bgm: u you - apink kkk

10:10 am

Dongwoo kicked some pebbles and sent them tumbling across the parking lot. There was a tight knot in the pit of his stomach that he could not get rid of… His phone felt like it weighed a thousand kilos in his pocket.
He needed to go to her. He must go.

Just as Dongwoo was about to approach Youngjun, he was in front of them, handing over brown envelopes.
“Here are your pocket money for today,” he explained, “you can only spend this much. Use it wisely.”
“Is this some sort of mission?” Sungjong asked.
“Not really, but you can think of it that way if you want,” and with that he went back to talk with the staffs.
“Hey, how much did you get?” Sungyeol peeked to Myungsoo’s envelope.
“More than you,” he giggled.
“It can’t be, mine and Sunggyu-ssi’s are the same?” Woohyun protested.
“Hyung, let me see!” Sungjong exclaimed.
Dongwoo counted his money in silence, muttered “toilet” and went unnoticed.

*****

10.20 am

Her phone vibrated. Jang Dongwoo.

Fr: Jang Dongwoo
You are still waiting, right? I am on my way.
I am sorry.

To: Jang Dongwoo
Yes, don’t worry! Of course I’ll wait ^^

She stared at the screen for a while. This fool, a smile slowly crept into her face, what kind of girl will leave a guy as nice as you.
So she waited some more.

*****

It was five minutes to eleven. Claire decided to stand up and unplug the music from her ears, so that she could be more aware of her surroundings. She stretched her neck and looked above passerby's head.

She saw him.

He was walking slowly and his eyes darted in evey direction, like a child who lost his parents. One of his hands was holding his phone and the other inside his jeans' pocket. He was not wearing any cap or mask, although Claire thought he would not go around the city without some sort of disguise.

“Oppa!!” she shouted and waved, causing people to look at her. As if they have never heard Korean before.
Dongwoo’s eyes met hers. His full lips curved upwards and he waved back.
It was like one of those dramas, where the main characters run into each other’s embrace after years and years of separation...
Only instead of spinning the girl around, Dongwoo ran straight into the clock tower.

“Omo, oppa, gwenchanayo?” She rushed over as tried hard not to laugh at the hyper guy.
He hit his left shoulder against the hard metal pole. It must have hurt, but he was laughing at himself.
“Why is this thing here?” his laughed in confusion.
Claire stared at him with wide eyes and laughed along.
Dongwoo's reaction was like some sort of assurance for her that he was real after all.
“Because it is supposed to be here! To let us know the time,” she stated the obvious in the midst of her laughter.
“Ah yes, the time. Ahh.. Want to go inside?” He beamed.
She smiled and nodded.

*****

It amazed her how comfortable she was when she was with him.
In less than five minutes of their meeting he made her laugh without even trying. His laugh is very infectious and seeing his smile up close made her heart flutters in a way that she likes. Just like that, all her worries and uneasiness were gone. His presence beside her made her world more colorful than ever. The sun was shining up high above their heads, and Claire has her personal sunshine by her side, talking to her as if they were old friends. His black hair glowed and bounced under the sunshine; and the sky was blue like blue cotton candies which was sold near the entrance of the park.
They found themselves laughing at the same unusual things, a little too loud, even. But Claire was too happy to care.
After restlessly walking around and a few round of chasing and crashing on each other’s kiddie cars, Claire's cheek was starting to hurt.

“So you just left them and ran for a cab? Just like that?” she asked as they walked to look for the next rides.
“Yeah. Jjaaaaak like that,” he made fists with his hands and swung it in front of him, like a person who was running.
“Hmmm, no one noticed you were gone? It was so like Sesame Player!”
“You watched our shows?”
“Mm, of course! I watched all of them, from Sesame Player, Birth of a Family, You Are My –”

“Careful,” he put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

A group of small children ran past them, shouting and laughing as they went.
A little boy brushed past her skirt the other behind him almost hit her hand on her side.
Two more run past on Dongwoo's side and he pressed himself to her side to avoid getting hit.

