"You're up early for a Saturday," Mr. Park remarked, surprised to see Chan Yeol who entered the dining room at 10 that morning.

"Yeah, I'm going out with Ri Ah," he answered, taking a seat and eating.

"Out? Where?"

"The zoo. She hasn't seen it yet so I thought I would show her."

"The zoo? Hmm…" Mr. Park thought to himself. "It's been a while since I've been. I think I'll join you two!" he excitedly exclaimed.

"No!" Chan Yeol immediately refused, taking Mr. Park by surprise.

"Why not?" Mr. Park asked with a frown.

"Because…because you're too old," he stammered.

Mr. Park scoffed at his son's excuse. "Like you should be talking. You're 22!" he retorted.

"Yeah but I'm doing this for Ri Ah," he stubbornly answered.

"Then I'll do it for Ri Ah too." Mr. Park replied, as stubbornly as his son

"Dad, Ri Ah won't have fun if you go!"

"Why not? I'm a cool person. I can be fun!"

"What are you two arguing about?" Mrs. Park asked, coming into the dining room after hearing their loud voices from the kitchen.

"Chan Yeol won't let me go to the zoo with him and Ri Ah!" Mr. Park whined.

"Dad is so embarrassing! He's going to make Ri Ah uncomfortable!" Chan Yeol complained.

"Yah, how can you call your father embarrassing to his face?!" Mr. Park asked, slightly offended by his son's remark.

Mrs. Park rolled her eyes at the two grown males. "Honey, let the kids go on their own," Mrs. Park said to her husband. "Besides, don't you have an important case you're working on? You said you were going to the office today."

Mr. Park cutely pouted and sighed. "Yeah, I do." He shot a look at his son. "I realized something today. I have a traitor for a son."

Chan Yeol cheekily grinned back. "You know I still love you, Dad."

"Mhm, I have a hard time believing that," he muttered before getting up to leave for the office.

Mrs. Park also left to go upstairs and work on a sewing project in the sunroom.

The front door opened and Ri Ah came in from her morning jog. She had actually stayed up late last night watching reruns of Running Man that she got up later than she normally would, even for a Saturday. She passed by the dining room and was surprised to see Chan Yeol sitting at the table, eating.

"What are you doing up so early?" she asked him.

Chan Yeol looked her up and down. Her forehead and neck were slightly glistening from sweat and strands of hair had fallen out of from her pony tail, resting on the sides of her face. Despite being clad in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, Chan Yeol thought she still looked very attractive. He cleared his throat before answering. "Don't you remember? We're going out."

"I did remember…I'll just go take a quick shower and eat," Ri Ah answered, still slightly stunned to see him awake before noon on a Saturday. She went to her room and got ready in 20 minutes, coming out to the dining room to join Chan Yeol for breakfast before they headed out.

Chan Yeol was driving and Ri Ah looked out the window at the city, trying to figure out where they were going since he still wouldn't tell her.

"The zoo?" Ri Ah questioned when she noticed the signs on the road directing them towards the Seoul Grand Park Zoo.

"Yeah," Chan Yeol answered with a grin, turning into the zoo's parking lot. "They recently reopened their outdoor exhibits after being closed for the winter, and the Grand Park Zoo is a must-see attraction here in Seoul."

"Wow, I'm excited!" she replied enthusiastically.

Ri Ah and Chan Yeol entered the zoo and the first attraction they came across was the butterfly house. They entered and were immediately amazed by the hundreds of butterflies, all of different sizes, colors, and designs, flying around, landing on the flowers and trees that were placed in the house in a natural manner. Chan Yeol and Ri Ah glanced around in awe at the breathtaking sight. A blue butterfly fluttered towards the two and landed on Ri Ah's shoulder. She slowly turned her head towards it, carefully trying not to move the rest of her body and scare it away. Her lips curved into a smile as she watched its wings open and close. The sound of a camera taking a picture startled her and she immediately jerked her head towards the noise, scaring the butterfly away in the process. Chan Yeol stared at his phone with a grin. He had perfectly captured the moment.

Chan Yeol turned the screen of his phone to let Ri Ah see the picture for herself. "Picture perfect," he commented.

Ri Ah took the phone from him to get a better look and smiled at the photo. She looked back up at Chan Yeol to see him looking cross-eyed at a red butterfly that landed on his nose. She bit her lip to hold back a laugh as she held his phone up and took a picture of him just before the butterfly flew away. Looking at the picture, she finally let out her laugh.

