Aj nervously bit his bottom lip as his leg bounced up and down. He was debating whether or not to wear his jacket or place it in his lap. He stared at the clothing on his lap when a cool breeze slipped through his shirt. It was cold, borderline freezing actually, but he enjoyed it. Plus, without his jacket, he was sure hi, breaking into a nervous sweat was less likely than when he had the jacket on. He nodded, giving his jacket a pat. His long sleeve sweater was enough.

He was suddenly aware of the sound of several steps. They seemed to be coming his way so the blonde turned his head towards the soft sound. His heart skipped a beat as Taeyeon smiled at him. Her skinny jeans hugged her shapely legs and she looked fairly cute with her blouse and leather jacket on.

“Hey,” he greeted with a smile as he grabbed his jacket and put it on. He looked cooler and totally not like the nervous wreck he was.

She greeted him with a shy smile. She was glad it was cold outside. She could blame her blushing cheeks on the weather and totally not on the way Aj looked, simply sitting on his bike.

“Are you ready?” He asked? Taeyeon nodded. She had her purse, with all her belongings, hanging on the crook of her arm.

“Can we stop by a nearby store that sells mouth masks?” she asked as she walked towards him. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why?” he asked. Taeyeon smiled.

“To conceal our identity; we can’t just waltz around the city and expect no one to take pictures and write problematic articles.”

The blonde scratched the back of his head with a dorky smile.

“I didn’t think about that.” He trailed off and put his hand down.

“Well, hop on.” He said, patting the space behind him. “Oh. Before I forget.” He turned to the side of his bike and pulled out his helmet. He leaned to the other side and placed it on Taeyeon’s head. He smiled as he backed up.

“Safety first.”

The brunette laughed as she awkwardly slid onto the back of the motorcycle. With his key in the ignition, Aj revved the engine and started the bike. Over the noise, he turned his head to the side in order to speak.

“It would be better for you to wrap your arms around me. You would fall right off if you don’t.”

Taeyeon did as she was told and tried not to think too hard about how warm Aj was in contrast to the cold.

