Nana was nervous. Bora had stayed over last night and they had spent the whole Saturday preparing.

Mentally preparing. Because it turned out Nana desperately needed it. She was very scared. In books, girls got embarrassed in these types of situations. And then the boy laughed with the crowd or saved her. But Nana did not even want to be made fun of, even if the outcome was Jongin coming to her rescue.

She was in her pink dress. Hair in loose curls, courtesy of Bora, and had little hints of makeup on her face. A bit of mascara and some eyeliner as well as regular powder and lipstick (lip-gloss was too sticky in Nana’s opinion).

The only thing Nana had not let Bora take charge of was her nails. Painting her nails was therapeutic to Nana. When she was little she would paint them then use nail polisher remover a second later and do the process over. This act was calming and enjoyable for her. The nail-painting she had decided to do last and it had calmed down her nerves. Just a bit though.

The doorbell rang and Nana’s mother quickly walked towards it.

“No Mom!” Nana jumped to stop her, “I’ll just go from here okay. I don’t- I-”

“Why dear?” her mother tittered excitedly, “This is your first date and it’s-“

“Please mom?” Nana’s voce must have had something in it as it made her mom look at her quizzically but then nod and walk away. Nana knew she was behind the wall eavesdropping though.

She took a deep breath as she opened the door and there he was. Looking cute in a prim suit but his hair was combed, though not with gel which made is look more laidback. Nana permitted herself to think he was absolutely adorable in the instance.

He seemed at a loss of words as well and Nana was glad. She had never seen someone so affected by her appearance and though the girls in the books didn’t seem to notice, Nana did and that made her happy.

“Hi,” she smiled at him.

“Hey,” he replied blinking, “You look amazing”

“Thanks”

“Do you want to get going?”

“Sure. Just let me grab my sweater.”

And they made their way to his car, a small shiny black one.

“So are these dances fun?" Nana asked as she settled in the passenger seat.

Jongin winced, “Well they are not my type of thing you know, but I guess they are alright”

They were making their way to the main road now.

“You know yesterday I saw Baekhyun tell Chanyeol to trip Taeyeon just so he could catch her. It was pretty funny,” Nana smiled remembering.

“He just needs an excuse to touch her. Don’t know why though. They are actually dating,” Jongin rolled his eyes and then looked sideways at her.

Nana’s thoughts raced. Why the sarcasm at the end?

Let’s not think about it. You’ll only torture yourself.

“I think it’s pretty cute,” Nana said as she ignored the way Jongin’s head reeled with her words.

“You spend too much time reading romance novels Nana,” said Jongin teasingly.

“And yet my flying kick is still so much better than yours,” Nana retorted.

“I told you, I had basketball practice the day before and the coach made us-” Jongin started defensively.

“Yeah yeah” interrupted Nana laughingly.

Their relationship had lightened up a lot due to those lunch get-togethers and the rest of the car ride was filled with similar easy-going conversation.

When they got to the hall however, Nana’s stomach filled with knots again.

A hand touched hers.

“Hey,” said Jongin form beside her in a gentle voice, “It’ll be fine”

Nana nodded nervously and let him lead her to the doors.

The inside was decorated elegantly. There were people win wine cups standing around as well as tables with white tablecloths around them and dainty chairs placed around.

It was too close to Nana’s imagination for comfort. When she felt a hand sneak around her waist she nearly jumped before realizing it was Jongin who seemed to be looking the other way intentionally.

Her face burned. No boy had ever touched her on purpose and especially no where near her torso. It was almost a tickling sensation, without the forced laughter. Nana weirdly liked it.

In her thoughts she had not noticed Jongin leading her to a table with 2 empty seats and what seemed like 2 couples and a …. Lina.

Lina was glaring at them and slightly slouching in her seat but the other 2 couples smiled when they noticed Nana and Jongin heading their way.

When they approached the table Jongin introduced her, “Hey, um this is Nana.”

Nana bowed profusely keeping her eyes down, “Nice to meet you.”

"Oh please sit down," a kind voice belonging to a middle aged, pretty woman as Nana saw, called.

As she and Jongin sat down, Nana examined the seating arrangment. Jongin sat beside her and on his other side was Lina. Beside Lina was, Nana guessed her parents, and beside them Jongin’s. Jongin’s dad sat on Nana’s other side around the round table.

“So Nana,” the kind woman who Nana guessed to be Jongin’s mom asked, “When did you and Jongin meet?”

Nana glanced in a panic at Jongin, not knowing how to respond. She had almost forgotten she was supposed to be here as his girlfriend.

“Mom,” Jongin nagged, “Stop.”

