When it was time, Jin descended from her room and walked outside of the building. She was anxious about going outside with this unfamiliar attire and seeing Vernon. Would he about it? Would he even notice that she was dressing differently? Will he act all erted? Was it stupid that she was even dressing up? Many times, she had the urge to just run back into her room and change into regular clothes, but she it up and kept going.

 

She stepped outside the building, and she spotted him waiting for her. But he wasn’t alone; Seungcheol was standing beside him and they were laughing about something.

Jin felt uncomfortable. She wondered why Seungcheol was there, and she wished he weren’t. She already felt embarrassed enough with her attire and makeup as it was, and she didn’t want so many people to see her like that. Especially someone as unfamiliar as Seungcheol.

They didn’t notice her when she first came out, but she took a deep breath and approached them. When Vernon caught her eye, she saw a hint of the characteristic smirk on his face as his eyes scanned her. Jin blushed and looked away. She wished she hadn’t dressed up.

“Hey Frostbite,” Vernon greeted her, “you look cute today. Actually, you always look cute.”

She bowed towards him formally, again, trying to avoid his eyes.

“You should wear dresses more often,” Seungcheol commented, “they’re more flattering.”

Jin looked at him to acknowledge his comment. She noticed that he was eying her curiously, his eyes were scanning her body and there was a smile on his face.

“Thank you,” she responded to his compliment.

“Go away, hyung,” Vernon shooed Seungcheol with his hands.

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows in Vernon’s direction, “our Vernon’s in love, is he?”

Vernon rolled his eyes and pushed Seungcheol playfully, “go away.”

Seungcheol chuckled and then said: “you should rap to her.”

Vernon ignored Seungcheol and then looked to Jin and explained, “don’t worry, Seungcheol just came to drop me off. He’s leaving now.” He emphasized the last word and glared at Seungcheol as he said it.

Seungcheol obnoxiously put his hands over Vernon’s shoulders and said: “nah, I wanna hang out with you and your girl.”

Vernon rolled his eyes again, and Seungcheol just kept laughing and laughing. Jin also smiled. It was funny to see Vernon in a situation where he wasn’t the dominant one like usual. She was so used to him being so macho and cool, it was funny to see him being teased like this by Seungcheol.

“If you don’t leave right now, I swear to God, I’ll kiss your cheek,” Vernon threatened.

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows at Vernon before Vernon lunged forward towards Seungcheol’s cheek. Seungcheol immediately backed off, laughing harder and harder. “Okay, okay, I’m leaving,” Seungcheol said, raising his arms in defeat. “Have fun on your date,” he said, waving to both Jin and Vernon.

Vernon rolled his eyes and then turned to face Jin, “ignore him,” he said.

Jin suddenly she felt a knot in her stomach. This was actually happening; her first date was taking place right now, and she was so nervous.

“Relax,” he told her, “dating is easy; you’ll see.”

It was startling to her that he noticed her nervousness; she thought that she had hid it well. Again, he was reading her so well, and Jin didn’t like that. She felt like she simply could not pretend in front of him. She felt exposed, almost, and vulnerable.

“You look really cute, by the way,” Vernon said. His eyes then noticed the necklace, and she could tell that he was smiling though he obviously tried to suppress it by biting his lip.

“You do too,” Jin replied, noting that Vernon was wearing a collared shirt himself when he usually just wore t-shirts. She was happy that he also dressed differently than usual, and so she wasn’t the only one.

“So you wanted to go to a coffee shop, right? There’s one a couple of blocks from here that’s nice and cozy. I know you hate the motorcycle, so I figured we could take a bus there instead.”

Jin nodded her head. But as they started to walk towards the bus stop, Jin gradually came to the realization that she was actually hungry. She hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and she had been so occupied with getting ready for the date that she had forgotten that she told Vernon she didn’t want to go to a restaurant for their date. She groaned internally, but decided to just wait until the date ended to eat. Maybe she would eat a cookie or something to ease her hunger.

As they walked, Vernon talked to her about a class assignment they had to do, which honestly just seemed like filler conversation they didn’t really need to have. Vernon was clearly trying to make it as minimally awkward as possible, but it was awkward despite his efforts. Being with him in this foreign way was just unavoidably awkward.

The bus came, and Vernon let her enter first. There were a couple of empty seats, but none next to one another. Jin sat down on one of the seats next to an older woman. Vernon took hold of the pole next to her and kept standing beside her.

