First thing in the morning, she packed up the slices of cake that she prepared the night before. Miri thought about trying some before handing it off to her friends but that wouldn’t be right to eat cake for breakfast. Instead, she made herself some eggs and toast. Her phone chimed from her bedroom desk. When she was finished making the eggs, she went into the room and picks up her phone. Her hand crept up her night shirt to rub her stomach. The name that popped up on her phone was ‘Changjo’. She opened the text message and read it outside to herself in her groggy voice; still half asleep. “Look out the window. :D Sent at 6:22 AM” she rubbed her face and turned around to face her window. Miri opened the curtains to see Changjo in a form fitting wife beating, nicely showing off his arms. He smiled and waved at her. “Good morning Noona!” he yelled from his window. She didn’t know what to do so she waved ferociously at him with a smile.

“Did you sign up for the music theory club after school? It starts today.” He states to her as he leans against his windowsill.

Miri nodded. “Yeah, I signed up the first day of school. Do you remember what time it starts?”

“It starts at 4:30.” He smiled. “Will you sing a song with me? I think it would be a great way to get to know each other a little better; through music.”

His words made her blush as she put her hands on her cheeks and backed away from the window at his request. No one heard her sing at the school yet besides Ji-Na and Ji Hye. “O-Okay! What song do you have in mind?”

“Where to Land by Travis Garland. I think we can sing it well.” He smirked as he watched Miri’s expression change from shy to extremely happy.

“Do you know the lyrics and understand the meaning?” she asked intently.

“Yes, don’t worry noona. We’ll do well. I’ll see you later at the bus stop.” He waved to her with both hands with a warm smile then walked away from the window. She watched him walk away from his window then quickly closed her curtains. Her phone vibrated in her hand when she turned to walk out of her bedroom. Miri’s eyes widen at who it was at this early in the morning; L. Joe. She watched as her phone continued to ring. When she accepted the call she held the phone to her ear.

“Yoboseyo?” her voice trailed off lightly making L. Joe snicker softly.

“Did I wake you?” his voice was eased and relaxed for it to be this early in the morning.

“No… I’ve been awake for a little bit.”

“Good; I wouldn’t want to disrupt your sleep.” He said kindly followed by a small snicker. Miri stayed silent as she listened to his voice this early in the morning. The familiar butterflies swam around willingly in her stomach like yesterday when she spoke with L. Joe. When he cleared his throat, she paid close attention to his next words. “I was going to text you good morning but… I thought calling would mean more. Right?”

Miri nodded, “Y-Y-Yeah!” she stuttered over the one word.

“You should eat something Miri-ah unless you’ve already eaten?”

“N-Not yet but I cooked… it’s probably… cold now…” she said with sudden realization that she’ll have to heat up her breakfast after talking with both Changjo and L. Joe.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting ready to eat breakfast? I would have just said good morning and let you eat. Miri-ah~” he sang in his unique sounding voice that slightly when he said her name like that.

“No, no, no, no it’s fine! I’m glad I get to hear your voice this early.” She froze at her confession that slipped out of by accident. Hastily, her hand came up to cover ; wishing she could take it back.

“Me too; I’m glad I heard your voice this morning. I’ll talk to you in homeroom. Eat well Miri-ah.” She felt him smile at her as she envisioned him inside of her mind.

“You too… L. Joe.” She mumbled under her hand whilst they both hung up. Miri didn’t know how she was going to face him today. After thinking about kissing him, feeling slightly by his voice, and the fact that he felt comfort in hearing her voice, her emotions were getting the best of her but she still didn’t understand. Miri wondered back into the kitchen to heat up her breakfast and get ready for school.

✻✻✻

Miri approached Changjo at the bus stop as he stood there. He noticed her and waved at her happily whilst she stepped up on the curb to stand next to him.

“What’s in the bag?” he points to the bag holding the four packaged sliced of strawberry saeng cake that she made.

“Oh, uhm… well… I’ll give it to you now but don’t eat it until lunch okay?” she looked up at Changjo and he nodded in agreement. She dug around for the box that had Changjo’s name on the lid. She pulls it out of the bag then hands it to Changjo with a smile. They both bow as he takes it. He pulls the lid off as his eyes looks at the neatly placed slice of cake with the strawberries perfectly cut to form flowers.

