From: Kyungsoo sunbae

Hello Seungwan shii! I hope you are ready. I'll be there to pick you in about 5 mins.

Seungwan read the message she had just received and took a final look at herself in the mirror. She had tried hard to dress as normally as she could, a knee-length striped frock with black tights and pumps and a side braid, so that it didn’t look like she was going on a date.

She was shaken out of her train of thoughts as she heard a car pull up outside the house.

"He's here!", Soojung announced excitedly entering the room.

"I am going, bye!", Seungwan hurried out of the room. She didn't want her mother to get to the door first and start telling Kyungsoo about how happy she was that he and Seungwan were dating.

"You forgot your bag!", Taeyeon called after her and Seungwan rushed back to the room to pick it up. Taeyeon held it for a moment teasing her, and finally gave it into her grip, winking. “Good luck!”

Seungwan wanted to groan and roll her eyes but she didn’t have the time. Taeyeon and Soojung had been all over her, pestering her for details, ever since she’d told them that Kyungsoo had invited her for lunch. Needless to say, they didn’t believe her about it not being a date, and she’d stopped being defensive.

As she sprinted down the stairs, she saw the sight she was already dreading: Kyungsoo was being welcomed in by her mother.

In the hurry she was in, Seungwan accidently missed the last stair and was about to fall face-first when somebody's arms caught her.

"Hey, easy there! You okay?", She looked up to see Kyungsoo peering at her, his eyebrows raised. Seungwan swallowed hard. This was the second time this was happening, and her heart was leaping inside her chest seeing him up-close. There was something soft about his gaze –

Someone cleared their throat which shook them out of their daze and they both shifted apart awkwardly. Seungwan looked up to find that it was none other than her own brother who was now busy openly frowning at them, his dislike of the whole affair unmasked.

“What an awkward midget – “, Sehun started and was met with a slap on the back of his head by their mother who was standing next to them. Seungwan glared daggers at him. She didn’t know who the ‘midget’ comment was meant for, but she certainly didn’t like it. She’d grown up hearing how Sehun inherited all the ‘good’ genes from their mother, while she got her comparatively shorter height from her father. And for some absurd reason, she felt glad Kyungsoo wasn’t a tall towering presence, but rather a comforting, equal-footed one.

Kyungsoo chuckled, surprising them and she looked to find him smiling.

"Don't mind him Kyungsoo-yah! Would you like to come and have something first before leaving?", Mrs. Son beamed at Kyungsoo. Seungwan sent eye signals to her mother to not say anything more, but they went un-noticed.

"No actually, I think we should leave, right sunbae?", Seungwan recommended nervously before Kyungsoo could answer, wanting to get out of there as soon as she could.

"Yeah, I guess we should", Kyungsoo agreed. "Some other time maybe, omo-nim", Kyungsoo gave his best smile to Mrs. Son.

(*omo-nim: Aunty, respectable way of addressing your friend's, spouse's or neighbour's mother)

"Sure why not! Considering we'll be meeting a lot now!", Mrs. Son wiggled her eyebrows at Kyungsoo and the latter nodded, confused. Seungwan closed her eyes in irritation. You can always count on your family to embarrass you in front of the person you like.

"Bye Sehun-ah", Kyungsoo gave a smile to Sehun as he turned around with Seungwan to go.

"Bye guys!", Mrs. Son waved at them as they left the house to walk towards his car.

Kyungsoo looked back and waved, and saw Taeyeon and Soojung looking down at them from the first-floor room window. He bowed at them politely and Soojung waved back smiling. Seungwan noticed the knowing glare Taeyeon was giving Kyungsoo and returned with a scowl of her own, telling her cousin to back off, to which Taeyeon responded by rolling her eyes.

Seungwan walked ahead to the black Sedan parked near the curb and was about to open the door to the front passenger seat when Kyungsoo came and did it for her. She smiled and said "Thanks", happy at the gentlemanly gesture.

"So, hi! I didn't get to greet you", He smiled at her, as he settled himself in driver's seat.

"Yeah hi", Seungwan responded back. "I am sorry about what happened back there, I actually......haven't told Mom. She thinks our last date, that she set me up on, went great", Seungwan confessed guiltily looking down at her lap. She didn't want him to think wrongly about how her mother was treating him.

"No need to apologize. To tell you the truth actually...", Kyungsoo paused, scratching the side of his forehead. "I haven't told my Mom either"

Seungwan looked at him in surprise. "Really? Why not?"

"Why didn't you?", Kyungsoo questioned her back as he put on his seat-belt.

Seungwan got quiet for a minute. "I guess....I didn't want to disappoint her"

"Same here", They both pursed regretfully at each other, thinking of how they were deceiving their mothers.

Kyungsoo typed in the address of the restaurant Baekhyun had gotten him a reservation in, into the GPS system of the car and started it.

......................

"So I guess....this is it", Kyungsoo looked out through the car window at the restaurant in front of him. He had never been here before, but it gave off a good vibe.

He was feeling satisfied at having trusted Baekhyun, up until they entered the restaurant. Though it was the middle of day, it was kind of dark inside, mainly due to the Victorian curtains covering the windows. There were candles on at every table along with red roses in the center. He had clearly specified to Baekhyun that the restaurant should be neither 'romantic' nor informal, but clearly the instructions had passed over the idiot’s head. Damn you Baekhyun! Kyungsoo cursed in his mind as he looked at the tables filled with couples. Even the music playing sounded amorous.

Kyungsoo tried to keep calm and looked back at Seungwan to give her an awkward smile. Even if she was thinking the same things as him, she didn’t show it and smiled back.