“Just sit,” Jin told him, pointing to an empty seat a couple of rows down.

“The first rule of dating is that you can never be apart,” Vernon said raising his finger, as if instructing her.

“I didn’t know there were rules,” she replied.

“Well, they’re unwritten rules,” Vernon informed her, “but I’ll teach them to you. The first is that you can’t ever be apart. The second is that the girl has to kiss the guy on the cheek if they’re on the bus together.” He smirked.

Jin rolled her eyes. There he goes again with the cheek kisses.

“You’re breaking the rules, Frostbite,” Vernon shrugged, “there’s a penalty if you break the rules.”

“What’s that?”

“A cheesy pick-up line,” Vernon answered matter-of-factly. “And you know what those pick-up lines do to you,” he wooed coaxingly, smirking at her.

She smiled, amused, “I can handle it.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Vernon replied. He cleared his throat and said, “Your parents must sure know how to bake because they made you a cutie pie.”

Jin suppressed a smile from forming on her lips and kept a straight face.

“Damn, I failed,” Vernon frowned, “okay, here’s another: are you frostbite? Because you need something hot to ease the pain, and here I am.”

Jin, again, suppressed any sort of reaction.

“Okay, one more,” Vernon took a moment to think, “okay… here I go: do you have a map because I’m getting lost in…” The bus suddenly took a turn and Vernon fell down on the bus floor.

Jin held out her arm to help him up and asked if he were okay.

Vernon shook his head, and he refused to take Jin’s arm. He stayed on the floor, locked eyes with her and said: “I can’t get up, because I’ve fallen for you hard.”

Jin blinked and then could not help but blush and cover her face. She wondered if the fall was staged for this stupid and cheesy pick-up line. Vernon laughed at her reaction and got up from the floor.

The old lady beside Jin leaned in and whispered in her ear: “I think he deserves a kiss for that one.” Before Jin had the time to react to that, the bus stopped and Vernon said they were there.

Jin was glad to have gotten out of that bus. Everyone in the bus was looking at them because of Vernon’s fall and his cheesy pick-up line that he shamelessly said loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I agree with the ahjumma, by the way,” Vernon said as they headed towards a conglomeration of shops near the bus stop, “I think I deserved a kiss for that.”

“What is up with you and cheek-kisses?” Jin asked him.

Vernon shrugged, “Well, I want them from you, because I want you to get comfortable with me. Cheek kisses are intimate, but relatively less uncomfortable than anything else couples typically do. I know you’re new to this whole dating thing, and so I think cheek kisses will help you get used to it, you know?” He pointed at his cheek and lowered his face for her.

He had a way with words, Jin thought, feeling convinced that she owed it to him to try and get used to it. She took a deep breath and kissed his cheek hesitantly.

Vernon grinned. Jin blushed. Jin wondered how much longer she would need to do this before she stopped blushing after every little thing she does with him.

As they walked, she felt Vernon’s hand nudge hers. Her heart started beating faster than usual, but she accepted his hand and held it. It was strange.

She often did hold Wonwoo’s hand, but holding Vernon’s just felt so much different. Maybe it was just the awareness that holding Vernon’s hand signified something different than what it did with Wonwoo. They were doing it as part of a date.

“Relax,” Vernon told her. Again, he knew exactly how she was feeling and it made Jin do anything but relax. He squeezed her hand and pulled her forward.

They arrived at the coffee shop, which was located in the corner of the street. There weren’t many customers, and so it was nice and quiet. They entered and Vernon signaled for Jin to sit on the on the tables. When Jin chose what she wanted and got up to order, he made her sit back down and insisted that he do it.

“It’s another rule of dating,” Vernon told her, “the guy has to pay and order for the girl.”

“That rule is kind of ist,” Jin replied to him with a frown.

“Hey, I didn’t come up with the rules,” Vernon replied before rushing out to order for her.

Their order was finished within minutes (and, of course, the name that the baristas had called was ‘Frostbite’).

Jin occupied herself with the cookie she ordered to avoid looking at him.

“So, what’s your favorite bible quote?” Vernon asked her, clearly just looking for something to talk about.

Jin looked at him and recited her favorite verse, Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”

“Woah. That’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk,” Vernon laughed, “but it’s a nice quote. Except I don’t get the last sentence.”

“It means that prophecies, tongues and knowledge are all temporary, as opposed to love, which outlives it all. I know it sounds lame…”

“Nah, it’s not lame,” Vernon said with a shrug, “I know Jesus was big on love and stuff.”

