“Amelie, where do you want to go?”
“Uh…I don’t know.  Where do you want to go?”
“I really don’t care.”
“I don’t really care either.”
“Okay then.  We’ll just keep on walking.”
“Alright.  I’m fine with that.”
We walked side by side, shoulders grazing, down the streets of Beverly hills.  We were just making some small talk because we didn’t know what to talk about, where to start, where to begin, where to end, when to smile, when to laugh.  You can basically sum it up as something….awkward.
We were somewhat…together…I think…or….at least that was what I was implying, and because he accepted, even if it was a pity acceptance, he was to be with me for a week ….before….he….leaves.
We walked about 3 miles talking about my life, his life, my dislikes, his dislikes, my favorites, his favorites.
“I can’t believe you starved yourself for a month.”
“Well, it wasn’t really starving.  I wasn’t hungry and I would eat if I was.”
“But you only ate an apple and a piece of cheese for an entire month.”
“Yeah.  That month made me not hungry.”
 “Amelie.  Whatever happened to…loving yourself for who you are?”
“I guess I was just sick and tired of all the fat comments.”
“I think I liked you better before.”
“I think I did so too.  But you know what?  I actually feel good physically.  Not because of starving, but now that I eat and exercise, I feel healthy.  I feel more lively and have more energy.  I’m sorry I’m preaching about my weightloss to you.”
“Just don’t starve yourself.”
“Look who’s talking.  You’re so skinny!”
“This is genetic.”
“Lucky you.”
We stared into each other’s eyes then and burst into laughter.  We were both having such a good time and we didn’t know that it was getting dark out.
“Amelie.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s go home.  It’s getting dark out.”
“Why do you have a curfew?” I joked.
“No, missy.  I was hoping you would come over to my place.” He looked at me with a smirk on his face.  And I just turned beet red.  I couldn’t help but start to have images in my head that I read out of romance novels.
He chuckled and called the car.

“I don’t know if I should go to your house on our first date.”
“Well, technically, this isn’t our first date.  And you already came to my house before.  And you already laid on my bed.  We’re actually very far in the relationship.”
“I-“
“Don’t worry. We won’t do anything.  I was thinking about cooking something for you.”
“Cook?  You know how to cook?”
“Of course.  Living with 4 other guys makes you cook to survive.”
“I see.  I am a little hungry.”
I was starving.  I haven’t eaten anything all day.  But my mind wasn’t really focusing on the food.  It was focusing on what he said about how we are in a relationship.
He said that we are in a relationship.
So what he accepted is the relationship.
Which is what I wanted.
I officially got my first boyfriend.  I need to do something.  I need to pray to God.  I need to have a party.  I need to call my friends. I need to-
“Amelie?”
“What? Oh, sorry.  I was …uh…daydreaming.”
He laughed and just brushed it off.
He led me to the kitchen and told me to sit down on the stool next to the island.  He started to take things out of the refrigerator and put an apron on.  He really looked like he actually knew what he was doing.
“Stop staring at me like that.”
“What.  I’m not staring.”
“Yes you are.”
Yes I was.  I couldn’t help it.  He was perfect.  He dressed well, was absolutely gorgeous, talented, kind, and on top of all of this, he could cook.
And he was my boyfriend.  Mine.  For a week.
“Sorry.  I just can’t believe that you know how to cook.”
I can’t believe you are my boyfriend.
“ I told you that it was for survival.”
“Yeah.  But still.”
“Why?  Do I look that good?”
“Of course.”
I couldn’t object.  But something weird happened just then.  He was blushing.  He was actually blushing.  I didn’t know that I had the power to do that.  And it actually felt good.  I should do it more often.
After 30 minutes, he made a solid dinner for two, Korean style of course.
“Thank you for the food!”
“Eat a lot!”
“Yes!”
We both digged in and only concentrated on eating for 10 minutes.  Apparently both of us were starving and the only thing that we could think about was stuffing ourselves with food.
After we finally could think properly, we started to slow down the eating process and talked some more.
“How do you know Eddie?”
Pause.  He didn’t want to talk about it.  Maybe he felt bad for ignoring him after he got famous.
“He was a friend of mine.  Along time ago.”
“Why isn’t he your friend now?”
“He-  I don’t think we should talk about it.”
“I see.”
