It was one of those rare occasions wherein they were given short breaks. As their manager was discussing to them about this, Donghae was already thinking of how to spend it with Karin. Their dates were always spent inside her apartment and he wanted it to be different this time.  

“Jagiya, let’s go to Lotte World,” he suggested; a pair of tickets already in his back pocket.

“Today is a weekend. There would be lots of people there,” she replied, her voice coming from the kitchen.

“But I haven’t been to an amusement park with you,” he argued, pressing on with the idea.

“Is- Is it boring to stay here with me?” Her eyes dropped to the bowl of popcorn which she was holding. She planned to watch movies with him that day.

Donghae panicked. “No, no, no. Please don’t say that.” He rushed to her side and took the popcorn from her, guilt flooding him. “Let’s go another time,” he hugged her, her back and hair. “Mianhae, jagiya. I should have told you sooner.”

He drowned out their manager’s voice and pictured Karin’s delighted expression once he tells her. Lost once again in thoughts of her, he only realized that the meeting was over when he saw the other members leaving the room. Donghae scrambled to his feet and reached out for his mobile phone but ended the call. He remembered that Karin was still in class.

‘Jagiya, we were given a few days off. I know you still have classes, but can you at least spare me a couple of nights and the weekends? Just this time, can you lift the three-day rule? Please, jagiya.’

Silently uttering a prayer, he sent the message, full of anticipation. It was obvious that his mind was someplace else that afternoon, while waiting for her reply. It didn’t take long though. His phone vibrated and he hurriedly ran towards the nearest exit to answer the call. The guys need not worry about him. It was Karin calling.

“Jagiya,” he said in a hushed tone, but she could sense the excitement building up inside him from his voice.

“I would just like tell you that my professors would be attending a conference on Thursday, which means, I’m free the whole day until Friday. They just left us written reports due the next meeting,” she happily informed him.

There was a moment of silence.

“Are you still there?” she asked, not hearing a reply.

“YEEESSSSSS!!” he let out a scream of victory, jumping up and down in the exit. “Jagiya, tell me it’s real.”

“It was just announced today in class,” she chuckled. Karin could see the look on his face that moment.

“It’s final, just me and you from Thursday till Sunday. You can’t make other plans, jagiya,” he demanded, grinning madly.

“ I’ll cross the dates out and reserve it to you,” she laughed once again hearing his exaggerated laughter.

Their conversation ended afterwards since Karin’s next class was about to start.

All eyes followed Donghae the moment he walked inside their dorm. He had that wide smile that never left his face, and his eyes seemed brighter than usual. Humming as he strutted towards the kitchen, Donghae scoured the refrigerator for food. When he found nothing, he happily skipped towards the door. The guys looked at each other, puzzled. Upon returning back, he invited the others to join him for some snacks. He was definitely having a good day.

Curiosity eating him up, Kangin asked, “What happened to you?”

But before he could reply, Eunhyuk had opened his mouth. “Isn’t it obvious hyung? He would be spending his free time with Karin.”

“Aish, you lucky bastard,” Heechul smacked the back of his head. “What did you do to deserve this much happiness, huh?”

The smile never left his face, it didn’t matter what others say. He was happy inside his own world.

“Be thankful, you were the one who saw her first. If it were m-,“ Eunhyuk stopped midway feeling his glare.

“I saw her first, end of story,” his eyes narrowed into deadly slits then he turned away, smiling to himself once again.

“If not for me, you wouldn’t see her,” Kyuhyun smirked.

“Thanks Kyu,” Donghae smiled at him, leaving the maknae’s mouth wide open. He didn’t expect such a kind reply.

The others found it useless to pester him for he was clearly floating in cloud nine, so they let him be. They didn’t say much, but deep inside, they were genuinely happy for Donghae.

It was Wednesday afternoon and Karin was at the park with Shin, Alexa, Junyoung and Jin for another hour of musical jamming with the locals. It was good exposure, especially for the music majors. Everyone was having fun, some of the regular park visitors bringing their own instruments.  It became a park attraction and people visit at that hour just to enjoy music with them.

Once living in her own little bubble, Karin had slowly opened up, once again, to the world. The mystery pianist has unveiled herself. She still feels nervous and uncomfortable with people watching her, afraid that she would make a mistake, but she tries breaking the walls surrounding her, one by one. With the help of her friends and loving boyfriend, she would be able to overcome it.

Even though her focus was on the piano, Karin could feel someone staring at her. She would occasionally look up and scan the crowd but find no one. It wasn’t scaring her in any way, so she continued playing, ignoring that strange feeling she had.

Cheers and applause filled the park as they did their final bow. People soon left, walking in different directions, while some stayed to talk with the group. He was about to approach her when a guy offered her a bouquet of flowers. Donghae silently watched as Karin smiled and thanked the guy. Inhaling deeply, he tried calming his nerves. It was obvious that the guy has a crush on her, but she was simply oblivious to it, just like how she was with him before. Making it even more difficult for Donghae, the guy started a conversation with her which she gladly entertained. By the looks of it, he wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. Donghae was getting annoyed. He wanted to shoo the guy away, far away from her. With extreme self control, he stood a distance from them and listened.

“Are you busy tonight? I know a place near here.”

Self control totally gone, Donghae marched towards them, with heavy footsteps. Jin, who quickly caught sight of him, turned into alert mode as he created a diversion between Karin and the guy. Puzzled, the guy looked strangely at Jin as he started introducing him to the others. Even though confused with what just happened, Karin simply shrugged her shoulders and continued dismounting her piano from the stand.

“Nice flowers.”

Karin quickly turned around recognizing his voice. His hair was covered with a black cap and his eyes were covered with round, nerdy glasses.

“Ja… Fishy,” she gasped while his face cringed. She didn’t call him ‘jagiya.’ 

Automatically looking around if someone was watching them, she whispered, “Are you crazy? What if people see you?”

“Are you going to keep those flowers?” he asked, his eyes burning holes on the bouquet of flowers next to her bag. He didn’t even hear her concern.

“Flo-flowers?” She asked then shifted her gaze towards the direction he was looking at. “Oh, that. Yes, why not? It was a gift from one of our audience,” she held the bouquet, bringing it closer to him. “He was thanking us for the performance.”

“Hmph, then why were you the only one with flowers?” he tore his gaze away. “I heard your conversation. He was inviting you to dinner.”

It was clear to her that he was jealous.

“Oh, that,” a playful smile crossed her face. “I was going to decline anyway, because I was planning to cook for my boyfriend. But I guess, he already lost his appetite.” She then grabbed her things, bid farewell to her friends and walked away leaving him behind, completely stunned.

Waking up from his senses, his anger slowly fading away, Donghae quickly followed her. “Jagiya~” he called softly.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” he begged, catching up to her. He just broke his promise of not getting jealous.

She stopped, and looked at him with mellowed eyes. “Apology accepted. There is nothing for you to feel jealous about.”

“He was obviously attracted to you,” he argued, eyes glued to the ground.

“Trust me, jagiya. I can handle all those guys,” she held his hand and squeezed it, reaffirming him. "You are the only one for me."

“Mianhae,” he looked up with sad eyes.

“Forget about it. What do you want to eat?” she smiled, swaying their hands back and forth.

Just like that, everything went back to normal. The two headed straight to her unit, he was holding her bag, while she held the bouquet. They have forgotten the incid