~Karam POV~

I came to school 20 minutes early today. As I sat in my assigned seat waiting for Jiyoung before homeroom starts, I realize that the day is February 13. Tomorrow is St. Valentine’s Day. Usually, we get a lot of chocolates from the girls at school. At the end of the day Mika, Hyunmin, Injun, Jay, and I would sit on the living room floor and trade sweets with each other. Now that Mika has a girlfriend, he probably won’t accept anyone else’s chocolates. Actually, I don’t want anyone else’s chocolate’s either except…

I could feel my face growing redder thinking about Jiyoung giving me her handmade chocolates. I shouldn’t get this flustered. She’s going to give everyone the same chocolate, right? It’s just a friendly gesture, calm down. I shook my head vigorously to make the daydreams stop.

“What are you doing?” I heard a girl next to me ask slowly in a worried tone. It wasn’t just any girl. It was the girl that made me act this crazy.

I looked up to see her standing next to my desk. “Uhh, well, you see… My hair. It was in my face.” The blush returned to my cheeks. I must’ve looked insane to her. So embarrassing!

She gave a small giggle, not convinced of my excuse but didn’t press forward. Instead of sitting down in her seat next to me, she shuffled her feet a bit uncomfortably and shifted her gaze to the person behind me who was telling a story about the drama she watched the night before. “Hey, are you doing something after school?”

I told her I wasn’t.

“Then, if you want to, can you help me make chocolates for everyone? I was supposed to do it with Yun Hee, but she already made her batch without me.” She made eye-contact again.

“Of course! We can bake them together,” I said a little bit too enthusiastically. “I mean, you can come over after school today. I should have the ingredients already.” I tried to regain my composure.

“Ah! Yeah,” she agreed with a smile. I smiled back. The atmosphere was still a little awkward. The first bell rang as the teacher coolly walked in.

I subtly turned towards Jiyoung to catch a glimpse of her expression. She was completely normal whilst I was still flushed. She saw me staring at her in the corner of her eye and mumbled something like “What are you staring at?” and lowered her head. The blush dusting her cheeks didn’t escape my vision and caused my own to redden. The only thing I could focus on the rest of the day was our date- I mean, scheduled arrangement after school today.

~Jiyoung POV~

Last period ended the same way it always does, and I prepared my bag to head to the shoe lockers. Karam walked and talked with me, like he always does and things were as usual.

However, on the inside, I was extremely nervous. I would be spending the entire afternoon baking chocolates with Karam after school. Questions passed quickly through my head like the Tōhoku Shinkansen. What if they don’t turn out right? What if I can’t bake at all, and I can’t finish everyone’s chocolates before tomorrow? Then I won’t be able to make Karam’s and confess to him. Not to mention, he’ll see what a lousy housewife I would make because I can’t cook. Then he’ll reject me. But he can’t reject me if I never make the chocolates and confess to him. Is that a good thing? No, of course it’s not!

After exiting the school building, Karam and I continued our leisurely stroll to his house. He seemed to be acting as if this was no big deal. We would be alone at his house. He lives with the rest of Dae Guk Nam Ah, but Mika is out with Yun Hee, Jay went shopping for a new hat, Injun decided to help him pick one, and Hyunmin is at the gym. Is this a coincidence? No, of course it’s not!

Yun Hee thinks she’s some type of ninja matchmaker, sneaky and good at pairing people up. But she’s not. She probably planned it all from the beginning and told everyone to busy their calendar for the day. Stupid, unnie.

Nearing our destination, Karam became quieter, making me feel even more uncomfortable. I didn’t dare look at him. He opened the door and let me in first, like a gentleman. My face is going to become permanently crimson! Taking a risk, I glance up to see him donning a grin. His lips were the only thing I was able to peek at before lowering my head in a bow.

Upon passing through the door, I took two small steps forward to look around. The place wasn’t exceptionally big, nor was it cramped. The walls were white and the floorboards were uncarpeted. There was a TV, couches, and a coffee table in the living room, along with a dog curiously sitting in the corner who must have been Injun’s Jang Boah. His brown paws swiftly glided across the floor, running to inspect the newcomer. She was small and unintimidating, so I happily crouched down to get a closer look.