“This looks really delicious! You didn’t have to make me anything Miri but really… thank you for this. I’m going to eat it very well today.” He closes the container. Miri smiles then gasp when she feels his strong arms wrap around her body. She hesitated to put her free around him to return the hug. Her arm slowly rubbed his side then wrapped around him, making him hug a little tighter. The usual rosy pink color appeared on her cheeks again. He slowly let her go and looked her in the eyes. “Thank you again…” he said softly. He stared at her perfectly painted mouth that wore a pinkish lip balm, making them look plump. Changjo his lips then looked down as he backed away from her. They both stood there, living in the awkwardness that they created around each other. When the bus started to become visible, Changjo cleared his throat and said, “We should hug more often.” Miri looked up at him then quickly turned away when he looked in her direction.

 

“Awwwww~ you made us cake?!” Ji Hye said sweetly as she made a pouty face. “Thank you Miri! I’ll eat this well!”

“I will too~!” Ji-Na sang as both girls wrapped their arms around Miri. Ji Hye broke away from the hug and pointed at Changjo.

“Who’s your friend here?” she said looking at Miri.

“Oh, this is Choi Jonghyun or Changjo.”

“Hello!” he said with a bow as Ji Hye returned it.

“I’m Ji Hye. It’s nice to meet you. You are very good looking… what year are you?”

“2^nd year.” He said with a smile, looking down slightly as he knew what she was about to say to him.

“Really?! You look like you could be in 3^rd year! But you still look so handsome.” She said with a smile then nodded her head toward the school entrance. “Let’s go~!” her excitement from Miri giving her a piece of cake made her happy. Ji-Na and Ji Hye attached theirs arms around Miri’s whilst they walked into the school. She looked back behind her as some girls pulled and tugged on Changjo which and every way. Ji-Na and Ji hye let go of Miri’s arm as they stood outside of Ji-Na’s homeroom since it was on the first floor while the other two girls had to travel up to levels to each there’s.

“Are you nervous?” Ji-Na asked Miri, leaning close to her face with a huge smile.

“Ji-Na goon, don’t overwhelm her~ she’s mentally preparing to see her beloved boyfriend in a couple of minutes~” Ji Hye said teasing Miri. She scoffed and crossed your arms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t have a boyfriend! It’s called doing a good deed! I gave you two pieces of cake didn’t I?!”

“But the main reason you did it was for…” Ji-Na and Ji Hye look at each other than face Miri and say together, “L. Joe~!!! Ooohhhh~!!”

“WE’RE JUST FRIENDS!!!” Miri screeched out as she beat Ji Hye and Ji-Na with her backpack; both of them laughing at how pink her face was becoming.

“We think it’s cute that you have a little crush on L. Joe.” Ji Hye said kindly, trying to make Miri stop hitting her and Ji Na.

“I don’t have a crush on anyone.” Miri’s voice cracked a little as she stopped hitting them.

“I think he likes you~” Ji-Na said delightfully with a smile. “He was talking about you last night…” a sneaky smirk appeared on Ji-Na’s face whilst she giggled.

“What did he say?!” Miri and Ji Hye both say looking at Ji-Na to give them the information when the bell rang.

“I can’t say~ I promised him~” she said as she skipped into her homeroom. Ji Hye and Miri both stood there in disbelief; especially Miri. She stomped all the way up the stairs. The only thing on her mind was, ‘Do I have a crush on L. Joe?’ and it was starting to frustrate her. Miri wanted to concentrate solely on school and working on her music education. Anything else, such as a possible relationship, was certainly out of the question. Ji Hye waved goodbye to her as she approached her homeroom. When Miri got close to the door, she heard the girls drooling over L. Joe saying things such as, “Oppa is looking so cute today! His style is so cool and his hair looks amazing! I wish oppa was my boyfriend!” Miri rolled her eyes at the girls and they quickly did the same. She looked up and seen L. Joe looking through his phone.