He didn’t want to admit that he was the one that broke the friendship first.  That his fame was more important to him than his friendship.
“So…”
“So…what?  What are you trying to ask me Jiyong?”
“Are you not going to call me oppa?   Didn’t we go over this already?”
“Fine.  Oppa.  What are you going to ask me?  Oppa?”
“Do you like Eddie?”
“What?  Yeah…sure.  I like Eddie.”
“I see.  Then why do you want to be with me then?” He looked at me with disappointing eyes.
Oh…that was what he was asking me.  Of course I like Eddie, but not like that.  He was a nice guy.  And I liked his company, but he didn’t give me the jitters, and flipped my heart every second.  He was a friend.
“Oppa.  I don’t understand you sometimes, I like Eddie as a friend.  And I wanted to be with you because for some reason, I can’t seem to forget about you.  I’ve never had a boyfriend before and I don’t know what love is, but every time I’m with you, my heart does things out of my own will.  Because of this, I asked you to be with me for about a week, just until I can finally settle and then I will be ready to let you go when you go.”
I just laid it down, plain and thick.   I was getting pretty tired of beating around the bush, so I just told him straight up that I wanted to be with him.  He was the only man that made me feel the way I feel, and he deserved to know it, even if it’s going to disappear after a week.
He didn’t say anything and looked at his bowl of rice.  He was also a pretty dark shade of red too.
He finally looked up and said.
“I’m your first boyfriend?”
Out of all the things he could say to me, that is what pops out of his head first?
“Yes.”
Then he broke out into a huge smile and gave me a genuine laugh.  He was happy to hear it.
We cleaned up our plates and put them into the sink.  We decided to wash the dishes together.
“Amelie….”
“Yes.”
“My…heart….does weird things too when I’m around you as well.”
I froze.  What did he just say?  Rewind.  Rewind.  Did he just say that his heart does weird things?  What is that supposed to mean?  Does he mean what I mean when I said it to him?  Was he just reciprocating it to make me feel better?  Is he lying?  Is he telling the truth?  He better not be messing with me.
“I’m sorry to put that big bomb on you, but when you told me that your heart does things that you can’t control, I felt the same way too.  I just didn’t have the courage to tell you, until you told me first.”
He looked into my eyes, reassuringly, making all my questions disappear into thin air.


“Do you want to watch a movie?”
“Sure.  What do you have?”
“Go check next to the t.v, there is a shelf of dvds.”
I walk over to the so called “t.v.” (it was more like a theater), and looked around for a book shelf with dvds.  There was no shelf or dvds.
Then I heard Jiyong yell, “You probably have to push a button on a remote.  There should be a remote on the sofa.  Just push the red button.
I have to push a MOTHER ING button?  Okay…Find the remote.  AHA!  Found it.  Push the red button.  Okay, I pushed it.
What is that sound?
I turned to the right and saw the right wall flip over to reveal a wall of bookshelves filled with dvds.  It was like being in blockbuster, only it was cleaner.  It was amazing.
The dvd collection was even more amazing.  There was everything here.
“Did you find a movie that we are going to watch?”  Jiyong came in then with no apron and all cleaned up.
“No.  You have everything here.  It’s amazing.”
“Some of these are actually Peter’s.  The rest was a present from the fans.”
“The fans?  Oh right.  You’re a celebrity.  I keep on forgetting.”
“I prefer you to forget that I’m a celebrity.  That way, I can be a little bit more human.  So what should we watch…”
He walked over to the shelves and started scanning the collection.  He then gave a slight smile and took out a dvd.
“How about this one?”
I looked at it and it was…”Pretty in Pink.”
“You watch chick flicks?”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, I love this movie!  This is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I love the clothes and the music and the characters.”
“Me too.”
“I guess we have something in common.”
“Yup.”
He walked towards the television and the movie.
It was better than the movie theaters.
We both took a seat on the sofa, but I sat away from him.  I actually wanted to snuggle right up against him, but I refrained myself.  It was only the first date and we can’t be doing any funny business.
As the movie was going, however, he started to inch closer and closer to me.  First, pretending to be uncomfortable with the seat he was already taking, and then second, pretending to reach for something.
Finally, he was right next to me.  Shoulder-to shoulder.  I could hear his breathing.
I couldn’t even concentrate on the movie.  He was too close.  
