"Strike a pose." The girl muttered as she faced the mirror. "Strike a pose." She repeated, this time she actually did strike a pose. It would have looked odd to others because he had s helmet on her head, thank god she was alone at the moment. "Ajeu(Very) nice..." she muttered while standing straight and admired her mysterious reflection...

“Meow.” Carrot called out as she came to rub herself against her owner’s ankle.

“Hey, Carrot.” Soo Min greeted before bending over to pick her feline companion up. “What do you think of my modeling skills, huh? Am I worthy of the cat walk?” She giggled at her own question before she heard a knock on the door and it started to open. Carrot quickly jumped out of her arms in fright, scratching the back of her hand on accident. The girl let out a small yelp from the sudden commotion and directed her attention to the opening door to see Seokmin poking his head in.

“Uh?” His grinning expression fell into one of confusion and slight fear when he saw her standing there with a motorcycle helmet on her head, sealing her identity away. Surely it’s still Soo Min, this is her room after all. He thought as the figure just stood there, obviously staring at him… it was kind of creepy!

“What’s up, DK?!” Soo Min’s voice called out to him from within the helmet and she waved. Since she asked him to call her by her name instead of addressing her with “Miss Chae”, he also requested her to use his nickname because she emphasized how she wanted to be causal in the house.

“Can I ask where you got that helmet from?” He gave a small laugh while entering the room. It might sound ridiculous to say that helmet looked familiar to him, but it honestly did. Is that Jeonghan’s spare helmet?

“Oh, I found it on the way home the other day.” She lied while taking the mentioned item off of her head, blowing a few stray strands out of her face before flashing him a cute smile.

“Found it?” He frowned. “Is that safe?”

“Don’t worry about it!” She assured him before setting it on her nightstand and headed over to him. “You came to say lunch is ready, right? Let’s go!” She tugged on his arm to follow her out of her room since he had been staring at the helmet. Hearing her door shut, it snapped him out of it in time to see the back of her right hand was bleeding from when Carrot scratched her.

“Your hand!” He gasped before reaching out for it. “Hurry!” He dragged her to the bathroom to get it taken care of with the first aid kit. She pouted as she sat on the toilet seat while he pulled out some disinfectant wipes and a large band-aid that would possibly cover the majority of her hand since there were about 3 lengthy scratches that were inflicted. For now, this would have to do. She hated the cleaning part since it always stung so much and she was a baby when it came to pain.  “Sorry about that.” He apologized, knowing it had to be when he entered her room while she was holding Carrot.

“It’s fine, Carrot is just a scaredy cat, just like her mama.” She joked, earning a small laugh from her butler.

At least her wound wasn’t too bad, but it was still bad! Seokmin fortunately had some training in first aid and concluded she didn’t need to see a doctor since he properly cleaned it and dressed the wound with the appropriate bandage. Her cute and small hand was now ugly with a boring ‘almost skin color’ed band-aid. Damn.

After they were done, they headed to the dining area to eat lunch, her grandmother was currently out running some errands of her own, so it was just her and Seokmin at the moment since Carrot was being pretty spoiled today and ate her lunch earlier… probably because she was due for a trip to the vet. “Do you have any plans today, Soo Min?” Seokmin asked towards the end of their meal.

“Nope, why?”

“Well, I have to take Carrot to her vet appointment soon, I thought maybe you had something to do while we’re away?”

“Awwwh, she has to go to the vet today?” Already Soo Min looked incredibly upset. “My poor baby!”

“She’ll be okay, relax!” He laughed. “She’s just getting some updated shots and a checkup.”

“I would go with her, but I’m scared of animal doctors, too.” She let out a sad sigh. “I guess I’ll just take a nap or something until you’re back?”

“Sure, take it easy.” He agreed with a bright smile. “But if you do decided to leave, be sure to let me know, you don’t have to tell me where you’re going, just that you left.”

“Right.” She gave a thumbs up. “Thanks for complying to my requests, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Chae.” See her frown at him addressing her like that made him laugh again. “I just had to!”

…

Soo Min lied on her bed while staring up at the ceiling with many thoughts swirling in her head. She was thinking about how terrified Carrot must be right about now, heading to the vets. She thought about what her grandmother was doing on her errands. She thought about what LiNa was up to and if Ren was a part of it or not… and she was also thinking about what that waiter, Jeonghan, was doing.

