“There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” 

- Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

Charisa scrubbed the table, sighing. It had been a long day and she couldn’t wait for it to end. She had tests in half of her classes, and then she worked a double shift because she had been sick on Tuesday and managed to switch with one of her colleagues.

It didn’t help that she had trouble sleeping. Every time she fell asleep, she dreamed of her classmate Kris. About talking to him, being smiled at, even being hugged.

It was strange. She couldn’t remember when it all started. When she first him, he was just another guy, another classmate. They exchanged glances and maybe uttered each other’s name when papers were passed out or they met in the hallway.

Maybe it was when they all had to give a presentation on a belief. He had chosen body language, and how people of different cultures still acted the same way. She had chosen music-how some chords and melodies were universal because they were so popular. She found him nodding at her words.

After class, he stopped by her desk. “I just wanted to let you know your presentation was awesome. It’s really obviously you love music.” His eyes were shining.

Charisa sighed again as she rolled the dish cart into the kitchen. She hated having a crush-it was nice, but it made her feel so powerless.

“Another long day, huh?” Yolanda looked up from dishwasher.

“You can say that again.” Charisa gestured to the window outside. “The couples who come late at night don’t really help.”

“Well, this place is called Kiss Café for a reason, and Valentine’s Day is next week!” Yolanda replied brightly.

Charisa rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who has a boyfriend. You probably have a date tonight. I, on the other hand, will return to an empty apartment with nothing to look forward to since all of my friends have plans next week.” She started to unload the cart.

“Touché.” Yolanda took the dishes from Charisa’s hands. “Still having insomnia problems?”

“Yeah.” Charisa massaged her temples.

“Why don’t you go home and drink some tea? Just have some downtime, maybe you can’t sleep because you can’t relax.” Yolanda rolled the cart so it was closer.

“You don’t mind?”

“As you told me, I’m the one who has a boyfriend and has a date to look forward to. You, on the other hand, are getting burned out.” She waved a hand. “Also there’s a take-home tea waiting for you by the specials counter from Mr. Chen.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Well, he does have that policy where when waitresses are sick, they don’t have to make the shift up. I guess he knows you’re having a tough week too.”

“Well, if you see him, tell him I said thanks, okay?” Charisa slipped out of her uniform.

“Sure can do. Get home safely, ya hear me?”

Charisa waved at her in response, grabbed her coat and the covered cup, and started walking to the subway station. As vapor escaped , she glanced at the night sky. She wondered why the stars were much brighter in the winter.

As expected, she was one of the only few people there. She sat down in one of the benches and sipped her tea. The familiar taste of chamomile entered , and she relaxed as warmth surrounded her body.

“Charisa?”

She abruptly looked around until she saw Kris’s familiar face. He was wearing a black overcoat with a blue scarf wrapped tightly across his neck. “Oh hey, Kris.”

“I thought it was you.” He joined her on the bench. “Why are you up so late?”

“I have a waitress job at Kiss Café. Why are you up so late?”

“Well, um…” He averted his eyes for a second. “It’s a secret.”

“Secret as in illegal?”

“Charisa!” Kris’s voice was full of feigned shock. “I didn’t know you thought so low of me!”

“It’s good idea to expect the worse,” she replied with a smile. “So you don’t feel so let down.”

“Do you have that perspective of everyone?”

“In general, yes. But there are exceptions. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“Do you have something against bad boys?” He teased

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. But I do have something against guys who keep evading my questions,” Charise retorted.

“Touché.” Kris laughed. “It’s not illegal. It’s just that it probably won’t work out. I mean, I believe I can do it, but there’s a small chance of success. And if I tell you what I’m doing, you might think of me differently. I want you to keep the same impression of me.”

“Since when did you care about what I thought about you?” The train pulled up to the station and Charisa stood up. She hoped he wouldn’t notice how the cup in her hand started shaking.

Kris also stood. “I care about what everyone thinks of me. Are you going back to the dorms?”

“Yup.”

“I’ll go there with you then.” He walked with her to the train.

“Do you have somewhere else to go?”

“Well, I was going to take a detour, but either way works with me.”

“You didn’t have to accompany me. I take this route almost every day.” Charisa sat down in one of the seats.

Kris held onto a post so that he stood in front of her. His eyes remained focused on her face. “Well I don’t get to see you every day.”

She blushed under his intense gaze. “You could change that.”

“I could. Do you want me to?” He leaned in.

“I…I would have to think about it,” she stammered, looking at her hands in her lap.

“I can wait.” He leaned back so that she had her space again. “What dorm do you live in again?”

“Taeyang 8.”

“Ahh. The same one I live in then.”

Charisa blinked. “What-oh. I keep forgetting it’s a co-ed dorm.”

