The next few days seemed to take forever to pass for L.Joe. Lani had been busy with practice and had no time to see him since her day to debut was scheduled in the next few months. Finally, Lani had a day off and L.Joe cleared his schedule.  He started his day earlier than usual, waking up at the break of dawn to prepare for their outing. 

-

“What’s in the basket?” asked Lani in curiosity.

“It’s our lunch!” L.Joe replied, pulling the basket away from her.

“We’re having a picnic?!” Lani exclaimed in excitement.

L.Joe just smiled and began walking away.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Lani asked as she ran after him.

“I’m going on our date,” L.Joe replied as he turned and pinched her cheek.

Before Lani could react, L.Joe grabbed her hand and continued walking. They strolled along the Han river, talking casually. As they were walking, they saw a boy riding a bike and that gave L.Joe an idea. After hanging up the phone, Chunji was there within 15 minutes, with him; a bike. L.Joe thanked him and Chunji waved goodbye as he walked away. L.Joe placed the picnic basket on the front of the bike and quickly hopped on. He turned back to see Lani standing with her head cocked to the side; confusion written all over her face.

“What are you doing? Get on!” L.Joe chimed, smiling widely at her.

Lani quickly jumped on the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around L.Joe’s waist, making him smile even more.

“Ready?” asked L.Joe already beginning to pedal.

Lani nodded and smiled, resting her head on his back and squeezing him tightly. They rode for awhile just enjoying the scenery and each other’s company. L.Joe came to a stop next to a small hill. He looked back at Lani, who stared at him with curiosity.

“Why don’t we eat lunch now?” L.Joe suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Lani replied with a smile, getting off the bike and stretching her arms.

L.Joe walked the bike up the hill and put it to lean against a leafy tree. Lani followed behind and was about to sit on the grass when L.Joe stopped her.

“What’s wrong?” asked Lani, puzzled.

“I can’t let you sit on the ground with bare legs like that!” L.Joe replied, eyeing her long legs, only covered slightly by a pair of shorts.

He quickly pulled a blanket out of the basket and unfolded it, placing it on the ground.

“You even brought a blanket to sit on?” Lani said, surprise and delight filling her voice.

“I wanted everything to be perfect,” L.Joe simply said, taking a seat on the blanket.

Lani followed and sat across from him. L.Joe opened the basket and began taking out the food, placing it on the blanket.

“Wow! You made all of this?” Lani exclaimed in excitement, eager to eat.

“All by myself,” L.Joe said proudly with a smile.

He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and picked up some rice with the side dishes he prepared.

“Say ahhh,” L.Joe said bringing the chopsticks towards .

Lani gladly accepted his offer and opened . She chewed slowly, her expression falling when she tasted what L.Joe had made. L.Joe noticed and looked at her with worry.

“Does it taste alright?” he asked, hoping that it did.

Lani forced a smile as she swallowed and gave him a thumbs up. L.Joe cocked his head to the side watching her expression carefully. He brought more food to and she ate it slowly. He continued feeding her until she couldn’t take it anymore. Lani pulled away when L.Joe brought the chopsticks up to once again.

“What’s wrong?” he questioned watching her.

“Uhh.. why don’t you eat some?” Lani said laughing awkwardly.

L.Joe took a mouthful but quickly spit it out.

“BLEH!” L.Joe exclaimed, trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me it tasted bad?”

“Heh heh…I didn’t know how to,” Lani said with a sheepish grin.

“Well this is no good… how about we go eat somewhere?”

“I’m not really that hungry…”

“Humm…” L.Joe said in thought. “I’ll call Chunji to get the bike and we can go walking somewhere.”

-

They walked along the streets of Seoul, stopping at small stores and just looking around. In no time, L.Joe’s phone was filled with pictures of Lani wearing all kinds of cute accessories. L.Joe tried to buy Lani the things she pointed out, but she refused to allow him. He settled for just buying her ice cream and they continued going in and out of the various stores. Not long after, they stopped at a small food stand where they bought ddukbokki and happily fed each other.  Time quickly passed and it started to get dark as they were leaving the arcade they had stopped at to play a few games. Lani walked close to L.Joe holding onto his arm as they talked casually and joked around. A few moments later, they came to a stop in front of a small café.

“Let’s go in,” L.Joe said, dragging Lani to the door.

A small bell rang as they opened the door and a waiter greeted them. As they walked in, L.Joe’s attention was immediately attracted to the baby grand piano sitting in the far corner. Perfect, he thought to himself, a wide grin spreading from ear to ear. Lani was about to open to ask why he was smiling, but before she could do so, he dragged her to a table, not too far from the piano. He quickly ordered two coffee beverages and a mini strawberry short cake, with a lot of whip cream.  The cake was delicious and Lani couldn’t get enough. She took another bite and L.Joe stared at her with an amused smile.

“Why are you staring at me…?” she asked feeling uncomfortable in his gaze.

“You have a little something on your lip,” he pointed out.

Lani was about to wipe it off when L.Joe’s hand stopped her. She looked at him and he leaned in closer. Her heart started to beat faster, knowing where this was leading. Even though she had kissed L.Joe many times before, they’ve never done it in public; this made her slightly nervous and she lowered her head. L.Joe gently placed his hand under her chin and lightly lifted her head until their eyes met. Lani closed her eyes preparing for the kiss and moved in a little closer.

“Yah, pabo, what are you doing?” remarked L.Joe as he quickly swiped his thumb across her lip removing the cream.

Lani’s eyes shot open to see a teasing smirk on L.Joe’s face as he the cream off of his thumb.

“I was..uhh…” Lani couldn’t think of what to say and her cheeks flushed bright red in embarrassment.

L.Joe chuckled softly and continued eating the cake.

“Stay right here, okay?” said L.Joe as he got up and walked away.

Lani figured he had gone to the rest room or something and ate quietly by herself. Suddenly, a beautiful melody filled the room causing the few people in the café to turn their attention to the piano. Lani looked up to see L.Joe, eyes closed and face calm, sitting in front of the piano; his fingers moving gracefully across the keys. Lani’s heart was beating faster as the music surrounded her. L.Joe’s song came to an end and he opened his eyes to look at her. Lani smiled and clapped with excitement. Everyone else clapped but L.Joe gave them no attention. He got up, his eyes locked on Lani and walked away from the piano. As he approached their table, he pulled a flower out of one of the center pieces and walked up to Lani. He got down on one knee and held the flower up to her.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” L.Joe asked sincerity in his eyes.

Lani froze for a second but finally managed to say yes. She gladly accepted the flower and wrapped her arms around L.Joe’s neck. He stood up, dragging her up with him and returned the hug. The people in the café cheered as they watched the happy couple.

L.Joe paid the waiter and he bowed to them as they exited the café. The cold air blew, giving Lani chills. L.Joe quickly put his jacket around her shoulders and smiled down at her. Lani wrapped her arm around his waist and he lightly placed his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to him. L.Joe’s expression was very bright as he walked Lani home.

“Thank you for everything today,” Lani said wholeheartedly, giving L.Joe’s jacket back to him as they stood in the lobby of her apartment building.

“No problem,” L.Joe smiled and kissed her forehead.

Lani looked up at him and smiled, quickly hugging him then running off to the elevator.

“Be safe!” she exclaimed waving as the elevator doors shut.

L.Joe waved back and walked away.