It was a chilly breezy fall day. I was bundled up in an off white hoodie and thick black leggings with baby blue and coral pink floral canvas shoes as I slowly walked until the trail of  trees bursting with maple leaves of orange, yellow brown and red. It was at that moment when I felt a warm tap on my shoulder. The figure swiftly moved in front of me and bent down to my height. His big, dark eyes and shiny blonde hair instantly made me recognize who it was. My boyfriend, Shim Yejun.

     Before I was able to say anything, Yejun started taking my hair out of the white scrunchy after taking my hood off. He quickly slided it down onto his wrist before bringing my hair up and in front of my shoulders. He then moved back so I was face to face with him.

   "Melanie, you look really nice with your hair down" he said before he smiled. I could feel my cheeks warming up and the butterflies accumulating in my stomach. Why wouldn't I? 3 years ago I would have never thought that I could be someone Shim Yejun knew and now here I am dating him. Taking a step back I gave a little giggle as I looked at the tall figure. Yejun was wearing a thin grey sweater with a white and blue striped shirt, grey jeans and his normal blue runners. 

     "Why thank you. I thought you were working today. Done all your schedules or did something special happen today?"

     "What do you mean working? It is your 18th birthday. What is a girl's birthday without her boyfriend?"

I stood for a second in thought.

     "Oh it is my birthday! Hehe ooopsies. "

     "Silly. Now before you can get your gift, you might want to get this back."

Showing me the scrunchie on his wrist he bolted off down the trail without hesitation. Left speechless for a moment, I quickly pulled out a hair tie from my pocket and put my hair up in a super tight pony as quickly as I could.

     "Yah! Yejun oppa! You sure have nerves to mess with the captain of this country's high school track team not to say your girlfriend! You are gonna get it just you wait!

Yelling those words, I gave a strong push off the cement ground I as you sprinted down the trail. Within less than ten seconds I caught up with Yejun. Simply standing there, it looked like he was breathless. Was it really that hard to run such a short distance? 

     "Okay okay sorry. Here. Now where do you want to go? Anywhere. Its my treat today of course."

     "Anywhere? Well... how about we just get some cake and go home. It is kinda cold outside and I don't want to get sick. I have my mid terms soon too."

    "Sounds like a plan then. But wait. Where are your friends? Aren't they supposed to be with you at a party or something?"
     "No. I decided not to have a party this year. It is our last year in high school and I thought we should all just save some money for college and stuff. And my birthday is during study week before mid terms which are super important because it tells you where you roughly stand after half the year."

     "Right. That is actually really smart!"

     "Hehe really? Let's go before the sun sets on us."

Hand in hand we walked towards the local bakery. The wind was getting to get stronger. Not to say that air was also really cold. Yejun noticed that I was getting chilly so he stopped in his tracks and let go of my hand. Confused, I was then pulled into his arms. 

     "That better?"

     "Yeah. Thank you."

Yejun held me close in his warm arms until the strong gusts of cold air stopped. I can still remember the sound of his beating heart and the scent as I stood there without saying a word. It was like he just took a long long shower and then put on clothes that were freshly washed and dried with care. Something relaxing that I haven't recognized and smelled for days. But who am I kidding? Yejun is always like this. Giving his a smile, I thanked him and we continued walking to the bakery. When we got home with our whipped fruit cake, Yejun told me to go change into some more casual indoor clothes. Doing as told, I wondered why. He has never told me directly to go do something before. He would usually hint at it or tell me why. Hm.... Coming out a couple minutes later into the living room, I was surprised to see that Yejun already had candles lit on the cake and a big box wrapped in coral on the counter. There were already plates and forks on the table too. Suddenly I felt Yejun gently pushing me over the the table. I sat down. Without even saying anything he started singing happy birthday to me. I was so utterly stunned at how quick he prepared all that.

     "Wow thank you so much. I don't even know what else to say. Did you really do all this alone?"

     "Well yeah who else would be here silly? You think I am going to drag someone here to help me when I just want to be with you? Hehe."

     "I guess you are right! Thank you so much Yejun. I couldn't ask for more. But... I still have to make my wish..."

     "Do it quick then. The candle is going to be all gone soon. Pstt you should just wish for a kiss from me hehe."

     "Silly. Why would I have to wish for that?"

Closing my eyes I wished for good results on my mid terms and more happy memories to gain with Yejun. I blew the 18 candles out on the cake and then looked up. Yejun wasn't there. Neither was a slice of the cake. Wait... I turned around knowing that something was coming and then bam, cake in my face. 

    "You are soooo gonna get it from me."

I grabbed a slice of cake from the table as Yejun sat there and the extra icing off his fingers while giggling. As he was wanting to get up, I returned the cake to him. 

     "Hey! Rude pftt. Hehe joking joking here just wait a minute."

     "Okay?"