He shrugged. “The genders are segregated through the floors. I guess you don’t go to any of parties held in our dorm?”

“Not really. I’m too busy.” She sighed. “You know, trying to balance my grades and work, all that fun stuff.”

“So you never take a break?”

“When there’s school, no.”

His gaze shifted from seriousness to concern. “No wonder you look pale.”

“My health is my own business,” she replied defensively.

“Not to the people who care about you.”

She felt her face flushing again. Luckily, the train had come to their stop and Kris looked away in order to exit. She quickly got up and followed him out into the subway station.

“What are you drinking?” Kris asked as they started climbing up the stairs.

Charisa glanced at the cup that had been momentarily forgotten. “Oh. Chamomile tea. I have had trouble sleeping lately.”

“Ahh. Any particular reason why?”

“Weird dreams that make me want to stay awake. I forget them though in the morning,” she lied. Why bother telling Kris that he was the reason why she looked so sickly, besides that she actually got a virus this Tuesday? She wasn’t ready for rejection. Not yet.

“Huh. Have you talked to a counselor about this?” Kris turned left, and she followed.

Because a school counselor would need to diagnose her crush problems that she was trying to push aside. “Um, no. Not yet. I can’t find the time.”

“Maybe you should. Insomnia is a serious problem.”

“I’m fine, Kris, honestly. It runs through my family. It’s just that I was sick last Tuesday and I’m really stressed out on trying to catch up. Once I’ve got everything under control and my stress is at its usual level, my insomnia will go away.” At least, that’s what Charisa hoped.

“Okay, if you say so.” He gave her one last worried look, then opened the door to their dorm for her.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. So, I’ll see you tomorrow in class?” They started walking up the stairs.

“Yup. Thanks for walking me back.” Charisa stopped at her floor.

“My pleasure.” Instead of walking on, he stood there until she closed the door.

Charisa sighed as she walked back to her room, gulping the rest of her tea down. Maybe she would be lucky and be in by dreamless sleep tonight…

“Well I don’t get to see you every day.”

“I want you to keep the same impression of me.”

“I can wait.”

Charisa woke up with her heart beating fast, her head dizzy. All of the sudden, she felt like she was being suffocated. She grabbed a shawl and opened the door from her room to the balcony outside.

When she took her first step outside, she was thankful she grabbed the shawl. Outside was freezing compared to inside, but she wasn’t ready to view its warmth as a welcoming cocoon yet. So she stood outside, resisting the urge to shiver.

She walked up to the railing, looking at the skyline of Seoul. It was dark, yet she still couldn’t see the stars. Instead, lights from buildings that were still full of life twinkled at her.

“What are you doing out here?”

Charisa jumped and whirled around. Kris stood there behind her, in the same outfit she had seen him in last.

“Shouldn’t I be asking that?” Once she found her tongue, only half furious. “You’re the one who’s on my balcony.”

The indignant glare in his eyes softened. “Couldn’t sleep?”

Her dream ran through her head and all of the sudden she felt tiny, helpless. “Yes,” she whispered. “I-I came out for a breath of fresh air.”

“And you’re not satisfied with this huh.”

She shook her head. “My home is in the country-side. This place is a lot more stifling that I’m used to. Sometimes I miss the wind and being able to see the stars.”

Kris studied her for a second. Then he held out a hand. “Would you like to fly?”

Charisa blinked. “F-fly?”

“Sure. You just have to make sure you hold on tightly to me. Trust me?”

She hesitated. Maybe I’m still dreaming. So she lifted her arms.

He stepped forward, took her hands and put them around his neck. “How high do you want to go?” He asked as his arms encircled her waist.

“High enough to see the stars,” she managed to say, her breath taken away on how close they were. She marveled how her face was shielded from the bitter cold from Kris’s tall figure.

“Your wish is my command,” Kris said solemnly.

All of the sudden, Charisa felt her feet leaving the ground as Kris’s grasp on her tightened. She clutched his neck even more as she felt air rush past them.

“Is this high enough?”

Charisa looked up and blinked. “Wow,” she breathed out. Here, the stars were even closer and brighter than back home. They seemed to twinkle at the same rhythm as the beat under her hands.

The beat under her hands. She looked down slightly until she saw Kris’s face. She almost flushed as she saw him holding a steady gaze on her. “Is that your heartbeat I feel?”

“Yes. It’s called a pulse you know,” he teased, and air whooshed by her ears again as they started descending.

“Why is it beating so fast?”

The playful look on Kris’s face turned solemn.

Charisa felt fear rush up her. Oh god, he’s going to hate me now.  “I’m sorry, I don’t have the right to ask.”

“It’s alright.” They landed on the ground, and he carefully released her.

