Joonmyun had finally given me the night off after nearly three weeks of working me dry and training me. At first I hated this, I didn't sign up for working there I was put into the spot, but after I'd completed my training and started to get the hang of it, I'd come to like it. Besides it gave me a reason to go there every Friday night now and mom would stop hassling me about why I always wanted to go so bad.

            Kyungsoo noticed me more often, and after I finished cleaning up we talked a little bit; I hoped he didn't mind the mocking looks Baekhyun and Luhan sent to me when we did. I tried every Friday night to talk to Kyungsoo and make him more comfortable around me so that when I did invite him out it wouldn't be super awkward between us.

            Today I was finally going to see if my attempts had paid off. I text Kyungsoo last night on my break telling him that I had today off if he wanted to go out and do something. It took him a while to text me back and Baekhyun got onto me about constantly checking my cell on the clock. When I finally got a reply I ran off to the bathroom to read it.

                        I actually have to work tomorrow, but I get off at 5 so how

                        about we meet somewhere at 7?

            I did a little score dance until someone flushed a toilet and I jumped before replying that it sounded good to me and to just text me whatever was convenient to him.

            He sent me the address to this shop he really liked going to after work and I ended up showing up nearly an hour early because I was so eager. "Did I keep you waiting long?" he asked when he arrived a little late.

            "Oh it's okay you were the one who was busy today not me" I didn't bother lying about how long I'd been sitting here because the waiter had been giving me looks about it. "Did you see that there was a festival a few blocks over?"

            "I didn't but it sounds fun!" we still had yet to make any official plans for the night so I jumped at the first suggestion even though it was a little less private than I would have liked it. "I haven't been to one since I was in high school"

            "I haven't been to one since I was like ten" we both seemed excited to be re-experiencing a moment of our youth so we agreed to eat here and then head over.

            "Don't eat too much here because I bet there are some tasty street snacks out there" I told both him and myself as we were ordering and he agreed. The meal was thankfully filled with some light talk and not too many awkward dull moments.

            I was prepared to cover the entire ticket when the waiter came back, because that's what I always did when I went on dates (was this even a date?), but she came back with two separate checks and Kyungsoo quickly slipped her his card. "I could have got that" I told him when she'd left to run his card and get me my change. He looked at me like it was strange for me to be offering to pay for another guys check so I didn't push it any further.

            "It was down this way, I can already here the music" he led me over and we followed a family that had a baby in a stroller across the crosswalk.

            I could tell that we'd definitely found the right place to spend the rest of our night when I saw his eyes light up at the crowded street. Just as we walked up the lights were because it had gotten dark enough and the baby in the stroller next to us squealed with delight. "Come on lets go this way first" I took the chance to grab onto his wrist and pull him along through the crowd towards a booth.

            "Wow" he looked at all the handmade jewelry and trinkets on display at the table picking up a ring and slipping it onto his forefinger, it fit perfectly.

            "We'll take that" I told the tender while he was looking at it and paid for it quickly.

            "It looks good, thank you" he handed Kyungsoo his card and he bowed respectfully before turning to move on.

            "What's with you?" he asked me as we went though and I didn't try to really look at anything for myself, just watching to see what he was interested in. "You wanted to pay for the food and you bought me this ring. Is this a date?"

            did he really catch on? "What? You paid with a card earlier so I just assumed you didn't have any cash" I attempted to cover myself up because I still couldn't make out what he was thinking exactly.

            "I have some" he replied in a near pout.

            "Umm, sorry?" I apologized even though I didn't want nor feel the need to and we continued on.

           We were at another booth getting some sweets when a couple in high school uniforms came walking up hand in hand. “Oh couple discount!” the tender gave them two treats for the price of one and they giggled as they fed each other. Kyungsoo and I, although we wanted to buy more, walked away awkwardly. Because of the crowd we had to walk close together and my hand accidently brushed against his at one point causing me to jump back and he looked at me like I was being too much.

            “Do you want to play?” there was a greedy looking man with a baseball at a carnival style booth. “Knock down all the pins and I’ll give you a prize”

            “No thank you” I waved my hand but Kyungsoo stopped and paid him for one ball. “Okay then, this could be interesting” I watched as the guy showed him how to stance himself, and if I wasn’t probably thinking too much because I liked him, I would say that guy was being creepy with his hands.

            “Got it” Kyungsoo focused on his target in front of him and threw his entire body into it, knocking down all six pins in one blow.

            “What? No way!” I seriously couldn’t believe it, these games were set up for boasting men to try over and over again when they failed to get their girlfriend a prize, but little Kyungsoo got it in one go. Even the tender couldn’t believe that he’d done it and sounded angry when he was letting him pick out his prize.

            “Okay I’ll try now” I paid for one ball and the guy didn’t bother to help me stance myself. I only knocked down the top pin causing Kyungsoo to snicker behind me. “One more” I paid him again after he’d set it back up, this time getting the top one and one from the second row.

            “One more time! I’m sure you’ll get it next time!” he laughed, glad that his trick was working on me.

            “No I’m good” I walked away before I got obsessed and just made a fool out of myself. Kyungsoo laughed when he saw my tiny participation prize and I handed it off to a kid that ran past us. “How the hell did you get that in one try?”

            “I might not look it but I pack some strength” he informed me making a fist with his free hand that wasn’t carrying his prize.

            “Yeah okay I’ll believe that” I tried to think about how he could have cheated but couldn’t come up with anything.

            “Look at that guy, he’s pretty cool” he pointed to a ring of people surrounding a dancer, clapping along to the beat of the song as he danced and pulled in a cute girl who just giggled embarrassed.