"Do you have a reservation, Sir?", A waiter asked upon approaching them. Kyungsoo quickly told him the reservation number Baekhyun had sent him, and the waiter led them to their table, in one corner of the hall.

Kyungsoo went ahead and took out the chair for Seungwan to sit on, and Seungwan gave him one of her prettiest dimply smiles, that made his heart flutter. He swallowed hard, willing himself not to get too engrossed. He was determined to be on his best gentlemanly behavior today.

"So I couldn't help but notice, does your father not live with you guys?", Kyungsoo inquired, after the waiter had left with their order.

"Yeah, he.....died when I was in Middle School", Seungwan answered uncertainly.

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that", Kyungsoo gave her an apologetic look and then added. "Actually......my father died too when I was in Middle School"

Seungwan nodded solemnly. As the candle light cast an illuminated shadow on her face, Kyungsoo had that strange hunch again. Like he had seen her somewhere before, long ago. But he brushed away the thought. Just try and live in the present for now...

As they talked on about different things, he realized they had much in common. Like when Kyungsoo asked her "What's your biggest goal in life right now?" He was surprised when she told him it was to help her mother once she graduated, by taking charge of their company.

"She has been through a pretty hard time since Dad died, I want her to have an easier life", Seungwan had told him thoughtfully and he couldn't help but stare at her, because that was all that he had always had on his mind as well.

They even liked the same movies and hated the same genre: horror. They had both always wanted to keep pets, but never had the time. They had even chosen the same elective: Human Resources for their masters. He didn't like cold rainy weather, neither did she, and he was all smiles soon as they started conversing. . Kyungsoo was an introvert, he hardly ever initiated conversations let alone questions but he felt different that day, with her. He felt surprisingly....at home.

…………………………………………………………………..

Seungwan found herself quite at ease talking to him. All her nervousness drained away as they exchanged views, which was surprising as since she had hardly ever opened up to anyone besides her family and two friends. Maybe it was because of how attentively he listened to everything she said, like he genuinely understood everything she shared with him.

"You don't like coriander?", Seungwan asked, noting how he was separating coriander from the salad on his plate.

"Yeah.....it's not my favorite", He confessed, shaking his head lightly.

"Give it to me", Seungwan offered gesturing with her hand, surprising herself as well as him. He poured away the coriander leaves which were on his plate into her's.

"We match well", he blurted out and blushed hard. Seungwan was flustered at his comment but didn't overthink it. "Y-yeah I guess we do"

_

"So I had a really good time today", Seungwan said genuinely looking at him as the car stopped in front of her house, the sun setting in the background.

"Yeah, me too", He smiled back.

"Would you like to come in?"

"No, I think I should go. Mom must be waiting for me, she barely has any time to spend with us these days"

"Okay...I guess", Seungwan replied. "Thank you once again", She held out her hand to him, smiling.

He took her hand, smiling back and for a second they both held each other's gaze. Kyungsoo wished he could take a picture of that moment and save it. He hadn't felt this kind of happy in a long time.

"See you tomorrow then", Seungwan said as she let go of his hand, and turned to open the car door. When she tried to undo her seatbelt, it got stuck. She tried with a little more force but it still didn't budge.

"Anything wrong?", Kyungsoo saw her struggling to rid herself off the belt.

"No, everything's fine", She kept struggling.

Kyungsoo leaned ahead towards her, towards the other side of her seat. He freed the belt from where it was stuck and then leaned back to open it.  And that was when he realized how close their faces were. Seungwan visibly swallowed and Kyungsoo’s gaze traced from her eyes to her lips. He held his breath.

"If everything goes smoothly, it can progress to more physical actions like kissing or even better – ", Jongin's voice echoed in Kyungsoo's head and he jumped back in his seat.

"Uh-I-I guess I'll see you then, B-bye!", Seungwan quickly got out of the car.

"B-Bye!", He stammered back.

 Kyungsoo took a deep breath as he watched her walk towards the house. Stop getting strange ideas dude! He had fully convinced himself that he was going to get over whatever passing feelings he had developed. And today was the first step towards it. Like Baekhyun had said, the more he stayed around her, the more easily he would get tired of her. But despite that, today had been a great experience for him. He felt the kind of fluttery happy he had last felt when his crush had accepted his confession in High School.

 And where did that analogy come from? He shook his head.

_

"It was great. I feel like I made a new friend today", Seungwan confessed to her cousin as the latter sat on the bed, after having bathed.

"Really?", Taeyeon smiled and then raised a brow. "Don't get too friendly with him though. I won't like that"

Seungwan chuckled. "Don't worry, nobody's taking your place"

"Good"

"Do you want anything from the kitchen?", Taeyeon asked as she left the room.

"No, thanks"

Seungwan sighed as she got up to go near the window. The sun had just set and the dusk-filled sky was filled with….hope. Or at least she felt it was.

Looking at it, she reminisced about the day's events. It was true she was happy with the way things were, a part of her strongly believed that staying with him would help her get over the feelings she had.

But then there was another part, that felt like she was leaving herself vulnerable. Vulnerable to developing something deeper, something that went beyond mere infatuation. She could get used to this, he could become her habit. A habit that could become painfully hard to let go of, when the time came.

No Seungwan, stop thinking like that, she willed herself. Don't try to feel something that isn't there, something that won't be reciprocated, she ignored the pang that followed, and went off to change.

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A/N: There goes the date. (All and no thanks to Baekhyun shii). Hope you're all well and liked this chapter.

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