"Jacklyn!"

I heard someone call out to me and I turned around, only to see Baekhyun slip and fall on his bum as he was running towards me. 

"What are you doing?" I grunted in a slightly annoyed tone while rushing towards Baekhyun to help him. "Watch your steps as you run."     

Baekhyun scratched his head and bowed towards me. "Sorry," he apologised before passing me the notebook that I lent him earlier. "I just wanted to return this to you." I looked at the notebook before letting out a sigh.  

"I thought something bad had happened, but it's just this." I retrieved my notebook from Baekhyun. " Thanks."  

Baekhyun did a 90° bow before me. "No, thank you for lending me your notes! You literally saved me! I couldn't understand anything when the teacher was going through sets notations and the like."  

I gave a slight chuckle. "You're exaggerating."  

"Eh..." Baekhyun scratched his cheek and looked away from me. "Has anyone told you that you're friendlier towards guys now..?"  

"Erm...no," I replied. "But now that you've mentioned it...I haven't been avoiding boys that much anymore."  

"Eh... Jacklyn, I was thinking, would you...would you like to join me next tuesday for...for a study da-"  

I widened my eyes when I saw the time. "Sorry Baekhyun, could you tell me about it the next time? I'm going to be late for my part time job!" I cut Baekhyun in the middle of his sentence and dashed off. "See ya!"        

--

"-te..." I heard myself trail off while watching Jacklyn run down the corridor. I sighed to myself and walked back to class to retrieve my bag.  

"I guess it's no use. She already has a prince by her side, she probably won't even see me an an equal with Kris." I sighed once again as I dragged myself to class before leaving the school compound.

--

"Thank you for coming!" I greeted the customer goodbye as he left the store and I tended to the stalks of flowers lying on the table behind me.

"Excuse me," I heard a woman's voice from behind me and I turned to face her. Facing me stood a beautiful person, and she looked just a few years older than I am. Her hair was styled up in a loose bun and her flyaway hairs complemented her hairstyle perfectly. She has a very mature look similar to a mother's, and she wore a gentle smile on her face. She looked just like a Japanese doll. Captivated by her beauty, I stood there staring at her, forgetting the fact that I was still at work.

"Excuse me." 

I snapped out of my trance and realised that the woman was speaking to me. "Sorry! " I bowed towards her apologetically, feeling embarassed. "Uhm, how may I help you?"

The woman gave a slight chuckle. "It's fine," The woman turned to face the ground. "Xuan, please pass her the flowers."

I gave her a puzzled look and I felt a poke at my thigh. I turned my gaze to whatever was poking me and realised that there was a meek looking girl holding a bouquet of fake flowers.

"Waaa! Hello!" I squealed and squatted down to look at the girl at eye level. "You're so adorable! What's your name?"

The little girl stared at me with her big and shiny eyes. "Xuan..." she mumbled.

"Xuan, please pass her the flowers." Xuan heeded the woman's request and handed me the artificial flowers. I patted her head.

"Is she your little sister?" I asked the woman as I wrapped up the flowers.

"Nope, she's my daughter."

I put the properly-wrapped bouquet on the counter before operating on the cash register. "Wow! You're so lucky to be married at such a young age and have a family!" I continued to operate on the cash register. "Cash or card?"

Unlike myself. 

The woman flipped her wallet open and handed me $20, letting out a sad chuckle. "I wish. I'm a single mother, and I came to Singapore to look for my daughter's father. I heard that he was sent here, so I'm trying my luck. I've already been to other countries to search for his whereabouts ever since Xuan was 3 months old."

Oh.

"Oh," I gave a short reply as I tore the receipt and handed it to the woman along with her change. "Well, I wish you all the best in your quest to find your daughter's mysterious father. Have a nice day!" I gave the woman the most encouraging smile I could manage. "Jia you!"

"Thank you," The woman gave me the gentlest smile I've ever received before leaving the store with her daughter, hand-in-hand.

I wonder when will the time for me and Teppei to walk down the streets hand-in-hand come.

---

"What...is this?" I felt myself overcome with annoyance as I looked at Kris and his outrageous dressing.

"This?" Kris looked down at his costume before looking up at me. "It's a Bloom cosplay costume."

"I can totally see that," I spoke in a low voice.

Kris gave me a cheerful smile. "I'm glad that you could tell. I was kind of afraid that you wouldn't recognise where my outfit was from because you don't watch Winx Club when you were younger."

"Don't be an idiot!" I yelled at Kris. "I watched the cartoon when I was 9. No wait, that's besides the point. WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT OUTFIT ANYWAY. AND WHY IS TEPPEI COSPLAYING LIKE SKY?!"

Kris carried the crawling Teppei in his arms. "That's because we're going to go as a couple~. ​Woah Teppei don't pull your wig." Kris gently loosened Teppei's grip on the wig before rubbing his face against Teppei's chubby cheeks. "See, don't we look like a perfect couple? Please ship us like how you ship your anime couple pairings."

"Fat chance."

"Oh, that's my weight loss mantra, just so you know." Kris joked.