“Hold on tight.” He said as he drove off.

~~~

The pair dashed back onto Aj’s bike. Both of them had toothy grins plastered on their face and both of them were erupting with laughter.

“Hurry hurry. Before the clerk suspects something.” Taeyeon said as she climbed onto the back. She was holding a shopping bag with two masks, a cap, and a receipt in it. Aj shook his head, his grin still on his face as he slid onto his motorcycle.

“You sound muffled under the helmet, but I’m hurrying up. Hold onto me.” The blonde, almost automatically, started his bike and drove off before the cashier walked out of the store.

With a few minutes to spare, they arrived at the movie theater, still full of nothing but laughter.  Aj was currently putting on one of the masks while Taeyeon removed the helmet.

“There’s no way the cashier didn’t know who you were.” The blonde said with a laugh. He pushed his hair back before he placed the cap on his head.

“I’m sorry, but it got hot under the helmet.” The brunette said with a laugh. She placed the helmet on top of the bike so she could put her own mask on.

“Tae.” Aj laughed harder. “We were like twenty seconds from leaving.” The latter stuck her tongue out before hooking the mask onto her ears.

“Oh man, I just loved the look on his face.” The blonde said with a sigh. His laugh was wearing down to a chuckle. Taeyeon jokingly pushed Aj.

“Are we going to go inside or are you going to keep talking about me choking in the helmet?” She asked. Aj smiled before putting his own mask on.

“We can go inside and then keep talking about how you couldn’t survive twenty seconds in my helmet.” The brunette pushed him again as she walked towards the entrance, causing the latter to laugh. He pocketed his keys and jogged to catch up to her. With the sound of Aj’s feet hitting the ground quickly, an idea bloomed in Taeyeon’s head. She broke into a run inside the theater. It didn’t take two seconds for Aj to match her speed.

As the brunette ran, she rummaged in her purse for some money. By some miracle, she managed to run inside, reach the register, and pull out a bill without bumping into anyone or anything. Aj was with her in a couple seconds, his wallet also pulled out.

“You already paid for the masks, Tae. Let me-” The blonde began, but was interjected.

“I told you I don’t mind.” She said. Taeyeon faced the cashier, handed him some cash, and smiled despite most of her face being covered by the mask. “Two tickets, please.”

“Which movie would you both like to see?” The cashier asked.

“Uh-” Aj started, but was cut off by Taeyeon again.

“Surprise us!”

Aj raised his eyebrows and looked at the girl next to him.

“Tae-”

“It’ll be fun. Come on!”

The cashier, obviously tired and spent for the night, pressed some buttons into the register, inserted the money Taeyeon had handed him, and printed two tickets. He handed them to the brunette and she took them happily. She used her free hand to grab onto Aj’s hand and pull him to the ticket master. She handed the ticket master both tickets. Like the cashier, the ticket master was visually tired. He handed the two receipts to Taeyeon who happily put them in her purse.

“Tae, what if we don’t even like the movie?” Aj said as he was pulled again towards the entrance of the theater. Taeyeon shrugged and turned around to face the latter. There was an apparent smile on her face from the way her eyes crinkled.

“Then we can just leave.” She replied.

“But that’s just a waste of your money-”

“Oh stop complaining.” She said with a playful eye roll. “I never get to be adventurous and spontaneous like this. Besides, I wanted to do this with my boyfriend someday.”

A thick silence caught both of their breaths as they realized what she had said. Aj was oh so suddenly aware of the warmth of Taeyeon’s hand on his. Before he could say anything, she turned around and dragged him into the dark room.

The movie had already started and Taeyeon was already looking for a seat. Her hand never faltered from holding his, even as they sat down and began to watch what seemed to be a terribly made rip off of Frozen. Aj tried to watch it. He really did, but he couldn’t seem to focus while his thoughts were constantly running amuck on what Taeyeon had said earlier. It was even harder when she was holding his hand and laying her head on his shoulder.

It wasn’t until the movie was halfway over when Taeyeon lifted her head off of Aj’s shoulder. He looked at her, wondering if he did something wrong. She was looking at him, no, staring at him. He blinked, not knowing what was going on. Something flashed in her eyes before she leaned in.

Aj’s heart began to race. What was she doing? Was she trying to kiss him? No, she couldn’t be. But it would make sense, especially after her comment when-

“Can we leave?” Taeyeon whispered in his ear. Aj cleared his throat and backed up with a nod. He stood up silently. Taeyeon still held onto his hand as they both walked out of the theater.

“Did you notice that the movie was basically Frozen but badly produced?” Taeyeon said with a small laugh. Aj pushed open the door of the exit and spotted his bike.

“I noticed. I saw the talking snowman and started thinking, ‘man that really looks like Olaf, but I don’t want to say anything.’” He responded. They reached his bike and hesitantly let go of each other’s hands. The sudden cold grasped onto the now empty hands. Both of them felt it and held their tongue for a few seconds.

Aj was the first to speak after the silence.

“I really had fun tonight.” He said. He reached up to pull down his mask, but Taeyeon stopped him.

“Weren’t we supposed to get coffee like you suggested?” she asked him. The blonde widened his eyes. He had completely forgotten about them getting coffee. Taeyeon smiled again through her eyes.

“Hop on the bike. I’ll tell you how to go to this one café I know.” She said, sliding onto the back of the motorcycle as she wore the helmet.

Aj grinned, the ghost of a laugh tickling the air.

“At least this time there aren’t any cashiers chasing us.” Taeyeon punched the latter before wrapping her arms around his torso. He laughed despite the pain in his arm.

“I was just saying.”

“Just drive, idiot.”

 

~~~

 

Taeyeon failed to mention the quality of the café they went to. From the moment they both stepped inside to the current moment, Taeyeon laughing at a lame joke he made, Aj could tell that this café was high quality. From the furniture to the workers to the music softly playing in the background, it wouldn’t be a wonder as to why the café was well known. Even the customers seemed as laid back and quiet as the café itself.

