Ashley rushed to the bathroom to do a final check on how she looks before answering the door. Phew, everything looks fine. Here goes nothing. She thought while releasing a heavy sigh. She doesn’t understand why she’s feeling uneasy about this “date”, as if a truckload of butterflies decided to camp out in her stomach. It’s been a long time since she last went out on an actual date. And all the nerves she’s feeling right now makes her wonder what’s with this guy that he’s bringing all these foreign feelings to her.

Meanwhile, TOP was standing by the door and he’s not doing any better. He was pacing back and forth in front of the door, as he waits for Ashley to answer the door, sweat rapidly forming in his body. Aish! Why am I so nervous? He thought. This is not the first time they’ve gone out but the fact that they labeled it as a date brought a lot of pressure to them. Ugh. I shouldn’t have said that this was a date, it’s making me feel uneasy. He groaned. True enough, they’ve already gone out on dinners with just the two of them, but all of which were brought about by the situation they were in. But today was different, today would be their first “official date”, hence, the pressure is surfacing along with an undeniable huge amount of excitement.

While TOP was beating himself for bringing himself to this situation, the door suddenly opened and he was welcomed by Ashley with a bright smile.

“Oppa!” Ashley greeted him excitedly, brushing off all the nerves she’s feeling.

“Gu.. gu.. good morning!” he greeted back, stuttering as he saw Ashley in her beautiful floral dress covered by a perfectly fit trench coat. She’s beautiful. He thought, as he was captivated by the beauty in front of him. He thoughtlessly stared at Ashley in awe and in a snap, all the nerves he was feeling went down the drain and excitement took over his system.

“Oppa! It’s rude to stare.” She chuckled as she tried to get him out of his trance.

“Omo! Mianhe. You look so pretty today.” He said and unconsciously scratched his nape feeling all shy.

“Aigoo. No need to lie to make me feel good, oppa. I know I’m not pretty.” She said. She feels uncomfortable every time someone would say she’s pretty, more than a compliment, she feels burdened about it.

“Aniyo. I’m not lying. You really look pretty today.” He defended, trying to convince her.

“arasso. Arasso, so where are we going?” she tried changing the topic.

“I’ve planned the whole day for us to have fun. So just relax and go with the flow.” He said while bringing out the bouquet he’s been keeping behind his back.

“Flowers for you, I hope you like flowers.” He nervously said.

“Thanks Oppa. I really like flowers but only if I see them with nature.” She admitted. She never liked it when guys give her flowers.

Pabo. This is not going as planned. I should have bought a teddy bear instead. He thought realizing that his surprise turned the other way around. “Sorry. I thought you’d like flowers just like the other girls. I forgot you’re different than most of them.” He said feeling dejected.

“Omo. Don’t get me wrong. I really like flowers especially from the people I like but it makes me sad too.” she clarified.

“Sad?” he asked looking surprised. Never did it cross his mind that flowers can make people sad.

“Flowers are beautiful and all but it’s temporary. It makes me sad to know that in such a shor time, the once beautiful flower would end up all withered and ugly. It’s like a reminder that things are just temporary. That even the beautiful things can end up ugly.” She seriously explained remembering that all the guys who have given her flowers that brought her joy ended up hurting her.

Just how many guys hurt this girl that she unded up being cynical like this. He thought realizing how sad she sounded when she was explaining the reason why she didn’t like receiving one. “Sorry, I didn’t know flowers had this effect on you. I’ll keep that in mind.” He told her. And I’ll make sure you change your perspective about it soon. He told himself feeling the challenge of protecting her from experiencing sadness again.

“It’s okay oppa. You didn’t know it and aside from that, I really like flowers.” She cheered him up realizing that what she said changed his mood.

“Did you like the flowers I gave you?” he asked.

“Ofcourse, it’s beautiful.” She smiled.

“You said you liked the flowers gi