Silence.

Neither Jongin nor Mira spoke a word under the gazes they got from the others. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were still utterly shocked, confused and curious about what they had saw a few hours ago and had been bugging them two to spill the beans, but they wouldn’t say a word.

“So, what does this mean now that you two are officially together?” Chanyeol asked in his rather raspy voice, getting Jongin’s attention. “Is Mira your girlfriend now?” He added, making Jongin smile.

Mira on the other hand was shifting uncomfortably in her seat next to Jongin. She didn’t like the attention she was receiving. Yes, it was unbelievable what had happened a few hours ago, Mira, herself couldn’t believe what had happened.

Did they really share an intimate moment together?

Did Jongin really initiate a kiss?

Why did he kiss her in the first place?

What did it mean?

She was getting nervous waiting for Jongin to reply. She was also curious to find out what he thought. Yes, she knew that he was happy, especially by the reaction that she received earlier when they…kissed, but he hadn’t stated clearly that he felt the same way toward her. Well, she hadn’t clearly stated the fact that she liked him, no scratch that, loved him herself as Jongin was the only person she had and she was never going to let go of him, but she wanted to hear Jongin say it first. 

“I don’t know,” Jongin finally replied and then turned to Mira who innocently blinked. Her heart was drumming so hard against her chest that she found it difficult to breath. She knew of Jongin’s inconsistent behaviour and right now, she didn’t want to be greeted by another disappointment. “Are you?” He asked the question to her this time.

This was ridiculous. This wasn’t the time for Jongin to joke around, especially when she wasn’t in the mood for it.

What was this supposed to mean?

How was she to answer his question?

She didn’t want to embarrass herself and answer with a simple yes. That meant he would know of her feelings and also his friends as well.

Wait, why was she even thinking twice of stating her love for him?

She loved him.

There, it was simple.

Mira was disappointed at herself for thinking that she would be laughed upon because of her feelings. She was disappointed at herself for being a coward. She didn’t want to hide her feelings from him anymore, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have to poke the fun back at him. If Jongin wasn’t ready to state his feelings for her then be it, she’ll wait until he admits to it first. She mentally smirked and blinked a couple of times before leaning in toward Jongin. “I don’t know, are we even in a relationship?” She tried to sound neutral as possible and kept her usual blank face, surprising Jongin. 

He hadn’t expected to receive this reaction from her, especially since he knew that Mira liked him. Yes, he wasn’t that dumb. Even if she hadn’t said it out loud, he could clearly feel the love Mira felt toward him, but imagining her saying those words out of to him was what he wanted the most. However, here she was stating that she had no idea about the relationship which they had between them.

Didn’t she see that he felt the same way toward her as well?

Didn’t the kiss give everything away?

Yes, Jongin had kissed many females before, but there were all done with particular circumstances. He did it for fun and to reduce his boredom. However, when he kissed Mira it wasn’t forced, it was almost done naturally. He had poured all his feelings through the kiss that they had shared. This was the first time he had ever done something like this.

This was the first time he had initiated a kiss.

This was the first time he had shown someone his feelings.

This was the first time he wasn’t afraid of what the others thought of him.

Didn’t this show Mira how much he cared and loved her?

“Are you kidding me?” He asked, not believing what Mira had just told him.

Mira tried hard not to burst out laughing, but she couldn’t hold it in. Jongin blinked a couple of times before finally realising that Mira had been pulling a trick on him. He shook his head at her childishness, but automatically smiled after seeing her laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen her genuinely laugh like this. He could tell that she was really happy at this moment and he was glad that it was him that had made her laugh and that he was there to witness it. 

He never wanted to see her cry.

He never wanted to see her alone anymore.

He was never going to let her go.

“I can’t believe I fell for that,” Jongin murmured while he curled a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Since when were you this playful?” He asked as he lovingly stared at Mira who looked at him with her bambi eyes which twinkled with mischief. 

Jongin was happy that Mira had changed over the past few months and he wanted to believe that it was him who had changed her into this very person.

“I learned from the best,” she replied with a smile.

Baekhyun cleared his throat in between. “Sorry to interrupt your lovely moment, but you still haven’t answered the question yet,” he stated, bringing the very first topic back, making both Mira and Jongin smile.

“I like her if that’s what you guys are waiting to hear,” Jongin finally announced.

Mira smiled at the reaction that she saw from his friends.

“Someone hold me, did I just hear Jongin state that he legitimately likes a girl?” Baekhyun fanned himself while Sehun rolled his eyes at the older male. “I can’t believe this! Is Jongin finally going to stop being a playboy and faithfully stay with one girl?” He kept going on, simply not believing what he had just heard from his friend.

