Angel swallowed hard, wondering how the hell she would survive the long drive to her house. The car suddenly seemed too small, and Suho's hand felt too close as it rested casually on the gearshift.

She watched Xiumin walk away with dismay, her heart beating double time. It wasn't that she was afraid of Suho – the exact opposite, in fact; the guy had been haunting her dreams, literally, since the first time she'd seen him.

One look – that was all it had taken for her to fall; apparently, love at first sight still happened. His face was dreamy, like his voice – and he'd been so nice to her, helping wipe off the coffee and most importantly, saving her music sheets. She gave him a sideways glance from beneath her lashes, seeing his perfect profile. Of course she had fallen.

He occupied her thoughts – as was reflected by the numerous doodles and attempted sketches in her diary and the sudden inflow of romantic lyrics in her songs. She'd thought about asking Lay about him numerous times, only to lose her nerve at the last moment. Now, here she was, alone with him. If she had been someone else, someone bolder and a lot more confident, she would've taken the opportunity to get to know him, maybe flirt a little. As it was, she hugged her bag tighter, hoping her heart would slow down enough to let her breathe normally. Then, she'd totally talk to him, ask a casual question and get to know him.

'You don't mind?' His voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up, blushing. He'd obviously asked her a question but she hadn't noticed.

'I thought I'd roll down the windows. The wind's really pleasant.' He smiled at her, his cheeks dimpling a little.

'O..okay.' Mentally groaning at her stutter, she put a hand on her hair to stop it from blowing into her face as the window rolled down. Let out another mental groan as she realized the untidy condition of her hair – as usual, she hadn't bothered to style it and it fell out in all directions, barely held back by the tiny clip – the only one she'd been able to find this morning.  She didn't even want to think about her face. Or clothes.

Next to his model like perfection, she felt very shabby.   

'Is that enough?' He'd stopped it midway. Instead of embarrassing herself again, she nodded, awkwardly pushing her glasses back up so they wouldn't fall down her nose.

……………………...

Suho forced himself to keep his eyes on the road.

She was doing that cute thing again – pushing her glasses up her dainty nose, tucking her hair behind her ear. He wanted to stop the car and simply look at her doing that over and over. It was that adorable.

The wolf inside him growled, wanting to touch her – her scent, now diluted, thanks to the wind, was pleasantly intoxicating and calming, instead of arousing. He glanced at her again, noticing her blushing cheeks. She blushed at everything – every time she spoke, every time someone spoke to her, every time she smiled, even when she was lost in her thoughts.

She'd probably blush even more if he kissed her.

Flustered by his wayward thoughts, he sat up straighter and loosened his collar, popping a button. This was torture – blissful, yes but a torture nonetheless.

'Thank you.' Her whisper was barely audible but he heard it, alright. Looked at her in surprise. She was blushing profusely.

'Excuse me?'

'F…for driving me h...home.' She mumbled, twisting the strings on her bag in her between her fingers. 'And t…taking care of Lay.'

Feeling stupidly elated at the fact that she was making an effort to talk to him, he smiled. 'Now, you're embarrassing me. Lay's family – and it's no trouble driving you. I was going to come here, anyway.' That was a lie but she didn't need to know that.

'Still…' she mumbled, this time looking at him. True, she looked away immediately but a foolish smile kept playing on his lips the rest of the drive.

…………………….

It took the best of her determination to say those two sentences. But she was rather proud of herself for having spoken up. She wanted him to have a favorable impression of her. Politeness was a good way to go.

She dared to look at him when he replied, meeting his eyes for only a moment before glancing away. She lost her nerve after that and didn't look up until the car stopped.

Ever the gentleman, he was out of the car and by her side in moments, opening the door. 'Here, let me carry that.' He took her bag, and offered his hand to help her out.

Surprised at her own daring, she placed her hand in his, feeling it getting engulfed in it. Heat seemed to travel up her arm, right up to her ears. His fingers tightened on hers and he lingered before letting go.

He walked her to the doorway, handing her bag to her when she stepped inside. Politely saying goodbye, he started walking away. She closed the door but immediately ran to the window, lifting the curtains to watch him go. He turned to look back when he reached the car, sighing before getting in and driving away.

She stared after him long after he was gone, her heart beating fast and feeling, for all the world, as if she'd just had her first date.

………………………

Bonus Story: EXO Journal: A Voyage through the Galaxy

Scene 6: In which Tao doesn't know when girls hit on him (Part 2) 

Dear Diary

For some reason, people like to harrass me. I thought I'd had it with bullying in highschool because I'd learned to fight back but how can I fight back with a girl? I can't hit her but I honestly don't think I can take another year like that.

Sehun (peeking into his diary): Who's bullying you?

Tao (hurriedly hiding it): No one!

Sehun glares at his Shadow who is now fiddling with his books and looking anywhere but at him. Sehun's worried because Tao faced a lot of bullying in his freshman year during high school and would've gone on suffering had Kai and Sehun not joined a year later and acted as his back up whenever things got hairy. The guy was a fighter but he really didn't like fighting and had to be taught that at times, hitting back was the only option. There is no way Sehun will stand back and watch his Shadow get bullied again and if Tao thinks he can deter him by hiding his diary, he has another think coming.

Sehun (lunging over his shoulder and grabbing his backpack): Who is it?

Tao (trying to stop him from reading his diary again): I said no one, okay?

Sehun has managed to open his journal and is quickly scanning through the pages. His lips get thinner and thinner, glaring at the pages like he's demanding answers. 

Sehun (voice barely above a whisper): What did she do?

Tao (feigning ignorance): Who?

Sehun (smacking the table and making him jump): WHAT DID SHE DO, DAMMIT???

Tao (lowering his eyes): Just... a couple of times, she's ruffled my hair when she passes by...

Sehun (head snapping up): That's it?

Tao: She also sings something like... (scrunches up his nose, thinking) beautiful stranger, I've fallen into your big eyes~~~ (girl voice imitation)

Sehun (lets out a disbelieving laugh): Seriously?

Tao (getting defensive): It started like that back then, okay? They'd lightly bump into me, say things whenever I was passing by and... (at this point, it is a bit too much for Tao and tears fill his eyes) I'm NOT going through that again!

Sehun (feeling a little bad for laughing): No, of course not.

Tao (mumbling into his hands): I don't care if its a girl, if she does it one more time I'll...

Sehun starts laughing at his innocence, hugging his brother and ruffling his hair himself. Sometimes, Tao is just too cute. 

Sehun (fondly): You're such an idiot!

Tao (glaring up at him): What?

Sehun (controlling his laughter): Tell you what, the next time she ruffles your hair, grab her hand like this (demonstrates), pull her close *puts himself face level with Tao* and tell her, 'We can be more than strangers'.

Tao (trying to think it through): That's it? It'll stop her?

Sehun (confident): Of course. She'll become your friend.

Tao (not convinced): Just like that? Why would I want to befriend her? 

Sehun shakes his head and doesn't reply. Tao needs to figure things out for himself sometimes, after all. He wonders how the poor girl will react to Tao's sudden forwardness and if he should warn Tao that he'll probably be leading the girl on but then again, he's being nice enough as it is. The rest Tao can handle for himself, for better or worse.Tao stares after him for a while, then retruns to writing in the journal. 

Dear Diary, 

I don't get it.