Everything after the kiss felt sweeter. Each eye contact, each touch, each smile he gave me feels as though I'm walking on clouds, sending me into another world of my own. I walk into his washroom to change and once I close the door, my body falls against it. I bury my head against my knees and feel myself heat up like a bun in the oven.

I start kicking my feet about, trying to keep quiet but not quite succeeding. Did we really kiss or was I zoned out the entire time and that was just a figment of my imagination? It has to be real. The tingling feeling on my lips proves it so. 

After debating with myself if it was real or not, I get up and wash my face with some cold water to slap myself back into reality. The last remaining lipstick I had on was removed during the kiss. I reach for my bag and open it up, tying my hair back into a ponytail so it doesn't get in my way as I redo my makeup. I reach inside and take out the new lipstick Kim gave me just earlier and glide it against my lips.

I take my shirt off carefully trying not to get my makeup smudged on it and apply the deodorant I had in my bag before pulling on the spare shirt I have in my bag. The doorbell chimes from outside and I glance down at my phone to see it's already five minutes past 7. Oh . I pull the shirt on and start quickly putting my things back into my bag. Once I opened the door, Lucas was already gone and presumably opening the door for Jae.

As I walk out of the room, I see Lucas by the door. His tall figure was covering who had rung the doorbell but I knew the voice too damn well.

"Sorry, is Ren Shimizu here?" Jae's cool voice can be heard from the door. I clear my throat to attract Lucas' attention and he steps aside from the door, revealing Jae. Now, he wasn't short but standing next to Lucas made him seem so. Lucas stood firmly like a tree and Jae looked... well, like Jae. 

"Hi, Jae," I shyly wave at the old friend that stood in front of me. He smiles, giving me a small wave as well. I glance to my side at Lucas who's still just standing there. The silence is deafening. "Alright. We'll get going now. Bye, Lucas!" I place my hand against his chest and pat it before stepping out of the door. After we kissed, I told him all about Jae. We sat on his bed talking about him and I told Lucas he has nothing to worry about. In all my years of being best friends with Jae, he's never pulled a move. At least I don't think so. 

A car is parked outside the gate, waiting for us. Jae puts his hand together as we're walking and tries to break the ice that had suddenly formed between us. "So, who was that?" He laughs. "And how did you get a house this big?" He gestures at the estate behind us which makes me laugh. It does look crazy without any context. It'll make our little reunion an interesting one with all the stories we'll tell each other. He pulls the car door for me and I get into the passenger seat. He walks over to the other side of the car and sits on the driver's seat, buckling up.

"Seatbelt please." He says in a high pitched anime-like voice. It makes me laugh just like old times as I pull the seatbelt over my chest and buckle up as we start driving away. "So? Was that a boyfriend?" Jae brakes at a stoplight and looks at me with an expression I couldn't read. I shake my head no and blush, looking out the window at the street due to embarrassment. "No, he's someone I work with. SuperM? You might have heard of them. I manage them alongside my aunt June." 

The light turns green and the car starts moving again.

"Oh! I haven't but that makes so much more sense," I hear Jae laugh. I look back at him and smile. "Anyway, how's it going? You look great." Jae glances at me while he's driving. I've spent half my life with Jae yet this time something felt different. Maybe it's because he's driving this time and the fact that we haven't properly hung out since the last few days of high school before he decided to pursue his dream of being a singer. His presence felt warm and nostalgic for me.

"Well, not much. I have sembreak right now so I have all the time in the world at the moment." I shrug. I guess there wasn't much to tell him about aside from all the shenanigans of being an assistant manager. He nods, working the gears of the car. I'd always found it attractive when guys focused on their driving. I looked away from Jae and into the busy streets of Los Angeles. I've always found Jae attractive. The highlighted brown hair he has right now intensified his features even more and somehow made his jawline pop up even more. Suddenly having him here with me felt like I was high school Ren again, with a tiny crush on my best friend. 

"Where are we going, by the way?" I start to look around at where we are. A line of restaurants stretched beyond us, each containing a handful of customers.

"Sushi place," he simply says, still focusing on driving. "We're nearly there." He reassures, starting to slow down and look for a parking space to our right. Even if I don't know where we'll be eating, I start helping him look as well. "Aha!" He excitedly points at a vacant lot to park. I clap for him as he starts to put the car in reverse and into the allotted space, putting his arm around my seat and looking at the rearview mirror while also looking behind us. "Alright." He kills the engine and quickly gets out of the car, running to my side and opening it for me.

Do all guys normally do this? If so, I gave Lucas too much credit for doing it for me. But then again, anything Lucas does makes my heart flutter. I think about all the other times Jae and I traveled by car and I was always the one opening and closing the door for myself. But that was at least 4 years ago when we were just 16. Jae looks more matured now.

I step out of the car and we start walking down the sidewalk, alongside couples and groups of friends. Pearl would have loved this. But since she isn't around to be with us, I'll try to enjoy the night as much as I can and tell her all about it the next day. She won't believe it.

"Ah, here we are." Jae and I stop in front of a small sushi place. This one wasn't as busy as its neighbors but it looks high class. He pulls the door open for me and I step into the restaurant, liking the vibe already. It uses warm lighting and has warm-toned furniture and wall design. I take a mental note to take Pearl with me here when she gets back. She would have loved it here.

Jae follows behind me and we choose a table. A waiter warmly greets us a good evening before handing us both a menu and introducing herself as our waiter for the night. We thank her before she walks away to wait for our order. I open up the menu and almost choke on my saliva at the price of the food. It seems Jae notices my surprised expression and slides his hand across the table to lightly touch mine. I lower the menu a little, taken back by his sudden touch. 

"Don't worry about the price. It's been such a long time since we've eaten together so... I'm trying to make up for the lost time." He smiles at me warmly, the same way he's always done in the years we've spent together. Though this time, I couldn't explain it but something changed.

I make myself smile. He retreats his hand back and flips to the next page of his menu. 

"To be honest, I've never been here. What do you say we ask the waiter for a recommendation instead?" He scratches the back of his head and chuckles, looking up at me from the menu. I nervously laugh. What am I getting tensed up about? This is Jae. Someone who, yes, I may have had a tiny crush on in our high school years, but back then I was... young and naive. Back then, being four years ago. A lot can change in four years. But Jae isn't one of them. He carries the same smile and cares for me the same way. So tell me why. Tell me why something feels off tonight.

"Yes. For sure." I close my menu as well as signaling for the waiter. She comes to us and takes out her notepad.

"Hi, actually we don't know what to get. Could you recommend your best seller for us?" Jae looks up at the fair lady. She nods before pulling out a menu and flipping to one of the pages. 

"Well, we have the couple's platter, good for two. It contains a selection of our freshly prepared sushi. You can also choose which kind you want on your plate." She points at the menu. I blush at the word couple. She'd misread the friendly date. I look at Jae to see if he'd try to correct her but he's listening attentively to her. 

"Sounds good. What do you think, Ren?" He looks up at me and asks for my approval and I nod.

"Yep. We'll have the recommended sushi. Also, could I have