Karam chuckled at Boah’s eagerness. “She won’t bite or anything.” He slid off his shoes and replaced them with slippers. “Here,” he offered me my own pair.

Remaining on the ground, I took my outdoor shoes off and changed into the ones I was given, all the while watching Boah. “She’s so cute. Look at that nosey,” I cooed. I grabbed her snout and gave it a shake. She looked back and forth between Karam and me. “So you’re Injun’s little princess, huh?” I gasped. “You have such floppy earsies.” Hoping that my baby talk wasn’t scaring Karam, I stood back up.

“Wow. I wonder how your cat must feel if you talk like that to her all the time,” he remarked.

“No,” I denied his implied accusation, stretching out the ‘o.’ “She loves me.”

“I think Boah likes you, too. Right, Boah?”

I looked down to see her eyes glimmer up at me as if she wanted me closer at her side to examine every aspect of me. She wasn’t satisfied with just my feet. “I love you, too,” I said before Karam started to walk past me and into the kitchen.

“We should get started. Come on, Boah, do you want to be our taste tester?” he joked.

Boah and I scampered into the kitchen together after Karam. I couldn’t stop the smile that threatened to never remove itself. I was happy because Boah accepted me, but even happier that I was with Karam. This wasn’t as bad as I thought.

The kitchen was rather small. Two people were able to fit, but it didn’t have a lot of walking space. Karam grabbed materials from their respective homes and set them on the table while directing me what to retrieve from the refrigerator. Boah repeatedly stuck her head in the cool box to sniff at the food inside. I held out some to her nose, making sure that she would only be able to get a whiff before trying to bite at it without Karam noticing. She was super adorable!

After gathering all ingredients, Karam began mixing in chocolates and other stuff like a pro in the white bowl while explaining to me what he was doing. I was barely paying attention, too engrossed with watching his unique skill of adding and stirring. It was incredibly amazing. I heard he was good, but this was entirely beyond the rumors.

“Why don’t you grab another bowl? Try doing the same as I just did,” he interrupted my thoughts.

I nodded and did as I was told. Compared to Karam, I was completely ungraceful. I wasn’t swiftly elegant or fleetingly beautiful. I attempted to strike up a conversation to distract him from my terrible chef abilities. “So, you made some chocolates with Yun Hee already, huh?” I came to the realization that he spent time like this with my older sister. I felt a little jealous that Yun Hee was able to watch his mastery of culinary skills before I did. Does that mean that he views me the same way as he does her? Or maybe he likes her more? Am I not special to him? Did he even want to teach me how to make chocolates? Why am I just now noticing this stuff? Why do my thoughts jump around like this?

“Yeah, I did. I think it was last Friday. We both had the same free period so she asked if I could show her how to make chocolates in the cooking club’s room. Okay, now put some of this in,” he instructed.

“Right,” I complied. “Last Friday? She told me two days ago. Wouldn’t the chocolate be better if it was made later so it’s fresher?” I was confused.

“Nope, it was last Friday because I remember you wore your cupcake hairpin that day, and we just so happened to be making sweets. It was only practice, though. She didn’t keep them. Actually, we ate all of the leftovers instead.”

“What? Why didn’t she tell me that?” I asked more to myself. We tell each other everything. It made me sort of sad.

“Maybe she knows how bad you are at keeping secrets and didn’t want you blabbering it to Mika,” he suggested with a smirk.

Appalled and amused at the same time, I retorted, “I do not ‘blabber’ secrets to everyone. That was only once or twice. Maybe a few more times, but it wasn’t important stuff anyway.”

“It was way more than that. And they were important,” He mocked and placed the bowl on the table.

“No, it wasn’t,” I defended and did the same with my own container. “When was it ever important?”

“Like, when you told Choi that Kim was getting her a necklace for their anniversary,” he challenged.

“That was an accident. And they broke up that same week anyway, so it wasn’t important.”

“They broke up because you ‘accidentally’ told Kim’s best friend, Han, that Choi didn’t like the necklace he gave her, and then Han told Kim,” he laughed.

“That wasn’t the exact reason why they broke up. It was because she always lied to him. There was a bigger picture!”

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t leaked that out, they would have eventually solved that ‘bigger picture’ and still be together.”

“No, they wouldn’t. Their breakup was inevitable.”

“Why is that?”