I kneeled there waiting for Yejun to come back. Moments later he came back with a clean face and a towel. Kneeling down he started gently wiping the icing off my face. I don't think he missed anything either. That is what you get with a little perfectionist. Oh well. He is way too lovable to even slightly hate. After cleaning that chaotic mess up we served eachother a slice of cake and ate in silence. There wasn't anything to be said because we so both so focused on the deliciousness of the cake. He finished before me so he grabbed the present on the counter and gave it to me. Opening it, I was confused because it was so small but it was a little card with a key and a flashlight looking thing attached to the card. Flipping to the face of the card, I had a picture of the F.Cuz logo on it. The key also had a small F.Cuz logo on it. 

     "The card is the key to our dorm, the key is for my bedroom and the little flashlight barcode thing is for our dance practice room. You can come to any of these places at anytime when you don't feel like going home or you don't feel safe where you are."

     "Really? You are serious right?"

     "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"

     "Oh my goodness. Thank you so much. But why?"

     "Smart one, I know you don't like being at home. It is way to loud there with your family always arguing and yelling at you. You can't study and you end up crying afterwards. Even when you are only at home with one person, you don't feel comfortable being you. I know I know. I can always tell. I even heard them yelling at you and you crying outside in the back yard one time. Do you think I could leave my girlfriend there all the time?"

I was left speechless. He knew? All this time he knew? I got up and shuffled over to him. Wrapping my arms around Yejun, I whispered "Thank you Yejun. I love you" and got up to put the gift away in my room. Yejun followed me, shutting and locking the door behind him. 

     "Why did you lock the door? We are going back ou-"

He kindly but not so gently pushed and cornered me between my closet and the door. I was flat against the wall with only my legs 3 inches out. With one hand he dimmed the lights so down that it almost seemed like the lights were off but it actually matched the light left from outside. Yejun placed his gaze back at me. His eyes were filled with desire, worry and nervousness. What was wrong with him? I was pretty sure he was being a little weird today. He spent 10 minutes picking a cake, he told me to go change without explanation, he kept calling me silly and now he has me pushed against a wall with the door locked and the lights dimmed. Something was really wrong. This isn't the happy cute caring 22 year old that I know. 

     "Yejun... What is wrong? Are you oka-"

Without even hinting he was going to kiss me, he dove straight in. I didn't have a chance to finished my sentence twice. Ignoring the level of odd that happened today I accepted his kiss. Yejun wasn't being all one time kiss kinda thing this time... He was actually being a little forceful. His lips were slightly chapped, soft, warm and sweet. It was like getting what you wanted but better. Unable to resist we kept making out. 6 minutes later, I heard voices in the house. Someone was looking for me... I felt myself panic but Yejun's hands were on my cheeks and pushing the long pieces of my bangs back. I really wanted to stop because I was scared that everyone was going to find out what we were doing but I didn't because I was enjoying it. Yejun hadn't done this before and from my perspective he wants it more than me. Continuing as if nothing had happened, someone walked towards the door. Yejun pulled away for just 2 seconds and unlocked the door before going back in. How smart. If it was locked people would find out. The person walked in and then walked out. Ohh I understood why Yejun pushed me into this corner rather than over there. The space was in the wall so there was enough space to stay there and move, it was behind the door and light doesn't go there so there are no shadows. Seriously pure genius. I slowly put my hands around Yejun's waist but then the person burst into the room again. Yejun didn't show any sign of stopping. He just kept going and going. From then on my body acted on its own as a way of telling me that I have given up on controlling myself. My arms were all the way around his waist and my leg muscles relaxed. Yejun pushed me against the wall even further with one hand on my collar bone and one hand caressing my cheek. I was astonished that the wall hasn't cracked because the amount of force he was using seemed ridiculous even though it felt like a simple push to me. I still let him do what he wants to do. I felt like that was how I was supposed to leave it. By now the person was gone and the door was closed and also locked. All the noise simmered down and Yejun slowly but also what the not unwillingly pulled away. No words needed. Something wasn't wrong. It was just Yejun. We just looked at eachother as I tried to take in what had happened. Yejun blinked and pulled me into his chest as he buried his face in my hair before he quietly mumbled his first words in 20 minutes.

     "I... have wanted to do that.... for such a long.. long... time..."

Yejun's heart was beating so loud I thought that it was going to explode. I carefully wrapped my arms around his torso again. I felt his body start shaking and quivering as he quietly cried. I felt so bad for him. It must have token him a lot of days, weeks and months to gather up so much courage to do that. I didn't hear or feel anything else that evening except a trembling crying Yejun in my arms. Before I even knew it, the crying stopped and he fell asleep. I tucked him into my bed and fell asleep beside him, sitting on the ground with my head leaned against the edge of the bed. "I sure hope isn't a dream" was my last thought before I started actually dreaming.