[The inspiration for Chan Yeol's picture ^_^]

"You too," she said with a chuckle, handing his phone back to him.

Chan Yeol looked at the photo and laughed. "I look like an idiot."

"I think you look cute," Ri Ah defended. "In fact, you should send me that picture. I'll set it as your contact photo in my phone."

"Really?" Chan Yeol asked, surprised by her request, but also elated.

"Of course."

Chan Yeol sheepishly grinned and sent her the photo.

They finished walking through the butterfly house and started sightseeing the actual zoo. Though it was a chilly day in early spring, the zoo was heavily populated with people who came to see the outdoor attractions that had recently opened up again, creating a lively atmosphere with the families, kids, and even couples that were still on the White Day high.

Chan Yeol and Ri Ah arrived at the elephant exhibit.

"How cute!" Ri Ah exclaimed. "That baby elephant is playing with a ball."

"You should take a video of it," she suggested to Chan Yeol.

Chan Yeol took out his phone and started taping the scene, but the focus of the camera moved from the elephant to Ri Ah, whose expressions showed her delight at seeing the baby try to push the ball around. Chan Yeol found himself smiling widely at the Ri Ah on his screen, until she turned towards the camera and asked him a question.

"What do you want to see next?"

Chan Yeol put down his phone and looked at her. "How about we go see the tigers?" he suggested, pointing in their direction.

The Bengal tiger exhibition was having a special event that day. Under the supervision of one of the zookeepers, visitors were allowed to play with the cubs. Ri Ah and Chan Yeol entered the fenced off area along with a small group of 8 other people. There were 4 cubs and one of them was a white tiger who sat in the corner separately from the other three cubs.

"Do white tigers and Bengal tigers live together?" someone asked the zookeeper, surprised to see the white tiger.

"Oh no. Actually that cub's mother died, so we were hoping that he would be adopted by the mother of these three cubs. The mother tiger has actually been pretty welcoming to him, but he hasn't been able to play well with the other cubs so he keeps to himself." the zookeeper explained.

A child went over to the white cub and tried to play with him but was scared away when the cub tried to swat him away with his paw. The child went crying to his mother.

"I'm sorry, he's a bit temperamental with people. Maybe we shouldn't have brought him here," the zookeeper apologized.

Ri Ah and Chan Yeol were playing with one of the Bengal cubs and Ri Ah looked over at the white cub sitting alone.

"Poor baby, he lost his mother and he's all by himself," Ri Ah remarked with a sympathetic pout. "Should we try playing with him?" she asked Chan Yeol.

"You heard the zookeeper, he doesn't like people."

"Still, he looks sad by himself." Ri Ah grabbed a nearby ball and walked over to the white cub. Chan Yeol followed her and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting any closer.

"Careful, he might bite you or claw you," he warned her.

Ri Ah kept her distance from the cub who kept his eyes on the approaching figures. Ri Ah crouched down and rolled the ball to him. He reacted by using his paw to swat the ball, which rolled back to Ri Ah. She rolled it back to him and he again swat the ball back. She continued to play with him in this manner.

"Maybe he'll let me get closer," Ri Ah thought aloud.

"I think this is close enough," Chan Yeol said firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder again as he crouched down next to her. Ri Ah slightly pouted but didn't argue with him.

The cub, who had been eyeing the ball and waiting for Ri Ah to roll it back to him, suddenly got up and started walking towards Ri Ah and Chan Yeol. The two stared at the approaching cub with slightly wide eyes. He stood in front of Ri Ah and lifted his paw to hit the ball out of Ri Ah's hand. It fell to the floor and the cub again swatted it to Ri Ah, who started grinning and rolled the ball back to him. Chan Yeol blinked a few times in disbelief before he let out a small laugh.

The cub started becoming more playful with Ri Ah and ducked his head under her hand to allow her to pet him, purring as her hand glided down his back. Ri Ah sat down in a cross-legged manner to continue petting him and the cub actually sat in her lap to continue playing with her, his purring constant now as she started massaging him under his chin.

Chan Yeol started petting him as well, and when Ri Ah stopped massaging his chin, he walked off of Ri Ah's lap and into Chan Yeol's, resuming his purring when Chan Yeol started scratching behind his ear.

"This is new," the zookeeper said in awe, walking towards Chan Yeol and Ri Ah. "He's actually allowing you to pet him."

