Falling in love with Na Jaemin was easy.

Telling him that I was in love with him was hard.

This is the story of after Dear Nana,

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I had been dating Jaemin for a while and I loved every moment of it. It was a normal day for me, another day at university with Jaemin. I was an introvert and I enjoyed being on my own and Jaemin seemed to know that, my boyfriend always keeping his space and being the gentleman, he is.

He never pushed my boundaries and he never tried to force me to do anything I didn’t want to. There were soft hugs and the way he talked to me was different from other people. He had been nothing but understanding and even if I continued to always want to email him, I had to constantly tell myself that he and Nana were the same person.

They say that if you ever get into a relationship, that everything has to improve.

That every part of you grows being with the person and that was very right with Jaemin. I was still shy but I knew more people and people knew me.

I was always with Kim Bunny and that girl brought me down adventures of her running away from Jeno until a few months passed and I realized that maybe I wanted more.

It was a weird thought but I would see Kim Bunny hanging off Jeno’s armor from time to time, he would be seen chasing down his girlfriend and it made me realize the lengths he would go for her. Or her for him. While Jaemin and I were still stuck in our beginning phase, Bunny and Jeno seemed like they moved backward and accepted each other for the way they were.

But I wasn’t one to tell Jaemin that he was taking it too slow. I wasn’t one to demand so I focused on myself, finally telling myself to wait it out.

If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.

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It was a Wednesday and I hopped down the bus to see Jaemin waiting for me, an umbrella in his hand. He broke into one of his wide smiles and I smiled back, making my way to him. He quickly shrugged off his jacket from his shoulders, pulling me towards the sheltered bus stop and putting down the umbrella to wrap the jacket around my shoulders.

“Nana, it’s fine,” I was about to tell him but he shook his head stubbornly, the male tightening it around my shoulders and telling me he didn’t want me to catch a cold. It had taken some time for me to drop the ‘Sunbae’ and a lot of Jaemin telling me that he was a ‘Sunbae’ to all but he wasn’t one to me.

He was my boyfriend, he would say.  

I racked my mind on what to tell him—He also told me that I should find a way to make him learn more about myself. He knew my deepest and darkest secrets from years ago, of course. But he didn’t know the current me as much and I pretty much found myself distancing myself away from him.

I snapped my fingers and Jaemin looked over to me, both of us walking to the café to open it together.

“Nana, I forgot to tell you that I joined Archery,” I told him and his eyes widened. “And it’s different days from photography, Nana. There really isn’t any reason to panic.”

“I get that, Yahoo,” he said, chuckling before a hand reached up to ruffle the back of my head. “Who is panicking? My girlfriend in archery? I didn’t know you were one of many talents.”

I tinged pink at his words, beaming at him when we reached the café. “You do know. You know everything.”

He snickered and for a moment, I saw his eyes fall on my lips when he quickly turned away, his adam’s apple bobbing. It happened often these days and I would catch him doing it often. Bunny said that it was time we kissed, but I had no idea how to go forth with it.

“Just grab him and go MWAH!” Bunny was telling me a few nights before when she came over for a sleepover. Or more so, she visited me without telling me because she had fought with Jeno. “I mean, that’s what I did with Jeno in England and it worked out.”

“I’m not like you, Unnie,” I told her, and she had nodded, patting herself on the back and saying that there wasn’t anyone really like her.

“You’re doing that again,” Jaemin said and I blinked, Jaemin towering over me as he slowly lowered the umbrella, shaking it on the side. “Lost in your own thoughts.”

“Sorry,” I whispered, Jaemin tutting.

“Nothing to be sorry about, Yahoo. I just wish I knew what you were thinking about. Nothing that has to do with me, I hope.”

“Of course not!” I said a little bit too quickly and Jaemin faked a gasp.

“Now, that hurts too.”

“Make up your mind, Nana,” I said mildly and he reached out to rub my cheek once more before retreating into the café. “I may have to change my shift because of Archery, Nana. So, I’ll work on Mondays and Tuesdays instead, is that okay?”

“Whatever you need, my love,” he answered, putting on the apron. “I heard you’ll have to buy a few items for Archery, should I raise your pay?”

“Oh, not at all, Nana—”

“You don’t have to be shy about it,” he said and I smiled, shaking my head again and reminding him he already gave me an extra camera so I didn’t have to buy one—which was why I wanted to work at the café in the first place. “But you deserve more than what I give you.”

“And I don’t deserve you at all,” I answered, Jaemin telling me not to say that and that I was the best thing that happened to him. His words made me smile and that was how we showed we loved each other.

We were so used to using words to tell each other how we felt that communication wasn’t very much a problem. We talked all the time about the same things we used to talk about before but it was the fact that I refused to open up.