It was the weekend, Sunday to be more exact. Seokmin took Carrot to a vet office that was surprisingly open 24/7, how convenient, right? What was there to do on a Sunday then? Wasn’t Sunday the day everyone stays in and rests after a long week of work and school? She had to laugh, here she was the exact opposite today, she wanted to go out. But it’s so out of my character to make plans…  she’s never really wanted to go out before to be honest. She believed the world was a dangerous place and wanted to stay safe majority of the time.

She let out a sigh of defeat until she heard her phone buzzing on her night stand. Someone was calling her.

Incoming call…

REN

“I never noticed how pretty you were until I looked at your caller ID.” She answered the phone with a stifled laugh.

 

“Thanks.” He snickered at the way she answered his call.

“What’s up, y lady?” She joked.

“Just on my way to pick up a hot dude.” He chuckled. “Get ready, I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

“Eh?! Where are we going?!” She jumped out of bed in surprise. The call ended. “What a rude lady!” She complained before rushing to change out of her PJs. She managed to put on a pink t-shirt and white capri pants with matching pink sneakers. If she was going out with Ren, she should dress nice as to not embarrass him. She hated it when he’d complain and scold her for her outfit not matching. I don’t even like pink… she thought in annoyance before hearing a car horn honk outside. That must be him. She grabbed her wallet and house key before rushing out to the car.

When she got outside, she saw Ren had come alone instead of getting Aron to drive him like he usually did since Aron was more than just a casual friend of theirs. She approached the fancy white car and opened the passenger door and was greeted by Lady Gaga’s singing voice, her song Born This Way was currently playing. He turned it down a bit to speak when she bent over to look inside. “Get in!” He gestured her with his hand.

She did as she was told and sat in the passenger seat. “Where are we going?” She asked.

“For a ride!” He smiled. “I bet you haven’t left the house since the other day, you need fresh air!”

“How do you know?!” She laughed. “Are you stalking me?!”

“No, it's just common knowledge.” He said with a sad smile. “Let's change that, go out with me more.”

“I only go out unless there's pizza and sweets involved.” She pouted yet, she felt like this was a blessing in disguise. She wanted to go out and someone heard her wish. Is he like some kind of All-Knowing-God?!

“Then I'll take you out just for that.” He cracked a smile. “You won't be such a hot dude anymore when you gain weight, but it's okay, I can be y for the both of us.”

“Yas girl, you do that.” She giggled. “Slay queen, slaaaay!”

“Don't talk like that!” He frowned, it reminded him of how annoying their friend Aron is to him on a daily basis. Since their friend was from America, he’d always use those accents and slang on him to make him laugh but instead it would always annoy him. “Do people really talk like that?!” He had shouted one time. “Believe it or not… YES!” Aron had replied while laughing until he cried at Ren’s 100% DONE expression.

“Why not?!” She grinned. “You is queen-” she was cut off when he reached over to cover with his hand. There was that 100% DONE expression.

“You is annoying, god!” He managed to laugh.

“You is rude!” She quickly fired back.

“You is funny.”

“You is stupid.”

“You is mean.”

“You is cute when you irritated.” She pointed at his expression changing.

“Enough!” He looked away, getting slightly flustered at her comment. It wasn’t like she normally called him cute… and earlier she called him y! Okay, actually she said y woman but same thing, right? Not even. LOL.

“I win.” She smiled evilly before he told her to put her seat belt on and they were off on an adventure, Ren tried to calm down on the way there while Soo Min admired the cars they passed by, like it had been years since she left the house. He decided he should take her out daily, almost like a dog, they always needed to be fed and walked and played with. He chuckled at that thought when he realized she was more of a cat person and here he was thinking of her as an adorable puppy. “What?” She asked when they stopped at a stop light.

“Nothing.” He muttered, keeping his eyes on the road.

…

“Careful, it’s hot!” Ren scolded when Soo Min tried to reach for a slice of pizza that was just served to them. They finally made it to a pizza joint to eat at after driving around for a bit in silence. She had been occupied with the passing cars and people to properly engage in a conversation with him, but that was fine, he listened to his music while she zoned out. He’d never get bored of Lady Gaga’s music at least.

“It’s better when it’s hot!” She complained before dropping the slice because it almost burned her fingers. That almost reminded him of a Lady Gaga lyric! I just want it to be hot because I'm better when I’m in love and I’m in love with you.

