The next morning I shifted around uncomfortably. Feeling something heavy on my chest I looked down to see Ricky, his head on my chest, still sleeping. I carefully moved him off me and slipped out from underneath him. I sat and watched him for a while, a happy little smile on my lips. I felt giddy from the overwhelming happiness I experienced in these past two weeks. I gave him a quick kiss on the nose before jumping to my feet. With my head in the clouds I swayed to the kitchen, humming as I went. I’ll wake him up with a treat I decided. I had started gathering the ingredients for pancakes when Chunji walked in. “Someone’s happy”, he stated as he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table.

I blushed, forgetting that the members didn’t know about me and Ricky yet. “I’m not happy what makes you think I’m happy?”, I stammered in quick defence.

“Wait what’s really going on?” Chunji leaned forward in curiosity examining me closely with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing!”, I said too quickly, smacking Chunji with the spatula.

I was busy mixing, when Ricky walked in. “Morning”, I murmured awkwardly before he could say anything. Luckily he was quick on picking up the mood and noticed Chunji who was quietly sitting in the corner observing us. He joined Chunji then conversing in a little small talk until they fell silent. The whole room grew awkward after that, but luckily I had the pancakes to occupy myself with. Chunji must have given up on examining us, because he walked out after a while, whistling as he went. I could feel Ricky’s eyes on me, but I refused to turn around, I didn’t know what to say anyway.

“Finally”, he breathed walking towards me. He took me by the shoulders, roughly turning me to him, and planted a kiss straight on my lips. I squealed inside over his aggressive behaviour, who knew the cute little boy could be this…manly?

With his lips still on mine, he pushed me backwards until my back hit the counter. My hands, still clutching the spatula, were clasped around his neck and my fingers found their way to his spiky just-out-of-bed, morning hair. His hands were cupping my face, but were slowly sliding down my neck to my shoulders. His warm fingers left goosebumps as he traced along my arm. He griped my waist then, kissing me more intensely as he held on tighter. Was he really going to do what I thought he was going to do? My mind ran away with inappropriate thoughts of him lifting me unto the counter. I pressed myself closer towards him preparing for the lift.

“Ahem”

My eyes snapped open at the sound of C.A.P clearing his throat. I gasped, letting the spatula fall to the floor. Ricky swirled around and stood, frozen in shock staring at the guys who were staring back at us. Hastily Ricky tried to scurry away from me and in the process slammed his head against the cupboard door. My eyes darted between Ricky, who was on the floor vigorously rubbing his forehead, and the guys still staring at me questioningly. “I knew something was up”, Chunji finally said, breaking the silence. “So you left the kitchen and brought the others to catch us?”, I accused. “Well no one is better at gathering evidence than Niel.”, he stated in defence.

I blew out an exasperated sigh, turning away from them and tending to Ricky.

“Soo…”, C.A.P prompted when I was done cleaning the cut on Ricky’s forehead.

Ricky who had been silent the whole time spoke up. “So Noona and I are dating. Any objections from anyone?”

“Not at all”, L.joe said smiling like a proud mother and hugging us both. “But you’re both babies how will you take care of each other?”

“I’m not a baby!”, I protested. “Look I even made breakfast!”, I said referring to the unfinished pancakes.

“So when did this start happening?”, C.A.P asked. I felt like I was back at my parents, introducing my first boyfriend to them for the first time. L.joe being the proud, loving mother who beamed at us in satisfaction and C.A.P the stern, cautious father who was overly concerned of his children’s safety.

Ricky and I shared a quick glance both of us blushing as we remembered the night we kissed. “..Well the night of the pillow fight..”

“Oo0h!!”, Niel, Changjo and Chunji cooed in unison, making me and Ricky blush a deeper red.

Suddenly the three of them jumped up, joining hands and formed a circle around us.

“Ricky and Summer sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g!”

I groaned at the time old children’s rhyme, while Ricky on the other hand seemed to love it, joining in in their singing and jumping in a circle around me, making kissing sounds. I laughed trying to get an escape from their impenetrable circle, but Ricky caught me and hugged me to him.

“Awwh!!”, Niel, Changjo and Chunji cried in unison again, forgetting their song for the time being.