Her feet felt heavy and her legs were wobbling in her heels as she made her way closer and closer to L. Joe, not taking her eyes off of him. His eyes glanced up as he saw Miri with a black skirt on today then looked at the bag she holding along with her backpack. “What’s in the bag?” L. Joe asked sitting her phone down in the desk and turning to the side to talk with Miri. She placed things on top of the desk, feeling nervous and anxious at what she was about to do.

“Uhm…” she said softly as she sat down. When she saw the design he made on the nametag with his name on it, she got even more nervous to give it to him.

“Is it a secret?” he said playfully, rubbing his shoes against Miri’s. She slowly moved her feet away from his, making him chuckle. She pulled out the small box then held it out toward L. Joe with her head down.

“Here! I made this for you! I hope you enjoy it!” her words were quick and fast. L. Joe looked at her as he took the box. He placed it in his lap and peeled back the lid; a smile came across his face.

“You made this for me?” he placed his finger under her chin to push her head up to look at him. Miri blushed and nodded, shaking her long wavy hair against her shoulders. “You even made decorations on it with various fruits! Is this watermelon? I love watermelon.” He said happily.

“Y-Yes… your piece was the only one that I decorated with various fruits. I didn’t know what your favorite was so I just… picked watermelon, oranges, and pears…” her voice was barely audible when she spoke to him.

“I eat all these fruits but watermelon is my favorite. Thank you so much for this. I’ll eat this well when lunch comes.” He grabbed her hands and rubbed them with his thumbs. Miri and L. Joe’s eyes instantly met. She felt her heart beat faster and faster as she stared into his eyes. ‘Is he going to kiss me?’ came across her mind. That’s what she wanted to happen secretly. He entangled their fingers and pulled her closer to him. She gasped as he leaned in; her eyes widened then quickly shut them when she felt the warm of his breath tickling against her skin. “Your lips looks very kissable today… shall I kiss them?” he whispered to her. Miri was frozen; no words could come out. She held her breath as he moved closer; his lips brushed against hers. “I’ll wait for the perfect moment when your lips are quivering and aching to kiss mine. I won’t spoil our first kiss like this.” His voice was full of lust again, making Miri’s legs shake. L. Joe back away from her, slowly pulling his fingers away from hers. He placed the cake on his desk and placed the lid back on the box container.

Miri slowly exhaled when she slowly opened her eyes to see L. Joe looking at her then he smiled and turned forward. Miri didn’t even know where she was. Those butterflies returned yet again, but it was worse than before. She touched her lips as she fixed her posture in the chair. Her mind was thinking of too many things at one time; what did he mean, when will he kiss you, does this mean he likes you, do you like him, will you ever like him, does he want to have with you, do you want to have with him. All she could do was play with the ends of her and sink down in the chair as she waited for the Professor to walk in.

✻✻✻

After music class ended, she had to drop off something to her history Professor who was on a different level. When she reached the room, she saw L. Joe coming out. “Miri-ah!” he yelled. Inside, she didn’t want him to see her; not after what he did this morning. She walked over to him and waved.

“Did you like the cake?” she asked with her eyebrows raised and pointing to the empty box.

“Yes~ it was delicious~ I wish I had more~” he sang sweetly.

“I have more… at home.” Miri said with a gulp.

“Is it okay for me to come over?”

“What? Why?”

“So we can .” L. Joe said bluntly.

“B-B-But…” she couldn’t find any words to say.

“I can’t wait to bend you over.” Miri’s eyes widen then shook her head from her imaginary conversation that she had with L. Joe when she stared at his mouth moving. He waved his hand in front of her face.

“Miri, come back to reality. Are you alright?” he poked her shoulder to make sure she was paying attention. Miri looked up at L. Joe’s face.

“Huh?” she said completely oblivious what L. Joe was really saying to her. “What did you say, I’m sorry…”

“I said the cake was really delicious. Do you have any more of the cake left?” he repeated back to her what he really said.

“Uh… yeah, yeah. I can give you another piece tomorrow.”

“Why can’t I get it tonight?” he wiggled his eye brows with a huge grin.

