He walked into the cafeteria with a nervous huff of breath. He clutched onto his tray tightly, nervous about talking to her. His friends Jihoon and Kyung walked up behind him with their trays. They were ones to bug him when he liked a girl, but imagine what it’d be like if he loved her—total hell for Zico, yes it was.

“Hey hyung, good luck. I’ll be there when you need somebody to comfort you after rejection,” Jihoon smugly joked. He and Kyung laughed, slapping hands in the air. Zico groaned as his faith lessened with each second they kept on laughing. Did he really think he could ask her out? Why did he even bother thinking he could? He was nobody to mess with her, the hottest girl in school. He was just a regular guy whom no one spent time with. He was a tough guy, too, which made it hard for him to make real friends. Luckily he found Minhyuk, Yookwon, Jaehyo, Kyung, Jihoon, and Taeil. But they still didn’t matter when it came to her, Kim Min Hee.

“Jiho, just go for it, alright? Sorry for bugging you. We’re sure you’ll get her. If she doesn’t accept, she has no idea what she’s missing,” Kyung comforted his best friend of eleven years. He patted Zico’s back as Kyung and Jihoon walked off to their normal table with the other four friends Zico had.

Zico drew in a sharp breath, and took a step towards her. He watched her chat and talk with her friends. On every step, her smile got brighter, and Zico’s heart raced faster. Oh yeah, he was definitely in love with Kim Min Hee.

Before he knew it, he was right in front of her. He rubbed the back of his head as her friends started noticing him one-by-one. Min Hee eventually noticed her friends’ stares and looked up as well, only to see the blushing face of Woo Jiho, the boy who liked her more than he should. The thing was, she didn’t mind. She was glad he liked her. Cos her crush on him was off the charts. She just didn’t show it. She had to maintain her reputation, and Zico definitely wasn’t the guy to help her with it.

All of her friends started to slowly say good-bye to her as they moved to a different table. Zico’s heart fell as he saw her get up as well. But before she could pass him, he held his hand out to lightly grab her arm. She turned red and looked at him.

“What do you want Jiho?” she asked rather sharply.

“I just wanted to talk to you Min Hee noona.” Yeah, she was his noona. What was wrong with that?

“I’m sorry Jiho, but—“ Min Hee was cut off by Zico.

“Please, noona?” Zico brought out his puppy dog eyes, the ones he had never used before and nobody had ever seen. He didn’t even know he had them. Min Hee on the other hand completely fell for them. She thought they were the most adorable thing ever. She sighed and set her tray back down on the table. Zico tried hard to hide his smile. He was only part of the way through with his plan, you know.

The two sat down at the empty table. Min Hee could hear whispers around her as she turned to look at the outcast of the school. Sure she had a major crush on him, but nobody knew except her sister and mom. They were the only two that could help her with him and would understand.

Zico could also hear the whispers. He flushed red from embarrassment and sadness. He loved Min Hee so much he was tempted to just leave her alone and let her live her life normally without him interfering and bringing her down on the popularity scale. He swallowed as he poked at his food uncomfortably. Should he confess or just ask if she wanted to go out that night? He could do either one, but they each had their own consequence, one worse than the other. And if he confessed to her then he wouldn’t get to talk to her anymore…

“What did you want to talk about Jiho?” Min Hee asked. She swept her bangs out of her face.

“I-I just wanted to, you know, talk… get to know each other…”

“But we already know each other Jiho. You always talk to me in the hall, if you haven’t forgotten over the past three years.”

You remember…Zico thought breathlessly. He didn’t expect Min Hee to even remember his name, let alone who he was.

“Now come on, my friends are waiting.”

Zico swallowed his spit again. His mouth was getting dry and it was hard talking all of a sudden. Perspiration accumulated on his face as he built up his courage. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight. You know, like… a date.” Zico snuck peaks at Min Hee through his bangs, waiting for her answer.

Min Hee’s mind flew a thousand miles an hour. Did Zico REALLY just ask her out on a date?! Oh my, gosh, she was going to throw a fit if she held in her happiness any longer! But she couldn’t react so rashly; she had her image to hold on to. “Jiho, I don’t know if I can…”

Zico’s courage dropped a little. “W-What do you mean? You can’t do it, or you won’t do it…?” Zico peered at her expectantly. Min Hee stared back, eyes enjoying the sight in front of her secretly. She liked a lot of things about Zico: hair, eyes, smile, evil-but-cute laugh, chubby cheeks when the smile came out, and most of all, the way he treated her. He acted like she was a normal girl, not the queen of the school. He talked to her without asking to go out 24/7. Even though he was asking now, it was only the first time in three years he had ever said anything like this to her. He had never uttered an inappropriate word to her, and never acted erted around her. His eyes always stayed on her face, especially her eyes, and never travelled downwards. He was basically her ideal guy—sweet gentleman with really good looks. Not to mention an amazing rapping skill.

“Well, I can’t. I promised to go to the football game with my friends. But I guess we can go tomorrow…” She shrugged and waited for Zico’s answer. The second she looked at him a bright smile lit his face and he had to force his happiness down. He didn’t want to embarrass himself and Min Hee… yet.

“Thank you noona,” he said in a squeal-y voice. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and said normally, “Thank you noona. I can’t wait for it tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock. See you there.” Zico smiled one more time before taking his tray over to his friends’ table. He dumped it, not wanting the food.

Min Hee watched him. He walked over to his friends. They cheered and slapped him against the back. “Way to go Jiho!” “Hyung’s a ladies’ man!” “Who knew my best friend would get the girl of his dreams?”

Min Hee blushed and laughed, shaking her head. She went over to her own friends’ table.

Zico was in Heaven. He had gotten the girl of his dreams, as Kyung had announced to the whole cafeteria accidentally, and he was going to give her the best date of her life.

Yeah. Woo Jiho really was a lucky man.