"I think he just needed some attention," Ri Ah explained, ruffling his coat.

"Should we take a picture with him?" Chan Yeol suggested, taking his phone back out.

Ri Ah smiled and held out her hand to take the phone from him.

"I mean the both of us," Chan Yeol clarified, staring at her outstretched hand.

"I'll take the picture," the zookeeper offered.

Chan Yeol handed him his phone and scooted closer to Ri Ah. He picked up the cub and held him between their faces. The cub started Ri Ah's cheek which made her laugh at the ticklish feeling. The zookeeper snapped the picture, capturing Chan Yeol staring affectionately at Ri Ah with a smile, the tiger Ri Ah, and Ri Ah laughing.

"Now that is a picture perfect moment," the zookeeper said with a smile, handing the phone back to Chan Yeol.

Chan Yeol and Ri Ah looked at the picture.

"You're right, the picture came out really well," Ri Ah agreed.

The zookeeper left to check on the other visitors and cubs.

"I think I found my new wallpaper," Chan Yeol said, looking at the picture with a smile.

"New wallpaper?" Ri Ah questioned.

"For my phone," he said, showing his current wallpaper. It was the picture from their trip to the mall when they wore the animal hats [Chapter 8].

"You still kept that picture as your wallpaper?" she asked in surprise.

"Well…yeah," he answered matter-of-factly, tapping the touch screen on his phone to change the settings. "I haven't found a better one…until now." He held up his phone again to show his new wallpaper.

Ri Ah laughed at his reasoning. "I guess a real tiger is better than a hat," she said in agreement.

That's not why I like this one better, Ri Ah. It's because you look so much happier in this picture.

"Alright folks, it's time to take these cubs back to their mother for feeding," the zookeeper announced to the group.

"Well I guess this is a goodbye, little cub," Ri Ah said with a pout, petting his head.

"You know you can visit him again," Chan Yeol reminded her.

"That's true. Although, to be honest, I wish I could take him home with me."

"And let him replace me?" Chan Yeol was pouting now.

"Of course not, no one could replace my puppy," she answered with a smile. Chan Yeol grinned back.

Chan Yeol and Ri Ah left the tiger exhibition and continued on through the zoo, seeing the giraffes, rhinos, zebras, lions and other outdoor animal exhibits. They moved on to the indoor exhibits where the reptiles, penguins, polar bears, etc. were kept. They watched a special performance by the seals and even got to interact with them as well for a bit.

After walking around the zoo for a few hours, it was mid-afternoon by now and the two were hungry. They ate at the zoo's restaurant that was inside the aquarium. The dining area was surrounded by a fish tank on all sides and even the ceiling, creating a beautiful blue glow from the water speckled with various colors from the fish and sea animals swimming around them.

Ri Ah forgot about her hunger and the food sitting in front of her as she glanced around and above her at the distracting sight.

Chan Yeol smiled at her childlike curiosity. "I thought you said you were hungry."

Ri Ah diverted her attention back to him and laughed. "I guess I'm having a hard time focusing on the food when the setting is much more interesting." She resumed her eating but would still glance around while she chewed her food.

Chan Yeol sighed to himself. They were almost done eating and now all that was left was the big confession. The thought of it made him nervous. But there was no way he would mess this up. He had already made all the plans this morning and it was going to be perfect. Ri Ah would finally find out how he felt about her. And hopefully, after the way she had been smiling and laughing throughout today's outing, she would accept him. If not…well that was something he didn't want to think about, or he may just back out of the confession last minute.

The check came and Chan Yeol took it before Ri Ah could even look at it, saying that since it was his idea to come, he would be the one treating. Ri Ah frowned slightly at the gesture that burdened her, but when he stuck his tongue out at her playfully, she laughed and took his offer gratefully.

"Today was fun. Thank you for doing this," Ri Ah said in the car as they drove.

"It's not over yet," Chan Yeol answered. "There's still one more place we're going."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "Where?"

"You'll see," he replied.

Author's Note

I'm such a troll, Chan Yeol still hasn't confessed yet =P But at least there were some fluffy moments between the two :D Alrighty so how will his confession end? Well, I'll give you a hint. There was a detail I mentioned in one of the earlier chapters (as in the first 5) that will play a big role in what happens in the next chapter. Let's see if anyone can figure out what it is :) - 9/23/12 2:16 AM