[CONTENTID1]Sweet Prince Charming[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE-BOYS BY gaksitalGaksital[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Suzy woke up early the next.  She was so early, that the stars had yet to fade away in the morning glow. Taekwoon hadn't arrived yet, so she joined her mother for breakfast.

Nana had told her that Sungyeol asked her out. She felt happy for her friend but something ached inside her heart. She wondered what had pressured Sungyeol into finally acknowledging Nana. She discussed this information with her mother.

"Has anyone asked you yet?" Mrs. Kang asked curiously.

Suzy recalled the day when Chanyeol asked to be her date. She blushed from the thought as heat swept over her face. She decided not to reveal this information to her mother, so she stared at her boiled rice and shook her head.

Mrs. Kang was utterly disappointed. "No one at all? Are all those boys blind or something? Can none of them see how beautiful my daughter is?"

"Eomma!" Mrs. Kang's daughter now sported a face as crimson as a sunburnt tomato.

"No one had the time," Suzy moaned, rubbing her tired face with her palm.

"Ridiculous! Boys are so...stupid these days!" Her mother replied, "Why, when I was young, I used to get letters from secret admirers. Did you know?"

Of course, Suzy knew. Her mother always rambled on about these 'secret admirers' that dispatched love poems and ballads for her. It made Suzy wonder how she ended up with her father. Mrs. Kang always complained that Suzy's father should be thankful that she chose him out of the thousands of suitors whom she never met.

"Yes eomma," she deadpanned.

"If I were you, I'd ask--" The doorbell rang suddenly, and Suzy was glad that she could evade this conversation.  

"I'll get it!" The girl exclaimed, so she ran to fetch the door before Mrs. Kang hopped off her chair.

Suzy expected to meet Taekwoon outside. However, the person was none other than Luhan, who appeared dashing in his business suit with his hair slicked back. There was an empty bowl in his hand. When he grinned at her, she was reminded of sunny weather and cotton candy clouds.

"Hi Suzy, haven't seen you in a while," Luhan chuckled,  "How've you been?"

She gaped at him first, until her brain registered his greeting. "Good, and you?"

He shrugged. "Good, too. Did you get to contact Shim Changmin?"

She nodded in affirmation, so he handed her the bowl, and said, "Your mother's food is amazing."

"Oh...thank you."

"Is that Luhan?" Mrs. Kang dashed down the corridor with a wide smile on her face. Suzy disliked how her mother cared for Luhan more than her. Her insides burned with jealousy.

Luhan beamed at her. "Good morning, aunty. How're you?"

"Oh my dear, we were juat talking about you," Mrs. Kang laughed. Luhan chortled nervously while Suzy shot her mother a skeptical scowl.

What was the woman planning?

"You were?" The curly haired boy questioned politely.

"Yes!" Mrs. Kang answered, "The Fresher's Ball is commencing soon in Suzy's university. She really needs to find a date for it."

"She does?" Luhan glanced at Suzy, who jittered from embarrassment. She wished to disappear, like how the stars disappear at the break of dawn.

"It would be great if you could go with her--"

"Eomma!" Suzy hollered; her eyes widened from horror.

"--I don't trust anyone else. The two of you can decide between you. Okay? Bye! Suzy, come back in once you make a decision!" Mrs. Kang shoved them out and shut the door on them.

There was an awkward pause, and then, Luhan threw his head back and laughed. It was so uncharacteristic of him to do. Suzy raised a brow, slightly nervous that the boy had tears in his eyes. He wiped them away using the sleeve of his jackets, shoulders heaving with each deep breath.

“Your mother is very cute,” he chuckled, after he regained an even rhythm of breathing.

Suzy burned with shame. She chewed on her bottom lip as anxiety overwhelmed her. Luhan’s hand gripped her shoulder.

“If you’ll have me,” he said, “I’ll take you to the ball.”

His response startled her, such that she lost her footing and almost slipped. In doing so, she fell into his arms, her lips mere inches from his, and their noses tipped each other’s. She heard him inhale a deep breath as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“S-sorry?” Suzy spluttered, unable to form coherent sentences anymore.

She was so close to him that she could sniff his intoxicating, pine scent. His face was even more handsome this close, that she could make out his long, lustrous lashes.

Luhan’s lips formed a brief smile.

“I would love to be your date,” he whispered, and it was the most romantic, husky voice she ever heard.

She needed to pinch herself to make sure that it wasn’t all a dream, that it wasn’t another hallucination inside her head but his minty breath tickled her cheeks, and lips.

Instead, she smiled at him. “Yes!”

Luhan grinned back at her. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, and Suzy melted into his arms. Then he was gone, like the candle that blows out in the whiff of a breath, and all she could do was remember how his arms enveloped around her, and his lips pressing on her temples.

-

“So,” Nana whispered, “Your mother somehow managed to fix you a date for the ball?”

Jieun was busy scribbling notes into her copy, while Krystal listened to their conversation with deep interest. The rest of the students in the library had their noses inside their books.

Suzy blushed and closed her book shut. She glanced at Nana, who smiled with an excited smile.

“Well?” The latter repeated.

“Yes, she did.”

“Is it Heechul?” Krystal tapped a finger on her chin.

Suzy’s eyes widened, and she almost choked on her own breath. “What-- no!”

She leaned forward in her chair, her mind dizzy from the suggestion. She hadn’t seen her neighbour in over two weeks. The last time she did, they had parted ways due to the black kitten that was left outside her house. He never visited her mother either. For some reason, she longed to see him again. His eccentric personality was irritating at first, but she grew accustomed to having him annoy her.

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