“No! ert!” she stormed passed L. Joe knowing that that’s what she wanted him to do; to come over her house. She dug around in her pack for the papers she had to hand in to the history Professor. After she gave it to him, she stormed passed L. Joe. He ran up next to her.

“Yah, I’m only teasing. Why are you so sensitive?” he poked her cheek and she waved his hand away.

“No you weren’t! You want to come to my house and…” she quickly stopped herself before she blurted out anything else that would make the situation even worse.

“…and what? Oh~ to do naughty things with you? Ah, I forgot that you think about exotic things when you think about me~” he said with a smile and saw her blush.

“Shut up, I don’t think like that!” she barked at him whilst they both walk down the steps in unison.

“If you don’t think like that about me then why are you so angry~” he sang as he laughed, watching her become more and more red.

“I’m not angry! I’m just not a ert.”

“Then why can’t I come over?”

“Because you’re a boy and boys think with their .”

“You don’t think women think with their s?” he replied back quickly, making Miri stop in the middle of the stairs. L. Joe walked down a couple of steps to look up at her. He smiled at her. “Come on or we’ll be late for our last class.” He grabbed her hand to make her start walking down the stairs again.

✻✻✻

Miri thought about tomorrow at the thought of preparation of designing a pot or two with L. Joe. They would have to be constantly touching each other’s hands in order to make the pot. She was dreading tomorrow and almost thought about skipping class altogether. It was just about 4:15 PM when everyone except Ji Hye was in the school yard all talking about their clubs.

“Do you have anything to attend to L. Joe oppa?” Ji-Na asked.

“Not today; tomorrow is Music Composition. That’s every Thursday.” He said back to her, making Miri gasp.

“I joined Music Composition too…” she said to him.

“Oh, then that should be a really fun class.” He said with a smirk, making Miri looked up at the tall trees so she wouldn’t start blushing because of his smile. Changjo pulled Ji-Na to the side, leaving L. Joe and Miri standing there alone under the tree.

“What’s wrong Changjo?” Ji-Na asked whilst she blinked with a blank expression.

“Does Miri have a boyfriend?” he whispered to her.

She shook her head, “No, I don’t think she would since she recently moved back to Korea.” She continues to blink. “Why?”

“Well…” he rubs the nape of his neck as he looked up at her talking with L. Joe. “I think… I think I might like her…” Ji-Na gasped with her hands by .

“You like unnie?!” she whispered back to him.

“I don’t know. At lunch when I was eating her cake, I couldn’t stop thinking about her and now we have Music Theory club together and we’re singing a song together… I don’t know. What should I do?” he asked nervously.

“Hm. I think you should talk to her more and get to her to see if you really like her!” Ji-Na says playfully.

“Okay… that sounds about right. Yeah… I’ll do that. Thank you Ji-Na.” he says to her with a smile and they both walk back to L. Joe and Miri. She wondered what they were talking about because she heard Ji-Na’s loud gasp that could be heard all over the world. While the four of them were standing around talking, they heard a different kind of loud wind chime bell go off to let them clubs were about to start soon. L. Joe watched as Changjo put his arm around Miri’s shoulders and walked into the special designed music section of the school. L. Joe felt angry watching him but he didn’t want to case a scene and let it go… this time.

“As you all know, this is Music Theory. I’ll be teaching you how to hear music in a different way; to hear the instruments and the inner workings of each song that you yourselves will hand pick. Each week, you’ll sing a different song and record it with the partners that you have chosen. If you don’t have a partner, you can always work alone or find one. Now, I gave each person a music room to work in. Please, go there now and record your songs. Next week, we will be sharing them with the class and discussing each song thoroughly.” The Professor said powerfully as his voice bounced off the walls. Changjo and Miri went into their studio and sat down in the two chairs in the decent sized room.

“Do you want to practice first before we start recording?” he asked her as he was looking around in his pack.

“Uhm… yeah, let’s practice first.”  She nodded and watched him pull out a flash drive and put it into the side of the computer. He took off his blazer and revealed his broad shoulders. The v neck of his shirt showed off some of his chest. Miri thought back to when she seen him standing in the window shirtless. It made me melt at how amazing his body is. The music came on, making Miri jump with surprise.

