4. Slow Steps and Chocolate Milk

Pairing: Seulhun [Seulgi and Sehun]

Concept: HighSchool!Au

[Completed]

"Seulgi, he's waiting for you outside of the class again."

"Who?" Seulgi asked as she was finishing packing her bag with the notebooks she would need to do her homework.

"What do you mean who," Sooyoung laughed before nudging Seulgi. "Your boyfriend of course."

An almost imperceptible shade of pink appeared on Seulgi's cheeks and a soft smile grazed her lips. How could she forget about him? Seulgi somehow always forgot she was dating now since she had spent all her life alone before that and she wasn't exactly used to it. Nevertheless, having a boyfriend made her happy.

"Thanks," Seulgi smiled before zipping up her bag.

"Look at her being all giddy," Wendy laughed from the side. "You two are gross."

"I want a boyfriend too," Sooyoung whined. "Why is there no one waiting for me after school everyday?" Where is my Sehun?"

"How did you get him, Seulgi?" Wendy seriously asked.

"I don't know," Seulgi shrugged. "It just happened."

"Just happened you say?" Wendy incredulously repeated.

"Yeah right, just say you don't want to give us the secret," Sooyoung scoffed.

Seulgi smiled again. Didn't they have the same conversation every single time?

"I have to go but you can always check on his friends, I bet they would be your type," Seulgi said to Sooyoung before sprinting out of the room. "Bye!" she waved one last time.

As she walked to the corridor, Seulgi saw Sehun's large back a few meters away waiting for her. He was already wearing his coat and was holding his backpack on one shoulder.

He looks amazing without doing anything, this makes no sense, Seulgi thought.

Really, how did she get a boyfriend like him, she had no idea. What made even less sense is that he was the one who confessed to her on Valentine's day last month.

Secret? Seulgi didn't have any. She wished she knew what a good looking guy with many friends like Sehun was doing with her too. Not that she wasn't pretty or anything, she just wondered what he thought was so special about her to ask her out when they barely knew each other. Sure, they had some friends in common and she had been in three of his classes last year but really, Seulgi didn't feel like she stood out enough to get his attention.

She walked until she reached him and poked his arm. Sehun turned around and grinned as she responded with a bright smile.

"What took you so long?" he asked before handing out his hand.

"I was talking with Wendy and Sooyoung," she answered before shaking her head. "It's not heavy, I'll carry it today."

"It's fine," Sehun said before taking her backpack."It's better if it's not heavy."

Seulgi always noted the little actions Sehun did that made him the perfect gentleman. He would always carry her backpack, walk on the side of the driveway to protect her, letting her pass first every time, opening the door for her, bringing a big umbrella for the both of them on rainy days and even going all the way to bring her home if it was dark outside although he lived in the other direction. Once again, they barely knew each other and he was so nice.

They stepped outside the school's building and continued to walk silently side by side. It was in those moments of silence that Seulgi found interesting facts about her lover. Sehun was incredibly tall but he didn't feel intimidating at all. It was instead a reassuring feeling of protection that always warmed Seulgi when he was next to her. He also had a strange mix of a lazy and confident walk that made him look adorable but also alluring at the same time.

"How was your day?" Seulgi risked after much hesitation.

She couldn't help it, she wanted to hear his voice.

Even though they had been together for about 4 weeks now, Seulgi and Sehun were still deeply into that awkward phase lovers have to face when they just start dating. The problem was that even though they saw each other everyday, Seulgi and Sehun hadn't made any progress during that time. It was hard to start a conversation and if they ever did, the conversation would die just as soon. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that their walk after school was the only time they spent together because they were in different classes and they didn't eat lunch together.

"Great, just like any other day," he answered as he looked at her. "What about you?"

"The usual," she said before biting her lip because she knew it was already over. None of them had anything else to add to that.

Maybe something else would do the trick?

Seulgi pretended to stumble a bit and let herself slightly fall into Sehun's arms. He quickly grabbed Seulgi to steady her and asked her if she was okay. He always had quick reflexes too, Oh Sehun was a whole package.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, totally," Seulgi responded bashfully. "I just didn't see… that rock," she miserably lied even though there was absolutely nothing on the floor.

Sehun nodded and let it go at that. He also let go of her arm and continued to walk at the same pace as if nothing happened

And again, that was it. They were back onto that quiet, uneventful and steady routine where they had little to no interaction. This had to stop one way or another.

"Sehun," Seulgi called after finally catching up with his long steps as she asked for her backpack. "I have to go somewhere."

"Where? I'll come with you."

"No it's fine, it's a bit far and I don't want to bother you again."

"You're not bothering me at all."

"Really, it's fine," Seulgi terminated as she pushed up the straps of her backpack tightly onto her shoulders. "It would be a useless detour for you, you should go home. I'll see you tomorrow," Seulgi said as she ran off before he could insist again.

Sehun stayed dumbfounded on the sidewalk as he watched his girlfriend literally run away from him with a frown. What was it this time? He shrugged but still continued to walk to the bus stop. He noticed Seulgi was going the opposite way of her house but didn't do anything about it.

"Maybe she wants some time alone," Sehun thought out loud as he looked at his hand. "What a waste," he sighed. Today was the day he was supposed to try to hold her hand but he couldn't find the courage to once again. "Tomorrow for sure. I'll try tomorrow."

As usual, Sehun tried to lift his spirits up after another failed attempt. He had stopped counting after all the times he said he would act like a real boyfriend but didn't because he was too shy or too scared to burn steps with Seulgi and make her feel uncomfortable. Sehun certainly didn't want to mess up after all the courage it took him to confess to his crush.

On the other side, Seulgi had entered a convenience store and was now roaming the aisles looking for something special. Something that would make them talk more casually because of a shared interest. Something they both liked.

She hesitated between ramen cups and chips but then she wasn't sure what flavor Sehun preferred.

"Seafood or kimchi? Maybe original? What if he can't eat ramen? No, that was too risky," Seulgi said as she put down the cup. "Forget the chips," she shook her head. "If we ever do it I don't want our first kiss to taste like honey butter or onions."

Seulgi continued to search for the right item as if it was a matter of life or death.

Candies? There were too many options and she could easily be wrong about his taste.

Popcorn? If something got stuck on her teeth she wouldn't be able to forget it no matter how much time passed.

Canned coffee? Peanuts? Crackers? Juice? Chocopies? Tea? Seulgi was losing her mind. She saw a kid pick up some chocolate milk with a picture of Doraemon a few meters away and that's when she remembered having seen Sehun drinking some in the past.

"Of course!" she yelled. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

Seulgi rushed to the dairy section and picked up two chocolate milk cartons with a grin. She shook her head and then put back one of them on the rack.

"Strawberry milk for me," she giggled.

///

She was prepared. She had practiced what she was going to say all night. Seulgi was now walking down to Sehun's classroom with both milk cartons in her hand, one pink and one brown, one for him and one for her. He would thank her for this kind gesture (maybe even pet her head who knows), smile at her and ask her if that was the thing she had to do yesterday and she she would admit it shyly saying "I would do anything for you." Or not, maybe that was a bit too much. She would let it go at the shy smile.

Seulgi took a deep breath before opening the door of the classroom asking herself if she was doing the right thing. Whatever, *alea jacta est as her dramatic homeroom teacher would say. She scanned the room to find her lover but he wasn't so hard t