            “Not that impressive” I scoffed as we went to get a better look.

            “That’s right, you said you’d show me how good you dance” Kyungsoo reminded me about the way I’d gotten his number.

            “Just watch, I will” I pushed past a few people making them angry until I’d made it to the inside of the circle. The guy looked at me and realized that I must be challenging him. He motioned for his friend to change to the next song and he did a cute little dance getting cheers from the crowd. I applauded his attempt but the crowd went silent when I started my dance. His jaw dropped at the way my body so easily found the beat of the music and the fluidity of my movements.

            “Yah! Go Jongin!” I heard Kyungsoo yell and that started a chant across the observers.

            The guy backed out after I finished and shook my hand. I apologized for interrupting him and made my way back to Kyungsoo. "You've got talent!" he exclaimed, "You could really do something with that"

            "You think?" I chuckled as I ran my hands through my hair and tried to catch my breath.

            "Look!" he pointed at the sky behind me and I heard a loud boom, just barely catching the falling lights of a firework when I turned around. "Let's get closer" He grabbed my arm again and pulled me along over to another even larger crowd of people that were watching the fireworks being deployed from a small park. We stood as close as we could get without being smothered by the crowd but because Kyungsoo was so short he couldn't see very well and I couldn't help but think he was too cute as he struggled to stand on his toes.

            I looked around for a better place for us to stand when I saw a spot for us between two buildings we could probably squeeze over to. "Come this way" I held his hand tightly so that we wouldn't get separated and excused us as we made our way through.

            The little space was actually an alley way and there happened to be a crate sturdy enough for Kyungsoo to stand on as long as he was holding onto my shoulders so he could see above everyone. He watched the fireworks with large wide eyes and I didn't have to turn to see them, I could just look up and see the reflection of the lights bursting into his eyes. "Its pretty"

            "Yeah" I replied a little breathless and he looked down to see I was staring at him.

            "Jongin" he said my name in an annoyed tone.

            "Yes?" I hoped that he wasn't finally fed up with me being creepy all night and I followed him as he stepped down from the crate, leaving his stuffed prize behind, and went deeper into the dark alley away from the crowd until turning around swiftly and pinning me against the wall with his glare. "Look if I did something wrong-"

            "Wrong? No, I just don't understand" he looked away probably because he realized that he was looking at me like he was ready to beat me up. "You say that we're just hanging out, but then I catch you looking at me like that and I just wish you'd say and do what you really want" he chanced looking back at me again like he was questioning whether or not he was right.

            "Say what I want? Do what I want?" I repeated to make sure I was hearing correctly. "What if I said I want to just push you against the wall and kiss you?" there it was, I finally let it out. I didn't think this would be how I would reveal my true feelings to him, I thought I could at least do it more subtly, but I couldn't keep avoiding the urges anymore.

            He acted like he couldn't say anything and if I could see him properly I bet his cheeks would be just barely flushed with embarrassment as he just shyly lifted his hand and grabbed onto the tips of my fingers, tugging at them. I took that as an invitation and my heart raced as I prepared myself to do exactly what I just said I would. I was afraid of the wall being wet underneath him, or of us tripping on something, or of him thinking I was a bad kisser, but when I had him pinned and leaned down I stopped ninety percent of the way, still unsure if I could do this, and he came the other ten percent connecting our lips.

            It was so awkward at first; he just pressed his face to mine and held it there for a few moments before leaning back and waiting for my reaction. I didn't have much of a reaction besides turning completely stiff, but when I thought of how I was really able to kiss those plump heart shaped lips of his I took complete advantage and rushed to do it again, catching him off guard.

            He tugged at the bottom of my shirt shyly so I took a few steps closer until he could wrap his arms around my waist and I relaxed my stance, letting my hands leave the wall now that I was sure he wouldn't try to run away, and gently placed them on either side of his face.

            It was obvious he hadn't kissed very many people, he was awkward and didn't know what to do with himself, but that just made me ever happier, and a little excited when I thought about how I could be the one to teach him, hands on that is.

            I forced myself to stop, because we were still in the middle of a crowded festival, and partly because I wanted to play a little hard to get now, the opposite of how I'd been acting all night.

            I placed my forehead against his so we could catch our breath together. He had his eyes closed but when he opened them and saw me staring down at him again, with probably a stupid smile, he turned the brightest color of red I'd ever seen him and I was proud for being the one who caused it.

            I pulled away because he was acting like he felt a little uncomfortable now but I still held onto his hand, and despite us having held onto each other’s hand a few times earlier, now it felt different. We watched the rest of the fireworks pop, the crowd had died down now since it was starting to get pretty late and some of the venders were already closing their booths.

            I wanted to walk Kyungsoo home, but when he found out that I had to ride the train to get here, and that his house was in the opposite direction, he absolutely wouldn't let me. I felt like I'd have to pry my hand from his, but when he let go I did too and he waved as he started to part ways with me. I smiled a bit and stuck my hands in my pockets because I was still shaking slightly from earlier. I waited until after he'd turned the corner to begin my walk to the train station in silence, replaying the scene over and over in my head when my cell buzzed against my hand in my pocket. It was from Kyungsoo.

                        I had a good time tonight, thank you. We should do that

                        again sometime.

            I assumed he meant go out on a date (I was officially calling it a date now), but before I could reply another text came in.

                        Kissing I mean.

            I stopped to make sure I was reading the text right. 'I had a good time too' I replied and then sent 'And I agree, we should kiss again soon'. I stuck my phone back in my pocket, satisfied with the night. I made my way back to the station and then home with ease, thinking about how I couldn’t wait to go to work next Friday night.