, and pulled him back onto the curb with you. Well, that seemed to answer your question. YongHwa had fallen forwards onto you, he felt the cold air on his back, and the warmth radiating from your body so he hugged you close and mumbled what he thought was how much he loved you. Yet to you, all it really sounded like was "Sarararara hemonaomonheyyyy yob...oh..bo... Sarang....."

He heard you let out a noise of irritation and giggled into your shoulder. You really made him want to laugh whenever you got flustered like this, he often had to fight the urge to pinch your cheeks because he knew it would only make you angrier. He thought about telling you this too, or even to try giving you a bit of a pinch to test his theory out but he didn't quite get around to it as he felt his body drifting away from the road and towards a tall building he vaguely knew to be your apartment block. The movement distracted him, and although his body felt so heavy and sluggish, his feet dragging on the floor miraculously, part of him knew all this effort was not really so miraculous but was unfairly due to you pulling him along and he stumbled along with you where he could. Whether that was helping you or hindering you neither of you could tell, but somehow he found himself slumped at the top of a stone staircase with you fumbling with your keys at a darkened door.

Something moved in the shadows behind you and a figure stepped half into view though they were dressed in black, and their face was hidden still from the shadows. Whoever it was didn't look like good news to the intoxicated man resting on the stairs, and so it was that YongHwa suddenly found the strength in his legs he didn't think he had as he sprang from his spot on the stairs at the sinister figure approaching you quietly. You hadn't seemed to notice the creeping figure behind you, but you looked around now with a startled gasp as YongHwa flew past you into the shadowy body of the visitor and with a muffled shout both men fell to the floor and rolled down the dark corridor, out of your sight. His limbs half sedated with soju and goodness knows what other spirit that adjumma put in his drink, yet half fuelled with the adrenalin triggered at the sudden need to defend you, YongHwa felt his stiff fingers grapple at the neck of the attacker, his knees brought up to shield himself from the wild kicking of this foreboding stranger. His only thought was that he had to protect you, and his grip on the man tightened so much that he heard a strangled cry from beneath his fingers...

End Chapter Eleven