Several months later.

“Soo Yun ah.” Somebody gently shook my shoulder.

“Appa, it’s Saturday. Lemme sleep.” I yawned and rolled over-right into someone. Appa never sits on my bed. I couldn’t quite wake up. “Appa?”

Somebody chuckled, obviously not Appa. I forced my eyes open. Everything was blurry and bright for a second. Jiyong was sitting on my bed. I was confused. I’m dreaming, I thought. I rubbed my eyes and opened them again. He was still there.

“Jiyong ah…” I said is my raspy, just-woken-up voice. He smiled at me. “What are you doing here?”

He picked up a tray from the floor and put it on the bed next to me. Breakfast! American breakfast! Chocolate chip pancakes with syrup, bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits. I sat up immediately, gasping, inhaling the amazing smell. Oh, how glad I was that I could eat first thing in the morning, unlike a lot of people. I started eating, trying my hardest to be slow about it and savor every taste in my mouth. The tastes melted me.

Jiyong smoothed my hair and stood up. “Your Appa is a very nice man. He let us use your kitchen and wait for you to wake up. Take your time to eat and get ready. We’ll be waiting for you down stairs, Agassi.” He smiled and left before I could stop eating and say something. I just shrugged and finished breakfast.

I skipped downstairs to greet Appa and the boys.

  “Good morning, Appa!” I sang. I spun around and kissed him on the cheek. He chuckled and shook his head.

“Good morning, my angel. What are you so happy about? Those young men?” He shook his head again.

 I blushed. “Yes. Did you like them? I hope you like them. They like you. And they’re really very sweet, Appa. I like them very much.”

He laughed. I hadn’t seen him laugh in so long. My heart squeezed and I smiled at him lovingly. “Yes, my darling. I like them, too. Now, go on. You’re going to make them late.”

Late? I wondered, rushing outside. I almost ran into TOP. I looked up right into his strong stare.

 “Sorry, TOP ssi,” I said quietly, backing up a step. TOP always made me a little nervous. Not in a bad way, I just hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of alone time with him, and he was very quiet.

He smiled. “Call us ‘oppa.’”

I blushed and nodded.

“Soo Yun ah! TOP hyung! Come on! We’re going to be laaaate!” Seungri whined from across the street. TOP smirked and walked across the street. I went after him, speeding up so that I could catch up to Daesung.

He smiled at me, that sweet eye smile, and said, “Good morning, Soo Yun ah.”

 “Good morning, Daesungie.” I smiled back at him.

 “Oh, good! You’re wearing Daesung’s favorite shirt that he bought you!” Seungri said, walking beside me. I looked at Daesung, who was conveniently examining the zipper on his jacket. I blushed and smiled to Seungri, who winked at me.

“Where are we going, oppa?” I asked Seungri, tugging on his shirt.

He smiled at me, and I knew I’d his ego in the right place. “It’s a surprise for you, Soo Yun ah.” He leaned in and whispered, “It was Daesung’s idea. I think he likes you, Agassi.” We giggled and I blushed. I was really bad about blushing.

I was starting to feel very strongly for Daesung. I always got really excited when I knew I was going to see him or when he would randomly text me to ask what I was doing and invite me out for ice cream or coffee or lunch. He never made it feel date-y, but I felt a little closer to him all the time. I felt really close to all of the boys now. I’d gotten to know them all very well and they knew me inside and out. I could always count on them when I needed them. They were like brothers to me. Well, except Daesung. I was crushing hard on him. And they all could see. I’d even talked to Jiyong about it a few times. “Be patient,” he always said. “Daesung likes you. He’s just really shy.” I smiled. Being shy was part of his charm.

Daesung’s hand kept brushing mine. My heart would throb hard against my rib cage every time. How could he not hear it? It felt like it was going to bust my eardrums it was so loud. He was being very quiet today. Was he just being shy? What was this surprise he’d done for me? What was he thinking? Was this really his favorite shirt? I smiled and just followed, letting him be silent. He looked happy. Excited almost. This was most definitely his idea.

“…and she has no idea what the date is,” I heard Youngbae whisper to the others in front of us. I frowned. What is the date? I couldn’t check, because I didn’t want to make it obvious that I had heard them. I thought hard about the date. Yesterday was… yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Okay? So what? I gasped when I realized what that meant in Korea. White Day. It’s White Day! Omo! I got so nervous. Where were they taking me? What did this mean? So many things started running through my head.

We stopped at the restaurant where I’d first met all of them. I looked at them all, smiling at me. “We wanted to treat you to something special. We know how sentimental you are, so we thought having lunch at the same spot as when we met would mean a lot to you,” TOP told me. Wow, they really did know me.

“What do you think?” Youngbae asked eagerly. “You like it, right?”

Tears came to my eyes. I am sentimental. And they like it. “I love it. Came here, you secretly mushy boys!” I grabbed them all and hugged them tightly. They laughed and hugged me back.

“Saranghae, Agassi,” they all said to me, then they pulled me inside. They found the exact table we sat on that first day. We ate lunch and had dessert, taking our time and enjoying each other’s company. It couldn’t have been a better day.

After a while at the restaurant, the boys started to leave. Daesung and I were the only ones left standing together outside.

I looked up at him. “What would you like to do now, Daesungie?” I asked him sweetly. He avoided looking at me, but still smiled.

“Let’s go shopping again. But for me this time.” He grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me to a store.

We shopped until it was starting to get a little darker outside. He looked handsome in everything he put on. Everything. Ev-er-y-thing. It was ridiculous. I just wanted to touch him sometimes.

He looked out the window and gasped. “We have to go!” He paid for his things, called someone, they picked up his stuff, and we left. He was almost running, dragging me along behind him. I didn’t exercise much, so I was getting out of breath fast. I panted loudly, trying to keep up with Daesung and not fall.

We made it to the river and I felt like I was going to pass out. I bent over to catch my breath, but Daesung shook me. “Soo Yun ah, you have to look. Look, look!” He put his hands on my shoulders and we stood facing the sunset. I gasped at how beautiful it was. Blues and pinks and purples and oranges lit up the sky in a beautiful scene that should’ve been turned into a famous painting. The colors blended together and into the dark navy of the night sky, which was starting to fill up with little pinpricks of white, twinkling light. We stood like that until the sun was gone and the full moon was showing bright. I didn’t notice that Daesung’s hands had left my shoulders. I turned around and looked for him, but he was still right in front of me. Only he had flowers in his hands now.

“Daesung ah…” I breathed. I looked up into his eyes and he met my gaze for the first time that day. My heart fluttered. Was this really happening?

“Soo Yun ah. I really like you. We’ve grown close over the last seven months and I really hope you’ll accept me. If not, I’ll understand and I hope we can still be friends.” He smiled nervously and held out the flowers.

I smiled and took the flowers. I sniffed them slowly, hoping I was making Daesung squirm. I had to play a little hard to get, right?

“Daesung… I really like you too. Of course I’ll accept your affections.” I blushed and watched the light of the moon dance in his eyes. He smiled and touched my face with one hand. The other found my waist and he stepped into me, tilting my head back. I’d never experienced anything so romantic in my life. I let my eyes slide closed as his lips touched mine. I inhaled Daesung’s scent and leaned into his sweet, tender, gentle kiss. My heart was hammering against my chest now. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let myself go. I was falling for Daesung.