Jin nodded.

“So why do you like this quote?” he asked.

“I think it’s a universal statement that every person in the world can relate to, no matter who. It also alludes to something about religion that a lot of people seem to be forgetting... but that’s a long story, and I don’t think you want to hear it.”

“No, I do,” Vernon told her, “tell me.”

Jin raised an eyebrow at him. He seemed genuinely interested; there was no hint of jest in his face at all.

And so she began to talk about the quote, and about religion, and about Jesus Christ, and about Paul the Apostle, and about the Holy Spirit and about all of those things that she knew so much about from her studies. He listened intently, asked questions, bringing in some of the things from class. He was clearly clueless about the subject, but he looked like he actually cared about what she had to say.

Jin wondered if he was feigning interest in the subject matter just so that she would be more comfortable talking to him about it. If he was, then he was definitely doing a good job pretending.

His interest in the matter made her comfortable talking about it. She found that she was talking so much, her tongue was dried and she needed to take a sip from her neglected tea.

If this was all an attempt at making her ease up in front of him by making her talk about something she knew a lot about, it worked. She found that her tongue was rolling with so much less effort than before.

She also found it a lot less startling when he kissed her cheek after getting up to throw away the plastic cups in the garbage. She did blush, but not as much as usual.

“My mom is kinda religious, actually,” Vernon informed Jin, “she got kind of religious after she lost her sight.”

“Can I talk to her?” Jin asked him.

“You want to talk to her now?” Vernon asked. Jin nodded.

As Vernon was dialing the number, she asked: “can I tell her that you’re dating someone?”

Vernon locked eyes with Jin for a moment before saying: “yes, tell her. She’ll be happy to hear it.”

Talking to Vernon’s mother felt so comfortable to her. She had completely embraced her role as Sofia, and she found that she did not need Vernon at all when she was asked about the family.

“Are you feeling better than before? I know you were lonely last time we talked,” Vernon’s mother asked.

“Much better mom. I made up with my friends. Kind of. I mean, we’re getting there.”

“I’m glad to hear that, sweetheart, really.”

“Also, Vernon told me that he’s going on a date…”

“Oh! Really?” she squealed. She seemed so happy about it, making Jin smile. She looked up and saw Vernon smile as well.

“Yeah, he told me… yesterday.”

“Oh my God. Do you know what the girl is like?” Mrs. Choi asked excitedly.

“Um, no,” Jin lied.

“Do you think he seriously likes her?” Mrs. Choi asked.

“Apparently he went out with two other girls this semester, and it ended with them, so I’m not sure that he’s serious about this one,” Jin answered honestly, glancing up at him. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Really? Two?” his mother asked, seeming surprised.

“Yeah...”

“I hope he’s not one of those womanizers,” his mother said.

When Vernon’s mother said it, Jin was reminded of Sena’s warnings against Vernon. Even Vernon’s own mother was skeptical about him and his intentions, so why wasn’t Jin more worried? Why was she even there with him?

She glanced at him and saw that the smirk had fallen off his face completely.

When the conversation with Vernon’s mother was over, he hung up the phone and then immediately turned to Jin and told her: “the first girl I dated this semester broke up with me, because she didn’t like my sense of humor or something. And I ended it with the second girl because I was starting to like someone else I call Frostbite. Yes, I do like you. That’s what I mean when I say that I think you’re cute. No, I don’t have ulterior motives. No, I don’t want to get in your pants or anything like that.”

Jin froze at the sudden confession. This was a question she had been tossing and turning with for many days now, and he just answered it with so much conviction: yes, he liked her. No, he didn’t just want to sleep with her.

“I at these sentimental things,” Vernon added, “and so I probably confused you, which is maybe why you’re so nervous about dating me. I’m sorry I didn’t make it clearer earlier, but I honestly thought that I did enough when I gave you the necklace. From the way you reacted to when my mom called me a womanizer, I could tell you have doubts. But here, I said it: I like you.”

Jin found that she believed him. “I did have doubts…”

“Don’t let any of your friends poison you against me, okay?” Vernon told her, “Because I know they are trying to. Don’t believe anything they say about me; they don’t know me.”

She nodded her head.

“So…” Vernon said, his lips curving into a smirk again: “I think my heartfelt confession earns me another kiss?” He pointed at his cheek.

-

Now that Jin believed that he liked her, and that he did not have any unwanted motives, everything was suddenly so much more comfortable than before. She was comfortable in the clothes she was wearing; she was comfortable talking with him; she was comfortable holding his hand, and kissing his cheek was no longer as daunting.

