[Nikki’s POV]

*Ding dong* *Ding dong*

Aish… Who’s paying me a visit at this godly hour?

I opened my eyes one at a time as I peeked into my phone to check on the time.

5:25AM.

Why is someone ringing the doorbell at 5:25AM?!

I lazily made my way to the living room as the bell continued to ring. I walked, half-asleep, and mind filled with thoughts of bed… bed… bed and oh, the warm comforter! I was not thinking straight, but I opened the door anyway.

“Ju-ni-orrrr?!”

My drowsy eyes automatically opened wide when I saw the guy who’s been bugging me and my relationship with my bed for the last few minutes. Our eyes met and his eyes smiled that I immediately rejected the idea of going back to bed. He was looking so fine in his gray and white striped shirt and denim pants, and his charming smile was all over his face. I broke away from the eye contact as soon as I realized that I must’ve looked like a total mess in front of him – hair all over my sluggish-looking face in my Hello Kitty pajamas!

“Hi.” He said with his typical romantic guy greeting. I hesitantly looked at him again, and he smiled some more.

“Good morning noona!” Youngjae appeared from Junior’s back and grinned cutely.

“Youngjae!” My eyes lit up. I didn’t even notice that he came with Junior.

“Noona! Look!” Youngjae adorably pointed at his set of puffy eyes. “Can I continue sleeping here?” He pouted and his simple gesture immediately made me laugh.

“Haha. Come inside!” I said, motioning for them to get in. I immediately picked the hair tie resting on the living room table and used it to tie my hair in a bun.

“Ya. What are you guys doing here?” I asked when they were already seated on the living room sofa. But our dear sleepyhead Youngjae was already closing his eyes.

“We’re accompanying Mark hyung…” Jinyoung explained.

Huh… JinMark is real! And they’re dragging Youngjae so it won’t stir any controversy.

“What time did you even wake up? Daegu’s quite far from Seoul.”

“Around 3AM? But it’s okay, Youngjae and I were just sleeping during the entire ride.” He beamed.

“Wow.” I uttered and in the back of my mind, I was already thinking of how pretty cool this Mark Tuan really is. It’s like he’s playing the role of an awesome and perfectly dependable dude in a TV drama. Mia’s finally living her own fairytale.

“You guys are so supportive.” I added.

“No. We just like to get some fresh air away from Seoul.” Jinyoung reasoned and smiled again.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case, though.” I said, referring to Youngjae who was already comfortably resting his head on a pillow.

“He sleeps whenever he gets the chance to.” He chuckled and I laughed, and after that, I was beginning to feel awkward. The sun isn’t out yet, and here is global star JUNIOR in our small apartment in Daegu. Youngjae was already in a peaceful slumber, making it seem like there were only two living souls breathing in this miniature apartment. And it’s somehow making me feel excited and nervous and crazy all at once.

“Would you like to eat some… uh… toast bread?” I offered after a few moments of awkward silence. “I can’t cook so that’s all I could offer. Hehe.” I scratched my head, realizing that what I said was such a major turn-off.

“Haha. It’s okay. Bread would do just fine. I can’t really cook, too, so I don’t have any right to complain.” He laughed.

“But you’re GOT7’s eomma. You should learn how to cook.” I said.

“I’m in charge of nagging them that’s why I am the eomma.” He laughed. “We just have our food delivered in our apartment.”

“Why is your English soooooo gooooooood?!” I couldn’t help but finally compliment his English-speaking ability. “You’re undoubtedly smart!”

He charmingly laughed. “Thanks.” He said and we proceeded to our tiny kitchen.

---

“Jackson will be filming another show today so he couldn’t come.” Jinyoung suddenly said as he placed the bread in the oven toaster.

“Yep. He told me last night. He must be making a lot of money now. Shows here… shows there…” I laughed, getting the strawberry jam and peanut butter from the fridge.

“You seem to contact each other often.”

“Sometimes. If we’re not busy… He never runs out of stories to tell.” I said. “Should we wake Youngjae up?” I asked.

“He’ll wake up when he’s hungry. Just let him sleep for now.”

“Oh. Okay.” I said and sat on the chair in the tiny dining table. He sat on the opposite side a few seconds later with a platter of toast bread.

“Thanks!” I beamed, picking the bread and spreading the peanut butter on it right away.