She sighed. “Now I wonder if this is actually all a dream. It seems like the rest…”

Kris had turned away, but now he quickly looked back. “You remember what your dreams are about?”

Now the blush fully came to Charisa’s cheeks. “Yes.” She looked away so she wouldn’t have to meet his interrogating eyes.

She heard footsteps, and then all of the sudden, two fingers moved her chin until she was looking at Kris. “Is it me?” He asked softly.

She could only look on. Fear and anticipation kept her frozen in place.

He took her hand and put it on his neck again. “This is my fast heartbeat, telling you this is not a dream,” he said, his voice faltering at the word “heartbeat”. “This is me, standing in front of you, worrying about you, wanting to keep you safe, happy, and healthy ever since the first day I saw you. This is you, listening to my every words, wondering if this is all real. What do you have to say?”

Charisa swallowed. “This is me…wanting you to say yes to all my dreams,” she whispered, “but I’m too afraid to ask.”

Kris let go of her hand to cup her face. “That sounds like asking to me,” he chuckled.

She turned away and escaped from his grasp, fighting back tears. “I-I’m going inside.” She opened the door and stepped back into her apartment. Of course he wouldn’t take her seriously. Boys always messed up this way. Was it too much to ask for a man?

She started walk back towards her bed when suddenly her arm was yanked behind her. Unable to control her momentum, she turned and smacked right into Kris’s chest.

His eyes blazed with exasperation. “You didn’t give me any time to answer.” And without another word, he dipped his head down and claimed .

The pressure against her lips was even more heavenly than she had dreamed of. Charisa melted into Kris’s embrace as he showed her that real life could give more than fantasies.

Finally, he let go and pulled his lips away and rested his forehead on hers. “Was that the answer you wanted?”

“Yes.” She gave out a giggle. “But now I know I definitely can’t go back to sleep.”

“Oh no, I can’t have my baby wasting away because of me.” He led her to her bed. She complied with his statement and lied down. He tucked the covers around her.

When he stood up, Charisa grasped his arm. “Don’t leave me yet?”

Kris smiled and grabbed a chair from nearby and set it next to her bed. He brushed some stray strands of hair from her forehead. “Now, sleep. If you’re good, I’ll sing you a lullaby.”

She smiled back and closed her eyes. He started humming.

“Girl, I’m not lying, I’m not afraid of heights, but when you give that smile of yours, I fly to the sky. Every time you do this to me, I’m soaring with zero gravity…”

Charisa opened her eyes to a sunny morning. She yawned and stretched, thankful it was Saturday.

When she finished her yawn, she knew there was something different. She touched her swollen lips with trembling fingers.

“You didn’t give me any time to answer,” he said before his mouth captured hers.

They had flown into the sky before her claimed her lips and sung her to sleep. Every single part was unbelievable, yet somehow they all happened. Fear clawed at her heart. What if it was all a dream? It seemed unlikely that anything would be true.

No. Her swollen lips told her otherwise. But her mind still insisted that she had made up everything, like every other night.

Charisa got up and opened the door that connected her room to the hallway outside, but there was no one. Kris’s absence hammered another nail on the coffin of her dying hopes that resided in her heart.

She heard a noise and turned to the glass door to see the note taped on it. She walked over and took it into her hand.

Get dressed and meet me out in the balcony.

Kris.

She smiled, hope filling her up once again. In no time, she got dressed and was out by the railing, gazing at the city lit up by the sun.

She heard a whooshing noise behind her but before she could turn around, a pair of arms slipped through her sides and hugged her from behind, holding her captive. “Good morning,” greeted Kris’s husky voice after he pecked her on the cheek.

She turned and stood on her tiptoes to meet him. She drank in his half-surprised look for a second before she decided to take her own conquest of his mouth.

The first time they kissed, she was too much in shock to fully take in the information her senses were supplying. Warm, chocolate-rich taste filled this time.

“Did you fly here?” Charisa asked when she pulled away.

He kissed her forehead affectionately. “Yes.”

“Seems like you are keeping many secrets from me, besides the reason why you stayed up late yesterday,” she commented as she relaxed into his embrace.

“I will reveal all of them to you,” he promised, “as long as keep using that secret of yours.”

“My secret?”

“Your secrets for making me feel like there is zero gravity every time I’m around you.”

[A/N] Wow it's been so long since I've come up with a new oneshot OTL

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy it, even if it is another contest entry. This is the contest: Outside the Box

But honestly, I started getting ideas and writing out sections before I even saw the prompt. Just to clarify before any accusations or thoughts that I'm losing my touch on original creativity and that I need to base of themes or prompts to get ideas.

Also, Happy Valentine's Day! (so what if I'm a week early, it's the thought that counts.) 

Anyway, if you guys have any requests, feel free to comment below, and thank you for continuing to stay with me! ^_^