You were on the living room, facing the wall clock, holding Ri on your arm. Where is he? you thought to yourself. Every tick of the clock made your nervous. As the pair of hands on the clock gets closer to a position that indicates it’s 7oclock, you thought of backing out. You can’t handle the tension. Your stomach is tempting to expel what you ate this afternoon, or rather, what you were able to eat, because you don’t have the appetite.  

You were worried that Seunghyun might made a mistake. What if he really doesn’t know where I live? A feeling of nail-biting anxiety made its way among the emotions you were feeling.

Half of you wish that he really doesn’t know, so you don’t have to go. You were scared of whatever could happen in the Central Park, where many students the same age as you are present; where multiple pairs of eyes are ready to judge you for looking weird clutching a panda in an inappropriate place for it to be.

But half of you, the stronger one, is excited. You’ve been preparing for this night, a chance for you to go out in the world and have fun. As a bonus, you have Seunghyun to take care of you. You don’t know what kind of things he has to offer you tonight; you enjoy his unpredictable company.

Your brother was standing on the doorway leading outside your house. He’s been standing there after you’re finished and ready to go. He insisted to be the first one that Seunghyun will see, so that he can assess your safety with him. You just hope that he won’t scare him away.

Just then, you heard a familiar voice looking for you from outside. Your heart skipped a beat. Your legs wobbled and felt like a hundred chains pulling them down. Your breath came in long sighs.

“Hello, your name is?” you heard your brother asked. He was not even giving a bit of enthusiasm in his voice.

“Seunghyun, sir. I’m here to pick up your daughter,” he said.

Did I hear that right? Did he mistake my brother for my father? you thought helplessly, shaking your head from left to right.

“I’m not her father!” you heard your brother boomed, making you worried.

“I know, you’re his uncle right?” Seunghyun said confidently, without hesitating, for he knew your father has been long gone.

This is priceless! you thought, laughing uncontrollably. He made you nervous, but he’s also the one who took that away. His confident ignorance is all you need to brush off your anxiety. You stood up and walked towards the door before he digs his own grave deeper.

“Oh, hi!” Seunghyun said, as he saw you brushing pass your brother. You stood face to face with one another. You looked at him and can’t believe it; he’s wearing the same color as yours.

“Now would you look at that,” you heard your mother cooing from the doorway, “you look so cute together,” she said giggling.

“Mom!” you muttered under your breath and looked at her, you were embarrassed at her remark.

“Seunghyun, right?” your mother ignored you and turned her attention to your date.

Seunghyun looked up at her, “Yes, ma’am. Goodevening,” he told your mother, a bit shaken by your mother’s appearance.

“I see,” she said, giving the boy a warm smile. “You’re very handsome, Seunghyun,” she complimented him, earning her a wide grin from the boy.

“Thank you, ma’am!” he said triumphantly.

“What time are you going to give her back?” your brother took a step forward, giving a menacing stance. You saw the Seunghyun blinking a few times, signaling fear.

“As soon as I can ma’am…I mean sir,” he stammered. Once again, his ignorance never fails to amuse you.

You pushed your brother back. “I think we’re gonna be late,” you told him. You waved to your brother and mother and turned to Seunghyun.

“Shall we?” you asked, urging him to leave at once to avoid any more interrogations. He started walking and you joined him immediately.

“Take care!” you heard your brother called out, “if anything happens to my sister, you’re gonna be in big trouble, mister!” he reminded Seunghyun. “Oh, and I’m not his uncle!” he added.

Both of you burst out laughing.

“She’s in good hands,” your mother told your brother. “I’ve never seen such an interesting boy before. I like him” she smiled at your brother.

Your brother was watching you walk away. As soon as you were out of sight, he answered your mother, “One funny guy right there.”

Your mom chuckled, “Indeed he is. He’s adorable. I want to invite him to dinner,” she said to your brother.

“Let me arrange that for you.”

The Central Park was a 20 minutes walk from your house, that’s not good news for your feet. You were walking side by side with Seunghyun without much conversation. For the first time that night, you blushed as you checked his appearance.

He was wearing yellow long sleeves, a bit big for his thin figure, over a black leather vest buttoned up to his chest. You smiled as you saw he was wearing a bowtie with a repeated panda pattern in between the collars of his neck. He’s wearing black pants where the yellow sleeves were tucked in, and a belt securing the pants in place. A pair of newly polished white leather shoes was his footwear.

The thing that got your attention the most is the fact that he’s wearing glasses. How can somebody look ten times cuter by just wearing a pair of glasses? you said, checking if you said that out loud. Thankfully you didn’t.

You didn’t notice you were staring at his eyes until his gaze fell on your own. “Am I handsome?” he asked you, earning him a punch from you.

“I’m just surprised that you’re wearing glasses,” you told him.

“But your mother thinks I’m handsome,” he insisted, grinning from ear to ear. “And you know what they say, a mother knows best.”

The walk continued in silence. There was a safe distance between you and him. “By the way…” he started.

“Hmmm?” you stared at him.

“You’re beautiful,” he said and looked away. You took note that his face turned a different shade of red. You looked away immediately too as you feel your own cheeks burning.

“Thanks,” you said, inching closer to him. You put Ri on your other arm, and with the arm close to his side, you locked it with his. Seunghyun gave a surprised jerk at the sudden feel of your arm. He looked at you and smiled contently without saying a word. You felt his arm calming. You were staring down on the ground.

You walked the remaining way in silence, your arm didn’t let go of your hold of his. For one thing, he provides support. The uneven ground is not helping your heels to make the walk any easier, you’ve been cursing the blasted pain you were feeling from your heels.

But the real reason you did that was to get the most out of your date. You’ve seen in movies that in a date, a girl grabs a boy’s arm and interlock it with hers. You wanted to try it, but afraid that Seunghyun might not get comfortable. At the jerk he gave, you shut your eyes and prayed that he won’t pull it away. But as soon as you felt it relaxing, you never let go of it. His arm around yours is so comforting, making your heart fills up with content.

As the Central Park came into view, with its dazzling light, booming sound system, and scurrying students, you stopped in your tracks. Seunghyun paused. You stared straight ahead and looked at Ri. Your fears came to you once again. The people you’ll be seeing will judge you, will laugh at you, will humiliate you, will…

Just then, you felt a reassuring hand squeezing yours. You looked at Seunghyun. You didn’t notice you were gripping him hard. He sensed your agitation and slid his arm away from yours, towards your hand, and held it.

As you realized he was holding your hand, you suddenly let go and looked the other way. Your heart was pounding loudly, your eyes were wide open, and a weird feeling in your stomach is giving you joy.

Then a few seconds later, you felt it again, this time with more intensity as Seunghyun grab a hold of your hand again and felt the reassuring warm it gives to you. You inhaled deeply, braced yourself, and looked back at him. This time, he was facing the other way, his eyes shut close and lips curled.

You smiled at his behavior. He was still holding your hand while looking away. This time, it was your turn to squeeze it. As he felt your press, he slowly looked back at you. He trailed his arm towards your holding hands and opened his eyes slowly. He inhaled deeply and exhaled.

He stared at you; you stared at him, both of you blushing. “Are you ready?” you asked him.

“Yes,” he said. “How about you?” he asked.

“Yes,” you replied. And together, both of you holding hands, made your way to the bustling crowd.