You found yourself wondering when you will see Onew again. He was funny and seemed a nice guy. You haven’t met a nice guy since a while. You didn’t fall for him neither expected to have a summer romance with him. No way! You liked to be with him because he always had something funny to tell, a story about him as teacher or something that you two could talk about, and that made you forget about Minho.

You were lying on your bed with all the lights turned off. But as soon as you turned them off, you began to think in Minho. You missed him, his kisses, his hugs, the way he touches you, his…. cold words, he cheating you, he making fun of you… You could feel his hands caressing you but at the same time you could hear his cold voice saying he was bored of you.

“Stop it, Selene. Stop.”

The image of Minho cheating with your best friend, Alexis, was so vivid in your mind. You wanted to delete that image from your head but you couldn’t. It would always chase you in your dreams. You the bedside lamp and moved restlessly in the bed. Then you found yourself thinking in Onew and the conversation you had with him before leaving to your cottage.

“Why don’t we have breakfast tomorrow?”

“Hey, you are going too fast. I barely know you.”

“How about lunch then?”

You laughed. This man was witty.

“I have fun when I’m with you. You can’t say you prefer to be alone than having a friend besides you, but if you want to spend time alone it is perfectly okay.”

“See you tomorrow at lunch.” You smiled.

And he returned you the smile.

You buried your face in the pillow when you found yourself smiling. What happened to you? Why you were so happy? You barely knew him. He could be an assassin or something worst.

You ended up sleeping at 5 am. And woke up at 6 pm.

“Onew,” was the first thought that came to your mind when you woke up.

Oh, you missed the lunch with Onew. You felt so bad. You didn’t have his phone number and he neither had yours. This happened because you refused to give your number to a stranger, now you regretted it. You got off of the bed and tried to think clearer.

“Why do I feel so bad?” You began to talk to yourself.

“He is a nice guy but I don’t know him well and he is not my friend. Not really. I mean, he won’t die because I didn’t have lunch with him, right?”

You walked from here to there over and over again.

“He can’t be mad at me. It would be ridiculous considering we aren’t friends.”

“We don’t know each other,” you repeated.

You stopped in front of a body length mirror and looked at yourself. You looked funny with your cute pajama, messy hair and a confused expression. The situation was ridiculous. You didn’t have to worry about Onew. You should be worried that you woke up at 6 pm, that wasn’t normal of you. Was that a time to wake up anyway? You missed breakfast and lunch. You took a shower and changed clothes.

“Hey.” Someone tapped your shoulder with his finger.

“Oh, Onew.” You looked at him surprised and then bowed. You didn’t know why you bowed at him. “I’m really sorry I didn’t have lunch with you. I felt asleep and... I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It was just a lunch. We can have lunch tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“You didn’t think it was a date, did you?”

“Eh… What? No, of course not.”

“I was kidding. By the way, why are you speaking so formal to me?”

“I…” You bit the lower lip. You decided whether to tell him the truth or to lie. But after missing the lunch with him, you decided to be honest.

“Since you told me you are older than me and you are actually a teacher, I think I must be more polite. I’m still a student and you are a sunbae.”

He laughed. “Nonsense. You don’t have to talk formal to me, we're not in Korea. And I’m not that older, you make me feel like an old man. Also, I’m not a teacher at school or university. I give private and custom classes. So far I have five students, I'm not that great. I'm aiming to teach at a university though.” 

You slightly hit your shoulder with his. “I'm sure you will be a great professor.”

“Did you eat something anyway?”

You shook your head.

“Can I make you company? I have nothing to do.” He shrugged.

“You never have something to do,” you mumbled.

“I heard you.”

You gave him an I’m sorry smile.

“You just woke up? What were you doing last night?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Nothing happened to me last night. I’m not used to drink and last night I had two drinks.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, tonight there will be an event with live music, food and that kind of stuff. I think it will be fun.”

“Are you inviting me?”

“Ummh, yeah. Do you want to go?”

“I’m touched. I’m not a stranger anymore, uh?”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled. “I guess there is no more formality between us.”

***

“This really looks nice. Thanks for inviting me. I wouldn’t have come here alone.”

“To be honest, me neither. I heard the live music is really good. That’s why I decided to invite you.”

“Thank you. Should we should make a toast?”

“For what?”

“Ummmh, a toast because I'm not a stranger to you anymore.”

You chuckled. “What are you then?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

You didn’t know why but you blushed. You wanted to say friend, but was he your friend? Would he consider you a friend? It’s not like you can’t be friend with him. Friendships could start unexpectedly. You talk to someone, you see that someone every day, you talk a little more to that someone, you hang out with that someone and then that someone becomes your friend.

“I drink to our friendship.”

“To our friendship.” He raised his glass of champagne.

You drank a sip of your champagne. Mmmh, it was delicious. That was how it tasted your friendship with Onew. You never expected to be friend with someone in this trip. You said you would come here and ignore everybody but look at you! You were drinking champagne with this handsome guy and having fun. Jjong would be so happy for you. I hope he approves Onew, you thought.

“I think you have drunk enough, Selene,” Onew said one hour later when you were having your third glass of champagne.

You shook your head. “It’s so delicious. And it helps me.”

“It helps you? What are you talking about?”

“It helps me forget.”

“You told me you can’t handle alcohol well.”

He frowned and looked at you worried. But he immediately changed his expression and smiled. His smile was so beautiful.

“Do you want to dance?”

You shook your head.

“There are people dancing, see? The music is good. Come one, dance with me.”

“I don’t dance. I can’t dance.”

“You only have to shake your body, come on.”

He grabbed your hand and dragged you to the stage where many couples joined and danced to the rhythm of the smooth song. You felt ecstatic. The champagne, music, the pleasant breeze, people and… Onew. Everything was happy. You were happy. You hadn’t felt like this since a while.

“You don’t have to dance like if you know how to.”

“They will laugh at me.”

“Dancing is about having fun and release stress. We are dancing together, so we are having fun together. Now it’s just you and me. Look at the other couples; are they paying attention to other couples? Are they playing attention to you? No, they aren’t, right? Just swing at the rhythm of the music. Don't look at them, Selene.” You looked at his eyes instead.

He held you tightly so you felt comfortable between his arms and his words gave you courage. You weren’t a great dancer. You never were. Minho never danced like the way Onew did. Their styles were so different. Minho liked ier dances and you… you never felt comfortable enough to do those y moves in front of so many people at night clubs. But Onew was a gentleman. He held your waist and you had your arms around his neck. Although the live band started to sing a lively song, Onew kept swinging smoothly. He knew how to make you feel comfortable and forget the people around you. You wouldn’t say that you two were dancing, but both were having fun and that was enough.

“You said you can’t dance, but you're a great dancer.”

“I didn’t say I can’t.”

“Yes, you did,” you whined.

“I said I don’t, not that I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Someone that I… used to appreciated a lot, loved to dance.”

“Oh. Is she your girlfriend?”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Is she an ex?”

“I don’t want to talk about that now. Will you tell me why you woke up so late today? Did you sleep late?”

“I don’t want to talk about that now,” you repeated his words.

You buried your face in his neck. He smelled so good. You felt you could stay like this forever, holding him and breathing against his neck.