Make the move

"Yah, no one's gonna date a cheater bug!" I yelled at Chanyeol when he scored another hoop. The idiot kept tricking me, saying you were hurt or a guy was talking to you.

Chanyeol knew my weakness and it was you, alright. Every night, I stay up late in my huge bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about things. But most of all, I thought about you. During the first few weeks I met you, I knew I was attracted to you. But after half a year and I was still seeing you like a gem, I knew I was done for. It was then that I started talking to Chanyeol about it. He immediately prescribed me as lovesick. I thought of you at night when I was alone. How you would feel like in my arms, how you would react to seeing me every morning when you woke up, how you would sleep soundly right next to me. It made me crazy. Just seeing you play with my dogs when you're over made my heart beat so hard. I imagined you cuddling them to sleep just like how I do with them sometimes. Maybe that was how I got these eye circles.

Chanyeol clapped my back, grinning like the bastard he was. I sighed, letting him off again like all the previous times. We jogged back to you who was staring at us. I wondered what was going on in your head as you looked at us. Your face was always blank and the only times I knew what you were thinking of was when you blushed. Which was also probably why I liked it when you blush. And maybe also because you looked cute when you did.

"Did you see me?" Chanyeol nudged you with a sweaty arm when we got to you, which made you cringe and wipe the disgusting moisture off your skin. I almost wanted to laugh and ruffle your hair. "I was cool, wasn't I?"

"Yah, you're a—" I was cut off by you.

"But you cheated, didn't you?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever," Chanyeol scoffed and gulped down his water grudgingly.

I chuckled at his childish actions before nudging you. You made a face again at my sweaty arm. I winked, praising you for helping me out, "You're the best, you know that?"

You blushed and I smiled at that. Have I mentioned how much I liked it when you blushed?

We were celebrating South Korea's Independence Day in the city with the rest of the country. There were so many people and I was so afraid of losing you. I should probably be scared of losing Chanyeol too, but he was a man. But for you, I wanted to protect you. Not just because you're a girl but also because I would never live with myself if you got lost.

So in order not to lose you, no matter how much I disliked skinship in public, I still wanted to do this. I grabbed your wrist from behind me and murmured, "Stay close."

Your hand was heavy in mine, but in a good way. I felt like I was holding onto my entire life and I knew it was stupid, but that was the first thought that popped up in my head. I needed to protect you in order to protect my happiness too. My hand was secure around your wrist, although I was probably painfully holding onto you. I felt you lagging behind and I glanced back. I followed the direction of your gaze. You started weaving your hands through the spaces between bodies as you tried to reach for Chanyeol. He was still frantically looking around for us though, that idiot.

"Yah, Park Chanyeol!" I shouted, causing a few of the passers by to stare at me. But it was okay, because Chanyeol visibly brightened when he caught sight of us.

He took hold of your hand and I watched you pull him forward. He stumbled, saying sorry countless of times to people he knocked into. In the mean time, I briefly let go of your wrist, wanting to hold your hand. I couldn't lose out to Chanyeol. It was only for a second but you had already turned to me, your countenance showing panic, shock and perhaps even hurt. Quickly, I held onto your hand, entangling our fingers together.

As reassurance, I tightened my hold and you seemed to zone out. I bit back a grin, knowing how much you must be liking this. you were always one to like skinship. I felt your finger twitch against mine and you seemed contented. Chanyeol had reached us and he was grinning, happy that he was with us again. But you still looked dazed. Chanyeol gave me a look and I winked at him. He chuckled, knowing exactly what was happening.

"Ready?" I bent to murmur into your ear, snapping you out of your reverie. I squeezed your hand gently, looking at you.

You seemed so nervous and anxious. I watched you swallow your nerves and nod firmly. The tips of your ears are already getting red as you turned behind you. I let out a quiet chuckle. The affect made your stiff shoulders relax. It was amusing how I could make you nervous but relaxed at the same time. I started walking because Chanyeol was making ugly faces due to everyone around him squashing him.

The colours against the night sky was beautiful but it was nothing compared to you. I wanted so much to just stare at you instead of the sky but I knew I had to at least bottle up my feelings. I didn't want you to feel conscious about yourself around me and I knew if I did that, you would feel conscious about yourself. Standing next to you and having your hand in mine was enough for now, I guess.

I sensed your gaze on me, so I glanced to the side and indeed, you eyes were on. I turned my head to look at you and you froze. A part of me panicked a little, thinking I scared you. But then I remembered that this was your reaction every time I looked at you. I smoothed my thumb over the back of your hand and you relaxed again. If you were a snowman, I would say that you had actually melted.

Your eyes fluttered many times while I stared at you. Why were you doing that? Did I do something for that action? I wanted to know how you felt and thought at that moment. And you knew exactly what I was thinking because you shook your head. It sometimes amazed me how you knew what I was thinking about when I always have an unreadable expression on my face. People didn't really understand me but you (and Chanyeol) did. I decided to drop the issue; you'd tell me when you wanted to.

"Hey, Park Chanyeol!" I called out to the giant. He turned to us only after he inspected the last picture he took of the scenery.

Chanyeol was grinning, happy with the pictures. But his smile dropped instantly when he waited for something else that I was going to say. I didn't open my mouth.

"What?" The male asked irritably.

I shrugged, "Just in case you lose us again."

