You never understood how a 20 year old can act like he’s ten. His cute, boyish face makes everyone else wonder if he really is twenty. Whenever you go hang out with him, he always has a new joke to tell you. He puts a smile to your face no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical the joke is. Only one person can have that effect on you. Only Park Chanyeol can do that.

You both have known each other for about 9 months now (not that you were counting or anything). You were both two strangers who literally bumped into each other one fine day and became friends straight after. You both clicked instantly and up till now, you didn’t know why.

“It’s fate working. It’s definitely fate working,” your best friend told you over the phone the night you met him for the first time. You, of course, laughed because you can never take your best friend seriously half the time.

It was Saturday and you were doing the usual. By “the usual”, you meant hanging out with Chanyeol at the little café that was located near the city. It has become part of a routine for you to meet Chanyeol every week whenever you can, and this café is both your favourite hideouts. The café served a nice array of pastries, desserts, and of course, coffee. The cashier practically memorized both your orders. She knew what to prepare every time she saw the both of you step into the café. The first time the both of you came together, she assumed that Chanyeol was your boyfriend. You choked on your hot chocolate when you heard that. Chanyeol flashed his usual boyish grin and innocently asked “Really? Am I her ‘boyfriend material’?”

The both of you sat across from each other, talking over two cups of hot chocolate and a scone each. You observed his dressing (it was a habit of yours) and you noticed that he stopped crimping his hair after you continuously described his hair as “poodle hair”. You swore that you didn’t mean for him to hear that, but the next time you met, he let his hair fall straight down. Still, his child-like features gave him an innocent vibe. His straight hair reminded you more of a kid. You noted not to tell him that, or else who knows what else he would do to his hair.

“So… how was the date last night?” he asked.

“Do you really want to know?” you said.         

His eyes never left yours and you noticed that behind those faux geek glasses, his big eyes were practically begging for an answer to his question.

“In all honesty, that guy was horrible,” you admitted.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow up and motioned for you to continue.

“He had no manners and throughout our dinner, he rambled on and on about himself. I don’t mean to be selfish or anything, but it’s just not right to talk about yourself and only yourself over 2 hours, right?” you ranted.

Chanyeol nodded whenever he had to, taking in everything you just complained to him about your previous date last night.

When you were done with your complaints, he asked “Why does your best friend want to set you up with so many guys? If I’m not wrong, you’ve been on 6 blind dates over the past few weeks.”

You raised an eyebrow and teased “Aww, has someone been noticing how many guys I’ve met over the past few weeks?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat, his face reddening as the seconds go by, “Of course not! I’m just… worried.”

“Worried? About?”

“You.”

You cocked your head to the side and studied his face. His round eyes were avoiding your gaze and you can see a hint of blush creeping up his cheeks. He awkwardly pushed his glasses up his nose making you laugh. He shifted his gaze towards you and asked “What’s so funny?”

 “You look cute in geek glasses,” you said.

You couldn’t stop grinning over how his innocent face looked when he was blushing. His eyes darted back and forth between the table and your face. His face was becoming visibly redder and he was nervously twiddling his fingers, fidgeting around.

You stood up and cupped your hands between his cheeks, making him stop moving. He still refused to look at you in the eye even though the both of you were really close to each other, face to face. You could feel the heat of his blush on your hands and you teasingly asked him “Why is your face so red, Chanyeollie-oppa?”

His round eyes lit up and he had a big, goofy grin plastered on his face.

You looked at him in confusion. “Why are you sudden-“

“You called me ‘oppa’!!” he said. You could see how amazed he was. It was as if a revelation was brought down to earth and he saw it before his own eyes.

You took your hands off his face and slowly sank back into your sofa seat. He, on the other hand, was jumping up and down in his seat and clapping his hands. He had his signature toothy smile on his face while you wished that the ground would just swallow you up.

You’ve never called anyone ‘oppa’ before, and to just blurt it out like that was kind of bizarre. It felt weird on your tongue, but saying “Chanyeollie-oppa” is strangely comfortable to you.

“The tables have turned, my friend.” Chanyeol snickered.

You nodded in defeat and rolled your eyes.

This is the thing about Chanyeol. He is the mood-maker and he seems to be able to ease his way out of every awkward situation with his bright personality. It was definitely his charm.

“Just curious, what is your ideal type?” he asked, taking a sip from his mug of hot chocolate.

