THREE

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“You look really nice.” Joonmyeon smiled as he looked over my simple white dress.

I blushed as I mumbled a sweet and simple thanks. I closed the front door in a haste, I was not about to allow him to meet my oh so embarrassing parents. I didn't think I had the energy to be humiliated before this date, which I could already tell was going to be quite draining.

“What movie are we watching?” I asked as I stalked away from him, heading towards his black Mercedes.

“Aren't you going to invite me in first?” He called from behind me, disbelief laced into his voice, “You really need to put these flowers in some water before they die.”

“They'll survive a couple hours,” I called back, “Just leave them on the doorstep and I'll take care of them when I get home.”

“Why can't you just do it now?” He stubbornly stood by the door, “I know someone is home Sora and I will not hesitate to ring the door bell right now and give this bouquet of nicely arranged flowers to whoever answers the door. You are not acting very fond of them so I might as well give them away to someone who will appreciate them.”

I pouted innocently as I made my way back to my front door, snatching the flowers a bit roughly out of Joonmyeon's hands as I passed him. He began to chuckle in amusement, he was once again won.

“You stay right here and I will be right back.” I stared at him seriously, pointing towards my couch. He nodded obediently like a puppy as he took a seat.

“Seriously, don't wander around.” I warned, slipping into the kitchen to find a vase.

After finally finding a clear glass vase, I set the arrangement of pink, yellow, red, and orange flowers inside, filling it with water to make sure they last. I stared at the flowers in awe, it was a completely sweet and unexpected gesture. Now I just had to find somewhere to put it.

I picked up the heavy vase and headed towards the dining room. I thought the flowers would look really nice at the center of the table. The table needed a bit of decoration anyways, we hardly ate in there together as a family anymore with my brother being in college, parents working, and my various teenage activities (cough being at Lena or Kai's house cough).

After setting the flowers down on a small piece of lace, I rushed back into the living room, praying that his curiosity hasn't gotten him into any trouble.

I wasn't even surprised when I found my couch lacking the handsome Korean boy I left. With a sigh I began my search for my date.

After a little effort, I finally found Joonmyeon sitting down with my father in his study. The two sat side by side on the large leather arm chairs staring outside the large window that occupied most of the western wall. The sun was just beginning to set and the view was tremendous. (My father had only won the room after several rounds of rock-paper-scissors.) I quietly crept into the room, ease dropping on their conversation. The two seemed to get along well, with both of their easy going personalities. The two laughed about something funny Joonmyeon said and I cleared my throat. My father looked over his shoulder and shot me a smile as Joonmyeon stood up politely, grinning mischievously at me. I crossed my arms as I leaned against the door frame, waiting for the two men to get up.

“Well, it was certainly nice speaking to you, Mr. Park.”

“I take it that I will see Sora home before midnight?”

“Of course sir,” Joonmyeon beamed, his white teeth glistening. He spoke with sincerity and trust naturally, wining my father over immediately.

“Then I hope you guys have fun, but not too much fun.” My dad winked, causing me to bang my head against the door frame in embarrassment.

“See you next time, Mr. Park.” Joonmyeon reached out to shake my father's hand.

“Well if you would excuse us,” Joonmyeon bowed slightly and took my hand, leading me towards the door.

“Did I not ask you to stay where you were?”

“Did you not tell me you weren't going to take long?” He shot back, flickering his eyes onto my face briefly before continuing to look at the road before us.

“It took four minutes tops.”

“That's a long time to me, Sora.” Joonmyeon grinned, “Seeing that you broke your promise, I decided to get even and break mine. I simply wandered around looking for you to see if you needed any help when I came across one of the nicest views I've seen in a while.”

“You are so nosy.” I sank deeper into my seat.

“Hey, if you haven't seen a nice sunset for as long as I have, you would have done the same thing: wander in curiously. I swear, I didn't even notice that your dad was in there until he said something.”

“How could you not see a sunset in a long time? They literally happen every day.” I mumbled.

“The fog and smog in New York isn't something to joke about.” He laughed, “I love the clear California skies.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it's the most wonderful shade of blue.” He turned his head to shoot me a look before turning his head back, humming a song as he drove.

I let a curtain of dark hair fall between us in a vain attempt to hide my reddening face.

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