“Do you want to do vocal exercises or just go ahead and start?” he swiveled his chair to face Miri.

“Nah, let’s just start. I’m really excited to sing this song.” Her smile drove Changjo crazy as he looked in his pack and pulled out two sheets of paper.

“Uhm… I marked off the verses. I’m starting with the first section. When it gets to ‘Tell me you want’; you respond with ‘that feeling’. You see where I’m talking about?”

Miri nods as she moves back and forth while looking at the paper. “Okay, yeah, I understand. I think this is going to come out really good. I also so every other word when you hit the chorus right?”

“Yes. Okay we got it.” He says with a smile and pauses the music then sits up. They both clear their throats and Miri turns to face him, putting the paper in her lap. He plays the song and they both bob their hand to the instrumental to ‘Where to Land’ by Travis Garland then start singing the song.

 

Changjo:

Save me

I’m falling through the sky, yeah

Into the water I’m drowning in your eyes, yeah

So cool on the surface,

The stars are aligned so perfect,

Leading me here… to you.

So take me, let’s get caught up in the night

Right, why don’t you tell (tell), me (me), where (where)

 

Both:

To land

 

Changjo:

Yeah, yeah baby.

I’m falling right (right), in (in), to (to)

 

Both:

Your hands

 

Changjo:

Yeah, yeah baby.

 

Miri:

Tell me you want

 

Changjo:

That feeling

 

Miri:

Tell me you want

 

Changjo:

Emotion

 

Miri:

Tell me your love

 

Changjo:

Is deeper.

 

Miri:

Tell me it’s like

 

Changjo:

The ocean

 

Miri:

Closer, I’m moving to your cloud.

Yeah, yeah.

Boy, I can’t wait for you to catch me

The best part is falling… down

So cool on the surface,

The stars are aligned so perfect,

Leading me here… to you.

Why don’t you tell (tell), me (me), where (where)

 

Both:

To land

 

Miri:

Yeah, yeah babe

I’m falling right (right), in (in), to (to)

 

Both:

Your hands

 

Miri:

Yeah, yeah baby

 

Changjo:

Tell me you want

 

Miri:

That feeling

 

Changjo:

Tell me you want

 

Miri:

Emotion

 

Changjo:

Tell me your love

 

Miri:

Is deeper.

 

Changjo:

Tell me it’s like

 

Miri:

The ocean

 

Changjo:

Yo, out of this atmosphere, out of this world premiere
Out of control, swerving, catch me or I’m outta here
Helicopter spinning got me falling from the top
On your windowed roof, x marking the spot
You’re the living proof, lookin’ proper on my arm
Matching diamonds, perfect timing, you’re my favorite looking strong
Oh you so precious like a baby first born
Nowadays these kids are crazy like the children of the call
But I won’t do you no harm
I put it like this, lay you up against the wall
Pulls, apple, miss, that’s the picture that I paint for
Give you something to stay for,
Like alligators I twist you, dark vader fade to black
No more issues

 

Both:

Why don’t you tell me where to land?

I’m falling right into your hands

Yeah, yeah baby.

Tell me you want that feeling

Tell me you want emotion

Tell me your love, is deeper

Tell me it’s like, the ocean x2

 

While they were singing the song facing each other, they were both mesmerized by each other’s voices; especially Changjo. As she sang to him, he got chills as he felt every emotion she was giving off in each note and each word. When the outro played out, both Changjo and Miri stared longingly into each other’s eyes; completely caught up in the feeling and mood of the song. He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. Without either of them thinking, he leaned in and kissed her. Miri softly touched his face and returned the kiss back. The beat slowly faded out and Changjo backed away. When both of their eyes finally opened, Miri gasped at what happened. All they could do was stare at each other in complete shock that they shared such an imitate kiss.

 

**A/N: i highly suggest you listen to the song and read the lyrics to fully get the feeling of why they kissed. when you hear Travis Garland sing it himself, he really emotes in the song. i hope you enjoyed this chapter. v^^v **