“- Oppa…” Claire stared at the kids. Her shoulder was pressed against Dongwoo's side and the other shoulder had his hand firmly gripping it. They were standing that close with each other, her voice seemed to leave her at that moment.
Seeing no more children running towards them, Dongwoo eased his grip and took a little step aside so that there was a little space between them.  Claire stared straight ahead. Had he not pulled her out of the way, she might have been trampled on those excited kids.
She felt… protected.
He started to walk again, unintentionally pushed Claire gently ahead. She glanced to his long fingers naturally wrapped on her shoulder and quickly looked ahead.

“Is that all?” he asked with a smile.
“Eh?" She looked up at him and tried to recall what they were talking about earlier.
"Ah... No, of course there’s more. I watched Ranking King and others too, like Mnet things and interviews and everything!”
He laughed as he adjusted his hand on her shoulder, “so you really are a fan of ours!”

Like the first time, his hand fitted perfectly. Although at the concert everything happened too fast, she did not think much of his little skinship. His palm rested on her shoulder bone, his slim fingers gripped her shoulder lightly. His firm arm felt warm on her back. The way he did it was so natural, like he had done this to her a thousand times before. His hand did not feel heavy, it was just there.
It feels.... right, she thought. She likes it.

*****

Her shoulder is so small, Dongwoo thought. He did not remember that it was that small yesterday night, or maybe he was just too distracted to ask for her phone number. He smiled at her, he did not know why he kept his hand resting on her shoulder. He did not pull it back, even after the children were far ahead. He just… wanted to. He felt like she needed protection, and he wanted to be the one to protect her. Walking side by side just like that...
It feels right to him, and he likes it.

“Should we eat something now?” she looked up at him with glowing eyes.
“Here?”
“Yes, why?” she started walking towards McDonalds.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had Western food,” Dongwoo mumbled to himself.

*****

It was crowded inside the restaurant, so Claire told him to queue separately to save time. She looked over at him who was standing two lines away from her. He was struggling to make the waiter understand his order, pointing at the menu and doing gestures with his hands. She smiled at such sight, she should feel bad for not helping him, but the sight was too amusing she just watched with a smile. Her order arrived earlier, and aftering thanking the worker, she went to find a table for them. To their luck, a table near the window was just cleaned up. She put her tray down, sat down and sipped her drink.

Dongwoo put his tray down and sat across her. “Oh?”
He looked at her tray, which had the same content as his, cheese burger and lemonade.
“You copied me?” he immediately asked, making her laugh.
“I’ve always ordered this, why?”
“Me too. I really love to drink lemonade, well, anything that contains lemons, actually,” he always has a way to make any conversation alive, be it his gestures or his way of speaking.
“Ah, yes, I once read somewhere that you can eat a lemon whole!”
“Did you? Woah, you know so much about me but I don’t. That’s unfair,” he protested.
“Well.. There's nothing to know, really.”
"There must be something..."
"Like what?"
“Anything. Tell me everything that you know about me, but on your version,” he answered with his mouth full of food.
“Eat slowly,” she offered him tissue.
“Hmm,” he took it from her hand and for a brief moment, their fingers touched.
She slowly pulled it back, but he did not notice, he was busy wiping his mouth.

*****

“Woah, woah, this is no joke, it’s really high up here,” he exclaimed.
Claire laughed at him, again.
“Oppa, haven’t you been on a ferris wheel before?”
“Maybe? It has been so long since I am able to play like this,” he stared out at the sky.
They were at the top of the ferris wheel and he was finally sitting still. One side of his face was exposed to sunlight, emphasizing his features. His eyes opened wide, as if trying to swallow everything he saw into his memory. She could not keep my eyes off him, how his hair fluttered in the wind, his mouth gaped slightly, his chin rested on the back of his hand…
“Look, look! The roller coaster is visible!” he pointed.
She turned her head, “Oh! It looks so small from up here.”
“Yahh.. It was very high from below, though. I cannot believe you made me ride that, I almost died,” he exaggerated.
“Oh, please. I was just joking, but you did it anyways! Nice, nice,” she clapped for him, “But honestly, I’ve already known about your fear of thrilling rides, why did you insist?”
He answered immediately, “Of course, I wanted to look cool in front of you!”
“You don’t have to, you are cool already,”
He tried to keep his cool, but she saw the faint sparkle in his eyes. He must have liked it so much.