“I told you!” He laughed as she blew on her fingers before switching hands to pick the slice up with her right hand that had the giant band-aid on it from earlier when Seokmin tended to her wound she got from her kitten. Immediately, Ren reached out to stop her hand from moving so he could get a better look at it. “What happened?!” He blurted out in horror.

“What?!” She frowned before noticing what he was talking about. “Oh, that? Carrot scratched me earlier.”

“Why?!”

“She was startled by a noise, it was an accident.” She giggled at his complete look of worry. “I’m fine, don’t fret.”

“Does it hurt?” He asked, looking like he was feeling the pain now. “She scratched you the other day as well, right? Should you get her declawed?”

“A little, but I’m fine.” She said while reaching for the pizza slice again. It should be cooled off by now. “No way, I wouldn’t do that to her! It was an accident, it’s fine!” She quickly added and blew on her pizza again.

“Just because you can hold it, doesn’t mean you can eat it.” Ren warned just as she was about to take a bite.

She dropped the pizza onto her plate like a child with a bad attitude. “Okay, tell me when.”

“Never.” He simply said before laughing at the expression she made from that reply. “Just wait a minute or two, you act like you haven’t eaten in days.”

“Correct, I haven’t eaten pizza in days.” She grinned when he rolled his eyes.

“What else have you not eaten in days?”

“Cake.” She pouted while recalling how her grandmother told Seokmin to feed her granddaughter healthier meals and snacks.

“Should we get some after this?” Ren suggested and he never saw her smile so brightly before!

“Do you need to ask? Of course!”

“If only you would smile that brightly when you saw me.” He played hurt.

“If only you would smile when you see food!”

“I do!”

“No you don’t!” She laughed when he defended himself.

“Whatever, just eat!” He complained before sitting back in his seat with his arms folded across his chest. She has no clue why I said that… He thought, feeling a little disappointed. Every pass I make at her, she only thinks I’m joking. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could sit through her giggling and snarky replies when he was trying to be serious. But he couldn’t be mad or annoyed, he always chickened out when he thinks about telling her the truth. When he thinks about telling her how he truly feels. LiNa was right, he was more into her presence than her opinions.

“Your pizza is getting cold.” Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Better eat it before I do.”

“Go ahead.” He gave a small smile.

“Really?” He only nodded, as long as it would make her smile. “Thanks!” And there was that bright smile again. If you would just… He suddenly chuckled when he noticed she had some pizza sauce on the corner of , she was eating like a toddler!

“Slow down.” He said while grabbing a napkin. “You’re making a mess.” He added before leaning over to wipe the sauce off her face. If only...

“What’s the point?” She frowned. “I’m not even finished yet?”

“Your skin will stain…” he pointed out.

“Oh… I forgot.” She gave a sheepish laugh. “But at least I can say it’s natural?”

“Reckless.” He snickered before sitting back in his seat. “Seriously, slow down or you’ll get sick.”

“Yes, understood.” She gave another sheepish giggle before returning to her food.

“Even if you get sick, I’ll take care of you.” He tried again.

“Yeah right, I’m sure you have better things to do.” She laughed once again. “Like lip syncing to Lady GaGa or going to those Fashion parties.” She grabbed a napkin to wipe her hands off. “I have a butler who can take care of me, don’t worry, he’s more equipped to handle my overdose on pizza.”

“What happened to your housekeeper?” He frowned at this piece of news. He never heard that she got a butler, she had a housekeeper last he checked and that housekeeper was female.

“She was replaced.” Soo Min said with a scowl. “My parents sent a spy to look after me.” Ren fell silent at those words. He felt bad for her, he knew she hated when her parents got nosy with her. “But it’s fine, he isn’t totally under their control.” That pronoun was really bothering Ren right about now. He… he… a he.

“That’s good. So how old is he?” The other he had to ask.

“I never asked. He only started working in the house for about a week now. He’s around our age, I assume.”

“Is he attractive?” Ren just had to know.

“Why? Are you interested?” She gave a teasing grin. “I’ll admit, he has a pretty nice smile. He’s like a happy virus, it’s nice to have him in the house and he gets along with Carrot so well, I’m kinda jealous!”

“It’s okay, you still have me to play with.”

“How boring.” She joked, but she had a cute smile behind her funny expression and he noticed it. “You’re too big, not fluffy, nor do you have little bean paws!”