This was the first time for all of Jongin’s friend to hear something like this come out of his mouth.

“Just like?” Mira innocently asked while tilting her head.

Jongin slightly smirked and gently grabbed her chin so she could look right into his eyes. “Don’t push it,” he playfully remarked.

“I like you too,” she retorted, making Jongin's heart beat wildly.

Yes, this was how much of an effect she had on him. The words that Mira had just said were simple words, but still it made his heart melt in happiness. He wanted to hear those words over and over again. He knew that he was never going to get tired of hearing it. 

“Say that again,” he whispered as he started to lean in.

Mira smiled but shook her head, slightly embarrassed that she had actually said it out loud. This was a big step for her. She had revealed her feelings to someone for the first time, but she didn’t regret it. She was glad that it was Jongin who she had revealed it to and she wanted that to continue.

She wanted to continue telling Jongin how she felt every day.

“Oh God, I’m going to puke. Can you please take this cheesy scene somewhere else?” Sehun asked and sipped his iced coffee, making Jongin smile.

Mira bit her lips in embarrassment. She had forgotten that there were other people around them. She felt as if it was only him and her, no one else.

“I knew that you were someone important to Jongin so I’m glad that you two have finally worked things out,” Junmyeon stated with a smile. Mira shyly nodded at his comment and slightly bowed. “Oh please, you don’t need to be formal. I don’t know much about you Mira, but I know that you mean a lot to Jongin,” he added while shaking her hand.

Of course, Mira was nervous at the sudden touch and she was grateful that Jongin had intertwined his fingers through hers underneath the table when Junmyeon had done that. Yes, she still had trust issues and that she would have to continue being cautious of people around her, but this had to stopped sooner or later. She didn’t want to live with this fear from now on. She firstly needed to change herself if she wanted this fear to go away. 

“Thank you,” she finally spoke and returned him a smile.

Jongin smiled, proud of Mira for taking a step. He knew that she was nervous about this whole thing and that she was still recovering from her traumatic event, but here she was trying hard to change that. He appreciated that, he was grateful that she was trying to stop this from continuing. He was happy that she had listened to him and that she was interacting with his friends.

“To celebrate our win and to Jongin and Mira,” Junmyeon purposed a toast.

It was supposed to be a moment where Mira needed to be thankful toward him, but she couldn’t help but giggle. The matter being that they were all holding up can of cokes in the air while other customers in the restaurant looked over at their table with weird glances, but still she tapped her can with the rest and gulped down the drink with glee.

Right now, she was happy.

She couldn’t ask for anything more and it was all thanks to Jongin. 

They continued with their little celebration and talked through the day. Mira, herself was proud and surprised at herself from joining in some conversations. 

“I’m so proud of you,” Jongin whispered into Mira’s ear, making her smile, but all of a sudden Jongin’s phone started to ring. “Be right back,” he said and walked to someplace quiet, but in a few seconds he came rushing back and looked at Mira. “You’re going to be ok, right?” He asked.

Mira smiled. She loved that about him. She loved that he cared about her. She loved that he never forgot about her. She loved that he always thought of her. “I’ll be fine. I’m not a little kid,” she mockingly .

Jongin lightly chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “I won’t take too long.” He assured her. 

“I think I deserve a thank you from personally you,” someone said after Jongin left. Mira turned around to be greeted by Kyungsoo. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. 

She was grateful toward him. Over the past few weeks when Jongin wasn’t there for her, Kyungsoo had helped her through her miserable times. He was there to comfort her and she can finally state that he was officially a friend of hers. She would often talk to him about medical related things at times since they shared the same interest in the medical field. Mira wanted to be a doctor in the future while Kyungsoo was going to be next heir of one of the best hospitals in the world. She appreciated him for the patience that he had when interacting with her. He definitely deserved her trust and she didn’t mind that because she trusted him.

“Thank you,” she genuinely stated.

Kyungsoo smiled. “No Mira, thank you. Thank you for replacing the emptiness in Jongin’s heart. Thank you for opening his eyes and thank you for showing him what love means again." 

At that moment, Mira’s eyes started to tear up. “Jongin has done the same for me.”

---

Mira sat on her seat, waiting impatiently for Jongin to come back and sit next to her. It had only been fifteen minutes or so, but she already ached to see him.

