Mel awoke the next morning, late as usual. In fact, it couldn't even be called morning anymore. She stretched, rolled to the side, and attempted to coax herself out of bed. It didn't work. So she laid still for a while, taking her own sweet time in rising from the death of exhaustion. Her thoughts gradually drifted from one thing to another as her mind gave in to the inevitability of the day. As the randomness swirling in her head began to take shape, Mel found herself picturing a specific silhouette. It was a man, tall and lean. She knew this memory held some significance, but couldn't quite put her finger what it was. Frustrated with her inability to recall the person's name, she rolled over again to check the time. It was 2:30 pm. A little red light went off amidst the cloud of unintelligible thoughts, but she couldn't place it. Did she have some sort of appointment? Her favorite TV show was on? Maybe a meeting? And that's when she remembered. With lightening speed she bolted out of bed. Silently, she cursed her turtle-paced brain. How could she have forgotten the boy? Chansung was it? She shook her head. That most certainly was not correct, but his name wasn't her main concern at the moment. What was she going to wear?!?!

She searched frantically through her large walk-in closet, tossing clothes left and right until they littered the entire floor. Nothing seemed right. This sort of rendezvous called for a difficult balancing act, after all. It had to be casual enough to be appropriate for the woods, while remaining elegant enough to begin the process of wrapping the boy around her little finger. "Chanyeol!" she shouted to herself, "That was his name!"

"Talking to yourself again, sis?" came a voice from the door. Melanie almost jumped out of her skin. Kris had stuck his head into her room, smirking in his irritatingly mischievous way. "Or were you daydreaming about a new boyfriend?"

Kris could hardly get his last word out before he was forced to duck behind the door to keep from being impaled by the tornado of hangers Mel had unleashed upon him. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking!?!?" Mel slammed the door shut, making sure it was locked this time.

She glanced at the clock. 2:45. She would have screamed if she thought Kris was out of ear-shot.

She ran back to the closet and threw on a plain white t-shirt: form fitting, but casual. A nice pair of jean shorts and her ever-so-stylish converse completed the simple outfit. As she glanced in the mirror she wished she had more time. She could do so much better. Chanyeol would hardly be infatuated with this beast. But the clock raced forward and she was forced to do the same.

She tied her hair back and expertly applied her daily makeup. Nothing special, unfortunately, but it was time to go.

She grabbed her phone and tucked it into a back pocket before sprinting down to the main floor, out the side door and once again into the green wonderland of the day before.

When she arrived at the lake, Mel was surprised to see Chanyeol already waiting there. She was even a couple minutes early. And it looked like he had been there a while, completely enraptured in the small ripples that coated the surface of the water. He was so lost in la la land, Mel walked up right behind him without him even noticing. She took the opportunity to do a quick survey. Thin and a little bony, but she could see the traces of muscle under his gaunt frame. His jawline was nicely set and his cheeks were just the slightest bit chubby, making it hard to resist the urge to pinch them.

When she had finished her observations, Mel coughed quietly, grabbing his attention away from the lake. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." He smiled for a minute and then suddenly looked worried. "N-not that you're not noticeable! You're very noticeable! I don't mean it like in an attractive way... Not that you're not attractive either!!! You are! I mean, not that I think you are, but I'm sure other guys do. But I'm not saying you're unattractive, I just--" Chanyeol was mercifully cut off by Mel's melodic laughter. He sighed, his cheeks a light red hue as his posture slouched slightly. "I'm sorry..."

Mel shook her head, still laughing and holding her waist. "Don't apologize! I think that's the funniest thing that's happened to me all week. In a good way of course." She smiled as she finally gained control of herself. "You mind if I sit down?" She glanced at the spot next to Chanyeol on the log. He shook his head and moved to the side to give her more room. She moved to sit down daintily, trying to seem graceful despite her clumsy nature. She failed entirely, as she slipped on the slimy leaves beneath her feet. Chanyeol had no time to react, but he didn't need to move to catch her. She fell right in his lap.

Mel tried to scramble off, and succeeded only to find herself on the ground, the wet of the forest floor already seeping through her shorts. She sighed heavily. So much for the 'Goddess of Grace' image.

It was Chanyeol's turn to laugh, and somehow the glistening of it ringing in her ears made the embarrassment easier to bear. He helped her up to sit on the log, but it was too late. With damp shorts and dirty hands, she sheepishly looked away. And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, her stomach decided it would be an opportune time to roar like a sleep-deprived lion who hadn't eaten in 10 weeks. In her rush, she had forgotten breakfast entirely, without even so much as an apple to fill her aching stomach.

But Chanyeol was determined to play hero, or at least that's what it seemed like to Mel. He offered to bring her to his place where they could get a bite to eat. She thought about it for a moment before replying. "How about my house instead? I can grab a change of clothes that way."

He smiled and nodded. "As long as I'm not imposing." She brushed away his concerns and stood up, starting on her way back to the house.

"So which direction do you live in?" she asked, trying to keep the awkward silences from infesting their 'date'.

Chanyeol pointed over his shoulder in the opposite direction. "That way. But it's much nicer here than it is over there." Mel looked at him skeptically. The area of town he had pointed to was the wealthiest part. The neighborhood was called the ExoVillage. It consisted of acres and acres of private estates scattered with mansions of immense size and private facilities, like the famous golf range, notorious as the party hot-spot for ExoVillage teens. True, the entire district was incredibly rich, even Mel's family owned a decent sized estate, but most people in the world were no where near the standards of ExoVillage. Chanyeol, in his baggy hiking pants and loose plain black tee, hardly looked like he belonged on that side of town. Maybe he just had a bad sense of direction and was pointing in the wrong direction.

"You go to Growl High, right?" he asked to break the silence that had accidentally manifested while she brooded.

Mel nodded. "It's a pretty big school, you're sure to make friends. We have an environmental club too if you're interested in the woods that much."

The club didn't seem to interest him. "Do you have..." he paused momentarily and Mel raised her eyebrows to urge him on. "A dance club?"

Mel tapped her chin. "Well technically we do... My brother Kris is the captain though dancing isn't exactly his specialty. The club is more like an excuse for him and his friends to hang out and do crazy ." Mel covered . Curse words were not part of a lady's dialect and she was slowly slipping away from the picture perfect persona she was so used to displaying. Chanyeol was just so easy to talk to, not intimidating at all. Plus he didn't even seem to notice her language. Hopefully he hadn't heard her, so she continued in order to cover it up. "But they don't do too much dancing, even though most of them are decent at it. They do more singing really, plus a lot of rapping. That's Kris' thing. He holds rap battles like every weekend at our place."

At the last comment, Chanyeol's face brightened. 'So he likes rapping,' Mel thought. 'Or maybe...' She brushed the second idea aside. He couldn't be so obsessed with her that he would join a stupid club for the opportunity to come to her house every once in a while. Not yet at least. Even she wasn't that good.

When the pair finally immerged from the brush, Mel was glad to be home. Her was wet and her hands drying out from the filth. Whoever said mud made a good moisturizer was clearly delusional. She burst through the door and kicked off her shoes, sighing in relief. She turned to Chanyeol and motioned for him to do the same. "I'm gonna go change. You can wait in the kitchen for m-" but she cut her sentence sort as her eyes locked with those of someone leaning against the counter. Mel blinked twice to make sure it wasn't a mirage. She had been out in the heat for a little while after all. But the image in front of her didn't waver. It simply kept staring back at her. Only one word managed to escape her lips. "Dad?"