“Come here and give me a hug before you head to class,” he called out from the kitchen at the back and I gave out a hum, telling him that I was still early.

However, the time came and I peeked through the entrance of the kitchen, seeing Jaemin making a cup of black coffee. I tiptoed to him, slipping my hands through his arms and hugging him from behind when he froze and I gave him a little squeeze, telling him I’d drop by after class before I went to my first session of Archery.

I was about to leave, Jaemin grabbing my hand and gently pulling me against him when I looked up, his eyes going to stare at my lips once more when he leaned down to peck my cheek.

“Have a great day, my love,” he whispered, and just like that, he had retreated and I found myself waving softly to him, my heart pounding in my chest.

Maybe, I thought.

Just maybe, I wanted to be kissed by him.

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Jaemin knew that his girlfriend had someplace to be and he hummed to himself, wiping the counter with a wet cloth. He found his mind slipping to the darkest depths of his thoughts as he wondered if they were going in the right direction. He almost kissed her this morning—should he not have done that? She was a soft soul and a very sensitive person.

Jaemin found himself worrying when the doors of the café opened and walked in Jeno, stressed as always.

Jaemin didn’t need to ask Jeno what was going on. Ever since Jeno returned from England, his best friend had been running back and forth every other day, his girlfriend occupying his time and thoughts. Kim Bunny was a handful but Jaemin knew that it was exactly what Jeno needed.

Jeno was known to be very flippant and Kim Bunny brought him out of his own world and even Jaemin could see the change in him. He was more dominant now, more aggressive, and very very loud about what he thought was right and wrong. There was no one to give credit to other than Bunny.

“What’s up with you?” Jaemin asked, Jeno stopping in front of the counter. He looked like he was on edge, the male with his hands on his hips. “Lost the girlfriend again?”

“I think Kim Bunny is lying to me,” Jeno said suddenly and Jaemin blinked.

Well, that was uncalled for.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she said she would be going to the gym and I said ‘Okay.’ because that girl has so much energy, I can’t keep up. And then, she pinged by the race track at the field—”

“And why is it a problem that she’s there?” Jaemin asked, frowning. He had no idea what was with Jeno and Bunny and their constant fighting. “Maybe she decided to run instead!”

“She can’t, Nana. She can’t run!” Jeno snapped before Jaemin raised both hands in the air, his friend’s irritated expression softening. “She didn’t bring her running shoes. She wore heels to class today. And guess what?”

Jaemin didn’t bother answering, giving his friend an encouraging glance before Jeno snapped his fingers.

“She bought something online the other day. I know she’s up to something!”

“Are you sure you both don’t need couple’s therapy or something?” Jaemin asked mildly, Jeno shaking his head and looking around the café. There were students there and Jaemin saw Jeno turn back to look at him. “What? What do you want me to do?”

“Come with me. We need to bust her together.”

“One, she’s not my girlfriend. My girlfriend is at Archery club, some hobby she picked up. Two… Who will look over the café while I’m gone? Three, why do you have her location? That’s some detective right there.”

“Transparency,” Jeno said simply.

But the problem with Lee Jeno was that the moment he put his mind to something, no one could stop him.

A very dangerous trait, if Jaemin said so himself.

Jeno turned, his eyes running over the people sitting by the tables before he waved a hand in the air.

“Everyone, listen up!” Everyone turned to Jeno, knowing who he was. He had spent enough time working at Nana’s café. Jaemin chuckled, Jeno telling everyone that the counter would be unoccupied and if anyone wanted coffee—they would have to wait because Jaemin would be going with him.

“Handling the girlfriend, Jeno?” A voice called out from behind, Jeno giving a nod to the student. “Good luck!”

“Thanks, I need it,” he murmured, not even waiting for Jaemin to remove his apron, his hand going to grab his elbow to pull him out of Nana’s Café.

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Archery was fun, but I kept messing up. I was sure I had great vision and I stood there, balancing the rented bow and arrow in my arms as I tried to aim at the target. It was harder than I thought and I was sure that when I tried it with my mother the week before, it easier because it was lighter.

I really did need to buy my own bow and arrow, I thought to myself. It was bigger than I was used to and while I laid it down on the ground on the field by the race track, I heard a very loud huff and puff from the person beside me.

Looking towards the side, I saw Kim Bunny struggling to keep the bow up in the air, her high heels sinking onto the ground.

“Bunny Unnie?” I asked softly, Bunny looking at me, not very surprised. “Oh, are you in Archery, too?”

“Trying to be!” she answered, suddenly letting go of the arrow as it shot through the air and stuck onto the target, barely missing the instructor’s ear by a few inches. “Oh! OH! OOOOOH! Bull’s eye!”