“So picky!” He threatened to throw the napkin he just used earlier at her before pouting, but on the inside he was smiling.

“But at least you can reply when I talk and you understand, unlike Carrot, she’s more interested in a piece of string than me.”

“Typical felines.” Ren snicked. “At least you have my full attention.” He added while resting his face into the palms of his hands and leaned forward on the table to demonstrate that. His full attention was on her right now.

“True.” Soo Min gave a shy smile when she noticed him looking at her like he was staring at something he really liked. It started to make her feel a little nervous. “Until Lady Gaga comes on.”

“Pffft…” he snickered at that, “Not when I’m with you.”

“That’s hard to believe.” She playfully rolled her eyes. “Should we go now?” She asked, noticing the pizza was gone and there was nothing left to eat at the table.

“Sure.” He refrained from sighing, he supposed he shouldn’t have expected much out of this small lunch meeting. “Still got room for cake?”

“Of course! I always do!” She beamed while jumping up from her seat. After he paid for the meal, they left for their next destination.

…

“Are you ready for the trip next weekend?” Ren asked after he ordered their dessert. He managed to take her to any other cafe besides Carat Cafe. He didn’t feel like having her get distracted by that waiter when she was with him. He wanted her attention…

“What trip?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

“Your mother’s launching a clothing line in L.A. next weekend. You mean you aren’t going to go and support her?” The moment he asked that question, he felt guilty from the expression she wore. Suddenly she looked like she was in a bad mood and he knew why.

“Of course I’m going.” She sighed. “I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t. It just slipped my mind is all.” She added while fiddling with the straw wrapper from her iced coffee. “Though, I wish it wasn’t overseas… I hate traveling.” Now she was ripping up the wrapper into tiny pieces.

“I know it’s not that fun to travel but I promise it’ll be fun once we’re there. There’s going to be fireworks because it’ll be the 4th of July.” At the mention of that she perked up a bit in her seat. She was really fond of fireworks but hated how noisy they were since she was someone who got startled easily. “Also… there’s a surprise for you when we get there, too.”

“Really? A surprise?” He simply nodded. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise, I can’t tell you.” He chuckled.

“I hate surprises!” She pouted. “Can’t you at least give me a hint?”

“If I told you, would you be more willing to go?”

“Depends!” She narrowed her eyes.

“Then, prepare to travel a lot while we’re there because we’ll be hunting Pokémon.” He smiled.

“Hunting Pokémon?!” She repeated with wide eyes. “Wait?!”

“They’ll be launching that Pokémon Go app while we’re there. I asked Hana to have it ready for you to play once it’s out since they won’t be launching it here in Korea for a while.”

“Awh man.” She pouted at that last bit. “I guess that’s part of the game, traveling.” She added with a small laugh. “Well then, I’m excited to go now.”

“Good.” He was glad that worked out better than he thought. He had a feeling she might have not been so eager to go regardless if he told her about the surprise, her hate for traveling and leaving home was pretty strong, and the fact that she’d be apart from Carrot, too.

He was curious how things would play out now… they didn’t have a lot in common besides being children of well known couples, basically being from a rich family. But he admired how she had given Lady Gaga a chance in attempts to bond and become closer as friends so he was going to give Pokémon a chance to get closer to her as well. Because he knew she smiled the brightest when she was doing something she liked. He wanted to see that smile he’s come to love so much.

Suddenly he heard her squeal in delight and he snapped out of it to see she was enjoying the cake he ordered for her. There was that smile and he took out his phone to snap a picture.

“What are you doing?!” She frowned, completely embarrassed that he just snapped a photo of her eating. She was also surprised since he of all people knew she hated her picture being taken, even if it was him.

“You looked so happy, I just wanted to document this memory.” He just smiled while staring at the photo he took with his own happy smile. “I don’t get to see it every day, it feels so rare.” He added and a hint of sadness mixed with his expression.

“Sorry.” She muttered an apology. It was true that he didn’t get to see it every day, she was always reluctant to meet him every time he asks, on some days she’d be swayed by the promise of food and sweets and other days she wouldn’t budge. He was only trying to be social with her, something everyone wants her to do but most of the time she doesn’t like to because of the attention let alone she never feels like she could keep up with the topics other people would talk about. Even when she was visiting with Ren and his step-sister, she couldn’t keep up with their fashion talk.