“Because… It’s just high school drama. It’s not like they would have been together forever.”

Karam stayed quiet for a moment and started playing with the spoon in his bowl without looking at me. His playful smile soon turned into a thoughtful one and his hand stopped. “How do you know? They could have gotten married and had kids some day.”

I became confused. What could he have been thinking about? “I guess,” I said in the same contemplative manner. I felt a little uncomfortable.

“Eh? Ah, sorry. I wasn’t accusing you of anything. It’s just that, you know, maybe those types of romantic clichés can really happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know,” he struggled with words. “It doesn’t have to be just some stupid delusional teenaged love? It could be real.” At first, his face was cast sideways out of my view, but then he looked me in the eyes with a blush on his cheeks. I could feel my own cheeks become hot.

“What?” I whispered. It was the only thing that I was able to say. He kept his gaze fixated on me. It made me breathlessly nervous. Is this what they call ‘butterflies in my stomach’? Surprisingly, it didn’t feel all that bad.

I noticed that he slowly came closer, but then drew back indecisively. My heart started pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. I couldn’t process a complete thought. Not too long after his initial try, he leaned in again until I could feel his lips on mine. I gasped in surprise, and my eyes widened. He reached one hand up to grasp my upper arm. I closed my eyes to calm down, and he did the same. It was a failed attempt. I felt as if I was about to burst. His lips were soft and warm, better than my imagination could ever take me.

We remained in that position for at least five seconds. He pulled me in towards his body. I raised my hands out to set on his shoulders while his trailed down to my lower back. His mouth started to move rhythmically, and I followed suit. I bravely pressed our bodies together, wanting more, and entangled my fingers in his hair.

“Whoa!”

“Get it, Karam!”

“Jiyoung!”

Karam and I quickly pulled away at the sudden noises and bursts of laughter. At the kitchen doorway, Jay, Injun, Yun Hee, and Mika were standing with humored, shocked, and apologetic expressions on. My face was dynamite, lit up and could explode at any second. I heard Karam give an embarrassed laugh. I looked over at him and then to Yun Hee. The room went silent, everyone was unsure of what to say.

The tense air dissolved when Hyunmin walked in. “Hey, look, chocolate.” He didn’t slow his pace until reaching the bowl of mix. He dipped his finger in and lifted his hand to taste it. Injun started to laugh. It was contagious. Everyone was laughing except Hyunmin who was puzzled. He must have not noticed the awkward atmosphere. The guffaws died down. “Eh? Let’s finish making the chocolate.”

“Yeah! Chocolate!” chimed Injun.

“Yummy food!” Yun Hee cut in.

“I guess all seven of us can make it together, right?” Karam smiled down at me, recovered from this latest incident.

“Hmmm,” I sighed. “I guess we can,” I grinned.

Everyone cheered and chattered. We each did something to help out with the baking, trying our best to ignore the overcrowded area. Karam was directing, Mika followed Karam’s instructions, Hyunmin was eating most of the ingredients, Yun Hee and I decorated the chocolates, and Jay and Injun played videogames in the living room. The room was filled with the bustling of movement, clattering of pans, supported yelling, buttons being pushed, laughter and friendship. I liked it when all seven of us were together. Bonding was nice.

As I was squeezing frosting on my second piece of sweets, Karam nonchalantly came over to me. “We’ll just have to finish some other time,” he whispered in my ear. It was so close that I could feel his hot breath on my neck. Shivers went down my spine. I opened my mouth to say something, but didn’t know what.

“Oh, ho ho. Did you hear that? Karam’s trying to be all smooth.” It was Injun’s voice. He took a break and switched roles with Mika and Yun Hee.

“What did he say?!” Yun Hee snapped, peering over the couch. A soft “calm down” could be heard that I assumed belonged to Mika.

“He said ‘We’ll pick up where we left off in my bedroom tonight,’” Jay mocked.

“No, I didn’t!” Karam interrupted looking over to Yun Hee with begging eyes. The blood rushed up to both of our cheeks for the umpteenth time today. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow morning a farmer mistook me for a tomato while I was sleeping.

Yun Hee glared at all three of them, not sure who exactly to believe and if she should keep listening or not. “You guys…” she gave up and twisted back to the screen.

Maybe spending time together isn’t all that great… or safe.