“He has to be charming in his own way without trying too hard. He should always be able to put a smile on my face when I’m having the worst day. He has to be well-mannered and treats everyone around him well. Being serious is good, but he shouldn’t be too serious all the time. Well, being musically-inclined would be a bonus. Oh! He has to be really cheerful.” You ended off with a sigh. “I don’t think I’d ever find the perfect guy at this rate.”

“Girl, aren’t you a picky one.” He said, shaking his head. “But now that you think about it, that sounds a lot like… me!” He framed his face using both his hands, forming a ‘v’ sign under his chin.

“Just kidding,” he added.

You froze. Your description really did sound a lot like him. You had a tingly feeling all over and you felt your face warm up. Did you really just describe him as your ideal type without yourself knowing?

-

The next few weeks when the both of you met, it was pretty different. You actually made an effort to look good for your routine visit to the café to hang out with Chanyeol. The smallest things he does for you makes your heart beat rapidly. Every time he looks at you, you just cannot look him in the eye.

He still cracked jokes often and you doubt that he realised the change in your attitude towards him.

Your best friend kept insisting that you like him but you just kept denying it. It’s like you didn’t want to face the truth and just play along with the game. You’ve never fallen in love before so you didn’t know how this goes, but all you knew was that it was a risk almost half the time. “It’s either you get your heart broken or your heart kept safe,” your mother once told you.

On a Friday, you were alone at home after a long day at school. Your parents were in Japan for a business trip and they left you alone at home because you had your exams the following week. You knew you had to study but you couldn’t find the motivation to do so. You decided to take a short power nap before waking up to get started on your revision and homework.

In your sleep, you had a bizarre dream that Chanyeol was holding your hand while you were asleep. He smiled at you and gave you a peck on your forehead before you suddenly woke up because of a noise you heard. “Damn, have I been fantasizing too much?” you thought to yourself. You rubbed your eyes and you thought that something felt rather strange.

You stretched your arms towards the ceilings and you noticed that there was another ring on your right index finger. You looked at it closely and saw that it was a plain silver ring. “What in the world…” you mumbled to yourself. You took off the ring and saw a heart engraved on the inner side of the ring. “Okay this is getting rather creepy.” You thought.

You got up and saw a rose and a small sticky note pasted on your study table. You walked towards your study table and read the note.

“To: My café buddy

Hi! Guess who~? It has been exactly 10 months since we’ve bumped into each other and this is my belated birthday present to you. Yes, 10 months is a little long but it also took me 10 months to realise my true feelings for you. Yes, I like you.

And I want to be your poodle-haired boyfriend for the rest of our lives together.

-       “Chanyeollie-oppa” ♥♥ “

You smiled giddily to yourself and started jumping around the room, still holding the ring and sticky note in your hand.

“So am I really going to be your poodle-haired boyfriend?!!” an all too familiar voice said.

You swiftly turned to the door and saw Chanyeol with his usual bright smile, looking at you with his eyes glimmering. “D-did you just see me….” You trailed off.

“Yeah, I saw the whole thing. From when you woke up, to when you were jumping up and down.” He snickered. He closed the gap between the both of you and said, “I’ll take your actions as a ‘yes’ towards my confession.”

You looked down at the floor, unable to say anything. You didn’t want him to see you grinning like a fool to yourself.

He took your chin and made you face him. He saw you grinning to yourself and said “Yup, that is definitely a ‘yes’ to my confession.”

He pulled you into a tight hug, his giant built engulfing your small frame. You were tucked into his chest and you awkwardly hugged him back.

“That was the most unromantic way to ask someone to be your girlfriend,” you .

“Yeah, I know. I know you are searching for the perfect guy and all but hopefully I am perfect in your eyes,” he said while your hair gently.

You looked up at him, your chin resting on his chest. “You don’t have to hope about that, you are perfect in my eyes.”

He smiled and kissed your forehead, making you grin wider, if that is even possible. You didn’t want to pull out of his embrace but you knew that if you didn’t, you would never get started on your school work.

“Can you… let go of me now?” you asked.

He shook his head fervently and said “Not until you call me ‘Chanyeollie-oppa’!”

Here we go again.

“No way, I’m not going to call you that.”

“Then you’ll just have to stay within my embrace.”

“I don’t mind,” you challenged.

“I don’t mind either,” Chanyeol smirked.