“Claire, the sun is setting!” he pointed behind her.
“Ah, yes! So pretty…”
“Quick, let’s take a picture,” he moved over to her seat and sat close to me. He put an arm on her shoulder again, and pulled his phone out his pocket with another.
“Where is the sun?” It was hard to see the screen because of the reflection of the sun. He held his phone with both hands and hugged his neck in the process; once again eliminating the distance between them. Her head was on his shoulder, and she could feel his chest with the back of her arm.
“Oppa, here,” she moved the phone so that they can see themselves in it, taking care not to touch his hand.
Sitting so close to each other like that, she wondered if he could hear her beating heart.
“Ah, okay, okay,” he checked himself before counting, “one, two, there..”

“Did it turn out well?” Dongwoo lowered his phone and bent over to see it, still tackling her neck.
“Ah, the sun did not come out,” she pointed at the screen. The sun was right behind her head, so it was as if her head was glowing.
“One more time,” he raised his phone again, this time, Claire tilted her head and leaned on his shoulder completely.
“One, two, three..” Dongwoo counted.
They laughed upon seeing second picture. Dongwoo was pretending to bite the top of her head while she opened in surprise. That pose was not planned, but it matched perfectly..
It was as if they were made for each other.

*****

They sat down with a sigh, empty seats at last.
The day is getting darker, and the bus was filled with people going home from work. It was a long day for Dongwoo and Claire, but still they chatted nonstop all the way back to his hotel. Dongwoo’s laughter exploded every now and then, causing tired eyes to look at them in irritation. Claire had to smile appologetically evey time it happened, while Dongwoo just bent his head shyly.

“Is that NTV building?” he asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“We will have a schedule there tomorrow. Oh, so it was here...”
“Oh, really? What schedule?”
“I don’t know, CF filming, I guess.”
“Can I come?” she blurted out. She knew that she must not push her luck, that day was beyond beautiful and it felt like paradise already, but she did not want it to end…
“Sure! I will be waiting,” he smiled.

*****

Dongwoo walked slowly to his room.
He has yet to come up with an excuse of why did he abandon s, even turned off his phone.
What if manager hyung got angry and reported this to sajangnim..., he thought.

He arrived in front of his door. He sighed and turned the door knob.
“Hyung, you cannot come here, Dongwoo is – oh.” Woohyun was suddenly in front of him. His gaze changed and he quickly pulled Dongwoo inside the room.
“Ya! The culprit is here!” Woohyun dragged him inside. Dongwoo stared blankly at s, all gathered in his room.
Sunggyu crossed his arm at him, “where have you gone?”
“Hyung, we were very worried just now!” Sungyeol butted in.
“I… uh, I am very sorry..” Dongwoo grinned awkwardly.
“Did you go to see her?” Woohyun asked. Dongwoo nodded.
“Wah.. Daebak..” Woohyun shook his head.
“Hyung, we had to lie to everyone, we told them you got stomachache and returned to the hotel. You did not even pick up your phone, why are you acting like this?” Myungsoo nagged at him.
“I am very sorry, I.. I wasn’t thinking…” Dongwoo looked down.

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TTATT
I am veeeeery sorry for the late update, the lame previous chapter, everything TTATT
I was distracted in other things :'D but finally it is out yeay Claire and Dongwoo's first date! *celebration*

do check out my oneshot : Under the Rain~ it has dongwoo too!