“Today is your date with Chanyeol, right?” Bora asks.

“Yup,” I say as I underline a sentence in my textbook.

“What time?”

My line grows crooked. I trade my pencil for a phone. “Good question.”

Me: Hey Chanyeol. What time are we meeting today?

He replies almost as soon as I’ve finished correcting my underlined mistake.

Chanyeol: So you decided you wanted to go on a date with me?

Me: Maybe.

Chanyeol: I’ll pick you up at 7.

“Seven,” I tell Bora and flip to the next page.

“Are you excited?”

“Well, yeah. I’ve never been on a date before.”

“You’ll have fun.” Bora raises her hand, and I toss her a pen from my pencil case. “Nam says he’s going to talk to me tomorrow.”

“About what?”

“I’m not sure. But we’re eating breakfast together.”

“I bet he’s going to tell you he likes you,” I tease.

“Junah,” she scolds me, and then she blushes. “I think so.”

“But remember. We were each other’s first love, okay?”

She laughs and throws the pen back to me after she writes a note on her calendar. “Yeah.”

I glance at the time on my phone. It’s already five o’ clock. “I’m going to get ready.”

“Two hours early?”

“I can’t do anything else right now,” I say. “If I try to study, I won’t be able to focus. All I can think about is the date, so I might as well get ready for it.”

“Okay,” she says as I go to the bathroom. “Might as well have a dance party while you’re at it, too.” Bora chooses one of the playlists on her laptop. Immediately, catchy hip hop beats play through its speakers. She turns it up, and then I hum the tune to the song.

It really does take me two hours to prepare, but not because I encountered anything difficult. Most of those two hours were made of Bora and I dancing and singing to her music. At one time, half of my face was made up, and I sat in my bed talking to Bora about how nervous I was about this date. Eventually, I’m fully dressed, and when I look in the mirror, I feel confident that whatever happens tonight, I’m going to enjoy it.

“Have fun,” Bora says as I grab my purse.

“I will.”

Chanyeol’s car is parked right outside of the dorm. When he sees me, he steps out from his car and walks to the passenger side to open the door for me. He’s wearing a color block pink and gray button down, and he’s grinning like the cheery idiot that he is. I step into the car, and he goes to the driver’s seat.

“I want to make sure you remember tonight,” Chanyeol says as he chooses a radio station that is currently playing a slow R&B song, “since it’s your first date with me. We’re going downtown.”

“I’ve only been there once.” I recall the time I went downtown with Bora last semester for the sake of exploring the city. Even though our school was a good twenty-minute drive from the heart of the metroplex, we haven’t gone there since. I’m glad Chanyeol is taking me there. Downtown has an entirely different energy at night, and I want to experience it again.

“Did you like it?”

“Yeah.”

He adjusts the rearview mirror and smiles at my reflection. “Then you’ll like it even more.”

When Chanyeol gets off the highway and takes an exit, I witness again the beautiful and magnificent sight of a city so alive with activity that it brims over with bluish light that is both haunting and magical in comparison to the transcendent face of the moon. It’s one of my favorite views, and I am ecstatic to see it with Chanyeol.

He points to a tall building with a structure that looks like an orb at the top. “We’re going there.”

“Isn’t that the revolving restaurant?”

“Yup.”

Isn’t that expensive? “We’re going there?”

“Yup.”

“That’s a fine dining restaurant.”

“Yeah, where all the ‘fine’ people go. As you can see, we’re fitting of the description.” Chanyeol smiles at me. “You’re beautiful.”

I laugh, which really is my go-to reaction for everything. “You look nice, too.”

“I tried.”

We reach the restaurant and take an elevator to the top. From the elevator, we can see the horizon behind the entire city. The city lights glitter below us as we rise above them, and the darkening sky bores down on the buildings below. It’s the most spectacular view, and I’m blessed to see all sides of it as the restaurant spins at a comfortable speed.

Since Chanyeol made a reservation, we are seated immediately. Glass dividers separate each eating area. The chairs are white and made with comfortable leather. The light colored wood of the table matches that of the floor. The entire restaurant seems to sparkle with glass and metal, and when coupled with the city skyline, the aura is made even more majestic. I’ve always wanted to eat at a fine dining restaurant, but to be able to do it on my fi