Wherever you pause for just a moment, I'll make into a garden

Chapter 1 – Sunday Lunch

 

           

 

            I was finally getting the hang of things in the college. Quite a new experience and somehow I felt free and a lot happier here. I mean, apart from the feeling of starting life anew, I think it’s because, now I don’t feel like a burden to anyone. I moved out from my parents’ home, rented an apartment in Seoul near to the college and I even managed to get a part time job at the nursery with Leeteuk and some of the others. The kids there just can’t do without me and I also grew attached to them. As far as Jongin and my relationship as gotten… well… I feel sort of guilty for not being able to be a good girlfriend and I’m still awkward with his excessive need for touching.

            That boy really enjoys skin-ship and even though I claim to hate it, I actually secretly like his small movements; when he grabs my hand unexpectedly, or when he back hugs me out of the blue, sometimes I also find myself blushing when his lips ‘accidently’ collides onto my cheeks and if he’s lucky, even my lips; but I try not to make that a habit because then I’ll get addicted to him; addicted to his touch and that will be problematic. He is already driving me insane; who knows what will happen if I get addicted to him? I’ll lose it! Even my roommate, Yunha says that I’m completely head over heels for him. It wasn’t because I clung to him, no; actually it was quite the opposite.

           “You distance yourself from him because you feel as though you’re burdening him right? Jiyeon, deny it as much as you want but anyone can see the love in your eyes when he’s mentioned or when he’s around you. You immediately get nervous and then you start turning into a clumsy mess. Your words turn foreign and you look so cute. When he’s not around, you quietly roam the house up and down, unsure of what to do and then when he calls you get so excited you forget how to speak and sometimes you try ignoring him but in the end you only hurt yourself. Just admit it Jiyeon, you can’t live without Jongin”

            When she told me that I was so blank, I didn’t know how to respond to her at all. It was as though she’d studied our movements and calculated everything so perfectly. I remained silent and kept a straight face while just chewing on my lips, but of course she wouldn’t leave me alone about it. Now, she makes my life a living hell by constant teasing each time Jongin comes over or if she’s with me. It’s annoying but I don’t mind. She’s a nice person and I enjoy her company even though sometimes I feel like strangling her. Which brings me to her toe; oh yes, did I mention she broke it? How? She hit it on the couch and it broke. Funny right?

            Yep. They x-rayed it and it was broken but healing, slowly but surely. Now she has to stay home and rest while I go to college alone. Yay, but anyways, moving on to better things in life. I’d promise Jongin I would go over to his place today (Sunday lunch) to spend the day with him and his friends for a small get-together but because I hate interactions with people I’m currently contemplating that idea as Yunha is helping me find something to wear.

            “I don’t think I want to go” I said with a sigh as I plopped onto the bed.

            “What? You have to go! Plus you can’t leave me and my sick toe all alone!” she pouted as I scoffed and laughed.

            “Actually, that’s not a bad idea” I smirked.

            “Yah!” she playfully tapped my shoulder.

            “And why can’t I just wear a jeans and top?” I asked scanning the sundress she held out to me.

           “Because, you are now Jongin’s girlfriend; surprise him a little” she winked and I rolled my eyes.

            “I surprise him all the time” I snorted.

            “Your eating abilities surprise everybody my dear” she smirked.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” I glared.

            “Jiyeon, only you can eat 6 slices of pizza in under 20 minutes” she eyed me and I just rolled my eyes once more.

            “I was hungry!” I defended myself.

            “Just go change!” she said and I reluctantly did as told.

            When I came out she spun me around and hurried to her room before bringing out a small jewellery box. Opening it, she pulled out a pair of silver earrings and lifted them to my ears.

            “Try these” she said and I put them on while looking into the mirror. Not bad.

            “Awww, don’t you just look adorable! Now a little lip gloss and you’ll be perfect!” she squealed like the 2 year old she was.

 

 

            “Oh heyyy----whoa! Jiyeon?” came the greeting of a shocked Kyungsoo as he answered the door. As much as my face was probably as red as a ruby, I kept a blank face and lifted an eyebrow at him.

            “What?” I asked confused.

            “You look cute” he grinned cheekily and greeted Yunha as well.

            “Great job! Jongin will love it” he nodded his head in approval.

            “I know, credits to the stylist” she smirked proudly.

            “The broken-toe stylist” I snorted and she glared at me.

            “This way guys” Kyungsoo chuckled and walked us around the side of the house and to the backyard where a whiff of bar-b-que scent trailed our nose. I saw Kris and Lay behind the grill as Luhan and Chen were busy making the salad. Suho soon came out with a huge bowl of seasoned chicken, probably for Kris and Lay as Sehun and Tao fought over the cake with Minseok trying to separate them. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were just being Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but where was Jongin? I tried not to make it obvious as I stretched my neck to look for him.

            “Looking for someone?” Yunha nudged me and I scrunched my face at her.

            “Oh! You guys came!” Suho smiled and waved at us as we waved back with a small smile.

            “Whoa! Jiyeon? Is that you?!” Kris asked with eyes wide like Kyungsoo’s as he lifted the thongs in his hand. His sudden outburst caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look at me. Oh god, time to swallow myself in embarrassment.

            “Omo, noona, you look so pretty!” Sehun smiled and sent me a thumb’s up.