“So, you like peanut butter more than strawberry jam?” He asked, leaning his arms on the table.

“Yep. You? What do you like?” I asked, peeking at him while making my sandwich masterpiece.

“You.” He mischievously smiled, eyes gleaming and his perfect set of teeth showing. I quickly felt the peanut butter being stuck up in my throat.

I coughed and immediately gulped the glass of water on my right.

“Haha. You’re funny.” He chuckled, and after half a minute of regaining my calm, I spoke.

“Ya. Park Jinyoung.” I started, and he looked at me while trying to suppress his laugh. It was adorable. I decided to play along.

“You can’t fall in love with me. It will just ruin your career, and all your fans will try to hunt and kill me. I still have so many dreams. I can’t die just yet.” I dramatically stated and pretended to cringe at the idea of being hunted down by young groupies.

He laughed at my probably hilarious expression. “Did I just get rejected?”

“Haha. Seriously, I won’t be rejecting you if we’re not just goofing around here. Who am I to reject GOT7’s Junior?!”

“What if I’m not just goofing around?”

“Eh?”

“Nikki-ya! Wake up! I brought some food!” Mia’s voice echoed from the living room and in a few seconds, she was already standing on the entrance walkway to the kitchen with Mark.

“Noona! Hyung!” Jinyoung immediately raised his hand as soon as she saw the two.

“Wow. Only Park Jinyoung can make Nikki eat her breakfast at 6AM.” Mia commented.

“Ya!” I yelled and the three of them laughed.

“Where’s Youngjae?” Mark asked.

“Sleeping in the sofa. Didn’t you see him?” I said.

Mia and Mark shook their heads. I stood and walked to the living room to call Youngjae, but he was really not there. I knocked on the bathroom door but he was not there, either. There was only one room left which I haven’t checked yet – the bedroom.

I smiled inwardly. This guy has beaten me for being such a sleepyhead.

When I went inside the bedroom, Youngjae was comfortably positioned on my bed, arms opened wide, and face looking so serene in his sleep. Looking at how he was sleeping so peacefully, my conscience couldn’t dare to wake him up. And so, I just left the room. When I turned around, Jinyoung was standing there as if waiting for me, and I suddenly remembered the conversation we just had.

“What if I’m not just goofing around?”

GOT7. These young, impulsive, hot-blooded males definitely have a way of surprising me from time to time.

[Mia’s POV]

We walked and passed by a few restaurants with beautiful trees on the sidewalks as we hiked uphill towards the cable car platform to get our tickets for the Mt. Palgong cable car experience. A few people were already lined up and Mark kept his black mask and cap on just in case some people would recognize him. As soon as we got our tickets, we headed to the Sky Garden where the boarding platform was located and right then, we immediately hopped on the small yellow cable car that would take us all the way to the top of Mt. Palgong.

The cable car went to an elevation of around 800 meters and everything looked so beautiful from the top. The leaves from the mountaintop were starting to change its colors although autumn is still a month away. While we were moving up, Mark unmasked himself and smiled at me brightly. The moment, the scenery, and the person sitting beside me right now --- everything is just picture-perfect that ‘happiness’ would be an understatement to describe what I am currently feeling. It was bliss in its most genuine form and I’ve never felt this ecstatic about something or someone my whole life.

“Hey Mark.”

“Hmmm?”

God. Why is he so handsome?!

“Thanks for taking me here.” I smiled.

He laughed. “I hope this compensates for creeping you out earlier at the park.”

“This will do for now.” I chuckled.

“Let’s go on a date today.”

His words echoed in my head again. Am I seriously on a date with Mark Tuan right now? Are we officially dating now or what? Or is this just some sort of friendly, getting-to-know-each-other date? Well, maybe it’s the latter.

“So, this is how Mark Tuan takes his girls on a date, huh?”

He cocked his head to one side as if thinking of what to respond. “Well, I like taking long walks at a park and going to a mountain.”

I nodded my head knowingly. “So, how many girls have you taken to a mountain? Haha.”

“You’re the first.” He said casually.

I gulped hard, hoping it didn’t seem too obvious. “Wow. What an honor!” I smiled a bit and pretended that I wasn’t moved although I actually felt like jumping off the cable car at the moment out of extreme joy.

“You should be.” He beamed and I melted at his handsome smile once again.

“So, how many guys have you gone to a mountain with before?”

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