unedited - pls tell me if you spot mistakes!

Baekhyun doesn’t give many hints. Especially towards the date he’s taking me on - he tells me a time he’ll pick me up, and to ‘dress nicely’, which I assume constitutes to something like a dress or a skirt, and not my usual attire of leggings and a hoodie.

I try to ask around for advice on what to wear, but honestly, I don’t get much. I turn to Sehun and to no surprise, he’s not as much help as I want, particularly when he gets frustrated and decides to hang the phone up on me. Which is why when I get bored doing my university work at the kitchen table, my mom notices me browsing through clothes shopping websites, and lets out a little tsk sound.

“Do your work, silly girl,” she chuckles as she reaches into the cupboard to pull out a mug to make a cup of tea. She pulls out two and looks at me, brows raised, wordlessly asking me if I want one too. When I reply with a please, she smiles and faces away from me to turn on the kettle. I sigh in boredom, giving up on looking for dresses and clicking back onto the tab of my lecture notes. It’s even more boring, but she’s right, I do need to do my work. I have a few days to order clothes.

We settle into a comfortable silence, my mom humming along to a peaceful melody as she makes our tea helping me get more into the zone of my work, focusing on what I have to do. It’s like this for a while. When she’s done, she places the hot mug of herbal tea on the coaster next to my work and settles on the chair opposite me. Glancing up at her briefly, I offer her a smile in thanks and she grins, taking a sip from her own mug instead. She grabs her planning diary from the counter behind her and begins to read through her to do list for the next few days.

Since she’s gotten sick, she hasn’t gone back to work as she’s been feeling too frail for it. She’s been going for her dialysis for every four to five days, which takes most energy from her nowadays. My dad has just gone back to work after taking a while off to look after her properly, so it leaves me to watch out for her and keep her company between my lectures. I don’t mind, because spending time with my mom is one of my favourite things to do. Plus, I want to do everything I can to help her out, which is why I’m doing my work in the kitchen in the first place.

When I come to a still in my readings, I look up to see my mum preoccupied with reading something of her own. Watching her for a while as I drink my own tea whilst it’s less hot, I ask her, “Have you taken your readings today?”

It seems to startle her a little, as she looks up in surprise, but she quickly regains her composure and nods. She turns her book over to prepare for a conversation. “They’re stagnant, but I suppose that’s better than getting worse or getting too high.”

“What about your dialysis’? How are they?”

“Painful.”

She chuckles as she says so, seemingly taking interest in the tabletop instead of me. She tries to play her pain off with humour, but I know that it’s taking a toll on her mentally. It makes my heart ache to think about it. 

“Have you spoken to Baekhyun about it?”

“Why would I speak to him about it?” Her face contorts into confusion, her brows narrowing inwards and it makes me confused.

“Why… wouldn’t you? He’s your doctor…” Mom must be able to hear my confusion because she slowly shakes her head to refute what I said.

“Not anymore,” she speaks slowly as if it would make it sink in easier. “A few days after I came into the hospital, he passed that role over to Dr Do. He said it was inappropriate because he knew you’d ask questions he wouldn’t be allowed to answer.”

“He didn’t tell me that,” I frown, confused as to how to feel. Momentarily, I feel a little hurt that he hadn’t told me--until the law student in me kicks in and I know even if we aren’t married, Baekhyun being a family doctor of sorts must violate some HIPAA regulations, and what he did was for the best.

It’s only then I realise that when mom told me she didn’t see Baekhyun as often when she was in the hospital, it was because he had quit his job or was sick, but because he wasn’t her doctor anymore. I feel a little stupid for even trying to assume the first option.

“Did he visit you, though?” If she said she didn’t see him ‘as often’ that must mean she still saw him a few times.

“Yeah, he sat with me and your dad a few times… Did he not tell you any of this?”

“Wait, Dad?” Baekhyun and my dad getting along bring more shock to me than anything. It wasn’t that my dad didn’t improve of him, he was just… protective, of sorts.

“Yeah? He always said he would hate to see his parents go through the same thing, so he visited us and all. Maybe he just wanted to get in our good books.”