"You're right next to me," he rolled his eyes. "I can't lose you guys if you're just right here."

I snorted with laughter when you told him, deadpanned, "But you're Yeol."

"You little ," Chanyeol cursed, pulling his arm back to act like he was about to hit you.

You ignored him coolly and fished your phone out of your pocket with your other hand. "Let's take a selca."

You turned away from us and slipped your hand out of my grasp. I frowned at the loss of your touch; my hand suddenly felt cold and empty. I watched you open the camera app and hold it up. I realised belatedly that you could see me staring at you through the screen of your camera. You were blushing as you gestured for Chanyeol to come over. Then you turned to look at me.

Just seeing your face made a smile creep onto my face involuntarily. Then I remembered that I should stop doing that. What if you didn't like me back? Sure, your actions all seemed to tell me that you did. But girls blushed every time they talk to me, so maybe your reaction wasn't abnormal.

You took my wrist, making my heart beat a thousand times faster. Yanking me towards you, you whined, "Come on, let's try to get the fireworks in the picture too."

Chanyeol ducked under your arm that was holding out the camera. He leant against your body, his knees were bent and he was resting his head on your collarbone. Maybe it was jealousy that spurred me to go even closer to you, so close that there was no space between us. I lowered my head next to yours, our cheeks only a centimeter away from each other.

"Ready..." Your voice was trembling and I almost felt bad for being to close to you. Maybe you were uncomfortable.

You didn't stop taking pictures and it was probably because Chanyeol found the pictures insufficient. We laughed and joked a lot during the picture taking, which made many of the pictures ugly with our candid postures. It was probably after the first 30 pictures where I started to feel bored. I stopped smiling and instead, I watched you laughing and giggling as you snapped the pictures.

You looked so happy and blissful. It was a pretty sight because you were looking so carefree and lovely. You always did but maybe it was this night that made you bloom more. Under all the fireworks and the stars, you looked like a goddess. You might think I was probably exaggerating but it was true to me. I wanted to protect you and preserve that smile on your face. I wanted to do everything I could to keep you because you were precious.

You are precious to me.

I was walking past a café when I saw you standing line to buy something. Seeing how I was free right now, I decided to pester you a bit. I backtracked and entered the place, the strong aroma of roasted coffee beans welcoming me. It was sad that I didn't enjoy coffee as much as you did, but I still like it because the smell was soothing. The moment I located your position, I walked towards you and stood beside you.

I had my hands in the pockets of my jeans, looking straight ahead. I probably looked relaxed on the outside but my heart was pounding terribly in my chest. Still, I kept up with my facade. From my side of my eye, I saw you turning your head slightly towards me in curiosity. My lips twitched into a smile when you knew that it was me next to you.

Your tone was teasing as you stepped forward, "I thought I didn't like coffee."

I looked at you, running my eyes over your features that made you look perfect. I bobbed my shoulders lazily, "I just want iced tea."

Your face was expressionless as you clarified, "This place is famous for its coffee and you want iced tea."

You gave me a look and I stared back at you. We stared at each other for a long time. I felt like I was bewitched by you and your eyes, keeping me locked in place. It was crazy how you could make me feel like a jittery lovesick girl. Your gaze seemed to change, becoming softer. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly at that. What were you thinking right now?

"Excuse me," an irritated voice broke the intense staring.

We broke eye contact at the same moment and looked towards the direction of the caller. The counter was empty and it seemed like the lady behind the till was the one who spoke. She looked rather annoyed. Not to mention, she probably had a few good seconds watching us stare into each other's eyes wordlessly. You started blushing and I cleared my throat.

However, the next few words that come out from the lady's mouth made me flustered and panicked.

"Are you guys together?"

Together? Why did she want to know if we were together? Did we even look like we were together? Why was she asking this? Was it because of the staring? Or was it because of the coincidental black tops that we were wearing that made it look like a couple outfit?

My mouth was agape as I stared at her in shock. I felt my face start to burn in embarrassment. Quickly, I faced you. The nervousness was probably evident on my face because you looked like you were this close to hugging me and patting my head. But instead, you quirked an eyebrow, asking me to spill it.

"Are you two together?" The waitress asked again, annoyance evident in her voice. "Look, guys, I really don't have—"

"We're not together...?" I replied, insecure. But you answered at the same time as I did, "We are. Sorry to keep you waiting."

You grabbed onto my arm and dragged me with you to the counter. I know it was stupid, but my heart actually stuttered when you said that. That meant you like me too, right? But then it made me realise that the lady was probably referring to whether we were going to order together. I blushed again and I hoped desperately that you were too busy to notice it while you ordered our drinks.

"What do you mean we're together...?" I wanted to clarify as we waited at the side for our drinks.

I waited for your reply but you appeared to be frozen. Slowly, colour made its way back to your face. You were flushing as you stuttered, "I-I meant we-we're together as i-in—"

You took a deep breath and said firmly, "We're not together."

Maybe hurt was evident on my face because you seemed to fluster. Because when you reinstated your answer while avoiding the question, I knew Chanyeol's suspicion was confirmed. "I-I mean, I want to be with— We— WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING ME THIS QUESTION?!"

I was grinning like a fool internally. All I could hear was my rapid heartbeat and all I could see was your red face. You liked me back. 

Author's note:

Kai's POV have little extra moments that I didn't include in "your" POV, so look out for them ^-^ 

Till next time
xoxo