            “Are you rewarding Jongin or something?” Luhan snorted as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

            “…I…what?” I asked with wide eyes as they laughed at my flustered face.

            “Hey guys there wasn’t any must--- what are you all staring at?” and out came the one and only Kim Jongin in a plain black V-neck t-shirt and khaki pants, looking awfully attractive with his slightly crunched styled hair.

            Slowly his head turned to face our direction and then look at me. I remained calm even though my heart was racing in my chest and I felt like I was being stripped by his eyes. Oh good lord. As his eyes met mine I quickly looked away and played with the end of my knee length dress. Just as I managed to look away I caught the other snickering to one another and whispering as they eyed us. Oh goodness gracious.

            “Ahem. What’s so funny?” I asked coldly. They quickly straightened up and pretended like nothing happened.

            “Don’t mind them jiejie, you look hot!” Tao said and walked over to hand me a piece of cake.

            “Thank you my dearest kungfu panda” I patted his head and smiled before glaring at the others.

            “Hey, I’m going to pick up Nina and Hana from the airport, don’t burn the house down ok!” Kris said and hurried inside to grab his things and leave.

            I felt Yunha push me towards Jongin as I saw him carefully placing the things on the table with his back towards me. I sent her a questioning look and she just signalled me to go to him. Shooting her a short glare, I hesitantly walked over and lightly tapped on his shoulder.

            “Hey” I said to him as he turned and stared at me blankly before opening his mouth to speak.

            “Is it my birthday or something?” he asked. I sent him a confused look.

            “What?”

          “Be-because—you… you… you’re wearing a dress... and... yo... your... er… your... lips… and…you…” he stumbled in his speech and I bit my lips, trying not to laugh out loud. He was so cute right now, trying to talk. Do I really look that different? Chuckling to myself, I placed my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him in to lightly peck my lips against his, shutting him up in the process. It didn’t last long and I quickly pulled away and walked over to take a seat next to Yunha and Luhan.

            “Hey guys” I greeted them as they smiled and poked fun at my little episode with Jongin just now.

            “See, I knew Jongin would like it!” Yunha snickered.

            “Oh yeah, he likes it alright!” Luhan added smugly.

            “Shuddup you two” I glared but they only snickered and went back to teasing me.

 

            It was already 5 in the afternoon and after Kris came back with his sister and cousin, we chatted with each other and soon we were like the best of friends. It was fun actually, Hana, Kris’ sister, was quite a character and almost the total opposite of me, except we still had a lot in common, whereas Nina and I had a sort of mutual understanding so the four of us got along quite well. The food tasted great and in the end, we ended up just lazing around with each other and talking about random topics. I listened quietly to what they had to say but soon I grew bored and so did the others.

            Everything happened so quickly, I didn’t realised when Jongin came and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him to who knows where.

            “Hey! Where are you taking me!?” I asked but he only smiled and brought his finger to his lips. He led me up the stairs and down a hall; then he opened a door and pulled me in. At first I thought it was his room and he had some crazy thoughts going through his head, but that immediately vanished when I realised that it wasn’t a room, but a patio on the top, perfectly fitted with an adorable little glass table and cushioned seats. To one end was an indoor swing love-seat and just as I saw it, he pulled me with him and sat me down on it.

            “Why’d you bring me here?” I asked, blinking at him.

            “You look… very pretty… am I missing something here?” he asked.

            “It’s Yunha” I sighed and he just chuckled before bringing his thumb to my lips and wiping off my lip gloss. I frowned and looked at him.

            “Yah! Why did you do that?!” I asked glaring at him.

            “Because, I don’t like it when I get lip-gloss on my lips” he said.

            “Wha—” my sentence was cut as his lips crashed onto mine and he pulled me towards him. He firmly pressed his lips against mine and tilted his head to a much more comfortable position. Before we could get any deeper into the kiss, he pulled away and pecked my lips once more.

            “Lip-gloss looks cute, but I’ll just keep wiping it off” he smiled at me and lifted his hand, lightly running his finger through my short hair and curling it around his finger.

            “Don’t feel too good, it’s only a onetime thing” I said with a short snort before pulling away and leaning back into the seat.

            “But why? I like your outfit…” his hand drew up the side of my arms and over my shoulders, teasingly. I shuddered from the impact and inched away.

            “Well, I don’t” I said softly.

            “You look cute—no… actually…” he lean in to whisper against my cheeks.

            “You look y” his hot breath clashed against my skin and his lips curved into a smirk. I turned to glare at him when I realised how close our faces were.

            “Stop teasing me Kai” I mustered.

            “You know I can’t help it. You’re just too tempting…” he winked and I scrunched my face from his corniness.

            “Jongin!” my voice spoke in a warning tone as he chuckled and stole a kiss from me.

            “Hey!” I gasped and proceeded to hit him when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. Sadly, he mis-averaged and I was literally thrown on top of him. Bracing myself with the handle of the seat, I looked down to see Jongin, directly below me.

            “So you like the top?” he smirked and I groaned, trying to fix myself.

            “Stop it, let’s go before the others get suspicious” I sighed and stood to leave when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down and into his chest.

            “Aniyo, I’m not letting you go so easily” he said, wrapping his arms around me as I rested my head on his broad chest.

            “Retard” I sighed but smiled and carefully hugged him back.

            “You love this retard” he said smugly.

            I know.