It’s then I realise, Baekhyun isn’t in this just for a fling. He genuinely, truly cares, even to the extent to visiting my own mother in hospital whilst I’m not there. It's weird, because even without him here, I feel a surge of warmth flood through me - like I would feel if he was there, touching me. If there mere thought of him makes me feel like this, I wonder what it'll be like to see him again soon. Fleetingly, I wonder if it’s too quick to say I almost love him.

In about half an hour, Baekhyun will be picking me up for our date. It's about six thirty, presently - him promising to pull up at seven. After a whole, long process on what to wear, I had eventually rung up Baekhyun himself to guide me.

"When you say dress nicely, how nice does that mean? A casual dress, a skirt and top... a maxi dress?" I had stressed to him one evening over the phone, and he'd let out a huge bout of laughter. 

"Wear a longer dress, baby," he chuckled,  "you can wear whatever you want, but if I'm wearing a blazer, maybe you shouldn’t come in a casual type of dress.”

At that, I had almost freaked out that I didn’t have time to find a maxi dress, but with the reassurance from Baekhyun that I’ll make it work, I went on the hunt.

With the help of my female friends from university, I decided on a dark green dress. It’s a thin, silk material, with spaghetti straps that cross at the back, leaving the skin on show. The bust dips down a little far into my cleavage, too, but it’s not something I particularly mind. The dress slits just below the knee, revealing my feet as I walk, so I pair it with a simple pair of black heels. It’s an elegant look, flattering where I need it to be and I feel pretty. I might be cold later on, but sometimes sacrifices need to be made to look good.

As I wait in the living room awkwardly, I feel my nerves building up. Not because I worry whether I dressed up too much, because I feel good so that doesn’t matter, but because this is so new to Baekhyun and I. It adds a completely new dynamic to our relationship. Almost as if this is the official start to an actual relationship.

Pacing with nerves for a while, I freeze in horror as the doorbell sounds. Glancing at the clock, I notice that with all the time I spent worrying, it’d already made it to seven, and that’s Baekhyun at the door. My parents are at the hospital, my dad accompanying my mom as she gets her kidney dialysis, so I already said goodbye to them a few hours ago. My heels click on the wood as I walk towards the door and pull it open. 

As soon as I see the man before me, I close my mouth quickly, wanting to take him in. He wears a simple, white shirt with an ed black blazer, his matching slacks held up with an expensive looking Gucci belt. It’s almost all black, so minimalistic, but he looks handsome. Breathtaking, even. His dark hair parts in the middle, his natural waves flicking out towards the end. He looks so youthful, so happy. It seems as though he has the same reaction towards me because his jaw slacks open a little when he sees me, and he lets out a small, almost silent intake of breath that he probably didn’t want me to hear. I give him a shy smile as my eyes meet with his again.

He blinks a few times, until he finally breathes out, “Oh, you look beautiful.”

He sounds in awe, almost, and I feel myself reddening at the attention. “Thank you, Baekhyun. You look really handsome, too.”

As though the compliment snaps him out of his speechlessness, he asks, "Are you all ready to go?"

"Sure, but walk slowly, because I can't walk quickly in these heels."

It warms my heart when he really does slow down to make his speed match mine, his arm holding on my elbow the whole way to make sure I don't fall. The excited, wide smile hasn't left his cheeks since we left the house and his cheeks must hurt at the rate they're widening with his grin, but I can feel mine matching his.

Baekhyun parks as close as he can to the restaurant he booked us a reservation for. When we pulled up outside, my jaw threatened to open in shock because I know how expensive this place. I don't say anything simply because I know he'd refute it. He'd told me that he was taking me to a nice restaurant, hence the elegant wear, but I didn't expect it to be one this expensive. Pulling into the parking space just a few meters from the entrance, he turns to me with a smile, asking, "Hungry?"

"I didn't eat much today because I wanted to be hungry for this," he chuckles at that and nods in agreement with me, "so yeah, I'm hungry." 

"Well, this is the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to, so I hope you like it." 

"What if I don't like Japanese food?"

His body stills from opening the door, his body slowly turning to face me. His eyes are widened, showing a little bit of worry and to play along, I try and keep as straight-faced as I can. When he's facing me fully, he looks as though he's going to say something, but his mouth snaps back shut and he purses his lips instead. He looks so distressed that I can't help but let out a laugh. Realising that I have been joking, his body visibly deflates and he lets out an audible sigh of relief.

