Vernon and I were on our third date when he tried to kiss me for the first time. 

But… Things didn’t go as planned. They rarely do, right?

The first time happened when we were in the movie theater. He suggested we go to the last row, and, well, I knew what that meant. My stomach had so many butterflies I thought I’d just float away. I made sure to pop a mint as the lights went out, and tried to calm down as much as I could, but the knot in my stomach only tightened. We chose a suspense thriller, nothing too scary but good enough to cuddle with high tension in the room. 

The setup was perfect: he gave me his jacket because it was cold inside, and then wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I tried to pretend I was paying attention to the movie, but who was I kidding? My heart was drumming in my ears at the thought of finally getting to kiss him. I wasn’t sure if I would make the first move or he would, and I really hoped he would. Nothing was stopping me from making the first move, but I felt way too shy to take my chance. 

Focusing on the movie became almost impossible when I started noticing every little thing about him. His cologne, the smallest movement, his thumb gently brushing against my shoulder… If I could physically melt, I would’ve already been a puddle on the dirty cinema floor.
And then it happened. He moved closer, putting his index finger under my chin to move my head towards him. It was dark, so I could only make out his face when the screen shone brightly, and at that moment we were shrouded in darkness. I could tell how close he was to me when his breath brushed against my lips, and I couldn’t help but smile. 

Only, the moment ended just as it begun, because the murderer jumped out on screen with a scream, making me flinch and smack my forehead against his. 

We both groaned, and then laughed. 

Moment. Ruined. 

“Sorry,” I whispered. 

“It’s okay,” he replied. “I’m nervous too.”

His words put me at ease, knowing he wanted to kiss me, and I wanted to kiss him back too. But if I was being honest, I didn’t really want it to be in a dark movie theater. I wanted to properly press my body against his and wrap my arms around his neck, and of course, I wanted my foot to pop, like in The Princess Diaries. 
The mood died then, and we settled into the cinema silence without any other attempts at a kiss while a serial killer made his rounds in the movie. Vernon grabbed my hand and we intertwined our fingers, staying like that until the end. 

The movie was fine, per se, it was my mishap that haunted me. 

But the date wasn’t finished yet, and we walked over to the arcade next door to play. I thought we’d have to be very creative to get a first kiss there, but the chance wasn’t completely lost. 

Yet.

“I wanna try that one!” I exclaimed as I pointed to the basketball hoops. He agreed and we walked over hand in hand. I couldn’t absolutely decimate him with my basketball skills, and pretended to totally . The plan worked, and he stood behind me, his body pressed against my back and the ball between our hands.

“You have to guide the ball as you throw it,” he said. His breath tickled my ear as he spoke, and it made me giggle. I threw the ball with his hands still over mine and it went in, and he gave me an impressed thumbs up and a high-five.  

“One more time,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve got it yet.”

Vernon smiled at me and gave me a back hug before grabbing another basketball. My stomach did a somersault, and I knew that this was our chance. Once I made the shot, I was going to turn around and lean in.

Another 3 pointer, and we celebrated with a hug. Vernon pulled away slowly, his eyes darting down to my lips. This was it. Not exactly ideal to have it in an arcade in front of the basketball hoops, but cute nonetheless. I closed my eyes and waited for our lips to meet-

But they never did. When I realized he wasn’t leaning in anymore, I opened my eyes. His mouth was opened, face scrunched up in a confused an annoyed look as he stared over my shoulder. 

I turned around trying to see what was going on, but I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. 

“What’s wrong? Is there something in my hair?” I reached to my head but didn’t feel anything. Vernon clamped his mouth shut and passed his hand over his face. 

“My brothers are here,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”

I hadn’t noticed them at first, but when he mentioned his brothers, my eyes found them so easily that their presence almost gave me whiplash. 

Seungkwan and Mingyu wore black hoodies, and were playing a shooting game at the other end of the arcade. They kept glancing at us, and when they realized we were staring right at them, they pretended to leave the arcade. Then at the restaurant area, I noticed Seungcheol and Woozi sipping on milkshakes, their phones pointed towards us. 

“Let’s uh, get out of here?” Vernon offered. As much as I found it endearing that they’d look out for him, his brothers just ruined our second attempt at a first kiss.

“We still have time before I need to take you home, any ideas?” 

Honestly, at that point, I only had his lips on my mind.

“We could go to the Han river for a walk?” I suggested. It was pretty late, but I didn’t want to go home, not just yet. There shouldn’t have been many people out at this hour, maybe a few drunk college students and office workers. At least it would’ve been the perfect spot for a first kiss, and a leg pop.

The night was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. In the distance you could hear the night life buzzing and cars zooming by. Vernon gave me his jacket again and I draped it over my shoulders as we walked on the pathway hand in hand. We settled in a comfortable silence, admiring the Han river at night and the Hangang bridge slowly coming closer. If he wasn’t going to make the first move, I was. 

Vernon stopped walking, and I hadn’t noticed until he pulled my arm and I stumbled into his embrace. 

“I would really like to kiss you now,” he whispered, looking down at me with half-lidded eyes. 

“What are you waiting for?” I smiled back, closing my eyes. 

But before our lips met, Vernon paused. I opened one eye to find him looking past me again, and if it wasn’t a golden goose with three heads I was going to smack him for ruining the moment again. 

He grabbed my arm and launched us onto the grass. I didn’t know what was happening until I heard two men bickering at the top of their lungs. We both stared at them, and I could tell it was Seungkwan and Chan on a double seater bicycle, yelling about something I didn’t quite catch as they sped down the path. 

Vernon had fallen on top of me, one hand holding the back of my head securely. We were lying on the grass, our legs in a tangled mess. When he moved, he elbowed me in the chest and I yelped. His face scrunched up in embarrassment and laughter, his eyes turning into crescent moons as he tried to get off of me.

I grabbed his shirt into two fists and pulled him towards me, my lips finding his in a heated kiss. We both pulled away, breathless, eyes lost in surprise and worry. But then he smiled, and dipped his head to kiss me again tenderly, hungrily. He propped himself on one arm while his other hand slipped down the length of my body to my waist, then further to grab my thigh and pull it up against the side of his body. 

We didn’t break our makeout session even when Seungkwan and Chan passed us again, yelling about public indecency.