The others kept on happily chattering amongst themselves, not minding that stares and glares that they were recieving from other customers in the restaurant. After the short introduction of herself to Jongin's friends, Mira realised that they were a bunch of normal teenagers who loved to do the typical normal teenage stuff, if that made sense. Mira herself knew it wasn't right for her to judge someone based on their appearance and the title which they held, however even though she didn't want to admit it, the actions, the behaviours, the wicked personalities of other individuals of their group, having the Rich status stuck on them since birth, she had generalised them with the rest and she wasn't pleased about that. 

Within the short duration she spent or was spending with them at the moment, she learned a lot about them. They were older than her, but it almost felt as if some of them didn't want to grow up. Mira didn't mean it in a bad way, in fact she envied that. She was jealous of how lively and how brightly some of them chose to live their lives.

For instance, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were beyond out of her league, they were the perfect duo and it almost seemed as if she would never really have the chance to be close with them. It wasn't that they were too childish for her, or that their jokes and their little pranks were too much for her to handle, it was just that Mira herself had to change some aspects about herself which was to brighten up so that she can also experience the little bit of sweetness that them two were sharing in their lives. 

Junmyeon was the complete opposite, well he still shared the same mindset as his friends, but he was much more mature. Mira had a short conversation with him and she almost felt as if Junmyeon was treating her like one of his friends who he had known for a long time. She knew what word summed up Junmyeon as a whole. Kindness. Junmyeon radiated with kindness. Not only was he attentive of others, but he was the type of guy who you would read in a romantic novel, not that Mira knew how he was like when in a relationship, but she meant as if he was the ideal guy that every girl was searching for, a son which parents wanted and a son in law which family members wanted him to part of. 

However, Sehun on the other hand was very critical. Mira wasn't kidding when she wanted to say this, but when she first met him, it was almost as if she was looking in the mirror and seeing another one of herself in a boy's body. Sehun reminded that much of Mira in him. She was glad she didn't say that out of loud when she first met him, or else it would have been awkward.

Sehun was friendly, he smiled often but it was those smiles which weren't genuine. It wasn't that Sehun disliked Mira, he was actaully grateful toward her and he knew that she wasn't those type of girls who would go around telling the world that she was in a relationship with Jongin. Sehun trusted her, but he didn't know her and he didn't have the characteristic in him in which made him want to know her better. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't being ignorant or that it was all him doing it for his pride, it was just that Sehun was like that and Mira understood where he was coming from. Sehun hadn't told that herself, but she knew that Sehun was that type of guy. 

"Is everything ok?" Mira suddenly heard someone speak to her. She turned to her side to see Kyungsoo looking at her with his wide eyes. 

She nodded while giving him a half-reassuring smile. Kyungsoo gave her a thumbs up and went back to listening to the coversation which his friends were ever so into. 

When being with Jongin, he himself had bought Kyungsoo up quite a few times and that told Mira that Kyungsoo was someone special to Jongin. Mira appreciate that Kyungsoo was a friend who Jongin would rely on and have trust in. Mira herself found Kyungsoo to be someone who she can trust for a odd reason. 

Not once after the accident which took her parents lives had Mira ever wanted to bond a relationship or had the eagerness to develop a friendship with an individual, however it had happened. Mira would like to believe that Kyungsoo was a friend and she hoped he thought of her in the same way, that he can have trust in her. The whole friendship, or the bond started to develop as it was the pure interest in the world of medicine and treating the people who were in pain.

Mira wanted to study in a medical unviersity as she desired to be a doctor just like her mother, and Kyungsoo was the heir of one of the best hospitals not only in Korea, but international as well. Through him, Mira learnt quite a lot about healing the ones who hoped to get rid of the pain which they had suffered in their everyday life. However, their friendship hadn't developed to the stage where they would 'hang' out together, for instance if they saw each other at school, they would just say the simple greeting and go on their own way. 

"What are you thinking so hard about?" At the sound of the person's voice, Mira's heart beated loudly as her eyes met with Jongin who tilted his head and watched her lips curl up into a smile. "Did you miss me already?" He teased as he walked toward her. 

Mira smiled and pulled Jongin to sit next to her. "What took you so long?" She asked

Jongin shook his head. "Another one of dad's boring business meetings planning," he replied, but Mira felt like he didn't really say much as to what had he actually talked about on the phone. However, Mira didn't want to urge him to tell her, she didn't want Jongin to became upset or occupied of the pure though of doing something for his parents. Mira already knew what his parents were like, and she hoped that she would not cross their paths. It was selfish of her, but she couldn't help but be afraid, for instance if she did, she felt like Jongin would be taken away from her and she didn't want that at all.