Chapter 35

Whoooooshhh.

Soyeon climbed up the small steps as the train left the subway station. She squints her eyes at the bright morning sun and a small groan left her lips. "Why does he want to meet up this early on a weekend?" Soyeon grumbled as she scanned the almost vacant area.

There was almost no one around but several number of joggers and cyclist, some had earphones plugged in as they go about they morning exercise. Soyeon felt a small tinge of impress at the sight before her -that these people chose exercising rather than sleeping in on a Sunday morning.

Because Soyeon would chose sleeping than exercising anytime, no matter how beneficial the latter is.

Tap. Tap.

Soyeon turned to the sound of light footsteps. A small smile escaped her glossed lips at the sight of a masked figure in a dark jacket over a lighter shade of a dark dress shirt. She did not need to guess who was hiding underneath the cap and black mask to know that it was Jung Kook.

Soyeon could sense Jung Kook grinning from behind the mask from the way the wrinkles formed around his eyes. Jung Kook picked up his pace and before he knew it, he was by Soyeon's side.

Soyeon chuckled nervously under Jung Kook's soft gaze. "So, what are we doing today?" She asked.

Jung Kook opened his mask to reveal -as expected- a disappointed frown upon Jung Kook's face. "How did you know it is me and not some erted psychopaths?" 

Soyeon tilted her head to one side and her brows. "Really?" She asked, not believing that Jung Kook actually thought that his "disguise" could fool her. "Oh, did I not tell you? I'm a psychic." She said with a playful chuckle.

Jung Kook rolled his eyes at her. "Since you're a psychic, you should know that I'm a prince from a distant land. So now, I order you to follow me." He said, with power oozing in his tone as he slid his hands in hers. Soyeon giggled at the impromptu role play and did not hesitate to rest her hand in his and lets him guide the way. She was curious, yes. But she did not want to ruin the surprise.

"Tadaaa!" Jung Kook lets go of Soyeon's hand and motioned towards a vendor filled with bicycles of metallic colors. What differentiates this vendor from other bike rental vendors is that they don't only have the usual bicycle, there's also the tandem bicycle, twin bicycle, tricycle -if only there's a unicycle- just not as many.

As Soyeon marveled at the rows of bicycle to choose from, Jung Kook walked over to the ahjussi who was smiling at him and retrieve the basket that he had kindly offered to look after.

"What kind of bicycle would both of you like? He asked as he tapped the seat of one of the many metallic colored bicycles. "A couple bicycle?" He added, motioning towards a tandem bicycle just off to his left.

Soyeon chuckled nervously at the sight of it. "I don't think I'll be able to ride that ahjussi." She answered honestly. 

"Why not? I'll be there." Jung Kook said. He was secretly hoping Soyeon would choose the couple bicycle so that he could be closer to her. "Come on, let's give it a try." He cooed before adding, "I challenge you to this."

At those words, Soyeon can't help but to give the ahjussi a hesitant nod. "I'll try." She said, the frown still intact. "What's life without challenges huh?" 

Jung Kook did a little fist pump in the air. It's easy to coax Soyeon it seems. 

"Yah! Be careful! Jung- Jung Kook!!" Soyeon screamed, half in delight and half in fright at the back of the bicycle as she and Jung Kook continue to pedal along Han river. Jung Kook chuckled at her little squeals as he tried to get the bike to balance. After a few minutes of pedaling and several shriek of fright later, both of them managed to coordinate with each other and get hold of the bike.

Jung Kook watched through the small side mirror of the bike to get a glimpse of Soyeon. She's quiet now and all that was heard were her beautiful inaudible sighs. Jung Kook could not see much, but he could make out that beautiful, gentle smile on her face as she looked over the vast river.

Neither spoke as they enjoyed each other's  silent company. The morning spring breeze was gentle against their skin and the river sings its song, flowing as it always has for millions of years. Just how he wished they could be hereafter.

Screeech.

Jung Kook pressed on the handle brake and his long legs left the pedal before reaching the solid pavement, stopping the bicycle in a halt. "Are we going to have a picnic here?" Soyeon asked, as she got down from the bicycle.

Jung Kook pushed the bicycle to rest it against a tree before retrieving the picnic basket from inside the basket on the bike. "Why can't you be cute and act as if you didn't know anything about today and let me surprise you?"

Soyeon smiled up at the view before them."You made it obvious. You have a freaking picnic basket with you!" She laughed. "You're bad at surprises Jeon Jung Kook!"

Jung Kook lets out a low grumble as he sets the basket down. "There's still so many years ahead of us for me to surprise you. Just you wait!" He said before his lips curled up. "There'll be anniversaries to come." He said with a shy smile on his face.

Soyeon could feel heat rising up her cheeks at the thought of Jung Kook being in the picture of her future. It's not that Soyeon never thought of her future -she thinks about it a lot- but never one involves a man. In her picture, she would be alone, working at one of South Korea's prestigious company.

