The rest of the date had continued rather uneventfully with each party completely failing at talking about something that wasn’t a “safe topic”, since they each felt bad for doing so (Example: B – So do you like dogs?  I – Yeah.. I do…  B – What about… cats?  I – Umm… Yup.)  Right as the sun started to set, both parties agreed to call it a day (after much secret deliberating with Eunji and Minhyuk through text, of course…) and a chivalrous Ilhoon offered to drive Bomi home.

Being the gentleman he was, Ilhoon nearly tripped as he rushed out of the car to Bomi’s side so that he could open the door for her. Giggling slightly at his overzealousness, Bomi thanked him before they started walking up the flower-lined pathway to her house.

“So umm…” Bomi glanced away from Ilhoon casually before shooting a mischievous smile at him.

“…How was your first date?” She asked cheekily. The bit of information about Ilhoon not having dated before? Well… that had given Bomi a major boost in confidence. Ilhoon’s prediction was correct in the sense that Bomi now felt that she didn’t have to live up to some crazy perfect date that he had had in the past.

During the last hour of their date, Bomi couldn’t help herself from asking a few times if he really hadn’t had any dating experience, to which he could only answer (time and time again) that he just hadn’t the special opportunity of making any girl feel lucky to be in his presence. 

“Oh man…” he smiled and dragged his hand down his face in embarrassment. “I’m really never gonna live that down, am I?”

“Mianhae…” Bomi apologized half-heartedly while stifling her laughter. “It’s just still so hard to believe, chincha.”

“Arasso, arasso.” Ilhoon waved his hand dismissively and rolled his eyes playfully. “…So my first date, huh?”

With a smug smile plastered on her face, Bomi awaited his appraisal of her dating skills. I mean, taking into account that he had never dated before, she figured that the date couldn’t have been that bad, right? Ilhoon though, being ever so vengeful, had a teeny-tiny trick up his sleeve.

“It was okay, I guess.” he shrugged nonchalantly, intent on getting just about any sort of reaction out of Bomi.

“Yaaa!! You could be a little nicer!!!” she pouted, punching the supposedly indifferent boy in the shoulder, which eventually caused him to break his cool façade and burst out into laughter.

“Haha… Shouldn’t you just be a good girl and wait to see if I call you or not?” He narrowed his eyes at her with smirk.

“YAAA!!! OPPA!!!!!” a blushing Bomi was now full-on unleashing an onslaught of punches on Ilhoon’s upper bicep for completely obvious reasons, while he could only stand there laughing like crazy. Once his laughter had finally subsided for the second time, Ilhoon began to answer her question seriously.

“Alright, fine… My first date was...” a soft smile graced his face as he kept his eyes focused ahead. “…more than great.”

And it was true… Ilhoon couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to dating, even if this specific date in particular was not meant to be his.

“Well then…” a similar expression on Bomi’s face as she nodded in agreement. “My first date was also… more than great.”

Ilhoon startled slightly and before his brain could catch up with her words, he could only think…

‘Oh great… she’s gonna tell me about the first guy she ever dated…’

He braced himself for what he was about to hear (because honestly, no guy or girl wants to talk about their date’s exes on a first date), but was surprised to not hear any response from the girl. Ilhoon chanced a peek in Bomi’s direction to only find her staring back intently.

‘C’mon… say something…’ she mentally willed her date to catch on and shot him another expectant look. I mean, he had taken nearly extreme measures to put her at ease, even if it meant putting himself in a compromising position. Despite the fact that Bomi couldn’t resist the urge to make fun of him just a tiny bit… she was adamant about putting them on an even playing field as a show of her own good will. It was really the least she could do.

*Ding*

The lightbulb eventually went off in Ilhoon’s head as he replayed the last thing she said to him. Could she mean…?

“So… Our first date…?” he questioned carefully. To Ilhoon, this would be infinitely more unexpected than if he hadn’t had a date before, which was why he was so skeptical.

“Yeah…” Bomi looked away shyly before adding. “Our first date.”

Once it was clear that they were both on the same page, the couple shot each other knowing smiles, happy that they were in on each other’s secrets. The pair had finally made it to the front door and it was at this moment that Bomi and Ilhoon fully realized what predicament they had placed themselves in.

Girl and guy end date… Guy walks girl to door……. Girl and guy…………. Well, you all get the picture. The pair in question had watched enough romantic comedies to figure out that this very moment was the ultimate pivotal moment of first dates… and just like that, the smiles were wiped off of their faces as they stepped onto the patio…

‘Crap… he’s gonna try and kiss me because he thinks I’m Eunji!’ Bomi’s eyes widened as she started to completely freak out. ‘Think, Bomi, think!!’

Simultaneously, the boy next to her was having his own mental breakdown, each unintentionally feeding off of the other’s nerves. As slowly as possible, Ilhoon and Bomi turned towards each other, while attempting to form some sort of plan… any plan, really, that would get them out of what they thought was going to happen.

‘CRAP! CAN’T THINK! MUST ESCAPE!!’ Bomi shut her eyes right as they made eye-contact, somehow hoping to hide in plain sight. Ilhoon, however, had already shot his hand out towards the girl, nearly a second or two before Bomi’s “disappearing act”.

‘Oh god, she thinks I’m gonna kiss her!’ He did nothing but stare at Bomi, as his hand laid outstretched towards her.

“……….”

“……………”

“……………………”

*cough cough*

Ilhoon subtly tried to attract the girl’s attention. Despite his best efforts, a frightened Bomi stubbornly squeezed her eyelids shut. If she were to just open her eyes though, Bomi would be met with the sight of an embarrassed boy only attempting to shake her hand.

‘Alright, man. One more for good measure…….’ He willed himself to try once more, since Minhyuk would more than likely have his handed to him on a platter if he ended up just leaving the poor girl without so much as a goodbye.