“What’s so bad about asking-,” his mother started but then stopped, “Well anyways Nana, Jongin has never brought a girlfriend to us so we’re really excited to see you.”

Nana smiled but cast a quick look at Jongin who held his head down.

“So never brought a girlfriend home, huh?” She whispered to him.

“Never found a girl I liked that much," said Jongin more forcefully then she expected and as he looked at her hard, she felt her ears get hot.

“Where are you sisters?” she asked suddenly and Jongin broke out of the trance

“What?”

“Your sisters.”

“Oh. Well since they are eighteen they don’t have to come," Jongin rolled his eyes, “But my mom forces me to.”

Nana smiled and then noticed Lina who was glaring at them. She leaned away from him and started looking around.

“The dinner starts in about 5 minutes," said Kai’s dad from beside her, “After that there is a party with dancing and stuff though I do tell Jin Hyuk every year that dancing after eating is not a good idea.”

He shakes his head and gives her a smile.

Nana smiling back asks, “Have you been working at the company for long Mr. Kim?”

“About 13 years now actually. Mr. Lee and I started at about the same time,” he nods to Lina’s dad.

“It’s some sort of corporation isn’t it?” Nana asks.

“Yes, it has many departments but I am an engineer and work in the lab to make new products for the energy sector,” Mr. Kim answered.

“That sounds interesting,” Nana replied. And it was. Science and making things had always interested her.

“It is though you wouldn’t know from how Jongin acts whenever I bring it up,” Mr. Kim smiled at her and winked.

She smiled back before turning to Jongin who had been silently listening to the conversation and was scowling from his dad’s last statement.

“You don’t like science?” Nana asked confused, “I thought you loved math and physics”

“I do,” Jongin replied quickly, “But all my dad does is construct designs that have already been made by other people. Sometimes he has to make adjustments but it isn’t truly inventing something. I would rather make and discover something.”

“I would too but I like Chemistry more than Physics. And I like astronomy. If I could be anything I think I would want to be an astronaut.” Nana said.

Jongin opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a slightly squeaky voice.

“Jongin remember you promised me the first dance,” Lina scowled at Nana was she said this and Nana fumbled with her napkin in order to hide her smile.

“I remember Lina,” Jongin’s voice was polite but distant.

The food arrived and it was traditional if a bit fancy Korean food.

Nana loved meat, especially the type drenched in sweet gravy.

The meat on her plate was a type she had never tried and as she picked it up with her chopsticks, she sniffed it before putting half of it in . It was delicious and she resisted the urge to gasp as she finished the pieces on her plate and then her chopsticks clean of the gravy.

When she looked beside her she noticed Jongin staring at and she slowly pulled the chopsticks out. Her ears filled and her face was starting to get hot.

They held eye contact until Jongin’s mom asked her something.

Soon the meal was finished and Nana was full.

The dinner had been an enjoyable one as both Jongin and Lina’s parents were very humorous.

As soon as they heard the music start in the ball room next door, Lina with a triumphant look at Nana, grasped Jongin’s hand and dragged him out for the first dance. Nana stayed there, chatting with the parents, with a small pit of fire glowing in her chest. She hadn’t realized it before, but she was actually jealous.

After that dance was over, Jongin and Lina came back to the table and Jongin quickly asked her to dance.

“I don’t really know how to dance that well,” Nana admitted as he led her to the floor.

“Don’t worry I’ll lead you,” Jongin clasped one of her hands and put his other on her waist. Nana lifted her other to his shoulder.

He suddenly pulled her close. Closer than they had ever been before and as Nana’s mouth went dry, she peered up at him.

His eyes seemed to be amused and intense as they looked down. Nana let her gaze drop to the floor and let herself relax in his arms and closeness for the rest of the song.

The rest of the night passed quietly, with no trouble. None of the things Nana has worried about happened and it ended up being a very enjoyable night.

When Jongin pulled his car up to her front door, Nana was happy if a bit tired. She and Jongin had laughed and talked the ride home and all the laughter had created a happy, warm feeling in Nana’s stomach.

“Nana” Jongin’s voice was very serious. The change in mood caused Nana to look up from her fumbling of her seat belt with her eyebrows raised.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You know I like you right?” He asked and before Nana could reply, though she wasn’t sure she ever would have been able to, he added, “Because I do, a lot. More than anyone I have ever liked. Especially after this past week. I know I really just met you. But you caught my attention that day in the hallway and I can’t seem to... well, anyways. Will you go out with me?”

Nana was flustered and a bit shocked. She had started to accept the fact that Jongin might truly like her but she hadn’t expected a proposal this quickly. But she knew what she wanted. And she wasn’t going to let her feelings of doubt take what she wanted away from her.

So before she could think too much she replied, “Yes.”