And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

Philippians 1:9-10

In her haste to swallow quickly to answer quickly, Krystal nearly choked on the large piece of cake she had just put into moments before. After loud, hacking coughs and a sip of water she was able to say weakly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Uh, what was your question again?”

“I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend, but I mean, if you don’t want to-”

“What, no, who said that?” she asked, bewildered. “You must have misunderstood my choking. It wasn’t because I was shocked-” she broke off to think for a moment then added, “Okay, I was shocked, but I choked because I tried to swallow too quickly.”

“So, you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Yes, of course.” Minhyuk beamed. “But-”

His face fell slightly and contorted into a confused look. “But?”

Staring down at her no longer appetizing cake, Krystal took her time in forming the words she wanted to say. “Because of my past relationships,” she began slowly, “I don’t want to rush head first into another one, especially one so soon after a breakup. It’s not like I like Kai or anything; trust me when I say I’m over him and I like you.” She looked up to meet his face so that he could see the sincerity in her words.

Minhyuk nudged her on again, “Then what is it?”

“This time, I want to take things slowly. Even though I’ve spent a lot of time in the past two months with you and think you’re a great guy, I think two months is too short to really get to know someone. So, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind going on dates with me but not be in a relationship with me. Does that make sense?”

“Basically go on dates but not be your boyfriend?” he sought clarification.

“Exactly. So, is that okay with you?”

Krystal felt a rush of relief when Minhyuk nodded and even said, “I’m fine with it. I think it’s sensible and agree that two months is too short to know someone before diving into a relationship." Almost as though as an afterthought, he asked, "But can I still kiss you?"

The tips of Krystal’s lips rose upward into a crescent. "We'll see," she said teasingly. Trying to hide her growing, silly smile, she took another bite of her cake.

But it rose even higher when Minhyuk continued, “Oh! I have a present for you. I hope you don’t mind me giving you a present so early in our...well, our dating, I guess.” He fished out