"Oh, God, you got me so worried there for a second," he breathes out, his hand against his chest. I wonder what he would've done if I was telling the truth. 

"Why? A waste of money?" I tease and he lets his act drop and rolls his eyes. 

"No, I just wanted to make this evening perfect for you." 

As I let the comment set in, too touched to even say anything, Baekhyun opens his door and makes his way around the car to my door. He opens the door for me and holds his hand out for me to grab it, helping me step out of the car with these heels. Making sure none of my dress is caught in the door, he holds his forearm out for me to balance on and walks us to the restaurant.

I let him do all the talking to the waitress, and when we're about to move to our actual table, he moves his arm away from mine to hold onto my hand. He goes in front of me, still holding on my hand, to guide me to the table we're sitting at. I guess he didn't want to disturb people by walking side by side.

I realise he really did want to make it the perfect evening for both of us when I see the table he has reserved for us. It's nothing too fancy, juxtaposing the surrounding area of the restaurant we're sat in. A simple milk bottle vase sits in the middle of the table, a red flower perched in it. There are candles on each side of the vase–lighting up the otherwise very dark restaurant. As the waitress sets up the last few things for the table, Baekhyun clenches my hand to pull my attention to him.

He doesn't do anything when I look up to him–instead, just scrunches his nose slightly, watching me as I smile softly up at him. He looks even more breathtaking under the candlelight. I make a mental reminder to tell him so later. Announcing that everything's ready, the waitress pulls out the chair for me and I (though reluctantly) let go of Baekhyun's grip to sit. Following after me, Baekhyun sits and the waitress leaves with a respectful bow. 

Opposite me, he sits with his arms perched on the table, his head leant against his palm. He stares intently at me but there's a softness to his expression, flickering of something in his eyes from the candle and I can't help but just watch back. After a few seconds, I get too bashful under his gaze and softly bite my lip, paying attention to the menu before me instead. I only notice he has looked away when I hear the opening of his menu.

"I don't know what to order, this all looks so complex." I've eaten Japanese food, of course I have, but never to this level, when I don't really understand what anything is, or what the different types of fish and sushi are. It's all very... out of what I'm used too. Other dates, not even just with Baekhyun, have been to pizza chains, even bowling–never to this extent. But I also suppose that however many months this thing with Baekhyun has been happening for, he's never done anything like this, so it's not like he's perhaps showing off his wealth as people might think. 

"Should I order for the both of us, then?" He looks up at me from the top of his menu before placing it on the table. "We can share some dishes if you'd like."

"That sounds good, actually." Putting my trust in Baekhyun, I let my gaze wander from the food section of the menu to the drinks. When I spot the wine that I like, I ask, "Can I drink wine?"

"You're an adult, honey, I'm not policing you," he chuckles, placing his menu completely onto the table as he fumbles with his fingers against the table. "I wasn't planning on drinking because I'm driving." 

"I don't want to drink alone," I frown, feeling a bit weird at the fact I would be drinking wine all by myself. But I suppose it's not that weird, and I like the white wine, so I shake my head and argue, "Nevermind. I'll have a glass of sweet Riesling instead."

"That's a good wine, actually," he raises his brows a little as if he is in deep thought. "Now I want to drink."

"We could always just get a taxi home if you want to drink more than one glass?" 

"Clever girl." He taunts and I scoff lightly, rolling my eyes to . "Should I order now?" I nod my head in assent, watching him get the waitress who attended to us earlier attention. 

Though I know I’ve been doing a lot of simply watching Baekhyun, it’s something that I cannot help but do. The way he carries himself, his aura of confidence and as weird as it may sound, happiness that encompasses him, draws me to him. Everything, when I am with him, is so easy. I don’t have to think too deeply about anything. It’s easy. Natural. Comforting. Watching him interact so easily with those around him is almost mesmerising. I’m not sure how he does it, but with every person that encounters him, he makes it so relaxing, like talking to him takes the weight off your shoulders for as long as you’re delimited by hi