I’m quiet. I’m not that talkative. She was never the one to start most conversations and usually remained quiet because she never knew what to say in response to almost everything anyone talks about. I’m not outgoing. She’s definitely had her moments because of her fake persona but in reality, she tends to keep to herself. I’m sensitive. I’m super complicated. Why am I like this? She wondered how long it had been like this? When did it start? And was this why Ren is always inviting her out, to help her get over it? She felt bad for her friends.

“I’ll take you home now?” Ren broke the silence between them after a few moments.

“Sure.” She simply nodded.

…

On the drive home Ren could tell Soo Min’s mood hadn’t changed much since they left the cafe. He supposed he shouldn’t have made those comments about her smile because her mood had been down and off since then. He thought about apologizing, but quickly found it ridiculous to be apologizing for something like that. He didn’t insult her… he wasn’t in the wrong. But he felt so bad about it and it was really eating away at him. He didn’t know what he could do to fix the situation until he saw a few drops of water fall onto his windshield. It was starting to rain.

He glanced over to see Soo Min watched the raindrops start to increase into a steady rainfall and a smile tugged at her lips. He never understood why she seemed happy whenever there was a storm or the weather was “bad” because he never asked and they never talked about it. “Why?” He blurted out. “Why does this make you happy?” Today was the day he would ask.

“Because…” she started off quietly, “when the rain stops, it’s like it cleansed everything. And the rainbow that appears after is beautiful. Even if I don’t care for colorful things, I can’t deny that it’s not pretty.”

“Really?” He didn’t know why that sounded so cliché and he almost snickered at it.

“The rain also reminds me of fond memories.” She said before he could say or do anything. “It reminds me of the times I spent with my parents before they got too busy, they hated the rain and it would keep them inside and cancel plans. It was the only times I got to be with them. Even now, the rain would keep halmoni home and we’d spend time together to wait out the storm. I’ve also met wonderful people in the rain as well. On the days I thought were so sad and gloomy because of the rain, I met wonderful people.” She looked over to him with that happy smile. “Don’t you remember the day we met? It was raining like this…” she looked out the windshield once again.

“You’re so strange.” He finally snickered, but it wasn’t in a rude way. He was just in awe and didn’t really know how to react to that long answer.

“I don’t know why that would make me like the rain so much, but it does. When I think about it, I’m never alone when it rains. Someone is always by my side when there’s a storm, whether that be halmoni or Carrot…” she trailed off when the memory of meeting Jeonghan came to mind. Someone was always coming to her when it rained. She looked over to him again and smiled. “Right now, you’re here by my side.” She noticed he seemed surprised when she said it and could see his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, it was adorable. “I used to think rainy days were sad and lonely, but it’s the days when it’s not raining that are the loneliest for me because everyone is busy. When it rains… they’re not so busy. Does that make sense?” He didn’t respond since he was still blushing from a moment ago. “I guess I really am strange.” She laughed.

“I like it.” He blurted out.

“Huh?” She looked over at him, suddenly feeling nervous. Because he looked nervous?

“I like the rain now, too.” He said before a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “There’s nothing wrong with being strange…”

“He said that too.” She grinned.

“Who?!” He frowned instantly when she mentioned someone else, it was funny to her and she had to laugh.

“DK… my butler.”

“Oh.” He sighed in defeat. He was never going to get used to hearing about DK, would he? “Shall I take you home now?” He asked, he figured she was about done getting dragged around town.

“No!” She instantly pouted. “Besides, it’s a beautiful day! We should stay out and enjoy it together!” She flashed him a cute smile and it was enough to bring up his moods again.

“Okay.” He agreed, glad to see she didn’t want to go home for once. I hope it rains more often. He thought to himself as they continued their small adventure. Rain is a beautiful thing anyway, just like her.

Chapter four~!

REN, you’re so cheesy~!

Ren: ….

So cute~! Such cute friends…

Ren: *Friendzoned*

I’m sorry Ren lol… I still love you~!

Ren: Well , I don’t love you anymore *walks away*

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~!

Ren: I’m just kidding… I still love you, even if you won’t “Say You Love Me”

He used the story title against me…. Huehuehuehue

Anyway, long time no update! Sorry about the wait~!

Hopefully I can get more chapters out soon, but until then, enjoy what I have~!

School started again but this is my last semester so patience ^^

Until next time~!