It's nice that Jung Kook would be in the picture too. It brings more color to the dull painting and it surely looks more beautiful.

After helping Jung Kook with setting up the blanket and foods, Soyeon clapped her hands in satisfaction. "It looks delicious." She sang, swallowing her saliva before she embarrassingly drool in front of Jung Kook.

"I made them." Jung Kook said with pride as he gestured over the foods and drink before them. There were fresh-cut fruits, french fries, store bought kimbap and two different type of fruit juice.

Soyeon nodded her head at his statement. "I believe you." She picked up a plate of a giant mess of sandwich. It was messy alright -perfectly depicting a teenage boy's artwork - and Soyeon could just imagine Jung Kook working on it early in the morning and her heart skipped a beat. "It looks delicious though." She added honestly.

Jung Kook was happy that Soyeon enjoyed his meal. It wasn't much but he did put in a lot of effort. They began eating in silence, both immersed in eating like starving wolves, devouring themselves with the -unexpectedly- delicious chicken and ham sandwich.
The silent didn't last long though before both of them ended up chatting over their meal, occasionally laughing with each other. It's been days since they last met each other and beside the occasional exchange of text messages, thay had barely spoken.

There was so many things to talk about and it's about the most random thing in the world. 

They just wanted to talk and get to know each other.

After the meal was done, Soyeon helped Jung Kook to pack up the dirty plates into a container before throwing it back into the basket. Jung Kook was more than happy that there was no leftovers. Honestly, he was worried that the food that he had brought might be a little too much for the both of them.

But he underestimated Soyeon of course. That girl could eat. Oh how could he have forgotten that she wasn't just another girl?

Soyeon leaned against a bark of the nearest tree and rested her head there. She was glad that she wasn't in a dress or a skirt which she originally planned to wear. Now, she could crossed her legs with ease instead, all in the comforts of her skinny jeans and leather jacket over her denim button down.

Just as Soyeon was about to call Jung Kook to join her on the grass, Jung Kook came running up to her with a concerned frown up his brows. "Are you tired?" He asked. 

Soyeon shook her head with her eyes still closed. "No. I'm just lazy."

"Now that's interesting. Never knew you were capable of being lazy." Jung Kook said with no sarcasm noted. "But too bad you chose to be lazy today. We have a lot of places to go. You're going to be busy for the whole day."

With a groan, Soyeon lets Jung Kook pulled her up and drag her back to the bicycle. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Do you like fish?" Jung Kook asked his own question, not answering Soyeon's.

"Are we going to eat again?" 

Even if the idea sounds tempting, Soyeon is already too full at the moment. Jung kook chuckles at her question and his finger gingerly brushes her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Depends. Are you still hungry?"

"No."

"We won't be eating then."

"But I would still want to eat later though, just not now." Soyeon said with a sheepish grin as she climbed up the seat of the back of the bicycle. "Can we cycle around the area first before we go? I can't get enough of the view."

Jung Kook thought for a moment. He had everything planned out and he did not want to go off track in order for the plan to carry out perfectly. However they finished eating earlier than Jung Kook had expected and with a few minutes to spare, why not?

"Sure, princess."

Jung Kook thanked the ahjussi after returning the bicycle to the bike rental and walked back to where Soyeon was waiting. "Now let's go princess." He offered a hand for Soyeon to take.

Soyeon naturally slid her hand in his. "Why do you keep calling me that? I thought you're the prince from a distant land?"

Jung Kook took out his mask and put it on his mouth again, hiding his face from the public as the crowd gets bigger. "Because you're married to me. Doesn't that make you a princess?" 

Her heart pounded at those words. God dammit Jung Kook. You're such a smooth talker.

--"There! I see her!"

"Where?!"

"There, in that blue denim shirt!"

"Oh I saw her!!"

"Where?! Whe-- oh I see her!!"

At the familiar shriek and cries of a set of deep voices, Soyeon froze from where she was standing. Jung Kook stopped walking when he realized that Soyeon was no longer holding his hand neither was she by his side.

"Hurm? Soyeon, are you oka---" Jung Kook turned around to see a group of familiar looking boys walking over towards his direction. "." He cursed under his breath before taking hold of Soyeon's small hands and pulled her away.

As the boys began to come closer, both Jung Kook and Soyeon instinctively picked up their pace and jogged away from Soyeon's friend.

"Yah! They're running!!"

"Soyeon!!"

Soyeon accidentally turned around to see that her friends was now running after her. "Gawd, run! Run!"

"Hey why are you running away from us?!" Chanyeol barked, closing the distance between him and Soyeon with his longs legs. "Yaaahh!!"

Families, couples and some joggers turned their head to see what the chaos was all about. Six handsome boys were running -well,  Chanyeol and Tao were running. Suho, Kris, Chen and Sehun were jogging- chasing after a laughing Soyeon as she ran like a little child holding tightly to Jung Kook's hand.