After their coffee shop date, he asked her for a walk along the Han River. Although she was very hungry, she found she wanted to spend more time with him and agreed.

Maybe she liked him too, she concluded.

“Aren’t you cold in that,” he asked, glancing at her lace cardigan.

“I’m okay,” she responded.

“Your hands are cold,” he said, squeezing the hand that was in his.

“I’m Frostbite, I’m supposed to be cold,” Jin replied as a joke.

“And I’m the hottie that’s supposed to keep you warm,” Vernon joked back. He let go of her hand and took off his own coat, handing it to her.

“That’s such a cliché move,” Jin replied to him haughtily, and he seemed slightly surprised, but amused, but took the coat from his hands anyway.

“I see. You don’t want your men to be cliché, is that it?” Vernon asked, raising his eyebrows.

Jin shrugged and slipped on the coat.

 “So I gifted you a necklace. We’re walking along the Han River. And I gave you my coat. I guess I’m too cliché for you. And so I guess you won’t agree when I ask you for another date this weekend,” Vernon said with a shrug.

Jin smiled: “okay, let’s go.”

“Okay to what? I didn’t ask a question,” he joked, to which Jin rolled her eyes.

“Thank for the necklace, by the way,” Jin told him, realizing she still had not thanked him for it. “I loved it. And it wasn’t cliché at all.” She hesitated for only a moment, but then she took his arm to support herself, stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek for the third time that date.

Vernon smiled. A smile. An actual smile that had not a hint of smirk in it.

“You know, this is the first time you give me a kiss without me asking for it,” he told her. She had not even thought of that before. “Does that mean you’re comfortable now with this whole we’re dating thing and so it will be harder for me to make you blush?” Vernon asked.

“I guess,” she answered.

“That would . I like making you blush.”

“Too bad,” Jin said with a shrug.

“Don’t get all confident now or I’ll do it again.”

Jin shrugged again and smiled, as if challenging him.

Vernon looked amused, “okay. All I have to do is ask you a simple question about religion and you’ll blush.”

“Religion is the last thing that will make me blush,” Jin told him, narrowing her eyes in his direction.

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

“Then ask the question.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, ask it,” Jin encouraged; honestly wondering what religious question he had to ask that would make her blush.

“Fine, I’ll ask it: I know that you’re very religious. And I feel like, as the guy that is dating you, I need to know the following information about the extent of your religiosity: so…. are you -until-marriage religious?” He looked at her curiously with a hint of a smirk on his face.

She couldn’t really tell if he was joking, or if he genuinely wanted to know. She wished it were just a joke, because she didn’t really know how to answer it, and she wished he didn’t really expect her to. Regardless of his intentions, he definitely succeeded in making her blush.

“It’s a joke,” he reassured her when he saw how she fell quiet after he asked it. “You’re not having doubts about me because of it, right?” he asked.

“No, I know it’s a joke,” Jin replied to him and smiled.

Vernon reached out and ruffled her hair. “You’re cute,” he told her, laughing. He took a seat on a nearby bench and an invited her to sit beside him.

“So, are you on good terms with Sena now?” he asked as she sat down.

“Not really. But better than before, I guess.”

“She hates me, doesn’t she?” Vernon asked her.

“What makes you say that?”

“I just know,” Vernon said with a shrug, “you can tell from the way someone looks at you how they feel about you. I can tell that she hates me. And I can also tell that you don’t.”

“Of course I don’t hate you. I wouldn’t be here if I did,” Jin said.

“But the real question is: do you like me?” he asked suddenly, a cheeky grin on his face. “I admitted that I like you, and it’s driving me crazy that you haven’t. I feel like my pride is under threat.”

Jin looked at her hands on her lap.

“Still not over that Seokmin guy, are you?”

She shrugged. He nodded in response to that.

They talked for a little more about random things; Jin found it so surprising how easy it was to do that.

Eventually, Jin noticed Vernon’s arms folding across his chest; he was cold. Jin took off the coat he had given her and handed it back to him.

“I’m good,” he said.

“I’m not cold anymore,” Jin insisted, forcing the coat in his arms, “just take it.”

Vernon nodded and put it on.

“But can I do something really cliché now?” Vernon asked with a smirk.

Jin narrowed her eyes and nodded to give him the permission he was asking. He reached out and took her hand, placing both of their hands in the pocket.