Two customers were working on their laptop. Well, one customer was; the other was fast asleep. Another customer, who had been in the corner of the room, also looked very calm and serene. When he and Taeyeon had walked in, he had noticed her and something familiar about her. He would have kept looking if it wasn’t for Taeyeon nudging for him to take off his mask.

“It’s a nice place, huh?” Taeyeon asked. She had caught Aj looking in wonder at the intricate designs on each table.

“Yes, definitely. I’ll have to come here more often.” He sipped his drink. He had no idea what it was; Taeyeon had ordered it for him since he was new to the shop. Undoubtedly, it was delicious. He would have to ask her later for the name and hope to remember it.

“It seems like the workers here know you very well. They didn’t seem to want to chase you down.” Aj said before he cracked a smile. Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

“I’m almost a regular here. Plus, I’m getting known around this area.”

“Look at you, little Mrs. Popular. Can you autograph my forehead?”

“Oh, shut up.” 

They both laughed. It was a calm and soft laugh they shared, unlike the others they had earlier in the night. It seemed almost as if they were finally comfortable and felt more like themselves. The continued to sip on their drinks for a moment until Aj suddenly caught the feeling that something wasn’t right. He felt like he was…being watched. He glanced outside only to see the back of a woman’s head.

She was entering a car but something told Aj that she had been standing there for a bit of time. Not too long to make it awkward, but enough for him to wonder if she had been staring at him.

“Are you okay?” Taeyeon asked. She saw Aj looking out the window and turned her head around to see what he was seeing. After only seeing the very back of a car before it drove off, she turned around and looked at him.

“Are you okay?” She asked again. Aj faced her and smiled.

“Yes. Yeah, I’m fine.” He said. “I just thought someone was watching me.” Taeyeon frowned at that but Aj shook his head to dismiss any questions.

“It’s getting late and we have work tomorrow. Shall I take you home?” Aj asked. The brunette shook her head.

“Actually, I would prefer it if you drop me off at the company. My driver should be waiting for me and I can’t let him know that I went on a date. I trust the people I work with, but sometimes they don’t know when to not gossip.” She said.

Aj nodded, understanding. He felt the same about Key’s friends. Of course he trusted his friend but a lot of the time, the fashion department would do nothing but talk about the latest juicy subject they heard about. Aj could hardly imagine what the drivers of idols had to say.

“Good idea.” He said standing up. He smiled before he pulled up his mask once again and offered a hand to Taeyeon. She took it, with a smile, and stood up. Because Taeyeon had paid prior to them receiving their drinks, they simply cleared their table and left with a few goodbyes to the owners.

Taeyeon slipped on her mask as Aj opened the door for her. They both walked down the street, to the parking lot of what seemed to be a bank, and sought after Aj’s bike. With Taeyeon safely wrapped around him and wearing his helmet, Aj roared the engine and drove off.

~~~

Aj stared at his apartment ceiling. It was bland. He had wanted to put glow in the dark stars on it, just to look at it at night, but Key had made fun of him for wanting such a childish thing. But then again, so what? So what if wanting glow in the dark stickers was childish? It made him happy, and that was what should matter. The stickers made him happy just like his music made him happy, just like the idea of love made him happy.

He smiled fondly at the thought of the occurrences from nearly an hour ago. Aj had dropped Taeyeon off at the back of the company building to ensure her driver would not spot the two. They hugged. They didn’t kiss, though he was pretty sure Taeyeon wanted to. He knew he wanted to, but a hug was enough for the night. She had grinned at him in that way he liked and told him to be early when practicing tomorrow. He had finally gotten to go on a date with Kim Taeyeon.

So why was he feeling…empty?

He knew he was supposed to be feeling ecstatic. He was supposed to be grinning ear to ear but now he was frowning. Confused, he turned to his side and stared at the warm fluorescent light that laid on his pillow and fell asleep in his empty and lonely apartment.

 

A/N: hullo, wow, just wanted to say that I love reading your comments. I love you all <33333