I rolled my eyes at Kris before carrying Teppei from his arms, removing his wig and putting him back in his crib. "Don't just take Teppei and dress him up as your partner."

"Then," Kris threw his arms around my shoulders from behind me and rested his head on my shoulder. "would you like to dress up as Bloom and I'll dress up as Sky?" Kris whispered in my ear.

I felt myself stiffen up before feeling even more annoyed than before. 

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW YOU TOUCHY CROSS DRESSING ERT!" I screamed as I tried to make Kris release his grip on me, only to fail horribly and trip. I shut my eyes as I was falling, but I felt something cushioning my fall and a loud thud was heard.

I opened my eyes and laying under me was Kris, who was motionless.

"Kris?" I called out to him. No response.

"Kris?" I shook his shoulders and gave his cheeks soft pats. "You hear me? Kris?" Still no response.

"Oh my god, Kris," I began to panic and shook Kris' shoulder vehemently. "Kris, please wake up, you're honestly freaking me out. KRIS!" 

Silence.

"Ambulance. I have to call for the ambulance," I mumbled under my breath and began to stand up. At that moment, I felt a warm hand grabbing my wrist and preventing me from getting to the phone. I looked at my hand and saw that Kris was grabbing onto my wrist.

I sat back down. "Kris, are you alright? Do you feel dizzy or anything? Do you want me to call for an ambulance? Say someth-"

"You should have seen your worried face," Kris let out a laugh. "it was pretty cute when you panicked because of me, you know?"

Realising what has just happened, I flung my wrist hard, causing Kris to release his grip. "It's honestly not funny. I was actually scared for a moment there." As I stomped away, Kris managed to grab my wrist once more and pulled me towards him, and I landed on top of Kris. He held me in a tight embrace.

I tried my hardest to tear him away from me. "Wha-"

"Stay like this. Just for awhile. Please." Kris requested gently.

I stopped fighting back and allowed Kris to embrace me. I felt my heart racing by the minute, and my face began to feel hot from the embarrassment. 

"Could you...hug me back?" Kris asked.

"Wh-"

"Please."

Letting out a silent sigh, I hooked my arms on Kris' shoulders. I could smell the mix of Kris' sweat and the detergent he once whined for me to purchase instead of the usual detergent I use for him. I could feel Kris' body heat radiating from him. I could feel Kris' firm muscles, and I could feel Kris' strong and reassuring embrace. Kris' shoulders were broad and firm, and his chest was very welcoming and felt really warm. As I put my ear at Kris' chest, I could hear his heartbeat pulsing almost as quickly as mine, the sound resonating in my ear like a beautiful melody.

Kris broke the comfortable silence between us with a small laugh. "You're actually quite heavy for a girl."

I felt a little insulted and tried to make Kris release his grip on me. "Then release me."

"I like it," Kris hugged me even more tightly. "I'm not letting you go."

My face became hotter than before. "You idiotic masochist," I chided Kris softly before burying my face into his chest and mumbling an inaudible 'thank you'.

Thank you for making me less afraid of guys.

"You're most welcome," Kris replied as he my head with his big hand. I blushed at his touch.

I turned to place an ear on Kris' chest.

Kris' pulse was quickening.

I smiled to myself and felt my own heartbeat quicken.

I wonder if you can feel mine too.

Hello lovelies(: Sorry this chapter took so long. I was stuck and didn't know what to write. Yes, for the entire month.

I tried updating the few times I came online, but I gave up because the ideas weren't coming to me. Even if there were ideas, they were lame as hell OR they didn't fit into the story. Meh.

I really do at adding titles T_T

Just in case you didn't get this part:

"Fat chance."

"Oh, that's my weight loss mantra, just so you know." Kris joked.

It's supposed to be a pun.

Fat chance sounds like fat chants, so............... yup. If you don't get this then forget about it. LOL.

Anyway, in this chapter, Jacklyn met a customer in the same circumstance as her! Coincidence much.

Also, Jacklyn and Kris are like much much more comfortable with each other (actually it's just Jacklyn) and they haz got hugging time. Yay finally a hint of romance.

However, I felt that the romance part seemed like it was taken out from a drama scene. Feels quite meh. I'll think of better scenes next time XD

Here a completely unrelated side note: My OTP in Winx Club is Musa + Riven and Tecna + Timmy. Riven is hot, in my opinion. I was once infatuated with him back in primary school and was SO happy to see his face on the TV screen. HAHAHA. Timmy isn't that cute though, but I think he looks cute with Tecna. I think Tecna is pretty. XD Primary school memories. Do you guys watch Winx Club, or have you?
 

I'm so sorry that the romance part took so long to come. You can be sure to expect more romance hints,drama and yada yada in future chapters!

I have this feeling that this story will be very longwinded and difficult to write as it progresses. Wish me luck XD

A huge load has been lifted off my shoulders. Phew.

Anyway, I hope that you guys will continue to anticipate the future chapters and continue to support me and my fic-writing!

Bye loves (:

-L