“Hey!” The instructor yelled, a hand over his heart and I winced, thinking that maybe it was best she stayed away from things like this but I wasn’t one to tell her that. I looked back at the bow and arrow, lifting it to try again.

If Bunny could almost get a bull’s eye then I bet I could too, if I tried hard enough. I tried to balance it when a deep voice spoke from the side.

“You’re not arching your back enough.” Someone said and I whipped my head to see a student stand there. He had a charming smile and thick lips, his colored gray hair tucked behind his ear as a mullet and I blinked. “You’re tense, you have to arch your back and pull. Here, let me help you.”

I have seen him around before. I studied in the same class as he did and I racked my brain to try to remember his name when suddenly it clicked.

“Felix, right?” I asked softly, the male nodding. “We’re in Introduction to Communication Arts together.”

It was a basic class and I remember he once had to make a speech about himself in the first period and he mentioned something about Australia. He was usually quiet and Felix, just like me, sat in the back and hardly talked to anyone.

“Yes, I’ve seen you around before,” he told me and after exchanging a smile with him, he moved swiftly towards me, a hand going to lay on my waist. He then pressed a finger against the middle-lower part of my back, making me jolt. “Works every time. I was in a professional Archery team back in high school. My instructor would do this to me every time I got my form wrong.”

“You didn’t go to EXO high, did you?” I asked, Felix giving out a low hum and telling me that he studied in JYP Highschool. “No wonder. I would have remembered you if you did.”

“EXO High doesn’t seem like it’s for me.” Felix mused, his hands swiftly going up to my shoulders and pressing down on them. “See, you’re tense. Now—”

And with that, his hands went forward to help me balance the bow.

“That’s good. A bit lower.” Felix commented, guiding the direction as his fingers tightened over mine when there was a very loud yell.

“KIM BUNNY!”

And I accidentally let go, the arrow shooting straight for the middle and I gasped in happiness.

“OH NO!” Bunny yelled and I blinked, freezing when I saw Jeno march towards my direction, Jaemin behind him.

But Jaemin wasn’t moving and I brightened up when I saw him, Jaemin’s eyes falling onto Felix who still had his arm around me when Felix let go and he stepped back. Jaemin blinked and with a small shake of his head, his expression became unreadable.

“Yahoo,” he said, smiling and I took in his apron that he was still wearing. There was a scuffle and I saw Jeno grab Bunny by the top of her arm as she wailed.

“JENO! I told you I wanted to become Cupid, I didn’t lie!” Bunny rambled on and I saw Jeno drop-down, hauling her over his shoulder as she continued to chatter away. “And I spent so much money on the bow and arrow! By so much money, I meant all my allowance and I—JENO! Don’t take me away!”

“You lied!”

“I didn’t! I told you I wanted to be Cupid!”

“I thought for Halloween! I didn’t know you meant it literally!” Jeno was saying to her, the male marching away from us. He was having a hard time balancing her on his shoulder, Jeno huffing and puffing with Bunny squealing in the background. “This is the first time you’ve lied to me, Kim Bunny!”

“Well, there is a first for everything!” she yelled back and then he took her away before she would hurt bystanders and I looked back at Jaemin to see him with a frozen smile on his face, Felix taking his leave.

“Did you come with Jeno Sunbae, Nana?” I asked, Jaemin undoing the strings of his apron to come closer.

“Yes, I didn’t know Bunny was here but then I saw you.” He paused, going behind me to where Felix once stood. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Yahoo.”

“Oh, I didn’t even get a bull’s eye until you came, Nana. Felix, over there, helped me. He said I had bad posture.” I told him and he cleared his throat at the mention of Felix but since he was behind me, I couldn’t see his expression. “Do you want to try?”

Jaemin chuckled, a hand going around my waist softly to pull me against his chest when he hummed to himself.

“Only if it’s with you,” he said and I smiled, Jaemin going up to balance the arrow, his hand going over mine. “To bull’s eye, Yahoo.”

“To bull’s eye,” I repeated.

A few hours later, Jaemin walked me back to the café to get my things because I usually kept them there. I saw that Jeno had taken his spot, Kim Bunny sipping on hot tea. Jeno lifted a hand that had a bill to show Jaemin that he paid, Jaemin telling him that it wasn’t a big deal.

“Still,” Jeno said and the students that were in the café seemed to smile at the arrival of Kim Bunny. It meant that whatever Jeno wanted to do was successful and I grabbed my things, Jaemin telling me that he’d walk me to the bus stop.

“I’ll be here,” Jeno said, waving at me. “Bye, Yahoo. Stay safe.”

