When Kaemi heard that Kai was planning to come over for lunch, she was thrilled. She was not, however, thrilled with the fact that her dearest Umma neglected to tell her this until only a half hour before his arrival. Not that it was too much of a problem, but she wanted to put in at least a good attempt at looking her best.

Certainly, a puppy and kitten tank-top and bright yellow shorts were not considered 'looking her best'.

She rushed about her room, thanking the gods that she had enough time for a quick shower. She ran a brush through her hair, swept a bit of neutral colored makeup on, and arrived at the kitchen just as Kai was letting himself in. She had nearly forgotten that her Umma also mentioned that the lunch Kai was coming over for was a private one, with only him and Kaemi in attendance. It made her both giddy and nervous at the same time. They had been dating for almost four months and he still managed to make her feel like a ball of nerves.

"Hello Doll." He greeted her with a melting kiss, one of her favorites (and yes, she catalogued his kisses).

"Well hello to you, too, Mr. Jongin." She said after a taking a moment to collect herself.

"You ready for lunch?" He asked, causing her to scrunch her eyebrows in confusion (an expression he found to be quite adorable). He continued, "I'm going to assume that Umma didn't tell you that either. Oh, well. I wanted it to be a surprise anyway." He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her toward the door.

"But I don't even have anything with me!"

"Don't worry, you won't need it where we're going."

"If I didn't know any better I would think that you were going to take me somewhere and kill me."

"I'm glad you know better, then."

"Wow, this place is really pretty." Kaemi looked at the view from the top of the hill. Kai gave her hand a little squeeze, and kissed her forehead.

"I thought you might like it." He sat down on a blanket he had spread out and pulled her into his lap. "You don't really get this kind of view from inside the city; it's kind of romantic."

Kaemi tilted her head back a bit to look at him. "Have you been watching chick-flicks again?" She teased, earning a shy smile. She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well in any case, I think its quite sweet of you." They sat in silence for a moment, content to just be together in silence.

They had eaten lunch at a small cafe not too far from their current location. With summer rapidly drawing to a close the weather was starting to get colder, and warm days like this were growing few and far between. It was nice, Kaemi thought, to be able to do something like that with her boyfriend. Since school had started back up they had both been pretty busy. It was their last year of high school, and between preparing for college in the spring and end of the year projects, their time together had been limited. Luckily, they still had some classes together, and Kai had started to help out at the store. She found it hard to believe that not too long ago, she would have scoffed at the idea of him doing such a thing, even more so at the idea of him as her boyfriend in the first place.

"I got into the dance program at University of Seoul." He suddenly said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She twisted around to stare at Kai incredulously.

"You what?" She asked, her voice soft.

"I got into the dance-"

"I know what you said, dummy! That's great!" She tackled him backwards into the grass, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said with a sheepish smile. She shook her head.

“Are you crazy? I don’t care about that.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m happy you got in. It was you top choice, right?” Kai nodded as he played with her hair absentmindedly.

“But what about you? They don’t release the results for regular admissions for a few months.”

“Don’t worry about me right now. We should celebrate; I’ll make you a cake!”

“I hate to remind you of this, but remember the last time you tried to make me a cake?” Kai said, trying to hold back a smirk. Kaemi sighed in defeat -- that cake had been terrible. Her first attempt at something like that and she failed. He had been a good sport about it and eaten the whole piece she had given him, but the rest of the cake went to the trash, uneaten.

“Well, I’ll get Saerin-unnie to make you one,” she conceded. “We can throw a party, and invite the guys and Eun Chae.”

“That sounds like fun,” Kai said, closing his eyes and pulling her even closer. “But for now let’s just cuddle okay? Cuddling is nice.”

“You really have been watching chick flicks again."

The congratulatory party was a success. The friends had gathered at a restaurant and rented out a private room for the occasion. Saerin had baked a cake (which she hand delivered, much to Kai’s delight) and everyone had a fun time smearing bits of frosting on Kai’s face. Once that was done, they all headed to a noraebang, where the talented and not so talented of the group had their turns at serenading the rest of the group. Kai looked like he was enjoying himself, and for this, Kaemi was glad.

When it seemed like everyone was distracted by something or other else, Kai pulled Kaemi aside.

“Thank you for organizing this,” he said, uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden. Kaemi just gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re welcome,” she said, entwining their fingers. “What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t properly congratulate you on something so important to you?” Kai looked at her as if he’d never seen her before.

“I love you,” he said, his voice quiet. Kaemi again kissed his cheek and smiled.

“I know,” she said, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, too." He shook his head and shifted so that she was forced to look him in the face again.

"I don't think you understand," he said, seriousness in his every syllable. "I love you, Shin Kaemi."

Kaemi was silent. She didn't know how to respond. Of course she loved him, she had told him, showed him that she did. It was the conviction, the trueness with which he spoke and she felt his words that caused the silence.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

They both looked up to see Eun Chae and Baekhyun standing there, looking expectant.

"She doesn't need to," Kai answered for her. Kaemi was about to protest, but he continued. "I just needed her to know. I don't want to pressure a response."

Silence.

"Since when did you grow up?" Baekhyun joked, breaking the growing intensity of the moment. He grabbed Eun Chae and walked her back to the rest of the party, who still seemed unaware of the events taking place. Kaemi returned her attention to her boyfriend.

"Kai, I am honestly stuck for words. I-" she began, but he silenced her with a kiss.

When he finally pulled back, he said, "I said it's okay. I know you love me. I just wanted to tell you how much I love you. It's all cheesy and greasy and stuff, but I feel like I didn’t ever really tell you." He rolled his eyes and groaned. “I really have to lay off the romantic movies.”

“You’re so stupid, you know?” Kaemi said, pushing his chest playfully. “You don’t have to say or show or prove anything to me, because the fact that you are here right now is all that matters. And yes, you should quit watching romantic movies, because, as everyone seems to enjoy reminding us, we are something of one ourselves.” As she finished her little speech and leaned in or another kiss, the crowd that had gathered with some encouragement by Eun Chae and Baekhyun and gone unnoticed by the pair, started clapping.

“That was beautiful,” Dayoung whispered to her own boyfriend, Taemin. He just nodded, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

AN: So that was the shortest and crappiest first chapter ever. I seriously wanted to just start this already and this is what I got. It's super cheesy, and slightly OOC for Kai and Kaemi, but it does set the tone for some of the conflict in later chapters. I feel like I've short-changed you guys though...

In any case, the second chapter introduces a new character -- the potential love interest of one of our star couple. Any guesses? Leave a comment~

Love you all,

aeru