Jin couldn’t help but blush again.

They started walking along the river again, their hands intertwined in Vernon’s coat pocket. It only took a few minutes for Jin to feel cold again, and so she was tempted to take her hand out and fold her arms across her chest. But she it up, not wanting to make Vernon feel like he had to give up his coat again.

They passed by a public bathroom, and Vernon said he needed to go. As soon as he was out of sight, Jin rubbed her arms to try and keep warm.

No more than two minutes later, she felt someone’s arms around her from behind, startling her. “Boo!” came Vernon’s voice, followed by his cheeky laughter.

“You scared me,” she told him, turning her head to look at him.

“Are you cold, Frostbite?” he asked, tightening his grip around her waist and arms in order to keep her warm.

“I’m okay,” she lied, stiffening at the sudden intimacy she wasn’t prepared for.

Perhaps noticing her stiffness, he loosened his grip around her waist. It was then that her body betrayed her, and her stomach started to rumble. Vernon’s hands on her abdomen, he noticed all too clearly.

She looked at the ground, embarrassed. Vernon laughed and then brought his lips to her cheek and kissed it.

“Would you accompany me to that McDonald’s over there for a quick meal?” he asked softly in her ear after.

Jin nodded, and Vernon let go of her waist and held out his hand for her to take.

The meal was quick and very satisfying. When they were done, the sun was completely gone. She had not noticed how long the date had lasted until then, and she was surprised to find that she wasn’t even tired of it. She remembered just how nervous and eager to be done with it she had been before, and now that it was more or less over, she felt a little sad.

In the bus ride back to campus, Vernon asked her if she had a good time.

“I did,” she responded.

“Good, because you were a nervous wreck in the beginning,” Vernon laughed.

“Thank you,” she told him and bowed her head. She didn’t exactly know for what she was thanking him. For the date? For the money he spent on it? For gradually helping her get more and more comfortable with it?

“Thank me with a second date this weekend,” Vernon winked at her.

As they were walking from the bus stop back to Jin’s building, Vernon took her hand again, looking at her curiously to see if she would accept it. It was different holding hands with him on campus, because the people passing by actually knew both of them. Vernon was asking her whether she cared that other people knew.

And Jin didn’t, she wrapped her hands around his and gave him a reassuring look. He smirked, and they walked silently as familiar faces walked past, often double-taking when they saw that the quiet, religious girl was holding hands with the obnoxious playboy that often asks girls for cheek-kisses.

“So did I do well for your first date?” Vernon asked Jin when they arrived at her building.

“Much better than I thought you would,” Jin responded.

“Did I do well enough to deserve a final kiss?” he asked, pointing at his cheek and lowering it to give her access.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, but didn’t hesitate to grant it to him. The feeling of his cheeks against her lips was no longer so foreign to her as it had been, no longer as strange or awkward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

I just had my first date, and somehow it feels like a dream. It doesn’t feel real. So much had happened, and I don’t even know if I can remember it all. God knows how many times I kissed his cheek, and how many times he made me blush.

I’m going to skip all the details and talk about the highlight of the date: he told me he liked me. He outright said it, and for some uncanny reason, I believed him. I can’t imagine what it is about that made him feel like that; it feels too good to be true.

I was so scared in the beginning. I was nervous, and probably trembling. He noticed of course, and I don’t know what he did to make me completely ease into this date. I stopped feeling nervous and shy in front of him. I spoke to him as if he were Seokmin or Wonwoo or Sena. And thinking back, I don’t even remember how I made that transition. I remember talking to him about Corinthians 13:4-8, and then talking to his mother and holding his hand and kissing his cheek.

It feels like he has charmed me. I’m under whatever spell he had cast on me. The weird thing is that he’s still the cocky, obnoxious guy that I had always known him to be, but somehow, this obnoxiousness is supplemented with warmth I had never really seen in him before, until now.

Yes, he’s making me fall for him. And maybe this is just a stupid crush that I will look back on and hate myself for in the future, but right now, I’m falling for it. I like him a lot. To think that I said yes to dating him because I wanted to “use him” or something. I have completely lost sight of that now.

Does this mean I’m over Seokmin? I can’t even tell right now. All I know is that if Vernon is really the cunning playboy everyone makes him out to be, he has me completely fooled.

 

---

A/N: Sorry I took so long. It’s been such a busy week ;;

I’m so nervous about this chapter tbh. like i tried really hard but I FEEL LIKE IT’S SO LAME SORRY GUYS.