“You’re worse than girls!”, I said from Ricky’s arms. They chuckled not denying the statement either. “Now shh or none of you are getting pancakes”, I said loosening myself from Ricky’s grip and getting the pan ready. Their stomachs must have overruled their childlike tricks because they all obeyed and went to sit at the table behaving themselves.

“You know I think it will be nice having a woman around.”, Chunji said as I laid his pancakes before him.

 I scoffed at his remark. “Don’t think this will be happening every morning”, I said referring to the breakfast.

Our afternoon activities were filled with a 100 questions fired at me and Ricky. I didn’t think I’d ever recover from blushing that much, but finally after I escaped the inquisitive circle around me by saying I needed to go to the restroom I saw that my cheeks were returning to their usual pale white colour. “Ugh”, I said resting my head against the cold tiled wall.

“Noona is everything okay?”, Ricky asked from outside the door.

I quickly opened the door and grabbed him by his shirt to pull him inside, before swiftly closing the door again. “Make them stop”, I whined. “I’ve never blushed this much in my life! And I don’t think I can handle another question from them.”

“What if I get you out if here?”, he said, taking my hands in his and holding it to his cheek.

“Out how? And do you really think they’ll let us escape?”

“Oh they will.”, he said with a mischievous grin.

He briskly walked out of the bathroom and with my hand still in his he let me trail behind until we reached the others.

“Ah back for more I see”, Niel said holding a notebook and pen. “We only have about 60 questions left”

They all grinned at us but Ricky’s expression was serious. “I’m taking Summer out.”

 “And”, Ricky said before any of them could protest. “You can’t deny us our first date now can you?”

I looked up in surprise at him, who was staring back at me with a proud smile.

“Well now… you get ready, then I’ll take you with the car to where you want to go.”, C.A.P said.

After I had gotten dressed I popped my head in at Ricky’s door. “Ready?”, I asked shyly.

“Almost” he was fumbling around with a pair of earrings he couldn’t get in. “Help?”, he said staring up at me with puppy eyes. I helped him put them in, the whole time being overly conscious of our heads so close together. I let my hand slide from his earlobe down his neck and brought my lips to his jaw just below his ear. I glided along his jaw with light, feathery kisses. He blushed a deep, red much to my delight and squirmed at the ticklish feeling. “Let’s go”, I whispered in his ear, making him shiver.

I felt like an eskimo or a little moon man while walking down the stone path covered with brown autumn leaves. Because of Ricky’s spontaneous first date idea we didn’t actually have a plan of what we were going to do and ended up at the park taking a stroll. It wasn’t exactly stroll weather since it was the middle of autumn and an ice cold wind blew through my hair, but the cold weather was a perfect excuse to get closer to Ricky. Luckily there was hot cocoa from the shop across the park. We got our cups and started walking through golden brown trees, our boots crunching from the leaves on the ground. “I’m really sorry that I couldn’t give you a proper first date.”, Ricky said, the steam from his mouth rising to meet the steam from his cup.

“What do mean? This is great and besides first dates shouldn’t be all formal and fancy. I like this, honestly.”

He smiled at me warmly stopping to my cheek with his free hand. His smile and touch made me so much warmer than the hot cocoa ever could. We walked in silence again, admiring the scenery and people around us. The click of his tongue made me look up at him in curiosity. His lips were pouted and he was frowning at the cup in my hands. “What’s wrong?”

He looked me in the eyes clearly unsure how to answer. Reluctantly he finally opened his mouth. “I’m jealous of your hot chocolate.”, he said looking down at his own cup to avoid my eyes.

I laughed, not only at his remark but his expression as well. “Why?”

He turned red, but not from the biting cold. “Because it gets to keep your lips warm.”

I giggled with pleasure. “I’ll make them cold again just for you.”, I said giving him a wink.

We walked and talked down the winding pathway until we finished our cocoa and went to sit at a bench overlooking the centre of the park which was filled with parents and little kids running around playing. We sat and watched the children laugh as they ran, their happy faces fascinating us both. Coincidently a couple walked past us hand in hand and we grew silent as we watched them walk on with stars in their eyes.

“My lips are cold enough now.”, I said to him looking down shyly.

