With all of them in Dongwook's van, it was as noisy as ever. Henry was talking with Dongwook while Chaerin and Bom were out and about their business. Jooyoung on the other hand was busy with her phone when an alarm went off, it was hers "Oh jeez! I forgot to call mom!!" She said
"Is everything okay?" Dongwook asked
"It's her birthday today. I forgot to call!" She said, fidgeting with her phone. Jooyoung immediately called her mom and they all fell silent when she said "Happy Birthday Momma" and continuing with "I miss you!! I'll try and be there on your next birthday" and ending the conversation with "I love you too. Bye". Silence was still in the air after Jooyoung dropped the call; she held her phone in her hand and just fell quiet. Dongwook came up to her and put his arm around her shoulder “Sweetheart, is everything okay?” he asked with a concerned look on his face. She lift her head up, smiled at him and “Yes. It’s fine”. He cupped her face and traced her cheekbones with his thumb, responding her smile with his.
“Can you just please drop us at the next mall or maybe our dorm because I feel like we’re interrupting something here” Chaerin said, smiling while eyeing Dongwook and Jooyoung
“It’s weird enough that I call you hyung and she calls me oppa, don’t make it weirder” Henry said
“I didn’t know your older than Jooyoung” Dongwook protested
“Between May and October, we’re practically the same age that’s why I drop the oppa sometimes” Jooyoung said
“She drops the oppa most of the time” Henry replied, raising an eyebrow
“That’s because it’s weird” Jooyoung said, shuddering.

The van then came to a halt and “Aren’t you guys joining us for dinner?” she asked
“Nah, Chae and I have plans” Henry replied
“And I have a date with a fridge full of corn and my dramas” Bom said, smiling.
“Oh” she simply said, Dongwook opened the door for the van, stepped out and offered his hand to Jooyoung. Taking it, she stepped out of the van as well. “I’ll have my manager drop you off” Dongwook said before closing the door and taking Jooyoung’s hand. He lead her to the elevator and pressed 12. Once on the 12^th floor, they entered the first door to their right. “Where are we?” Jooyoung asked, once the door opened and Dongwook let her in.
“This is my apartment” he simply said and guided her to a table in the kitchen “You told me you want simple, so here it is.” He said, his hand on his nape and smiling shyly.
“You didn’t have to… I would be okay in a very crowded restaurant”
“I know but I wanted it to be just us. No people with big cameras, no eavesdroppers, just you and me” he said. She smiled and her cheeks turned red when he led her to her seat, pull the chair for her and let her sit.

They ate dinner, which he prepped and cooked and had a simple ice cream sundae for dessert. He let her explore his apartment while he did the dishes. Jooyoung saw his bedroom, which is a bit of a mess; his bathroom, as clean as ever; his closet that is overflowing with clothes before returning to the kitchen and offering to help him with the dishes.
“I’m fine. Just relax, I got this” he said, looking over his shoulder and smiling at Jooyoung
“Okay” she replied, walking over to his couch and meddling with her phone. He soon joined her, settling a few inches beside her. “Done?” she asked, looking at him
“Yup” he said, smiling.
“Thank you for the meal. Again, it was sweet of you to prepare all this”
“It’s for you. So, it’s my pleasure and I’m glad you liked it”. Angel dug out a box in her bag before turning to face Dongwook “I know chocolates are your thing here in Korea but from where I am, we don’t usually give out the chocolates… so, here…” she said, before handing the box to Dongwook “I hope you like it”. He opened it and there was a blob like thing in it. Before he could ask what it is, she spoke up “It’s a shower speaker” she said “You stick the one end to your bathroom wall” pointing to the suction part “and then the other end is the speaker itself.” she added, blushing a little “Henry told me you like singing in the shower so I got you this” she finally said. Her face red as a tomato.
“Cool!” he then said “Thank you” he added, excitedly “I can’t wait to use this tomorrow” flashing a smile her way. The two then spent another hour talking, he asked about her parents, where they are and  why she left home. She asked him the same thing in return and they ended the evening with a text message from Heerin, saying “Will be turning in, gonna lock the doors. :) hope you had a nice date with Dongwook oppa”.
Jooyoung suddenly was looking at her watch “Is there anything wrong?” he asked
“No, I didn’t realize it was already past 11.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Heerin just sent me a text. She just told me that she’ll be locking the doors to the place”
“I should get you home then…”
“I’m fine” she said, standing up and fixing her dress “I’ll get a taxi”
“No, I’ll drive you home. I can’t have you travelling all alone in that dress” he suddenly said, standing up and wearing his shoes. “What’s wrong with my dress?” she asked, slipping her feet into her shoes as well
“Well…” he started, gulping before speaking up again “You look beautiful in it, for one.”. With that shy smile, he added “I just don’t want other people to see you like that. I feel like they want to take what’s mine” he said, almost trailing off at the end.
She let out a laugh and shook her head before taking his hand and saying “Come on, then”

After the long drive home, he still insisted on walking her to the front door. After taking out her keys and unlocking everything the front door, she turned back to him and said “Thank you for tonight, I had a great time.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart” he said. Jooyoung then stood on her tiptoes and planted a little peck on his lips, but before her lips could go further, he pulled her in for another kiss; a little intense but nothing Jooyoung can’t handle. The sound that their lips made whilst parting planted a smile on both their faces, she bit her lower lip and wiped the lip gloss that was left on his.  With her red face still visible under the moonlight, she bid him goodbye and told him to “Take Care on the way back”
“I will” he replied, flashing a smile
“Send me a text when you get home”
“Okay”
“Good night, Sweetie” she said
“Night, Baby” he finally said and walked back to his car. His car stopped in front of her so he can wave goodbye and went on his way. Jooyoung finally went in, locked the doors and went to her bedroom. She got ready for bed, got her journal and put a big heart and a smile on the day that just passed “Boy, I’m just 2 months in and this has already happened. I sure hope this goes on for the rest of the year” she said to herself before stashing her journal and travelling to dreamland.

~FIN~