I started to feel my heart flipping again, so I inched away, but then his arm ringed around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.  I was frozen solid.  I didn’t know what to do.
I started to get a neck cramp just being in a frozen state.
“Relax.  You’re as hard as a rock.  I’m not going to do anything to you.”
“I-“
He pulled me in closer, and I just couldn’t help but to warm up in his embrace.  I soften up and just let myself curve into him.
We watched the movie silently then; our breaths in unison.
I broke the silence when there was a kissing scene.
“God.  I hate their kissing.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.  It seems like they are eating each other.  Not really passionate kissing.”
“Have you ever kissed someone before?”
“Yes.”
“You did?”
“my dog.”
“Your dog doesn’t count.  I meant a human being.”
“My family.”
“I’m talking about a real kiss.”
“Fine.  No one.  Happy?”
“Very.”
And then he kissed me.  It wasn’t a long passionate deep kiss, but a soft gentle kiss.  He knew that I would probably freak out, so he just gave me a little appetizer.
But I was already freaking out.  I couldn’t breathe.  I started to get hot.  I pulled away from him.
“Is something wrong?”
“No..I…uh…need…to…use the restroom.”
“I see.  The restroom is outside the hallway to your left.”
“Thanks.”
I ran out of the room and rushed to the restroom. I tried to pull myself together, but it took me like 30 minutes.  It was hard.  It was my first kiss.  Well, I know it was just a peck, but still.  I never had some male brush up against my lips before.  I didn’t know what to do.
I slowly came back to my normal state and walked over to the movie room.
“the movie is already over.  You took 30 minutes in the bathroom.  Is something wrong?”
“Uh..no.  I was just freshening up a bit.”
“what do you want to do now?  Its pretty late.”
“Yeah.  I think I should go home.”
“No. you should stay.”
“But-“
“Don’t worry.  I won’t make the first move anymore.  I probably gave you a fright there, so I will be a gentleman until you are ready. There is a guestroom upstairs across from my room.”
“I-“
“Just sleep here.  Didn’t you want to spend the week with me?  That’s what you are doing.”
“I-“
“Good night.”
And then he left me in the room by myself.  I couldn’t say no.  I couldn’t really talk.  So I just went upstairs and locked myself in the guest room.
I didn’t even bother turning on the light and went straight to the bed.  I hid under the covers and thought that I wouldn’t be able to sleep after what had happened today, but next thing I knew I was sleeping.
POUND POUND POUND
WHAT IS THAT GOD-FORSAKEN NOISE?
I regained consciousness a little, and looked at my surroundings.
RIGHT.
I am here.  In Jiyong’s house.  In a guest room.  Across from his room.
I mentally kicked myself so I wouldn’t start my hyperventilating ritual.
POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND
I understand where I am, but what is that noise?
“NOOOOOONNNNNNAAAAAA! WAKE UP!!!!!!”
Is that Seungri?  I haven’t heard or seen him…since….Rodeo Drive.
“Seungri?  Is that you?  Hold on!”
I stood up from the bed and walked over to open the door.
“Noona, why do you take so long to open the- WHOA. Nice hair.”
.  Forgot about the bedhead.
“Sorry.  My hair seems to get disheveled when I sleep.”
Seungri just grinned and gave me a big hug.  I gave a hug back.  I liked this kid.  He was like a brother I never had.
“Noona.  I missed you so much.  After I heard that you quit being a tourist, I was really sad.  I thought I would never see you again.”
“Sorry about that.  I was busy with school and work.”
“Are you going to play with us today?”
“Uh….yeah. sure.”
“By the way, noona, why are you here?  How did you get to sleep here?”
“How did you even find me?  How did you know where I was?  Or that I was even here?”
“The maids told me that you were here in the guest room.  Noona….you need to answer my questions now.”
“Uh….did you eat breakfast yet Seungri?”
“No.  I’m hungry!  Are you going to make some for me?”
“Sure.”
Thank God Seungri has a short attention span, or I would have to tell him that I’m technically Jiyong’s flavor of the week.
I went into the restroom and gave up making myself look presentable and just opted for the bun on top of my head.  I tied my hair up and headed down to the kitchen.

Now as you guys may think you know, most of the heroines of the stories do not know how to cook.  Or if the guy who the heroine is in love with cooks exceptionally well, then she will not need to cook.