He grinned and bit his lip in anticipation. “Good” he moved in towards me, cupping my face in his hands. His lips, just as ice cold, touched mine. Apart from his lips the rest of him was so warm, the heat emanating from his body. I hugged myself closer to him so we could share our body heat. My lips quickly got warmed up by his long kiss, his tongue tracing along my own. My hands slid from his neck down his chest and wrapped around his waist, inside his jacket. I pressed myself against him, to get away from the cold. He giggled, breaking our kiss. “Should I warm up the rest of you too?”, he whispered against my hair.

“Yes please.”, I said innocently. He started kissing me from my hairline and down my jaw but stopped when he reached my neck. “I should probably behave.”, he said pulling back

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m a good boy”, he reminded me with a rueful smile

“You really are.”, I sighed kissing his nose.

“I have a other idea to get us warm though” He grabbed my hands and pulled me up with a bounce. He took my one hand in his and started to frolic down the pathway between the tress. I laughed, catching up to him and joined in the rhythm he was bounding up and down. Hand in hand we went past strangers earning pitied looks from the older crowds. We kept going until we reached the next park bench, sitting down to catch our breath and call C.A.P to pick us up, the clouds had started rolling in and it would only be a matter of time before it started to rain.

 I stood at the window, watching the rain pour against the glass. I could stare at the rain forever, the sound of it always made me calm. Chunji placed the puzzle box on the floor where the others were already gathered chattering among themselves. After a thorough interrogation of our date Chunji suggested we build a puzzle. It was nice all seven of us sitting together, bonding as we built the beautiful picture piece by piece. Later on the others got bored and dwindled off to the couch to watch TV, but Chunji and I were absolutely absorbed in the puzzle. We sat for hours on end until the late night finally finishing the 500piece puzzle. We got up and stretched, yawning loudly. “Nice work partner”, Chunji said holding his fist out to me. I fistbumped him flashing a grin.

“I think you’ve neglected your puppy.”, Chunji noted as we packed up the pieces on the ground. He nodded towards Ricky who was sitting on the couch staring out in front of him with a blank expression. Guilt washed over me as I watched him sitting alone. “Crap, I feel horrible”, I said to Chunji.

He smirked at me. “Better get used to giving him all your attention, you know how dogs are.”

I looked at Chunji curiously, tilting my head to the side. “You know it’s strange. I don’t even like dogs.” He chuckled. “Yeah it’s usually like that isn’t it. You end up falling for the things you never liked or never wanted.”

“Talking from experience, are we?”, I fished. He stuck his tongue out to me as he walked off with the puzzle box in his hands. I realized Ricky and I were the only ones left. The others were probably already in bed. I leant over the couch, reaching towards him. “I’m sorry”, I whispered to him, hugging him to me.  “I missed you, come here.”, he said pulling me down so I could sit with him. I sat in his arms, resting against his body. “Thank you for today, really I had a great time.”

He smiled and gave me a quick kiss in the neck. “What’s next?”

We sat and discussed our plans until we grew tired and fell silent. I thought he had fallen asleep, but he started humming a song. “What are you humming?”

He sang the words of the melody he was humming, his soft voice filling the room with the beautiful lyrics. His song ended and I turned around kissing him goodnight. I had just got up from the couch and was on my way to my room when I felt warm arms wrap around my waist, holding me back. He clutched me to him, his chest pressing against my back. “Noona I don’t want you to go.”, he whispered in my ear.

“I don’t want to go either.”, I whispered back, melting into his arms. We stood like that for a while, before I turned around to face him, giving him a quick kiss on his lips. I pushed out from his arms, only letting my hand remain with his. I looked at him, saying nothing and led him to my room. He watched me with careful eyes as I pulled back the covers, crawling in and pulling him onto the bed next to me. “I like sneaking around”, Ricky said giggling as he crawled up against me, hugging me like he hugs his teddy bear when he sleeps. I kissed him on the forehead and shifted around until I was comfortable. Ricky sighed happily next to me. “Wow, this is so much better than sleeping with my teddy.”, he said pressing his nose in my neck. I laughed quietly at his comment. After a while I could hear from his breathing that he had fallen asleep and I finally got sleepy myself, relaxing into the deepest, most comfortable sleep I ever had.