chapter three 

 Crushing Already?

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The next night, the girls and I decided to celebrate our success for Flower Power with a nice dinner. Really, we just needed an excuse to eat out instead of ordering junk food to our hotel room. After we felt like we were all fat full, we stayed at the restaurant and talked amongst ourselves. I was in the middle of telling Yuri a funny story about what Tiffany did backstage on Hey Hey Hey! before I was interupted by my phone. It vibrated, letting me know that I got a new notification, probably from eMingle. I pulled out my phone and checked and sure enough, it was from eMingle. Kim Jiyoung sent me a message saying he was able to talk. I looked up from my lap, which was where I was hiding my cell phone, and noticed that none of the girls were paying full attention to me.

"Yah Tiffany, Yuri, I got to um..take a call. I'll just answer it in the restroom so I'll be back," they nodded and looked back to Sooyoung who was busy telling one of her silly stories.

I walked out of the dining area and made my way to the bathroom. There was nobody in there so I had more privacy then I expected. As I leaned against the sink, I quickly responded, silently hoping to myself that he was still on. It seemed as though he was just sitting there waiting by his phone because as soon as I said "I'm here," he replied back asking how my day went. His fast reply made me laugh a little.

H.Line said on 6:56 PM 11/10/12

Pretty good, I was just hanging out with my friends.

DinoJi said on 6:58 PM 11/10/12

Oh well that's nice, same here. Have you had dinner yet...not to sound clingy or anything..

H.Lina said on 7:01 PM 11/10/12

LOL no you don't sound clingy at all. Actually I just finished eating dinner. How about you?

DinoJi said on 7:03 PM 11/10/12

Um well I don't really have time for dinner today. I have a lot of plans to do today...

H.Lina said on 7:06 PM 11/10/12

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you do well on you plans though. And when you do have time for dinner, I know this really great restaurant that my friends and I tend to go to a lot.

For about fifteen more minutes, we just kept talking about anything we could think of, from what places to visit the next time he goes to Japan, to what he found his dog chewing on in the morning. I didn't even realize that I was smiling at my phone screen like an idiot. Even though we mainly talked as though we were close friends, I started feeling like he was trying to flirt with me. Which makes sense since it was a dating site. I was about to get nervous until I remembered Tiffany telling me that it was just for fun. And flirting is apart of fun right?

Before I knew it, I was actually enjoying spending this little time with him and wishing we knew each other in person. I wondered what would it be like if I could actually see his face, hug him, and hold his hand. It's only been a day, but I already wanted to feel that bolt of electricity that you usually feel when you share skinship with crush. Yes I said it. Crush. I would be lying to myself and the rest of the would if I didn't admit that I was quickly growing a crush on him. So far, I could tell he had some of the qualities that I like in guys such as humor and wit. I thought doing this online dating thing would be extremely uncomfortable but he made me forget all of that. It didn't even pop in my head that I may have been falling for him too fast. My heart just tends to do that.

"Jessica..that doesn't look like a phone to me," I heard Yuri chuckle. I quickly pressed my phone to my chest, making sure she didn't see or read anything. I was just about to send another message too.

"Umm I was just...about to go back outside..." I tried my best to come up with a reasonable lie. I could tell she wasn't buying it from the smirk on her face. "

Uh huh, sure you were. Well, we're about to leave so we just need you to pay your share. That's the reason why I came in here," she held out her hand, obviously waiting for my part of the bill.

I rummaged through my purse, trying to remember how much my meal costs. I guess she noticed I how I was stalling and conventiently told me the price. "Thanks Yul," I murmured as I took out my wallet and handed her thirty five dollars and fifty cents. As soon as she left with the money, I turned the lock off my phone and the app reappeared. I pressed the send button and fortunately he responded about a minute later. I sighed in relief and told him I'll be right back. I got my purse together and walked out the bathroom. The rest of the girls already had the purses on the shoulder as they were standing next the clean and empty table. I guess I was in that bathroom longer than I thought. I linked arms with Tiffany as we walked out of the restaurant. She winked at me, knowing just like me that I was crushing on him already.

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About a week later, I was informed that our dongsaengs in SHINee were staying in the same building as us - but we still didn't see them very often. Our schedules started around the same time in the morning so we almost always saw each other in the elevators, but that was mainly it. We hardly ever saw them when we came home. And we wouldn't dare visit each other's rooms...that's just wrong.

After discovering SHINee's arrival, Jonghyun and Kibum came knocking on our door. I was in the middle of watching a Japanese drama before I had to answer the door. Not knowing who it was, I opened the door slightly and peeked through the cracks.

"Yah! Do you guys want us all to get into trouble? What are you doing here, go back to your room!" I whispered but it came out more as a hiss. "

Dang Jessica, what a way to treat your favorite dongsaengs," Kibum stated, folding his arms.

"Sorry, it's just that...wait a second." I closed the door and quickly ran into the bathroom, looking in the mirror to see if I was decent. I fixed my hair a little and ran back to the living room door. I opened it and slipped outside, closing it behind me. "Okay, what do you guys want?"

"Is it just me, or does she sound really hostile today?" Kibum said while facing Jonghyun as if I wasn't stand right here. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him.

"Well we had some free time today and we were wondering if some of you guys would like to join us," Jonghyun asked me, obviously ignoring Kibum's question as well.

"Oh so sorry guys, it's just me who's off today," I shrugged and silently hoped that they'll immediately walk away so neither of our managers would see them. That wasn't the case.

"Okay then, that's better. Less people to draw a scene. Just get your shoes and we'll be waiting by the elevator," before I could even respond they already walked off.

"Alright then..." I muttered to myself and went back inside the room. I kicked my house shoes off and slipped on my flats. I did not feel like dealing with heels. I grabbed my room key off the coffee table in living room and left the room, locking the door behind me. 

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