I bowed down at him, Jeno waving a hand and Jaemin laughing to himself. When we exited the café, Jaemin told me that Jeno felt awkward every time I bowed down to him and he didn’t know how to react to it. But Jeno and Jaemin were older so I didn’t know how to not bow to them, Jaemin telling me to take it to step by step and that he knew it took me some time to warm up.

When we reached the bus stop, I saw Felix, the male looking up with earphones in his ears.

I could have sworn Jaemin tensed up but he didn’t say anything when the bus came and I turned to wave at Jaemin, my boyfriend giving me a flying kiss when I saw Felix move towards the same bus.

“Oh—” I exclaimed in surprise, Felix getting on the bus after me. “Hi there.”

“Hi,” he greeted with a small smile. I went to sit on an empty seat, Felix casually taking a seat beside me. I turned to see Jaemin stand there, biting on his lower lip, waiting for the bus to depart and when it did, I made a call sign with my hand to show that I would call him later. “You do know we live in the same apartment?”

“What?” I asked, my eyes going wide. “Really?”

“Yes.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’ve always wanted to say hi but you’re always lost in your own world.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, chewing on my bottom lip. “Every time I put on my earphones; I zone out. I apologize. Sometimes, I end up ignoring my boyfriend, too.”

“Don’t worry. I do that, too.” Felix said, laughing softly. “Would it surprise you if I told you that my apartment is down the hall from yours?”

“Really?” I repeated, shaking my head and covering my face with my hands. “That’s embarrassing. I’ve moved in for quite some time—”

“I was the one who helped you move the boxes,” he said and my jaw dropped before I frowned.

“The person who helped me with the boxes had dark brown hair—”

“Last time I checked; hairstyles could be changed,” Felix said jokingly and I paused, realizing what he said was true.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” I whispered to him, feeling bad I couldn’t recognize him. Felix told me that it was fine. I remember when I moved into the apartment, life wasn’t going very well for me and that I was still in high school. I was lost in my own world and then I met Nana, drowning deeper into a relationship with the Nana I knew through the screen. “Your apartment would be the apartment that always smells of brownies, right? The one at the end of the hall.”

“Yes,” he said, the bus stopping and both of us getting off. “You can always come over and bake if you want. Life in Seoul is rather lonely.”

“Of course,” I said, happy that I had earned a new friend.

We both went back to our apartment and by the time I reached my bedroom, I got a text message from Jaemin that he had closed down the café and he was heading home. I replied with a simple message saying that I was going to shower and start studying, Jaemin telling me to call him before bed.

A simple routine.

By the time bedtime came, I reached for my phone, going to type an email when I stopped—

I was doing it again, switching applications and going to press Jaemin’s number. He answered after three rings and I smiled when his voice came up.

“Yahoo,” he said it so softly and sweetly, it made me happy. “I was just thinking about you.”

He knew what to say and I flushed red, struggling to keep myself from blushing too hard when I stammered that I called to say that I was going to head to bed.

“Did you eat yet?” I asked, Jaemin telling me that he did. “Sleep early, Nana. You know that tomorrow is going to be a long day. You have to develop the photos with Yangyang in the Vision Room, don’t you?”

“Yeah, and I have to go take a few photos for Jungwoo hyung,” he told me but I had no idea who that was, Jaemin telling me to go and head to bed. “Go to sleep, my love. I might not be able to pick you up at the bus stop tomorrow, I have to go straight to the Vision Room early morning.”

“Don’t worry about it, Nana.”

“You sure? I can drop by if you want.” His voice was hopeful as if he wanted me to tell him that I wanted him to drop by. “I really want to see your face first thing in the morning.”

“You can see me in the afternoon. I’m not one to intrude. You have a schedule to keep.” I told him and he let out a small ‘Oh’ that I thought sounded disappointed. Maybe, I should have demanded a bit more. Should I? I frowned but decided to let it go. His duties were more important than me, I told myself.

“Well, head to bed now. I miss you,” he said smoothly and I replied with an “I miss you, too.” Jaemin sending me a kiss through the phone and hanging up.

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The next morning, I got ready for school and when I exited my room, I saw Felix waiting for me. It was a nice surprise to have someone suddenly wait for you and I smiled at him, holding my backpack and Felix telling me that he thought that we were acquainted enough to go to school together.

When I got off the bus, despite Jaemin saying that he had something to do, he was standing there and I saw how his eyes lit up and dimmed down just as quickly at seeing me and then seeing Felix. I began to think Jaemin felt more than he let out but my boyfriend brushed it off, quickly kissing me on the cheek and telling me that he just dropped by to see my face and he’d see me after school.

He passed a small smile to Felix, Felix bowing down.

“Your boyfriend is the president of the Photography club, right?” Felix asked and I nodded when I heard a very loud “Hey! Yahoo!” and we both turned to see Jisung waving at us