But I think I rock in the kitchen.  Hey, I love food.

I looked in the cabinets, refrigerator, cupboards, and drawers for all of the necessary foods I will need to make. (FYI, the whole time Seungri is watching my every move)
I was thinking about a light Korean breakfast; the one with a light soup and stew.
I made some omelets, a light bean sprout soup, and bean paste stew, and other small side dishes, when the members started to come down one by one.
It made me feel a little better when I saw that Top, Daesung, and Taeyang all looked pretty groggy.  I knew now that not everyone looks exceptionally well when they wake up.
“Something smells ing good.” Top mumbled.
“Amelie?  What are you doing here?” Daesung exclaimed in wide eyes.
“Did you make this?” Taeyang asked.
“Yes, Taeyang.  I thought I’ll make a simple breakfast for you guys, so yeah.”
I didn’t want to answer Daesung’s question so I just ignored him.
“Come and sit down!  Everything is down on the table, I just need to bowl the soup.”
“This looks so good!  We didn’t have a proper home cooked meal since….I don’t even remember!” Seungri finally said something after he was watching me for the past hour.
“ Don’t you guys have maids that make you food everyday?”  I asked while I was scooping the soup into individual bowls.
“Well, they do make us food, but Peter only likes to eat toast and stuff, so we get an American breakfast every morning.” Daesung said.
“Good morning Jiyong hyung!”  Seungri exclaimed.
“Hey.”
My heart fluttered and I turned around.  He was standing across the kitchen next to the table and gave me a flashing grin.  He didn’t say anything and just sat down.
I turned back and busily finished what I was doing and passed the soup around.  When I gave the bowl of soup to Jiyong, our fingers grazed and I jumped back a little, but he just smirked.
I took a seat next to Seungri.
“THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD!”  They all said in unison (except for Jiyong, of course).
“OMWYAGWOODNWESSTHWISISSOGWOOOD!!!!” Daesung said with a mouthful of food.
“This is the best food I have ever tasted in America!” Taeyang said.
“Yeah!” Top and Seungri said in unison.
Jiyong was silent and just ate his food.  He was smiling and seemed highly amused, but didn’t say a thing.  He would give me glances occasionally.
“Thank you guys.  You guys are so sweet!  It’s really nothing.” I was blushing from all of their praises.
“So noona,  you never told us why you are here.” Seungri said curiously.
I literally choked on my rice when he said that.
. What am I going to say?  I can’t tell them that I’m kind of with Jiyong, and for the next few days I would be here quite frequently.
“Amelie is staying here for a week with me.” Jiyong said non-chalantly.  Then he went back to eating.
I froze where I was.  
Everyone seems pretty surprised and paused for a second, but then they just shrugged it off and continued to eat.
I was still pretty shocked at his blunt statement, but no one else seem to care very much.
Even Seungri didn’t question Jiyong’s authority.
After breakfast, everyone went back into their rooms, Daesung and Seungri offered to help with the dishes, but I told them that I have everything under control.  I didn’t want them to be questioning anymore about me and Jiyong, and I wanted some time by myself.
I was putting the food away and the empty plates in the dish washer, when someone slips their arms around my waist.
“You smell good.” Whispered Jiyong.
I jumped away, half shocked and half surprised, from him and looked at him squarely in the face.
“Jiyong, what are you doing here?”
“I was thinking you would need some help with the dishes and cleanup.”
“No thank you.  I have everything under control.  Just go back to your room and do whatever you were planning on doing.”
“You’re quite a cook.”
“What?  Oh…thank you.” Pause. “How come you didn’t compliment me at the table?”
“So I can compliment you personally right now.”
Stop blushing Amelie.  No need to blush.  Just a simple compliment.
“Well thank you for the compliment.”
Okay.  That was a stupid phrase.
“How come you just told them I was going to be here with you?”
“Well…they don’t know exactly why you’re here with me, but don’t worry, they won’t question you again.”
“Do you have that big of an authority with them?”
“No.  But they like to respect my private life.  We do that for each other.”
“I see.”
“So you really don’t need help.”
I was already done.
“I’m already done.”
“Good.  I think we need to get ready to have another day of bliss.”
And with that, he took my hand and escorted me to his room.