But just in a few seconds time, Chanyeol managed to pulled Soyeon by her arm, ending the marathon. "Yah! Why are you running away from us?!" Chanyeol huffed, catching his breath.

"Why were you chasing us?"

"Well--" Chanyeol was speechless. Well, it sounded right to chase them awhile ago. "Err, because we're bored?"

Suho rolled his eyes at the tall male in front of him and his hands move swiftly to whack the back of Chanyeol's head before turning to Soyeon. "We were err... worried about you." Suho admit sheepishly.

"Why would you guys be worried of her?" Jung Kook questioned him.

"And who are you?!" Tao shouted in horror while pointing a finger at Jung Kook after realizing that the mysterious, handsome boy before them was still holding Soyeon's hand. "Hyung! Catch him!" He called out to his other friends.

Jung Kook panicked when he was suddenly attacked by Tao. Tao called out again to his hyungs but none of them came to aid him. "Tao, let Jung Kook go." Kris sighed as he pulled the younger male away from a frightened Jung Kook. Jung Kook quickly took of his mask to reveal his face. 

"Ah I'm sorry. It's just me. I swear I'm not a bad guy." Jung Kook explained. Chen laughed out loud when he saw Tao's cheeks turned red in embarrassment. Of course everyone knew that it was him - well, except Tao it seemed.

 Soyeon cleared to gain everyone's full attention before repeating Jung Kook's question. "Yeah, why were you worried of me? How do you know I'm here?"

Xiumin lets out a small chuckle. "Let me explain." He took in a deep breath. "So you see, these buffoons here," He gestured to his friends surrounding him "were bored and they wanted to go out - myself not included because I was forcefully dragged by them - But since most of the gang are occupied for the whole day, they decided to crash your place. But your mom told us you were here. She even told us the exact exit and line you used. So we guessed that you might be out on a date since you didn't mention of going out with any of the Exo gang or the sisters (and we are your only friends). And these boys here," He gestured to the boys again "was worried for you on your first real date. So... we decided to come along."

Soyeon stared with hanging open when Xiumin was done with his explanation. Her eyes blinked a few times but her mind was still blank, unable to comprehend the roller coaster of emotions she was feelings She was mad at their stupidity but at the same time she was touched by their thoughtfulness.

Jung Kook on the other hand, find the whole situation rather amusing and relieving. She's in good hands. He wouldn't have to worry much for being away often.

Lay made a move to close Soyeon's mouth, causing her to break away from her trance. "Aww guys. You don't have to. I'll be fine. I'm Lee Soyeon." She assured them with a smile on her face. "But are you telling the truth? Because I swear if you're just here to have fun and embarrass me... I will shave your head in your sleep! Yes, even your precious brows." She growled lowly causing the boys to shiver in fright.

"Of- of course it's true!" Lay nodded his head several times. Okay maybe it wasn't entirely true. They just wanted to have fun. Protecting her was a side mission.

"So? Can we tag along?" Chen asked. "We still don't trust this superstar here." He beckoned towards Jung Kook causing him to fluster beside Soyeon.

"Yeah! I thought he was a kidnapper because of what he was wearing!" Tao agreed.
 

Jung Kook listened in to their conversation without butting in. He knew their intention was nice but he wanted to spend the day with only Soyeon, not with her six handsome bodyguards! He worked so hard to plan for their first date and it should be perfect.

A bus came to a stop at the nearest bus stop and people were lining up to board it. And Jung Kook suddenly thought of a plan.


 

"Yeah, sure." Jung Kook said, nodding his head at the boys in front of them as Soyeon gave him a disbelieving look.

"But it's our first date--"

"Soyeon, can we talk for awhile?" Jung Kook dragged Soyeon away before she could finish her sentence. "Listen," he whispered into her ears when they were far enough from everyone's earshot. "Hold my hand tightly."

"What?"


"Just trust me and hold on to my hand tightly." He offered his hand for her to take.

Jung Kook held Soyeon's hand tightly, yet gentle enough as not to inflict the slightest pain and pulled her with him as he ran towards the bus. The last person in line had just stepped in and in just a few moments the door to the bus will close. With hurried steps, Jung Kook pulled Soyeon and ran.
 

They ran is if their life depended on it.

Before the boys could fully comprehend what had actually happened before the eyes, Soyeon and Jung Kook had already boarded the express bus as the door to the bus closed.

And the two lovebirds laughed merrily as they collapsed on the floor of the bus, earning curious and annoyed look from other passengers. But they couldn't care less because they were happy. 


 

Author's Note

Was it long enough? Part 2 of the date coming up! 
Sorry if I haven't update much. I've been busy and will be so in the near future. So, thank you for waiting.
I need to leave my comfortable life and go out to the world soon. Gawd, why?!


Also, Wu Yi Fan *sobs sobs* I can't even TT.TT
The fandom's bubble of happiness has been popped.